Despite the problems I still had, I felt ready to tackle the assignment. My first step was to provide me with an image that I could use for the main proportions, because I had so many difficulties getting them right from the computer screen or with the printouts I had made so far.
I prepared my slightly modified section of the original photo as a poster print, on 4 A4 sheets, and glued these together to have my original in A2. Thus I had a fairly large image to use for the composition and outline of the figure.
Step 1: Pencil drawing
I began with a pencil sketch of the figure on the sheet and tried to get perspective and proportions right, at the same time I tried to fill the entire format. When I felt the drawing was about right, I proceeded to detail work. I moved the easel towards the computer and used enlarged sections of the photo on the computer screen to help me with details.
I chose smooth, medium weight white paper to permit overworking with felt pen or ink. The paper was not appropriate for washes, so this determined my possible choices of media for this drawing. I had markers in mind but wanted to see how the drawing developed, then decide.
Step 2: Black fineliner
When I felt that I had the details sketched, I proceeded to a black fineliner. The pencil underwork was helpful as a guide, but I constantly looked on my photo source to improve the overall impression.
I decided to employ hatching because the lines alone were confusing at some areas, for example the shades on the trousers
Step 3: Markers
The decision whether or not to use colour markers was very difficult. I really liked the pure black fineliner drawing and was afraid of spoiling it by adding marker. I had already seen that the colours tended to cover up the linework and I did not want to loose focus on the line for this drawing. I made a pause and after looking at my earlier marker sketch I decided to take a risk and just try.
But looking at the result, I found that the black lines needed reinforcement.
Step 4: Soft tip felt pen
I worked over the fine lines that were already there. I tried to use the bolder lines as accents and left the finer lines for more delicate elements.
Step 5 – Final drawing: Colorized background bands
Re-reading my reflections on the studies I made for the assignments, I realized that I had left out the dark metal band which was behind the chair, and which was a very dominant dark area in the original photo source. I decided that I wanted to include this effect into my drawing. I chose the medium gray for the top band and dark brown for the metal band, then added a gray layer on the brown band to dampen the colour a bit.
Somehow I feel that this was the completion step for the drawing, which gave a background and orientation in space to the figure on the chair
Overall I’m quite satisfied with the result. It reminds me of a comic drawing in its bold style. I also like how it captures my morning coffee setting. The real morning coffee is a relaxed situation, but the drawing incorporates something beyond that – my tension, my skepticism, my determination, but also all the questions that are running through my mind.
