OCA Drawing 1 Learning Log (Original) | My journey through the drawing course at the Open College of the Arts

Part 3 Review: Sketchbook walk II

By patriciakarsten | Published: November 7, 2013

I began with best intentions…

Drawings 1 and 2: View over a field of tombs, framed by trees

… but wasn’t satisfied what I produced. The task permitted only 15 minutes per drawing. I felt stressed and drew hastily from my photographs taken on a trip to the Brooklyn Cemetery. It felt like I had made no progress at all and was quite frustrated.

I thought about what I would like to do with the photo I selected:

– No time limit. I can’t draw against a watch counting!
– Try a watercolour painting: Make leaf-shaped marks with a brush and gradually build up the tonal areas
– Not use pencil. It’s a pain having to cover a large area with texture to make a dark overall tone.

But I decided to try again and complete the set of four drawings in pencil.

Drawing 3: The main entrance to the Brooklyn Cemetery, view from withing over the waterside

This drawing felt a bit like progress. I remembered what I had learnt about drawing trees, which was to sketch in the shapes of foliage. This made my mark making a bit more structured for the trees. I let myself draw for 30 minutes because after fifteen there was still too much open space. I thought it might be better for me if I allowed myself the time I needed and then with more experience, to develop shortcuts how to sketch more quickly what I see.

Drawings 4 and 5: View over trees and a pyramid, Manhattan skyline at the horizon

In the first drawing I may have learnt a lot about the photograph, but I wasn’t able to bring this into my drawing. Making this drawing felt like a waste of time, and I was confused and irritated because I did not understand what was going wrong. Looking again at the drawing later, I felt less negative, but was far away from being satisfied with it.

I tried to improve readability in a second drawing using colour. Maybe there was a problem with composition, or with the camera’s ability to capture what I was able to see in front of the real view. I found there were no broad tonal areas to distinguish – the entire picture was in the medium range. The interesting aspect was the distance incorporated – from the pyramid in the foreground, the trees in the middle ground and Manhattan skyline at great distance. I drew these elements, but the drawing didn’t capture what I found interesting about the view. The composition is somehow very cluttered, whereas I remember the real view feeling much more open. Maybe the effect is the result of using a photograph as the source for my drawing.

I thought that I might need to analyse my photographs more thoroughly before beginning to draw, to help me understand better what I should emphasize in the drawings. “Fast drawing helps you to concentrate and to see better.” This statement in the course materials doesn’t seem to apply to me.

Drawing 6: The statue

The initial drawing was made within the official time limit, but I added some time for details. The drawing worked much better than the other photographs, maybe because there was a particular point of interest, the figure in the center.

Reviewing my work for this exercise, there seems to be some kind of development in how I drew, from very expressive and uncontrolled to slower and finer. But I feel still light years away from good drawings. It feels like my mind is cluttered with instructions, and I can’t access my personal way of drawing because I’m in conflict with the guidelines about what and how I should draw. Or maybe it’s just hopeless, and drawing is just not among the things I can do well.

Posted in 3: Drawing outdoors, Review: Landscape drawing | Comments closed

More artists: Georgia O’Keeffe

By patriciakarsten | Published: November 5, 2013

Georgia O’Keeffe was an American Painter (1887 – 1986), “recognized as the Mother of American Modernism” (Wikipedia). I became curious when I found her in the series of stamps “American Artists 1913- 31” by the United States Postal Services. I had often heard her name but never taken a closer look.

After my move to the United States I thought it would be interesting to study American artists – with the opportunity of maybe seeing some original works in Museums, and also exploring mutual influences with European Artists. I have to admit that my interest in art has been very Europe-centred until now – focusing mainly on France and Britain in the 18^th to 20^th century.

My visit to the Hopper Exhibition was a first step to study American art, and I realized how looking at his drawings has influenced my own approach, by making me aware that my drawings lacked contrast and by encouraging me to work more boldly. So my look at Georgia O’Keeffe was not guided by any particular preconception. I was just curious about her work and hoped to learn something for my own practice.

The Wikipedia Article presented an interesting charcoal drawing: No. 13 Special 1916-17. I liked how this composition included basic forms of soft waves and sharp edges, and went from very light to very dark tones in smooth blendings versus hard contrasts. For me these elements are the building blocks of drawing and painting. Georgia O’Keeffe’s works have been been interpreted in Freudian terms. I’m not into this, but it’s true that the paintings I saw evoked erotic connotations, for example Blue-green (1919).

The video of a C-Span American History TV broadcast, “Life and Artwork of Georgia O’Keeffe” (2013) gave some background information. I found O’Keeffe’s New Mexico Landscape paintings and and some photographs of her as a young and aged woman really exciting. O’Keeffe seems to have developed from more naturalistic paintings of flowers and landscapes to complete abstract paintings in the same style.

The paintings also reminded me of some paintings by Edward Hopper with their tendency to simplify surface textures, and their focus on colour and their tones and contrasts. I recently realized that I have the same tendency and wanted to make a deliberate effort to create more varied textures on my surfaces, I’ll see how far I’ll get.

Besides flowers and landscapes, O’Keeffe also painted architectural views of New York, and I’m clearly interested in these I selected two paintings for a closer look: A Manhattan view and a New Mexico view. They are very different with respect to their choice of colours and the dominant kinds of shapes: The Manhattan view in blue-grey tones with a colder overall impression, and mostly rectangular shapes at defined angles. By contrast, the New Mexico view (1930) composed of softened triangular, wavy shapes and a combination of blue-grey tones for the shades and warmer earth tones for the hills. The paintings have in common their untextured object surfaces dominated by colour and tone, and the extended portrait format.

The choice of format is something I’d like to take on board for my own practice. I often felt when taking photographs that landscapes worked better in landscape format because this captures more of the perception of a wide area. But the camera view is still very restricted and distorted at the edges for technical reasons (unless the lens is corrected). I experimented with perspective correction using the Photoshop software – extending the left and right upper corners outwards until the “falling” vertical lines became straight again. This results in trapezoid image formats with some distortion in the sky area, but it reduces the compressed feeling created by inward falling vertical lines. Nevertheless, unless using a panoramic format camera or gluing together multiple consecutive views, the photograph will not convey the sense of open space one has when viewing a landscape.

So one big advantage of drawing from nature is that one can extend the format to panoramic, for example by using two sketchbook pages! I now understand an instruction in the townscapes exercise that I previously found obscure. Unfortunately I haven’t taken any consecutive photographs during my recent visit to the Brooklyn cemetery, but I hope to remember the idea when I’m out for an excursion next time.

A second aspect that I found important for my own practice was the colour intensity Georgia O’Keeffe achieved in her paintings. I selected Oriental Poppies (1928) as an example for deep orange to yellow tones, contrasted by black at the inside of the flower. Maybe this kind of colour intensity is reserved to oil or acrylic paintings. On the other hand, watercolours can be applied in very intense layers and might also achieve this intensity in the tones. This is something I was searching for in my drawings, but did not get there until now.

The third important aspect I discovered was that Georgia O’Keeffe painted landscapes as well as close-ups of details, employing the same basic technique of focusing on shape and tones. In the Oriental Poppies painting, a close-up, this results in almost a textured effect for the surfaces. So the same technique which creates a sense of flat surfaces at a larger scale creates a different effect in a close-up study.

To conclude, I’ll include these wonderful photograph by Alfred Stieglitz of Georgia O’Keeffe at age 45. I see so much willpower and masculinity in her personality which somehow is in great contrast to the delicacy and feminity in her paintings. And a second one showing her from the side. She must have been a fascinating woman.

Sources

Georgia O’Keeffe Museum – Browse the Collection Online http://contentdm.okeeffemuseum.org/cdm/search/collection/gokfa

Wikipedia Article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_O%27Keeffe

C’Span Video Library: Life and Art of Georgia O’Keeffe http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/310650-1

MoMa Netmuseum Article on Georgia O’Keeffe http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/geok/hd_geok.htm

MoMa Netmuseum Online Collection of Georgia O’Keeffe’s works http://www.metmuseum.org/collections/search-the-collections?ft=georgia+o%27keeffe

Alfred Stieglitz photographs of Georgia O’Keeffe at age 45 (1932) http://www.metmuseum.org/collections/search-the-collections?ft=georgia+o%27keeffe

Georgia o’Keeffe 1928 Oriental Poppies http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/georgia-o-keeffe/oriental-poppies

Posted in 3: Drawing outdoors, More artists, Review: Landscape drawing | Comments closed

Drawing skills: Inktense coloured pencils

By patriciakarsten | Published: November 3, 2013

I bought my Inktense pencils a while ago, after I read in the student forums that people were so amazed by them. I hadn’t really had the time to explore these until now. At the occasion of my review of part three, I made a sunset cloudscape drawing using Inktense coloured pencils. I was dissatisfied with the result, in particular with the low colour intensity, because the white paper shines through everywhere when using the a dry technique. But before applying water, I wanted to enquire about the technique which I found quite difficult to master in earlier attempts. So I started the enquiry with a Google search for “Derwent Inktense” and found several videos.

Dina Kowal: Inktense Pencils http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYU_PV34cNA

The first video I watched from start to end was by Dina Kowal. It is a brief 5-minute demonstration how to use Inktense pencils with water. She explains that Inktense pencils are like ink, in that once dried, they are no longer watersoluble. This means that one has to work fast. But it is possible to apply a second layer with the pencils, which can then be worked with water again. As a tool, she used a brush pen, which looked quite useful. The tip is a brush, and then the pencil has a tiny water tank in the handle. She also used a rag to clean the brush after each colour for not mixing colours inadvertedly.

She explained that the first step is to sketch in the colours with lighter and darker tones for shades roughly where you want them, and then use water to work from lighter colours to darker colours. For example, the yellow at the inside of her example flower was dissolved first and then blended with the red tone at the bottom and tips of the flower. She applied a second layer which was worked out the same way to give more depth to the colours. The result looked really lovely and the colours were as intense as I had hoped for these pencils.

Now my big question was whether this technique would work for my sunset cloudscape with the burning yellow, orange, red and rose tones before the darkening sky. It takes quite a bit of courage to go over a “finished” drawing and risking to completely spoil it. Another problem was that I hadn’t used watercolour paper, but only medium weight drawing paper. The surface would not permit much brushing, and there’s a risk that the paper will buckle. I would have to take a very soft brush, and apply a trick to flatten the paper afterwards: Since the pigments are no longer watersoluble once dried, I can re-work the drawing and after it has dried, soak in water and flatten out to dry as if it was a watercolour sheet.

Info on Derwent Waterbrushes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRrx51eNv5c

The waterbrushes presented here didn’t look like the one used in the Dina Kowal’s video. The demonstration looked interesting, but I couldn’t really see the advantage over using just a brush with a pot of water. “Avoiding the hassle” as it was presented, ok maybe, but so far I didn’t have the feeling that it was a hassle if I used those simple means.

But I found one comment to the video interesting. Somebody reported a problem with suction of these water brushes: When you draw, a little pressure is applied to make the water flow through the brush. But once this pressure is released, there is a suction of the fluid including pigment back into the container, and the result is coloured water in the reservoir, which is not what you want. So maybe I’ll keep it simple and resist the temptation to buy just another art tool.

Drawing with watersoluble graphite http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vedjfO-L54U

This video was a little off-topic but I thought maybe I can make use of similar techniques for the inktense pencils. Watching the video began with a surprise: The graphite pens presented are the ones that I have, but I wasn’t aware they are watersoluble.
A good tip followed: If the colour is getting too dark or too intense, it can be lifted of with a paper towel or a damp Q-Tip. And something important to remember: Letting hatching lines follow the surface shape of an object supports three dimensionality. I think I forgot that and applied my marks criss-cross which destroyed the impression of volume.

Interestingly, the different grades of graphite sticks, like 2B or 6B result in different intensities. 6B is softer and when applied and dissolved with water, it creates much darker tones. This is good for creating depth in the tones. Greatest difference compared with Inktense pencils, apart from colour of course, is that the watersoluble graphite remains soluble. Adding a second layer and dissolving it will also dissolve what’s underneath.

Next step presented was to add details with watersoluble graphite pencils. The video became a bit lengthy at this point. But it was an interesting demonstration nevertheless.

Derwent graphitint pencils http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms19LuGOkng

Another product presentation from the manufacturer. I used these pencils before and also applied water, they are a mixture of graphite and colour pigment and create very interesting broken colour effects.

Pencil blending techniques http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufgdg8bwexI

A further instructional video by Dina Kowal. The different blending mediums presented were interesting. It was also good hint to have three values for each colour – the colour itself, plus a lighter and a darker tone. This idea of three tones was very central when I worked on the cloudscapes. I saw that I needed at least these three different tones, but often I did not manage to build them up.

Dissolvents: Odorless mineral spirits, baby oil or mineral oil, alcohol blender, colourless blender pencil

Tools: Blending stump

The way she used the blending stump with mineral spirits might work nicely for my cloudscape drawing, because it does not make the paper wet and it looks like a very controlled technique to get an even distribution of colours, which is what I want for the dark blue sky. I might need a different technique for the clouds because here the colours are really wildly torn as the clouds are. It might be a good idea to experiment first on a separate sheet, before touching my drawing.

Tip: When using oil, keep a dedicated stump for each colour family to avoid smudging the colours

She also explained that blending with a colourless blender pencil does not dissolve the pigment, but fill up the paper with binder and mixes in the pigments of coloured layers.

With pencils only, applied dry, blending can be achieved in three basic steps
– Apply lightest colour, leave out highlights
– Add darker tone to the edges etc
– Use lighter colour to blend in the darker with the lighter colour
These steps are repeated between lighter and darker colour until the desired shading is achieved.

Jerry’s Artarama, How to sketch using watersoluble drawing tools http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbeGKa99TFk

This video shows an entirely different approach, much more painterly and expressive. The layers of pigment are applied boldly on the paper, and then a big brush with lots of water is applied. Working like this looks like working with watercolours. I really liked the approach. Another good tip: “Reductionist techniques”, using a paper towel to take off paint and create light areas where needed. This might work nicely for my cloudscape, although I’m a bit concerned whether the paper I used is robust enough for this kind of surface treatment, when wet.

What I like about this video is the instructor… not the kind of “how to draw a sunset”-instructor, but someone with a loose and exciting style. An interesting painter, despite (?) commercial success. http://robertburridge.com/

Selected drawings with Inktense pencils

Inktense pencils are often used for photorealistic or kitsch style drawings, which I find less interesting. I chose some which I liked, as an inspiration for myself and reminder what can be done with these pencils. Interesting how there seem to be two different basic approaches: painterly vs drawing/sketching.

Robert Burrige, 6 inktense drawings http://robertburridge.blogspot.com/2010/03/derwents-inktense-pencils.html

Victoria Fawley, Autumn http://colored-pencil-studio.com/documents/65.html

Peggy Haug, A Seattle urban sketcher http://seattle.urbansketchers.org/2013/05/bike-n-sketch-in-fremont.html

Allan Kirk, Costa Brava Spain http://tarnincolour.blogspot.com/2010/02/watercolour-pencils-at-seaside.html

Nikira, sketching Manhattan http://nikiraart.blogspot.com/2011_01_01_archive.html

Posted in 3: Drawing outdoors, Miscellaneous, Review: Landscape drawing | Comments closed

Part 3 Review: Drawing cloud formations

By patriciakarsten | Published: November 1, 2013

For my review of part 3, drawing outdoors, I’m beginning a new sketchbook. This time I chose one with heavier and more robust paper (160 gms) that will hopefully be appropriate for wet media, too. I will do the exercises not necessarily in the order they appear in the course materials, because I need a bit of planning whether I will be able to draw outside or have to use photos. Drawing outside and taking photos depends on weather conditions so I’ll adapt to what’s possible.
I started my review with the cloud drawing exercise. The task was to make small sketches of cloud formations in charcoal, oil pastel and conte chalk pastel. I used oil pastels first and selected four photos. I divided my 23 x 30.5 cm sketchbook page into 4 separate areas.

Page 1: Four small cloudscapes, Guardi artist oil pastels (set of 48)

The most difficult aspect was to make a study on this tiny area with a medium as bold as oil pastels. I think this is not the best combination. If I’m to make a study, I want to look closely and have enough space to work out what I want to depict. So I’m having the same problems now as on the first go for this exercise. Maybe the idea of the exercise is to give students first hand experience on what works and what doesn’t. But my aim is to become better at cloud drawing, so maybe I’ll have to try out a different approach, once I had my go based on task instructions. And to see where I get I will stay with my four selected photographs for a while, this will help to compare between media.

Page 2: Daler Rowney oil pastels (set of 24)

Working on the entire sketchbook page worked better, but the photo I chose was difficult to depict with oil pastels. There are no singular clouds, instead there is a cloudy sky torn apart by the winds. I decided to include the panoramic view over the East River towards Williamsburg Bridge below my sky in order to see how the sky would correspond to an actual landscape. From the smaller colour choice I chose only few tones and tried to use them to create tonality. I think the result is interesting with respect to the tones and colours I created.

Page 3: Conté pastels (24 colours, landscape selection)

The same motif, but drawn with chalk pastel. I experimented with tissue paper, cotton tip sticks and putty rubber. Lacking different grey colours, I used medium blue, violet and black which felt like a very restricted palette but I began discovering how to achieve lighter and darker tones which corresponded to the skyscape. With these dark tones, the darks tended to become exaggerated. The result was quite a dramatic sky. But so far, my clouds do not look realistic.

Page 4: Charcoal

Another try on the motif with charcoal. The monochrome approach makes sense as I realized in the previous picture that the cloud structures can be depicted with a tonal approach rather than with different colours. The cloud formations in this photograph are difficult to capture, but this drawing gets them more cloud-like than the previous one. I also discovered that there was an aspect of aerial perspective – the further background with the bridge was softer in tone than the middle ground of the piers to the left and right of the river. This creates much depth. The sky directly above the ground was indeed quite dark, but in the drawing this seems to work against the depth impression as that area became a bit heavy.

Page 5: Conté pastels

Aim: Attempting a more realistic depiction of a cloudscape by developing three-dimensionality

Result: Looks like I’m working in the right direction, this cloudscape is much more cloudlike than earlier attempts. I worked and re-worked quite a while. I still have difficulties identifying and drawing dark, middle and light tones. Initially I thought the purple would serve as a dark tone, but then I realized that it worked better as a medium tone. My tonality is thus a bit chaotic, but I feel that I learnt something.

Page 6: Chalk pastels

Aim: Another try to depict a single cloud before a blue sky

Result: At the first stage, the different tones and overall forms in the drawing looked correct, but I found the white paper shining through the pastel marks disturbing the overall impression because the colours were not intense enough. I worked over the drawing to soften the pastels and added a tonal gradation to the sky, this was an improvement.

I think I now understand better why the task wanted students to draw the clouds small scale. With my roughly A4 sized sketchbook and a large cloud on it, I have to go 4 to 5 meters away to be able to appreciate whether the tonality worked. So while the larger size makes it easier for me to work out shadings with bold media like pastel or charcoal, it is not easy to judge the effect while sitting close to the page. Drawing small scale permits easier judgement of the tonal effects while working. But I had the problem that I wasn’t able to make realistic tonality with the bold sticks. So I see two possible solutions: Take my time with the bold media on small scale, or change to something which permits finer tonality shadings at small scale, for example coloured pencils.

Page 7: Small sketches in charcoal and coloured pencils with wash

Aim: Try again the small format with a bold medium, incorporating colour for a blue sky

Result: As expected, the charcoal was difficult to work with in the small format. The landscape with the cloudy sky is not very realistic but I made some progress in that I was able to increase the number of tones produced. For the next two sketches I used coloured pencil hoping this would work better in the small format. I was indeed able to draw a bit more detailed, but the main problem of creating a cloudlike impression remained. I couldn’t resist to try a wash, but this was also very difficult in the small format.

I’m not satisfied with the “cloudiness” of my cloudscapes, but am not sure why they don’t work. Maybe it’s again the old problem of too much visual information for me to capture. Maybe I should restrict myself to small sections for which I have the capacity to study in detail and use these to learn how to depict realistically, and then tackle larger cloudscapes. That said, I still like the little sketches because they are quite expressive, the only problem is that they don’t realistically depict the clouds.

Larger drawing: Sunset cloudscape

Some days later there was an incredible sunset, and I took lots of photographs from my terrace into the sky. Later I selected one for a drawing – some apartment buildings, almost black, contrasting against a sky with clouds on fire. I did a perspective correction on the photo to bring the angles of the “falling vertical lines” of the buildings back to 90 degrees. This had the effect of opening up the sky, which made it feel more realistic.

I made a drawing on A3 cartridge paper with coloured pencils. I wanted to capture the yellow, orange and rose tints of the clouds against the darkening blue sky and the near black silhouette of the buildings. The main problem was to build up the desired colour intensity with the pencils. I worked two hours or so on the drawing, and the clouds looked approximately like clouds, but coloured pencils wouldn’t be my media of choice for drawing cloudscapes again, I thought. Maybe I’d prefer wet media when it comes to colours, because they permit obtaining deep colours in one go.

Since I was dissatisfied with the result and remembered that inktense pencils are watersoluble, I briefly researched the techniques involved and also wrote a blog entry with tipps and resources for my “drawing skills” section. Then I made a smaller sketch to try out dissolving the coloured pencil layer with water. Main finding was that the paper quickly begins to crumble, so if one’s not using watercolour paper, it is better to use a very soft brush and don’t work in too many layers.

The result of the sketch were moderately successful and I just wanted to try whether I was able to improve the main drawing. So I worked over it. I made more layers of reworking than intended and it was at the edge of dissolving the paper. Unfortunately I did not make a photograph of the first stage. I think the overall impression of the drawing has improved, although I still wasn’t satisfied with the intensity of my colours.

What have I learnt, and how can I improve?

Dissolving coloured pencils with water is a complex technique and I find it difficult to master. In the end, I wasn’t able to create even colour layers where I wanted them. Problems similar to watercolour drawings appear: The risk of overworking the colours and getting muddy tones if too many colours are mixed.

If I were to do it again, I think I’d try watercolours with ink. The watercolours to be applied generously for the cloud formations and their burning colours. The ink to achieve real dark tones for the silhouettes of the buildings, which become lively through hatching, maybe combined with a wash.

I also realized the source of my problems with the final drawing for assignment three: I wanted to increase colour intensity in my coloured pencil drawing, but did not master the technique. All the problems occurred: Buckling paper, smudging colours, uneven colours where I did not want them. So part of the disaster can be attributed to my difficulties with a new technique.

Posted in 3: Drawing outdoors, Review: Landscape drawing | Comments closed

Part 4 Follow-up: Self portraits II

By patriciakarsten | Published: October 31, 2013

Looking at my work for this part of the course after having completed the assignment, I became aware that I had made only two self-portraits. I liked both, but wanted to try out more media and see whether I was able to depict myself more realistically and improve resemblance.

I made four more drawings so far. They were not overly successful but I include them to document the learning process. The first one began with pen & ink and was later colorized with wax crayons and a wash. Technically, this did not work out because the paper was not resistant enough and began crumbling. The other problem was that the dark tones of the eyebrows and eyes mixed with the softer skin tones and the result became sort of greenish, which wasn’t what I had intended.

For the second drawing, I chose oil pastel because I thought this would permit more control over developing lighter and darker skin tones. This was indeed the case, although I soon was at my skills limit. Technically the problem was that the oil pastels did not permit to make fine details in the mouth and eye region, and I wasn’t really able to capture the actual skin tones. But I had made a beginning to model the face with lighter and darker tones and wanted to work further in this direction.

So for the next drawing, I chose willow charcoal with the aim of modeling the face in tone, leaving out the problem of colour. I had sometimes experienced tonal studies as if I was developing a sculpture, and this effect of three-dimensionality was what I wanted. Again I felt that I did not really master the medium. I produced very dark marks, but when I tried to soften them using the finger, they dissolved into too light tones. I wasn’t able to depict finer details around the eyes, and the shadings never seemed to get into the right place or form. Although I like the drawing and think I achieved good contrasts, there is not much resemblance with me.

I decided to do another black-and-white study with a medium that permitted more control over tonality, yet made dark marks, and selected 9B graphite stick. This time I placed myself further away from the mirror and reduced the available light, because I wanted to focus on simple shapes in light and dark tones and continue on the idea of modeling. The drawing began as a linear sketch and maybe I should have left it at that, because I wasn’t satisfied with the texture of the hair and skin nor the sweater, the marks were disturbing. The neck is way too long. But the shadows in the face worked in the way I intended.

Overall, I was perplexed that none of these drawings really resembles me. The oil pastel drawing has the greatest resemblance. They all have something of me, but none really captures the characteristics of my face. I’m also not satisfied with my technical abilities in each medium and think that in each of them I need much more practice to achieve the effects I want. I’m not sure how I can improve overall resemblance. Maybe I’m simply too exhausted in the evenings after work, to observe and draw with the necessary concentration and persistence.

A day later I made another drawing, again in A3 format, this time with a very soft (8B) pencil. From this series, this is the drawing that resembles me most. My face is somewhat wider than I drew it and somehow everything is a bit different in reality, but the overall expression is relatively similar to how I actually look like. There are several aspects where I see improvements:

– There is some structure in the hair. It is not much, but the texture is more hair-like than earlier attempts. The hair’s darker tones around the face give depth and the blending into lighter tones over the dark sweater also works.

– There is a broader range of tones from dark to light, an improvement compared to many of my other pencil drawings which tended to be much too light and lacking contrast. This had to do with using a softer pencil, but it was also a deliberate goal while I was drawing

– The tonality in the face is subtle enough to create a three-dimensional effect, although there are still areas where the tones got too dark, for example between the chin and the lips.

I had some difficulties when I tried to work over the eyes. It was difficult not to smudge other areas and at one point, the paper seemed to be saturated and I wasn’t able to erase cleanly what did not work. Therefore I stopped working on the drawing, although there were still many elements that needed improvement.

This series of self-portraits will finalize my work for part four for now. I know there is still much room for improvement, but I think in this part of the course I have begun to work a bit more independently and engage more with my drawings, which I perceive as a huge step forward for me personally. I feel now much better about my drawings than I felt at the end of part three.

As there is still some time left until the submission date, I will review part three of the course (drawing outdoors). Initially I only wanted to make an improved assignment drawing of my view out of the window. But with most of my exercises for that part below standard, I then decided I’d rather review the entire part before approaching the assignment again. So I will see what I can do in the time until submission is due.

Posted in 4: Drawing figures, Review: Self Portrait | Comments closed

Part 4 Follow-up: The moving figure II

By patriciakarsten | Published: October 27, 2013

After finishing assignment four, I realized that I had not completely worked out this project. There were several more sketches in my little sketchbook that I took with me, but I found it very difficult to draw during daytime when I work and so the drawings lacked dedication. My mind is busy and I’m stressed, and I have great difficulties to switch into “drawing mode” during lunchtime.

So I thought I’d better work from photos, at home when I’m quiet and have time. I can take some whenever an occasion presents itself and can draw later. I made a trip to Union Square with the idea of taking pictures of people. This is a rather unusual motif for me, because otherwise I’m more interested in nature or interesting perspectives, and tend to omit people in my photographs.

Exercise 1: Sitting and waiting

I made my sketches in the large A3 sketchbook which contains early work for parts 1 and 2 of this course. I drew only on one side of each sheet because the paper is quite thin and the drawings shine through to the reverse side. The large format requires enlarging the images from the computer screen, but it permits enough space for detail studies, if the photo is detailed enough.

The first sketches were in pen and indigo ink: A couple, a young man, a young miss on high heels, and a young woman on a windy day. The last sketch was a bit more experimental in composition. Instead of fitting the woman in the center of the sheet as I did with the first drawing, I drew her quite large and as if walking into the scene. This reflected the situation of the picture, the woman was walking in front of me from left to right.

I continued drawing from these photos over several days. I stayed with pen & ink because I felt that the practice helped me to overcome my fears of making misplaced marks. I thought I’d benefit from staying with one single medium and maybe develop a bit of a personal style in it, or at least a bit of routine.

What I like about these drawings is that I made little compositions from different sections of a photo, or drew elements at different sizes. My favourite from this set of sketches is the chess players drawing. This would be the one I can imagine to develop further, maybe into a painting at larger scale. I also liked the young woman on a windy day, because of the hair flowing in the wind and the movement in the feet.

I completed the exercise with drawings after photos from a works outing to see how I get along drawing several people in the same scene. I found it quite difficult to achieve resemblance because the photos were not detailed enough and in the face, tiny marks and tiny errors have a huge impact on the expression of a face. From these drawing I chose the final group at the table for working up in coloured pencil. I like that drawing for the atmosphere it conveys, a group of men sitting together.

Exercise 2: Fleeting moments

I thought this exercise asked about moments that would make “good snapshots”, special moments that quickly pass by. I found it difficult to decide on a theme for this exercise and finally chose “At the woodsmith’s shop”. I made these photos several years ago. From my photos I chose those which incorporated some movement or particular energy. I remember that I was impressed by how the movement of the arm with the hammer can develop such power to form the red-glowing iron.

I was more experimental with media in this exercise. For the first drawing, I chose oil pastel because it had that movement blur and I thought this could be done by working up a thick layer of oil pastel. I liked the result but wasn’t able to depict any details of face and hands.

So for the second drawing, I wanted to try coloured pencils which permit more detailed work. I liked the correspondence between the figure and the fireplace where the iron was heated, and wanted to include both elements in the drawing. I slowly began laying out tonal areas but the drawing remained very pale. This was not what I wanted, so I decided to work over with black pen. The initial hatching was more or less irritating and the drawing did not work, but at some point I let go and developed the really dark tones of the background and figure. I left out the fire and the glowing iron in contrast. In the end I was surprised and satisfied that the drawing began to function.

For the final drawing, I chose charcoal because I wanted to focus on the tonal values and the energy in the posture coming from the intention of moving the hammer with force. The pressed charcoal stick was awkward to work with, I think I prefer the softer willow charcoal because it is easier to make dark blacks. It is again a drawing that lacks fine detail, but I like how I captured the posture of the figure and the woodsmith’s equipment.

Posted in 4: Drawing figures, Review: The moving figure | Comments closed

More artists: Paul Noble, Charlotte Verity, Piet Mondrian, Leon Kossoff

By patriciakarsten | Published: October 22, 2013

My tutor suggested in the report on assignment 3 that I take a closer look at these four artists:

Paul noble – For personal interpretation of townscapes in pencil.
Charlotte Verity – Trees for fluidity and sense of movement.
Piet Mondrian’s trees – again for the use of manipulation of media.
Leon Kossoff – energy and expressive drawings of his surroundings.

Paul Noble: Interpretation of townscapes in pencil

Born 1963, British visual artist

Invented, surrealist townscapes. Extremely fine lines, entirely constructed. Everything seems to be entirely controlled. I have the utmost respect for artists who feel the urge to make this type of drawings, but they represent about the most extreme opposite of what I personally like in drawing or find interesting in townscapes.

Sources

Tate Gallery http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/paul-noble-2767

Guardian article, Artist Paul Noble on how he draws. http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/sep/19/paul-noble-how-he-draws accessed 21 October 2013

Charlotte Verity: Trees for fluidity and sense of movement

British artist, makes paintings, etchings and watercolours. Born 1954 in Germany.

The paintings and watercolours of trees and plants are interesting and beautiful. They have something very fragile which is in stark contrast to my perception of massiveness conveyed by oil paintings. For example the painting titled “Winter 2011-2012” looks like a very transparent and soft watercolour, but it is an oil painting.j

It is a bit unfortunate that the web images I found were only low quality reproductions which do not permit a study of detail.

Sources

Artist homepage http://www.charlotteverity.co.uk/cev/home.html

North House gallery exhibition presentation: http://www.northhousegallery.co.uk/art-exhibition/artist/charlotte-verity/in-and-out-of-the-garden/

Piet Mondrian: Trees for the use of manipulation of media

Dutch painter, 1872-1944

Developed from a more naturalist style into a purely abstract painter – well known his graphical paintings consisting of black lines combined with yellow, red and blue rectangle areas.

These naturalist depictions of trees were made around 1900. Very nice to see the pencil study which prepared the painting of a group of trees. Many details were given up to simplify the oil painting.

It was very interesting to look at this development in how Mondrian depicted trees – from very naturalist to increasingly abstract. The later paintings can be seen as the result of increasing abstractions from the idea of a tree. I let the paintings speak for themselves!

Sources

Wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet_Mondrian

Gray Tree painting (1912) http://vr.theatre.ntu.edu.tw/fineart/painter-wt/mondrian/mondrian-1912x.jpg

Christies Auction review, Stammer Mill with streaked sky (1905-07): http://www.thecityreview.com/s01cimp2.html

Tate Org: Artist Piet Mondrian http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/piet-mondrian-1651, The Tree A (c1913) http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/piet-mondrian-1651

Image gallery with many works by Piet Mondrian http://en.wahooart.com/Art.nsf/WebListe_EN?SearchView&count=30&Start=1&SearchOrder=3&Query=[Champ1]+contains+%22Piet%20Mondrian%22

Leon Kossoff: Energy and expressive drawings of his surroundings

British expressioninst painter, born 1926 in London

The video shows Leon Kossoff guiding two journalists through the British National Gallery, where the artist had an exhibition. Kossoff has spent much time of his life there and made part of his own works in direct response to paintings from old masters he studied there, for example Rembrandt’s Ecce Homo (1634).

What I like about this picture is that it is not attempting an exact reproduction or realistic depiction of the scene and the faces, but nevertheless conveys much intensity and energy. The fact that this artist was suggested for a closer look is somehow encouraging, because I have many doubts about my own drawings. Some were judged as “rushed” by my tutor, and I did not even like them myself because I found that they were not able to convey the sense of beauty I had when I observed the scene. I’m thinking especially about the group of trees I drew for trees project, but it happened multiple times. Maybe I’ll be able to develop my impatient style into something that better conveys what I feel. It is a bit like the permission and encouragement to develop my own voice, rather than having to force myself into the precise representational approach which seems to overwhelm and paralyze me at times.

Sources

Interview with Leon Kossoff on BBC UK (Youtube Video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAmBFUp-kUQ

Leon Kossoff, drawing from painting article on studiointernational online http://www.studiointernational.com/index.php/leon-kossoff-drawing-from-painting/ accessed 21 October 2013

Tate Gallery, Leon Kossoffs etching after Rembrandt’s Ecce Homo http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/kossoff-from-rembrandt-ecce-homo-p20315/text-summary (no image available)

National Gallery, Rembrandt (1634) Ecce Homo http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/rembrandt-ecce-homo

Leon Kossoff, after Rembrandt’s Ecce Homo (1996) http://www.artspacegallery.co.uk/MainImagePages/Artists/Paintings/Kossoff/MainPages/LK15.html

Posted in 3: Drawing outdoors, Assignment 3, More artists | Comments closed

More artists: Paul Klee

By patriciakarsten | Published: October 20, 2013

Paul Klee, born in Switzerland of German origin, 1879 – 1940

I received an advert for the Paul Klee exhibition at Tate Modern, London. I always liked the subtle tonality of Paul Klee’s paintings, and I was immediately curious what kind of drawings he may have made. A brief Google image search brought up wonderful paintings, and some with the very characteristic, childlike linear elements. There were also pure line drawings on white background, with a very abstract and almost surrealist appearance. I was attracted by the great contrast of the mature Paul Klee’s approach, compared to the observational, representational skills focused approach of the drawing course.

They’re biting (1920) and Fata Morgana at sea (1918)

One of the works I found reminded me immediately of Edvard Munch’s 1883 “The scream” (Der Schrei). And indeed, it’s topic was fear: “The outbreak of fear III” (Angstausbruch III), created 1939 at the outset of World War II.

A very early drawing shows the artist’s study (1896), drawn when Paul Klee was 17. It seems to breath the times – the beginning of the 20th century, before modern times began.

Sources

Paul Klee: Meine Bude (the artist’s study) (1896) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Klee

Wikipaintings: http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/paul-klee

Fish painting: They’re biting http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/klee-theyre-biting-n05658 (17 October 2013)

Angstausbruch III (1939) and Fata Morgana at Sea (1918) from http://arttattler.com/archivepaulklee.html

Wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Klee

Posted in 4: Drawing figures, Assignment 4, More artists | Comments closed

Developing Assignment 4, reclining figure: More studies and final drawing

By patriciakarsten | Published: October 20, 2013

1) Upper body, oil pastel on paper, 48 x 36 cm

Reviewing my earlier studies, I found that the small soft paint pastel study of the arm and shoulder looked quite interesting, despite the restricted palette. I decided to do a follow-up study using oil pastels and see whether I could get closer to the colours I wanted. I also tried to reconnect to the sensuality I perceived when drawing the graphite tonal sketch.

I like this study despite its flaws. I think the right arm is a bit too thin. I think I managed to re-introduced the softness of the hair flowing around the head, and the posture of head and body is very successful. Also the minimalist tonal shadings of the skin works well to indicate the structure of the body. Maybe I could include some more internal structure in the face.

2) Upper body, 9B graphite and coloured graphite pencils, A2 (19 October)

I decided to use the coloured pencils on top of the graphite to give just a minimal tone to the skin (brownish) versus the cushion (blueish), and added a brown and violet tone to trousers and sofa. The colours are almost invisible, but the tone helps to separate the shoulders from the cushion. This addresses the problem of similar tone. I worked out the face a bit more than in the oil pastel drawing. I found it difficult to do enough, yet not overdo.

Final drawing

I was hesitating between pastels (on white or dark paper) and pen and ink with coloured pencils. I thought that pastels would be too bold to include details of the face and wanted to try out whether my earlier approach of combining pen and ink with colour would work on a larger scale.

I started with a pencil outline and tried to get the entire figure proportionally correct on the A2 sheet. When I felt it was about right, I began with pen and ink, and chose an indigo tone. I made tiny marks first to indicate where the basic elements were, then added hatching to create tone. Working with ink took very long because I wanted to achieve those really dark tones of the trousers on the sofa. There were phases where I thought that I wouldn’t bring this drawing to an end because the hatching did not look fine enough and I felt that I had spoilt face, hands and feet with misplaced marks. I decided to persist and try to work over the difficult areas. Then finally I thought I couldn’t add any more ink marks whithout destroying the drawing, and took a break.

I was quite frustrated because I had worked such a long time on it but the drawing did not have the appeal of the earlier pastel or graphite studies of the upper body. After a coffee and some analysis what I did not like and how I might improve the drawing, I decided to add coloured pencil. This changed the entire character of the drawing. By adding a skin tone, the figure came to life, and the grey-purple tone of the cushion provided a nice contrast. The dark brown and violet tones on the trousers and sofa leveled out the irregular hatching marks and greatly improved the overall impression.

Posted in 4: Drawing figures, Assignment 4 | Comments closed

Developing Assignment 4, reclining figure: photo source and first studies

By patriciakarsten | Published: October 19, 2013

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.

Posted in 4: Drawing figures, Assignment 4 | Comments closed

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

Part 3 Review: Sketchbook walk II

More artists: Georgia O’Keeffe

Drawing skills: Inktense coloured pencils

Part 3 Review: Drawing cloud formations

Part 4 Follow-up: Self portraits II

Part 4 Follow-up: The moving figure II

More artists: Paul Noble, Charlotte Verity, Piet Mondrian, Leon Kossoff

More artists: Paul Klee

Developing Assignment 4, reclining figure: More studies and final drawing

Developing Assignment 4, reclining figure: photo source and first studies

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