Part 2 Project 6 Exercise 3 Tonal Study

Preliminary sketch - Sketchbook

Although I started this study a few weeks ago, I ended up in only finishing it today. I had initially started drawing it while the sun was setting one Saturday. The light streaming through the window created stark contrasts in light and shadow. However, as during the week I usually return home too late to be able to continue drawing under these conditions, I tried simulating the lighting using a standing lamp. This worked, but it meant that I now had to draw at night-time. As I am a teacher spending my evenings preparing lessons, there are not very many evenings available for me to draw.

In the end, I shelved the completion of this project and I worked on the Mixed Media project during the following weekend, completing it during the Thanksgiving long weekend. I knew this project would involve a lot of concentrated time. The result was that I returned to this project only this evening. The interesting thing was that because I spent a lot of time studying this same corner chair arrangement, when working on the Mixed Media project, when I returned to this project I felt rather dissatisfied with my perspective on the chair. It is amazing how much my perception of the chair and its foreshortening dynamics had changed over the interim period, due to the many studies I had made of this interior corner.

The view I opted for was drawn with me sitting on top of my dressing table looking down on the scene. It is amazing how difficult I found the perspective of the chair viewed from this position. It really challenged me. I started out with a preliminary sketch in my sketchbook (see picture above). In retrospect, I really like this sketch. It seems to have a fresh spontaneity to it, which in some ways is lacking in my final work.

I started drawing the sketch up large on size A2 paper. This was rather awkward to work with sitting atop my dressing table. I was almost at the halfway mark when I ended up in having to shift gears to the next project. The delay between the commencement of the project and its completion meant that it was hard to get back into the same drawing style I had used to commence the work.

The media I used was a range of vine and processed charcoals, with white conte and white chalk pencil for details. I found that the different grades of charcoal I have collected gave varying effects. I also used charcoal dipped in oil to create the more intense dark of the wooden chest of drawers and the chair legs.

A major feature of this corner is the diversity of patterns and textures presented in one small area. I decided to try to make this the main emphasis of this piece. I experimented with varying ways of manipulating the charcoals to emulate the surfaces being described.

I changed the shoes mid-project from my more clumpy practical walking sandals to more elegant wedge-heeled sandals to give the impression of someone having kicked off the impracticalities of life for a period of brief relaxation.

The predominantly busy darker three-quarters of the composition is balanced by the white are of the wall on the top right hand corner and the stabilizing dark strip of the cupboard. The patterned swath of the quilt slung over the chair adds a slight sense of movement to the piece. Your eye is draw to its dark strip and patterned details, but then is also attracted to the details of the sandals, moves up to the basket, and then closes the rotation via the shadows on the wall, to once again rest on the quilt.  I find this eye movement, along with the busy textures of the chair fabric, ribbed leafy palm and African print curtains, add to a giddying sense of disquiet. The awkward lines of the tiles, also add to this strange dynamic.

Although I did not try to create an emotive piece, I think it speaks of a disquiet found in spots which are supposed to provide a sense of tranquility and peace. It ended up in being quite a revelatory study that went beyond mere tonal depictions. What I also find fascinating is how this piece feels as if it was viewed through a wide-angled camera lens, whereas this is not the situation. It reminds me of an article I read some years ago of some of the work of David Hockney, where he deliberately tries to included a multiple viewpoint into his compositions, showing that the eyes can see more than just what the traditional techniques of perspective portray.

Corner of Disquiet