I looked again today at a roll of large drawings I made before Christmas. These were completed on a 5 day course at West Dean College near Chichister in West Sussex with Matthew Harris. I felt immediately following the course that these would require 'digestion time' before I would be ready to consider their value to me and to blog about them. I now feel able to evaluate them further.
Overall, it was an extraordinary week. We were a comparatively small group who enjoyed the experimental nature of the tasks we were set and the many challenges to think differently about our drawing and observation skills. The main stimulus for the tasks was an incredible suspended still life consisting of broken plates and dishes in interesting shapes, lengths of cloth of different weights and textures, a victorian squirrel trap (yes, really!), pieces of netting, a collapsed wooden parasol, wire baskets, coloured paper garlands and much else besides!
Drawing from this was a significant challenge. Working mainly on large A2 sized sheets of white cartridge, we were asked in the first two exercises to draw the shapes we observed on a flat plane, ignoring the relative distance of the objects or perspective and to draw 'without looking' (ie only minimal peaking at the drawings we were producing). The aim of this was to concentrate on the outline shapes of the objects, the spaces between them and any interesting pattern within them, and not to worry about making a faithful, realistic copy of the still life itself.
This initially was a great relief! It also produced all sorts of interesting overlaps of shapes and patterns which seemed to pile one top of another, often producing unexpected combinations of marks and shapes. I have included below two small croppings from the first large A2 sized sheet of cartridge which show particularly this overlapping of shape and mark.
The early sets of drawings were made with no focus on colour. No surprise then that I chose (without even thinking about it) to work in black and white and mostly using indian ink. We were also encouraged to use less familiar mark making tools, particularly pens of all sorts, sticks, nails and anything else we cared to experiment with. This focused attention on the marks we were making, although these really only bacame fully apparent once we stopped each exercise and were able to look at the work as a whole.
I felt encouraged to look again at these drawings the other day because I had hit a wall with my current work and I was needing additional ways of approaching it. There is much to think about here. Particularly, there is the degree of abstraction generated without focused thought and the increased sponteneity it gives. Then, there is the focus on line: the variety that is available (as above) and the possible mix with more solid shapes in images. Looking at my finished papers now, it also seems that I need to consider the value of white or solid colour as a 'resting place' for the eye in designs.
Later in the week we produced several large sheets using colour in increasing amounts. I will post a selection from these later.
Overall, it was an extraordinary week. We were a comparatively small group who enjoyed the experimental nature of the tasks we were set and the many challenges to think differently about our drawing and observation skills. The main stimulus for the tasks was an incredible suspended still life consisting of broken plates and dishes in interesting shapes, lengths of cloth of different weights and textures, a victorian squirrel trap (yes, really!), pieces of netting, a collapsed wooden parasol, wire baskets, coloured paper garlands and much else besides!
 |  |  |
Drawing from this was a significant challenge. Working mainly on large A2 sized sheets of white cartridge, we were asked in the first two exercises to draw the shapes we observed on a flat plane, ignoring the relative distance of the objects or perspective and to draw 'without looking' (ie only minimal peaking at the drawings we were producing). The aim of this was to concentrate on the outline shapes of the objects, the spaces between them and any interesting pattern within them, and not to worry about making a faithful, realistic copy of the still life itself.
This initially was a great relief! It also produced all sorts of interesting overlaps of shapes and patterns which seemed to pile one top of another, often producing unexpected combinations of marks and shapes. I have included below two small croppings from the first large A2 sized sheet of cartridge which show particularly this overlapping of shape and mark.
 |  |
 |  |  |
I felt encouraged to look again at these drawings the other day because I had hit a wall with my current work and I was needing additional ways of approaching it. There is much to think about here. Particularly, there is the degree of abstraction generated without focused thought and the increased sponteneity it gives. Then, there is the focus on line: the variety that is available (as above) and the possible mix with more solid shapes in images. Looking at my finished papers now, it also seems that I need to consider the value of white or solid colour as a 'resting place' for the eye in designs.
Later in the week we produced several large sheets using colour in increasing amounts. I will post a selection from these later.
Interesting exercise. Years ago, at a quilting workshop with Pauline Burbidge, she had us cutting shapes in cloth as a similar blind drawing project.
ReplyDeleteIntriguingly, I was reading this post just after having looked at the Contemporary Basketry blog, and was struck by the thought that it might be interesting to reverse your exercise. Instead of drawing a 3D collection as a 2D interpretation, I wonder what one could do with a 2D object as a 3D interpretation -?
Anyway, I hope that your ponderings help you with your dead end.
Blind drawing by cutting shapes in cloth sounds most interesting. Maybe it has thoughts of an exercise for my current work?
DeleteAlso very interesting is your thought about 2D into 3D. I have been pondering this one and not moved very far forward at all, hence my feelings of having hit a wall.
However, I have been exploring what I would call 2 1\2 D - ie layering fabrics of different weights and mounting, possibly into a wall piece, with a small gap between, if you can understand what I mean. Cotton overlain with organza with the image printed onto both is proving interesting as it gives some transparency. How to achieve the gap in an elegant way is causing me angst at present! I will maybe post progress on this soon.
Yes, your 2.5D is an attractive proposition. I used it, calling it bas-relief-inspired work, when I made my brodages ( https://handeyemind.wordpress.com/2018/01/12/first-look-back/ ). You have the advantage of being part of a group, and so can discuss methods with the other members. I look forward to seeing how your project progresses.
DeleteI well remembered your brodages - very interesting they were! I notice, on searching out the reference again, that you mention acrylic frames. I have been thinking that these might be what I'm looking for to mount my pieces. I've researched these several times in the past but they always seem to be very expensive. Any thoughts?
DeleteIn the last sketch, I can't get out of my head that it looks like a fashion model pose, turned to the side, from the neck down. The long space on the left being the arm, the rest of the lines making a dress with perhaps an interesting elongated collar. Or perhaps that is just detailing on the front. And is that a sash or belt?
ReplyDeleteThe human eye plays extraordinary and fascinating tricks, doesn’t it? I guess that is what a lot of abstraction in art plays to. We all read such art differently, some seeing recognisable things in work where others look especially at the elements of stitch or brushwork or the shapes, patterns and balance within. I’m always most interested and pleasantly surprised by what other people see in my work!
Delete