Ex.1 – Quick Studies
Week 1 and 2, Life Drawing Classes
Series of 10 minute A3 sketches done using a bamboo stick with the end hammered flat and drawing ink for these exercises:
The prime challenge, before thinking about proportion and mark making, was learning to work with the stick. How much ink did it hold at a time? How to get it to mark make without blobbing? How fine a line could I get with it? How to angle the stick to get it to run up the page? Moving the stick downwards was easy but pushing it up was not successful. I tried changing the angle of my hand and pulling it towards me where my hand was above the page. I tried starting the line at the other end, which meant all the drawn lines were coming towards me. I was keen to get lines nearer to me a heavier weight, and those further away, lighter. How could I get a light line when I had just re-dipped the stick? Did the line weight vary if I rotated the stick as I drew?
In these drawings I tried to experiment by using a minimal of lines, inspired by some of Picasso’s minimalist line drawings where he simplifies objects into as few lines as possible so that the object is still recognisable.
Of course the major challenge with drawing like this is every mark you make counts. I discovered that once the mark is made, it can be better just to leave it rather than to try and correct it, as the double lines of correction draw attention to the error. The one marks might not be so accurate, but they still at times, capture the essence of the model and the pose.
Then, looking at the work of others in the class that I really liked, I wanted to try adding more lines and more detail, suggesting more of the musculature and giving more consideration to a variety of line widths.
Week 3 – ink, bamboo stick, brush and water, male model
The closed and crouched positions create many more reference points for getting a more accurate sense of relative scale and proportion. There are more reference shapes and negative spaces to serve as visual checks. I found getting the proportion in standing poses was more challenging.
The wash of ink allows for representation of tone and suggestion of how the light falls on the musculature of the body and creates more of a sense of 3D form, especially when combined with varying line weight.
Week 4, Ink, bamboo stick, water, brush, female model
The drawing stick I used this week did not hold the ink well and it was difficult to make the strength and lightness of lines where I needed them.
This second picture was drawn first with the ink wash, and then the darker ink was drawn on top. The third, fourth and fifth pictures experimented by adding Neocolor II crayons to add to the shade or create highlights on the image.
Keen to experiment with different mediums and colours the three sketches of 10 minutes, or less, each were done on one large sheet of paper. This paper had initially tried to capture the essence of the model moving slowly in front of us. In hindsight, I wish I had overlapped the images to create more visual interest.
All the above images were created using a live model in a class context. The next drawings were created using Croquis café and pausing the frame for 10 minutes.
Having drawn this once I was keen to experiment with redrawing it and putting several images on top of each other using different mediums. I also tried a different technique from my natural drawing style in the first attempt. I used a ‘blocking in’ (Aristles) method to create the outline of the shape with relatively straight lines. I ran out of time on that one, then moved on to the second drawing in charcoal pencil. The third drawing, moving slightly to the side again used a Brown conte pencil. Although I started each drawing in a different place, moving slightly to the left or right each time, the right leg ended up more or less in the same place for two of the drawings. , which was strange.
I wanted to try a similar approach with chalk pastels. This time the aim was to do a first drawing in a light colour and then use these lines as reference to create a second, better improved drawing on top. This yellow drawing was the under drawing.
I like this effect. The yellow includes a suggestion of background and yet when the brown is added on top the attention is given more to creating tone and form on the figure. Having the other drawing underneath means that the second drawing is created quicker allowing some of the extra time to create blends without overworking the piece. The two colours blend sufficiently to add to the 3D effect.
Exercise 2, A longer Study
Unfortunately in our life drawing classes, the model is never asked to hold a pose for an hour, even with rest breaks. Consequently I used Figuary and found a seated, closed posture I would like to draw for an hour and froze the frame. I was keen to do a seated model rather than a standing one as there are more reference points to check angles, proportions and relationships of one line and shape to another.
I used the head as a unit of measurement and plotted where each head length was using the edge of my pencil held at arms length, checking and rechecking at every stage. I also drew in the vertical line through the drawing from the peak of the skull, so I had additional points of reference, before mapping out the drawing. As the drawing progressed I had to keep tweaking lines and directions and it was just like piecing a jigsaw together, making sure each piece fitted correctly with relation to the lines and shapes already drawn. I chose a conte pierre noire drawing pencil on A3 plus textured heavy weight watercolour paper and used a torchon for blending.
In this photograph, the centre line and some of the measurement marks can be seen, including marks where the width of the figure, and what aligned with what were marked in lightly.
This also shows where lines were initially put in then moved as the drawing progressed.
From these outlines I wanted to add tone to help suggest the form. I was conscious of the reflected light on the toned surfaces and trying to create tone that followed the planes and contours of that particular part of the body.
My blending stick had a legacy of a sanguine conte pencil on it, but I quite liked the way it filtered through randomly in places.
When I stood back and looked at the drawing initially I was conscious that some of the shading was a little severe in places and the difference between the lightest and darkest areas was overdone. I used a putty rubber to lift out areas I felt were too dark, and the transitions between light and shade now seem to be more accurate and subtle.
The last thing I did, after suggesting a background was add some more variety of weight to the lines of forms that were nearer to me. I also tried to minimize any apparent edges where it was hard to see where one part merged into another and remove any sense of an outline, like where the models right edge on her right arm almost merges with the body.
I do think this drawing has captured the essence of the pose, and reflects the twist with the left shoulder coming forward, and the right leg being pulled backwards as the left leg projects forward.
Hinting at a background and creating some shading aimed to help ground the figure.
I did find that using the head as a unit of measurement, drawing in a centre line and checking and rechecking proportions and angles from one part of the drawing to another consistently, and taking time over the initial drawing helped to get relatively accurate proportions in this image.
Cathy's OCA Drawing 1 Blog 