Welcome to my Learning Log for Drawing 1, OCA 2019.
In this log, I hope to explore the many creative opportunities that mark making can create, from the obvious and traditional to the non-conventional and ‘thinking-outside-the-box’ techniques. I am looking forward to seeing how my creativity, open-mindedness and reflection can help develop my artistic voice further.
I am excited to share my progress in Drawing 1, culminating with this final project. If I am honest, I wouldn’t have thought I would be considering a subject matter that I am about to progress with but through steady and thoughtful use of inquiry, I feel confident and passionate that I have arrived at the ‘home straight’ as if it were. I feel that my preparatory work through my sketchbook and larger pieces has organically evolved over the last few months, leading me towards this final piece which has a landscape theme and joins my immediate environment and outdoors nicely together to ensure I produce a fresh and emotive piece of work. I have intensely studied artist’s work, past and present, and found a liking to subdued colour palettes, mark-making which is unconventional and abstract, atmosphere which is moody and emotive and compositions which promote the weather and the great elements of the outdoors to centre stage. I have fallen in love with artists such as Joan Eardley who use emotion and intuition to produce work in which displays how they feel about the place they portray, rather than a true aesthetic likeness.
Looking through the course notes, there are plenty of questions to help trigger analysis and self-discovery before attempting the final piece. A few of these questions I felt I had already answered, or come to a natural conclusion through my experimentation and investigation building up to this final piece. There have been a couple of moments where I have had a ‘wobble’ and thought that I was lacking in creativity or come to the end of a part of research with little idea on how to get back to the main path. But by reflecting on what I had done, discussing ideas with my tutor and asking myself where I creatively wanted to go (combined with getting out into the great outdoors with my sketchbook) I soon found my rhythm again.
I am surprised that my chosen subject matter is a maritime vessel, when initially I had started out looking at natural rock formations and castles exclusively. This then led to landscapes without human interaction, and then it appears I have moved on further and have decided to include something man-made with the boat and the harbour, whilst still exploring the natural world of the ocean and the sky in the composition.
I visited the scene I have painted more than once. From previous studies, I had learnt about daylight and how different times of the day would effect my observation and light sources. During my trips to the harbour, I took videos and photos of different weather, I collected sand, seaweed and shells in a jar and noted down which sensory stimulation I was experiencing which was important to me to try to convey in my final piece as my response was based on sensory stimulation and feelings rather than exact likeness. I also gave thought to negative space in my composition, if I were to include the full height of the boat, would my support be portrait or landscape? What would I describe around the boat? Although my experiments took me toward a slightly abstract route with the mark-making, through sketches and painting in my sketchbook and through practice with my palette knife on various surfaces, I realised that I was beginning to understand the properties of acrylic paint and how to manipulate it to my wants and needs. The quick application of acrylic to canvas meant I was able to satisfy my need to apply bold strokes of paint in a spontaneous way without too much resistance. I also discovered through my research that the thickness of paint I loaded onto my knife had a direct impact on the type of mark I made on the support.
In this final piece, I would like to explore the medium of acrylic paint further, by applying it to canvas with palette knives, to produce a piece of work that is relatively simple in its subject matter but which conveys an atmospheric and peaceful scene within a landscape theme. The subject within my work is predominantly a marine vessel which stands proudly propped up on the sand in the harbour at Hopeman, Scotland. The surroundings in which the boat is given context are dull and dark on a damp Autumnal day. I chose this particular scene to take forward because I felt the atmosphere was one that many local people embraced and resonated with this place but also because it would be a challenge for me to try to recreate this ambience through my chosen media of acrylic. I also felt that the man-made vessel and harbour walls offered a story in terms of human evolution and using tools to create which were a great contrast when mixed with the natural, raw elements of the weather at work stirring the sea and building dark heavy cumulonimbus clouds. After my preparatory work, it became clear that I was leaning toward a medium that would allow me to utilise my natural way of working: quick, bold gestural marks, picking up the reactive material and manipulating it quickly, covering large areas without much resistance from the support or the medium itself. The drawing will be executed through the medium of acrylic paint and palette knives and will be portrait in format. I will position the boat to the left of the frame, allowing a large area of negative space to the top right of the support, balancing this with the darkness of the clouds in the sky and an area of interest (the harbour walls) in the background. This should give me a composition with a slight contemporary twist with the large area of negative space and the view of the vessel head on to the viewer. The use of aerial perspective here will give depth to my piece of work and I will be aware to reduce the intensity of the colour palette to ensure depth is convincing to the viewer. I found using palette knives in my experimentation to be a really satisfying way of applying the paint. It gave me the ability to pick up more paint at one time, but also it gave less detail and a more abstract finish to my work. I liked the soft edges created by the less detailed application, much like the artists I had looked at who used soft pastels as their chosen medium for their landscape drawings/paintings. I will apply my knowledge and techniques of using light and tone to convincingly describe form in my work. I noted the direction of light when I visited the site in multiple occasions and decided which I liked best to portray this particular scene. I will use inspiration from Turner (bold expressive marks conveying movement and energy in the water) and Feininger (angular marks to create drama and interest in the sky and sea). I wouldn’t say that I am going to stick to a set of rules, but I will be experimenting with a slightly loose and expressive style whilst trying to remain mostly realistic so that the viewer has an understanding of the subject matter. The main element of the piece of work I wish to convey is the atmosphere created by the light and the weather. I wish the viewer to question why they feel a certain way when they look at the artwork. Like Joan Eardley, I wish to produce a piece of work that enables me to paint how I feel about the view, not so much what I see.
Demonstration of technical and visual skills – materials, techniques, observational skills, visual awareness, design and compositional skills.
Throughout the preparatory work, I have experimented with a range of media until I came to acrylic paint in which I felt comfortable and excited to use. Through a process of self-discovery and inquiry, I have learnt that I preferred a material that was predictable yet pliable, a medium that would be controllable yet thick and spontaneous. The palette knives were a result of experimentation whereby I tried brushes initially and then found the knives when browsing in a shop. I thought they could offer me an alternative way of working on the canvas which was less ‘tight’ and restrictive. The canvas gave me a responsive reaction to the pressure I applied with the knife and I needed this suspension almost to soak up some of my erratic and spontaneous marks. The board and glass used previously felt stiff and unyielding and made me feel that I couldn’t be as fluid as I liked, although I really enjoyed the translucency and fragility of the glass support. I felt my observational skills, not only physically but in my mind’s eye, have become more discerning and I have learnt how to be more decisive with what to add in or take out of my composition and I am learning that I can do this in my sketchbook and in my mind. My visualisation skills are getting stronger, as is my desire to experiment and see where my thought processes take me. I chose to sit down in front of the boat to capture this scene because I liked the viewpoint compared to others that I saw when walking around, standing up, climbing up, sitting/ lying down. Standing up showed too much detail of parts of the boat through the railings and also on top of the harbour walls, I liked the idea of just an essence of the tops of the lobster pots, although I could have made these more obvious in the final piece with a touch more paint and being bolder with the application. The balance of positive and negative spaces in my composition feels comfortable and the style has a slight contemporary twist with the boat pointing toward the viewer head on and the vessel itself placed off centre with a large area of negative space off to the right hand side. Perhaps I could have allowed more space above the top of the boat’s mast to enable a little more negative space to balance the composition further up top but I do like the way the mast draws the eyes right up to the top of the painting. Also, after stepping back, I realise there is a slight curvature to the rigging lines to the right of the mast which looks unnatural due to the leaning of the boat in the opposite direction. This could have been avoided if I had redrawn in the line after applying the the acrylic layers for the sky as these got lost under this layer. Visually, I am pleased that there are areas of interest which carry the eye around the composition and I quite like the horizon line being perpendicular to the mast and rigging of the boat. The techniques in which I applied the paint to the canvas were sometimes erratic, but mainly intuitive to how I felt, mainly broad strokes of colour which gave an overall feeling to the areas of tone rather than a hyper-realistic account. I enjoyed following my intuition as it felt like my heart and hand worked harmoniously, rather than having an internal dialogue in my head of where to go next; it felt a lot more natural. Using the sides, tip, back and front of the knife gave me varying marks which allowed me to add dynamic elements to this piece. I enjoyed scraping, pushing, pulling, wiping and smearing the paint across the support with verve and enthusiasm.
Quality of outcome – content, application of knowledge, presentation of work in a coherent manner, discernment, conceptualisation of thoughts, communication of ideas.
I felt really good about this final piece. Perhaps the level of research I had completed beforehand, combined with my experiments, gave me a thorough understanding of how other artists had achieved what they set out to achieve in their work. It also gave me a good grounding to understand where I was going and how I was naturally evolving along the process. I believe the content in this piece of work is strong and well considered. I took my time to get to this point and before setting down to design and complete the final piece, I visited the location four times at different times of day to analyse the environment and make use of the different positions of the main light source and the varying weather and elements. I understood and used techniques to help convey a piece of work with a sense of realism with slight abstraction for this final assignment. I tried to think of form, and how light from difference sources effects the shadows and reflected light. I thought about aerial perspective and how the colour changes with the distance. I also looked at positive/negative spaces, foreground, middle ground and background and how this would effect my composition. I see that I could have made better use of the tonal degradation so that the foreground stood out a little more against the dark, wet harbour walls. I feel that the colour palette I chose was right for the idea of the moody atmosphere of the piece. I wanted a subdued and autumnal feel which made the scene feel almost deserted and un-spoilt, just the elements thrashing about behind the boat nestled on the sand against the wall. I felt I achieved this with the types/style of marks I made through application onto the support. When looking at the landscape as a whole, I did see that I could have widened the landscape and made a more traditional viewpoint by including more of the harbour wall to the right of the boat and maybe some of the lobster pots and mooring points to the left, this would have left me with leaning towards a landscape format to balance the positive and negative spaces. I produced a series of mini sketches at the scene with different viewpoints to help me decided on format and shape or frame. I felt like a landscape or square format might have been taken away the emphasis from the sky and the water elements I wanted to focus on. I liked the simplicity of the negative space of the sky and the idea of the delicate gradation of grey clouds with the darkest tone balancing the right hand side of the frame.
Demonstration of creativity – imagination, experimentation, invention, development of a personal voice.
For this piece, I imagined a a simple subject matter, a boat moored at the harbour with weather portraying a typical ‘dreich’ day in Scotland. I wanted the main focus to be on the overall impression of the piece, for the viewer to look at it and remember how it felt to be there or even to understand how it feels to be there if they had never visited. It was important for me to convey a low level of light because of the heavy rain clouds hanging low in the sky which would ensure my colour palette described subdued but rich earthy tones and a contrast between the darkest tones of the harbour walls and the lightness of the sand where I imagined light filtering through overhead but also it being lighter towards the viewer with drier sand; the tide had left damp sand nearer to the hull of the vessel. As the painting progressed I realised that my ideas were slowly coming together but I didn’t know how I was going to describe the delicate tonal gradation of the sky which, at my visits to the harbour, I saw run from light grey to dark grey seamlessly. This made me think about how I wanted to portray this. Did I want to work the acrylic paint into a smooth gradation or did I want to stick to the spontaneous mark making leaving traces of texture in the wake of the palette knife. I wanted my painting to show a passionate and immediate response to what I saw, not a true likeness. My work feels like it needs to show how it has made me feel, rather than a smooth polished execution. I experimented with the palette knife during this work, using the sides, the tip, the flat face of the knife. Some of these techniques I should have experimented with before the big piece as I felt like I might not be relying so much on trial and error. However, I do feel this resulted in a very honest and young voice coming through the drawing. Young as in, inexperienced and fresh faced in terms of applying acrylic with a knife application.
Context Reflection – research, critical thinking.
Without a doubt, the research I have undertaken before this final piece has influenced my decision making and enabled me to investigate and experiment with different media, styles and concepts for pieces of work. I have changed my mind about where I wanted to go with this piece on many occassions but I have kept referring back to my research and thinking critically about what it was that I wanted to achieve. Taking time to analyse and appreciate my inner artistic voice and listening to and following intuition. I feel like I have grown and developed my studies, my practical and theoretical application and also my ability to think critically about how I combine the written/theoretical research with the practical work. I can see that I am making stronger links to researching other artists and analysing how I could apply their methods and techniques into my work, understanding how it influences my styles and tastes. I have learnt a great deal about the artists I have studied within Part 5 and it has been nice to find some new artists, historic and contemporary that I had not heard of before. I can see how the artist’s work that I have had a preference for in this module are similarly (geographically) located next to the sea or have travelled to locations where their subject matter is similar to mine. Or, maybe they have been exposed to the elements like me and had a strong response to their stimulus. I have enjoyed seeing how these external factors have influenced and developed their work. My sketchbook and learning log reflects my constantly evolving practise and my journey with self-led learning in Drawing 1. I am proud of the mistakes and ‘wrong-turns’ I have made along the way as they have helped me to understand how critically thinking can adapt and enhance not only my learning but the outcome of artwork I produce. It also demonstrates resilience and endurance when working towards a complex piece of work. Reflection is a huge part of my learning and without it, I do not think I could have progressed to produce this final piece for Part 5. I needed to analyse how other artists had moved from initial sketches to larger, more developed pieces of work where true understanding of what they were trying to create is demonstrated in the execution of their work. I also understand how important it was for me to visit the place I wanted to study on multiple occasions to get to know the area, see it in different circumstances (light, weather) to get the feeling and the elements under my skin, breathe it in and really research the place so I could take it home, reflect and express that through my work. Recording my findings in my sketchbook has been vital to me continuing my work at home, but also a record for me to reflect on and push forward with when continuing with my studies and practical work.
Bibliography
Gombrich, E.H, The Story of Art, 1984, Phaidon Press LTD.
After reading the course notes on Part Five, I have a few initial ideas that are naturally coming to me for a starting point:
Space, expanse, open, outdoors, green, blue, mist, stance, weight, imposing, large, voluminous, solidity, presence, nature, existence, low cloud, rain, valley, landscape, panoramic, views, dark, dusk, low-light levels, harmonious colour palette, subdued, modest, Scotland, dreich, beauty, wet, lush, vegetation, curious, exploration, trek, freedom, walking, travel, adventure, home, undulating, mountains, high, low, peak, historic, pastel, mixed media, layers, abstract, loose, calm, trees, plants, grass, thought-provoking, comforting, reliable, relaxing, elements, exposed, brutal, forgiving, unforgiving, brave, courageous, magnanimous, habitat, home, fondness, reminisce, memories, feelings.
Frottage / printing / scraping / mark making / using fingers / caveman-style painting/ evidence of mark-making technique (fingerprints, scraping, angles, lines, tool marks) / raw materials / wet-in-wet, layers, granulation / chalk pastels / watercolour inks / water colour / water spray / charcoal / loose expressive work / colours / moody and subdued or moody and vibrant / blues, greens, ochre, lavender colour palette / woodland, heathland, coastal landscape / panoramic view / large paper / textured paper/ textured materials and/or medium / close up view like Vija Celmins? / black and white and energetic like Tacita Dean? Stabby unrefined marks like Paul Cezanne? / 3D, textural / tactile / crab, seagull, lobster pot / nautical / maritime/ rough / textured / tooth on paper / handmade paper / canvas/linen / natural or found support / sandpaper / kitchen paper, collage, base-layer texture / primitive / pottery / ceramic / three-dimensional / useful / utilisation / aesthetic / clay / natural materials / geography / rocks / formation / Joan Eardley expression and emotion.
Joan Eardley – https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/16334/lot/73/ – used sand paper as her support and pastel for this portrait. https://youtu.be/lekhdsXD-Ro must visit this video again, lots to think about. Eardley used natural materials for mixed media/collage effect – daisies etc. She used to paint in the open air next to the scene she was painting. Materials at the scene would be used in the painting whether by accident or on purpose as she would paint in the wind and rain; exposed to the open elements (sand and grass being blown onto the wet materials etc.) She painted what she felt from the scene more so than what she saw.
Margaret Evans – https://www.margaretevansart.com/ – https://www.margaretevansart.com/scottish-galleries – I really enjoyed looking at Margaret’s work. There is a calm and peaceful quality to the scene she sets in her landscapes and portraits. The soft material of the pastels she uses blend luxuriously and produce landscapes with atmosphere with a softness from the soft edges synonymous with pastel landscapes.
Tacita Dean – My thoughts continually return to Dean’s work because of her atmospheric and soft exposure techniques she uses to offer her work to the viewer. It feels as if there is a ‘feeling’ that is being indicated through her work rather than purely the subject alone. I like her use of monochromatic colour palettes, either black/white tones or sepia.
Vija Celmins – As above with Tacita Dean, I really enjoyd looking through Celmins work in this and previous parts of Drawing 1. Her work is similar in the use of a gentle and subdued monochromatic colour palette. I was drawn to the up close and personal view of some of her work. Some perspectives that she used were unsual, such as Ocean or Sky produced in 1975. These unusual styles of compositions were offered to the viewer where the subject matter completely filled the frame and offered no alternative clues for context. I felt literally immersed in the scene and sometimes that made me feel a little uneasy in that I was searching for the meaning or message of the piece and my brain was trying to put the work into context where there were no clues such as the tops of trees or boats etc.
Dennis Creffield – I went back to Creffield’s work after looking back through my coursework for Drawing 1. I still appreciate the strong structural lines of charcoal over a softer, blended background representing a man-made structure. I noticed that I am yet again drawn to a monochromatic colour palette here. I also liked the natural properties of charcoal, a man-made medium out of a natural product. This made me think of the first recorded cave paintings and their simple use of line and natural found materials.
Matthew Draper – Scottish artist who produces really beautiful and atmospheric artwork. I can identify with Draper in which apparently he works instinctively rather than with methodical and systematic techniques. I feel unrestricted when allowed to follow what ‘comes naturally’ rather than applying a series of rules and regulations to my paintings. That being said, I do understand and can apply basic theories to describe tone, form and shape etc. It appears that I am also drawn to Draper because of his gentle focus of the landscape, soft edges and lines and subdued, neutral or monochromatic colour palette.
John Bell – “His subjects are often along the Ayrshire coast near his home in Troon, where the expansive shoreline and the ever changing weather provide unlimited subject matter. He is interested in the quality of light and colour in the Scottish landscape, particularly the sky, which often dominates his paintings. His brushwork and use of colour capture the movement of the cloud and the effect of the light on the land and the sea.” https://fotheringhamgallery.co.uk/artists/john-bell/#:~:text=John%20Bell%20Artist&text=He%20painted%20from%20a%20young,Architecture%20in%20Glasgow%20in%201993.&text=He%20is%20interested%20in%20the,which%20often%20dominates%20his%20paintings. Although Bell usually worked in oils, according to the above website, I can see some similarities in his execution of his landscapes compared with the above artists discussed. The colour palettes are harmonious and natural, much like the subject matter he paints. I am excited to read that he also takes great inspiration from the natural elements and weather that change greatly in Scotland. I feel an organic bias towards the weather and the elements and maybe this is a good direction to take my artwork for this part of the course. The difference in the oils when compared with the pastels and charcoal is that they tend to give a more solid or heavier quality to the outcome whereas the pastels and charcoal could offer a more lighter, softer and translucent feel.
Stephanie Dees – I quite enjoyed looking through Scottish Artist Stephanie Dees. She has blended natural and man-made structures/ landscapes in some of her work which is an interesting composition to look at. It makes me consider what some people might find beautiful or aesthetically pleasing. I also notice her calm and subdued use of colour palette across the main body of her work. I enjoyed the ‘cartoony’ likeness of her landscapes with architecture. It felt soft and approachable rather than strict and imposing. some of her mark making reminded me of Paul Cezanne with the short stubby brushstrokes. It surprised me that I liked the inclusion of maritime vessels in the shoreline pieces that Dees produced. It gave a real nautical feel to the work and the contrast between the sharp lines of the man-made items of the boat and seaside architecture compared with the gentle lines and edges of the natural world that give these items context in the composition.
Ann Blockley – Ann throws me a curve ball in my line of enquiry here because she goes further with her abstraction and expressive compositions. There are still recognisable elements in the pieces such as animals, beehives or fences to give clues of the landscape but there is great experimentation with different textures and mark-making practices. These give a really unusual and engaging composition. I enjoyed looking through her book because it was vibrant and exciting. I love the idea of adding texture into my work which evokes the thought of wanting the viewer to reach out and touch the work with their fingers to satisfy another sensory stimulation whilst engaging with the work. The evidence of the artist/practitioner at work also leaves some really interesting marks on the support and I quite like the crudeness of this; the traces of the artist at work can be read like a story.
Further research into the following artists was also undertaken.
Kurt Jackson- I watched two YouTube videos on Kurt Jackson and felt a strong connection to his way of working. He explains that he thrives on spontaneity and getting out in nature to see and feel his surroundings. He also talks about laying down a layer on his support prior to beginning to take away the worry of starting on a imposing white surface. I enjoyed his honest and raw approach to his materials, using paint pots to spread the mixed media around feeling free in his approach, not limited by rules/ regulations. He talks about putting himself in unusual situations to produce unexpected and exciting results. I see that his work is heavily influenced by his geographical location next to the sea.
Picasso – ceramic plate, 1948 – I like how Picasso has painted on a different surface, almost like sculpture crossed with painting. Painting is no longer on a flat plane and comes to life with something that is useful, it stays with the viewer and has a purpose. Reminds me of the primitive cave paintings and how they were made for a use or with reason rather than purely aesthetic. Utilisation / practical. This area of research inspired me to look further at sculpture and textural artwork. I also looked into using clay / gesso as a foundation on which to paint or to dig into the clay to create a ‘negative’ piece of work that goes into the material rather than coming out.
A few other artists whose work I explored during this stage of inquiry:
Ron Lawson, Judith Bridgland, Wendy Brooke-Smith, Emily Nelligan, John David Wissler, Sarah Burns, Jim Campbell, Peter Dworok, Garry Brander, Ivon Hitchens and Willem de Koonin
“I did not paint it to be understood, but I wished to show what such a scene was like”
Joseph Mallord William Turner, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/student-resource/exam-help/weather
Whilst taking into account the extensive preparatory research and following my intuition surrounding the ‘landscape’ theme, I decided to begin embark on a self-guided journey towards my final piece for Part 5. To kick off my adventure, I took to my sketchbook by means of written investigation, looking back at all of the work I had prepared for Drawing 1 and analysing the strengths and weaknesses I had encountered along the way. There were many moments that I enjoyed that I had forgotten about which have somehow become absorbed into my daily way of working, subconscious competencies, likes/dislikes or biases towards particular areas of interest. The main area, which I highlighted through my sketchbook investigation, was that throughout my studies, I had become more strongly linked to works which were slightly abstract, expressive, textured either physically with mixed media/unusual supports or by clever use of describing texture through manipulating media. The idea that a viewer may take a moment longer than a simple glance at my work, to try to understand and allow themselves to become immersed in the atmosphere I try to create is a very appealing thought. In my sketchbook notes, I highlighted words which were the clues to the way I like the work and excitingly, my starting point for my final assignment. The key words I identified were: unusual material, temporary, emotion, layers, elements, mixed media, texture, tactile, instinct, natural, landscape, spontaneous, moment, experience, blurred/soft focus, passing moment, weather, loose, expressive, immersive.
Initially my ideas were to look at the castles, stones and rock formations that I had seen on my travels. The monumental structures whether man-made or natural were impressive and I was drawn in by the texture and colour of the stone/rock. I was torn between large up-close and personal views like Vija Celmins and wide sweeping landscape views like Peter Podmore above. I started with experiments with a close up view of my subjects and gradually expanded the view, taking my sketchbook and various supports with me on walks like I had done with the sketchbook studies previously. I also researched a little into primitive artwork left behind by our ancestors on cave walls with natures art materials. I therefore initially concentrated on materials that contain mainly natural ingredients such as charcoal and soft pastels.
Now I feel I have come to a natural conclusion of my preparatory work. I have been continually walking out and exploring to gain inspiration for my subject matter and, after my practical and theoretical research, am ready to move towards the final piece.
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http://www.arthistory.net/charcoal/
https://www.pastimesinc.com/2015/04/18/product-review-charcoal/#:~:text=Powdered%20Charcoal%20is%20charcoal%20powder,to%20tone%20a%20drawing%20surface.&text=In%20the%20Romantic%20period%2C%20French,emotion%20possible%20in%20charcoal%20drawings
https://www.kunst-fuer-alle.de/english/fine-art/artist/image/michelangelo-buonarroti/221/1/64227/study-of-a-man-shouting/index.htm
https://www.pastimesinc.com/2015/04/03/interview-with-charcoal-artist-emily-nelligan/
https://www.facebook.com/johndavid.wissler?fref=photo
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/c/charcoal
https://sarahartist.com/artwork/3137626-Mary.html
https://www.lisatornack.com/
https://www.teklamcinerney.com/journal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCYfAHVePMo
https://www.britannica.com/art/charcoal-drawing
https://nitramcharcoal.com/history-charcoal/
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/rouault-the-meal-n04141
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/kooning-untitled-t01104
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/cesar-drawing-t00409
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/wilding-untitled-t05862
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/matisse-reclining-nude-t05756
https://www.janinebaldwin.com/gallery/drawings/drawings-landscape.html
https://willkempartschool.com/acrylic-palette-knife-techniques-part-1/
https://www.tate.org.uk/research/publications/tate-papers/17/to-the-ends-of-the-earth-art-and-environment
https://www.artworkarchive.com/blog/why-painting-outside-can-help-all-painters
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/long-africa-footprints-p77189
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/hitchens-untitled-p03182
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_-yWD81MlY Kurt Jackson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktMadM_ubME Kurt Jackson
Tracings from and sketches of heads from Andrew Loomis, ‘Drawing the Head and Hands’. I wanted to feel where the lines were when constructing the head so I used layout paper and a pencil to trace some of the head drawings in the book. I thought that by tracing a few drawings, it would improve my memory and maybe muscle memory to quickly and accurately sketch the human head with accurate and convincing proportions. I found this useful as a ‘hand-holding’ exercise to show me how different skull shapes can lead to the variety of facial features I see on a daily basis but I then I quickly noticed without the safety net, my drawings became distorted and become sidetracked by what I think I should do with proportions out of habit, and the instinct was strong to pull away from the method Loomis used which I had been tracing initially. I think it was a good experience, but I felt it was best to learn to construct the human head myself and gradually build up the technique so it becomes instinctive.
Figure construction lines and lines of movement and flow.
I had great fun completing this final drawing for Assignment Four. Initially I felt quite overwhelmed as there was so many techniques and outcomes that I could follow to produce this drawing, so with that in mind, I started to investigate how other contemporary artists had created their self-portraits. When observing and analysing what other artists had tried and achieved, I found that I quite liked the outcome of a natural or white coloured support, with semi-loose line and a splash of colour here and there. I think it is really helpful to consider how other artists have pulled together their composition as a whole as it gives me ideas on what I could experiment with, in addition to my own ideas and artistic voice. I have noticed that after investigating various methods and techniques in Part Four, I was able to come to a conclusion of what my three figure drawings would begin to look like. I found that I was able to be more discerning and have a bit of confidence in making the decisions which would develop my ideas to take the drawings through conception to completion. A little self-analysis in my sketchbook brought up questions that helped and encouraged me to identify the starting point of this drawing. The work that I produce always seems to evoke emotion from me and I like being able to convey this through my work. Although I do see the emotion as something that is constantly evolving. The more research I do into artists past and present, the more I can relate to some of the stories and how they incorporated their lives and feelings into their work. The contemporary self-portraits that I saw, many used mixed media approaches, photography with the subject dressed in a particular way or even painted with the subject disfigured to represent psychological issues. There is such a huge variety of personal approaches in contemporary self-portrait that there doesn’t seem to be any hard and fast rules. I discovered this in one of my previous research points in part four; it seems that artists can now not be held to a long line of tradition and produce self-portraits in the ‘correct’ style. Artists in the modern day look like they can just be free and self indulgent in their expression to produce a portrait that conveys any message they should choose.
And so I felt inspired to just draw myself in my self-portrait as free and care-free as I felt. I wanted a burst of colour to represent my happiness and passion for playing music with my cello and I also knew that I would need to experiment with how I was to do this with a fair amount of individual research.
From previous studies I knew that I really enjoyed working in Indian ink but also with charcoal. My investigations started here with these two materials and I had great fun putting together some research into working with these materials for my self-portrait. Through this research I found that a smooth support would best support my free-flowing and fast, expressive lines. I decided that a line with a little tone to just give a hint of a three-dimensional form would really take my drawing to the expressive and dynamic piece I wanted it. A far cry away from the sympathetically and delicately rendered self-portrait by Rembrandt, I know, but if a self-portrait is purely an expression of the artist, whether it be a superficial message or one of deep emotional and psychological representation, then I feel that the concept of my self-portrait should take into consideration my natural voice and the way in which I choose to express it.
After completing my investigative work and the few hours spent drawing the construction lines of my facial features and the rest of the composition, I felt that I was ready to start applying the first few marks to my drawing in charcoal. I felt excited to explore where this drawing would take me as I ventured out with more expressive marks here and there, including the areas where I tightened up where I lacked confidence in my ability, and then learned to set myself freer again. Working on such a big scale (A2) made me realise how the techniques practised in my sketchbook begin to change when applied on a bigger scale. The muscle memory changes, as do the proportions. Part Four has taught me to really consider this factor when planning working up from my sketchbook to a larger support.
I have a slight sense of disappointment when I look at the final drawing in that, again, there are similarities in it when comparing it to myself, but ultimately there is little more than a resemblance. It seems that I tightened up a lot here and messed about with the charcoal on the mouth area to produce the correct tonal variation, that in the end, I could not longer work out the construction lines underneath or pick up the charcoal with the knead-able eraser. I then found myself in a bit of a muddle, having nearly finished the drawing, I was getting frustrated, smudging the charcoal and pastel elsewhere on the drawing. I decided to leave some of these smudged areas of charcoal in because when I look back at this drawing, I will understand and recall the effort I put in to produce, but hopefully, in a few years time, I can look back and see how far I have come to develop my practice and what I had learnt along the way. I also think leaving in a few areas of smudged material shows some of my working movements and I felt quite happy to see my little clues that I had left of the piecing together of the portrait. It gave me a sense of life and connectivity with the drawing and reminded me of how far humans have come in terms of evolution to be able to pick up a mark-making material and describe three-dimensional forms. Ultimately, I ended up completing the mouth with light charcoal and pencil of which I struggle to feel happy about. However, every mistake or difficult experience is a lesson learned and I will understand more about the construction of the human figure, my chosen materials and their properties after this assignment and its preparatory studies.
Bibliography
https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+use+a+paper+stump+charcoal&oq=how+to+use+a+paper+stump+charcoal&aqs=chrome..69i57.7229j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-1010/post-war-american-art/abex/v/moma-painting-technique-rothko
https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-started-drawing-charcoal
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/jlcondel/abstract-faces/
https://www.kerrybeall.com/journal
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/77124212346874153/
https://margacheru.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/3f42f-chilongared-and-black.jpg
I really enjoyed this drawing for Part Two of Assignment Four. It felt immediately more natural to me than Part One’s drawing as I knew from the outset what I wanted to achieve for this piece and managed to bring it from conception to execution with much enjoyment and minimum of stress.
To start my research for this piece, I started to look at how ‘old masters’ had described a figure’s form. I was interested in seeing how they described tone and three-dimensional form; which techniques were used to successfully convey these attributes of a convincing form. Some used broad strokes of charcoal whereas other pieces I could see lines like cross-hatching and hatchurling with other colours than black or graphite/pencil. I liked how Michelangelo used a neutral colour support for his studies of a Sibyl. Using a coloured or non-white support is another area I would really like to indulge in for my experimentation. It is something that I never really have as a priority, the habitual routine of plumping for a white piece of paper in my sketchbook or paper pads is something that needs changing up. I feel like I miss out on a great source of investigation but not giving the support’s colour much consideration.
I also enjoyed looking at Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam as it gave me a thorough understanding of looking at the figure in its reclined position and how the artist drew and painted it. I wanted the same anatomical correctness with my figure, but less distraction and a muted or monochromatic colour palette. Whilst looking at historic figure drawings, I noticed I was drawn to the delicate use of tone but I knew I was after a finish with a bit more strength and contrast, maybe something historic in material but a more contemporary thickness to the line. So initially, I experimented with charcoal in my sketchbook after being tempted by reading a charcoal portrait book discussed below. I applied a light tonal drawing of the figure and then to add an abstract feel to the tonal areas, I tried adding thick, dynamic marks of Indian ink with a chopstick to describe the darkest of tones. This technique with the ink and chopstick I successfully used in one of my previous exercises but after applying the ink, it became clear that, for me, it didn’t really add anything to the drawing, more adding areas of contrast that was edgy and didn’t really make sense and unify the figure for this piece. I wanted to see the figure reaching out and looking slightly desperate for help, the ink added drama and made it seem more of a dynamic pose for a dance or movement. It turned into a study that had gone too far away from my inner vision. I decided to stick to charcoal because I felt that the rough and atmospheric tones gave depth not only to the figure but also the environment and story the drawing emits. During my preparatory research, I also read Nathan Fowkes’ How to Draw Portraits in Charcoal, Design Studio Press, 2016, again (previously read for self-led learning) to see how he used charcoal as a medium to describe form with charcoal, using the support for the lightest or darkest tones, depending on the colour of the support of course.
Bibliography
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbLVbaGrzBY
http://www.italianrenaissance.org/michelangelo-creation-of-adam/
https://www.christies.com/features/Old-Master-Drawings-Collecting-Guide-7455-1.aspx
https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/2018/old-master-drawings-n10006.html
Nathan Fowkes, How to Draw Portraits in Charcoal, Design Studio Press, 2016
http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/figure-drawing.htm
https://nitramcharcoal.com/looking-at-the-history-of-life-drawing/
Starting Part One of Assignment 4 off with a good amount of research, I decided to produce some ideas in my sketchbook of where I would like to start with this first instalment of my assignment. Using previous work and experiments as a starting point, I used reflection and further investigation to develop my ideas for producing a seated figure study using line. I needed a photo (as restrictions did not allow for a live model) that would inspire, a subject that would attract me and draw my attention. My natural instinct, when looking for theme, would be something a little quirky but not too obvious. When I stumbled across Gauguin’s The Cellist, it was a match made in heaven for me as it combined my love of music with art. The colour palette and the cropped composition immediately grabbed my interest and although the background was darker, a little like Rembrandt’s self portraits, there are some abstract shapes in the negative space above the cellist’s right shoulder which help balance the piece. I did notice that is a subtle use of line, an almost cartoon’y type execution with the paint applied with a flat looking slight block tone approach. I like the opaqueness of the oils compared to watercolour. I researched other historic types of paintings with a cellist as a subject and came across varied techniques and executions. Looking at other artist’s work and how they approached the piece, with a seated figure as the main theme, I was able to envisage my concept for my assignment piece coming together as I looked at their studies and discovered what I liked and what I didn’t.
Whilst looking for artists who describe a seated figure playing a cello, I came across Charlotte Moorman. I found her fascinating and intriguing; she brought together communities and divided opinion, even being arrested for expressing herself and performing her art of playing the cello wilst nude/semi-nude. She caused quite a stir in society and her story spoke to me because of what she was trying to achieve and how she went about it. I took inspiration from her and started to imagine my piece with a nude figure drawn in line, playing the cello, maybe a little risky and some may question this but I was thinking about how it feels to play a musical instrument and how it could possibly make you feel exposed or vulnerable when performing. I also felt that when I play music, I feel at one with the instrument, almost joined like it was another limb. This compelled me to give the idea of my nude figure playing the cello real consideration and so I began the preparatory work for the final drawing for Part One.
Different ideas for the position of the figure were drawn in pencil, before deciding on the side view as it would offer me a great view of the figure and ensure the drawing was more about the figure and less about the cello. After looking at some of the historic paintings with this theme, I decided to experiment with ‘aged’ looking techniques and colour palettes so I could see how the antique effect would look. I experimented with using tea leaves to stain the support and also use raw umber and burnt umber watercolours for some tonal variation with a monochrome colour palette on the cello, mixing the concept of a coloured cello and a black and white line drawing for the figure, again to make the figure the area of large contrast, so the eye is drawn to the figure first and then the cello.
After my investigations with the ‘aged’ appearance, I decided to go against the antique effect for a more contemporary image which would give a fresh approach to a study of the figure with a cello. I then experimented with a few things to see where I could go creatively so I tried tracing and empty music sheet onto a line drawing of a figure using tea to stain the paper and a bamboo skewer to apply it and slightly impress a line on the paper too. I wasn’t too keen on this outcome as it broke up the image and made it feel complicated, adding distraction to the image and taking away from the fluidity and softness of the line. I also looked at white conté on a black support and also a warm colour palette on an orange support. Although both were useful experiments, I did find that it felt too heavy and the overall feel of lightness and spontaneity had been lost with the thick line. I also kept tightening up because of nervousness of wanting to ‘do a good job’ at this first part of the assignment. The experiments and investigations helped to steer my way and guide me towards the final drawing. I found that the contemporary-style portraits, with loose line and splashes of colour, seemed to work better for me here.
I begun to look at the idea of drawing drapery to cover the lower half of the figure like the historic marble carved figures; I quite liked this effect but I felt like it took away the purity of the line and made the figure complicated and busy. I am not really sure why I was so keen on pushing the idea of using a nude model here, some may say it is distasteful and insulting to musicians. I felt like it was an opportunity to explore a delicate and private moment, one which would make the viewer internally ask questions about it, intrigued as to where the idea for the drawing came from and what its meaning is. I felt strongly about the link of millions of years of evolution in the human body and its complexities, then the contrast of the historic but still young invention and mastery of playing the cello. Its simplicity and beauty, the shape and the form almost complement the female form. The significance of playing music, is something so pure and unrestricted; free of judgement and social expectation, a place to go to loose yourself. I felt like the nude figure was also stripped psychologically of all clues of time, place, social status, and it was a message of freedom and being harmonious with the instrument.
I liked the use of colour behind Vincent Van Gogh’s Self-Portrait, 1887, and so after some experimentation, and a good night’s sleep, I felt that my figure would need a burst of colour to inject some drama and excitement. I needed the music that was resonating from the cello, to be seen and felt by the viewer. An experiment of using fountain pen ink with water to make the line bleed was a progressive step to finding the right media to work with for this piece. I also found that I didn’t need to fill the figure with colour and tone as it was more of an impression of a figure with the loose line.
I worked on foreshortening and how the body and instrument would look to the viewer from the side view as positioned in my drawing.
The final drawing turned out different to how I was expecting in that, in the studies in my sketchbook, the lines were closer together because of the size of the paper. This is something I hadn’t taken into account when sizing up for the assignment piece. Bigger paper meant more negative space between the lines because the thickness of the fountain pen remained consistent which the paper, unfortunately did not. I tried to measure well from the reference photo of a model seated and another photo of a cellist playing (photo above) to get an understanding of how a cellist looks from the side. I found that the angle of the legs and feet quite difficult to grasp, as were the facial features. there were a few errors made when drawing so loosely with the pen but overall I feel that the angles and proportions are reasonably convincing and accurate. Looking back at the drawing, I realised that I didn’t give much thought to the tones surrounding the figure in terms of shadows and grounding the figure to the floor; although I gave tonal variation the figure and the cello and lightly the stool on which the model sits on the edge of. I did think that the angle in which I have placed the figure, the stool might have needed to be drawn a little further underneath her as it looks a little like the stool could tip.
Although my choice of materials was a result of my experimentation, I don’t feel particularly connected with this final drawing and that is a little disappointing after spending so much time on preparatory investigation and on the drawing itself. I understand that I may not have listened to myself closely enough, and maybe I should have looked at experimenting with a looser, more expressive and thicker liner because of enlarging the support I worked on from the sketchbook studies. I really liked the drawings in my sketchbook and I think this is because the line is thicker and closer together but also I felt less pressure to get it right and so was more fluid and spontaneous. I felt these qualities were lost in the bigger picture and I tightened up rather than making good use of the negative space which covers a large area around the seated figure. Perhaps I should have looked at Gauguin for inspiration where he used abstract shapes to fill the negative space above the cellists shoulder to balance the composition. I do feel that the technical measurements and proportions are reasonably accurate therefore bringing the piece further toward the realistic scale than truly abstract. I felt like the smooth support was best for this piece because I didn’t want any white speckles or friction on the free-flowing line. Composition-wise, there is something missing from the background of this piece, possibly the lack of tone to suggest shadow and that the figure is rooted to her surroundings, maybe too much negative space. I am happy with the dynamic flow around the drawing as the cello scroll starts up in the top right corner and the eyes are drawn around the figure and cello before being escorted back up into the corner again.
I have taken a risk for this piece in terms of concept and creativity. I imagined this piece to be read and understood by fellow musicians but also viewers that would question the meaning behind the concept. I felt like I strayed a little way away from my natural voice here, but it was a great learning exercise in that I learnt about carrying an idea and concept through to execution, whilst retaining my artistic voice and conveying the message through the composition.
Bibliography
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paul_gauguin_the_cellist_wikipedia.JPG
https://www.wga.hu/html_m/g/gauguin/05/2ponta03.html
https://www.artsheaven.com/painting/artists/g/paul-gauguin/the-cellist-portrait-of-fritz-scheklud/
http://www.actingoutpolitics.com/amedeo-modiglianis-the-cellist-1909-the-master-of-visual-art-celebrates-the-soul-of-singing/
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/john-madame-suggia-n04093
https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fartsy-media-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2FwGcQy78-idPMDpnOJgR4SA%252Fmoormann.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.artsy.net%2Farticle%2Fartsy-editorial-the-topless-cellist-charlotte-moorman-finally-finds-her-place-in-art-history&tbnid=yPGW2evu3eZpIM&vet=10CAwQMyhtahcKEwjo1KHhzqLqAhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAg..i&docid=PJFbftGJyqZ9wM&w=1921&h=1131&q=cellist&safe=strict&ved=0CAwQMyhtahcKEwjo1KHhzqLqAhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAg
https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-the-topless-cellist-charlotte-moorman-finally-finds-her-place-in-art-history
https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-The-Cellist/1222451/6526897/view
https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-The-Cellist/914732/4319043/view
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9lnbIGHzUM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aeH9FdtAqY
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/taylor-the-rehearsal-n02137
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/gulich-a-violin-concerto-n01725
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/gainsborough-the-rev-john-chafy-playing-the-violoncello-in-a-landscape-t03895
https://atelierwilfried.weebly.com/artblog/category/paris
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/mercier-a-music-party-t00922
https://www.celloonline.com/images/violinbasics_howtoholdtheviolin/vlcside.jpg
I hope you can recognise who this is without me telling you…
This portrait was drawn after previously spending a while researching Van Gogh for extra curricular studies. I was really moved by one of his self-portraits and how he described the emotion in his eyes and his gaunt looking face. The hollows under his cheekbones are haunting and it seems to tell of a life of torment and difficulty. I vividly recalled the ginger hair and beard, the darkness under the eyes, the sharp angular nose and deeply furrowed brow. I saw blue eyes which were pink around the edges with what I perceived as fatigue from troubled sleep. I tried to think about the structure of the skull and how the skin might fold around its angular frame. I also thought quite hard about the source of light and how it would react on each of the angles of Van Gogh’s face.
In my mind, to create a portrait of someone from memory requires either very good photographic memory and/or a strong set of feelings and emotions surrounding the person. For this reason, I feel like sometimes a portrait could be more than a true likeness to a person, and offer more of a resemblance and overall feel of what the personalities or disposition the person exudes. I feel like I’ve tried to work this latter opinion into my drawing of Van Gogh here as I knew that the resemblance wouldn’t be perfectly accurate but I wanted to pick out the physical features he had painted of himself but what he was also recognised for.
I did this by applying darker tones to the eye sockets, mouth and neck to show a more gaunt physique and a dark and moody colour palette for the whole piece which worked well to give an impression of a physical and theoretical dark place which Van Gogh was present in. I chose to work with conté for this drawing as I wanted colour to be a poignant factor of the overall outcome, but also because I wanted the ability to blend and use the tooth of the paper to pick up some graininess to create texture and movement. I used a deep blue to tone down the heat of the orange in the hair and browns and pinks with the blue to describe skin shadows and hollows in the eye socket, and cheeks for example. A few of Van Gogh’s paintings used swirls and warped painted background styles which I wanted to replicate subtly here so I gently swept the conté stick on its side for the background and blended in a circular motion following the contour of the head.
Leading on nicely from Exercise 3, where I produced a portrait from memory of Van Gogh’s portrait, is an area of research exploring artists self-portraits in the historical period. I began my research with Rembrandt who, according to https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/kenwood/history-stories-kenwood/rembrandt-self-portrait/, completed approximately 80 self-portraits in his lifetime through paintings, etchings and drawings. The article on this website was very informative into how his last portrait was produced and I can see that this portrait was a culmination of all the painting techniques he had built up in his artistic career. The various techniques of brushwork used to produce his last portrait range from dry-brushing and scumbling to laying down thick strokes of oil paint. The colour palette he used in his self portraits were not usually vibrant, and he made use of dark shadows adding mystery and atmosphere to his paintings. There always seemed to be a single source of light which illuminated the facial features in his self-portraits and he also painted with mostly soft edges where the tonal gradation was gradual and gentle rather than line-focused and flat block tones like Picasso. after reading background information on Rembrandt, I feel like he, like many others, conveyed his difficult emotions through his self-portraits. The dull, earthy and moody essence of his self-portraits may have been a reflection of the personal difficulties he had in his life.
In comparison, when I look at how Vincent Van Gogh depicts his personal struggles through his brush strokes, I see a completely different approach to his self-portrait. The self-portrait, 1887, that I attempted to draw previously, has a series of individual rough, dabs, stabs, short and long brushstrokes that are swirled and warped in an impressionistic style. although his earlier portraits are more like Rembrandt’s in tone, the colour palette of Van Gogh’s 1887 self-portrait is lighter, with hints of blues and reds; there also seems to be a lighter feel to the self-portrait due to the lack of heavy dark tones representing shadows. Similarly, both artists adopt the same style of pose for their self-portraits: shoulder height and above, sometimes with their canvas, turned slightly away from straight on to the viewer. I also notice that both artists used oil for their chosen medium.
Moving on to investigate more contemporary self-portraiture I was quite intrigued by the wonderful and again, vast variety of styles that some artists had adopted to represent themselves. A few differences I have noticed comparing to historic work:
Some contemporary self-portraiture seems to emit a huge expression of emotion through the artist’s message and overall feeling they deliver through their work. Some paintings and drawings I saw in my studies were not subtle and were very obvious and loud in delivering a feeling or expression on behalf of the artist. The colour palettes are sometimes very vibrant and clashing. Photography, film, three-dimensional models and digital artwork are just a few of the types of media that are now used to create the self-portraits whereas historically, it was predominantly pencil or oil painting I believe. Mixed media has great advantages in pulling together a concept and it seems that contemporary artists have an even wider selection of media to choose from than say Rembrandt or Van Gogh ever did. I feel that although historic self-portraits from Rembrandt and Van Gogh displayed emotions and subtle clues about their difficulties, some contemporary artists feel liberated it seems and do not hold back in their demonstration of feelings or self-representation through self-portraiture. It looks like modern self expression is liberating for the artist, where they face less discrimination compared to cultural and moral restrictions in the historic era. Contemporary self-portraiture seems to offer an artist a completely ‘blank canvas’ for self-expression in a time where personal opinions, stories, thoughts and feelings are accepted amongst a diverse and colourful culture.
Bibliography
https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/rembrandt-self-portrait-at-the-age-of-63
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/kenwood/history-stories-kenwood/rembrandt-self-portrait/
https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/collection/s0065V1962
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/437397
https://www.nga.gov/collection/highlights/rembrandt-self-portrait.html
https://www.artspace.com/magazine/art_101/book_report/how-duchamp-kusama-basquait-and-others-take-a-selfie-27-contemporary-self-portraits-55354
https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2020/01/self-portrait-me/
https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-10-masters-self-portrait-frida-kahlo-cindy-sherman
https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/themes/what-is-modern-art/modern-portraits/
https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/glossary-terms/contrapposto
https://www.artistsnetwork.com/art-mediums/pastel/pastel-the-self-in-contemporary-self-portraits/
Experience and research shows there is no particular way to draw or paint a face. It seems historically, there was an ‘acceptable’ way to paint, and generations of artists pushed those boundaries as time went by, exploring new mediums and styles of painting and drawing. Art movements where formed then superseded by other boundary-pushing movements. Below is a selection of photos that I found when looking through my art history book: E.H Gombrich, The Story Of Art, Phaidon Press Ltd, 1984. Each one of these drawings or paintings gave me an insight into how historical artists have represented the human head. I’ve noted varying techniques and their comparisons here, such as: light or heavy weight applied to the pencil/brush, a light/dark colour palette, realistic/abstract/cubist/impressionistic, three-dimensional/flat, fast and erratic/slow and diligent, block tones/delicate varied tones, sharpness/softness, structurally realistic/warped or distorted, short sharp paint strokes/ long winding strokes, delicate and transparent/ brash and opaque, no background detail/heavily detailed backdrop, tone dominant/line dominant.
I am not really surprised about the variety of different ways artists have chosen to draw heads or self-portraits since man started learning to manipulate materials and make marks for an intended outcome. I feel like it is human nature to want to create with the hands and put our own expression into it. Of all the people who have learnt to manipulate materials, there is considerable variation in experiences, society and culture that have influenced the artist or practitioner’s views and techniques to execute a concept on the human head. I am really intrigued how some of these more abstract drawings and paintings were accepted or viewed at the time when other artists were producing incredibly life-life pieces. I would really like to experiment with a variety of these styles with my drawings of heads and see how it feels to produce a piece of work like this but also how I could develop it and take an idea further.
Roussaeu and Matisse’s style of painting remind me of Frida Kahlo’s work and self-portraits.
Contemporary also offers a rich variety of differences in recordings of the human head. Of course, we are present in the modern day, as as such, further exploration into producing studies of the head/face have taken place and with it, technology has introduced another format in which to mix media. Drawings and paintings produced digitally offer a different expression than those drawn or painted in the more traditional fashion. I have enjoyed looking at contemporary works on this topic and particularly liked the clever use of prints, paper cut outs, mixed media, photography, collage and loose representational work to describe a person’s face and/or head. Artists are also using unwanted salvaged scrap materials to produce their composition, such as Nick Gentry and his face paintings on wood and computer components with oil paint.
I have noticed that a few contemporary artists explore their sexual orientation, social status, mental well-being etc. through their portraiture and these often offer vivid uses of colour and surrealist or abstract pieces. I also noticed that contemporary works depicting the face or head can often be seen in works that are meant to make a statement, generate debate and discussion or even explore the current generation and its struggles being experienced. For example, when I look at Banksy’s graffiti work, he intentionally masks, pixelates, adapts or omits the faces of those he paints to make a statement and contribute to the message of his work.
After watching a video on the National Portrait Gallery website (link in bibliography) it encouraged me to think about why portraits or drawings and paintings of faces produced? Is the focus more on the sitter/subject than the artist and their style? It seems that faces seem to evoke a lot of emotion and judgement from the viewer and the artist can use this to their advantage when trying to evoke a particular feeling to the drawing. I see some contemporary work, much like some historic, as a great expression of the artists perception of the face he or she is recreating in their work. It’s as if they are combining their personality with the sitters physical and emotional attributes.
Bibliography
https://thepopularlist.com/beautiful-self-portraits-by-famous-artists/
https://www.artspace.com/magazine/art_101/book_report/6-contemporary-drawings-that-render-the-artists-masters-of-their-craft-55320
E.H Gombrich, The Story Of Art, Phaidon Press Ltd, 1984
https://www.saatchiart.com/art-collection/About-Face-Contemporary-Portraiture/153961/51008/view
https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/explore/by-period/contemporary
https://youtu.be/0v7fyQbyZ_Q
https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp90772/banksy
https://www.widewalls.ch/online-art-gallery?artist=689&galleryLocation=&gallery=&only_for_sale=&artists_you_follow=1&galleries_you_follow=1&categories=&min_price=&max_price=&min_height=&max_height=&min_width=&max_width=&min_year=&max_year=&color=&orderBy=&page=1
https://www.widewalls.ch/magazine/buy-art-portraits/untitled-haircut-collage-arnulf-rainer
https://www.widewalls.ch/magazine/buy-art-portraits/buste-de-femme-dapres-cranach-pablo-picasso
https://www.google.com/search?q=contemporary+self-portraits&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwixgu-8x5_qAhVGeRoKHUgzB9gQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=contemporary+self-portraits&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzICCAAyBggAEAcQHjIGCAAQBxAeMgYIABAHEB46BAgAEENQ64ABWNedAWCAoAFoAnAAeACAAXiIAacNkgEEMTcuM5gBAKABAaoBC2d3cy13aXotaW1n&sclient=img&ei=V_T1XvH6HMbyacjmnMAN&safe=strict
https://www.widewalls.ch/magazine/famous-self-portraits
https://www.widewalls.ch/magazine/buy-art-portraits
The top two images are the first preparatory workings and drawing of my own head. This exercise was definitely more challenging than drawing someone else’s head because I and my family know exactly what I look like. Obvious and subtle differences between my drawings of my face were detected by those who know me well. It is obvious that the human brain is very intelligent and has a remarkable ability to memorise and recognise patterns in faces; the familiarity must flag up in this drawing but a message gets sent to say “something’s not quite right.” It is interesting to see what I thought I saw and how I translated this onto paper but also, how my family reacted to it. I think people can judge portraits very quickly based on their likeness to a person. If it is a realistic attempt at describing the portrait then people can be quite honest if the similarities don’t match up. In my case, I feel even more determined to try again and get it more accurate, so my drawing looks more like myself! I think measuring is definitely a large portion of getting the structure of the face right, looking for clues of the cheekbones, the eye socks, the chin and jaw. Once the skeletal structure is set up, following the muscles and skin would help to shape the face. I felt like this was more successful in my second attempt.
The second drawing is definitely more similar to my actual features, again the eyes are too small, but I think I managed to pick out the cheekbone and nasal highlights well with a putty eraser. This second drawing took me nearly 5 hours from start to finish and I think I could have ‘messed about’ with it for longer. Ultimately, there is only so much adjusting of the light and lifting out the charcoal I could do when I knew something about the structure and angle/shape of features were wrong.
I did have to readjust the skull; I had drawn my forehead a lot more rounder than it actually is and so I amended this which brought more of a familiarity to the drawing. I decided to work with charcoal as I wanted a really soft and blend-able material to work with so I could smooth over the skin and pick out highlights and lighter tones. I also knew I would be doing a lot of reworking so erasing some lines would be helpful to me. When asking my family what they thought of this second portrait they agreed that is was a lot more ‘like me’ and they recognised similarities but again, the eyes were the most commented on feature. This made me reflect on which features are most recognised in a familiar face and why? How quickly does the human brain detect the familiarity and is it linked to our ancestors when it was a matter of life of death to recognise familiar and safe faces quickly? I also thought about the differences between how I see myself compared to how others perceive me. I see myself in the mirror but others see me with their own eyes and perception.
Comparing the two drawings, I think it is safe to say the second attempt seems more committed, less tentative. The tones laid down are more decisive and I feel that most people attempting this exercise would have developed their way of working and made use of the observations from the first drawing for the second attempt, therefore I would imagine the second attempt is more accurate in likeness to themselves. This is certainly the case with my drawings and I think I looked at the first drawing and realised how the angles and proportions were wrong and made a mental and physical note to adjust these for the second try. By the second drawing, I learned not to focus on the detail of any individual feature until the basic construction was laid down on the support first. Although there are still ‘corrections’ to be made, I think I was able to not become so overwhelmed with making the picture so like me and just worked through each stage gently, building up in layers with different techniques but constantly looking up at my face for reference. It is crucial for me to really observe the structure of the skull, then the muscles and then the proportions and angles of the rest of the facial features, rather than start adding detail to the eyes and nose and lips to get the likeness from the beginning; I feel like a portrait drawing is a slow transformation at this stage.
Bibliography
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-does-your-brain-recognize-faces-180963583/
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/oct/10/how-many-faces-average-person-recognises-5000
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2629401/
Laura Baker 522918 Learning Log - Drawing 1 
