Part 2 Project 5 Exercise 3 Live animals

Final artwork

Ostriches, 2012. Craig Johnston.

As I have no access to live animals, I decided to draw two ostriches my husband photographed while we were at a conference in Thailand. Ostriches are extremely opinionated and determined creatures. Yet, their quirkiness makes them delightful. I wanted to try to show their arrogance and indignation in this artwork. 

As many of my latest artworks have been extremely time-consuming and detail orientated, I tried to maintain a more spontaneous spirit in this exercise by setting the kitchen timer. I started with one hour, but then added another hour. I finally gave up and allowed myself the luxury of finishing the drawing without the time pressure. However, just by setting a time frame, I was able to put down tonal areas in a more expressive and gestural manner. I chose to work on a sheet of A2 green desktop paper – the type that many businesses would have as their work mat on their desk. I remember my grandfather always having a holder on his desk that had these green sheets slipped into it. This paper had previously been coated with acrylic white paint, so although painted had a slightly rough textural appeal to it. As ostriches are predominantly varying tones of grey, I set this as one of the medium grey tones.

After sketching the basic composition in place, I quickly established the main hues in the background. I used watercolor crayons and construction color crayons, with washes of Bombay ink. I absolutely love the effect of using the two types of crayons together. The one acts as a resist and the other blends with water in a slightly unpredictable manner.

Laying down initial tonal regions

Once the background was established, I started working on the bird in the background. I used white crayon to establish the areas where I did not want the ink washes to settle. I then alternately used the watercolor crayons and the construction paper crayons to establish varying tonal hues. The details on the beak and eyes were more carefully drawn to focus the attention on these areas. I then thoroughly enjoyed using white oil pastel to add the finishing touches of the fluffy feathers on the neck and head.

It was a bit more daunting working on the second male ostrich as he did not have as much of a tonal range as the previous bird. I found that I had to add just touches of color, e.g. the tinges of blue and orange, to add some interest to what could have been a boring surface. Once again, I used wax resist techniques to create layers of tone and to provide an interesting surface texture. I like the contrast between the texture of the crayon shading and the smooth application of washes of color. I think I was able to capture the expression of the second ostrich using finer water-soluble crayon lines applied with a thin brush. I enjoyed adding the finishing touches of fluffy feathers along the eyelid and around the silhouette of the bird.

Detail of eye showing washes of color which make up the tonal variations.

 

I think I have been able to achieve the brief of creating an artwork which is loose, with unfinished lines, but captures the nature of the animals portrayed. I could imagine this being used as an illustration in a child’s picture book. I have often desired to be able to have this type of style, so it was great to have the chance to explore how one would create an artwork of this nature. 

I realize that the proportions of the ostrich in the background are a little off. The top of the head is a little too small for the lower section and the eye could be larger with a smaller white reflection. This is something to be more aware of next time I paint a pair of animals.