P1 Project: Enlarging An Image - Check and Log

How successful were you in copying the lines from the smaller squares tot he larger squares?

Fairly successful. I was pleased with the results. This technique appealed to my mathematical brain. I found the technique easy to do.

Are you satisfied with your larger replica of the image/ What would you do differently another time?

Yes, I am satisfied with the results so I am not sure I would do things any differently next time.

P1 Project: Using Textures - Check and Log

Have you discovered any new ways of using your drawing tools to depit surface and texture

Using lines and marks, crossing and cross-hatching builds texture. Also using the side of the pencil lead as well as the tip created different effects. Also using colour and rubbing the paper over a textured surfact created interesting results. I used a corrugated paper surface (give to me to protect a hot cup of coffe from a take-out cafe) and then realised that at home I had interesting baskets, conservatory furniture which could laster be used as a basis for interesting textures.

I guess also different types of paper might produce intersting textures and perhaps markig the surface of the paper might do as well - eg scratching it, etc. Or some papers may be rougher / smoother than others.

so my conclusion is yes, I have discovered new ways of using my drawing tools.

How successful were you at implying form with little or no tonal hatching?

I have to say I was tired when I did the drawings for this project so was not at my best. The assignment has been taking up most of my thoughts and I've wanted to get through these last sets of exercises quickly to make sure I have plenty of time and a peaceful mind to do the assignment. So, the results of this exercise were not great and I learnt by that.

What are your impressions of frottage as a drawing technique?

Simply - I LOVED IT. I loved doing this and it will be a technique I use in my assignements.

P1 Project: Still Life - Check and Log

Do you think it is easier to suggest three dimensions on man-made or natural objects?

I think it is probably easier to suggest three dimensions on man-made objects rather than natural objects. The reason being that man made objects are mainly produced from geometrical shapes eg cubes, cylinders, cones often with regular shapes and lines which are easier to represent and draw whereas natural objects are often irregular so the three-dimensional aspect of them is more subtle.

How did you create a sense of solidity in your composition.

In the drawing of the man-made objects, I used a soft 4B pencil and different density of hatching to create depth and solidity. In the drawing of the natural objects, a collection of cheeses, I used different shades of yellows, oranges, browns and reds to produce effects of solidity.

Do you think changing the arrangement of your composition makes a difference to your approach and the way you create a sense of form?

Yes. It is interesting how some arrangements don't feel comfortable to draw but others do. Often it is about perspective and seeing how shadows fall.

How did you decide to position yourself in relation to the objects?

Firstly feeling comfortable is very important, then having light sources in the best positions to highlight the forms, shadows, colours. Also being able to see the shapes in a form that I recognise I can draw is important.

P1 Project Reflected Light - Check and Log

What are the difficulties in separating cast shadow from reflected light and shade?
My drawing was of a collection of  kitchen implements - a colander, saucepan lid, ladle and saucepan hidden under colander and saucepan lid. To differentiate between light and dark tones, I half closed my eyes and noted that the reflections on the dull metal of the colander were more diffused than on the highly polished saucepan lid. The primary light source (a ceiling light) produced strong, sharp clearly defined shadows beneath the kitchen implements. Reflections were noted on the surfaces of the implements which were more difficult to draw.

The reflected shadow and light follows the contours of the objects. How have you shown this in your drawing?

Cross hatching with a softer 4B pencil drawing more emphasis where the shadow is darkest.

P1 Negative Space Research - Patrick Caulfield

Patrick Caulfield

Patrick Caulfield's seemingly anonymous painting style is instantly recognisable. Although he disliked being identified with a particular art movement, he is often associated with British Pop Art because his subjects are often commercially produced or kitsch. However, unlike Pop Art he wasn't interested in social realism or social comment and nor was his subject matter obviously contemporary or overtly American.  Instead, he chose subjects that were ambiguous both in tone and context, such as images taken from manuals or clichéd holiday destinations directly lifted from postcards.  His paintings look like commercial advertising or a painting-by-numbers illustration because he removes all visible brush marks, limits his palette to bright bold colours in commercial gloss paint and surrounds his patches of flat colour with strong black outlines.  Caulfield's painting style was in part a reaction to the highly personalised painting style of Abstract Expressionism, but he was also strongly influenced by Fernand Leger and the Cubist painter Juan Gris.
Caulfield's domestic interiors are often lifted directly from 1950s interior decorating magazines and they retain their original aspirational mood.  Devoid of narrative, Caulfield nevertheless imbues each canvas with a powerful emotional register by suffusing them with a dominant saturated colour. Frequently melancholic, these interiors are always totally still and without a human presence except maybe for a light left on. 
Many of his interior scenes also play with methods of portraying different forms, combinations and sources of light. He also incorporates trompe d'oeil and photorealistic elements in order to playfully explore the relationship between notions of reality, artifice and illusion.  Caulfield was interested in showing how no one method of representation within an artwork can claim to be more or less 'real' than another.  Interior with a Picture is a good example of one of Caulfield's interior scenes.

http://www.tate.org.uk/imap/imap2/pages/caulfield.html

P1 Project: Tone and Form - Check and Log

Now that I am in the swing of this course, my blog from now on will be purely about my learning.

How difficult did you find it to distinguish between light from the primary light source and secondary reflected light?

I had no difficulty in distinguishing between the primary light source and secondary reflected light as I understand how these are formed - explained in more detail below.

How has awareness of light and shade affected your depiction of form?
I have learnt that shadows are formed in an area where there is no light on it. It is distinctive because the area surrounding the shadow has light and so there will be a visible contrast. The shadow will produce a distinctive shape which may change depending on where the light source is positioned. A reflection on the other hand is caused by light reflecting from one surface to another so a reflection may contain the image of whatever is being reflected. In terms of depiction of form - a shadow is distinguishable as being wherever there is an absence of light and will be behind the object's light source whereas a reflection will be more subtle with a much greater variety of tones.

P1 Tone and Form Research - Odilon Redon

Redon, Odilon (1840-1916) was a French painter and graphic artist, one of the outstanding figures of Symbolism.

He had a retiring life, first in his native Bordeaux, then from 1870 in Paris, and until he was in his fifties he worked almost exclusively in black and white, in charcoal drawings and lithographs. In these he developed a highly distinctive repertoire of weird subjects (strange amoeboid creatures, insects, and plants with human heads and so on), influenced by the writings of Edgar Allen Poe. He remained virtually unknown to the public until the publication of J.K. Huysmans's celebrated novel A Rebours in 1884; the book's hero, a disenchanted aristocrat who lives in a private world of perverse delights, collects Redon's drawings, and with his mention in this classic expression of decadence, Redon too became associated with the movement.

During the 1890s Redon turned to painting and revealed remarkable powers as a colorist that had lain dormant. Much of his early life had been unhappy, but after undergoing a religious crisis in the early 1890s and a serious illness in 1894-95, he was transformed into a much more buoyant and cheerful personality, expressing himself in radiant colors in mythological scenes and flower paintings. He showed equal facility in oils and pastel. The flower pieces, in particular, were much admired by Matisse, and the Surrealists regarded Redon as one of their precursors. He was a distinguished figure by the end of his life, although still a very private person.

(http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/redon/)