27 March 2009

Me!

I thought today I would have a go at drawing me! And this is how it came out...

So does it look like me? At this point in time I truthfully can't answer that. I've discovered that whenever I draw something I need to then put it away for at least 2 or 3 weeks and then take another serious look at it and its then that all the glaring mistakes come jumping out! But until then, all I see is the shapes and tones and not a full or complete picture of what it really looks like.

So come on, for those that know me, help me out. Whats wrong....or even maybe whats right with this pic?!

26 March 2009

Pierre Paul Prud'hon (1758-1823)

I've discovered 3 great sites today, which I've added to my list of 'Other interesting sites' list. I initially found Jennifer Youngs site, an artist of similar age to myself, living in Richmond, Virginia in the USA, and what a great site and blog too! She has recently taken a class with Robert Liberace, himself a fantastic artist, and Jennifer has likened his work to that of Prud'hon's classic black and white work on blue paper. Already liking what I saw of Roberts work, I decided to look further at Prud'hon to see for myself how Robert had been influenced. And boy oh boy....did I like what I saw? Indeed I did!
If you havent realised already, I have a real fascination about drawing the human figure. And I emphatically state at this point, before I get teased big time over this, I'm not talking about just nudes here, they can keep their clothes on too! But the human body is an amazing and compelling subject for me and my initial look at Prud'hon's drawings left me spellbound. I saw an immediate likeness to Leonardo's style, especially in the actual poses, but there was something more and I wanted to find out what that 'more' was. Jennifer Young suggested a site by Rebecca Alzofon and an investigation she has done about Prud'hon's techniques, right down to the medium and paper he most likely used and how to reproduce it with todays resources. It makes for fascinating reading and whats more its easy to follow and understand too.
Trying to figure out my initial reaction, I think after some thought its the way Prud'hon has used hatching. This is more obvious in some drawings than others, but I like the way the hatching empahises movement.
Definitely something I want to try and emulate!
On a last note, I couldnt resist showing you this drawing of a Celia by Robert Liberace
And also this one, entitled Summer Sway, by Jennifer Young

24 March 2009

At last I've moved on from the markers and felt-tips and am now trying my hand at coloured pencils. So far I'm unsure how I feel about this new media but my initial drawings have given me hope that I can eventually get to grips with the coloured pencils. I am struggling to some degree to get the depth and clarity of colour that I've grown used to achieving with ink or markers, but plenty of time yet to experiment!

My course work was quite explicit for this project about what I should be aiming to achieve and although I dont particularly like the smaller vase of flowers, I do think I've achieved what I set out to do and the one on pink paper is much more 'me' in style!

13 March 2009

Harrisons Rock - a working sketch

Last weekend I spent a very pleasant couple of days in Kent with my Sister and her family and on the Sunday morning we spent a few hours exploring Harrisons Rock, near Groombridge on the Kent, Sussex border. Surrounded by woods and some lovely walks, Harrisons Rock is a natural, sandstone formation formed over 150 million years ago and is today owned by rock climbers as detailed on the Soft Rock Climbing website, a few of whom we saw making the most of a lovely, sunny spring morning.

My working sketch of Harrisons Rock, which took approximately 3 hours from start to finish, has come out well and I'm really pleased with it.
I think my next step will be to expand on to larger, and probably coloured paper, in order to really emphasise the size of this formation. Even when I was taking some photos on that Sunday, my neck really began to ache as I looked higher and higher in to the tree canopy and I don't think my sketch has really bought that feeling to life. However, I love the colours I've incorporated into the scene, the swirls and patterns created by the tree roots and on the rock itself. Done in Pastel on A2 cartridge paper, I think this really has great potential for a great finished work.

06 March 2009

Progression in Markers

I've now been working in markers (felt-tips) for the last few weeks.
And yes...it still feels like I'm a kid again, scribbling away and colouring-in!
Its such fun!!
On a serious note....on one hand I like the effect I'm just starting to get, colour blending and mixing is still a bit hap-hazard, but overall it feels like I'm not really getting the point.
Oh well...more practice required!

Townscape in Markers - an assignment from my OCA course
Stamford - March 09
Landscape in Markers - an assignment from my OCA course
Whittlesey - March 09