My journey through the drawing course at the Open College of the Arts

The task was to use about six objects from a supermarket shopping list to create a still life group, and draw the group using some colour.

The task description caused immediate confusion by asking me to not forget “to compare one thing with another” and I couldn’t imagine what was meant my this. I ended up ignoring it.

I started with selecting some objects. I tried to chose both cubic and cylindrical forms with varying sizes:
–    A wine bottle
–    Coffee packed in a box
–    Tuna can
–    Coconut cream box
–    Cylindrical tea box
–    small cubic tea box

I also looked a bit for the colours to make them somewhat harmonious – the items are coloured in various brown tones up to yellow/ocre, with occasional spots of other colours, for example the metal of the tuna can and some blue spots on the label. Since I felt unsure about how I might colour my drawing, I began with some preliminary experiments to explore coloured media.

Page 1: Conte crayon mark making experiment (A3 sketchbook)

I thought to use conté crayons to colour the drawing, and did a mark-making exercise first to explore colours and behaviour of the pastel blocks. I’m new to pastel and didn’t feel very comfortable with them. I don’t really like how they behave when applied in layers, they tend to smudge easily, the crayons take up the colour which is already on the paper and diffuse particles to other places on the paper. So drawing spontaneously with light and dark colours easily spoils the colours already there.

When I bought the box of carrés, I hadn’t noticed that it wasn’t the general assortment, but the landscape selection of colours, which doesn’t contain clear yellow, red and blue tones. There’s an emphasis on “natural” tones, with many different shades of green and brown. I’m not very happy with the selection, because they push the drawings into the direction of a particular palette which I wouldn’t have chosen for my mark-making exercise nor for drawing the arrangement of supermarket items. On the other hand, I’m not very much into pastels currently, so I’d rather not buy a second box to have the general selection right now.

Overall, I will have a look whether I have some other colours for the supermarket drawing, something different from pastel. Ideas are
–    wax or oil pastel: is very rough, not fine
–    coloured crayons: are very light in colour
–    watercolour: would require to work flat, and to take heavy paper
–    coloured ink: preferably for small sheets of paper if applied with dip pen. I might be using it afterwards (on top of a b/w drawing) with a brush, then take heavy paper right away
–    wax pastels with water: Another idea would be to make a pencil drawing first, then draw the contours with black ink (waterproof) and apply wax pastels for colour, then diffuse them with water to create blendings.

The last idea interested me most, but I would need to try out the technique first – another mark making experiment.

Page 2: Wax pastel mark making experiment (A3 clean white sheet)

initial ideas:
–    take rather heavy paper which can support water.
–    working in layers: Pencil drawing first, then wax pastel, then water. I took a HB pen – the hardest I have – hoping that it smudges less with water than 2B
–    try out the effect of making contours with black ink and dip pen

I took medium weight paper (190g) in clean white, smooth surface which works better with dip pen and ink. I drew 4 squares on the A3 sheet because I thought to make some experiments to explore this mixed-media technique.

Square I – drawing some objects, colorizing them (upper left)

For a beginning, I chose three small objects to mimick the supermarket topic – two ink boxes (cubic), and a pencil sharpener (cylindric). I had the sketchblock flat in front of me and placed the objects bedirectly behind it. Contrasting to the first two exercises with large objects which I had put onto a table to my left, this improvised arrangement was much easier to draw, because the horizontal baseline which I had difficulties finding in the earlier drawings, was now much easier to locate – I could simply take my own position as a reference point, such that the position of the sketchblock became the horizontal line against which to locate the objects’ angles.

I did a pencil sketch first and had much less difficultiy outlining the objects – firstly due to the easily available horizontal reference line, but also because drawing flat permitted the arm to rest, my hand was much more safe and supported during drawing. Very nice for a change. I then drew the objects’ contours with dip pen and ink, and after the ink was dried, I applied some colour with the wax crayons. I did not want to draw too many details, but still take up the main colours of the objects. This was easy for the sharpener with its red body and black top, but less easy for the ink boxes, which had printed upon the surface a merchand’s label and some information about the product, plus a tiny illustration based on the ink’s colour. So I got back to pen and ink, but used a finer nib for an abstract representation of characters and text, and made some coloured patches roughly in the form of the illustrated objects on the box. Next, I dissolved these colours with a brush and water. Taking a rather short and hard brush was a good decision because it permitted some control over the process. I dissolved some coloured areas completely, but let others irregularly textured from the original wax crayon marks. The effect was a greater resemblance to the original illustration. So this was the first try, the technique seems to work, and I’m not sure what to do with the other three squares. I might simply try out some abstract shapes, colour blendings etc.

For my supermarket topic though, using watercolour would lead to an interruption in the drawing process – I’d first make the drawing of what I see, using the easel and upright drawing board, and then change to another desk where I can lay down flat the sheet and beautify (or not) the whole drawing by applying some water to the coloured areas. I’m not especially fond of the idea, because it feels somewhat artificial. I’d rather stay where I begin, and with a single drawing technique. Will think about this.

Squares II and III – mark-making in black and red (lower 2 squares)

I wanted to try out the washing technique and used watersoluble wax pastel. I drew a pattern of angles in black, with some shades of colour, and then used brush and water to dissolve the colour. I wanted the forms to overlap, and to obtain two different effects: soft blendings from darker to lighter, and contrasts of the dark edges ranging into lighter areas. This technique didn’t work very well, because the water tended to dissolve everything. But probably less than if I had been drawing with watercolour wet-in-wet. In my drawing, the angle shapes still remained defined, with an effect of transparent layers.

The third square was a wave pattern in red. I wanted to try out shades and create highs and depths. The pattern is nice, but there’s not much depth effect, probably due to the colour and to my lack of knowledge how to create depth effects.

After square II had dried a bit, I did another layer of angles, this time in red colour. I wanted to strengthen the transparent layer effect, but this turned out to be difficult, because as soon as I applied some more water, the black forms tended to dissolve, too. For this technique to work, one would have to apply an intermediate fixative layer, to prevent the first layer from bleeding into the second. This wouldn’t have occurred with ink, which dries water resistant – as far as I know. But not sure whether this still holds once the ink has been diluted with some water. A nice idea to try out though.

IV – ink and wax colour (upper right square)

I began with ink and made some brush strokes which resembled a pattern of hills in a landscape, then diluted the ink with water and made some more strokes. The ink dried very quickly and separate layers created different shades of darkness, rather than dissolving. On top of the ink layer, I applied blue and grean wax colour, which I then dissolved with water. As anticipated, this did not dissolve the black ink marks, and permitted to create blends of blue and grean colour. A limitation was the paper which was not good for watercolour drawings, the surface became rough very quickly.

learning point/practical point: When using this technique, use more robust paper which supports some brush work.

Page 3: Supermarket Shop

I drew my arrangement and decided on colour crayons. I felt slightly more confident getting the shapes right – after having spent half an hour or so to arrange the objects in a way that would be appropriate for a portrait format, and which resulted in nice between-spaces, angles, and shapes to draw. The initial HB pencil drawing was done like before, beginning with very light sketching searching lines, then gradually becoming more defined until I could draw the contour lines. Once I had these, I continued with the colour pencils and tried to get the general colour right, but did not attempt to obtain real deep tonality, instead remained rather light.

The one thing I did not like was to draw the labels on my items. I liked them for their shape and what I new was inside, but I felt silly to re-draw the illustrations on their cover. Probably I would be happier with more natural surfaces, consting of real materials like glass, metal or clay, rather than copying printed stuff.

I think I did quite well with this drawing – I could have done better at everything but for the first attempt since a long time, I was satisfied. I like working in colour, and I think I got the tones quite well. In the end, I think I’ve overdone a bit, I emphasized contrasts and added object shades, and also lightly coloured the wooden table surface but here I think I haven’t done a good job. Regarded from close this is nice, but from a distance of a meter, the objects cannot be very well distinguished from another, probably because of not enough contrast at overlapping shapes, and because I remained so lightly with the colours. Also, using colours with lamp light instead of daylight didn’t work very well. I have a daylight lamp, but only one, and it is attached to my desk. Probably I will buy a standing lamp and another daylight bulb, and move the lamp around to where I’m working. Especially in the winter with the short daylight hours this will be valuable.

The task was to select at least six cylindrical objects, and arrange them in a way that I could look slightly down on them. Then with a soft pencil, draw what I see without rubbing out mistakes, as an indicator of where difficulties are. Then make a second drawing from a slightly different angle and after gaining some confidence, a third with a pencil that cannot be rubbed out.

I made four drawings overall, and did an additional experiment by using the second drawing as a starting point for a “sand picture” – glueing coloured sand with painting filler.

Pages 1 and 2 – jugs and jars

I made two drawings from different arrangements of objects and again, found the task very difficult, and my drawings not very successful. I think I’m not a “line person”. I approached each drawing with very light, searching lines and then gradually became more clear about the shapes and positions of my object. I think I’m more a painter than a drawing person, my drawings are like modelling objects out of the grey muddle of lines, rather than knowing where the contours are and confidently drawing them. I did find some contours in the end, but had the feeling of imposing errors which wouldn’t have been that visible without the contours.

Very obvious that I need much practice, but it’s also a challenge that I appreciate.

What would help me to improve?
–    First of all, practice
–    I need to take a closer look at the points where lines run together, because I tended to draw lines that created “paper objects” without thickness of the material they were made of. The lines of the contours do not meet the lines of inner shapes, but I’m very unsure how to draw this
–    I might try to draw more detail – not shade, but details of the objects, this would improve the credibility of the drawing

What went well?
–    especially the first drawing, I found that it was drawn with much sensitivity. In the second, I was a bit exhausted. Maybe I should really stop after one drawing. I had a similar feeling after the second drawing of the books and boxes, as if I had been wasting my time. But I don’t know. In both cases, the idea of doing it again didn’t feel that good. It might really be better to do something else after each drawing and try again on the next day. I’ll try this out, to see what works better.

But when I looked at the two drawings 2 hours later that evening, my impression had changed and I liked them a lot, for the sensitivity and calmness they breathed, and also I found the composition of my objects very good. I will need more practice, but probably just accept my personal style of searching lines. Don’t know how to tackle the task with a non-erasable pen though – I didn’t rub out my lines but my style worked well with pencil where I could begin very soft and light and once I was more sure about where to locate the objects, then become darker and more defined with the lines. With black felt pen for example, this technique won’t work at all. Maybe working on the same arrangement will make the task a bit easier  – based on the knowledge of objects I’ve gained through the earlier pencil drawing.

The sand picture

I made an extracurricular art work – a sand picture, using painter’s filler as glue for areas of sand in different colours, on thick bookmaker’s carton. I used the composition of the last drawing as a starting point. The picture is a bit chaotic, as I’m only beginning with the technique (first try), and I’m unsure whether the filler will hold the sand. I might need a finish to protect the sand from falling off. I might also try real glue next time, something that can be more easily applied with a pencil. I did it with a spoon and a thick painter’s brush, this didn’t support work on fine details very well.

When I checked again this morning, the sand did not hold very well and after consultation at my art materials supplier this morning, I bought transparent acrylic varnish to protect the work. I applied it with a soft brush and the small bottle was just enough for the 35×50 cm card size. I did it with stippling movements, because brushing movements dissolved too much sand. The customer service agent also recommended to use acrylic binding, colour or filler as glue material for the sand, which I will try out next – I wasn’t too happy with the filler because it dried too quickly when applied thin, and applied thickly the mass resulted in a wavy underground like sand under water which I didn’t like very much. I bought transparent binder and black acrylic paint – this might be a nice effect with dark grey, light grey and light blue sand that I’m using. Overall, an interesting experience. I like experimenting with new materials.

Pages 3 and 4 – more jugs and jars

I wanted to do one or two more to follow the instruction of using a pencil that cannot be rubbed out. I decided to use black felt pen, re-arranged the jars again, and started with a pencil drawing. I wanted to first get acquainted with the arrangement, before trying to draw lines with felt pen.

I feel that my third drawing of jars and jugs as again slightly improved, I found better solutions to draw material objects (rather than paper objects) – the problem was mainly at the points where lines met, and I began to draw inner and outer lines to indicate thickness of the object’s material. Also I felt more confident that the technique of beginning with light lines and gradually become more definitive would lead me to “correct” lines. The drawing isn’t constructed in perspective, rather done on intuitive measurement of shapes. There are errors but overall I like the drawing.

I decided not to draw with felt pen in the same drawing, but begin a second one and when I knew where my objects were on the paper by sketching them with pencil, then I would go ahead and use felt pen on top. That’s what I did, but I don’t know whether I like the resulting image. When using felt pen, I wasn’t looking at the arrangement anymore, instead tried a best guess about the correct line position and applied knowledge about the thickness of objects to draw inner and outer contours. Maybe it would be better to start with felt pen right away, to maintain the necessity to keep looking at what I’m drawing.

I feel totally unsure about drawing and somehow this is reflected in the drawings – even the felt pen lines are short and searching, rather than confident and bold. Maybe it’s personal style, maybe it gets better with practice.

Overall, an important exercise – difficult even to get simple shapes right, and showed me how afraid I am to draw lines.

The task was to arrange at least six boxes and books of different sizes,  placing them close together or even on top of each other, and then use only line to describe the rectangular surfaces.

I made four drawings of slightly different arrangements and exchanging some objects to add some variety.

First page

I began with some difficulties of arranging the items… trying like this, trying something else, different heigths. Not liking the items on the floor, but putting them on the table is too high. Changing the angles constantly to arrive at an interesting arrangement. Being annoyed by the easel which isn’t very stable, adding some blocks between the wooden board where I put the paper on and the easel to get it more stable. I own this easel since at least 20 years, but have used it only once or twice at that time. So these are really first-time problems – everything is new, and I don’t really know how to get started.

Then beginning to look and experiencing crumbling confidence, the task suddenly appears so complex, all these shapes of the books and boxes and I don’t know how to get the angles right, don’t know how to interpret what I’m seeing, feeling very insecure about it all. Then taking a heart and making the first try.

I used a graphite block rather than a pencil because I did not want to be interrupted by sharpening a pencil in between. I took A2 loose sheet of paper because I have no sketchblock of that size. I tried an A3 sketchbook but found it too small, did not want to be obliged to scale down the items, in addition to trying to get the shapes right.

I began with light lines and the book at the bottom, then worked my way upwards. Made plenty of errors, difficulties to orient myself between what I look at and how I translate it into two dimensions.

The recommendation of drawing the boxes as if they were transparent was difficult to follow because I could only guess where they were. Some long forgotten knowledge about perspective came up – I analysed what I saw and knew that the lines on the sheet were violating perspective laws, but was torn between sticking to what I saw (even if “wrong”) and applying perspective laws and getting things right. I still am…

I worked my way up to the top box (matchbox), trying to correct errors as I saw them. The many lines make the drawing somewhat underdefined and searching, but towards the end I became a little bit more confident, as can be seen in a clearer trait applied with more pressure for the second upper box.

I think I will do some more of this exercise, changing angles and arrangement, trying out different heights, to get some practice. While I like the large format, I’m not used to keeping my right arm in the air for drawing, and the inflammation in my shoulder will prevent me from continuing with this technique. I will have to try out something different, maybe a drawing board which is flatter and permits the arm to rest a bit.

Page 2

I changed the arrangement a bit, but only the angles, not the height. I felt a little bit more confident. It helped me to apply an imaginary horizontal baseline on the arrangement to measure visually the angles and translate them against the horizontal bottom of the paper sheet. I felt that this improved my orientation on the paper, compared to the first try. Even though I don’t see much improvement from first to second try, it felt better.

I also made tiny pauses for my arm instead having in in the air all the time. This was better and less exhausting for the muscles. I was still struggling with knowledge about perspective and simply drawing wat I saw. I would have no problem constructing a technical perspective drawing, but I prefer to train my eye to interpret the angles correctly, rather than constructing them technically.

I made photographs of both arrangements, maybe this will help to analyse the errors that I make. From the drawing, it’s the backwards lines which are rather undefined and where I’m insecure.

Maybe I should change some of my items to have them more differently in thickness – there are too many of roughly the same thickness and some too similar in size. I think more difference would help me to improve.

Page 3

I did another try of the arrangement, this time with graphite pen 9B and in the living room where I could place the books and boxes on a flat table rather than improvising a stand (as I had done for pages 1 and 2). I exchanged the box for a thick book to have more variety in the forms.

I remembered about my idea about the horizontal line in the picture and searched for an imaginary baseline. I tried to relate the angles of the shapes to this baseline as I saw them, but I think in the drawing there is a tendency of my items to “fall of the plane”. I’m currently not able to analyse where the error is. Otherwise, I feel that I gained a bit more confidence to draw a defining, darker line, rather than many searching light lines.

Page 4

Another go for books and boxes. This time, I placed the arrangement farther away from me and exchanged some books for boxes of different size. One box was square which turned out to be especially difficult to get right, because the eye immediately detects perspective errors – with the hand not being able to correct them, for the time being. In this drawing I made more corrections on the size of shapes than in the other ones.

Summary

Overall, I found this exercise rather difficult – showing me that “I cannot draw” – not yet, and not in a technical sense of getting things objectively correct. But from drawing 1 to 4 I nevertheless perceived some tiny progress in the ability to draw lines to define form. I guess I need much more practice.