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

Despite the problems I still had, I felt ready to tackle the assignment. My first step was to provide me with an image that I could use for the main proportions, because I had so many difficulties getting them right from the computer screen or with the printouts I had made so far.

I prepared my slightly modified section of the original photo as a poster print, on 4 A4 sheets, and glued these together to have my original in A2. Thus I had a fairly large image to use for the composition and outline of the figure.

Step 1: Pencil drawing

I began with a pencil sketch of the figure on the sheet and tried to get perspective and proportions right, at the same time I tried to fill the entire format. When I felt the drawing was about right, I proceeded to detail work. I moved the easel towards the computer and used enlarged sections of the photo on the computer screen to help me with details.

I chose smooth, medium weight white paper to permit overworking with felt pen or ink. The paper was not appropriate for washes, so this determined my possible choices of media for this drawing. I had markers in mind but wanted to see how the drawing developed, then decide.

Step 2: Black fineliner

When I felt that I had the details sketched, I proceeded to a black fineliner. The pencil underwork was helpful as a guide, but I constantly looked on my photo source to improve the overall impression.

I decided to employ hatching because the lines alone were confusing at some areas, for example the shades on the trousers

Step 3: Markers

The decision whether or not to use colour markers was very difficult. I really liked the pure black fineliner drawing and was afraid of spoiling it by adding marker. I had already seen that the colours tended to cover up the linework and I did not want to loose focus on the line for this drawing. I made a pause and after looking at my earlier marker sketch I decided to take a risk and just try.

But looking at the result, I found that the black lines needed reinforcement.

Step 4: Soft tip felt pen

I worked over the fine lines that were already there. I tried to use the bolder lines as accents and left the finer lines for more delicate elements.

Step 5 – Final drawing: Colorized background bands

Re-reading my reflections on the studies I made for the assignments, I realized that I had left out the dark metal band which was behind the chair, and which was a very dominant dark area in the original photo source. I decided that I wanted to include this effect into my drawing. I chose the medium gray for the top band and dark brown for the metal band, then added a gray layer on the brown band to dampen the colour a bit.

Somehow I feel that this was the completion step for the drawing, which gave a background and orientation in space to the figure on the chair

Overall I’m quite satisfied with the result. It reminds me of a comic drawing in its bold style. I also like how it captures my morning coffee setting. The real morning coffee is a relaxed situation, but the drawing incorporates something beyond that – my tension, my skepticism, my determination, but also all the questions that are running through my mind.

I was very enthused after the first set of studies, but the next set went less well. I was struggling a lot with proportions and details and somehow nothing seemed to work. I was questioning everything and seemed to be running against that old wall. The studies aren’t particularly successful but I’ll include them anyway because they’re steps towards the final drawing. I consoled myself with the idea that difficult days are often the most fruitful, with hindsight.

14) Face study, pencil in A4 sketchbook (15 October)

Aims: try to achieve more resemblance by studying details, focus on line

Result: Slight improvement over earlier attempts but still not very much resemblance.

Identified problems, possible solutions

– It is very difficult to achieve resemblance when using *only* line because every error is immediately visible. This perception of error is probably a result of human’s highly developed face recognition capacities.

– My photo source is a difficult because my eyes are half closed, since I was looking towards the sun. Maybe at this point I must go away from detail since the image quality does not permit close up – the only thing to be seen are pixels. Will try whether a more generous approach on the face works with the drawing. I think I’d rather try to resolve the difficulty instead of exchanging the photo.

– Drawing the hair is also very difficult using only line. It doesn’t seem to work out.

15) Face study, pen & ink and wash, A4 sketchbook

Aims: Try whether a division in line work (with pen) and adding tonality (with a wash) works for the face

Result: Tonality was difficult to handle with the dark ink I used. The contrast between lit and shaded areas created a hard line which I don’t like. But overall resemblance seems to gradually improve.

Problems and Solutions: The sketchbook paper buckles when I use washes… better switch to heavier paper when using wet media. I have that available on pad.

16) Hand study, pencil in A4 sketchbook (15 October)

Aims: Get to grips with finger positions of the relaxed hand

Result: I’m afraid I ran against the limits of using photographs. I can’t close up the picture because it gets pixelated. This seems to be a general problem because it keeps reappearing whenever I intend to make detail studies.

Open issues

To practice hands, face and other details I think I must find a better solution than enlarging the main picture on screen. But I can’t add up detail photos now because they wouldn’t exactly correspond to the positions in the main photo. I think I must postpone resolution of this issue to a later time.

Maybe when I’m doing the pictures for the second drawing, I can supplement the main photo with detail photos of the difficult areas and this will permit close-up studies. But the problem is that I have to get up and trigger the self-shot mechanism of the camera after each photograph, so each photo tends to be different. The approach might work when having a model which holds position until all photos are made. So probably the better way to go would be to practice drawing objects like hands, face, folds from the real world and then memory of how things should be can supplement drawings from photograph.

I realize that I need more practice and more detail studies, but this requires a larger time frame than available for this assignment. I think I will do my best for now and try experiment with media as well.

17) Figure, quick experimental sketch in pen & ink (umbra and indigo), 24×32 watercolour paper

Aims: Try out pen & ink with washes in a different colour combination. Test the effect of a dark wash for the unlit areas

Result:

– Overall proportions and details of the figure are not well executed.
– The dark wash for the metal band behind the chair works for me. It also works on the hair. Not sure whether the approach is in line with the central idea of this task, to focus on line.
– The colour selection doesn’t convince me, I found the blister/yellow combination more interesting.
– The composition works for me. The size of the figure on the paper is good and the context I included creates a bit of space but doesn’t divert attention
– This drawing looks a bit cluttered, compared to my detail studies. I guess this comes because I tried to include too much detail for the small scale (A4 sketchbook.

Open issues

I seem to have problems with drawing the entire figure. I tend to feel overwhelmed very easily, it is apparent in this study. While I have pleasure drawing just sections, I’m not comfortable with drawing the whole. I need a technique how I can “divide and conquer”. I thought that making an overall sketch to get the proportions right, then drawing in details would work, but somehow I don’t get proportions right when I don’t look at the details to guide me. Maybe the “simple shapes” approach is a technique that helps to overcome the problem. I could try to get proportions right using the complete photo, but only look at simple shapes, then enlarge my photo on screen and work out the details.

This may not be my day for detail work, I have been impatient all the time and that’s not the right attitude for this kind of task. But the idea of a dark wash over the unlit area itself seems to work in exactly the way I wanted. It is particularly the dark metal band behind the chair for which I searched a solution. Will have to try out whether I should leave that white and “invent” those lines of the chair which cannot be seen, or whether I tint the area dark over the invented lines, which would be closer to accurate representation.

18)      Complete figure, pencil in A4 sketchbook

Another try to get proportions about right.

19)      Folds of cloth on the belly, black felt pen in A4 sketchbook

Aims: Study the folds, experiment with media. What will work for bold lines in A2 size?

Result: This was done with a fineliner, then worked over with a big soft felt pen, because I wanted to try out whether bold lines of different thickness worked better than hatching with the fineliner.

Open issues

I like the drawing but am not sure about both hatching and thick lines for the final drawing. I think it is extremely difficult to use only line for the folds and so far I think this did not work very well in my studies. But adding a little colour greatly improves the understandability.

I’m not sure whether I want to use pen and ink on A2 size. Somehow I don’t feel comfortable with the idea. To me, pen and ink fits better with a smaller size of paper, like A4 or A3. Not sure which medium I like for the larger size. This motivated my experiment with the big felt pen, because it would work for the large format. I could use it to vary line thickness. But I wouldn’t want to use it for hatching to indicate tone, the lines are too bold.

20) Complete figure, black pen over pencil, A2

Aim: To get proportions right in large scale

Result: I termed the drawing “big-headed woman”, because the head is much too large compared to the rest. Pun intended. I won’t finish the drawing because the proportions look too ridiculous. Go back to the basics. Any technique to develop skill with proportions? My earlier more successful attempts seem to have been sheer luck. On a more positive side: I’m beginning to take risks.

21) Complete figure, 9B graphite and 4B pencil, newsprint 45 x61 cm

Aim: Improve on proportions

Result: The drawing developed nicely and I felt that I got the figure right on the chair, but then I began working on the face and tried to make the drawing more solid, and this introduced errors. In the end, this drawing got out of control. The upper body too dominant and the face too small. Despite these errors, the composition as such and the space the figure takes on the paper are well done, it fills the format.

22)   Complete figure, HB pencil on A2 paper (15 October)

Aim: Improve on proportions

Result: Same as the drawings before, I’m fine with developing a broad outline but when I begin to make it solid, the errors become apparent. But the overall proportions are better in this drawing than in the two large studies before.

I chose the heavier smooth white paper with the idea of practicing a technique to build up the final drawing from a proportional study. I thought that once I have the proportions right, I can use darker colour for definite lines and details. Maybe I’ll try this out tomorrow. But it is possible that I’d better stay with pencil until I have found the definite lines.

Reflections: Where am I now?

I made several studies and I have a rough idea of what I want. I’m still having problems with proportions but there seems to be slight progress. I could use some more experimentation with media because I’m still undecided between black pen and marker or pen & ink with washes, or maybe do something completely different. So far I like my pen and ink studies best but I don’t feel comfortable with it for the large format.

I’m also not very comfortable with the entire project of “detailed observation” to demonstrate skill in depicting details. I prefer a more generous approach and sometimes it feels like a real chore to do so much detail work. But actually this is more a problem of scale, because I thoroughly enjoyed my detail studies in A4 format. It may also have to do with my deteriorating eyesight, since I have real trouble with visual details. For example, when there’s a number with several zeros, not grouped by spaces, I literally can’t tell how many zeros there are because my eyes cannot focus. I have to use fingers and cover them 2 by 2, then count.

The eye problems make observing details for drawing really difficult. Using glasses improves sight, but imposes a different kind of problem. For example, when I use my distance glasses, the view on distant objects is improved, but everything close, including the drawing pad before me, is blurred because my eyes don’t adapt in a way they could when I was younger.

I need to find ways how I can cope with this problem. I considered employing a technique that was introduced quite early in the course: enlarging an image. I did not like it… it may be the way to go to arrive at correct representation. But I really don’t like this kind of work because it’s a purely technical approach. I’m very dissatisfied with my options at the moment. And time is running away.

I made a series of preparatory studies over a few days.

1) Compositional sketch of complete scene, black pen in A4 sketchbook (9 October)

– The section of the original image works very well for me
– Would leave out the second chair, but am not sure about it. Might convey more intensely the idea of “no partner, but a cat” which I readin the original photo
– Lowered the cloth of the umbrella for compositional reasons

Thought about making sketches of t~t select to verify whether the one I chose works indeed best. Would correspond to making several sketches of a model to find out the best view. But I have made my decision and am quite sure that I want to draw this view and none of the others. Would rather get back if I get stuck. It’s also a matter of economic treatment of the time I have available. If I were unsure, I’d certainly try out different photos. But I feel that I have done this process already when I analyzed the photographs and made my choice.

Next step: Selecting the media to use. Might need some more experimentation! Considering some alternatives:

– Coloured pencil: would work nicelz to build up tonal values. But here it’s about line, so probably not the best choice
– Coloured felt pen: to make coloured lines? Might look a bit childish and appropriate for lighter tones.
I realiye that there’s also a decision about colour and tone to make. But I think the task implies a line drawing, maybe with hatching to indicate what is in front and what is behind.
– I like black pen. I used it for the first sketch. But it doesn’t permit corrections. I tend to not like overdrawn erroneous lines.
– Pencil to permit erasing or gradually develop the correct line?
– I’d also like to use lines of different thickness because I realized that I can indicate three-dimensionality with that and it’s also nice for fine details like traits of the face.

I think I’ll start with some studies of selected elements in pencil to learn about the forms. Then later decide upon the media.

More studies

Was again at odds with instructions because am finding it difficult to focus on line and leave out tonality and colour because for me line is not important, but tonality and colour are. Makes me feel uncomfortable to work solely with line. Switched to working off the computer screen because it was more flexible for enlarging what I wanted to study.

2) Pencil sketch of face and cat: 2B pencil in A4 sketchbook, focus on line (9 October)

3) Upper body and cat, Soft felt pen in A4 sketchbook. (9 October)

The idea was to make lines of different width. Worked over initial sketch in pencil. Pencil outline helped to overcome fear of making bold marks at the wrong place. Second go with felt pen was accompanied by much analztical thinking

4) Complete scene, A3 Study in 4B Pencil (10 October)

Aim: Study proportions, try to find the final lines from tentative light lines, prepare switch to larger format

Problems and solutions

– 4B pencil too soft – tentative lines became too dark. Will switch to harder pencil
– Proportions not correct. Prefer to do another study instead of rubbing over and correcting. Idea of construction the drawing as if it was an architectural sketch.
– Photograph is too dark in many areas, for example the entire left part of the figure – can’t see cloth details and folds. Might try whether I can increase brightness of the picture I use as basis. Would like to stay with the picture because it has an atmoshphere to it that I found worthwhile capturing.

Impact:  Began developing ideas for the final drawing. Discovered the different nature of the linear elements in the picture, for example the rough shadow contours of the square terrace stones. Had the idea to lay out broad coloured washes to indicate terrace wall, floor, houses in background and umbrella in plain colour and overlay with a linear drawing.

Open issues

–  Feeling that the instruction to focus on line hinders me to draw naturally and instinctively. Inner perturbation results in distortions and quick exhaustion while drawing. Don’t know what to do about this. Might try to leave instructions aside for a moment and see if I get along better just drawing like I want to. But this causes again inner conflict because it means ignoring the authoritative nature of the instructions. This seems to describe the core of my problem with this course. But I want to develop skills, so must find a solution that works for me.

– Some decisions required what to include and what to leave out in the drawing. Have a tendency to leave out the black fence because it is so dominant and the drawing looks much softer and peaceful without. Another question is how much detail of the background buildings to include. I’d like to leave them in because they have a meaning in the drawing (inside my terrace – outside are the buildings, I’m protected in here), but want them to optically recede, not dominate. On the other hand – this assignment is about figure drawing. Might be better to focus on the person and make it larger. Having just the cat and my coffee and my dreamy view into the morning sun for central theme.

– Instruction to do studies in the sketchbook and the need to make the final drawing in at least A2 side does not take into account the difference between drawing at different scale. I think I’ll need to do studies in the larger scale as well. On the other hand, selecting a detail and drawing this in A4 is already an enlargement that might fit with the final drawing scale. Will observe how the different paper sizes work for me.

5) Figure on chair without props, 2H pencil study in A4 skechbook (10 October 13)

Aim: Improve proportions of the figure, try constructing the chair and the figure in perspective, focus on line to create dimensionality

Problems and solutions

– Details of feet and face less successful – needs extra study
– Some problems with placing the chair correctly in perspective. Looks ok in the drawing, but isn’t correct compared to the photograph. May not be an issue.

Impact: Slight improvement over previous study in proportions. Line works well on the upper part of the body and on the chair. Realized that pencil lines permit tonal variations. This can be used to emphasize or de-emphasize elements of the drawing.

Open issues: Would like to experiment with different media, on the other hand do not want to work over this study and definitely need more practice with the pencil. Might develop both in parallel

6) Face study, A4 sketchbook, soft felt pen over HB pencil (13 October)

Aim: To try out purely linear drawing based on tentative study with pencil, achieve more resemblance with the person

Result: Indeed more resemblance than earlier attempts, lines still a bit messy/insecure

7) Compositional sketch I: figure and props, large format (45×61 cm), charcoal on newsprint (13 October)

Aim: To try out whether the image idea works on large scale. Assess the effect of the black metal fence in the background

Result: The figure appears well in context, but I’m unsure whether that’s appropriate to the task because the image is composed of 50% context and 50% figure which may be too much emphasis on the context.

8) Compositional sketch II: figure only, large format (45 x 61 cm), charcoal on newsprint (13 October)

Aim: To test whether the figure can be successfully become the dominant image element, which means enlarging the figure and leaving out context

Result: I think this works much better compositionally! It’ll permit to enlarge details of the figure. Not sure if the lack of context doesn’t strip away part of the atmosphere and meaning I wanted to convey. It’s a clear tradeoff. But I think the core of the task is to focus on the figure, not on context details.

9) Figure only, line study in pencil on paper, A2 format (14 October)

Aim: To work on proportions and perspective in large scale, trying to focus on line

Result: Real improvement on proportions. Detail study of face shows effect, but face still needs improvement to resemble me more. Need some detail study of face, ear, hands and feet.

Open issues:

– Whether or not to include cat, houses in the background, pottery and other props. If not, the figure could be drawn larger on the paper
– Which technique to choose for the final drawing. Had several ideas, but feel that I definitely need pencil practice, *because* it is so unforgiving.
– How to indicate shadows. Closely related to choice of medium. What I’d like to do would be a drawing of pen and ink with washes – dark tones in the deep shadows and very transparent for the rest. Problem is that ink permits no corrections at all, and the question whether the idea fits into the task description to “focus on line”. Might make some experiments and just try out how it looks and whether it might work for the final drawing.

10) Study of the feet, pen & ink and marker (blue and brown), A4 sketchbook (14 October)

Aim: to experiment with techniques for the final drawing, take a closer look at details (chose feet for this studz)

Result: Employed sort of bottom-up approach to proportions, using negative space and relative sizes of adjacent elements to get dimensions and orientation correctly. Drawing only a section of the whole was less intimidating with the uncorrectable pen and ink. I like the pen & ink technique for this motif. I chose a blister (dark brown-green tone) which is softer in contrast than plain black. My sketchy approach creates a very lively and energetic overall impression, and the intense marker colours add to this. Advantage of markers over watercolours is that the paper doesn’t buckle.

Open issues

– Treatment of the dark areas behind the chair. My spontaneous approach would be to tint this area real dark and do no line work at all there, just construction lines to be sure that the wooden chair legs are correct in perspective. Would work in a painting, but I don’t know how to solve this in a line-oriented drawing without creating holes in the composition.
– Technique: Not sure whether I’ll stick with markers for adding colour, not entirely satisfied. Might be too irregular on a larger drawing and get into concurrence with the ink mark. I’d prefer the colour to support the ink in a more subtle way. Might be a question of technique, might look better if applied more evenly. But then again, a different medium might be more appropriate.

11) Study of the hand with mug, Pen & ink with wax crayons, A4 sketchbook (14 October)

Aims: Closer look at the left hand with the mug to understand details, experiment with media

Result: The intermediate phase without colour, line only, was interesting in itself. It worked well for the hand, less well for the folds of the cloth. Proportions in the section are fine. Experimented with watersoluble wax crayons but applied them dry. Without water they tend to remain light unless applied as a thick layer. I like the effect, but it’s not really what I was looking for.

Open issues
– Still not satisfied with choice of media, need more experimentation
– More studies of detail warranted, this seems to help me concentrate and obtain better results.

12) Study of the relaxed hand, Pen & ink with wash, blister and yellow, 32 x 24 cm (14 October)

Aims: Studying the details of the other hand, experiment with ink washes

Result: It is an unusual colour combination which I find quite interesting. I like the technique, but I think how I applied it here wasn’t appropriate to the focus of the task: line work. I had begun painting the folds, rather than indicating them with line. Need more experiments and more detail studies

Open issues
– The folds on the belly and the jeans need closer study.
– The hand needs still more study. Problem is that I can’t enlarge my photo any further because it becomes pixelated. Maybe try again in pencil until I’ve understood the structure. Makes me more aware why anatomy is indeed helpful for drawings (what I tended to neglect).

13) Details of folds on belly, 9B Graphite pen, A4 sketchbook (14 October)

Aims: Study the folds on the belly

Result: Developed into a tonal study. Not directly addressing the task, but I let myself go because I felt comfortable with what I was doing.

Open issues: Still not sure how I can appropriately depict the folds on the belly using only line

Some reflections on my process

– I made real progress! I think proportions are getting more accurate overall, and the depiction of details in hand and feet as well. Of course I need more practice, but I’m really happy that for the first time I see that I’m actually developing some skills.

– I developed a technique to keep track of what I wanted, what I achieved and how I might further improve: Aims of a study, result and open issues. It might be much to read but writing these sections really helps me to focus on how I might build on the preparatory studies and develop topic and technique towards the final drawing.

– I also think that I’m addressing the issue my tutor brought up in feedback on assignment 3. She found that my studies led to nowhere, they were incohesive. This time I’m trying to tackle the problems I see, with a clear focus on progressing towards the final drawing! Very glad that I made this step forward.

The task for this assignment was to make two large drawings, one focusing on line, and the other focusing on tonality. Based on my experience with drawing myself and in view of a definite lack of persons whom I might ask to be my model, I thought I’d approach this task using photographs.

Basically, I wanted to overcome the limitations of drawing myself in the mirror, for example the restricted possibilities where I could draw and in what positions. With a mirror, I always had to look into the mirror and place myself to have a good view. In the earlier exercise, I felt I constantly got in my own way. I found most positions quite uncomfortable and this negatively affected my concentration.

Selecting the arrangement

I began on an evening with taking some photos in my study, using the 10-second self-shot feature of my camera. The initial idea was making a picture of myself while sitting at the drawing desk and working at the computer, which is a very typical pose for me. But arranging a nice photo in the tiny studio didn’t work out. I then made several pictures of me with my cat Gina on the sofa. I tried strong directional light, but none of the photos really pleased me nor seemed to work. The angle at which the picture was taken seemed to compresse the figure in the middle, in a similar way as some of my sitting figure drawings were distorted.

The next day, I re-approached the task. I wanted to find a meaningful motif which was worth the effort of making a larger drawing. This may actually be a shortcoming of many of my earlier drawings – they lack personal importance because I focused on task instructions, not on meaning. Of course I put much effort in finding suitable arrangements for each task, but this was rather a technical approach. Going outside this morning I thought I might draw myself taking the morning coffee on the terrace, which has become a pleasant habit. It’s already October but when the sun shines, the temperatures are mild enough to sit outside. So this was the second setting I explored and it seemed to work out.

I tried various positions, like different angles of the chair, different angles of myself on the chair, and different seating and looking positions. I experimented with zooming in and out to see how much space I wanted to give the figure, compared to the background. Every 4 or 5 pictures, I transferred them to the computer to compare and analyse what was ok and how I might improve the composition. The main problem was that I looked as if I was sitting uncomfortable, which was not the main message I wanted to convey. But it was difficult to arrange the small camera on the table and trigger the autoshot, with only 10 seconds to quickly walk over to the chair and place myself and relax to sit as comfortable as I normally would.

I also managed to throw down my coffee mug and pour some warm coffee over my leg, which caused brief irritation, some cleaning and changing clothes, before I continued without coffee mug.

When I had around 20 pictures, I felt that there were some I might use and wanted to select among these. I looked through all of them several times, then made a selection of 5 or 6 which all had something I liked, and then finally chose the one which I thought would work best for my drawing.

I found it showed enough of the figure and the placement of my arms and legs was characteristic for how I usually sit, and looked like not too much clutter. I also liked that my cat Gina was sitting behind my head, and the combination of myself looking to the side and Gina looking into the camera. It was also nice to have some blue sky in the background and the apartment buildings to give an idea of the entire setting. I preferred this to closer-up views with more zoom, where the figure was larger but looked a bit encaged and decontextualized.

Once the decision for this picture was made, I did some follow up work on the computer to produce an outprint which I could use as the basis for my drawing.

Developing the picture: Selecting a section and making the printout

First step was to define the section that I wanted to include in my drawing. I thought about just selecting “on the fly”, possibly differently for each study and thus working my way to the section that worked best. But then I preferred to cut out the outer areas which I found less interesting. I thought that this initial decision would improve the focus of the subsequent studies and the final drawing, and I could enlarge the section and thus it would be easier to work with details, if necessary. I made the section as a rectangle of 1:1.4, which corresponds to the DIN format, because I wanted to use an A2 format for the final drawing. I was aware that restricting myself to a selection and use a defined format for it might reduce my flexibility to modify the initial idea as the studies would develop. On the other hand, I felt quite sure about my decisions and thought I might give it a try and if it didn’t work, I could always go back to the original picture.

Image 1: Original picture

Image 2: My chosen section of the original image

The first printouts were of the original image and the section I had chosen. These were with default printer settings. My aim was to produce an outprint to use as the basis for my studies and the final drawing, because I did not want to have the computer screen in front of me while drawing. It may be practical and generally I prefer a paperless office, but for my artwork I try to reduce my every day reliance on the computer. Which of course doesn’t really work… where would I be with this task if I couldn’t use the computer to solve the problem of drawing myself?

The printouts had modified the colour impression and I did not like that. The sky was too intensely coloured and had a green tone, compared to the image on screen which I perceived as correct. Most tones were also too dark, which made it difficult to distinguish important elements, for example the coffee mug before my black t-tshirt, or one leg before the other.

I then tried out several variations in printer settings and the paper, and also the output size. In total, I produced 10 printouts, from which I could use one in A4 and maybe a second enlarged to A3.

Conclusions

For my purposes, I need to adapt the image and printout settings. This printout needed increased brightness, and I had to switch off any colour matching between computer and printer. Enlarging to A3 would have been desirable but the printouts didn’t work for me because of the colour mismatch at the cutting lines. My printout number 7 on white heavy paper was supposed to be the basis for the next steps in this assignment: Making preliminary studies

I’m documenting this process to make visible the amount of work behind something as simple as “using a photograph as source for a drawing”.