The head is more or less one-seventh to one eighth of the height of the figure. This is useful to use as a check to make sure the figure is in proportion.
I went to the National Portrait Gallery and came across this Portrait of Winston Churchill, I really liked the unusual style and the way the light is captured. I had never heard of Graham Sutherland and I have been looking at his work. Graham Sutherland was an official war artist, during the Second World War, he created an important record in his paintings of the industrial output during the war years. He visited coal mines, steel works and quarries creating powerful works that show how hard it was for the workers in these places. At a time when health and safety was not thought about as it is today the images give a sense of the fragile human working in savage circumstances against the forces of nature.
He used mixed media of all kinds, using bright colours to show the heat of the smelting works against the darkness of the surroundings. In the YouTube clip below he talks of how his imagination changes what he sees, he keeps the original idea but tries to reveal the character in a truer form. His mark making is something that I want to look at and use in my own work, his use of mixed media really interests me. I have been looking at his sketchbooks on the Tate website link below.
The following 5 drawings are very quick two minute sketches, I found this exercise difficult I am still working on being more loose with my work but I find this quite difficult. The head, neck and torso are not very successful however the legs and feet look better and more in proportion.
Own Image, Own Photograph (accessed 11/10/2019)
Using a pen was was interesting as it made me unable to rub out any mistakes. The darker tones were easy to make but the mid tones were harder to show. Again I had difficulty with the head and made the torso too wide but the proportions I felt worked better than my first sketch.
Own Image, Own Photograph (accessed 11/10/2019)
I tried harder with the head in these two sketches and worked to try and get the tones to show better. I think the head was too big and this threw the proportions out making the figure too top heavy.
Own Image, Own Photograph (accessed 11/10/2019)
I worked with charcoal on this image but I made the head too small and had some trouble with the foreshortening. This was a difficult pose which didn’t help, if I had more time I would have tried to do the head again.
10 minute studies
Own Image, Own Photograph (accessed 11/10/2019)
I used a piece of charcoal so that I would not become bogged down in the details and hopefully make me work in a looser style. This I found very difficult I but I wanted to try and see if I could be a bit looser. I kept trying to make the lines work better for me.
Own Image, Own Photograph (accessed 11/10/2019)
I used a charcoal pencil here so that I would have the looseness of the charcoal and be able to achieve some details when I wanted, such as in the face. I am beginning to get some of the proportions a bit better, the torso is a bit wide but I feel I am getting a more human shape.
Exercise 2 – A Longer Study
Own Image, Own Photograph (accessed 11/10/2019)
I am much happier when I have longer to work on an image, but it does make my work very tight again. Pencil also makes my work less loose I think. The proportions are getting better and I really like the tones on the shirt and trousers.
Own Image, Own Photograph (accessed 11/10/2019)
I decided to try with charcoal to loosen the style up again. I found it difficult to achieve the detail on the face but I really like the tones that I got on the clothing. I ran out of room at the bottom of the page but I tried to keep the proportions, the proportions don’t look too bad. I feel that I am beginning to get the proportions although I need more practice. I think the proportions are better in the first image I seem to have more difficulties with the head. I do like the shirt and the tones that I have in the folds of the fabrics, these give the body the volume that I wanted.
Observation will be key to this part of the course and drawing what we actually see is essential, I need to remember this throughout this part.
Research Point
Thinking about the space between the viewer and the image is interesting and something that I hadn’t thought about enough in the past. I have been looking at the reading list to see how I can identify with the depictions of people in works that I see. Looking at how artists show emotions or reactions in their work and how the viewers feels when looking at that work. I will try to think about how I feel when looking at these different expressions and reactions and what sort of impact these expressions can have on the viewer.
Francis Bacon (1909 – 1992)
When thinking about artists who depict the human condition, I immediately thought of Francis Bacon, I have seen some of his work in Tate Britain. His emotionally charged work is often very disconcerting to the viewer, the abstracted figures seem to evoke emotion in the viewer. His work looks bleak and seems to have links with time going by and getting old and dying. His work is very raw and contemporary in style, which complements the depiction of the human condition at its most emotional state.
This painting is of a friend of his Isabel Rawsthorne, Francis Bacon often painted from a photograph rather than in the presence of a sitter as he found it too intrusive. The background is very dark and flat so that the viewer is not diverted from looking at the physical appearance. This painting shows a psychological view of the sitter, and is distinctive in showing what Francis Bacon thought about the sitter. In this case he believed that Isabel Rawsthorne drank too much Champagne and he painted what this was doing to her into the painting.
During a visit to the National Portrait Museum, I came across the work of American artist Elizabeth Peyton and her work on portraiture.
This work is of the Japanese figure skater Yuzuru Hanyn. The paintings that I saw at the exhibition have a very loose Painting style to them but the eyes have an intense feeling about them giving the images drama. Looking at some of her other works most of them have this feeling when looking at the eyes. This mood of the paintings is quite striking when looking at the paintings in the exhibition next to Tudor paintings. Elizabeth Peyton has paintings throughout the gallery beside some of the galleries permanent collection. The way that this has been done is interesting side by side with portraits that go back into history are these very contemporary paintings. Having them side by side makes the differences clear and the different styles obvious to the viewer. The tightness of the paintings particularly in the Tudor area as opposed to the way that Peyton captures the mood and the person with loose brush strokes.
Project 1 – Fabric and Form
Exercise 1
Own Image, Own photograph (accessed 01/10/2019)
This is a 15 minute pencil drawing showing the lines of folds of a white sheet placed over a chair. The sheet looks very flat when using just the lines and not very realistic, which unless this is the desired look is not very interesting.
Own image, own photograph (accessed 01/10/2019)
Here I have used charcoal and covered the paper with charcoal to create the mid tone and then used an eraser and charcoal to pick out the areas of light and dark. I think that this method works well in showing the volume in the fabric, giving the image more depth than the one above. It makes it more believable, and more realistic. By having the mid tone already there it is easier to see the light and dark areas and put them into the image.
Own image, own photograph (accessed 01/10/2019)
Here I divided the page up and looked at the shapes made by the folds in the fabric. I think I managed to get the tones better in the images I made using pencil or charcoal as it is possible to achieve many different tones and blend the tones better. When using the pen and the dots I felt that the black even with the dots widely spaced was too dark and not tonal enough. The Oil pastel in the middle on the left was easy to blend but I felt that I could not achieve the light tones that I wanted.
Own image, own photograph (accessed 01/10/2019)
At the top of this page I tried to work with colour, using a blue chalk on the left and blue/black ink on the right. The chalk seemed too grainy and not dense enough to show the different tones. The ink worked better than I thought, but it did not blend it as well as I would have liked to have done so the shapes don’t draw the eye into the sheet very well. At the bottom I worked with a graphite stick this was good a creating depth but not very good with creating definition.
Exercise 2 – Emphasising form with cloth
Own image, own photograph (accessed 01/10/2019)
Here my model was dressed in a white shirt and light coloured trousers so that the contrast was clear in the tones on this clothing. Looking at the way that the fabric shows the form of the body underneath was easier here as the clothing was light in colour. Getting the tones right was the problem here and when I have achieved this it makes the form more human.
Having looked at the vimeo session to look at the ways that artists and models work, was very helpful and gave me some ideas to think about. Particularly the background and how this can be used to add atmosphere to the figure. Making sure that the model is comfortable means that I will have more time to work with. I like to have flowing lines in images so I will try and do this when I can. By changing the lighting I have found that I can have more pronounced tones, making the tones easier to see.
I do not have access to a nude model so I will have to use a clothed one and hope that I can still show the proportions correctly.
Research Point
Working with a nude model is something that I will do some research into and how history has treated this subject.
I had a chance to watch ‘Ways of seeing” by the writer and programme maker John Berger (1926-2017). With regard to the nude the second episode about the male gaze, looks at this question along with how in the past and now the view is the same, women are often rendered as objects. Women are often shamed in the painting of the past as they are now. Often painted naked amongst men who are dressed, appealing to the male spectator and having nothing to do with the narrative in the image or the meaning of the image. Women are intentionally painted as lesser beings to men, flawed and idealised and not realistic. These idealised images are often what we also see today, images that are not how real women are, images that make women feel inadequate. In modern advertisements women in particular are made to feel envious by the potential future versions of themselves, if you buy this – you could look fabulous like this. This makes the viewer dissatisfied with themselves and their life, making it seem like if the buy the item they will not feel like this.
Underlying politics can be obscured or mystified in order to send a desired message within the image. This means that the viewer thinks he understands the image but there is more in the image than they can see at first glance.
I feel really encouraged by the feedback for this part, this is giving me more confidence to push my work further, which is exciting. I have learnt so much since starting Drawing 1, from a hesitant start with much tension (which I can see in my work), to feeling that I can push more in my work. I am enjoying drawing much more now than when I started, I am trying to be more relaxed about it, my tutors support has really helped with this. The exercises have allowed me to build my confidence slowly, this too has helped me, allowing me to build up to more difficult exercises.
I want to start looking at how I can semi-abstract what I see so that I can create more of a personal interpretation. This I find difficult as I tend to be very tight and representational in my work, but this would definitely help me to create more expressive work. I will try and push this more to make my work less representational. I also want to extend this with more fluid and looser lines and try to bring this into work using coloured media. I want to take the use of inks and expressive mark making further, I want to see what I can achieve with this media.
With observation as a strength I need to start combining this with expressive mark making. I want to experiment with media and see what I can achieve using different media, and how this can push my work more.
I tend to draw the whole scene, which can be too much, I need to look at the composition and maybe just draw a part of the scene rather than the whole thing. I need to look at the composition and find things in the composition that are interesting and work on just that not the whole thing.
Artist Janette Barnes
Looking at Janette Barnes a contemporary artists who uses monochrome in a very interesting way, showing how much can be conveyed in drawings, even with just using white and black. The fluid movement that she gets into her work is very inspiring. I like her use of the negative space and smudgy black marks almost scratched into the surface. The scene is captured with all the dynamic movement and hustle and bustle of the city.
“First, I accept that I exist. Have you ever been in a space that feels strange?”
“Holes exist in many planes of life. A hole is an anti-space, that can be filled, removed, pierced, prodded, echoed. Holes are universal and transformative; even a human presence can be strange. Caves tell a millennia of physical history, a true hole that can be visited. Some feel as warm and perfect as a womb. Where does the hole end and I begin?”
Looking at this contemporary painters work in conjunction with his words is very interesting and this quote from the above website is very thought provoking something to come back to in the future.
David Hockney (b1937)
I have always had an interest in David Hockney, and in his iPad drawings of trees, he seems to be able to get the essence of a tree into a 2D image. The work is so atmospheric, and the viewer is taken into the depths of the images and feels the chill of the shade cast by the trees. The mark making is also interesting and is something that I could learn from and use in the future.
I need to think harder about how I use media and find different ways to do this, so I will look at artists and how they do this in their work, to get some ideas about how I could bring this into my work to improve it. I know that I don’t take enough risks but I’m not quite sure how I can do this, so I will try and find ways to explore more in my sketchbook. I need to find ways to be more imaginative so I will look at how my mark making could do this for me and how I choose my compositions. Try to see more, and show the viewer something different try to be more original. I tend to work in a way that is very true to life and technically correct, but I could work on subjects in new ways. Looking at things in different ways and using media differently, mixing media also.
I do work slowly so if I worked more quickly this might stop me from putting in so much detail. Stopping before it becomes too detailed is something that I want to aim for. I could try ideas out in my sketchbook that could help me with ideas for the future.
Assignment
In the assignment I was trying to show the contrast between the frivolousness of the fairy lights and the dark, serious, bleak atmosphere of the hall in the mirror. I don’t think that the coloured pencils were a good choice and I should have experimented more with this before I started. They did make my work tighter and that’s definitely not what I wanted.
I think that my work lacks the rawness and energy that would make it better. I need to try and understand how I can achieve this in my work. I do try to be safe with my work so I will look at how I can start taking some risks and as you say ‘get out of my comfort zone’ very true.
I am still finding it hard to link artists to my work or really think about what influences me, I need to work on why I do things the way I do. This could be a starting point for change, to think first about how I approach my work and why I want to do something a certain way. Then look and think about different approaches and ways that I could change things to get better results.
Assessment Criteria
I think that I have some of the technical and visual skills but I need to be more experimental and more aware of what the viewer is going to see. I need to experiment with the composition in my sketchbook to see how I could improve the design element.
I need to think about the knowledge that I have and how I can use this. I can present my work well but I need to keep working on this and bring in new ideas. I need to be better at describing the background to my work and understanding myself where things come from.
Need to
Look at concepts in art.
Find raw expressive artwork and artists to study
Practice expressive lines to show rawness and energy
I have had so much to learn from this part, and I have so much more to learn. I am finding it hard to loosen up and be more spontaneous in my work, this is such a difficult challenge for me. Every time I set out to be more like this and then by the time the piece is finished I have gone back to my detail and precision again. I looked at at Raoul Dufy (1877 – 1953) for some inspiration, I wanted to use some of his mark making ideas and the way that he uses colours.
Preliminary Drawings
Own image, Own Photograph (accessed 19/09/19)
I found an interesting view that has ‘Angular Perspective’, which I felt would add more drama to the drawing. I think I did manage to achieve this although I found it difficult to find the right position. Trying to decide what to leave in and what in the view I wanted to keep in. I think in the final piece I ended up with too much of the ground, I would have preferred to have less of this and positioned the buildings further down the page.
Mark making
Own image, Own Photograph (accessed 19/09/19)
I tried some mark making with coloured pencils for the assignment, but I didn’t like this the marks were very flat and not textural enough. So I went on to try working with my oil pastels but I found that they went on very thickly which I didn’t like and I wanted to have more control over how they were applied. This was when I tried applying the oil pastels with some pieces of ruler that I had and this allowed me to control the mark but also allow some more interesting marks to come out of this. I continued this on the next page.
Own image, Own Photograph (accessed 19/09/19)
The textures of the walls worked well using this method, with the oil pastels, I liked the effects that I am getting. The walls look rough and I like the negative spaces in the foliage.
Own image, Own Photograph (accessed 19/09/19)
I like the textures that I managed to make in this drawing, I used oil pastels, and applied them using pieces of plastic. I really liked the concrete colours on this wall, I wanted to work with the contrast of the foliage. I liked this small image I think this worked better than the large piece that I did, I think the marks look better with more white around them.
Final Assignment Piece
Own image, Own Photograph (accessed 19/09/19)
I feel I did too much and overworked this piece, it would have looked better if I had done less, almost when in was not finished. I need to learn how to stop and not spend too much time adding areas that are not needed. However I think I achieved some sense of depth that I wanted in the drawing. This was achieved by the receding lines and the receding size of the windows.
I am interested in the way that even in the centre of London nature seems to creep in, the plants pushing through the concrete. In this most urban area, in the centre of London there is this sunny area with plants that seem to thrive.
John Virtue is best known for the work that he does portraying landscapes in monochrome. This seems a strange thing to do as landscapes are so colourful but the nature of these monochrome works makes them full of tones and makes the works come alive without the use of colour. John Virtue explains that this is how he sees landscape, this is his vision.
His work is made using black ink mixed with shellac and titanium white acrylic paint. He uses many different mark making techniques, using cloths, fingers, hands, different kinds of brushes and other instruments to make the marks he wants. In the video below he shows how he rubs the image into the canvas using a cloth and creates really interesting marks with drips and splatters.
(Own image, Own Photograph) accessed 30/08/2019
(Own image, Own Photograph) accessed 30/08/2019
In my sketchbook I have tried to make some similar marks using inks chalks and paint, dripping the paint and blowing the paint with a straw to achieve different types of marks. The first image looks like looking up into some trees on a cloudy day. I hope to include some of these marks into my own work in some way.
I have done some research into other artists that have an interesting expressive mark making techniques.
This painting is so rich with atmosphere and sadness it is haunting and chilling. This work was inspired Paul Celan who was Romanian born Jewish poet who wrote most of his poetry whilst in a concentration camp. The painting is very large and has interesting marks and also he includes signatures, and names of people in his art.
The perspective in this painting takes the viewer right into it, it is almost an immersive and emotional feeling for the viewer. There is this eerie feeling of stillness and science.
David Tress has spent the last 25 years in the landscape around his home in Pembrokeshire in South West Wales. It is a tough landscape he says that lives side by side with the past, and this comes through in his work. There is a feeling of history in them, of this place that he has spent time in and knows infinitely. He says that the work comes from the relationship with the landscape and from the memories that he has built up over this time.
I like the use of collage in them with some areas being built up to create depth and tonal values in this monochrome piece. The collage breaking out of the edges of the piece and drawing the viewer into the depths of the work.
Exercise 1 – Sketchbook of townscape drawing.
For this exercise I have chosen to work in the place in Central London that I am living in at the moment, we are soon to return to Cornwall. This place has been home for a year and I have loved living here, it has been a sanctuary in the madness of London life. The amount of foliage around this area gives it a country feeling although it is Pimlico. It is this intersection between nature and the urban environment that has interested me and this is my angle for the drawings in this exercise. It always amazes me that nature can survive really well in even the most urban environments.
A small stem that seems to disappear into the concrete can create the largest,
strongest, healthiest looking plant. Nothing seems to stop nature from surviving.
Own image, Own Photograph (accessed 01/09/2019)
Own image, Own Photograph (accessed 01/09/2019)
I have been working in the summer months so the sun has quite strong and bright during this time. I find it better to work in the morning so this is when these images have been produced. I have been working on mark making techniques and have been using inks and blowing the ink with a straw to find interesting foliage type marks. I have found that this mark making describes the negative spaces in the vegetation particularly well and the black ink makes this very deep and dark. By flicking a brush with ink on it I found it possible to make smaller splashy marks and dots to describe the foliage itself.
Own image, Own Photograph (accessed 01/09/2019)
Own image, Own Photograph (accessed 01/09/2019)
When I worked on where best to take the view from I started with a face on view and did this in pencil to understand the view better. I realised that it was the foliage that I really wanted to show and how the house seems to peep out from under the weight of it all. I decided to include the house next door as this house is even more covered with foliage, having them both there shows this encroaching nature theme. I decided when I started using colour to make the building element paler and in the background allowing the climbing plants to really stand out. I was sitting on the ground in front of the building opposite in order to get a good view of the whole of both buildings. I tried different angles but sitting on the ground allowed me to look up to the building which was the view that I wanted.
Own image, Own Photograph (accessed 01/09/2019)
Exercise 2 – Study of a townscape using line
I was inspired by this urban landscape that I saw at the Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) exhibition in London.
Van Gogh (1853-1890) lived in London from 1973-1875, he was interested in how ordinary people lived and he was a collector of prints from magazines such as The Illustrated London News and The Graphic. By his death he had collected over 2,000 of these prints and had produced work from the inspiration he found in them.
The below is a print that was Van Goghs and was mounted in his studio, it was produced by Gustave Doré (1832-1883) who was a French artist and graphic artist, printmaker, illustrator, comic artist and caricaturist.
Own Photograph from the above exhibition (accessed 03/09/2019)
I think this print is very atmospheric, which seems to be achieved with the dramatic use of light and shade.
Below are some sketches that I worked on to try to find the best way of making this image work.
Own image, Own Photograph (accessed 01/09/2019)
Own image, Own Photograph (accessed 01/09/2019)
Below is my townscape i wanted to make the garden a focal point, the weather was a bit over cast during this piece of work, I think that the weather gives it a blank look which is how it has come out. The different shapes are what I find interesting in this piece I like all the rectangles and the hardness of the buildings and the foliage is such a contrast to this. I have found that including more of the garden it softens the piece and gives it interest. This is not a tonal study, and I think that using more tones would make it more realistic. The perspective is difficult to get right in this piece of work and I find that in some areas it is better than in other areas. I decided no to put in all the brick lines and I think this was a good idea as it could have become over complicated with all the brick.
Own image, Own Photograph (accessed 01/09/2019)
The above image is in pencil and the following image is after using black pen.
Own image, own photograph (accessed 03/09/2019)
I was inspired by seeing the print at the Van Gough exhibition so I thought of the view which is at the back of my house which has this same feeling about it.
In this primary sketch I wanted to show how dense the housing is in the city. This is the view from the back of my house. The flats and houses are jammed in, the houses altered over the years to create different styles of living, from houses to flats. Nature has found its way in though and in the foreground is a garden. Accuracy was very important in achieving a good result for this work. The weather was sunny, I really like all the shapes, squares triangles etc.
Exercise 3 – A Limited Palette Study
Below are some sketches that I worked on to find the right place to work from and also to think about what the colour palette could be like.
Own image, Own Photograph (accessed 01/09/2019)
Own image, Own Photograph (accessed 01/09/2019)
Own image, Own Photograph (accessed 01/09/2019)
I decided to sit on a step ladder to get this view so the horizon line goes out from the tree in the foreground where the branches meet the trunk of the tree. The step ladder allowed me to see down into the garden more which makes the work more interesting. I decided to use this dark blue ink, this allowed me to make the work more tonal which was what I wanted. This was so that I could add more depth to the work and draw the viewer into the image. I built up the tonal values slowly making the tones stronger at the front and in the garden and then making the tones lighter as the buildings move away from the viewer. This gave me the ‘Aerial Perspective’ that I wanted to show in this image. Again the garden made a good focal point for me, which I wanted to bring the image together.
I went out in the early evening and saw all these blue like tones, which I really liked and that is why I chose the blue palette. I think that the limited palette did help to create the depth in the image that I wanted, as I was able to make the building in the distance lighter and less distinct.
Exercise 4 – Statues
Own image, Own Photograph (accessed 12/09/2019)
This is a sketch of the statue of John Everett Millais (1829 – 1896), it is behind Tate Britain in London and somewhere that I pass often. It is made of a really dark black material which makes it easier to see the light and dark areas of the statue. I had to look up at the statue as it is quite tall. The silhouette is easy to see as it is so black and shiny in texture.
Own image, Own Photograph (accessed 12/09/2019)
I did this drawing in Parliament Square, I often see it and I really like the way that the artist has captured Mahatma Gandhi. The statue is very full of life which is difficult to capture. The eyes are lively and seem to be looking at the viewer with character behind them. When I did this sketch it was a bright sunny morning so the tonal values were easy to work with. I really like the head of this statue so I decided to just draw the head.
Own image, Own Photograph (accessed 12/09/2019)
This is one of the lions at Trafalgar Square I took some photographs and did this sketch from a photograph that I took. The lions are again made of a very dark black material this makes sketching easier as the contrast is greater. I decided to sketch on to black paper and use a white pen, this made it easier as I already have the black tone.
Own image, Own Photograph (accessed 12/09/2019)
This is Eros at Piccadilly, I went to look at it early in the morning it is a very tall statue which was difficult to draw. I did some quick sketches then improved them at home with photographs. I have really enjoyed sketching statues because I like the clear contrasts this has taught me to look for contrast when I am drawing.
Perspective is how we draw three dimensional objects on a two dimensional surface so that when we look at it, it gives the viewer the right impression of the height, width, depth and position in relation to each other. This is how we show what the human eye can see but on a flat surface.
In creating this successfully the artist needs to have a horizon line that may be in the final drawing or not. Lines that are parallel in reality will meet on the horizon line as a vanishing point. To the human eye they are parallel but they seem to meet at a great distance. It is possible to plan a drawing in this way so that it is possible to test different positions of the vanishing point. It is possible to two vanishing points called ‘two-point perspective’ this is used in drawing corners as each side has a vanishing point.
Drawing using Perspective
Objects that are in front of the artist will get smaller with distance but they will also keep the same ratio between the height and width so that there is no distortion in the object.
All objects if drawn with the right perspective are subject to foreshortening which is when the height of objects in the direction of the viewer will be shorter than their width. This is because objects that are in front of the viewer look smaller as they are further away.
One-Point Perspective or parallel perspective
This is when there is one vanishing point, such as when drawing a table facing one side, the nearest side is the longest and the side furthest away is the shortest and the other two sides join at the vanishing point.
Exercise 1 – Parallel Perspective – an interior view
Own image, own photograph (accessed 19/08/2019)
This is my hallway the mirror at the end is unchanged and stays a rectangle however the door changes its rectangular shape dramatically when drawn in perspective.
Exercise 2 – Angular perspective
This was a very difficult drawing as every window continues the angular perspective as does the window frames and doors etc. My eye level is at the top of the front door. This is a view from the neighbourhood in Pimlico that I live in.
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Own image Own photograph (accessed 19/08/2019)
By extending the horizon (eye level) and adding the receding lines to it I could see that I had made a mistake on the level of the windows at the bottom of the building on the right hand side and was able to correct this.
The above image is by John Wonnacott (b 1940) and shows the use of two vanishing points in this painting of a corner building. This inspired me to look for a building that would show this well too, and make the building look three dimensional.
Own image Own photograph (accessed 19/08/2019)
Own image Own photograph (accessed 19/08/2019)
Copy of Sir Muirhead Bone, Rome 1910
Checking the accuracy of a drawing to continue the perspective lines to the vanishing point.
Exercise 3 – Aerial or atmospheric perspective
The further something is away from you the details become less clear and the less difference there is between the lights and darks (tonal contrast). The horizon can look blurred, hazy and have a blue tone to it. As the landscape moves away for us features of the landscape may become so distant that the features can not be identified. J M W Turner (1775-1851) was a master of this and having looked at his paintings the depth that he manages to give the viewer, draws them into the painting and creates space in the painting.
In the painting above by Claude Monet (1840-1926) which is part of the National Gallery collection, atmospheric or aerial perspective is being used to create distance really well. The features of Westminster can be seen but they are blurred and indistinct to show distance in the painting.
Own image Own photograph (accessed 19/08/2019)
In this drawing from a photograph I took in Cornwall, the trees in the far distance are less distinct and are faded, this is atmospheric perspective. This is a way of making things seem like they are far away by making the objects blurred and the tones lighter.
Own image own photograph (accessed 21/08/2019)
In this soft conte stick image on beige sugar paper from Newquay in Cornwall. I made the rocks at the front more detailed to contrast with the background which is less detailed and more blurred to make the atmospheric perspective more noticeable.
Hedda Sterne is an artist who played with perspective and created abstract works which use perspective in different ways. She created atmosphere and understanding of what places are like in her paintings, you can almost feel what the places were like to be in.
Maria Helena Vieira da Silva (1908-1992) The corridor
When I saw this image I loved the atmosphere created in it, it has a tension about it. The artist has used the vanishing point to take the viewer into the painting and the tonal lows and highs create atmosphere in it. The shapes get smaller but also squarer and paler, as the painting goes towards the vanishing point. This is very interesting and shows how perspective can be used to create tension and atmosphere in a painting. This is very inspirational to me and helps me to think differently about how perspective can be used in images.
Own image, own photograph (accessed 28th July 2019)
I decided to develop one of the sketches that I produced in the 15 minute 360 degree exercises in Project 2, Exercise 3 – Below.
Own image, own photograph (accessed 28th July 2019)
I moved the position over a bit so that the viaduct looked better and had less of the river. The area was vast and it was difficult to decide what to put in and what to leave out. Moving position along the river bank helped me to balance the image better so that the river did not take up so much of the image. I decided that the five elements in the composition – the buildings, the trees and foliage, the sky, the viaduct and the river all required equal space in order to keep the balance in the image. I felt I did not want one element to be too dominant in the drawing.
I drew heavily on the mark making that I learned in part 1, trying to give different textures to different areas in the image. I decided to use a very limited colour palette to add atmosphere to the dusky image. I really liked finding different marks to use in the composition and some worked really well like the tall grass by the river. However some of the foliage worked in some areas better than in other areas. The use of black and white helped me to work with the tones in the composition better, and helped me to stop using more lines in the image.
I did become very bogged down in detail and found it difficult as usual to work in a more free and expressive way, but in the mark making I feel I improved. The work of Vija Clemons and her detail was something I thought about when drawing this also the mark making shapes. The work of Henri Matisse as I mentioned in the previous project also made me think about using different marks for this piece of work.
I found it very difficult to simplify at first, but then when I decided the elements that I wanted to include and these decisions helped me to be more selective and see the marks that I could make. When I thought about the mark making, I went back into my sketchbook and text books and looked at the marks from part 1 and decided what would fit in the drawing. This helped me to focus on simple marks and patterns that I needed to use. When I experimented with colour I found that I could not get the right tone, this is something that I will need to work on more in the future. The trees in the distance were very dark and the foliage pronounced because of the darkness and this makes the drawing seem wrong in some ways because usually the foliage would be lighter and less pronounced in the distance.
The viaduct adds some distance and form in the drawing, drawing the eye to it from the farm in the foreground and taking it through the arches.
Research point
I saw Tacita Dean’s (b 1965) blackboard paintings at the Royal Academy in June 2018
Own Photograph from Royal Academy Pamphlet (accessed 14th August 2019)
‘The Montafon Letter’ pictured above is made up of 9 blackboard panels joined together and is seven metres wide. The work was created specifically for these galleries in 2017, and the title comes from a letter about what happened in the Austrian Valley of Montafon in 1689, when 300 people in a single village were buried in an avalanche. This work is so atmosphere you can almost feel the coldness of the snow and it’s chilling danger. The vast scale makes the viewer seem small in comparison, as if nature in all its glory is so much larger than the human viewing it. The black boards and chalk make me think of learning, as if I am learning about the power of nature and what it can do to humans.
The above drawing by George Seurat is in Conte Crayon and is 24.9 x 31.9 cm. produced in 1881-1882.
Similarities
The atmosphere in both drawings, is this sense of unease, they have an atmosphere of tension about them as if something is about to happen.
The darkness of tone is the same in both of them there is not much mid tone mostly black and white, creating a sharp contrast in both drawings.
Differences
The size of the drawings is very different with Tacita Dean’s work looming over the viewer at seven metres wide and Seurat’s work at just 24.9 x 31.9cm.
Seurat’s work is black conte stick on white paper and Tacita Dean’s work is white chalk on black board.
The marks are clearer on Tacita Dean’s work and there is more detail than Seurat’s work which is blurred and less distinct.
How contemporary landscape artists are influenced by earlier artists:
I saw this exhibition at the National Gallery when visiting recently. The exhibition places J M W Turner’s painting at the centre as the inspiration that Sean Scully’s work. It was possible to look at the ‘J M W Turner’s painting Evening Star and look at the inspired work by Sean Scully at the same time.
Both paintings are similarly atmospheric of the dusk of the day, evoking the gentle swell of the sea. Thick layers of paint, worked with a brush or painting knife are a similarity of both works. The bands of colour used by Sean Scully echoing the bands of colour hinted at in Turners work. Sean Scully says that he is always looking at the horizon line and the horizon line seem to be clear in both works. The paint in both paintings gave me the feeling that it was coming out of the canvas at me it is powerful and both needed powerful strokes to achieve what the painter wanted. Painting on metal makes the paint look wet on Sean Scully’s paintings which is like the translucent oils that Turner used for his seascapes. Both paintings experiment with colour, light and landscape making me feel emotions through the paint.
These paintings are very different in size, Sean Scully working in very large proportions although some of J M W Turner’s paintings were also large this one is not particularly big. Turners painting is very traditional in style although with the sky so big it has an abstract quality to it. Detail is not something present in Sean Scully’s work but as I walk back from Turners painting I lose the details and see more to the abstraction in it.
In the exhibition is Vincent Van Gogh (1853 -1890) chair and Sean Scully’s abstracted painting. Sean Scully has given a feeling of warmth and comfort that we feel from the Van Gogh painting, in the colour palate that he uses in his paintings.
Vincent Van Gogh’s Chair (Own Photograph from the National Gallery) accessed 14/08/2019
Sean Scully (Own Photograph from the National Gallery) accessed 14/08/2019
Van Gogh – Tate Britain
In the Van Gogh exhibition at Tate Britain this year (Van Gogh and Britain 27th March – 11 August 2019), I saw many of Van Gogh’s works beside the works that inspired him on visits to the National Gallery when he lived in London. The most striking of these to me was the trees
Own Photograph from Tate Britain (accessed 14/08/2019)
Dutch painter Meindert Hobbema (1638-1709) ‘Avenue at Middelharnis’
Own Photograph from Tate Britain (accessed 14/08/2019)
Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) ‘Avenue of Poplars in Autumn – 1884
Van Gogh painted his painting two month after telling his brother to see the painting in a letter that he wrote to him.
There seems to be a great air of sadness hanging over the paintings, this emotional response felt clear to me standing and looking at them. This long enduring path of life which the figure in Van Gogh’s painting seems show is also there in Hobbemas painting but without the figure. The autumnal colour palette helps to give both paintings this haunting feeling.
Van Gogh’s painting is less detailed, but it is darker in the colour palette used. The sky is lighter in the Hobbema painting but the darkened landscape gives it the same atmosphere.
It is interesting to stand and look at both paintings and see what Van Gogh saw and how he used what he learned in his own work.
In this drawing I wanted the rock and the post in the foreground to be very detailed and the middle ground to be less clear with more sketchy marks and the background more blurred although due to the type of trees in the background being evergreen they had to be darker than those in the mid ground. The boats in the background are less detailed but they can be seen as boats. I tried to get this structure into the composition of the drawing so that the sense of distance would work. I was sitting on the ground to get the post and the rock into the foreground and this helped a lot in the composition of this drawing.
I don’t think that I have drawn this very boldly however but I seem to have difficulty with this however the light is coming down towards this as I have attempted to show in the handling of the water.
I went to the National Gallery where they have two Claude Lorrain (1600 – 1682) paintings next to two J M W Turner paintings (1775-1851). They are in room 15, the paintings are Turner’s ‘Dido Building Carthage’ and ‘Sun Rising Through Vapour’ and Claude Lorrain’s,‘Landscape with the Marriage of Isaac and Rebecca’ and ‘Seaport with the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba’. On Turner’s death he asked that they be hung together because of the influence that Claude Lorrain had had on his work. It is the light in all of these paintings that captures me. The sky in the background seems to glow with such an intensity that it draws the viewer through the painting it. The details in the foreground are clear and realistic with the details in the middle ground starting to be hazy and finally in the background there is a kind of haze created by a wash I think. The drama seems to be happening in the foreground in great detail the participants are portrayed in careful imagined scenes.
Nicolas Poussin (1594 – 1665) was a leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, his works are religious or mythological in subject. They are paintings with action and drama in the foreground which is done with a great amount of detail. One of the paintings that interested me was ‘Landscape with two Nymphs and a Snake’. This painting draws the viewer into the painting the foreground has the figures in detail, with the middle ground made up of paths and a lake. It is the misty mountains in the background that are very inspiring.
Drawing 1, Part 3, Project 2 – Landscape, Exercise 1,2 and 3
Research Point
Peter Bruegel the Elder (c1525/1530 – 1569)
Peter Bruegel the Elder was dutch painter and printmaker. He is well known for his Landscape paintings and scenes of peasants and ordinary life such as paintings of agricultural labourers. He traveled around Europe and painted the locals and how they lived their lives. What I like about his paintings is the way that you are drawn in to them.
One of his famous works ‘The Hunters in the Snow’ is a winter scene that gives a real feeling of what that day was like and what everyone was doing. The expanse of the scene is dramatic and captured completely although the palate is limited it is plenty for the scene. The eye is drawn in, with plenty to see, small scenes of rural life going on in different parts of the painting, keeping the viewer’s interest. There is a lot to take in in this painting, there is the cold and sadness of winter but also people playing and enjoying the ice.
Peter Bruegel painted a series of paintings each one was about a particular time of the year, called ‘The Series of the Months’ painted in 1565. They each show ordinary people and their activities for example hay making or the corn harvest. Looking at his work their seems to be narratives within the work such as people picnicking together whilst others are working, or someone carrying wood home for the fire. In each painting it is possible to feel the weather, the cold winter or hot summer day.
This very early Renaissance painter and printmaker was from Germany, he made high quality woodcut prints. He was interested in science as well as art, he traveled and studied in Italy. His attention to detail in his landscapes is what strikes me first, so much is included and there are many signs and symbols used also.
This painting is very small just over 20cm square. It may be small but the detail is incredible, it is a watercolour produced whilst he was traveling, returning from his first trip to Italy in 1495. Durer has captured the light and colour of spring, it is very atmospheric and reminds me of the work of David Hockney. The viewer is drawn into the painting almost journeying on the road featured in the work.
J M W Turner (1775-1851)
Whenever I think of landscapes I think of Turner, he is well known for the way that he painted light and when I look at his work the light is so vibrant. I am interested in how he achieved this. I visited The National Gallery which has his painting ‘Rain Steam and Speed’ as well as ‘views of ancient Rome’.
In the above text I found out about Doctor Joyce H Townsend who is the ‘senior Conservation Scientist at the Tate Gallery who has researched Turner’s painting techniques. The canvases that Turner used were highly absorbent and they were sized by his father using egg as binder for either lead white, chalk or gypsum. This allowed the paint to dry fast so that his paintings could be transported quickly. He often put the very lightest tones in his paintings next to the very darkest this made that lights look even lighter. He used chrome yellow sometimes too to make light areas glow more like natural light.
Turner was able to paint very fast so his paintings are ephemeral and atmospheric in nature. He tries to keep the narrative something that the viewer has to search for and make sense of themselves. Today we don’t very often have to do this, things are laid out for us, almost too easy. His most famous painting ‘Rain Steam and Speed’ was painted at a time when trains were still an extraordinary sight. He captures this narrative of industrialisation, of nature and man clashing in this violent way.
Impressionism
This group of mid painters rebelled against the idea of producing paintings that transcended the reality of the world. Claude Monet (1840-1926) was the artist who led this rebellion having been inspired by painters such as Gustavo Courbet (1819-1877) and Eugene Louis Boudin (1824-1898) who painted landscapes with light and colour. They worked outside as much as possible, preferring this to working in their studios. The colour more vibrant often straight from the tube and the way that light changes was investigated.
One of my favourite artists of this time is Henri Matisse (1869-1954) who produced even more abstracted work as seen below, simplified the landscape to dots and lines.
Landscape will always be an important theme is art, many modern artists use
Video and photography as well as more traditional ways to work in this genre.
Artists such as Robert Smithson (1938-1973) and Richard Long (b1965) work directly in the environment they explore how we relate to the land and our environment.
I went to the Royal Academy last year to see Tacita Dean’s (b1965) exhibition called Landscape. In the exhibition she explored the genre with collections of natural things, her 4 leaf clovers and with black board drawings of mountains and clouds capes of chalk on slate. There was also a film which is the medium most often used by Tacita Dean to explore different genres.
This image was achieved using spray Chalk and gouache on a slate canvas.
I also looked at painter George Shaw (b1966) who is interested English suburban life, he uses the Humbrol enamel paints usually used for painting models. He says that this is ‘to avoid confrontation with the history of painting’ but also describes the paint as utilitarian in that everyone has some in a cupboard.
I had never thought of using this as a medium, the paintings are suburban the kind of environment that we all live in, the environment in which he grew up in. When he paints nature he it is the england that we live in but in a more traditional landscape style of the landscape painters of the past. There are no people in the paintings, the absence of people seems haunting like ghosts and asks the question where have all the people gone. What is left behind when the people have gone is what he makes his images from.
His work seems to have some origins in the work done by L S Lowry (1887-1976), in that they both draw from the influences that surround them of the ordinary urban landscape.
Sarah Woodfine (b1968)
Sarah woodfine’s work has a dream like or fantasy quality to it, it is very imaginative. When you look at her work it seem as though it has been drawn from an observed reality because of the precision and clarity of the drawings. The 3D constructions in classes or domes contain perfect three dimensional worlds that are like architectural models.
Research Point
Vija Celmins (b1938)
This Latvian- American visual artist paints and draws in a photo-realistic way and uses the natural environments of oceans, stars, rocks and spiders Webs for her work. She re-describes what she sees, she says that she does not mimic but shows objects by looking at them and recreating them, and reliving the making of the original image. She uses things found in nature and found images. She uses images found in books and Magazines as well as photographs that she takes or finds.
She was inspired by the 1960’s space race and moon landings and produced works from the night sky drawn from photographs with every planet marked. She also reverses the colours on these works making the sky white and the planets in dark to light tones.
Her work has been described by her as ‘exploring the three dimensional world on a two dimensional surface’. In her graphite drawings of the seas she experiments with variations in density and tone to get the light and dark of the waves. This is definitely something that I can use in my work to make the images more realistic. Her attention to the most minute of details is definitely something to take from the video. Her remakes of the stones showing that when she applies this, the enjoyment of creating this amazing detail comes through.
Exercise 1 – Cloud formations and tone
Own photograph and image (accessed 15/07/2019)
For this first look at clouds I decided to use charcoal as I wanted to start with a mid tone and remove and add tone. I managed to get lots of marks that I liked as well as tones, lifting out areas with an eraser. I want to use some colour in the next one as it looks sad and cold here.
Own photograph and image (accessed 15/07/2019)
In this drawing I used pastels so that I could blend the colours together to find different tones. I lay down whist drawing this, so it is the clouds above me which is a different perspective to looking at the sky whilst sitting or standing.
I should have used a larger piece of paper as it made this a bit concentrated and not free enough.
Own photograph and image (accessed 15/07/2019)
Oil pastel on cardboard, I did this on Brighton beach and only had some cardboard packaging to draw on. The grey cardboard mid tone worked well as the base and allowed the image to have grey base notes which the sky had. I liked the oil pastel for this it gave me interesting cloudlike marks and the colours blend well, giving me the different tones that I needed. With the yellow below the white I was able to achieve some brighter tones also.
Own photograph and image (accessed 15/07/2019)
In this last image I wanted to use more colours, I used pastels and blended the colours together. I liked the light and dark tones that I found and the marks made using the eraser. The very light areas of the sky were next to the dark which makes the light look lighter.
Exercise 2 Sketchbook Walk
Own photograph and image (accessed 15/07/2019)
This drawing was done on a really sunny day in the afternoon with the light coming from the left hand side. I really did not like how this drawing came out, it was very hot at the time and the shadows were very strong and that worked. I don’t think I thought enough about the composition so the shadows on the ground ended up being too prominent. I was looking for tonal contrast but it ended up looking messy, partly because I did this drawing totally in the location.
Own photograph and image (accessed 15/07/2019)
I think this is better than the first one, this too was drawn on a hot day and is softened by the foliage. This was drawn in the location, I chose it because the gate is interesting, asking where does the gate go to? I liked the shadows of the foliage on the gate but the reflection on the car looks weak. I can’t seem to work out how to produce work like this fast but I will keep trying.
Own photograph and image (accessed 15/07/2019)
The day I drew this the weather was overcast and it was dark. I think the atmosphere comes through, of this unloved area that the tree has taken over. I think the tonal contrast worked quite well. I made a black ink wash, which was quite drippy and this added to the neglect in the drawing. I want to change my style and try different mark making ideas, but I am finding this quite difficult to achieve.
Own photograph and image (accessed 15/07/2019)
I did this quite fast, trying to be looser with my mark making. Of the 4 sketches I really like this one. It was hard to work fast but I really like the scene it has no real tonal contrast, but I like the shape of the buildings.
This was the first time I have worked this fast and with no erasing. I think I captured the idea of the urban view, of houses one after the other, almost on top of each other.
Exercise 3 – 360 degree Studies
North – Own image and photograph (accessed 15/07/2019)
I was in Cornwall whilst doing these four sketches. It is very hilly so difficult to find a really expansive space to use. Again I struggled with accuracy and speed. This is probably my favourite of the four sketches but I don’t think that I managed to get the tones right too many lines in all of the sketches.
I had to go in a boat to get this image the rest I got from the river bank.
East Own image and photograph (accessed 15/07/2019)
In this drawing
South – Own image and photograph (accessed 15/07/2019)
West – Own image and photograph (accessed 15/07/2019)
I always think that when I sketch I should use pencil and I know this looks tight and not free enough because of it.
In the above painting Peter Doig has made the trees in the foreground clear but created this blurred house behind that you can see through the trees. I really like this way of almost glimpsing what is beyond the trees this is quite inspirational to me. In his work ‘Ski Jacket (1994) the background is really interesting, the paint has been applied thinly and then allowed to dribble on the canvas. This gives it a blurred look, like the blurred sound in the snow. Peter Doig is inspired by Claude Monet (1840-1926) and I can see this in the use of the pale pink washes he sometimes uses in his work. He got some of his ideas for ‘Ski Jacket’ by the accentuated colours that you get from wearing ski goggles that are pink.
These mixed media images allow the viewer to see the landscape in tonal, colour and marks. The landscape is clear with features distinct although areas are not so clear but the viewer can make sense of the image. I know that I could learn so much from images like this. The stunning way that he captures the landscape in this way shows how I could be more free and less tight in expressing what I see around me. His painting show the emotional feeling from visiting the place and evoke an emotional response from the viewer.
It is the mark making that leads me to Raoul Dufy and this is something that I want to bring into my work in the future. In the above painting ‘The Wheatfield 1929). There are great marks for the wheat and the wheat when it has been cut. The marks get smaller as the painting goes into the background. The colours are interesting and lively
These are the landscapes that are all around us that we have seen all our lives. These paintings seem to be about the feelings and atmosphere of that lost youth. George Shaw paints using Humbrol Airfix enamel paint, this is something we all know of and have in our homes. This paint may be why the paintings are so realistic, one description I read said his work was ‘like ladybird books’ and I can see this. In this painting of the garages I love the light coming through the trees in the background at the end.
John Virtue only works in monochrome, the detail that he manages to get into his paintings using just black and white is amazing. The black is so black and inky and the contrast with the white acrylic paint is very striking. The drips, smudges and splashes create marks that he finds in the landscape. Looking at his work is inspiring, the way that he describes the landscape so well using just white and black.
I was drawn to this artist after seeing this painting on a web page, and decided to find out more about her. I was drawn to this firstly because of the mystery that I feel from this painting, who are the people and why are they there.
The use of the dramatic colour and the marks made by the brush strokes on the hills are something to remember. I like the story book, illustrative quality of this work.
She was not famous in her lifetime, which was short as she took her life after having difficult relationships.
I come from Cornwall and so I feel a connection to these paintings. Richard Cook paints these Cornish landscapes from memories, reflections or dreams from the walks that he takes in the Cornish countryside. He paints fast and is very physical using his fingers to paint and moving his body around. I think the lightness of the colours that he uses creates the light and mood of Cornwall. I like the thickness of the paint and the marks he makes with his fingers init. The paintings are smokey but evoke feelings of peace when looking at them.
For this exercise I went to St James Park to look at the trees near me and started by drawing and sketching the trees there. Fitting trees onto a page is quite difficult because they are so big there is always something that won’t fit onto the page so being selective becomes quite important. I find that the trunks of the tree are more interesting to me, the way that they twist and turn as the tree goes up.
Own images, Own Photographs (Accessed 26/06/2019)
I didn’t have any fixative with me whilst I was out, so the pencil picture took on some of the charcoal of the tree opposite. I really like the effect of the print on the page with the pencil drawing, it has an almost ghostly look to it but seems to give it more movement.
Own image, Own Photograph (Accessed 26/06/2019)
Own image, Own Photograph (Accessed 26/06/2019)
There are many willow trees down by the lake so I have tried to show the contrast, how different they are, the branches go up and the leaves come down.
Own image, Own Photograph (Accessed 26/06/2019)
I really like the way that the sunlight comes through the branches so when I came home I tried to capture this with ink and conte sticks. The contrast is greater when the trees are darker around the edge, makes the white seem even whiter, particularly when i use the white pen and layer that up.
Own image, Own Photograph (Accessed 26/06/2019)
Own image, Own Photograph (Accessed 26/06/2019)
I worked on different mark making using the dip pen and conte sticks. By using my fingers I printed the marks made by the dip pen, printing until the ink on my fingers ran out this gave me more bark type marks and foliage marks. By drawing a horizontal line in ink and then smudging it downwards it gave me interesting marks that look like bark, sycamore bark. I liked the way this worked and will use these marks in the future. By drawing with the waxy white chinagraph pencil and then using a conte stick the particles stick to the page and means that you can be more precise with the marks when I want. Indian ink is so dark it works well when describing the deep dark gashes in the bark.
I didn’t like using a pencil to draw the trees I didn’t think this worked well in getting the trees shape, but maybe it would work better when drawing detail or smaller trees. I preferred using the charcoal or a softer pencil this also allowed me to work faster.
Own image, Own Photograph (Accessed 26/06/2019)
The ballpoint pen here was quick this was useful in the park but just gives the same line which doesn’t add enough interest but I liked the movement that is captured. I enjoyed the mark making and came up with some ideas that I can use in the future.
Own image, Own Photograph (Accessed 26/06/2019)
The negative spaces in between the branches are interesting often making triangles and diamonds many different shapes. Because trees change so much during the year they can describe the landscape in emotional ways, in the winter the landscape looks sad creating a different atmosphere from that of the summer or spring.
Exercise 2
Larger observational study of an individual tree.
Own image, Own Photograph (Accessed 26/06/2019)
In this exercise I have chosen to use A3 paper as the tree I have chosen in the park near my house is quite Large. I chose this tree because I really liked the branches and the way they twist and turn around one another making interesting negative spaces with the light coming through. As it is June the foliage is at its best and I found that I really liked the conte sticks as blending them can give many more colours which works well with the variety of foliage colours. The leaves are at their most green and vibrant and this what I decided was important to show in this drawing. The conte sticks are also quick and easy to use to describe the foliage’s different tones and the marks made using them seem leaf like. I think at this time of the year it is foliage that describe the tree and make it distinctive, which is why I made it a coloured drawing. The leaves seem to be lighter on the top of a branch and darker underneath the light source coming from above.
I used some of the ideas I looked at in my sketchbook when looking at different marks. The smudging of the Indian ink really worked to describe the uniqueness of the bark on this tree. The bark is mostly smooth but it has the deep marks that run horizontally on the trunk. I liked the way this worked and the Indian ink has a great depth of colour which makes the marks look deep. The tree conveys an almost joyous, vibrant like feeling that captures the mood of the spring, summertime, I think this worked well.
Own photograph (accessed 26/06/2019)
I went to the Van Gogh Exhibition at Tate Britain and saw this painting by Meindert Hobbema (1638-1709) ‘Avenue at Middelharnis’ (oil paint on canvas). Van Gogh saw it in the National Gallery and he used this idea of the perspective in his letters and pictures.
The trunks of the trees are really prominent and this is how I wanted my tree to look, it is not a poplar tree but I do find that in really tall trees the trunk and branches are very prominent. In Van Gogh painting there is an atmosphere of sadness and I think that as I mentioned before the trees are important in portraying this.
Own Photograph (accessed 26/06/2019)
Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890)
Avenue of Poplars in Autumn Nuenen, October 1884
Exercise 3
Group of trees
Own image, Own Photograph (accessed 28/06/2019)
I felt that this was a great opportunity to try a faster more loose piece and use a limited palate as suggested by my tutor. This is something that I need to persevere with as it does not come naturally to me at all.
The painting above by Van Gogh is a real inspiration to me, I really like the perspective and the way that the viewer is drawn into the painting. So this was a starting point for this exercise as well as the limited palate and to be more lose and less representative. I also wanted to look at light and how it plays in the natural environment. I have been looking at the painter Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida (1863-1923), I visited an exhibition of his work at the National Gallery and was inspired by the way he captures light in his painting. I think this has helped me to see how to capture light better and how this can create interesting art.
I went to St James Park first thing in the morning and found the way that the light came through the branches making patterns on the grass really interesting and something that I wanted to work with. I made some preliminary drawings and a coloured piece to see what colours I could work with and how to limit it. This worked well And I found that the experiments with colour gave me a good starting point.
So I decided to use A3 paper the A4 seemed too small and cramped, this was what I didn’t like in my coloured sketch. The blues and greens worked well with the tones and light so I carried on with this.
I decided to mix media, using pastels, oil pastels, coloured pencils, charcoal and felt tip pen. This combination gave me the variety of marks that I wanted and seemed to work for me in this limited palate. I am pleased with the results, I am trying to work in a more fluid way and using the ideas from Van Gough to draw the viewer in. I really like the way the light creates patterns on the grass and I wanted to use this and I feel that this added another dimension to the image.
By smudging the pastels as a base colour, it allowed me to work faster then I stippled over the top for the leaves, blending the colours created more colours and tones. Adding some marks with the coloured pencils to define areas or branches. By keeping some areas white where the light is coming through or adding some white ink too. The darker areas I chose to make dark blue making it darker than the green but not as dark as black. This seemed to work the green blended with the black also worked on the tree trunks. By using some chinagraph pencil too for the chalk to stick to this gave me a method for being more precise with the pastels. The tree on the left in the foreground is a different species of tree with more sparse foliage and a twisted trunk, the trunk grey and blue with the morning light.
I selected the lines of trees as the focus and found that using the white of the paper allowed me to simplify the light so that did not have to be worked on. The foliage does look a bit stripy but this was how the trees seemed to look, I could blend this better though.
OCA Drawing 1 