My tutor and I had another wide ranging discussion on Art.
A key focus of the discussion was around considering the focal area of the drawing. Where do I want the viewer to spend their time and attention? What parts of the drawing serve to frame that focal area, or otherwise move the viewer back to the area of interest.
Part of this discussion was on my use of detail, and where i should be spending my own time as an Artist in the creation of that detail. Detail draws the eye, so if there is a background element that is of low importance, I should consider not giving it the same attention as I do a more important component of the composition.
Specifically, the trees on the right are rendered with a similar detail as the island/face. I should consider how to push these trees back, much like I did the background trees on the left.
That said the reason why the right hand trees are so detailed is that they were a drawn from specific studies I was doing during my September vacation. I think I ended up trying to recreate those studies too specifically rather than consider them in context of the entire image.
Revisiting the Trees
I was looking at other artists in my social media feeds, and coincidentally Ian McQue was posting tree studies. I like how he rendered a mix of detail and contrast. Perhaps I could take some influence from this, but I’d have to make sure I didn’t make the drawing this crisp. Otherwise, I’d just be replicating what I already have in terms of detail.
I have a good feel for how I want to edit the drawing, now, and will get to that over the Christmas break. This in contrast to Assignment 2 which I still want to go back to, but don’t have a good grasp of how to adjust.
There were a couple points I wanted to adjust with the trees in question:
- The use of line was too sharp, drawing the eye too much.
- The complexity of the contrast was too high, again pulling the cluster of trees into the foreground.
- A couple of the trees have unnatural bends, and if I can adjust that I should.
The first step was taking my putty eraser to the area and picking up as much of the graphite as I could. I found the paper had been pretty abused, in this area, and so I had to be careful as I used the eraser and as I reapply marks.
A few things I wanted to preserve:
- The sense of forest was important. I wanted it to feel like there was depth there, rather than a couple trees just sticking up on a rock.
- I wanted to maintain an echo of the rocks and water plants, to keep balance with the left side.
With the excess graphite removed, I went back through with a 6b graphite block. Using the block prevented me from getting to stiff with precise lines. the soft graphite could then be pushed around well with a blending stomp.
I didn’t blend all the graphite, as I wanted to give an impression of the tree needles via the graphite sticking to the tooth of the paper.
I’m not sure how successful this change is. It feels like I need to add contrast back in on the extreme right. That said, those trees feel much further back now without sacrificing the shape of the trees.
I like how I was able to show the tree trunks via the blending stomp, rather than line, and it feels much more like there is depth there.
Mark Making
Throughout my feedback sessions, my tutor has made specific comments regarding my use of line. In each case, my tutor was drawing my attention to particularly freeform marks.
I’ve displayed specific sections that my tutor identified, to the left.
As I look at these, I see forms that I was trying to suggest without having a specific outline to follow. I was trying to create volume within a form, but without a concrete seam or physical structure to follow.
In assignment 3, I was thinking about bark and its random squiggly nature. I didn’t want to render every edge as that would serve only to flatten the trunk and become too busy. I wanted volume, and I think I achieved that in a fairly convincing way.
In assignment 2, I’d chosen to use a white gel pen to create the light relections. But those reflections are fuzzy, and indistinct. The medium I chose didn’t really smudge or blend, so I had to try a different method. Here, I found hatching and squiggles to be fairly effective. I’d argue these are some of my favourite parts of that work.
We discussed a bit of what I’m thinking about when I sit down to draw. I didn’t know how to answer this, and babbled off rambling half thought. But this led me to sit and really observe myself while I was drawing. What am I thinking about when I’m drawing? I hadn’t really given it much thought before.
I made a point of capturing my thoughts, when I observed myself making choices while doing some life drawing. Some of those thoughts are here:
- Is this the right line?
- Do I need to make this more precise?
- This confuses the light
- Where is the contour of the muscle?
- Does this form look convincing?
- Can I just wing it here? Will it still resemble a hand?
It appears I’m focused on the forms I’m seeing and trying to replicate it. There is some beginning thoughts around whether realistic precision is even needed. I’m not appearing to consider the whole work, but rather focused on the specific part in front of my pencil.
Materials
We discussed a bit about making my own materials. Which continues, as I explore pastel making. I really enjoy the process, and I feel a very real connection to works that I create using my own hand made materials.
Artists to Look At:
My tutor has mentioned a couple more artists for me to take a look at:
- Joshua Reynolds
- Grayson Perry
- Marcia Kure
Articles to read:
- https://blog.britishmuseum.org/pushing-paper-an-introduction-to-contemporary-drawing/
Other action areas:
- I need to check in with my tutor on referencing. I think I am doing it, yet for this unit and the one prior my tutor has pointed out that I need to make sure I am. I need to check if all my referencing is wrong, or if it is sporadically bad. Hopefully the latter. That said, if it is the former, I do have everything tracked in Zotero, so I can go back and make changes as needed.
- Think more about gesture and mark making. Be brave, and try not to tighten up so much.