ATV assignment two – Observing and capturing – project 3 – portraying by drawing

Project 3 – Exercise 1.8 Portraying by drawing.

10 drawings of plants- considering, silhouette, tone, repetition, movement, construction, orientation, motifs, flow ,scale, pattern.

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….So despite observing my tendency to try to be really representational I really tried to draw this vase of flowers, Its quite a good representation but I do not find it exciting.

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Water soluble pencil gives very delicate marks.

 

 

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This was a quicker drawing where I experimented with different ways to draw geranium leaves and the soil using ink, I prefer the more illustrative style and feel that I came up with some really interesting patterns. I tried cutting leaves from paper and used different techniques such as creasing and embossing on the reverse with a biro to represent the leaf veins. I tried different weights of paper and also used the waste as a stencil to make leaf shaped marks.

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I picked some leaves on the way to work to draw in my lunch break. Pen and ink, and frottage work well, very delicate still…

 

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A rather wild affair, my garden.. I love the poppies and made these my first subject.

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I started by looking at basic shapes, I can completely understand how drawing from life helps with capturing the essential details of a subject , but drawing plants is really hard!! The sun was either casting shadows of me on the paper or blinding me, and the breeze was not at all helpful, perhaps I will photocopy the line drawings and add colour to them.

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I applied yellow paint to the Gelli paint and tried to take a print of the poppies, it was very faint so I rolled black paint over the plate and drew the poppies into the wet surface. This technique doesn’t really suit the delicate nature of the plant at all. I used a watercolour , wasn’t really impressed with the result so cut out the individual flowers and collaged them onto a painted background, this improved the representation some what and enabled me to play a little more with the placement of the flowers.

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I like the spherical-ness of the rocks most in this drawing, with this plant. I much prefer the Gelli plate prints, and especially like the direct prints where used two colours.

 

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I used a Gelli plate to make marks directly from the plants in my garden, had lots of fun and got some interesting results.

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this is a direct print from the leaves of an ornamental elder type shrub in the garden. I placed it on the Gelli plate and rolled ink over the top, removed the leaves and printed them then took a print of the negative shapes left on the Gelli plate. I really like the marks here, it’s a strong image of a strong plant, I think gardeners would call it architectural. The drawing has a very strong structure, I used black and red acrylic paint, blending them with a roller on the gelli plate and this added a sense of depth, there are some really interesting negative shapes and lovely detail in the veins of the leaves. I think that this is drawing, yet it is an easily achieved representation compared to pen or pencil work, and more interesting than most of my drawings created by more conventional means.

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These are two multi layered prints, I rolled white acrylic over the ghost image on the plate and took the print on the left, this added more detail but left a confused image, the image on the right is similarly layered but was a clearer print. The blossom was added from a single floret stamp that I carved from an erasure. I used white acrylic with a smidge of red that was not completely mixed on my pallate, printing three or four times from each inking gave various densities of print , adding depth to the blossom head.

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Looking  for pattern and repetition.

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I really should experiment more with different media, I used an ink pen spritzed with water to disperse the pigment , the drawing on the left was made by casting a shadow on the page and drawing it before adding water, I really like the way water fairly randomly helps make my drawings more interesting, (clearly with an element of expecting that to happen!)

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On my holiday to Scandinavia this summer I was beguiled by the beautiful birch…

She became my inspiration and when I got back to rainy England I set out to capture her.

First to solve the tricksyness of drawing in the rain I sealed some carbon paper and paper in a zip lock bag.

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I was very pleased when I opened it up when I got back home from my walk. I also took a bit of polystyrene and made marks to print when I got back.

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Direct print, acrylic paint on white paper

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Direct print and Gelli plate print on black paper.

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While the Gelli plate was out I copied some bark marks onto it and really like the subsequent prints. While I was all set up to print I also played with the leaves.

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A frottage of falling leaves.

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These very quick sketches are possibly my favourites, very textural and quite interesting.

I found that I quested to make ten good drawings and not know where to stop…

Clearly to me my mark making is improving, I become more observant and because of this I want to keep drawing plants until I am really pleased. However I must move on to the next stage. I will keep up my sketching and experimenting.

 

 

 

ATV assignment two – Observing and capturing – research point 2 – Fabric designs

Observing and capturing – research point 2 – Fabric designs

For this research point I have started a pintrest board of fabric images.

https://uk.pinterest.com/kelsingra/fabric/

Of the suggested artists, designers, companies I was particularly drawn to the almost folkloric designs of Timorous Beasties. It is immediately obvious that their work is influenced by William morris designs so it was no surprise to find that they have a range dedicated to him. I have sent for a couple of samples.

NB after visiting the New designers exhibition in London it is clear just how currently popular Timerous Beasties are, their influence was evident everywhere. An excellent example of the wheel of fashion turning.

I plan to work more in a sketch book for this task to experiment with ease of communicating my thoughts. I feel that it needs illustrating  but am worried about image coptright.

 

 

ATV assignment two – Observing and capturing – Picking and portraying

Observing and capturing project 3 – Picking and portraying

What is drawing?

This question is posed at the beginning of project 3. When I sat down to really think about what I consider a drawing  to be, I realised that what I think and what I try to do are entirely different!

I think that I have already observed in my blog when evaluating my work, that I tend to try to be too representational with the images I produce. I have endeavoured to make things look exactly like the subject I am looking at – or rather some idea of mine of what looks like a good drawing. I realise that this is an intellectually immature vision of what drawing is, it stems from some sort of indoctrinated response from school days, aiming to produce clever drawings to please people who have even less of an idea of drawing than I do!

The drawings that I have made where I have aimed for realism  are very dull and inexpressive pictures, they don’t really express much about the subject at all.

So what is a drawing? my current feeling is that a drawing is a series of marks that express or represent an aspect of a subject that is not necessarily  just visual. Drawing is about observing qualities and may represent , textures, pattern, light and shade, macro, micro aspects of a subject or be an emotional response, capturing the energy or emotional response, or tell of the journey of the subject. I think that any marks can be a drawing if they say something about a subject. I need to remember that the drawings I am making at this stage are not an end result but the start of a journey. I am using observation to visually capture an essence to be transformed at a future date. It is an exploration into the way I see things.

Drawing can be lines, collage, print in and medium and using any tools.

In this project I would like to explore a wider range of media, and be freer – more experimental, less judgemental.

I will produce some quick simple drawings, try some printing techniques as I like the marks I have made previously and would like to investigate colourgraphs more. I think also some collage or cut paper work.

I’ve been looking at some books to clarify my thoughts;

Design and Form – the basic course at the Bauhaus by Johannes Itten, I have book marked some pages of different approaches I would like to try, I may even do some morning meditations and warm ups, Bauhaus style.

Drawing projects by Mick Maslen and Jack Southern – this looks to be the art teacher I should have had..

ATV assignment two – Observing and capturing – Picking and portraying

Observing and capturing – project 3 – Picking and portraying

Exercise 1.7 sources and media

Nature chose me! I picked some leaves to draw and they really rapidly dried out! So to  follow the brief I have decided to draw what is in the garden, I like to describe it as a wildlife meadow, this is a vast over statement! I have tried to grow many things and discovered that I have a very similar taste in plants to slugs and snails … This year it has been neglected by me and nature has chosen what will thrive! A ready source of material. Full permission to raid !

ATV Assignment one reflection

 

I think that my selection of objects fits the brief well, I enjoyed drawing such a wide range of textures. It was really helpful to have a focus of objects to draw. I used pencil, charcoal, printing ink, soft and oil pastels, acrylic paint, fine line pens, erasure, and various tools to scratch surfaces with.

I could have carried on drawing the same objects over again with different techniques but needed to move on time wise . I will continue to fill this sketch book with different media and approaches. I have a long list of techniques still to try.

The strongest pieces of work are where I used bolder techniques, I have found I tend to want to be very accurate and record exact detail and this produces quite boring images, my favourite drawings are the scarf in charcoal on newspaper and the back drawing/mono print of my mug. I achieved some really representative marks of felt beads, it was enjoyable and effective to use a different technique for each one.

I have been exploring ideas for my archive drawings and am really excited about the subject matter, I will try and be bold and experimental with my marks.

ATV – Research references

I have started to look at the work of recommended artists and will continue to add to this post as I work through the course. Although it is overwhelming to discover the many many ways in which people produce drawings , clearly this is an excellent way of moving forward with finding ideas to experiment with new techniques and approaches. I will also use my general sense of inquisitiveness to develop my own ideas ( I wonder if I will find unique techniques? I suspect that I will “invent” new techniques only to discover that they have indeed been used before- ‘though never before with my eyes!)

Louise Bourgeois

www.moma.org/explore/collection/lb/index

I really like Bourgeois’ drawing style, I particularly liked looking at the themes section of the website, it is really interesting how she quite simply but effectively represents the form of trees with really quite few lines. The way some of her drawings are quite simple is really encouraging, to me this looks quite brave, I always want my drawings to be very representational, I realise this is not the only right way to draw but it seems a bit ingrained to try to make things look as realistic as possible. I will try to address this and experiment with capturing different more emotional aspects of objects. Looking at the techniques page I ws very attracted by the quality of line of the drypoint drawings/prints so will experiment with this process.

Alison Carlier

www.alisoncarlier.com

On Alison Carlier’s website I found a continuous line drawing of a plant in a pot called
An unknown word can be an object or a thing 2015 with the quote
“A while back I interpreted words I didn’t understand as drawings. But it occurred to me recently that unknown words could be objects or things in the world.”
How fabulous to be led to such profundity from a simple sketch! Is it the very different conection with your brain when drawing that can lead to such thoughts? I will draw aware.
Alex Chalmers
www.alexjameschalmers.com
A drawing called ‘Flying and falling’ caught my eye. I found Chalmer’s style very simple, almost naive looking in the same way as the Dani Karavan drawings in the  post Musee d’art Moderne de Ceret
http://exploring.textiling.uk/wp-admin/post.php?post=6&action=edit
Clearly however the marks and composition in both cases are carefully considered and skilfully made. I do seem to appreciate this style of work.
Hilary Ellis
www.hilaryellis.co.uk
The website has photos of beautiful textural images, some are labelled simply mixed media and it is difficult to work out how they were made. I was particularly drawn to the 2010 set and noticed that my favourite images used drypoint, like Louise Bourgeois, also a technique called chine colle, I must find out what that is.
www.michaelgriffithsfineart.com
www.debbie-smyth.com
www.katiesollohub.co.uk
www.roannawells.co.uk