I began preparations for this drawing today with a photo session with myself as a model. I had briefly considered to make photos of other people, for example of visitors to Central Park. But there was the weather risk and I did not want to wait for the week-end with beginning to work for the second part of the assignment.
This time I used a different camera this time and also employed a tripod which permitted more flexible choice of views, compared to my improvised setting for the first drawing. I made two sets of pictures and tried to improve the composition and lighting from one to the next. Without real photographer studio lamps, I had to use all the lamps available plus camera flash to obtain crisp pictures.
I tried out several different poses on the sofa and different camera positions and heights. I thought about the theme “reclining figure” and found it important to introduce perspective foreshortening of the figure into the picture. So I adapted my own position on the sofa to the camera position to obtain the desired perspective effect. It helped enormously that I transferred the first set to the computer to look at the images enlarged in order to judge what worked and what didn’t, for example with the perspective. This helped me to improve the second set of photos.
This time I had several pictures I found interesting for the final drawing. They all had some flaws but also interesting aspects. I selected 10 for a closer look and decided on a set 5 for some tonal sketches with the intention of trying out what might work for me and selecting the final one.
Five tonal sketches
I chose 9B graphite for my first sketches because I found this worked nicely for tonal studies – a conclusion from my earlier “folds on the belly” study for the first drawing of this assignment. I wanted to focus on composition and broad tonal areas and leave out details.
Reclining figure I
Aims: Just a broad sketch of the overall tonal areas: The dark sofa, the medium dark skin, trousers and cushion, and the white shirt. What might be interesting are the areas of change when a darker area becomes the lighter area against a different background.
Difficulties: The graphite pen is too bold for drawing details of the face, I shouldn’t try this before I haven’t studied the face and am able to shortcut into minimal marks. The composition is ok, but I’m finding the figure too small and the context takes up too much space. If better executed, the drawing might look like something.
Reclining figure II
Result: I think the larger figure works better as a composition than figure I. There is something very sensual with the figure’s position in the upper body, the hair in curls on the cushion and falling over the shoulders which I can imagine to explore further.
Difficulties: Getting the overall tonality right isn’t easy, especially for those areas of similar tone but different colour. These areas might improve if I use colours. I can then bring them to the same tone but they are distinguishable by their colour.
Reclining figure III
Result: This position does not work for me. It doesn’t have the sensual aspect of the upper body and the hair, and the positioning of the legs isn’t interesting. The feet are nicely shaped, but that doesn’t save the overall picture.
Reclining figure IV
This photo source is my favourite from those I tried until now. The position is a challenge to draw and there are many interesting tonal details, for example how the feet are offset from each other.
Reclining figure V
This photo source works better than I thought. The position of the body is less challenging than the previous one, but here the background is better connected to the figure.
From these five sketches, I liked figures II, IV and V best.
The image that surprised me was figure 2, because it felt very sensual to draw. Although the photo itself was not very good, the sketch of the figure had something very appealing to me.
Reclining figure IV conveyed something very relaxed, but not sensual. The photo did not convince me, because the hair had no contrast to the sofa and the left arm was covered by the body. The figure was a challenge to draw, but neither the photo nor the sketch pointed to aspects I wanted to explore further.
Figure V was interesting, both from the photo and from the drawing.
After some reflection, I decided on figure II for he final drawing. I found its sensuality inspiring.
Experimenting with different media
While drawing the tonal sketches with 9B graphite pen, I thought that both coloured felt pen and oil pastel might be interesting media for the final drawing. Coloured felt pen could be used with hatching to gradually build up colours and tone. Oil pastel has a different appeal, very massive as it tends to create an opaque layer on the drawing support. Another idea was to use coloured pencil which would be much more subtle and probably deliver much less intense colours than oil pastel. Another idea was to try out soft pastels, which would work nicely for tonal shadings in different colours.
I decided to work directly from the computer screen, without a printout of the photo, because the screen image was lighter and made it easier to see contrasts within areas of similar colours.
1) Compositional sketch, chalk pastel on dark red paper, A4
Aims: Trying out soft pastels
Result: Very difficult to get the colours I want with the selection I have. The small format only permits a sketch, no detail work. Still satisfied with composition of the drawing.
The pastels react strangely on the dark paper – dark colours appear much lighter than I thought. The small format does not permit to work in multiple layers until the desired colour and tone is achieved
Pastel may generally not be appropriate for fine details, but this would be ok for the task which is about tone. But a larger scale is definitely important, or selecting just a detail for study on a small sheet like A4.
I had already been selective with the colours. For the final drawing I envision an almost monochrome overall impression, with just a few different colour grades.
2) Large compositional setch, colour pastel over charcoal on white paper, A2
Aims: See whether composition works on a larger scale, indicate tonal areas
I began this sketch with charcoal only. When I had the tonal areas about right, I found them hard to distinguish and decided to add coloured pastels in a restricted palette, only red-brown tones plus gray for the sofa and some flesh tones. I also used q-tips to soften the colours and mix a bit.
Result: Composition works ok. Am finding the colour intensity of the charcoal/pastel mix not intense enough and the rough marks give a more rude appearance than I’d like to have for the final drawing. I used a paper towel to go over the marks which softened the effect to some extent. The left foot isn’t correct in perspective.
Maybe it’s not so good to use much colour because it diverts attention away from tonal differences.
I made one tonal study during the project, which was the self portrait in brown tones. I developed it without using line. Maybe that’s the way to go for this drawing.
3) Face study, felt pen, A4 sketchbook
Aim: Try out felt pen to build up tone and colour for face on cushion
Result: I think my technique was not subtle enough for the finer details. Otherwise, the sketch looks quite energetic. The face was my main problem with the original photo source because I found the view upwards a bit awkward. But also for the other details like fingers or shades on the feet, I think the felt pen are difficult to use because they are rather bold. An approach like stipples and dots might work, but this is not something I really like to do.
4) Arm and shoulder, soft pastel colour sketch, A4 grey paper
Aim: Try out the different types of pastel and see whether I can get the colour tones of skin, cushion and sofa right with a limited palette.
Result: This drawing felt more like painting. I hadn’t expected that the colours I had chosen at the time would result in such a cold overall impression. It was interesting how I developed a work technique for these pastels. They come with fine sponges as applicators. Initially I just smeared the pigments over the paper, but then I began to employ a stippling technique which permitted to add lighter colours over darker areas. After I had finished the drawing with fixative, I discovered that I had forgotten one colour, a medium brown tone, which might have helped to achieve a warmer skin tone.
These (or other) pastels might be combined with other media to add a touch of colour to an otherwise monochrome tonal study.
5) White top and hand, brown ink and coloured graphite pencils, A4 sketchbook
Aim: Try out an idea of pen & ink with some colour
Result: My rushed approach didn’t work for the hands, but where the ink was getting dark in larger areas, the technique looked quite interesting. I was using coloured graphite pencils and I like their subtle tones.
6) Face study, coloured pencil, A4 sketchbook
Aim: To get the tones of the face right
Result: The face looks distorted… but unfortunately, the face was distorted in the photo source as well. In other words, it looked strange on the photo as well. This was the reason why I was surprised that the photo otherwise worked so well, and selected it for further work.
I still think that the composition works quite well. Maybe the best would be to dismiss facial details completely, and emphasize the posture, as in the large compositional sketch
The coloured pencil worked better than I had thought for building up tones, although I don’t really like the colours I produced in this drawing.
Some reflections: Where am I now?
I’m still ok with the photo I selected as a source for this drawing. The studies have shown that not all approaches and media will work equally well for all aspects of the motif, but I still like the position of the figure on the sofa and I think there are some interesting tonal effects to work out.
My reason for selecting that photo was that I was attracted to the sensuality of the posture. This somehow got out of focus while I experimented with different media. I worked rather boldly in the studies, and the sensuality got lost. Nevertheless, the studies provided a nice playfield to try out different media and how they might work for the drawing. Each study has some particular aspects that I like, and others I find less successful.
The A4 pastel sketch on red paper is interesting for the effect of working on a coloured background. I like how the background shines through the white top of the figure. But it was difficult to create the colours I wanted on the dark support.
In the large A2 compositional sketch in charcoal and pastel I particularly like the blending of tones for the purple sofa and the brown trousers. The sofa has this lighter upper contour where the colour is clear, but it then blends into a very dark tone in the off-light area. Similarly, the trousers have a coloured contour which blends into a much darker tone in the shade. I found the size of this drawing still too small and for the technique and could well imagine drawing even larger. But for practical reasons I will stay with the A2 format and adjust the level of detail I’ll include. I also like how I included only the shape of the face with a shade for the area between face and neck.
The felt pen study of the face has something almost psychedelic in its choice of colour. It was easy to build up intense colours, but difficult to create the more subtler shadings of the white top.
The pastel study of the right arm is very painterly and I very much like the simplicity of the shapes. I’m less satisfied with the colours, but this has to do with the restricted number of colours I have available.
Strangely enough, the pen and ink study is my favourite so far. While drawing I thought this was impossible to do this on a larger scale because it was difficult to get really dark tones. It takes quite a while until the hatching becomes dense enough for a darker tone. The study doesn’t work well for the hand, but otherwise I really like how the dark ink blends into subdued graphite colours. I might use this technique with a lighter ink colour at first to obtain subtler marks for the hands and other details, then work over with darker ink and graphite colour.
The coloured pencil study of the face looks quite strange due to the distortion of the face on the cushion and the view upwards. I think this is an aspect of the original photo which I will not transfer into the final drawing. I’ll try to do something more subtle, less ugly.