My first feedback session was my tutor was much less stressful than I was expecting. Going in, I had no idea if I was doing research, exercises or the assignment “properly”. I think I need to learn not to worry about such things so much — I’ll learn as I learn, and improvement will come.
A few identified gaps that I need to close in my future work:
- If I’m discussing an image, make sure to link that image in the entry. There were a few places where I neglected to do that.
- Ensure that everything I’m referring to is properly referenced. In some places my train of thought continued before I made sure everything was referenced. In my re-reads I didn’t catch the miss.
- Pay close attention to the light in my subject, and in my drawing. Ensure that what I’m capturing matches what I see, or is how I want the light rendered. Don’t leave it to accident or carelessness.
Items I need to change:
- At this stage, finishing a drawing is not necessarily the point. Learning the process and gaining proficiency comes from practice.
- I overthink. In particular when attempting exercise 1.2 I was unhappy with my work until I was too tired to be self-critical. The final work there, after a really exhausting day at work, was the only part of the exercise that flowed.
- Keep attention on the composition of the image. Think about how the eye is moving through the image, and put some planning into that. I can see where that is happening in other people’s work, so I should be able to do the same for my own.
A few areas I need to keep doing:
- Let my thoughts just get written out. Editing enough to be coherent is important, but continue not worrying about polish at this stage.
Things I need to start doing:
- Experiment more with mediums. Changing subjects is good, but build skills by drawing differently. Left hand. Draw without looking. User different materials.
Habits I need to build:
- Return to my sketches, and my prior work. Build on my prior thoughts, and redraw where it makes sense. Change things and experiment with alterations on my prior work.
- Just because the paper is in a pad, doesn’t mean I need to keep in the pad while I’m drawing. The binding will restrict my hand, so removing it will make the act of drawing easier. It will also help my eye compose the scene without the distraction.
- Look at art, more. At galleries where possible. Actions already taken in this regard:
- The Art Gallery of Ontario is putting on an Andy Warhol exhibit over the next couple months. I have tickets to visit in a week and a half.
- I’ve a number of books on specific artists in my personal library. “old masters” (Ingres, Mucha, Sargent), and modern illustrators (Kim Jung-gi, Moebius, Karl Kopinski), others. I’ve acquired them over the years specifically for the purpose of inspiration, but to be honest I’ve never sat down and studied from them.
Suggestions for artists I can follow up on:
- Cy Twombly
- William Kentridge
- Paula Rego
Questions to ask when I examine works:
- What are they doing?
- Where are they using Line vs Non-line, and where?
- How much tone and where and what is it doing?
- How are they using space, and where is the space?
Places I can find further works to explore:
A few action points directly identified by my tutor:
- “At this stage process, or the doing of the work, is more important than outcome, concentrate on the process and the rest will come.”
- “Think about the quality of the drawn mark or line that you are making as you are making it- in other words be aware of it and what it is doing to the overall drawing.”
- “Keep thinking in terms of composition – a small cardboard frame (similar to a photo mount) that you can look through will help you. Also light and dark plays a critical role in the overall image, so the tonal work is very important, you have a good grasp here.”
- “Change your physical position; what does this do to the painting? Exercise the wrist and use it to help you to paint, so think about the flexibility of the wrist and the relationship to the brush or palette knife.”