Observational Drawing

I found that with the drawing on location project I ended up doing lots of series drawing. Each time I drew something new, I found I had a tendency to draw it in lots of detail. Then when I got more comfortable with the image and the shapes within it, I would start drawing it quicker and deducting things. I would also start playing around with shapes and finding more interesting ways of recording things. Repeating a drawing also meant that if there was a part of a drawing that I liked I could focus on and exaggerate it in the next. I think that this is a far more productive way of working than simply drawing lots of different things. It not only helps to improve my drawing skills but it made me consider personal style and how an image is translated.

These are two of my other observational drawings, which I think highlight how important drawing from observation is as an illustrator. In the first image, I think that the way in which I captured the leaves on the trees is quite interesting. However, it is something that I would never think to do from my imagination. I would have instead chosen to capture them far more literally. For me, I think that constantly drawing from observation is therefore going to be the best way to find new ways of exploring things. The second image was my first drawing of the day, which I went on to redraw a couple times to find a more interesting way of capturing the trees. However, here I did manage to record and separate the different tonal areas of the trees into shapes. I therefore think that it would work really well compositionally if reproduced as a collage, perhaps using deep blues and mossy greens and browns. I could see it having quite an eerie atmospheric quality to it. 

With the image reference exercise (where we had to remember and draw an image) my sketches sadly didn’t really evolve at all other than the angle of the head and arms. I think that this was because from the start I put down every detail I could remember including the tonal qualities of the image. Others started with a simple line drawing which evolved into a tonal one, this maybe worked better. At the end of the session Matt talked about how he liked the way in which people had translated their image to come up with something more original and interesting. I however, didn’t do this at all with my image. I tried to make it as close to the original as possible with the idea that it was an exercise in memory, perhaps misunderstanding the brief. However, this resulted In my drawings appearing quite static and boring. I guess the brief did work in some regards because it showed me how important translation is. I attempted to quickly do a more interesting sketch of the same image but I really struggled to capture the angle of her face in addition to her arms. I think that I would have definitely done better had I chosen a close up of a face. I did find the task a struggle but I ultimately enjoyed the challenge.

I enjoyed the plant observational drawing exercise far more than the drawing from reference one. I find that drawing from life is far more interesting, a photograph can be quite limiting. Drawing a plant really gave me the freedom to play around with the different components that make up an image, such as shape, line and tone. This is a freedom that I wouldn’t have had if I was drawing say a person as everyone knows exactly how a person is supposed to look. I think that just doing a simple silhouette of the plant was quite an interesting way of working. It meant that I didn’t have to think about line and tone and it really made me aware of shape and the slightly abstract nature of the leaves. This took me down an interesting path as I went on to explore shape further. The bottom right drawing was my favourite. I’m glad that I got rid of the pot as it’s quite distracting. I particularly love the bold black squiggly line in the top left of the image suggesting the negative space around the leaf and really making you aware of its shape. It also somehow animates the drawing.

Having hated drawing with ink in the morning, it definitely grew on me throughout the day. I think that combining a brush and a dipping pen works particularly well. However, I find that personally it works better for me when I am doing a bolder, looser drawing, not when I’m drawing a person from a photograph.

This is a drawing I liked by another class member. I love how simplistic it is. The fact that they have really restrained their self and only used a light wash to suggest tone works in their favour. It gives the plant a slight three dimensionality without distracting from the line drawing. This restrained and simple approach is something that I want to try with my plant.

I also love this drawing. It has quite a cubist decorative feel to it. I think that the way in which they have chosen to translate both the table and the plant is really interesting. Instead of literally drawing the table they have created a swirly patterned surface to suggest a more interesting setting. I also love the way in which they have translated the leaves. They haven’t chosen to join them up or put any tone onto them, instead shading the negative space behind, all adding to the decorative feel of the piece.