Part 3 Project 5 Townscapes Exercise 4 Statues

In preparation for this drawing I studied the description of how to get Gestural Tone as explained in Drawing Projects. (Mick Maslen and Jack Southern, 2014) I took particular note of these sentences:

“Remember that when you make drawings, you must not only depict these ‘measure’ tones, but you are also drawing quantities of light. Light is invisible energy. And the marks you make should express this energy and make it visible.” (Mick Maslen and Jack Southern, 2014)

Johnston, Craig [photograph]  Jambul, 2004.

As it is difficult for me to get to study statues within Cotonou, due to our not having a car, and my not being willing to risk my life on one of the readily available motorcycle taxis, I decided to base my study on a statue of Jambul, a Kazakh hero. My husband took this photo when we visited one of the squares in Almaty, whilst living there.

Due to my fascination with layering and the fact that I find statues in general dark and oppressive, I decided to start my drawing off by laying down a layer of Cadium Yellow Pale Hue mixed with Black acrylic. What I hoped to do by laying down a slightly textural layer of acrylic, I would create a sense of the rough surface of a bronze statue which has been corroded by the extreme weather conditions it faces. I then experimented with various media on top of this dark background layer. I found that graphic pencils of a complete range from HB to 8B worked well, but left a silvery sheen. Charcoals, oil pastels, chalk pastels and watercolor crayons all worked well on top of this layer. Metallic Rub-Ons worked really well, but would need to be applied sparingly as they tend to float above the other layers, claiming dominance. Construction paper crayons created a finer, smoother texture than oil pastels. Chalk pastels worked well, but had to be applied as a final layer. They do not allow other media to be worked on top when they are applied to acrylic paint. What did not work were watercolor pencils.

Sketchbook experimentation

The angle of this statue is extremely difficult to get right as the foreshortening and wide-angle lens created a very warped perspective. So I completed three studies in order to get the perspective and Jambul’s expression right.

Layering experiments

Sketchbook practice

Refining features

I chose to crop the image to a square format to provide a slightly different format from my usual A3 and A4 drawings. I covered the majority of the 42 x 42 cm drawing paper with a Cadium Yellow and Black acrylic mix. I experimented and applied this paint with a palette knife. The effect was quite pleasing as it spread the paint more evenly than I could have done with a paintbrush. I let the black thin out towards the top of the paper to try to ensure that this area would be lighter when worked.

I then sketched in the proportions of Jambul using pencil and started working the background with blue crayon and white construction paper crayon, and watercolor crayons. Once I had covered the entire background, I applied a thin layer of white acrylic. I ensured that the white was a bit thicker towards the top of the paper.

What was interesting was that as I worked the figure I had to keep adjusting the silhouette of Jambul, resulting in my needing to alter the painted background. This had the effect of adding a slightly different tonal quality to these areas of the background. I know that I could have worked the background enough to minimize this difference, but I actually found that this variance in the statues outline seemed to enhance the drawing, so I left the evidence of my reworking of the boundaries as a feature.

I started with the Kazakh hat and Jambul’s face as I wanted this to be detailed enough to feature as the focus. What I enjoyed about my choice of media was that I could rework the surface repeatedly, until I was satisfied with Jambul’s expression, without it becoming muddy and spoilt. I then sought to treat the rest of the body a little looser with less detail. I used a peach colored construction paper crayon for most of the shading, with occasional touches of grey and yellow. I discovered that by dipping my finger in white acrylic, I could smear the white highlights onto the paper in such a way that they lost definition and petered out. I think that these highlights help to provide contrast to the otherwise tonally dark sculpture. As I quoted previously, I was trying to find a way to "express this energy (light) and make it visible." (Mick Maslen and Jack Southern, 2014)

Once I had completed the foreground, I decided to add touches of Rub-On Metallic. The picture was looking rather dead and needed something to give it a bit more energy. I think the touches of sheeny metallic help to give it a bit more vibrancy.

Final drawing.

On completion, my husband - after looking long and hard at my drawing - decided that it has a dreamy quality to it. He said that it appears to be swirling slightly. I think that this might be because of the reworked background areas to the right of the statue and the smears of white highlights which tend to emphasize a slight clock-wise circular spiral. I know that I have far to go, but I think that this piece was influenced by the dark forms and layers of John Virtue's cityscapes. The surface of the painting is fairly layered and has a rough texture to it, which was the effect that I desired.

What I noticed when posting this blog was the my head of Jambul is actually a little too large for the steep foreshortened angle of the photograph. I was not aware of this until now.

Works Cited

Mick Maslen and Jack Southern, 2014. In: Drawing Projects - an exploration of the language of drawing. London: Black Dog Publishing, pp. 166 - 169.