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

To prepare a more considered line drawing, I made some preparatory blind line drawings, as suggested in the course material. They were all done very quickly. After the first, I found the resemblance extremely low and thought this might be due to a too nervous approach with too much movement. In the next two drawings, which were made on the next sketchbook page, I tried to calm down and make somewhat slower, less irregular movements.

The final attempt was made with felt pen. These are actually three separate drawings made on top of each other. I began with a light brown tone and thought that I might make use of the effect of repeated marks at the same spot by creating some tonal effects. The result wasn’t really convincing, and I decided to add another drawing in dark red, trying to reduce mark making by focusing on simpler shapes. I found this didn’t work out either, so I made a third attempt in dark blue, this time focusing on the contour and still reducing the amount of marks. I think the result looks interesting, although it requires imagination so see the celery root in it.

I then proceeded to a more considered line drawing. I found it very difficult to visually disentangle the root structure. I made a second attempt which I think is slightly improved because I discovered that there was an internal architecture which structured the little root stems in layers. I tried to focus on the larger shapes but each time got caught by the complexities of those tiny little root stumps and then constantly lost track of where I was at. The pattern was too complex to draw blind either, so I felt a bit at a loss. I also found that the object I drew fell apart – there was so much going on in the interwoven root area, and almost nothing on the remaining surface area of the root.

  
The next day, I made another try with pencil on gray paper. Unfortunately the pencil was hardly visible because it reflected the light, so I decided to overwork the drawing with black fineliner. This increased the visibility of the marks considerably. I think this drawing was a step forward because the root shapes were less stylized and the object felt more whole, with more resemblance to the object in the kind of marks used for the interwoven roots and the surface texture. I did not finish the drawing because I felt so exhausted.

I was unsure how to proceed, feeling unable to make a detailed line drawing of the entire structure. Later that day I decided to do a quicker line drawing in the sketchbook, focusing on what I could capture in one single go, relatively quickly. I concentrated on line and tried not to get caught by tiny details, instead attempting to cover the entire object with constant speed and attention. I think this drawing is an improvement because it is less anxious and less stylized, taking up the approach I began to explore in the previous drawing on grey paper.

Then after a longer break that day, I had the idea of using a viewfinder to see how the root would look when framing an arbitrary section. I really liked what I saw. It was like a little sculpture and I felt connected to what had initially fascinated me about the subject. I tested several views through the viewfinder and then decided on one which I felt brought out some nice plasticity and structure (not the one shown in the photo).

All the time I had struggled with the kind of hairy surface texture in some parts of the root, because there were light lines on dark ground and I found it impossible to draw these using a negative space technique (outlining them by making their immediate background darker). They were just too delicate for this.

This problem had been behind my earlier choice of pastel pencils in one of the different angles drawings – pastel permits to draw light on dark, which was exactly what I needed. But here I tried out a different technique which I remember from childhood, that of layering wax pastels. I used oil pastels and made a first layer in ochre, a second in brown, and a third in black. Then I searched around for a scratching tool and decided on a bamboo pen.

I then began to scratch away the top layer of my oil pastel surface, revealing the lighter tones beneath. I worked quite some time to scratch out the pattern I saw. It was difficult to develop the tonality from lighter to medium and dark tones, but I am quite satisfied with the result of this first attempt in my sketchbook. The drawing has some depth to it and the technique permits to depict the delicate hairy roots as light lines on a dark background. I’m not sure whether I can make this work on a larger scale but I think I might get back to the idea and explore further its possibilities.

I made several drawings of the celery root on four sheets of paper, all from a slightly different angle. I tried to depict the complex pattern of the core root and the dinted surface of the object. These drawings were a real challenge. The amount of concentration required was enormous and I had problems with my vision. The main difficulty was that I constantly lost track of the point where I was drawing. Each drawing took several hours to complete, with many pauses in between.

After the first sheets I wasn’t satisfied because I thought that I had only repeated the attempt I had already made in my sketchbook, I saw no progress. On the second sheet, I tried some more unusual angles, like from the side or bottom, where the root pattern was less dominant. My main aim was to create three-dimensionality and be as accurate as possible, but I felt disheartened by the complexity of the task.

The third attempt was with coloured pastel pencils on medium gray paper. The idea was to use a a restricted palette of only one lighter and one darker colour and focus on creating the three-dimensional patterns. This drawing remained unfinished, because I got bogged down by too much detail. I think the effects are exaggerated and I wondered whether it might work better if I used dim light. Somehow I’m not able to judge the intensity of shadow effects when drawing in full light.

The fourth drawing was in coloured pencil. I chose light blue, dark blue, and dark gray, again focusing on the root pattern and the dented surface. Later I added dark red to the background to make the object stand out better.

A fifth attempt was made on dark red paper in coloured pastel pencils, but that one failed, because I wasn’t able to concentrate any longer, so I threw it away. I’ve still got to learn a lot with pastels, in particular how to incorporate the paper colour into the drawing rather than just overpainting it.

What have I learnt?

While I was working on the exercise, I felt like repeating the same approach and not getting anywhere. Each time I started with a fresh mind and tried to follow instructions to sketch the outlines first, then add shadings and surface details. But each time, I got very quickly caught in the complexities of interwoven root elements, rather than perceiving and depicting the object as a whole. I was not able to approach the subject in a looser way.

I interpret this as a necessary step in learning. It felt like if I kept trying, it would become easier and at some point, I might resolve the knot. And it may not be immediately visible in the drawings, but I think some minimal learning has taken place. Maybe at this point it’s only learning what doesn’t work, but I felt it was a valuable experience.

I think it is now time to proceed to the next exercise and try a deliberately different approach, but I might get back to this kind of drawing and see whether it becomes easier with practice. Maybe I should get some additional practice with drawing textured surfaces. Somehow I didn’t master the skill while working on part 2 of the course, and it might be a good idea to work on this.

Another idea is to do what I constantly wanted – reduce the complexity of the task by drawing only sections. I wanted to follow instructions about drawing the whole object from different angles, but in view of the complexity it might have been more appropriate to draw just sections and try to get them right. That said, I nevertheless found it a very valuable experience to draw the entire root, even if it was beyond my current skill and ability to concentration. I think I need to take a more flexible approach and also try more different viewpoints and experiment with media.

For the delicate shadings, I’d like to get to the point where I’m really working with the media. I have already experienced this, it feels like making a sculpture and seeing a three-dimensional object on the paper. I need a medium that I can rework and correct until the shapes and tones look like I want them. In my drawings for this exercise, I think I just made a first attempt, which did not properly work out, and then left it at that because I was scared to spoil what was on the paper. I think I can do better, but it’s difficult to get to that point of really working with a drawing.

The longer you look at an object, the more abstract it becomes, and, ironically, the more real. (Lucian Freud)

I started my first sketches with the idea that I’d like to focus on plants and flowers, but would also want to try out fruit and vegetable to see how I got along with these different kinds of organic forms. I made 11 sketches overall, which I think is quite a lot, in view of the instructions to spend around 2 hours on each (which I did, sometimes more and sometimes a bit less). I understood this as an advice to look hard and try to capture detail. So I tried to select objects with interesting forms or textures.

I began with a rose. I had bought a bouquet of roses, but in view of the task decided to depict only a single flower, and found this complicated enough. A natural choice of media was coloured pencil, as I found it was well adapted for detailed work and subtle colour blendings. I took much effort to get the structure of the petals right – how they embrace the core in layers, and how they curl their upper part to the outside. I think I captured this successfully .

But I found it difficult to get the colours correctly. The rose petals were rose on the outside and soft yellow on the inside. The dry medium I used created sort of a rough texture which didn’t correspond overly well with the softness of the rose. I also did not manage to create the colour blendings in the size I had chosen to draw. But despite the shortcomings, I found it an achievement that I got the basic structure of the petals right.

I made a second drawing of the rose, using just pencil this time, because the first drawing was kind of undecided at the core of the bud, and I wanted to have another go at this. It was a line drawing first and then I added shadings to improve readability.

The third drawing was a dried Artichoke. I drew it with felt pen in its original size. The artichoke was a fascinating and very complex object. It had a hairy structure at the core, in violet-beige-silvery colours. I think the drawing is quite successful, although it is rather stylized, instead of realistic.

The next drawing was a pomegranate, which I had cut into half. I used inktense pencils and washes. There was much more correspondence between the fruit’s surface texture and the drawing, I think quite an improvement over my first drawing in dry coloured pencil. In particular, the washes worked well with the red seeds, which had darker flesh around a white kernel. I think I managed to create a bit of three-dimensionality, although the glossyness of the fruit’s surface is missing. The drawing also reflects a bit of experimentation with the media. I have not that much experience with inktense pencil washes and used this drawing to try out layering several washes .

I had thought about the requirement to draw a large format for the assignment and thought it might be a good idea to also try larger objects. These would require not that much enlargement, compared to small objects or painting only a section of an object. So maybe a houseplant, not too small, would be another possible choice for the assignment. I had seen Cyclamen recently and was quite fascinated by their waxy petals and the group of swan-like stems of the buds over dense green leaves. So I went out to a garden center in midtown to see whether they had Cyclamen. The problem was, that their season was almost over and most plants were preparing to go for a rest.

So there was only one left. I got this one and another plant, a Croton Mamey. This is a tropical plant in firy red, orange, yellow and green tones, and whose leaves are screwed in a very strange way. But interesting and fascinating to look at and just right for a try. I made a line drawing with pen and ink, but the leaf structure in the middle was difficult to read and I decided to add some colour, using inktense pencils and wash. I think I captured some of the strangeness and the intense colouring of the plant. The colours I mixed in the middle got a bit muddy unfortunately. The light situation may have had to do with this. I think I drew in artificial light and the right half of the plant was a bit too dark and made it difficult to see the individual leaves.

A few days later I drew the Cyclamen. I chose inktense pencils and washes again, but no pen and ink this time. I think the technique corresponds well to the softness and subtleness of the plant, its forms and colours. I really like how I drew the buds, with soft purple and greyish tones and shadings. The leaves were quite difficult to draw. I drew only a section of the plant which to me looked like a nice composition. I really like this drawing and I think it was the one I enjoyed most.

Then, apparently a change from the beauty of flowers, I chose a corn cob for the next drawing, and 6B pencil as a medium. I got quite impatient while drawing, but looking at the result now, I think it is among the more energetic drawings I made. While drawing, I struggled with the soft pencil because it was difficult to depict fine, subtle lines of texture of the outer leaves. But looking at it now, the soft pencil created darker marks and this benefitted the overall effect.

After this, I went back to my roses, which in the meantime had begun to dry out. I am very fond of dried flowers and usually keep these for their beauty for quite a while. I used watersoluble wax crayons with washes first, and later added contours with pen and ink. Again I struggled with the too small size I chose, because the space was not enough for me to create the colour blendings. I also realized the wax crayons were way too bold for my liking.

But I was so fascinated with the drying roses, that I made another drawing and this time, enlarged it by around factor three. I began using HB pencil and focused on the structure and layering of the petals. I added shadings to improve readability. I worked for quite a long time here and think that I captured something of the crumpliness of the drying petals, both in the surface texture and the contours of the leaves. I then added a grey-brown wash as a background, the colour of my carton behind the rose. The actual colour was much more intense. Maybe I should have reworked the background, but I did not find this central to the task.

The next object was a red beat which had fascinated me by the red stems and green leaves attached, and the impressive colour contrast of dark violet leaf veins before the green. The problem was, the entire plant was too large to fit onto the sketchbook page. I decided to draw only the brownish root with the red-violet stems . I began with pen and ink only and was quite satisfied how I captured the knotty surface of the beet. The stems were difficult to separate visually, so I decided to add colour and used watersoluble wax crayons again. It was only a tiny leaf that permitted to bring out the red-green contrast. For a more dense composition, it might be interesting to arrange several beets so that they can be seen together with those colourful stems and leaves.

Then I had to pause for a few days because of work commitments, but once when I was in a supermarket, I saw a celery root and was intrigued. So my last drawing so far was this celery root. I chose HB pencil again and struggled a lot with the strangely interwoven root system. But I kept trying until the texture seemed to cover the entire surface. There are plenty of small observational errors, but the drawing seems to work nevertheless.

This drawing was a real challenge, because the surface of the object was extremely complex and irregular. I had great difficulty keeping my eyes focused on any particular spot while drawing.

Deciding on an object

From all the objects I drew so far in this exercise, I think the celery root was the most difficult and challenging. The most enjoyable drawing was the Cyclamen. I really liked the roses for their beauty, too.

Now the problem with the Cyclamen is that it has lost all buds and more than half of its leaves, so there’s currently not much left of it for drawing. The roses in their beauty would be my second choice, but then I don’t have this particular feeling of a real challenge. They’d certainly be difficult enough as a subject, but I don’t feel visually overwhelmed and forced to push myself further to find new ways how to cope with the complexity.

I also thought about one of the later exercises which are to draw only a section enlarged. The celery root seems to lend itself to experiments like this.

Choosing this object represents more personal risks, because it’s a decision for something I find highly difficult and beyond my current abilities, rather than choosing the most beautiful object. I felt attracted and repelled at the same time. The surface texture reminded me of ancient paintings by Hieronymus Bosch, the Dutch painter who depicted really strange fantasy creatures.

Maybe the choice is inspired by the visit to the Mike Kelley exhibition, because I had been in the mood for trying out something strange, almost weird, when I looked for some more drawing objects. The celery root in the supermarket just looked so weird. It even made the cashier, a young girl of maybe 20 years, giggling and asking “What is this???” – “Looks funny, doesn’t it? It’s for making soup”, I explained…

And then there was this quote by Lucian Freud, which I came across today on a website: “The longer you look at an object, the more abstract it becomes, and, ironically, the more real.” I know Lucian Freud from earlier research as an extremely realist painter. I’m not overly fond of his paintings or the style, but I find much truth in the quote.  Although, I’m not sure whether it is possible to pin down its meaning. I’d already have a hard time to define the term “abstract”.

Maybe it means that when looking intensely at details, you loose the connection to the whole. You begin to see the forms and texture of the details as abstract forms, disconnected from the larger object to which they belong. Focusing on these details during the representational drawing, and trying to depict them accurately, makes the whole object more and more (photo-) realistic and similar to the real object.

With respect to my choice of the celery root as a drawing object – I’ll see how I get along. If it’s too difficult or I if loose my nerves, I might dismiss and get back to the Cyclamen.

Resources

Hieronymus Bosch, Dutch painter (c. 1450 – 9 August 1516)

Quote by Lucien Freud: I wasn’t able to locate the actual source, but it’s been quoted multiple times on a variety of websites.

Now this is the second try to write down my reflections on the topic. I have experienced some days going from sheer panic to slight relief, because I had accidentally deleted the database of this blog. The entire work of 2 years was gone… but thanks heaven, my website provider does regular database backups, and so I was able to recover the blog. Only the last articles were gone. I was able to recover the post on the Mike Kelley exhibition, because I had left open the editing view in another browser window, but I completely lost the article on the course review and the review of my work for Part 2 – corresponding to my choice for the final assignment. That article also contained all my reflections about this choice. It took several hours to write, because it summarized my notes and reflections over a few months. It was interesting to do once because of all the thought processes involved, but the idea of repeating it seemed like a real chore. I think I couldn’t, even if I wanted.

So I’ll just write a summary of the main points from memory instead.

Where I’m at with the course

Since I’m doing two courses in parallel, I had to find a way how to organize my work. I found I got along best if I alternated between the courses. So typically I’m doing one course part completely, including the assignment, and then switch to the other course.

I had been working on the review of Drawing 1 after assignment 4, and then switched to Watercolour 1, and am now getting back to drawing in order to approach Part 5. Initially I wanted to review the entire drawing course and repeat the all weaker exercises before tackling Part 5, but I changed my mind. I’m running out of “tutor time”, which means that I have to submit the final assignment by mid April. I signed up for Course Assessment in November 2014, which should leave sufficient time for a review after assignment 5. I might even decide to do one or more additional options in part 5 and see how far I can get.

Review of the coursework

Before reviewing my work, I had relatively negative feelings about what I had achieved so far, and thought I’d get into trouble what to select for Course Assessment. But going through all the materials, I realized that there was quite a body of work with some really nice drawings, plus quite a diversity of themes and media. So this was a really nice effect of the review. I know that I could have done better each and every exercise, assignment and research, but what I have actually done was not as bad as I had thought. In particular when I included the follow-up work for parts three and four (landscape and figure).

Deciding on one of the options for part 5

I had begun thinking on the options quite early, I think it was while finishing part 3 (landscape), when I took a leap forward and read the remainder of the course book in a single go. I seriously considered all topics, but wasn’t able to decide at that point. Then after finalizing part 4, I realized how much I was interested in figure drawing, and thought about making a self portrait for assignment 5. But I was aware of the many problems associated with drawing myself, including the physical strain of maintaining a fixed position while drawing, and the artificiality of using a mirror. This was all related to the problem of not having a model.

So now getting back to the choices, I re-read Part 5 of the course and analysed the central task involved within each option:

Option 1: Mark making and tone – The final drawing will be an interior view of my home

Option 2: Observation in nature – The final drawing will be a detailed study of some natural object

Option 3: Drawing outdoors – A landscape or townscape drawing made or at least prepared outdoors

Option 4: Drawing figures – A figure, a portrait, or a self-portrait drawing

Without a model, I decided to exclude option 4 at this time. Option 3, drawing outdoors, was difficult because it’s winter and way too cold for drawing outdoors. I did not want to rely on photographs, so I dismissed this option as well. I liked Option 1 and felt that I’d benefit enormously from focusing on technical basics, but I wasn’t fond of the idea to draw an interior view of my home. What remained was Option 2, a detailed observational study of a natural object.

I felt that I struggled most with this part of the course because of problems with my sight – I need glasses for the distance and for reading, and I can’t use either glasses for drawing because I see blurred when switching between distances. On the other hand, those exercises where I managed to focus on one particular object or detail and thoroughly study it were among the most interesting and challenging. I also felt that I needed to build up the skills involved – both observational and practice with different media.

So finally, I decided to go with Option 2, observational drawing

Review of my work for Part 2

I think I enjoyed most the first project of that part, which was about exploring coloured media. I loved playing around with different materials, leaving aside the requirement of drawing something particular.

I found detailed observation extremely difficult at the beginning and got quite stuck at times, but somehow it got a bit better with practice and repeated attempts. I seemed to need some time to tune in to a very slow mode of looking and drawing which gave me enough time to process what I saw in front of me. I think my skills improved slightly, although there’s still much room for further development.

The nicest works seem to have been those in the fruits and vegetables project – they are colourful and look like really solid objects, even if a bit stylized. The plants and flowers section was more difficult and I tended to be overwhelmed by the complexity of the plants.

Drawing animals was definitely the weakest project. The problem was associated to the animals moving – neither my eyes nor my hands were quick enough to capture anything meaningful of a moving cat. Some drawings of sleeping cats were better, and the still life of a fish on a plate was quite successful. Although this final drawing lacks the colourful contrasts of the real scene, where I had a bright silvery fish on a dark gray plate onto a black tablecloth. I don’t know why I did not incorporate these strong colours into the drawing, as they would certainly have added to the overall effect.

The assignment was also a bit on the weaker side. The preparatory pencil studies look interesting, but maybe I should have done more studies to see what else I could have done with my chosen topic. But then again, this was at the beginning of the course, and realize that I look and work differently now.

To summarize, the work for part 2 was not extraordinary, but I think choosing option 2 for the assignment was wise with respect to the learning I’d expect to take place. In a way, it was a decision to improve basic skills, and I think I’ll benefit from this.