A successful morning working on my drawing homework

This morning has been a success.  I wanted to draw my hands around a mug of hot milk, to give the effect of softness, darkness, warm and sleepy.  I started with some charcoal sketches in my visual diary.  I discovered it is quite difficult to draw your own right hand, when you are right handed!  So initial sketches were all of the left hand.  I worked in charcoal and compressed charcoal.  Very messy.  I used lots of soap and water during the process to keep my hands reasonably clean.

This is a left handed  version of how I hold a mug, as a right handed person.

Quite pleased with left hand sketch

Starting to work up the image.  
I have worked the left hand side first, so I don't smudge the charcoal with my right hand

Finished version

I think there are a few perspective faults, but nothing I'm too bothered about.  It was quite challenging to draw my right hand.  I had to keep putting down the charcoal, picking up the mug with the right grip, getting the lighting right, looking really carefully, then drawing again.  The homework instructions say not to crop your work, so I will leave it like this, but I think it would be better with an inch or so cut off the bottom and top.  This is on a sheet of A2, with an extra strip of paper on the right hand side.  I hate the A paper size, so I am much happier with an extra bit of width to alter the proportions.  I'd be even happier if I could chop a bit off the top and bottom.  This took about 4 hours. Only 3 more images to go!

I might need to knock it back a bit more, to get it a bit more greyed out.  It's meant to look sleepy and soft focus.  I may still have too much highlight in it.  

Labouring over my homework

As usual I'm having to work extremely hard to grasp the requirements of our homework. "In response to your home environment, repeat the class objectives of creating new compelling spacial dynamics in four A2 drawings."

Class objectives were to: focus on the differences specific visual language can make to the phenomological interpretations available to the viewer.  Main concerns are the dynamics between artistic licence, imagination, inventiveness, differentiated visual language and staying in the flow of the present moment while responding.   What do you sense, feel and what else are you experiencing? What could be your responses?  How can you present yourself with new possibilities? What habits/patterns are limiting you? Try to use the model and the relationship to the environment to create new compelling possibilities for your drawings.

Nothing difficult required then!

Ok, so if I think about different phenomenological interpretations available to the viewer, and I'm going to be drawing a domestic still life, how would I vary the way I draw my mug, if it contained warm milk, cold water, hot tea or beaten egg?

Warm milk before bed would make me feel warm, sleepy, heavy, still, fuzzy focus, dark environment, lit from one side
Cold water would be sharp, clean, fluid, hydrated, like a waterfall, refreshing, cool, condensation on outside.
Hot tea would be alert, active, stimulated, hot, cutting, burning
Beaten egg would be part of a cake mix - part of a series, sugar, fat, egg, flour, cake tin, smell of cake cooking, egg shaped mug, maybe scratched to show how egg has been beaten in it.  Hungry, interested, focussed and keen!

I now have so many ideas, it's making me feel overwhelmed before I start!  Time to focus on just one and forget the rest.

Profound thoughts from Drawing class no 5

I've worked out something profound about my drawing style.  I know my designs tend to be busy, and I accept that this is a reflection of my busy life to date. 

However I've been struggling with drawing interesting lines and being able to apply them in my work in a compelling way that holds the attention.  And what I've worked out is that although I can draw all sorts of irregular, unconventional lines, when I apply them to my work, the way that I draw them is "consistently irregular".  When our eyes see something consistent, the brain intervenes very quickly, saying "recognise that ... categorise it ... move on".  So consistent things get quickly scanned and passed by.

So if I can create lines that are irregular, it must be the consistency that is limiting the interest in what I create.  And if I think about my working life, consistency in the application of policy and procedure was a large part of the environment in which I worked.  I was constantly trying to ensure policy and procedure was being consistently applied in a very diverse environment.  This drive for consistency is now becoming apparent in my work.  At present I am creating diverse lines in a consistent manner.  I am no longer at work (I am a student not an employee!) ... I do not need to be consistent any more ... my work will be better if I can deliver inconsistency applied as required.

So when I look at the drawing of Victoria, kneeling, it is not compelling because there is too little variation in how I drew the interesting lines to create her.  Each line needed to have variation within it.  And there wasn't.

I think I will try the mark making exercises again, thinking about emotions and feelings that I want associated with my work, and see what transpires.  Peace, joy, affection, vigour, energy.  These are the words I want people to feel in my work.  If this enables me to create different marks, I will be pleased.  I think this fits with Michael's feedback "persist more in drawing process and refine" and "be more aware of different visual language and how they relate".

Michael also said that I could have varied my lines when I was drawing the fan.  (See homework photos from 2 days ago).  One of the fans was stitched with long sewing stitches.  He suggested I could have drawn some lines, and stitched others - and instantly I understood how this would have improved the impact.  The fan was very round and very regular ... and completely uninspiring.  A couple of wobbly lines would have broken it up nicely. 

I remember my friend Lisa saying that some of my print work at Herts had been enhanced by simple stitching I had added.  I had been getting angst-ridden because of the minute variation in the handsewn stitch length, but she felt this subtle variation had added to it.  Now I understand why.  No machine could have achieved this inconsistent variation.  It was obviously hand done.  And in the machine age, this is exactly the appeal.

Photos from class 5 to follow.

Thoughts before going to Drawing class

Today I'm going to go to class and spend time looking at how other people use varied visual language and how the styles they use relate to the work they produce.  I'm struggling with my own work, but have looked at my homework and realised that some of the marks I've made, might work well if used in another way for a screenprint.  So, although the finished drawings are not masterpieces, I'm developing a wider range of marks - which was one of my objectives from this class.

Michael was talking about using visual languages to contrast with each other.  His analogy was to imagine a tiny, white baby (babies are part of his life, as his wife is a midwife) and in order to accentuate the smallness, fragility, and vulnerability, imagine it cradled by a big, black, african man.  I can easily imagine this, and understand the contrast accentuates the differences.  So at least I understand the concept.  I'm just not able to apply it to my own work successfully so far.

So maybe I need to work on identifying pairs of marks that work well together because of their contrast, and then do something with them.  Once I can get pairs of marks working, maybe I can progress to more combinations.

If I work up some textile designs in the next month or so, I think I will be able to apply the marks that I've learned, and might make some more diverse designs than previously.  And by practising combining contrasting marks, I might create some distinctive designs.

I've just got to stick with it.  The angst in learning is part of the process!

The Scotsman's phone

I was fed up in the heat and humidity of Perth today.  But an email conversation with Jim cheered me up no end.  Jim said he's had problems with the landline telephone at home.  He says it will not work for outgoing calls, but will accept incoming calls.  He calls it the Scotsman's Phone.  Reluctantly he's reported it as a fault.  He's also bought us a new car, ready for when we return from our study abroad year.

I've been struggling with my drawing homework - I think I'm trying too hard, which is stunting my creativity.  We had to do 4 drawings of the same still life composition, but each drawing was to be as different as possible from each other.  I've done one really dark; one light toned, torn and reassembled; one where I have changed the respective sizes of the objects; and one drawn with a credit card using bleach on ink.  But none of them have fluency.

I've spent time at the library, looking at how different artists over the years have done their drawings.  They all have a fluency to how they use their media.  I feel as if I am using lots of different media but I'm not yet getting them to relate to each other particularly well.  But no good getting fraught over it.  I need to lighten up a bit.  Maybe tomorrow I'll just focus on having fun.

The temperature dips

Sunday night the wind got up - to the extent that the through draught in the flat kept slamming the doors.  It turns out the overnight temperature dropped to 16 degrees, which meant it was easy to sleep.  And today, Monday, the temperature only reached 31.8 degrees.  This made it pleasantly warm rather than stiflingly hot.

I've spent the day working on my drawing homework.  It has taken a while to get this going.  The first ideas were good in my head, but disappointing when drawn.  However, one drawing that started rather uninspired, looked a lot better when I tore the paper around the work and stuck it back together in a long, irregular shape.

Maurice and Jim go home

On Friday evening, Maurice, Jim and I went out for a celebratory meal together.  This was our last meal together. It has been an absolute delight having Maurice to stay.  He stayed with us most of the time but because of his cricket weekend and a passion for architecture, spent a few nights in Perth city centre, either to be close to the cricket ground, or enjoying the art deco architecture of the Criterion hotel, and former St John Ambulance headquarters which is now the youth hostel.

This time, I tried barramundi for dinner, on Maurice's recommendation.  When I tasted it, it was very like the fish that London east enders call Rock.  This can be called rock salmon, rock eel, huss or dogfish.  Many people don't like it but it's what our family were brought up on - rock and chips (not cod and chips for us!)  So when I tasted it, I thought it was the same fish.  On going home, I looked up rock salmon and barramundi on line.  But they are not the same fish, much to my surprise.  Barramundi are from the Latidae family, whereas Rock Salmon is a shark from the Squalus family (which is part of an endangered specis!).  We had a lovely meal together.

The following morning, Saturday, Jim and Maurice packed, weighed the suitcases carefully, and then we took a taxi to Perth International airport.  While queueing at the bag drop, I overheard a conversation at the next counter.  An elderly french lady had her bag 3kg overweight.  She had 3 planes to catch to go home to France, (changing Singapore, Heathrow, to Nice) and the overweight charge was going to be $55 per kilo overweight, for each flight!!!  The lady's daughter persuaded some reduction in charges, so that "only" $165 was charged for the 3kg overweight!  So, this means I will need to ensure I don't have too much stuff to take home at the end of my exchange year.  Jim has taken home a lot of my materials from the first semester, but I'm going to need to be ruthless in throwing away my work and worn-out clothes and trainers at the end of my second semester.  Anything that can be photographed will be stored on memory stick, and the A1 drawings unfortunately consigned to the bin.  23k is not a lot to bring back to the UK as luggage.  I also need to find out how much it costs to book an extra suitcase, and whether this makes it cheaper than being charged overweight luggage at the bag drop.

I waved off Jim and Maurice at the customs gate with regret.  I'm on my own now for a month.  As I left the airport to go back to the flat, the temperature reached 41.2 degrees.  Deep joy!  I'd rather have the  10 degrees that Jim and Maurice are returning to in London.