ASSIGNMENT 4

1; Line and shape

I chose myself as a model - I have to say that I think finding a friend or family member happy to pose for such a lengthy amount of time (2 hours just for the final drawing, not including breaks!) is a bit unlikely and if they do agree, a bit cruel - but fortunately I am always readily available. Although, I did come across some practical difficulties using myself as a model, like not being able to measure myself to get proportions accurate while looking at myself in the mirror, and my arm getting in the way of seeing myself while trying to do so!

I really wanted to make this drawing personal - I was drawing me after all. A lot of the self portraits I looked at by other artists really inspired me - particularly the kind invoking a feeling of our mortality, or where the artist has involved something of importance to them in the background. I allowed myself to indulge a bit in memories of recent life-changing misfortunes and tried to somehow incorporate these emotions into my drawing. To me, I think it worked, but if you merely looked at the drawing without knowing me and what it was about, then I think you might believe it's a bit dull. And that's not to say there's not enough to it - in fact I think it may be a tad overworked, mainly because of the torn paper surface - is it a bit distracting? The idea behind the drawing was being watched over by my Dad, being kept in check in a way whilst I work at being 'creative'. There's something quite sad in my expression, which makes sense but I admit was not a conscious thing, it just ended up looking like that when I stepped back from the drawing.

The pose looks a bit awkward, and it bloody well was in all honesty after sitting there for several hours. Sadly I had to cut off the lower part of the drawing, partly because I made a mess of my toes, but also it looked too busy with my foot and all those stool legs so in a way I was happy to see it go. However, I do think the composition could have done with something... despite all the preliminary sketches. It was a bit tricky getting the painting on the wall and myself in the mirror at the same time. And also should I have painted the wall behind a different colour wash to make it look more distant?

2; Tone

Again, I used myself as a model. I began by thinking about ways in which I'd never seen myself, or personality traits that aren't naturally linked to me.  Started thinking along the lines of vulnerable and meek, or sexually overt, strongly opinionated and vocal, etc, but then thought quite simply that I'd never actually seen myself asleep! I took some photos of me on my bed, with a direct light source, so lots of light and shadow. I took many and changed the pose every time. The most interesting pose and the one I chose to expand on was one where I am clutching my feet but because of the large amount of shadow, all you can really see is me as a triangular shape, almost curled up but not quite.

I did some preliminary sketches and thought only about my form and how the differing tones shape me in the photo. I didn't delve too far into any meaning behind the drawing this time, I just wanted an interesting drawing with plentiful tonal values.

I really liked the way parts of my body are out of shot, it keeps the composition simple. In the end I chose two colours (yellow ocre and burnt umber - I wanted to keep the almost golden tones captured in the photo)) and used acrylic paint. I mixed the yellow ocre with some white to make the lighter tones, and mixed the yellow with the burnt umber for the darker.

I think it's a more succesful drawing/painting than the line and form drawing which I think I inadvertently overcomplicated. There's definitely something about keeping it simple sometimes.

PART FOUR: DRAWING FIGURES: Project:The moving figure

I've been working on the moving figure project here and there throughout Part 4 - there have been good days and bad. My local park is a good source for people, it being a popular park and also thankfully the summer holidays at the moment but saying that, children are really hard to draw because they just don't stop! I took my little sketchbook to WOMAD festival and managed a few quick sketches there - lots of interesting people to watch, much stiller than children in the park, and crowds gathered together becoming a mass as opposed to individuals. I tried to draw from people off the TV one morning but had trouble with that - I think not being able to see their body as a whole moving this way and that made it quite tricky to make a decent imitation of their movements. Cafes are good places to draw I found - people sat at tables chatting away or walking by in their own worlds.

The main challenge in drawing people as they move so swiftly is trying to gain an idea of their actions and gestures in as few strokes as possible. In some drawings I managed this well, in others not so well. I did quite a few drawings of people on or pushing their bicycles, and just indicating the bike itself by drawing the round shape of a wheel helped to indicate what the individual was doing. I'm always tempted to introduce more elements into these drawings, as opposed to keeping it simple with a few descriptive lines, and this can be a problem with such little time. I always found that I'd start with the person's top half of the body, usually the head, and by the time I'd got to their legs or feet, they'd moved on, walked past or the angle had completely changed, so this produced some pretty hilarious looking legs! Or no legs at all. I seem to want to encapsulate something about that person, not just the movement they're making, for example the way they hang their head, their glasses or the fact they're rummaging around in their bag, or on the phone. Catching the moment is clearly something that is important to me, and focusing on that helps to explain the narrative. It's a fun past time even if it doesn't produce any amazing drawings.