Sunday 16 May 2010




Course work: A somewhat simplified view of part of the central structure of the now-abandoned Enterprise Cotton Mill in Augusta, Georgia, which I saw from a boat yesterday. The right-hand tower is identical to the left, so I just blocked it in loosely.

Reading:



Rose-Marie & Ranier Hagen What Great Paintings Say (Vol. 2)

Taschen, Köln, 2005

Pp 590-601



Personal sketchbook work: A somewhat out-of-proportion sketch of the tower of our local library, another nightmare for the bricklayer. A ten-minute figure sketch in sanguine Conté crayon.

Weekly reflections on learning experience: I have learned during this week, and in some of the earlier work, that I do not find drawing buildings very interesting. This means I have to be particularly careful not to “cut corners” and oversimplify my work.



Total time: 1 hour 8 minutes

Saturday 15 May 2010




Course work: Details of the ornate brick and granite work on a Washington, Georgia storefront typical of the era, in a 10x10 cm square. I would have required a much larger drawing area and a great deal of time to fully depict the complex details of the brick and granite work (it must have driven the masons mad).

Total time: 22 min

Friday 14 May 2010




Course work: Owing to a slight misinterpretation of the instructions, I drew a series of storefronts in a 10x10 cm. square.

Reading:



Rose-Marie & Ranier Hagen What Great Paintings Say (Vol. 2)

Taschen, Köln, 2005

Pp 578-589



Personal sketchbook work: A sketch in sanguine Conté crayon of a strongly cross-lit raccoon skull.

Total time: 1 hour 13 minutes

Thursday 13 May 2010




Course work: After a week of struggling and indecision, I did the townscape line drawing today, working from earlier sketch material and from photographs. My subject was a portion of the Wilkes County courthouse. I first did a light pencil sketch (subsequently erased) to work out my major problems. (One of these was the clock: I still don’t think it is quite right.) I then used a set of small, medium and bold Pitt pens for the drawing itself, working over the pencil lines and adding detail and making corrections as I drew. I omitted some elaborate decoration over the central window, as well as two small windows, in the interests of clarity and producing a not-too-busy drawing. This would be a stronger drawing with some shading, but…one must follow the requirements as closely as possible.

Reading:



Rose-Marie & Ranier Hagen What Great Paintings Say (Vol. 2)

Taschen, Köln, 2005

Pp 566-577



Personal sketchbook work: A quick charcoal sketch of a corner of the kitchen, with some difficult angles and superimpositions, since it contains 45° corners. My viewfinder helped me a bit.

Total time: 1 hour 36 minutes

Wednesday 12 May 2010




Reading:



Rose-Marie & Ranier Hagen What Great Paintings Say (Vol. 2)

Taschen, Köln, 2005

Pp 554-565





Personal sketchbook work: As it will soon be time for me to decide which category in Assignment 5 I wish to pursue. I will work intermittently on doing some sketch work in each category. I did this ten-minute sketch from life to begin my investigation.

Total time: 26 minutes

Tuesday 11 May 2010




Course work: Revisited the city square in Washington, Georgia and found a more interesting viewpoint of the courthouse, and did a sketch from this viewpoint, as well as taking a few photographs to help me capture some of the detail when I do the final drawing. I think this viewpoint is more interesting that the one I originally sketched.

Reading:



Rose-Marie & Ranier Hagen What Great Paintings Say (Vol. 2)

Taschen, Köln, 2005

Pp 536-553





Personal sketchbook work: A hasty drapery study in red chalk.

Total time: 1 hour 9 minutes (34h27m)

Monday 10 May 2010




Course work: Reviewed my sketches from 6 May and concluded that I need another visit to the site to have enough information to work with. Will take my camera this time.



Reading:



Rose-Marie & Ranier Hagen What Great Paintings Say (Vol. 2)

Taschen, Köln, 2005

Pp 524-535



Personal sketchbook work: Attempted some sketches of buildings from my photo collection. The first was a downhill street in a small German town: my perspective didn’t come out quite right. The second was the ornate corner tower of our local hotel, built in 1898.

Other activity: Watched a VHS tape by Tony Couch entitled Drawing and Sketching with Markers. This was less useful than I had hoped.



Weekly reflections on learning experience: Further study of perspective early in the week has shown that I may understand the theory, but am having trouble applying it in practice. Later in the week, farm work and resultant fatigue cut severely into my drawing efforts.



Total time: 2 hours 7 minutes (33h18m)