Entry 16: Architecture study: St Mary's abbey

This final entry (a bit of a bonus one) is my study of the ruins of St Mary's abbey in the city of York. This study was the first one I made outside class and I had to push myself to work speedily. Here on location I had no teachers pushing me and reminding me to work within certain times. There for I set the alarm on my phone to force my self to work rather quick and efficiently.

The first piece was made in 15 minutes and shows one of the windows of the ruins. Behind one can see another window of the opposite wall. The aim here for me was to capture the arch of the window, the stone work and the overall texture of this grand ruin (a ruin that also Turner have done studies of).

I made some more studies of the window, here paying more attention to the shadows and the window arches visible through the front window arch. Overall this sketch is decant, but not excellent. I did not work all over the sketch and there is only parts with shadows and values on it.

The final study of the ruin was of one of the old gates to the abbey. I was captured by the beautiful stonewall and the way it end up in a messy hard edge at the top of the still standing wall. The study was made in 15 minutes and is rather well done. The details are there, also the shading and the proper measuring. The 15 minutes was well divided between all the different elements and it came together in a fairly good sketch.

Week 15: Interior study: The wool exchange

This week's entry is a interior study from Bradford's old wool exchange, seen from the café that now inhabits the upper level.

This piece was made in 1 hour and in the use of a graphite stick. The angle I chose to work from shows the great depth that this building has and that the pattern of the structure; the pillars, the square roof details.

My main target here was to capture the feeling of the space and the perspective. The architecture is full of exciting details, details which is easy to linger on. There was more sections of pillars in sight from the place I was drawing from, but if I was to capture all of them at the level of detail this piece have I would have needed the double amount of time. Since the architecture is repetitive I only did two sections of it. At the back the end wall of the wool exchange is visible and it is a good ending of the pattern.

There are two points of perspective in this piece, one quite obvious which is the one that leads the eye deeper into the drawing. The other point of perspective is the one that is going along with the wall at the end. This perspective is quite parallel, but not entirely. But from where I was drawing this scene it appears linear and I therefore made it easy for me and made it linear.

Overall I am quite happy with this piece. I would have loved to have paid more attentions to the beautiful period details of the building, but there simply wasn't enough time (or patience) to do so. 

Entry 14: Cloth study, finished piece

This week's entry is a study of different kind of cloth materials. This finished piece was made in graphite stick and done in 40 minutes. The angle I chose to work from shows several different materials overlapping each other. The light is also very interesting with a wide spectrum of quite dark and light values.

The challenge here was to capture the essence in the different materials and to make all the different pieces stand out from each other so that the viewer easily could tell where something ends and something new begins.

The result of this finished drawing is, I think, quite high. The way of not doing every single pattern detail in the different cloth materials shows understanding in where to put in the details and where to hold it back. The light and shadows are clear and the motive is capture with skilled accuracy. Not much is to be improved in this drawing, which is a good example of a still life.

Entry 13: Anatomy drawing

This week's entry is a finished piece of an anatomy study. This drawing was made in 45 minutes and done with graphite stick. I chose the angle to work from because of its foreshortening and for it's good view of the model. It covers the whole body and also all the limbs and the face. Since the drawing was made in 45 minutes I had all the time I needed to finish it off to a satisfying standard.

Apart from the challenge of capturing the anatomy of the female body I also had to capture the cloth she's laying upon and also the one that's coving her body. The cloths that's covering her is a bit edgy to be 100% accurate, but it's resembles the expressionistic style of drawing. The values of light and shadow however is quite well done. The covering cloth may also be the strongest point of interest in this piece, mostly because of the way it's been drawn. The piece is also nicely framed by the hard dark lines around the model. The lines are pointing towards her and attracts the eye to her.

Overall I've pretty please with this piece. The anatomy is rather good, but there is some weak points such as her left foot that's in the bottom right of the drawing. Although this weakness might not be to visible due to the point of interest (the cloth that's covering the model). None the less it isn't an excuse to not do the anatomy as accurate as possible.

Week 12: Anatomy study: facial expressions

 This week's study of the human face is a kind of sequel to last week's study. This time though, the focus is on the expression. The medium I chose to work with here was the graphite stick since I value it's accuracy and the way one can cover big areas in a very short time. The size of the graphite stick also enables to do small details and one is forced to forget about them.

The first two sketches was made in 2 and 3 minutes. The time limit didn't leave much room over for measuring. But the measuring wasn't the main target here. The main goal here was merely to capture the expression of the male model in the short amount of time that was given. I believe that the key to a successful captured expression lies within the forehead and it's wrinkles, the eyes, eyebrows, nose and mouth. Due to the focus on those key features I didn't spent any time on the shading, since I already know that I can do the shading satisfyingly and don't need to put it in here in this study.

After a third attempt that was made in 2 minutes I did one final piece in 20 minutes. That piece allowed me to assemble the knowledge of previous studies with this expression study. The anatomy of the face was dealt with and the shading. All the different elements was assembled into one final. Even though the piece isn't a full finished drawing it has all the essential elements. Overall I am very happy with the anatomy and the way I chose to shade certain key parts of the model's head and face. The hair is mostly unfinished, but it's there no the less and it contributes to the overall finish.

Week 11: Anatomy study: female face

 This week is another anatomy study, but with focus on the anatomy of the face.
There are some general rules, as there are in the world of anatomy. The eyes are in the middle of the head is an example. Even if one knows these rules by heart they should be more viewed as guidelines as every human is unique and has unique features. It's good to have these guidelines in mind, but if one would follow them one wouldn't capture the model's actual look.This is what I kept in mind during this study.

The first sketch is just to get going and the hands working. A simply piece to first get to know the face I'm drawing. A little study of the eye and mouth are also visible in the bottom of the sketch. Since this was made in 7 minutes there was quite some time to do some measuring and get the features right. However, I didn't aim to have time for any big shadings and worked more with just lines and some simple key shadings.

The second sketch was made in 10 minutes. I put my focus on the features of the face, to get the profile right, the eyes, nose, mouth and cheek. I made a dark backdrop to make the profile stand out more. Even though it's very unfinished I am fairly happy with the anatomy and likeness, even though the model have a bit of a wicked look, which is entirely my own fault.

The third attempt at 20 minutes was a bit of a failure according to me. I should have been able to do more shading. Instead I worked to slow and put way much time on getting the anatomy as spot on as I could. I didn't even draw the ear and the rest of the left hand side of the head.

The fourth piece is also unfinished, but much better than the third attempt. I did the measuring in good time and I did shaded the entire face. Only the hair was left out, but that wasn't my main focus. I did some lines to show the direction of the hair and left it like that. If I would have any spare minutes at the end of the 25 minutes I would have done some more on the hair.

Week 10: Anatomy studies in colour

 This weeks study also contains anatomy, but on the focus on colour. The skin of the human body has a complex variety of colours. Naturally, the light is the key here. As for everything else the skin will look different due to the light that falls upon it. The skin is also transparent which means that the blood and veins underneath the skin is visible. The light may also shine through the skin at different points of the body. Overall observation, experience and understanding of colour is of uttermost importance.

The first piece is merely a colour test with the medium I chose to work with: soft pastels. The pastels are fairly soft and can be blended with each other to create new colour values.

The second piece was done in 45 minutes and I put my focus mainly on the skin colour of the model and on second hand the anatomy. I used a variety of soft pastels. Red, cyan, orange, yellow, blue, purple and green. The green, blue and purple was used mainly in the darker areas with heavy shadows. The red was used as a mid tone along with the orange. For highlights I used the bright yellow and cyan pastels.

The third piece was a similar attempt. Main focus once more on the skin, but I put some colours in and made some of the cloth the model was laying on so that she wouldn't appear to float in mid air. I chose the angle because I loved the foreshortening of the model and how the light fell on her side, giving quite strong highlights. Even though this piece was made in 25 minutes I think it is just as good as the first piece that was made in 45 minutes.

Week 9: Anatomy study: cloth on female body

This week's study is of a female model dressed in a simple cloth. The aim with this study is to capture and understand the interaction between the garment and the body beneath it. Even though the body is blocked from view due to the garment one most still keep it in mind and still "draw it" even though it isn't visible.

The first sketch was one from a series of three, all done in 1 minute each. The aim here was just to loosen up and to get the hands and eyes working. During the 1 minute I spent on each drawing there was no time for proper measuring so I had to rely on my eyes only.

The other sketch was done in 5 minutes and here I spent some time doing the measurements right. Some shadows, but overall not so detailed. Fairly good result considering the 5 minutes.

The final drawings, the two last was done 10 and 15 minutes. Here I had time do to both proper measuring and shading. I really loved looking and finding out how the garment was folded and wrinkled around the model's body. I spent much time on the garment to get it as accurate as possible. Details on the model wasn't so impotent to me during this study, since the focus was on the garment and the body on which it was draped.

I worked with the graphite stick, my favourite tool. I find it ideal for shading and making details, although it's rough enough so that one cannot go too far with the details. The big stick I used also helped me to cover big areas quick and easy.

Week 8: Anatomy study: male

 During this week I made some studies of the male body. I worked first with charcoal, doing some quick sketches and then made one piece in conté crayons (the piece below the first one). The sketches was made in 1 minute each and there for the was little or no time for proper measurements and one had simply to rely on your eye and hand to make it right.

 The time constraint was one of the reasons that made me to work with charcoal and conté crayons. Those two mediums allows the artist to work fairly and not make him to put focus on colours.

The other two drawings were made with more time at disposal. The main target there was to get the anatomy right and not pay to much attention on the light and details. Measurements and the proportions was much more important.

Week 7: Cloth study

 This study of different kind of garments challenges the drawer to capture pattern and material of the cloth on top of the usual light and shadow values. I found this study to be one of the most enjoyable and challenging. The first two pieces was done quickly within 5 minutes just as a try out and see which technique would be best for capturing different garments and it's patterns. I used the graphite stick in all pieces since charcoal would smudge to much to make the patterns, so does the soft pastels. I also have had much more experience with graphite sticks and it is wiser to chose a medium you know when you are working with these fast sketches. If not one has to master both the new media and the new technique for which capture the study.

The second two pieces was done in 10 and 15 minutes. The 10 minute piece,  here to the left, was yet another test of the patterns. After all three tries the final one was more than a try. I aimed to do the whole still life and do all of the different garments in it. I was fairly successful. The patterns look good and the lights and shadows too, what I failed on however s that I put too much focus and time on the left hand side of the drawing and had to rush it on the right side towards the end. There for it is not a finished piece, but given more time the study could have been a very good final piece.

Overall I think my go at this study went very well and was a successful session where  learnt a lot and presented some fine sketches.

Week 6: Industrial study

This weeks study was for me at the National Railway museum in York. I there made some quicker sketches of some of the engines there before settling down and drawing the piece here to the left. I used a graphite stick since I wanted to work a lot with the light and shadow and the graphite stick allows much more control of that rather than, for example, marker pens.

I chose to draw this angle of the trains because I get a good view of the front with lots of nice details and there is also a nice foreshortening. There also is two different perspective in the piece which also was why I decided on this particular angle.

I framed drawing with the hard, dark lines around it. The lines breaks the "peace" and bring some edge to the drawing and make it more interesting to look at.

Week 5: Distortion study: Skeleton

 This weeks study was of a still life of a skeleton lying on a chair with two pieces of reflective paper at its head and side.

The medium I first worked with was coloured paper and soft pastels, one white for the main work and one dark yellow for doing the hard shadows. The angle I choose to work from gives plenty to work with. It provides a great foreshortening, perspective and a good reflection in the reflective paper at the skeleton's head. The point of interest for me was the ribs of the skeleton and there for I put my focus on that area and didn't draw the rest of the skeleton.

The second piece I finished from the skeleton still life is made with charcoal. I chose to work with charcoal so that I didn't need to think about colours and could put my focus on the anatomy and the values.
In difference from the first work I here chose an angle that shows the skull in profile. I here wanted to capture the anatomy of mainly the skull and neck and shoulder. I worked fairly quick here, I believe that this was made in less than 15 minutes, sadly I forgot to write down the proper time spent on this work.

I'm happy with the final result and the level of details. The point of interest lies here in the skull and neck. The bones in the neck was done rather quick since it is so easily happened to get stuck in details where there are so much do draw. Some of my helplines for the head is still visible, which was a choice I made. I wanted the look of old anatomy studies from forgotten sketchbooks from the 18th century when the world of anatomy was still to be explored.

Week 4: Landscape study: View over Bradford

The intention of this weeks study was to work with expressionistic techniques. The city and landscape has a lot of patterns in it, made out of the houses, trees et etcetera. The key in expressionistic painting or drawing it to capture the essence and the feeling of these patterns without spending hours on drawing every single house or tree in view. I therefore chose to work with graphite stick, dry pastels and ink and a brush. These tools is easy to cover big areas of the paper and does not allow tiny details. Speed and a clever mind is the key to success here.

The three first attempts was made with the graphite stick. The first attempt, here to the right, is fairly detailed. This piece was more of an experiment where I tried out different ways to capture the trees in the distance and the houses in the front. I didn't feel so satisfied with the high level of details and the time I spent on it. The perspective is fairly good.





On the second try I sped up more and let the hand move faster over the paper to cover more. The level of details is less, but the I the contrast and the key details such as the church tower to the left I put in that stands out in the less detailed mess that is trees.


The final try was much like the previous, I continued on the same path and tried to work more with the values.

 Made this piece with a black soft pastel crayon. I changed the medium since I felt that I've done what I could the graphite stick. I love the messy and very expressionistic feel of it. The values and use of lines to break things up.

 The final three images of the landscape study was made with indian ink and brush. This piece was the first try with the new media and I did some experimenting with painting with only a little ink on the brush. In that way I managed to put in some nice textures in the trees and in the buildings. The outlines was however made with a fresh load of ink on the brush to get the solid black shapes of black.

 Out of the three studies in ink this is my favourite. Its the second try and I have grasped the technique fairly good to make the most out of it. Another reason that I think makes it so good is the good use of lines, black boxes (the roofs of the buildings) and the textures messiness of the trees in the background. The houses also shows the perspective in a good way with their clean lines.

A final attempt with more buildings. Tried to work on another technique for the trees and to explore further with the ink and brush.