Exercise: Tonal Study

I started this exercise with some rapid tonal portrait sketches in my A3 sketchbook. I used faces which I had seen in photographs in 'National Geographic'. My aim in these rapid sketches was  to use fairly simple means to capture the expressions of the subjects. It is amazing how the positioning of a small mark can make all the difference to the depiction of an expression. 

I am really happy with the second page (below) showing the two women as I have managed to be really quite selective in the number of marks I've used and still captured th egaze and expression.

I went on to try to do a large scale portrait of Luca who was posing gazing out of the window. I worked on a grey ground which would serve as a mid-tone and used charcoal and white conte. This drawing really isn't very successful at all. I struggled and struggled with this and kept erasing and restating. Luca finally ran out of patience. The resulting drawing has too jutting a chin and the position of the eyes and cheekbones are just not right. This person looks much older than Luca - it isn't a good likeness at all.

I went back to the simpler and more rapid work of using charcoal alone on cartridge paper and sketched Luca from a couple of different angles while he was distracted by the TV. These are better but still not perfect likenesses. I can also see that his arms and shoulders are poorly positioned.

Finally I drew a portrait of Luigi looking straight at me. He was illuminated strongly from the side. I tried to keep it simple and not overwork it. I was much happier with this - it is really quite recognisable as Luigi.

Exercise: Using Colour

My models were not available on the day that I did this exercise so I used an online pose generator and myself as references. I started off by using colour just for its tonal value or to suggest movement rather than as a realistic illustration of the colours observed. I did some very rapid sketches in my A3 Sketchbook using coloured ink and then moved on to Inktense bars and watercolours. 

A3. Ink.

I like the sense of movement in these initial ink and brush Drawings. I have also continued to try out foreshortened view for extra practice.

A3 Ink

A3 Ink

A3 Watercolour

I drew a rapid sketch of Luigi leaning his teeth and used watercolour to establish the main tonal values. I think I've captured the pose quite well. The drawing was looking good until I decided to restate and darken the shadows with Payne's Grey. This completely killed the freshness of the colour I had used and I really wish I had left it at the very basic sketch I started with. 

A3 Inktense Bars

I moved on to use inktense bars. I am still struggling with this medium - not sure I'll ever get to grips with them. I think they have great potential as they produce some great vivid colours. However, in this sketch I have struggled so much to handle them the I've lost sight of the proportions of the figure.

Next I moved on to using my own face as subject. I decided initially to look in detail at the texture and colour of individual features. I used a magnifying mirror and described all the details including thread veins. I used coloured pencil. I'm not very good at leaving white highlights so I had to go back in with white gouache to place highlights at the end to give an idea of the reflections and moistness of the eye. I think these drawings are quite successful and could be built up into a piecemeal portrait. 

My final drawing for this section was a collage self portrait. I have posed myself for a 'selfie' holding my chin up to disguise my double chin and to emphasise my cheekbones. I've created the collage by 'painting' with pieces torn from a women's glossy magazine with adverts for cosmetics and skin creams which I think fits with the fact that in the selfie I am posing to try to make myself look younger and thinner.

A2 Self Portrait - Collage

I thoroughly enjoyed making this collage, searching through the pages of the magazine for scraps of the appropriate colours to build my face.It did feel a bit more like a craft project than a drawing at times though. The large amount of yellow here reflects the fact that I was illuminated by a yellowish toned electric light. This is the first time I have tried working in collage in this way. Overall I think the drawing is quite successful. Unfortunately, it is not entirely accurate in that one of my eyes has drifted somewhat down my face. I could have constructed another one over the top in a better position but having lovingly constructed the eye from tiny scraps of torn paper I couldn't bring myself to cover it up. This may be a mistake but it isn't always easy to be objective when you've spent a long time on a piece of work. 

This collage is really quite illustrative in nature. I have basically painted with torn paper. I would also like to try using collage in a more abstract way - something to look forward to.

Exercise: Line Drawing of the Whole Figure

The drawing below is my initial response to this exercise. I spent about an hour on this drawing which I did form live. I deliberately chose a foreshortened view as I am still trying to get to grips with foreshortening. I have used a variety of lines to form the figure, There are a variety of thicknesses of line from fineliner drawing pen to thick lines applied with brush and ink. The thicker lines encode areas of shadow without resorting to shading. I have used more lines and detail on the face and upper body and have used sketchy dry-brush lines on the furniture as I want the figure and face to be the focus. I have used short jagged lines to suggest the texture of the hair. I have really gone to town on the use of cross contour lines in fine drawing pen to describe the folds in the tee shirt and then have used minimal internal contour lines to describe the volume of the legs and feet.  What I like most about this drawing is that it communicates Luca's teenage 'attitude' and expression. The least successful aspect is still the foreshortening. I suspect that the foot which comes towards us should be bigger.

After this drawing I further experimented with the use of line via some 'oil transfer' and monotype/monoprint techniques. I did some rapid sketches from http://www.quickposes.com/  in the sections 'lying distortion' and 'please be seated' in order to continue to get experience of foreshortened views.

Monotype and India Ink

Oil Transfer Using Oil Pastel and Oilbar
Interesting optical effect of the green on
 red seems to vibrate

Oilbar Monotypes

Oilbar and India Ink

Exercise: Quick Studies (continued) Teatri 35

 Click Here to Link to the Website of Teatri 35 and click on 'foto' to see shots of the actors in action.

I have included the exercise with Teatri 35 from the Naples Urban Sketchers Workshop under this exercise because I think it is entirely appropriate to this part of the course.

We attended Riot Studios in Naples to see a performance of Tableaux Vivantes by this small theatre company. There were three actors. They performed a series of these tableaux accompanied by music. We were encouraged to draw the tableaux. Each one was based on a painting by Caravaggio or artists associated with him or similar in style. 

I had never seen a performance like this before. The actors were amazing - they were able to transform themselves in a way that left a lasting impression. Each pose was held for approximately 20 seconds so sketching was extremely rapid. It was also really quite dark in the studio so I decided that the best approach would be too draw blind without looking at the page (although I did glance at it from time to time). I found this quite liberating - I have always enjoyed blind drawing - this is partly because it generally produces quite confident and flowing linework but also because there is an excuse for the final drawing not looking as you had planned! This was a step further than my normal blind drawings though as the subject was so stimulating. The actors were able to convey the violence and movement of the paintings there were representing despite the fact that they were actually still (like the original paintings).

The drawings I produced do not reveal a likeness of any of the actors but I do like the movement that many of them have. Afterwards I went through the list of the tableaux we had seen and was able to identify which drawing related to each painting. In my sketchbook, I have placed alongside each sketch, a reproduction of the painting on which it was based. 

I really enjoyed this exercise. It almost makes up for the lack of life drawing classes locally (but not quite).

Based on: Pietà di Massimo Stanzione and Il Convitto di Assalonne di Mattia Thetis

Based on Caravaggio's Crocifissione di Sant'Andrea

Based on Castigo di Cupido by Bartolomeo Manfredi

Based on Caravaggio's San Matteo e L'angelo

Based on Judith and Holofernes by Artemesia Gentileschi

Based on Samson and Delilah by Rubens

Based on San Giacomo attributed to Jusepe di Ribera

Based on Madonna dei Pellegrini by Caravaggio

Based on Death of Cleopatra by Guido Reni

Based on Compianto sul Cristo Morto by Andrea Vaccaro

Exercise: Quick Studies

For this exercise "accuracy is secondary to intuitive assessment of the figure" . Please also see http://aylishgiamei.blogspot.it/2014/07/exercise-quick-studies-continued-teatri.html for an exercise which seems to better fulfil this - a series of rapid blind drawings.

I made quite a nervous start again to this exercise which as usual had an adverse effect on my drawing. My first drawing was an opportunistic drawing of Luigi asleep in the hammock. It is really quite poor. I like his sleeping face bit the proportions are so bad (especially his tiny feet) that I almost put it in the bin. 

Unfortunately, when I wanted to complete this exercise my usual models weren't available so I decided tho continue anyway using a rapid online pose generator. My first couple of pencil drawings were really quite wobbly so I'm viewing these as a 'warm up'. 

After these I seemed to hit my stride - I felt myself becoming more confident about working my way around the body and the page. I was using Japanese ink brush pen which I have recently purchased. I love the way this draws. It really helps the marks to be fluid and fluent and this helps my confidence to grow.

The final drawing in this series was very simplified - I was trying to see whether I could simplify right down to a few lines and yet still give the impression of foreshortening of an arm and hand coming toward the viewer. Although this is clearly not an accurate and proportionate drawing I like the simplicity of it.

My drawing has improved significantly over part four of the course and is continuing to do so. I hope that the short time I have left on the course with its necessity for immersion in the drawing will help with the process of improvement and increasing confidence.