16 September 2009
Course work: Did the exercise titled: Enlarging an Existing Drawing, page 31.
Summary Observations on Enlarging Images (Check and Log): This is a procedure that I have done many times, so it was (for me) the easiest exercise to date. I am satisfied that my enlarged images are reasonably true to the smaller original ones.
Reading:
Ian Simpson, The Complete Drawing Course
Running Press, Philadelphia, PA 1993
Information Feature (pp 64-69), Lesson 8 (pp 70-75)
Personal sketchbook work: Drew a heavily-patterned hawk feather I found on the trail.
Other Activities: A visit to the Aiken County Art Center, Aiken, South Carolina, about a two-hour drive away. This is described in the Museum and Gallery Visits section of the learning log.
Total time: about 1 ½ hours
Friday, September 18, 2009
15 September 2009
Course work: Did the exercise titled: Enlarging an Existing Drawing, page 30.
Reading:
Anne Classen Knutson, Andrew Wyeth: Memory and Magic
Rizzoli International Publications, New York 2005
Pp 107-119
[Comments regarding this book: A catalog of an exhibition by the High Museum of Art (Atlanta, Georgia, USA) and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, this book is especially notable for its large number of high-quality, full-page color plates. Most of the smaller figures in the text are also in color. The included essays are of interest, especially the one by Kathleen Foster, Meaning and Medium in Wyeth’s Art: Revisiting Groundhog Day, which deals with the artist’s thought processes and the multiple studies that he made while planning and executing a single painting. I now have a deeper insight into, and a greater appreciation of, the works of this artist, who died earlier this year.]
Other Activities: My painting group met this afternoon. My project for the day was a painting-knife sketch of the face of a glacier I recently saw in Alaska. Although the painting knife is an unfamiliar tool to me, I enjoyed the experiment, and the resulting sketch does look hard and cold.
Personal sketchbook work: Two views of a bunch of bananas in my A4 sketchbook.
Total time: About 1 ½ hours (not including painting group)
Course work: Did the exercise titled: Enlarging an Existing Drawing, page 30.
Reading:
Anne Classen Knutson, Andrew Wyeth: Memory and Magic
Rizzoli International Publications, New York 2005
Pp 107-119
[Comments regarding this book: A catalog of an exhibition by the High Museum of Art (Atlanta, Georgia, USA) and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, this book is especially notable for its large number of high-quality, full-page color plates. Most of the smaller figures in the text are also in color. The included essays are of interest, especially the one by Kathleen Foster, Meaning and Medium in Wyeth’s Art: Revisiting Groundhog Day, which deals with the artist’s thought processes and the multiple studies that he made while planning and executing a single painting. I now have a deeper insight into, and a greater appreciation of, the works of this artist, who died earlier this year.]
Other Activities: My painting group met this afternoon. My project for the day was a painting-knife sketch of the face of a glacier I recently saw in Alaska. Although the painting knife is an unfamiliar tool to me, I enjoyed the experiment, and the resulting sketch does look hard and cold.
Personal sketchbook work: Two views of a bunch of bananas in my A4 sketchbook.
Total time: About 1 ½ hours (not including painting group)
14 September 2009
Course work: Continued work on Assignment 1, Section 6, Using Texture. Selected five items with prominent textures for my texture drawing: a piece of corrugated cardboard, a bathmat, a piece of a weatherworn, decaying wood, a quartzite rock with prominent veining, and a large fossil oyster shell. After doing several thumbnail studies, I selected one, and started the drawing with pencil on A3 paper. The textures were, in general, not too hard to produce, but were much more time-consuming than I had expected (especially the corrugated cardboard). I am reasonably satisfied with the final result.
Summary Observations on Using Texture (Check and Log): I didn’t think that the illustrations on p 28 of the text suggested any sort of texture to me (they looked like refugees from the “Making Marks exercise): it is distinctly possible that I am missing the point. Texture to me is a visual representation of the way the surface would look if I could touch it, accompanied by those additional elements that make it clear to the eye what one is seeing, and I think that I have at least in part succeeded in doing this. My preliminary sketchbook work was helpful (two of the textures that I developed in the sketchbook were used in the drawing, with some further development). I am satisfied that the techniques I used do in fact suggest the surface texture of the items in the drawing. A “happy accident” led to the use of the pencil in an improved way to describe the bath-mat that was included in the drawing. I found it necessary to use a moderate amount of tonal hatching, as the use of surface textures alone failed to suggest the third dimension.
Reading:
Keith Micklewright, Drawing
Harry N. Abrams, Inc. New York (2005)
Chapter 7 (pp 74-87)
Anne Classen Knutson, Andrew Wyeth: Memory and Magic
Rizzoli International Publications, New York 2005
Pp 85-102
Personal sketchbook work: A full-page sketch of a large white pitcher, heavily shadowed, in my A4 sketchbook.
Total time: a bit over six hours.
Course work: Continued work on Assignment 1, Section 6, Using Texture. Selected five items with prominent textures for my texture drawing: a piece of corrugated cardboard, a bathmat, a piece of a weatherworn, decaying wood, a quartzite rock with prominent veining, and a large fossil oyster shell. After doing several thumbnail studies, I selected one, and started the drawing with pencil on A3 paper. The textures were, in general, not too hard to produce, but were much more time-consuming than I had expected (especially the corrugated cardboard). I am reasonably satisfied with the final result.
Summary Observations on Using Texture (Check and Log): I didn’t think that the illustrations on p 28 of the text suggested any sort of texture to me (they looked like refugees from the “Making Marks exercise): it is distinctly possible that I am missing the point. Texture to me is a visual representation of the way the surface would look if I could touch it, accompanied by those additional elements that make it clear to the eye what one is seeing, and I think that I have at least in part succeeded in doing this. My preliminary sketchbook work was helpful (two of the textures that I developed in the sketchbook were used in the drawing, with some further development). I am satisfied that the techniques I used do in fact suggest the surface texture of the items in the drawing. A “happy accident” led to the use of the pencil in an improved way to describe the bath-mat that was included in the drawing. I found it necessary to use a moderate amount of tonal hatching, as the use of surface textures alone failed to suggest the third dimension.
Reading:
Keith Micklewright, Drawing
Harry N. Abrams, Inc. New York (2005)
Chapter 7 (pp 74-87)
Anne Classen Knutson, Andrew Wyeth: Memory and Magic
Rizzoli International Publications, New York 2005
Pp 85-102
Personal sketchbook work: A full-page sketch of a large white pitcher, heavily shadowed, in my A4 sketchbook.
Total time: a bit over six hours.
13 September 2009
Course work: Continued work on Assignment 1, Section 6, Using Texture. Completed six additional 5x5 cm squares with pencil marks and dip pen representing various surface textures, then did twelve more squares with various experiments (25 in all) utilizing different media and some solvents to look for ways to produce interesting textures.
Reading:
Anne Classen Knutson, Andrew Wyeth: Memory and Magic
Rizzoli International Publications, New York 2005
Pp 45-79
(No author listed: Translated by Natalia Tizon), Art of Sketching
Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., New York, 2007
Pp 11-157
[Comments regarding this book: There is a good bit of useful information on sketching a wide variety of subjects with a large assortment of media. In my opinion, the book suffers from disorganization: related topics are scattered widely, and there is not a logical progression from simple to more complex topics. Nevertheless, it is a useful book to have available, as paging quickly through it is likely to provide some unthought-about idea, approach, or technique.]
Personal sketchbook work: A drawing of a telephone, with emphasis on the tangled cord, and a challenging drapery study, set up by dropping a towel on the floor. (Drapery studies are always worth doing, since drapes and folds are so common in still-life setups and in clothing.)
Weekly thoughts on learning experience: I have now been working on the course for 25 days, and have done at least some work every day, totaling about 60 hours to date. At present, I am still on schedule with my planned pace through the course. A review of my earlier work in the course, and of some pre-course sketchbooks and drawings, suggests that my work is improving. My sketchbook work has been somewhat better this week, with only one day on which I did none, although my sketches often seem somewhat more formal and organized than what I envision as “ideal” sketches. My hatching is somewhat better, with more even application.
Total time: about 4 hours
Course work: Continued work on Assignment 1, Section 6, Using Texture. Completed six additional 5x5 cm squares with pencil marks and dip pen representing various surface textures, then did twelve more squares with various experiments (25 in all) utilizing different media and some solvents to look for ways to produce interesting textures.
Reading:
Anne Classen Knutson, Andrew Wyeth: Memory and Magic
Rizzoli International Publications, New York 2005
Pp 45-79
(No author listed: Translated by Natalia Tizon), Art of Sketching
Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., New York, 2007
Pp 11-157
[Comments regarding this book: There is a good bit of useful information on sketching a wide variety of subjects with a large assortment of media. In my opinion, the book suffers from disorganization: related topics are scattered widely, and there is not a logical progression from simple to more complex topics. Nevertheless, it is a useful book to have available, as paging quickly through it is likely to provide some unthought-about idea, approach, or technique.]
Personal sketchbook work: A drawing of a telephone, with emphasis on the tangled cord, and a challenging drapery study, set up by dropping a towel on the floor. (Drapery studies are always worth doing, since drapes and folds are so common in still-life setups and in clothing.)
Weekly thoughts on learning experience: I have now been working on the course for 25 days, and have done at least some work every day, totaling about 60 hours to date. At present, I am still on schedule with my planned pace through the course. A review of my earlier work in the course, and of some pre-course sketchbooks and drawings, suggests that my work is improving. My sketchbook work has been somewhat better this week, with only one day on which I did none, although my sketches often seem somewhat more formal and organized than what I envision as “ideal” sketches. My hatching is somewhat better, with more even application.
Total time: about 4 hours
Sunday, September 13, 2009
12 September 2009
Course work: Started work on Assignment 1, Section 6, Using Texture. Completed six 5x5 cm squares with pencil marks representing various surface textures.
Reading:
Sarah Simblet, The Drawing Book
Dorling Kindersley, London 2005
Gatherings (pp 176-195)
Anne Classen Knutson, Andrew Wyeth: Memory and Magic
Rizzoli International Publications, New York 2005
Pp 15-40
Other Activities: A visit to the Greenville County Art Museum in Greenville, South Carolina, about a two-hour drive away, described in the Museum and Gallery Visits section of the learning log.
Personal sketchbook work: A sketch of a stylized wood carving of a cat.
Total time: About two hours (plus museum trip)
Course work: Started work on Assignment 1, Section 6, Using Texture. Completed six 5x5 cm squares with pencil marks representing various surface textures.
Reading:
Sarah Simblet, The Drawing Book
Dorling Kindersley, London 2005
Gatherings (pp 176-195)
Anne Classen Knutson, Andrew Wyeth: Memory and Magic
Rizzoli International Publications, New York 2005
Pp 15-40
Other Activities: A visit to the Greenville County Art Museum in Greenville, South Carolina, about a two-hour drive away, described in the Museum and Gallery Visits section of the learning log.
Personal sketchbook work: A sketch of a stylized wood carving of a cat.
Total time: About two hours (plus museum trip)
11 September 2009
Course work: Completed work on Assignment 1, Section 5 (Still Life), p 24, with a bit of touching up here and there, and application of a few highlights. (Then I sliced up my subjects and cooked squash and onions for supper.) Completed the negative space and perspective exercises on pp 26-27. The selected objects were a pear, a can of solvent, a large flashlight, and a cup. The first drawing was done using one color for the upper line, a second for the lower, and a third for the lines that completed the general outline of the objects. The second part of the exercise was done with ball-point pen in the course sketchbook: trying to draw the negative shapes while keeping the pen on the paper proved much more difficult than the first part of the exercise. Several tries were required in order to get an even remotely satisfactory result, and I think that this is something on which I need to do some additional work.
Summary Observations on Still Life (Check and Log): This section took longer than I had anticipated, in part because I got overenthusiastic and made my first set of thumbnail drawings far too large, and in part because of a poor paper choice for the final drawing, which required my starting over again. I did not find a great difference between natural and artificial objects as far as difficulty in suggesting three dimensions: either can have simple or complex shapes. (Natural objects may be a bit more forgiving in the depiction of contour.) I think I was able to create a reasonable suggestion of solidity in my work in this section. Creating multiple thumbnail drawings was very helpful in ultimately choosing a final composition: these thumbnails made it possible for me to assess how direct light, reflected light, and shadow would affect the balance, depth, and overall pattern of the final piece.
Reading:
E.H. Gombrich, The Story of Art,
Phaidon Press Limited, Oxford 1978
Chapters 6-7 (pp 94-112)
(No author listed: Translated by Natalia Tizon), Art of Sketching
Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., New York, 2007
Pp 62-110
Personal sketchbook work: A sketch of a loblolly pine cone, and a drapery sketch.
Total time: about two hours
Course work: Completed work on Assignment 1, Section 5 (Still Life), p 24, with a bit of touching up here and there, and application of a few highlights. (Then I sliced up my subjects and cooked squash and onions for supper.) Completed the negative space and perspective exercises on pp 26-27. The selected objects were a pear, a can of solvent, a large flashlight, and a cup. The first drawing was done using one color for the upper line, a second for the lower, and a third for the lines that completed the general outline of the objects. The second part of the exercise was done with ball-point pen in the course sketchbook: trying to draw the negative shapes while keeping the pen on the paper proved much more difficult than the first part of the exercise. Several tries were required in order to get an even remotely satisfactory result, and I think that this is something on which I need to do some additional work.
Summary Observations on Still Life (Check and Log): This section took longer than I had anticipated, in part because I got overenthusiastic and made my first set of thumbnail drawings far too large, and in part because of a poor paper choice for the final drawing, which required my starting over again. I did not find a great difference between natural and artificial objects as far as difficulty in suggesting three dimensions: either can have simple or complex shapes. (Natural objects may be a bit more forgiving in the depiction of contour.) I think I was able to create a reasonable suggestion of solidity in my work in this section. Creating multiple thumbnail drawings was very helpful in ultimately choosing a final composition: these thumbnails made it possible for me to assess how direct light, reflected light, and shadow would affect the balance, depth, and overall pattern of the final piece.
Reading:
E.H. Gombrich, The Story of Art,
Phaidon Press Limited, Oxford 1978
Chapters 6-7 (pp 94-112)
(No author listed: Translated by Natalia Tizon), Art of Sketching
Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., New York, 2007
Pp 62-110
Personal sketchbook work: A sketch of a loblolly pine cone, and a drapery sketch.
Total time: about two hours
10 September 2009
Course work: Continued work on Assignment 1, Section 5 (Still Life), p 24. Rubbed a light dusting of charcoal on the representation of the table top to visually separate it from the plate.
Reading:
Ian Simpson, The Complete Drawing Course
Running Press, Philadelphia, PA 1993
Lesson 7 (pp 56-61)
Personal sketchbook work: In my pocket sketchbook, sketched three hickory nuts in different stages of maturity found on the trail, then tinted them with watercolor later.
Total time: A bit over one hour.
Course work: Continued work on Assignment 1, Section 5 (Still Life), p 24. Rubbed a light dusting of charcoal on the representation of the table top to visually separate it from the plate.
Reading:
Ian Simpson, The Complete Drawing Course
Running Press, Philadelphia, PA 1993
Lesson 7 (pp 56-61)
Personal sketchbook work: In my pocket sketchbook, sketched three hickory nuts in different stages of maturity found on the trail, then tinted them with watercolor later.
Total time: A bit over one hour.
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