Assignment One and Tutor feedback and reflection

Student name: Cecilia Barandiaran-Sprot

Student number: 516830

Course/Unit : Drawing 1 – Drawing Skills

Assignment number:1

Type of tutorial: Written

Overall Comments

Thank you for sending me the links to your drawings, reflection and research on your online learning log and larger photographs of some of the work via email. This submission is a good start to the Drawing 1 course and demonstrates some good observational skills. I particularly liked your drawing for the exercise on observing shadow using block and tone (the solidity of the objects is well captured through light and shadow) and your assignment piece is ambitious and carefully executed. Some of your exercises look slightly rushed (for example your drawings for creating shadow using lines and marks) – do try and spend the time to ensure you get the most out of all the exercises.

Thanks for the comments. In relation to the slightly rushed exercise - sorry about that, I think I underestimated the time to do each one. Also, as I’m new to formal Art training I was not sure how long I should spend on each exercise. I will be more careful and take more time in the future doing the exercises, specially the ones I am not confortable with like line drawing.

Assignment 1 Assessment potential

You may want to get credit for your hard work and achievements with the OCA by formally submitting your work for assessment at the end of the module. More and more people are taking the idea of lifelong learning seriously by submitting their work for assessment but it is entirely up to you. We are just as keen to support you whether you study for pleasure or to gain qualifications. Please consider whether you want to put your work forward for assessment and let me know your decision when you submit Assignment 2. I can then give you feedback on how well your work meets the assessment requirements.

Feedback on assignment

Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Quality of Outcome, Demonstration of Creativity

I enjoyed looking through your submission and have written brief notes on the contents below:

Warm-Up Exercise

Your use of a hose as a drawing medium is novel and allows you to draw at a very large scale. The photograph on your log slightly pixelated, but it gives me an idea of the piece.

P1 - E1: Feeling and ExpressionLots of expressive marks on your sheets in these exercises, in a range of media. Your reflections on the outcomes in your log are thoughtful.

P1 - E2: Experimenting with TextureSome great textures captured through frottage and created through media play. There are only two drawings here where you are really trying to ‘draw’ textures (the cappuccino and crumpled sheet of paper). You acknowledge this in your log. While you say you are less keen on this it may be worth trying a few more – the exercise makes us focus on surface, rather than the edges of things.

I will work more on the drawing texture exercises.

P2 – E1: Groups of ObjectsYour choice of brick patterned wallpaper as a support must have made this a challenging work to make. The drawing still represents you collection of objects well, but as the bricks show through this shatters any illusion that these are solid objects. Your notes on your thought process for this are informative and the connection with Mick Moons’ work links your research to your own practice.

I actually liked the fact that the bricks showed through as it made the work interesting, but I do understand the point you are making that the aim of the exercise was to portrait solid objects so I will rework this piece.

P2 – E2: Observing Shadow Using Block and ToneThis is an engaging drawing with very three-dimensional looking objects and strong shadow. The long shadow and flat ‘landscape’ of this drawing made me think of Giorgio de Chirico’s surreal paintings.

P2 – E3: Creating Shadow Using Lines and MarksThese drawings look quite hastily made, though the top one contains some interesting objects. No text on your blog here to give your own thoughts on the drawings.

Apologies for that, I left the exercise for later because it was a bit daunting being my first time drawing with lines and never got back to it. I only realized the night before my submission day.

P2 – E4: Shadows and Reflected LightThe shadow and reflections on these objects are well observed. The shadow on the table and connection of the objects with the table is not quite as convincing but this is still a good drawing.

I will look at it again and try to see what is missing, why the connection of the objects with the table is not convincing, and rework it to try to achieve a better result.

Assignment 1

An ambitious still life depicting a colourful collection of objects. You have taken considerable time and care over this drawing. The shoe in particular looks very real and solid. The clown dominates slightly, being so colourful and with the solid black stick, boots and hat. Your log gives your reasoning behind your choice of objects, composition and areas of research.

I will think about how to tone down the colours of the Clown to make it less dominant. Although I’m scared to spoil it.

Sketchbooks

Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Demonstration of Creativity

Your log page on the sketchbook contains ten photographs of pages from your sketchbook. These are mainly quick sketches of interior objects in pencil. It may be worth experimenting with drawing in pen at times – as you cannot erase pen it can actually promote ‘confidence’ in your line (so the outline of objects might be achieved with a single stroke rather than multiple pencil lines).

Thank you, I am very new to sketching and I really struggle with confidence, as it’s very difficult not to erase and go over and over again. From now on I will make the effort to use pen and try to be more ambitious with the subjects.

Research

Context, reflective thinking, critical thinking, analysis

It is great that you got to see the Rafael Drawings Exhibition.

There is a lot of interesting research on your blog. I would try and focus on issues directly related to the exercises and assignments you are doing and then actually state how a particular text (or particular image) has informed the way you have made (or intend to make) your own drawings. So, in your research into basic shapes and shadows you might connect this information to your own drawings using shadow. Your research into clowns is thorough and really interesting, but not that relevant to the drawing module (other than you have used a ceramic clown in your still life). You do not necessarily need to write lots – the last two sentences in your research on Redon are where you discuss how he has used tone to create atmosphere. For the purposes of the log for Drawing 1 (which is centred on developing our drawing) we do not really need to know his biography.

Reference my research into clowns, I started with the hypothesis that choosing a clown figure in my composition might indicate something meaningful in my subconscious, which sometimes can happen, though in this case it didn’t seem to be the case. I spent quite a lot of time on my research, which I found very interesting, and for that reason included it in my blog though I take the point it wasn’t that relevant to the module. At some point I might find a connection or use it in my own practice.

Reference the biography; I think it’s important to know the context; the time, influences and state of mind of an artist to best understand their work, though clearly not in too much detail.

Learning Logs or Blogs/Critical essays

Context, reflective thinking, critical thinking, analysis

Your log is thorough and a good record of your thoughts around the development of your work. Some of the photographs of your drawings are very small. I would try and make most of your photographs a similar size to the one you have assignment 1 – this will give readers the best idea of your work.

On a related note, the lighting in some of these photographs (and those emailed to me) is uneven and in many the paper appears grey (or has a blue tinge). The Royal Academy has a short video on their website about photographing artwork (intended for those considering entering their summer exhibition) that includes tips about lighting your work. Try to get as accurate a representation of your artwork as you can in your photographs as this will allow tutors (and fellow students) a better idea of your work. https://summer.royalacademy.org.uk/Information/9

Thank you for this very useful link. I have a new camera now and hopefully will have better pictures for my next assignment.

Suggested reading/viewing

Context

From the course reading list I would particularly recommend Kaupelis’ Experimental Drawing which covers approaches to media, structure and theme. Other books like Vitamin D and Drawing Now - Eight Propositions (full details on the reading list) are survey’s of contemporary drawing and may well provide inspiration, though they are less closely related to the course assignments.

Thank you, I will buy them and use them.

In regard to my comment about trying drawing in pen to increase your ‘confidence’ in your line it would be worth looking at some of David Hockney’s pen drawings. There are some examples on the link below – a single ‘definite’ line (contour) is used to describe most of the outlines in these drawings: http://berlindrawingroom.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/contour-lines-from-matisse-to-david.html

Thank you, very useful.

Pointers for the next assignment● Reflect on this feedback in your learning log.

You do not appear to have reflected on your work with regard to the assessment criteria (see page 27 of the course handbook (the criteria themselves are given on page 7)). It can be useful to consider these criteria before submitting future assignments to ensure you are developing across all of them.

Sorry I misunderstood the meaning of self-reflection against the assessment criteria; I didn’t realise that I have to write about them in my leaning log. I thought they were just for myself and I will do it for my next assignment.

Well done, I look forward to your next assignment.

Tutor name: Nick Mobbs

Date: 17 August 2017

Assignment One

I began the assignment trying to find objects that really make me respond, and found ten with different degrees of response, none of which were associated with each other, the only common denominator was my life. And ten being too many, I found it very hard to choose between them.

I like my work to have a narrative, to tell a story, and putting together these unrelated objects in a way that makes sense, and works as a composition aesthetically, was a real challenge. Finally I made my choice, and here they are:

The objects

1.- A Ceramic Clown. This is the main character in my drawing, for no other reason than his size in relation to the other objects and the vibrancy of the colours, which make him stand out in the composition. He belongs to my husband and he came from Brazil, not my country, but my part of the world. When I look at the clown, it makes me smile, and it’s not often you see clowns portrayed this way in art.

Modern artists like Chagall, Picasso and others portrayed clowns, and circuses in general as a metaphor for a character hiding meanings and emotions behind a mask, traditionally on the margin of society, playing a part and concealing sorrows, G. Polansky, 2014, Chagall, NY, Phaidon

Contemporary artist Holly Farrell has a series of clown paintings and she said: “there is the clown who I painted, and there is the person behind the paint. Their mask, their nose, their paint allows them to draw on parts of themselves that would typically be frowned upon in our society. The person and the clown do not live in perfect harmony – it seems they rely heavily on one another at times” http://www.thejealouscurator.com/blog/2014/02/12/holly-farrells-clowns/

However, in my assignment there is no profound reason – just that his face makes me smile.

See more on Research for Assignment 1

2.- My incredibly worn out Ballroom Dance Shoe. This shoe makes me feel resilient and strong and represents all the hard work and many hours I put into learning to dance. I used it for lessons and practise all last year, and for the regional competitions leading up to my first national competition at Blackpool in November. I did of course buy new shoes for that competition, but still used the old ones for lessons and practise this year. I think however after this assignment it’s time to let them go to the shoe heaven as I have the memory of them in this drawing.

3.- An Orange Rose in a Vase. This came from my garden, and when I look at the flowers in my garden I always feel relaxed and optimistic.

4.- An Ambi pur Air Freshener. This was in our house the day I first came to see it 5 years ago, and when I put it on from time to time it brings back memories of that day. It makes me feel so nostalgic of that day and how I felt when I first saw the beautiful house that was soon to be ours.

5. A Book. This is a very personal item which I bought when I was having a very hard time in my life, and it helped me to accept things that had happened which I could not understand and could not change. It makes me feel sad, but also grateful that the pain eased once I read it.

6. A Sugar Spoon. This spoon is part of a set, (with a butter knife), which I gave to my mother when I was a child. From the age of ten to thirteen my friends and I used to organise events during the summer holidays in Peru, before mothers’ day, to raise funds to buy presents for our mothers. I remember going to the shops with my friends to buy this spoon and the knife, and these are the only survivors, as generally we bought ceramics or glass ornaments which always got broken. This spoon brings memories of those happy times, and I feel amazed and quite proud that at that age we had so much initiative and motivation. The knife is still in my mum’s house and she still uses it.

The support and medium

After choosing my objects I selected Mocha-coloured Canford A1 paper as my support, as I wanted to have a drawing with highlights and shadows and I thought dark coloured paper would better show the highlights.

I chose pastel as my medium, chalks and pencils.

The composition

I felt that the best format was landscape, and my ten original objects were mainly low ones apart from the clown, so the composition did not look right whatever position I placed them in. To help me with my composition I did some research using the theory of ‘point and counterpoint’ and decided that I needed another tall object to balance the composition. That was when I included the rose and the vase, and I think this made the composition look right and in balance.

In terms of colours, I couldn’t see any restriction in the number of colours to be used in the assignment so I decided to use the actual colours of the objects rather than monochrome. I hope I didn’t miss anything.

And In addition to the ceiling light in the room I placed a yellow light lamp to the right and behind the objects to give more emphasis and add shadows and highlights from different angles.

The drawing

I starting by making a blind contour drawing and partial-peek contour drawing, as suggested in the Kaupelis Experimental Drawing book, to improve my observation and focus on the details.

I then made sketches of each object individually to get used to the shapes before proceeding with my drawing, trying to include some of the expressive lines and marks I had made in the expressing lines and marks exercises - I could see resemblance to the Joy marks on the collar of the clown jacket and hat, and also the Sad marks on the book.

I used a cotton stick, rolled paper stump and soft tissue paper to smudged the pastel and get soft texture, and I used a putty rubber to lift out pastel when I needed to.

Things that went well

I think there is a visual balance on the composition, and I think it draws the viewer into the picture from right to left. Even though the rose is pointing up to the left of the drawing, representing optimism, and the other objects are pointing down to the left, I think it still works.

The combination of colours is not perfect but I think it works, as they are on the harmonious range of the colour wheel.

The highlights on the hat, hair, and shoulder of the clown look interesting and the drawing of the shoes went well.

I like the reflection on the spoon, and I like the impressionistic element of the rose, which is way out of my style.

In terms of proportion I can say that they are quite accurate, though it took me a long time to adjust.

I set out on the course to make the effort to draw mainly from life to try to improve my perception of three-dimensional objects, as previously I worked mainly from photographs and was not very confident working from life, and am happy that my self-confidence in this respect is improving as a result of these drawing exercises.

Things that went badly

The right pocket of the clown’s jacket is too big, it’s supposed to be further away and slightly angled, so it should be smaller and thinner.

I did not capture very well the transparency and liquidity of the bottom of the Ambi Pur or the vase. The shadows and highlights were changing position and intensity depending of the time of the day and I got very confused with how to achieve the right tone, so I need to improve this area. It was difficult to depict shadows, as the tones needed to be much darker than the paper, though I tried to use the negative space as guidance for that.

I think I haven’t mastered the depiction of crispy edges on the objects or the shadow lines yet. The left side of the clown needs to be darker to make it more three-dimensional, and the colours of the rose are a little too bright and need to be more muted as the rose was slightly behind the clown.

The perspective of the book was very difficult to achieve, and though I had several attempts at repositioning it it’s still not great. I think that Part Three will be very beneficial for this.

I am not entirely happy with the clown's face. I think it needs more work on the shadows of the face and the neck however I needed to stop working on it as I wasn't achieving any progress. and I was at risk of ruining it.

Conclusion

I set out on this assignment to show how much I learned from Part One, in terms of portraying expression and feeling in my work, and in the use of tones to depict shadows and reflected light.

I researched composition, perspective and shadow theory and experimental drawing, which I think helped me to demonstrate technical and visual skill.

I also researched why modern and contemporary artists chose their subjects, and how they developed their personal voices based on life experience, surroundings and their personal ways of thinking, which, at some point, should help me to develop my personal voice as an artist.

Though at first glance the composition may look childish - a depiction of a few random objects - for me it’s the story of my life. Each object is a representation of one part of me: happiness, resilience, nostalgia, sadness - and optimism for a better future. Each object in this work has a story to tell.

References

Giovanni Civardy, 2013, Drawing, A complete guide, Search Press

Ian Sidaway, 2011, Pastel in 10 steps, Bounty Books

Robert Kuapelis, 1980, Experimental Drawing.

Gill Polonsky, 2014, Chagall, Phaidon

Danielle Kris, 2014, http://www.thejealouscurator.com/blog/2014/02/12/holly-farrells-clowns/

Alastair Sooker, 2017, http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20170306-why-the-circus-fascinated-modern-artists