Ex 1, Cloud formations and tone
Clouds work
Inspired by Celims, I laid a dusting of charcoal powder on the paper, knowing that this would allow me to lift out highlights on the white paper. I tried blending charcoal with brushes, rather than my finger which might have left unwanted marks on the paper. I found that I wasn’t able to represent the patches of light blue as a different lightness from the white, yellow of the setting sun at the horizon. I will retry this on blue paper and then I can also use chalk to capture the setting sun and white edges to some of the clouds. This time I set a layer of graphite powder over the paper first.
Both these images were based on a stunning photo I had taken, but the sky I have drawn really lacks the subtlety seen in the photograph. However, the second drawing captures the hint of a sunset, and the patch of blue sky more successfully.
The third attempt was with graphite and I was aiming to make the graduations more subtle. I think, for me, the graphite allowed for a little more sensitivity than the charcoal. I need to work on using the putty rubber with a bit more subtlety now.
The fourth attempt is a little more subtle perhaps. Apparently these types of clouds are cirrocumulus. Thinnish whispy white and grey clouds over a blue sky. I tried to capture the ‘essence’ of this sky as it is so busy to draw and we had been asked to ‘work quickly’. It was drawn with graphite.
The final attempt was based on this photograph.
We do have some amazing sky scapes here where we live. For this quite dramatic and bold colour scheme I decided to use oil pastels. The initial attempts didn’t blend as I wanted and so I used the ‘Zest It’ liquid to attempt to ‘fuse’ the colours into more realistic transitions.
The nearer clouds are not like clouds at all in my drawing. The divisions between the different tones are too stark. They do not have the sense of form or texture of the real clouds, although the ones further away in the distance are more believable. The ‘edges’ of one cloud from another are also too hard and contrived. Although using the ‘Zest It’ liquid allowed some blending, I wonder if it this task might have been more achievable and the media more moveable and blendable with chalk pastel?
These exercises truly help me to appreciate the accomplishments of Vija Celims.
Value of the exercise
To consider ‘sky’ as an art form itself.
To become more aware of different skies
To build up a repertoire for our future work
To make us consider the sky as an important aspect of landscape drawings
What did I learn
I learned that it is really challenging to create subtle pictures of clouds
I found the graphite results more pleasing that the charcoal, and I was able to work quickly on these using the large graphite sticks.
When only ‘you’ have seen the sky at that moment, there is freedom to be more adventurous in your mark making
Brushes are effective tools for blending charcoal whilst the paper torques worked well for the graphite.
Implications for the future
Explore the graphite drawing sticks as a medium
Practice being more subtle with the putty rubber.
Be adventurous in the sky in landscape scenes. Explore effects before committing to a drawing.
Build on using a full range of tones, in more subtle ways. Check where are the lightest lights, and the darkest darks, and differentiate more in the mid-tones.
Exercise 2, Sketchbook walk
We live in a really beautiful rural location. Almost everyday when I walk, I take at least one photograph, often of the same views at different times of year and in different weather conditions. However, I have frequently realised that the breathtaking panorama infront of me is never quite captured honestly by a camera. Instead it seem to squash reality flat!
However, having just got a new puppy it was not going to be possible to leave her in the house whilst I went sketching for an hour or so at a time. I had contemplated deferring this Part of Drawing 1 until she was older and could be left, but then we are heading into Winter, and they can be quite harsh here in the Alsace. The reality of sitting outside for an hour of so realistically would lessen, and so, for this and my walk images, I have relied on photographs I have taken. However, with our English Cocker Spaniel puppy zipped up into my front-carrying rucksack I have returned to several different places a couple of times to recapture something more about the view I was seeking.
When I read about this exercise, this was my first ‘must have’ image. I pass this spot numerous times in a week, all year around and there is something about it that captures my eye each time. The leaning post box and lane disappearing up the side. Often there is a horse in the field on the left, and Highland cattle in the field behind the post box.
These images were all captured in the first instance on a September morning walk about 9am. There is a bright, diffused morning light, but the shadows are not strong.
I used Derwent Inktense watercolour pencils. I initially drew the foreground and key features in ink. As the picture recedes to the mid ground, the tree on the right, the ink lines begin to disappear. The background is just suggested with a light colour block of trees. Having just inked in the post box and receding pathline and posts I could see, after reflection that the foreground foliage needed more definition, and so I inked in the suggestion of leaves.
I struggled to get realistic colours with these pencils initially as some of the colours are garish. As I progressed with the drawings, the colours became a little more subtle as I blended, washed and blended some more. I would really like a greater range of colours beyond the 24 I have, or perhaps the chalk like sticks as I can then use them on a larger scale. I did discover that I could get darker tones by wetting the paper first and then applying marks.
The colours appear a little more subtle in this image, but there is very little green which helps. The house in the background is just suggested in light pencil tones to create distance.
I was really pleased with this very simple sketch which took less than 10 minutes. I like the composition. I thought, as I composed the image in my camera lens about the golden proportions. Once I saw the photo I decided, taking inspiration from Durer (View of the Arco Valley in the Tyrol, 1495) to make the focus of attention the tree, in the mid ground.
The diagonal lines leading to the tree, unite the foreground and middle-ground. The foreground comprises longer grasses, represented in an alternative diagonal. The background is the trees and purple mountains in the distance.
The broken and sketchy red diagonals represent the churned up, textured effect in the real scene
This was my favourite of the sketches as it demonstrates my increased understanding of how to use these really garish colours in a sensitive way to create a realistic image with a sense of depth andreceding tones. By starting from the background and working towards the foreground I found I was more in control of the tones and colours I was using.
Value of the exercise
Quick miniature sketches to increase confidence in drawing landscapes.
Show awareness of composition
Create a sense of distance through colour, tone, scale and perspective.
What I learned
This was a real context opportunity to experiment with the thoughts and practices about landscape composition and construction I have been focussing on in this Part of Drawing 1..
I learned about how to create more subtle effects with the Derwent Inktense pencils.
Love using these pencils but frustrated with the range of greens. Would like a wider range of colours. Maybe look into that for Christmas?
Implications for the future:
Despite the challenges these pencils and colours bring, I would like to try the inktense blocks that are available as it would perhaps enable me to recreate some of these effects on a larger scale. Again… Christmas maybe?
Exercise 3, 360 degree studies
It took a couple of days worth of walking to locate a spot that had interesting views in all directions. Many places had two, or even three very good prospects and the fourth was a really uninteresting prospect.
However, I then came across a tree from which there were interesting views in four different vistas.
As I came to the fourth sketch I realised that three of my 4 compositions featured this tree. Consequently, I decided to return to the same place the next day and retake my photographs including the tree, in some capacity, in all of the drawings, so that it acted as a point of reference and also a pivot.
When I returned to take the photos I was conscious of the composition for each of them. I wanted to see a different amount of the tree in each one, for variety, and for the tree to ‘move’ from left to right throughout the images. I was keen to keep the two portrait, two landscape formats, although for the next sketches, some of these views altered their orientation.
What I particularly like about the composition now with the orientation of the images is that they ‘fit’ together as if they are in a circle.
I wanted to experiment with coloured Stabilo Fineliners, as I often use a black pen with a watercolour brush, but I had never thought to try out my pack of 30 coloured Fineliners in this way before. I was pleased with the results, even if again, the colours are very garish.
Another challenge was the amount of greens I needed as there is only a very limited range of them in the pack.. I found that by using a blue, and some yellow, orange and browns, and at times using a wash and then drawing again on top of this, I was able to get a slightly wider range of colours. Whilst they would not be suitable for a larger composition, I think they work well enough at this small scale and their fine 0.4mm nibs allow for a lot of detail and suggestion of texture.
I did find that if I made the colours too bold to start with it was hard to pull them back in tone, despite washing over them repeatedly. (eg. soil in picture 3). When I did the same with the distant background in pictures two and four, I used a Chinese White pencil to colour over the background and make it appear to recede in tone.
Cathy's OCA Drawing 1 Blog 