Essential elements

6 different poses lasting 10 minutes each. 

1. sitting charcoal pencil

My model was not very relaxed which made me uncomfortable. He was tense which showed in his body and I found it very hard to draw him.The first attempt was in charcoal pencil with him perched on the edge of the bed. The balance I caught quite well but due to the speed of the drawing, I could not get the proportions right on the legs and arms.

2. sitting pencil

The second try in pencil did not work at all the proportions are all wrong the near leg is too short and his hand is in mid air with his head resting on nothing.

3. kneeling pencil

The third pencil drawing gave a three dimensional shape with the shading but still the proportions are incorrect the torso is central and the limbs seem to be attached wrongly.

4. laying pen

The pen drawings have a different quality to them but still the proportions were all wrong. The speed drawing did not give me time to correct the drawing.

5. sitting pen

The shoulders were too wide and the elbow too pointed. Another disappointing piece.

6. laying charcoal

Lastly, the charcoal half body laying down. The marks of charcoal on the paper give an impression of shade which in turn adds a quality to the overall drawing. Shading rather than outer lines pleased me in this quick piece.

Research Point-Structure

There is a vast amount of anatomy drawings available on the Internet it was difficult to know where to start, so firstly I looked at probably the most famous in examining the anatomy, Leonard Di Vinchi and looked at the following notebook pages. 

Leonardo Da Vinci

Study of the shoulder 

Leonardo Da Vinci anatomy drawings

Study of arms and shoulders

I felt overwhelmed with the vast amount of information so I turned to my bookshelf.   Although the Internet is a very useful tool I do love to hold a book in my hand. The Figure Drawing Workbook and Figure Drawing and Anatomy for the Artist both by John Raynes are very useful reference books. They give examples of all aspects of figure drawing and a range of media. A better book which I own is The Complete Fundamentals of Drawing by Barrington Barber. This is a book of the basics to more detailed and useful sketching. This inspired me to draw the following of my own examples of anatomy of the human body:

Now back look for more examples of anatomical drawing.

Albrecht Dürer, Nude Woman with a Staff, 1498

Three Studies for the Christ Child
 Marchigian, 1483–1520

Muscle man-front view
Andreas Vesalius (1514-64)

Muscle man-back viewAndreas Vesalius (1514-64)

Exercise: Essential Shapes

Drawing 1.  

The requirement for this exercise was to arrange a model in a chair at a slight angle in a chair and consider the axis that runs through the seated figure.

My first hurdle, my model has a bad back and could not twist the way I wanted him to, the second was not liking the charcoal and charcoal pencil I used, although I grew to like it a little better after a few attempts of using it. 

Charcoal has never been my first chose of media. All drawing were on A3 cartridge paper.

I was unsure of how this exercise was to be drawn. Was it of the shapes only or as a figure concentrating on the shapes of indevidual parts of the body, looking more like a sketch as the example in the course work.  

Drawing 1.
Tried this with basic shapes then attempted to connect them to make a figure. I didn't like this attempt and the shapes seem all wrong. The drawing shapes did not work for me. I can see the shapes as I'm looking but I cant seem to draw these basic forms and having them look or resemble anything like a person. Further attempts seem much better to me only considering the form of triangles, squares, circles, triangle, sheres and cones. 

Drawing 2.

Drawing 2. 

Still using the above principle but more rounded this drawing is much better giving some shape. The face and head is not right and needs work.

Drawing 3. 

Drawing 3.
The shading worked well here and leaving the face and hands blank allowed me to concentrate on  the torso and limbs. My favourite of all the sketches, although in reflection I need to concentrate on the whole as it looks like I missed the left side of the chair in which he was sitting.

Drawing 4.

Drawing 4.

The shape and form seems to be good but I'm not happy with the overall outcome of this drawing. The legs don't seem to bend in the right place and the shoulders are too high. All seemed to be working well at the time it's only on reflection it's not so good as the rest.

Drawing 5.

I really like this. It worked well with all the shapes and foreshortening.

The shading works for me with hatching rather than smudging the charcoal. 

No head gave me more scope to draw the figure in more detail, although this sketch

was the quickest of all. I like the speed in which it came together, the fast hatching

and the looking at the body as a whole. Instead of jeopardising the quality with speed I think it enhanced it.  

Drawing 6. 

Drawing 6.

Face in Shapes. The last drawing on this page is of a face made from these shapes in a large A2 size of white plain paper in charcoal. I like the outcome of this piece. All the shapes worked well together and the sketch as a whole looks as it should. 

Assignment 3-Feedback

My results are in for my assignment from my new tutor. I could have done better, although he has said that the report was written bearing in mind that I have embarked on the degree so maybe I do need some strong structured criticism. 
In general my work should be to a higher standard and I need to look a new ways of working with different media in a much more open, expressive and experimental way. 
Firstly I have been asked to send more work than I sent and my sketchbook. I'm very confused as I believed I was doing what was asked of me for the 360 degree studies and the sketchbook walk with 4 drawings in each. My tutor says I could have filled the book with the walk alone, and I concentrated on "irrelevant signage". I'm not sure what that means!
My drawings of cloud formations seem to have  made a good impression, and I have looked at Contables cloud studies as recommended as well as some of Monet's drawings. Although I do like Van Gogh's dramatic sky in the picture below, Wheat Field with Cypress Tress.
 


Plotting space through composition "is lacking intent and believability" and "looks amateurish." 
Project perspectives, "variable and inconsistent." The course work says to draw vanishing points on my work, and does not say to re draw those that are not correct, only to examine what was drawn. Now I'm questioning myself if I'm missing something that I should be doing or should I be following the guidelines written in the course text?  
Project townscapes. "Looks a little better when drawing without gridding up vanishing points." This could be the best comment so far. 
Study using line. "The pen and ink line drawing looks as though it has some successful parts to it." This also seems positive until a line I don't understand: "You are making a picture here as you did with the plotting of space instead of investigating the view in spatial terms in real sense." Again, what does this mean?
Drawing from statues I believed was my weak point in the exercises. My tutor seems to like this drawing giving the advise that I could have looked from a different angle or view point which could have made some interesting foreshortening images. Something I had not considered and will remember for another time in a similar situation. 
Drawing trees. "The most successful piece in the assignment from what I can see from the images is the larger study of a single tree in inks. This looks like a good drawing; direct, open, made with intent and using a media inventively; THIS IS A DRAWING! You should approach more of your subjects like this." At last something he likes! I will admit I love this drawing even though I don't normally enjoy using ink. 

The group of trees is not as strong I would agree with that comment. "You have tried to make a picture here AGAIN instead of investigating your subject through the act of drawing as you did with the ink version." It seems that my use of light, tone, texture and shadow lets me down. I think I'm getting it now, there is a difference between a drawing and a picture and I was looking at them as the same thing. 

      Drawing:

1.

the act of a person or thing that draws.

2.

a graphic representation by lines of an object or idea, aswith a pencil; a delineation of form without reference to colour.

3.

a sketch, plan, or design, especially one made with pen,pencil, or crayon.

4.

the art or technique of making these.

Picture:

1.

a visual representation of a person, object, or scene, as apainting, drawing, photograph, etc.: I carry a picture of mygrandchild in my wallet.

2.

any visible image, however produced: pictures reflected in apool of water.

3.

a mental image: a clear picture of how he had looked that day.

4.

a particular image or reality as portrayed in an account ordescription; depiction; version.

Sometimes things are so easy and looking straight at you, you cant see it!

My question now is should my assignment piece be a picture or a drawing?

Assignment piece.

View from a open door.

Not enough prep work and the 2 sheets I sent were very basic in their enquiry. I find this difficult doing prep work knowing what I intended to draw and the media I was going to use.

"The resultant assignment piece is poor. It lacks tonal variation, an understanding of light direction and how light and tone relate to the use of colour. The mark making is almost non existent; the the drawing is very generalised and lacks presence. You have been far too easily satisfied here and overall feel of this piece is somewhat amateurish. It is imperative that you investigate your subjects through the act of drawing. This is an attempt to make a picture and an ill conceived one at that. The qualitative level of this drawing is well below that required at degree level one."  

Seurat and Van Gogh could be beneficial to study tone, mark making and colour. 

Pastel's

I have been practicing with soft pastel's following the lessons in a book I now own: Pastel Workbook A complete course in 10 easy lessons by Jackie Simmonds.

Observing Negative Space and Perspective

Looking at the outlines of my selected objects, I followed the instructions and drew the line from the left side of the paper. Secondly I when back to the starting point and retraced the table line but this time I drew the lines of my object under the table level, after which I filled in the details of the basic outlines. The whole time I spent concisely looking at the negative spaces and the picture as whole.

The same exercise was attempted without taking the pencil from the paper. This was more difficult than I thought it would be, and I tried to resist the temptation to erase the mistakes made to start over and correct them.

Using Texture

Some more experiments with making marks, this time to show texture. Not all of them worked as well as I hoped, although one showed a stunning effect I didn't expect. One of my squares I painted with a very wet wash of orange watercolour then sprinkled dishwasher salt on it. As it dried the salt drew in the colour leaving deep rings of colour where it had been. It is a shame that the photograph here does not show the sparkle the salt left behind.

Having practiced with texture marks, I attempted a picture which would show texture to the maximum. The bath puff worked well I believe along with the sacking around the soap, but the face funnel I'm not happy with at all. I started the drawing with tinted charcoal and found that the colour range was not suitable so finished the picture with soft pastels.

I really enjoyed looking around the house and garden for textured surfaces for the frottage section and have shown some of the results here. This simple but effective effect gave me inspiration and I used this technique to make a cover for my A3 sketchbook below.

Check and log

I have discovered some interesting new ways of making marks to show texture and I'm now more excited about experimenting with different techniques and materials. Things that would not be first thought of as for drawing or painting, such as the salt experiment above.

It is clear that I do need extra work on my form. I found myself wanting to shade and hatch where I knew it was not appropriate when showing textures.

The technique of frottage is something I will be studying more. I loved the whole process of looking for items around the home and garden to use for my rubbings of crayon and graphite sticks. I want to spend more time on looking into ways of making pictures with these markings. I was compelled to just cut them out and make collages from them, as the above sketchbook cover.

Composition of Natural Objects

For my composition of natural objects I selected two apple halves, some grapes and what I believe to be the most beautiful fruit when cut in half, the kiwi.

I just love the the colours and the rough texture of the kiwi and although challenging, I wanted to have a go.

Once I had drawn my objects in 2b pencil, I realized the upside down apple piece did not work, so I removed that and took to my pastel pencils to add colour to the page. I think the end result is not so bad, the kiwi is ok also the apple, and the grapes work really well. I am struggling with certain shapes and had difficulty drawing the plate on this occasion.

Check and Log

I think it is easier to show three dimensions on man made objects. Natural forms are inconsistent with shape so any shadow, highlights and shading do not follow any regimental shape or lines.

My composition showed a sense of solidity due to having the objects overlapping each other, having them next to or slightly behind one another. The shadows becoming one underneath the composition as well as having a feeling of depth about the picture as a whole.

When changing composition of my arrangement it changed the why I approached the drawing. Different objects became the focal point in each arrangement, although the technique is still the same to create form.

I choose to position myself looking slightly down on the objects to show ample shadow falling from the composition. The fruit arrangement was influenced by the uppercut side of the kiwi and a little of the textured skin underneath showing through. The shadows and the way the highlights reflected off the objects influenced me for my view point on the man made objects.

Still Life Sketches of Man Made Objects

 For my first sketch I chose five objects, a lipstick, the lipstick lid, mascara, nail varnish and a nearly empty bottle of perfume.
I liked the composition but felt it was a little busy for a small sketch.

I used pencil and cross hatching for the shading. I used the pencil on the side for the frosting on the perfume bottle, and picked out the highlights with a rubber.

Having taken out two objects I liked this composition much better. It was less complicated and I liked the balance of the three items

.

Next I wanted to test some new pastel paper. As I've never used this before I first used charcoal. I loved the effect of the heavy grain and only need to add more pressure for the shading. With such a bright arrangement I couldn't leave it at that and wanted to show the colours in my sketches. I used pastel sticks and pastel pencils. The sticks were harder to use and mainly relied on the pencils and rubbed in the dust with a contour stick to make really dark shadows and highlighted with white soft pastel.

Check and log - Cast Shadows

The cast shadows fall from an object and will have different gradations. On that casted shadow you may have the reflection of the object's colour on it as well as the objects contours and highlights. The reflected shade and light work in the same manor as the cast shadow but with different contours. Also the reflection of the object will bounce back on to itself, especially on a shinny surface.

The first lesson in depicting realistic reflected shading and lighting is learned in the power of observation skills. Once you have learned how to see an items contours and its different shading in the shadows, you can then concentrate on showing this in your drawings. I found I had to keep looking at the angle of the contours as I was drawing as they do not always follow the same lines as the original object and will often refract, therefore they will not always be a mirror image. This can be shown in careful shading and highlights as you would if it were the solid object.

In the style of Patrick Caulfield

I spent some time researching Patrick Caulfield's work to enable me to produce a piece of work in his style. I choose to use A4 sketching paper and coloured charcoal for my picture of a jug. I wanted to draw shadows under where the handle would be to give a feeling of depth within the negative shape and inverted the shadow to give an illusion of 3 dimensions to my 2 dimension drawing.

I will be repeating this exercise at a later date, as I would like to try this style again but with other mediums such as acrylic paints.

The following pictures taken from www.bridgemaneduation.com influenced me in the above drawing.

Reserved Table, 2000 (acrylic on canvas)

Caulfield, Patrick (1936-2005)

Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, UK

Lantern (screenprint)

Caulfield, Patrick (1936-2005)

St. Mary's Hospital Paddington, Art...

PAD 344270

Shadows and reflected light and shade

I loved this exercise working on a large scale. I've never worked on anything larger than A3 paper so looking down at a clean A2 sheet was at first a little scary. The large sweeping movements of the charcoal had me lost in my own world and concentrating on where my next mark would be. This is probably one of the first pictures I've not had the rubber next to the page waiting to be used. I was determined not to make any mistakes which would result in starting again. The light was coming from almost directly above which made the reflections and shadows more of a challenge to record in my work, and my putty rubber may never be the same after lifting out the highlights.

Reflected light

For this exercise to show reflective light, I used 2b pencil, water soluble pencil and 2b graphite sketching stick.

The use of the water soluble pencil clouded the highlights which were totally lost on the vase and side of the perfume bottle. I tried unsuccessfully to save the picture with adding highlights of white pastel pencil.

The table top went wrong looking like a muddy mess of graphite sketching stick. I used a small piece on its side to attempt to shade like I would with charcoal.

I was very disappointed with this as I was happy with the shapes and angles of my objects.

My second attempt was much better, although I'm still not entirely happy with the out come. The shadows and reflected light look correct but I had difficultly with the lines and angles of both the vase and the perfume bottle. Maybe I would have done better to leave this project until another day.

The lesson has taught me to be more careful with the media used and test the techniques before using them on the main piece of work. I intend to have in future have a small test sheet close to hand, and to have little more patience with myself.

Drawing and painting for pleasure

 Although I enjoy working at my own pace from home, I do feel that sometimes its nice to have feed back from other people. The OCA site is very helpful and the other students are always ready to give advice if asked. Still this does not replace the face to face contact and it can feel lonely at times.

Having looked on the Internet I discovered a local drawing and painting group. They meet once a week and can offer support and encouragement where needed. The group decide on a weekly theme to draw or paint. This was the result of my first week, the theme being white china. Pieces were placed in a central table for everyone to work on their master pieces. Half way through and tea time, everyone looks at others work. No one else worked in the same way as I did, as the display as a whole did not appeal to me, I separated individual pieces and drew three pictures. This was quite a shock to others who had not considered doing that.

Not everyone choose to draw the theme and some worked from their own pieces or from pictures. One person used soft pastels and seemed to enjoy explaining to me how to use them and make the most of the medium. Two others used acrylic paints, one or two used coloured pencils but most watercolours.

It was a most enjoyable evening with some really friendly people, so I'm looking forward to next week when I will be taking my pencils and charcoal with me.

What a lovely way to meet new people, fill a sketch book and gain valuable practice to help my studies.