P1 Project: Basic Shapes and Fundamental Form - Check and Log

And so I come to the end of this section. And this is what have I learnt.

Are the objects in my drawings the correct size and shape in relation to each other?'
Well yes, I think I have achieved this. I have learnt that it helps to take a photo, then draw a very very rough sketch to get the brain 'in the mood' first before embarking on the drawing. I have also learnt that it helps to identify one object as the key against which other objects are to be measured. For me, the key object was the one in the middle. Also using markings on the objects eg product design features helped me get a sense of proportions and dimensions.

Do the Shapes between the Objects look correct?
On reflection I realised that I have purposely put the objects tightly together, probably because sub-conciously I wanted markers like tops of objects, sides of objects, products design features to help me get the proportions correct. but there are a few gaps between some of the objects which I wouls say is correct.

Do the objects in the drawings look solid?
Yes, defintely. I learnt that my using colour, more attention to detail has to be made. Details like how do you do white writing on a coloured background. I suprised to find that this is a technique used quite a bit on the objects I drew. I didn't know how to do white writing so I had to do it in black which is obviously not representative of what I was seeing. Also I learnt that it's important to observe shades of colours and it helps if you put into one hand all the pencils of a particular shade to get the drawing to be as representative of the colours on the object.

Have you managed to create a feeling of depth.
Where I can I have tried to draw in details like the rim / base of a tin and the feeling that the objects being drawn are in a little cluster.

Overall I am happy with my attempts. I feel I have improved my levels of observation and noticed details that make a difference. I have learnt to distinguish between different shades and used different graphite pencils to achieve lettering and shading.

The drawings will now be loaded up to my student folder.

P1 Project: Basic Shapes and fundamental form exercises

I am feeling much better about the course, a lot more settled. The first thing I have done is draw up a practical timetable which helps me keep focussed on the tasks in question.
Over the past few weeks I have been doing the Basic Shapes and Fundamental Form exercises.
I started quite terrified but ended feeling quite pleased with my results which will be loaded up into my student folder.
Before starting the exercises, I decided to spend some time studying a few books I had borrowed form the library: Learning to Draw in a Weekend by Richard Taylor, Reader's Digest Complete Drawaing course and Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards. Each book has helped me in its own way and given me the conifdence to just get going.

The Boxes and Books exercise was a good one to get started. I struggled a bit at first on getting my brain to assimilate the perspective and proportions of what I was seeing. I thought that if I were to photograph the objects, this would help me get perpective, proportions and dimensions. And it did. I then thought that if I were to do the roughest of a first cut sketch, that this would give me a feel of what needed to be drawn. and again, this helped a lot. By the time I set about donig the drawing, my brain seemed to have engaged somewhat and I found the task easier than I had anticipated.

I did the exercise Jugs and Jars on the same day as Boxes and Books and the results are disappointing. I think by then I was getting tired concentrating and just wanted to finish. I learnt that it is best to take things easy and not try and cram in too much.

The last exercise Supermarket shop was done today. I used the same technique as previously, take the photo, do the roughest of sketches to get the outline in my brain, then try the drawing.

I enjoyed this exercise. Drawing in colour was fun. I am pleased with the results.

P1 Project: Making Marks - Check and Log

And so I reach the end of Making Marks.

It has not been an easy road. Although I have not published much, my goodness, much of my thinking time has been taken up with the course and coursework. But I feel more settled and feel I can now get on with the projects which I am looking forward to.
I have discovered how holding pencils / drawing instruments in different ways can produce different effects. I have tried out a range of tools, liked some but not others.
I have also organised a study schedule to pace myself gently and continuously through the course.
And I have also invested in the Reader's Digest Complete Drawing Course book to give me some supplementary resources.

I am ready to start the real thing now.

P1 Mark Making Research - Vincent Van Gogh

Since the last post, I discovered big time how LIFE can get int he way of Distance Learning. I'm still struggling to get it together and what I am realising is that I have to organise myself in such a way, that this becomes the first thing I do in the day. trying to do the studying after a day's worth of work just does not work for me.
So today, feeling bright breezy, I come back tot he course.
Today's learning task was the Research Point - Studying a Van Gogh pen and ink drawing.
After looking extensively on the Internet for drawings, of which there are many, I turned my attention to searching London galleries for a drawing. my thinking being that it would be better to see one 'in the flesh' so as to speak. I'm gutted to find that I missed the Van Gogh exhibition earlier this year at the Royal Academy. Still it has taught me to be on the lookout. I can't find any Van Gogh pen and ink drawings listed in any of the London galleries, so back to the Internet.

The drawing I have selected is Tree with Ivy in the Asylum, chosen primarily because there was an example of it on the Internet with a good enough resolution for me to print it out in A4 to study it. I love the drawing. I love the simplicity that simple short lines, straight, round, curled, twizzled, cross-hatched of different lengths and thicknesses can result in such an artwork.

I can honestly say that I have enjoyed this morning and learnt quite a bit about Van Gogh. It has enlightened me and I feel more confident to take on this course.

PART 1 MARK-MAKING AND TONE - THE START

After the excitement of receiving all the OCA material, the reality of the pace of the course hit home and deflated me for about a week. I enthusiastically set up a timeline for completing exercises in order to meet the assignment 1 date but as the days went by, I realised that the pace was just too fast and nothing was getting done because I was panicking too much.
Thoughts that perhaps I could just skip the exercises and get on with assignment 1 drifted in and out, but then I decided that no, i would work at a more leisurely pace and try and learn from each exercise.
To be honest, I have realised that i didn't really 'get' what I was supposed to be doing. It's only now that I have completed the Trying Other Media exercise that the penny has finally dropped and i feel I have learnt something new.
So enough prattling on, this is what I have gained so far from the course.
i have spent the past few weeks doing odd hours of practice. The early exercises of holding pens and pencils, doodling, mark making techniques, lines and other marks i did mechanically, not really getting much out of the exercise. of course I realise now that the point was to discover the different drawing effects you can achieve. So I suppose that although what I did was pretty rubbish, the learning outcome has been that if I want to go back and re-do the exercises to experiment with mark and line effects, these are the exercises that are going to help me.
The last exercise Trying New Media has been a turning point in my learning.
I knew I had many drawing media around the house and it was quite fun to dig it all out - quills and drawing ink, stabiilo pastel crayons, petel oil pastels, sparkly pentel 1.0mm ball pens, rotring drawing pens and an Ecobra Border pen.
I started this exercise with the quill, dipping it into ink. It was very hard work trying to get any ink onto the paper, let alone try and draw something. The quill had to be dipped into the ink frequently but i found that by changing the position of the nib that I was able to get different effects. i thought the quill would be great for a small scale fine area.
Next was the stabilo pastel crayon - did not like this at all but I can see that for a large scale drawing would be quite effective. Not that suitable for drawing finely in a small area but great for smudged effects.
The same with the Pentel Oil Pastels. Definitely liked these the least.
The Pentel 1.0mm ball pens were fun. I was given a set of these sparkly pens as a present and it's quite interesting just how thick the ink is. but the nib doesn't lend itself to creating different effects, just a uniform one so you would have to resort to other techniques to achieve shading etc.
The rotring pen was just a disaster. i spent 20 minutes cleaning it out but I suspect it needs another clean.
By far, what I enjoyed drawing with most is with the Ecobra Drawing Pen. This is not a pen with a nib as such but rather a drawing tool that picture framers use to draw borders on mounts around pictures. Many years ago I was taught to picture frame by a master framer and he showed me how to mix watercolours and change the size of the drawing tool to achieve thin and thick lines. It has been many years since I used it but I really like it because of the total control I have over the thickness and thiness of lines drawn. I used it with a watercolour and was very pleased that I could create different effects. Of course, using this type of drawing tool means that the ink dries out quickly and you can achieve the same effects as with a pastel crayon or charcoal - the ink is just too uniform.
So all in all, I feel I have learnt quite a bit both about tools, different types of drawing media and about myself.
I once more feel in control and enjoying the course.
Ta ta for today.

LAUNCHED

D-DAY has arrived! OCA Drawing 1-DAY that is!

 

And phew, what a whirl my brain is in. So much to take in. But can't wait to get started.

 

So what have I done so far

 

• read through the literature
• logged into OCA with my student id
• joined the Mensa Art and Literature group (might get some high-brow help!)
• added Assignment 1 to my Outlook Calendar (yes, need to see it each day to keep motivated)
• added all the exercises to my Outlook Task list (yes, I'm afraid I'm a big TODO list person)
• oh, and yes, created a BLOGGER account.

 

that's enough for now but keep reading - this will be my amusing journey from complete drawing novice to hopefully respectable drawer in 8 months time. we'll see !!