Drawing 1, Part 3, Expanse
Overall Comments
Your observational study of an individual tree is a triumph of different line, tone and touch beautifully rendered.
Discovering what different media can do and how to control the use of coloured pencils and pastels, whether to use Zest it or not is all part of the learning process.
The cloud studies are good and I like that you looked at Vija Celmins for her contribution to the genre. Constable is the usual suspect where clouds are concerned, the story goes that his interest started when he was younger and had to observe the skies in order to change the sails on his fathers’ mills . Whether apocryphal or not, clouds went on to play a big part in his paintings and they were used for dramatic effect.
I really enjoyed, and was proud of how the tree drawing in biro worked. I found the combination of biro and ink washes worked well together, and I like the unfinished, but hinted at, setting of the tree.
I found Celmins cloud drawings awe inspiring. Whilst I totally admire her work, I also now fully appreciate that I would not have the patience to create such drawings with such a minutae of detail.
I hadn’t considered Constable as someone to look at for skyscapes, so that is now something I will be much more aware of when looking at his work. The example you shared (Salisbury Cathedral from the meadows, 1831) features a particularly impressive skyscape.
The sketch walk has produced some interesting views but the exercise seemed to be more about altering the intensity of the pencils which of course is a problem unless you splash out on larger boxes with a greater range of colours. Still they are a good collection of views and your efforts at reducing the colour and have worked. Adopting a fauvist palette of course is the other alternative.
I do really like these Derwent Ink pencils and have indeed, with great excitement, asked for a bigger set for Christmas along with a large tin of Derwent Inktense blocks to enable me to explore this media further and work on larger pieces of art. Despite my attraction to these intensely coloured materials, I would not, at this stage, choose to create Fauvist style work. I find it can be quite aggressive in style. I am currently preferring to explore more minimalist styles, and limited colour range work at this stage in my studies. I am enjoying developing my knowledge and ability of working with tone to create form and perspective more effectively.
Working on the fabric drawings – I am impressed with your investigation of different types of coloured pencil and charcoal and how you have discovered ways of using them by sheer trial and effort.
Thank you for these encouraging comments. These studies are for the early exercises of Part 4 and I did enjoy exploring and experimenting with these.
Looking at composition, the picture I find most successful is the larger drawing of the tree and pathway in Foreground ,Middle ground and Distance, The marks made for the trees and ground area are particularly good and I like your reference to Seurat. However, the insistent green of the distant field comes forward too much and should be broken up more in line with the rest of the picture. To create more distance according to Arial perspective, the darkest areas should be at the bottom of the picture and tonally the picture would decrease as it moves towards the distance.
I will look at this and can try mute the brightness of the field to ‘push it backwards’, visually. I was really pleased with the mark making in this picture and the use of short broken lines rather than blocks of colour. It was a new way of working for me, and proved effective for this subject and reinforced the idea of dappled light through the trees on a brisk Autumnal morning.
I have since moderated the vibrant green of the distant field and also added some cooler blue and purple hues to the distant trees to emphasize how far away they are. The field colour is more gently and less attention-grabbing, and helps pull the image together holistically.
Fortunately, the buff colour of the background paper permitted this image to be more successful , so much so that I believe any other background colour would not have worked with this technique.
For traditional perspective buildings and streets provide the lines needed and your views of Basel give a good demonstration. Your final drawing of Pittenweem impresses me with its composition and its assured handling of pastel and conté pencil for its atmospheric effects on grey paper.
Back in Basel the drawing of the Inn stands out for its use of ink and wash especially with the brave choice of purple as a colour. However it works well with the light yellow and especially dark brown washes over the dormer windows. Good strong contrasts in light and shade and it is successful as a sketch and as a composition. There is room to work up the interesting back streets and to attend both the foreground and sky. I find this the most interesting of your pictures and one with the most potential for development.
I had initially created a blue shadow across the building, but it didn’t feel exciting enough. I thought the purple would be a little more dynamic. However, I hadn’t appreciated the intensity of the purple wash until I began applying it over the large area. At first I thought it was too much, but as I built up the other colours around it, it seemed to work better.
I was keen to just hint at the surrounding buildings falling out of the left of the picture, and create more interest in the little lane that winds between the main buildings. However, again, looking at it afresh after some time, I agree that the sky needs some presence, and there could perhaps be more shadow in the alley way. I think an indication of some more windows up the left hand street might be helpful, and I can look again at what I could add to the foreground. In my exploratory sketch, I had more pedestrians.
Feedback on assignment
Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Quality of Outcome, Demonstration of Creativity
The purpose of the Assignment is that it should demonstrate everything you have learned from the previous exercises and the choices you made about media. You have started out well with exploratory sketches and compositions trying out different media as required. I like the idea of the large horizontal format but overall it is a very ambitious drawing to tackle. You point out some of the problems such as creating solidity and space within the buildings all of which tend to get flattened out and it is as if you lose interest as you head down the city towards the bridge. The use of ink and wash I think is also a problem and it would have been better as pen ink and wash. Then you have this enormous sky to deal with and equally large scale river frontage. Different exploratory sketches should have been done here to find out what was best for these areas. I think I would have chosen the composition of the second drawing of the Munster for its simplicity and implied distance for a most successful outcome.
Thank you for your feedback on this. I had never tried to create such an ambitious panorama before and learnt lots about reducing tones and shapes over distance. I liked that the work was monochrome as I think colour would have been more distracting.
I was keen that the artwork would not just be a standard size for a change, and once I had decided on the subject I wanted to extend it to show both sides of the river.
I did enjoy working on this and was really pleased with the finished outcome at the time, although I did wish I had worked out a more effective way of creating more tone in the sky. The charcoal ‘wash’ was an attempt to address this, but it didn’t create as much atmosphere as I had hoped.
However, seeing the work again after the passage of some time, I can see that perhaps the nearest tones and lack of outlines are not as dark as they could be. If they had been darker, then the aerial perspective might have been even more dramatic, and the mid ground would have been more distinct. I can understand why you suggest that pen ink and wash might have worked as I could have used hatching to build more tone, particularly in the foreground.
My current thoughts are that I will indeed redo this assignment. The first reason is a practical one I had overlooked but have only recently become aware of. Work submitted for Degree level assessment needs to be presented on A1 boards. This assignment does not fit that requirement.
I have some ideas that I would like to experiment with and work up to use for the Basel Munster line drawing I had been considering which will incorporate line and washes of colour. I will post this work under Assignment 3 once I have completed it.
Sketchbooks
Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Demonstration of Creativity
Good use of sketchbooks as required. Remember that you can always just photograph pages of the sketchbook and put them on your blog to reduce the weight and cost of sending your portfolio.
This is helpful to know. I am enjoying working with the lightweight sketchbooks, which does make it significantly cheaper to send by post.
Research
Context, reflective thinking, critical thinking, analysis
Your comments and general writing on art fulfils these criteria.
Learning Logs or Blogs/Critical essays
Context, reflective thinking, critical thinking, analysis
The learning log is well written and informative. I see that you have been attending the major galleries and exhibitions in Basel as well as local shows, all of which is worth doing.
Suggested reading/viewing
Context
You might like to see this article on Panoramas in art and include it in your blog. The V & A used to have a Panorama on display of the city of Rome and I must check it out to see if it is still there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panoramic_painting
and look up Thomas Girtin’s London Panarama – the Eidometropolis (1801-1803)
https://www.britishartstudies.ac.uk/issues/issue-index/issue-10/girtin-panorama
Thank you, I will certainly follow these links and reflect on them.
Cathy's OCA Drawing 1 Blog 