Drawings of white paper structures, looking at tonal variations and using charcoal or cross-hatching. Referring loosely to a group of chairs, we constructed 3D drawings with card and paper - intending to suggest a dynamic mass of chairs rather than an objective study of them. The idea was to explore 'blackness' by experimenting with ink and charcoal, deconstructing each medium to find as much variety of fascinating marks as possible. We then made a big drawing with these sorts of marks, some based loosely on a group of objects. work in progress...
We explored glass and its distortion of the background, particularly a piece of printed text, aiming to use tone only.
This week man-made, functional, metal objects were the subject - in contrast to last week's natural forms - after looking at Futurism examples highlighting modern life, speed and technology. plus two by Richard...
We shared around various rocks, stones etc and looked at the idea of natural forms in contrast to other manmade subjects recently. The unique texture of each one was explored with rubbings. The drawings were then grouped together to emphasise the differences.
We looked at stage designs from the 30s and Picasso's costume designs for ballets such as Diaghilev's 'Parade.' Then did drawings from vertical structures of cardboard boxes etc, using imagination to hint at figures or 'personages.'
click an image to enlarge... The aim was to make an object and then just draw a 'real' illusion of it - something we're not always concerned about! Everyone wrapped up a parcel with the intention of drawing it superealistically to trick the eye into feeling you can really touch it, concentrating on light source, modelling, cast shadows and reflections.
First we painted gestural marks on small pieces of square, oblong and torn paper, then spent time looking at all the options of arranging them into a collage. Butted black shapes, overlaps and positive/negative interaction were considered. Then we made a drawing from the collage. Secondly we painted black and white patterns on irregular shapes of cardboard. These were then all arranged together and we did drawings of the group (or part) concentrating on the black and white shapes rather than the edges of the card. Was the result abstract or not, as the drawings were based on what we saw in front of us....? work in progress - click image to enlarge... We looked at Blek le Rat and Banksy. Making an image with stencils is really drawing through (or negotiating with) another material - rather than making direct marks on paper. Another difference is that it needs a lot of planning, simplification and patience, keeping in mind the opposites of black and white, positive and negative, and sometimes having to compromise to keep everything attached! Ink, paint, sometimes sprayed, and rubbed charcoal were used.
Working from kitchen objects, we played around with black on white and white on black, using big brushes and charcoal/chalk with dynamic compositions.
Several quick 5 - 10 minute drawings of each other with instruments etc in various media. But an important part was composing these together at the end to form a group, cropping, overlapping and using bits of different background - and then lying them all together on the floor to form a frieze.
click thumbnails to enlarge... After looking at Picasso from Cubism to the 1960s, we drew individual features of the face in different ways and various mediums. These were then collaged together in a deliberately dynamic way, followed by drawings of the collage.
We looked at Mondrian's progression from observational work, though analytical processes to his final severe minimalism. Then we did three drawings - a quick one of the whole pile of chairs, boxes etc, then selecting a part to develop and finally a very simplified collage with black and white paper.
Here were enlarged versions of everyday objects - intentionally massive, solid and textured - using lighting and no line. The objects were dramatised, told a bit of their story and even took on a different sort of existence......
These were intended as a response to the huge collection of flowers and foliage, rather than a literal description of them. Two quick exercises first (1) a continuous line drawing and (2) drawing just patches of tone describing negative space. These were then developed in other ways.
Another experiment with line drawing - but in this case it's a real line drawn in space. Everyone created a wire sculpture, a bit like 'taking a line for a walk' or continuous line. And then they made 2D drawings on paper from the sculptures, getting some ideas from the real qualities of the wire lines...
Two projects here. The first was two 'teams' drawing both sides of the studio, negotiating over who was going to draw which parts so that the whole space was covered. They were then lined up in a long row to show the full sweep of vision right round the 360 degrees. The second was a blind jigsaw... A photo of a well-known painting was cut into squares and each person draw their version of it, upside down so they couldn't identify anything. The group then had to negotiate how it fitted together........and eventually recognised it as 'Harbour window with two figures, St Ives' by Patrick Heron. Here is the group's blind jigsaw of 'Harbour window with two figures, St Ives' by Patrick Heron and the original below it... |
aboutThis group meets weekly during Autumn and Spring terms for informal but structured sessions to explore drawing. LinksArchives
March 2020
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