Part 4 Project 5 The moving figure Exercise 2 Groups of figures

Fig. 1. Family on the couches

Fig. 2. Study the computer

For my group studies, I started sketching my family gathered in our living room at the beach side cottage. I found it hard getting the perspective of everyone sitting on the couch correctly proportioned.

Fig. 3 Moms at party

Fig. 4. Moms and toddlers at party

Fig. 5. Toddlers jumping in pillowcases

During my nephew’s Birthday party, I surreptitiously tried to take photographs of the mother’s huddled around a picnic table with their coffee. I found suggesting faces the hardest things to do with just a few lines. I felt like I was starting to get the idea of suggesting movement when drawing my two-year-old nephew and his friend at play. I few of those sketches are created with only a few lines and yet their movements can be understood.

Part 4 Project 6 Exercise 2 Your own face

I have just read about the work habits of Rachel Knowles (Putt, 2016). I have always loved linoleum printing and monoprinting. Her delicate attention to pattern and detail in her nature studies is very appealing. I enjoy the fact that she incorporates a variety of textures and patterns in a single piece. I want to try to concentrate on the textures and patterns found in my self-portrait.

To acquaint myself with the general shapes of my face and features, I started with three quick, ten-minute black pen drawings. My first one was disproportionate, but as I went they started to be more realistically proportioned and a closer likeness to myself. I then strapped two dark pencils together and completed a double pencil sketch. What I discovered from this exercise is that I tend to draw my nose far too long for my face. I reworked this drawing with pen to show where the nose and mouth should have been. The drawing shows my reworking of the features (fig. 4).

Fig. 1. First attempt

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Fig. 4. Sketch revisited

As I had a few days break between these initial sketches and my preliminary drawing for one of my final sketches, I did another quick sketch concentrating on the shape of shadows and loose contours. What I particularly was interested in doing was to draw myself with my glasses with my head resting on my left hand. I ensured that there was soft lighting coming through the curtain of the sun-filled window. From the angle that I was sitting at my iris and pupils were split with the line of my glasses, causing the eye to refract slightly behind the glasses. I wanted to make this a feature of my portrait. I practiced drawing my one eye to get this right. (Fig. 4)

Fig. 4. Eye study and media practice

When considering how to draw my initial main sketch, I decided to try to use fine lines in building up the shadows of the face, and then watercolor dissolvable 8B pencil to create less detailed broader strokes in the hair and the cabled jersey. By this time, it was getting dark in the room, so I positioned a lamp next to my right shoulder causing the bottom left-hand corner to be considerably darker than the right-hand side.

Fig. 5. Sketchbook study

I chose to draw A3 size. I started with the nose and eyes using a 2B pencil, quickly discovering that I was once again making my nose too long. Once again, I corrected this. I gradually worked the main shading on the face before commencing the hair and arm on the left-hand side of the drawing. I tried to hatch in the general dark zones in the hair and on the sweater with the watercolor pencil then worked this area with a broad watercolor brush. As this area was in the shadow, I did not leave many highlights.

Fig. 6. A3-size sketch

I then worked around the top of the head. Once I had finished the top of the head, I held it upright. To my surprise, what had appeared to be well proportioned, when working flat on the table in front of me, was actually elongated when looking at my face flat on. I showed it to the rest of my family members and they all observed the same proportional change. It was actually quite interesting. Obviously, this is why you would normally work on an easel when working on this scale drawing. So, it will be interesting to try to counteract this distortion when attempting my second drawing.

After completing the majority of the hair, I went back with my 8B watercolor pencil and touched up the eyes, shadows around the eyes and the shadows on the hand, making these areas darker. I tried to keep the pencil work in the jersey, where it is being highlighted, loose, and gestural. Apart from the distortion created by working flat, I think that I have been able to focus on the shapes, contours, textures, and tonal variations, in a manner which ultimately created a fair likeness of me.

For my second A3-size sketch, I wanted to bring in some color. I also wanted to use charcoals, contés, and pencils, instead of just pencils. I practiced in my sketchbook laying down charcoal and red conté dust on the page. I then used an eraser to lift out the highlights, and worked the mid to dark tones in varying pencils and charcoals. (Fig. 4) I chose red as my sweatshirt is a burgundy red tone and many of my features have a red undertone. I followed the directions for “Gestural Tone” found in Drawing Projects (Mick Maslen and Jack Southern, 2014) focussing on the negative space and the tonal quality of the light and dark areas.

I commenced by using the eraser to pull of areas of highlights around the nose, eyes, and mouth. I then started to work in the shapes of the tonal planes of the faces around these areas. Once again, I had light coming through the curtain on my right-hand side. I gradually worked across the face and then commencing at the left-hand side, started to work the hair. This time around, I roughly shaded in an ochre color for my hair.

On completion, I decided to show the shadows of the room, and showed where the light was streaming through window behind me. I also added some purple into the red in the jacket to give it a different hue.

Fig. 7 Final Portrait

When analyzing this self-portrait, my family stated that the eyes were a lot more depressed looking than my eyes regularly look like in real life. I know that I was irritated by inter-personal tension at that the time of drawing this sketch, and wonder if this had any impact on the way I viewed myself. I also think my face is too elongated. This time around, my forehead is more proportional, but I seem to have too much space between my nose and mouth. My daughter said that my chin is too narrow, giving my face the elongated look. These will all be areas upon which I can work in subsequent studies.

Works CitedMick Maslen and Jack Southern, 2014. "Gestural Tone - footprints in the snow." In: Drawing Projects - an exploration of the language of drawing. London: black dog publishing, pp. 166-169.

Putt, L., 2016. In conversation: Rachel Knowles. [Online]
Available at: http://weareoca.com/fine-art/conversation-rachel-knowles/
[Accessed 21 July 2016].

Part 4 Project 6 Research Self-portrait

Fig. 1. Paul. Gauguin.

Man with a Toque, c.1876

While staying at beachside cottage in Aston Bay, South Africa, I was able to glean information on Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin from a comprehensive study on these two artists, Van Gogh and Gauguin - The Studio of the South. (Douglas W. Druick and Peter Kort Zegers, 2001)

What I found interesting was how popular it was during the course of history for artists to portray themselves as a professional, an artist, with the necessary professional tools.

A self-portrait of Gauguin painted in c.1876 “presents a rather callow, full-faced individual, with a soft, complacent demeanor at odds with the somewhat theatrical flourishes of small goatee and rakish cap.” (Douglas W. Druick and Peter Kort Zegers, 2001, p. 29) According to the text, it is a self-portrait stating his position as an artist.

Fig. 2. Paul Gauguin.

Self-Portrait at the Ease, c. 1 May 1885.

Eight years later, when he painted Self-Portrait at the Easel, c. 1 May 1885, he more emphatically includes the tools of his profession including a canvas stretcher and easel, tentatively holding a paintbrush above his palette. However, there is an “aura of anxiety” about this piece. (Douglas W. Druick and Peter Kort Zegers, 2001, p. 49)This is created by the claustrophobically tight space which pins him between the slanting beam of the garret, his upright wooden chair, and his easel. The strong light which falls on the left-hand side of his face highlights his uncertain expression. The garret setting depicts him as the “suffering artist” who in reality frequently defaulted on his rent. (Douglas W. Druick and Peter Kort Zegers, 2001, p. 49)

Fig. 3. Vincent Van Gogh.

Rembrandt’s Self-Portrait in Front of the Easel, 1660

I find the fact that Vincent Van Gogh represented himself in exactly the same pose as Rembrandt’s Self-Portrait in Front of the Easel, 1660, rather interesting. Van Gogh’s self-portrait, Self-Portrait with Dark Felt Hat at the Easel, spring 1886, shows him in a “somewhat formal jacket, tie, and dark felt hat… (bearing) little resemblance to the stained worker’s clothes and general dishevelment that had made him an object of ridicule and criticism in the past.” (Douglas W. Druick and Peter Kort Zegers, 2001, p. 57) By portraying himself in the manner of Rembrandt, he is connecting himself with the masters found in the Louvre, and setting the stage for his “new sense of identity grounded in his profession and the new belief in his real potential” to be productive and recognized as an artist. (Douglas W. Druick and Peter Kort Zegers, 2001, p. 57) This image of Van Gogh the artist was repeated throughout his life in varying artistic styles and color schemes. One of his later self-portraits executed after his stay at the sanatorium, sought to reinstate himself as an artist, who is self-aware.

Gauguin’s Self-Portrait, 1889, is symbolic in nature using the “saturated red and brilliant yellow” of the chromatic identities Van Gogh and Gauguin had previously adopted. (Douglas W. Druick and Peter Kort Zegers, 2001, p. 109) However, the composition appears to dismember his head from his body evoking an “executioner’s block with a more legible symbol of martyrdom: a halo or nimbus”. (Douglas W. Druick and Peter Kort Zegers, 2001, p. 109) His inclusion of apples and a snake seems to provide an ambivalent interpretation of his character, harking back to the biblical Fall in the Garden of Eden.
Due to internet problems at this seaside cottage, I was unable at this time to research self-portraits further, but read the interviews in Drawing Projects to get a better sense of how artists portray their models. I found the symbolic work of Gemma Anderson interesting. She sees drawing and observation as mutually dependent, happening simultaneously. Her consistent observations are distilled into her drawings, using “the language of that line to convey the visual relationships and resemblances” she sees as interesting and meaningful. (Mick Maslen and Jack Southern, 2014, pp. 120-121) She states that she borrows and transplants “visual signifiers, symbols, shapes and forms, from people, specimens and objects.” (Douglas W. Druick and Peter Kort Zegers, 2001, pp. 120-121)

Dryden Goodwin in conversation with Jack Southern expresses how he tries to “distil a feeling or emotional charge in to an image.” His drawings of Sarah, a leukemia patient going through chemotherapy at the time of some of his sketchbook studies, seek to show “an emotional record of spending time being with someone who is experiencing something very intense and trying to deal with it.” He describes the process of drawing a life room study of a person as “the process of making marks in relation to the synchronized action of looking at the subject and the page”, allowing “you to reach through the surface. In some way(s) you are touching who, what or where you are observing: touching without touching.” (Mick Maslen and Jack Southern, 2014, p. 180) He goes on to discuss how even drawing the 60 Jubilee Line staff at work for his Linear, 2010, project, shows the interchange and exchange that happened between himself and his models, each being “uniquely intimate.” (Mick Maslen and Jack Southern, 2014, p. 180)

Fig. 3. Tracey Emin. I Think of You.

Tracey Emin has a very different style of self-portraiture. She economizes her use of line, paring it right down to calligraphic feminine lines which cryptically suggest form. (Fig. 3) Her work is evocative; giving a sense that she feels unjustly misused sexually by her many lovers, who leave her lonely and wanting more. Her raw sexuality is often conveyed through her pose, with legs in the foreground open for sexual perusal. I can’t say that her work appeals to me as I find the blatant sexuality disturbing, but her use of descriptive calligraphic lines and restricted tonal values and hues is appealing.

Although these more contemporary artists were not discussing self-portraiture, they did emphasize the necessity to combine pure observation with an attempt to portray connections, to deepen the level of meaning of the drawing, incorporating a sense of relationship and intimacy in the portrayal.

Illustrations
Figure 1. Gauguin, Paul., c. 1876. Man with a Toque, c.1876. [Art] (Totally History).

Figure 2. Gauguin, Paul., c 1 May 1885 . Self-Portrait at the Easel. [Art] (Fort Worth, Texas, Kimball Art Museum ).

Figure 3. Van Gogh, Vincent, 1886. Van Gogh: Self-Portrait with Dark Felt Hat at the Easel. [Art] (Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Europe).

Figure 4. Emin, Tracey., 2014. I think of you. [Art] (Counter Editions).


Bibliography
Douglas W. Druick and Peter Kort Zegers, 2001. Van Gogh and Gauguin The Studio of the South. Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago.

Mick Maslen and Jack Southern, 2014. Drawing Projects an exploration of the language of drawing. London: black dog publishing.

Part 4 Project 5 Exercise 1 The Moving Figure

I completed this section out of sequence as I was waiting for the opportunity to draw figures from life.

For this exercise, my husband drew my attention to a group of lawn service men who were working across the road with lawnmowers and weed-eaters. I surreptitiously tried to draw their movements. What I found interesting was the fact that they tended to walk with an upright posture to counteract the weight of the weed-eater. From my vantage point, it was hard to get a full view of the feet which were clad in boots. It was quite interesting to see how stationary and inactive the supervisor was compared to his workers. I did not get a full view of him as he was faced directly towards me and I did not want him to realize that I was drawing of him.

Fig. 1. Garden Service workers

Later in the afternoon, I drew my husband firstly fixing a braai grill (barbecue or barbie grill) and then actually grilling the meat. My initial page has sketches of him working with a set of pliers to wire up the wholes in the grill. I chose not to draw the grill, as I was focusing on his movements.By the final sketch (the one in blue),  (Fig. 2) I felt I was starting to get a feel for his general pose. It was amazing how active he was during this whole process. It was fascinating then to see how active he was while grilling. I always thought that grilling meat was a static experience, but he was in constant flux of motion. I eventually found that there were certain poses to which he would return. So I started beginning each of these poses and then coming back to them when he returned to that same pose once again. What I found particularly interesting was the way in which he held his hands. Quite often, his left hand would be splayed in an awkward looking position. You can see this in the red sketches. (Fig. 3)

Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 Mending the grill

In my final page of sketches, I incorporated the grill. The sketch on the left was a hurried sketch which is not in proportion to the grill. I think I was able to get a feel of the baggy sweatshirt and trousers my husband was wearing.

Fig. 4 Grilling with the "braai" grill

Part 4 Project 6 Exercise 1 The Facial Features

To initiate this exercise I watched a tutorial Drawing the Figure in Motion with Robert Liberace, 2009. What I found interesting was how Liberace's knowledge of muscular form helped to inform his drawing. In places he over-emphasized the form of various muscle groups to ensure that his drawing showed the dynamics of the movement. It wasn't specifically related to faces, but as I worked I tried to seek out the muscles of the face to interpret the shape of the forms and shadows.

As I keep seeking for a more gestural, expressive style, I read up about Gestural Tone in Drawing Projects. The description drew attention to "exotropic tone", tone outside the figure/object, and "endotropic tone", tone found inside the figure/form. (p. 168 Mick Maslen and Jack Southern, 2014.) In the exercise it talks about discovering the edges of boundaries of objects by putting tones in the shape of those tonal areas working the negative space simultaneously from large shapes to smaller shapes.

I started exploring features by drawing the eye of a young woman, the eyes of a 6-month-old baby, and a young man. In each of these drawings I started with a 2B pencil seeking to rely less on contour lines and more on planes of tones, hatched in with directional strokes. I then strengthened the darker areas with a 6B pencil. I found the main difference between drawing the eyes of the child and those of the young man was the fact that the space between the eyes of a baby is shallow and less defined by shadows, whereas the adult's nose forms a very sharp ridge of shadows where the bridge of the nose forms between the eyes. The shadows around the eyes are also less pronounced. The circular shape of the eyeball of the man is very evident in the circular shape of the shadow beneath his eye.

Fig. 1 Eyes Studies

I then tried a more linear approach with the Russian old man. I love the bulbous features of elderly Russian men. Their wrinkles and bushy eyebrows etc., lend themselves to a loose linear approach. I tried to allow my pencil to enjoy the loose contours of his face. I feel as if I was able to go beyond my more typical tight illustrative style.

Fig. 2 Facial features in portraiture

I then decided to see how different the features of a young Kazakh boy would be by comparison. On the same page in my sketchbook I explored the features of a boy I have photographed. Once again I tried to explore planes of tones and keep a loose style. I sought out the endotropic and expotropic forms as I modelled his face.

The house where I am working has a National Geographic magazine, Tomb Raiders with a young Matsigenka girl, Yoina Mameria Nontsotega, photographed in it (James, June 2016). As we visited a number of Amazonian Indian tribes during our years in Venezuela, I was drawn to her photograph. I decided to sketch her in my sketchbook using watercolor crayons, watercolor black pencil, and washes of water. I enjoy the sketchy interpretation that resulted as there is limited control over this media, due to the thickness of the crayon and the fluidity of the washes. I would like to explore this medium more.

I started drawing her from the area of the nose and then worked outwards. My resulting image has over-emphasized her eyes - particularly the right one. Her nose is actually far more refined in the photograph. So there are things that would be tweaked if I were to develop this into a final work. What I might do is to use her as the basis of my portrait drawn from memory.

Fig. 3 Whole head study

On the whole I have thoroughly enjoyed this exercise. It has been fun practicing allowing my pencil to dance across the page dictated by the planes and contours of the features.

Works Cited

Drawing the Figure in Motion with Robert Liberace, 2009, video, YouTube, viewed 19 July 2016.

James, C. H., June 2016. Photograph of Yoina Mameria Nontsotega. [Photograph] (National Geographic Magazine).

Mick Maslen and Jack Southern, 2014. Drawing Projects. London: Black Dog Publishing.

Part 4 Project 6 Research: Portraiture

Over the past month, I have helped my mother-in-law pack up 53 years of her life into boxes, to move into a smaller house. Over the weeks, we have discovered interesting historical finds stashed hidden in the backs of cupboards. A few finds belonged to my husband’s grandfather. Until this time, the small photograph with three medals hanging in the back study had no meaning to me. Now I know this historical character to be William Johnston a Canadian World War 1 hero. The significance of this small photograph has helped to put a face to the legendary tales of heroism I have heard over the years. It is interesting how this portrait now has a whole new sense of meaning to me. 

Elizabeth Peyton

I found reading up about Elizabeth Peyton very interesting. In the same way, that having an image to connect with the stories of my husband’s grandfather, helped me to enter into the world of William Johnston, Peyton’s exposure to literature on Napoleon and Ludwig II drove her to explore how to depict these characters based on the descriptions of others. “Reading about Napoleon made me think how people make history. They are the way the world moves, and they contain their time. It shows in their faces. I’d always made pictures of people, even when I was a little, little person. The urge was there—I just didn’t know why. When I did that first drawing of Napoleon, I realized this is something I have to do and want to do.” (The New Yorker, 2006)

What I found interesting about Elizabeth Peyton’s style is the way in which she uses broad strokes to delineate sections of her portraits. She is able to describe the features of a person using the fewest possible strokes, yet the portraits still show individuality and character. This is particularly noticeable in her portrait of one of my favorite artists, Georgia O’Keeffe after Stieglitz 1918 (Peyton, 2006). Peyton uses only a few strokes to denote the shadows on O’Keeffe’s face and neck, but retains fine detailed drawing for her refined facial features, “zooming in on some facial detail.” (The New Yorker, 2006) This article describes her work as, “Peyton’s work carries her own signature, with its bold, large-scale brushstrokes on small surfaces.” (The New Yorker, 2006)

Chuck Close

Reading articles about Elizabeth Peyton lead me to read about Chuck Close. His style is completely different from Peyton’s. It is interesting to see his total change in style from his pre-paralysis super-realistic portraits (Close, 2014-2016) to the abstracted color-saturated works of the 1990s. 

Fig. 1. Chuck Close. Big Self-Portrait, 1967-1968.

The sheer size of his Big Self-Portrait, 1967 – 1968 is remarkable. (Fig.1.) His ability to get such a fine likeness with an airbrush, on such a huge scale is quite absorbing. My daughter, who recently studied Graphic Design in Idaho, told me that these works are the ones which she recognizes from the recent Art History books she studied for her courses.

However, I particularly like his later experimentations in styles of portrayal. His wet paper pulp works were coded, almost like paint-by-numbers – an activity which was part of my childhood. Each number was assigned a different tonal value of paper pulp. It is when viewed from a distance that the image comes into focus. His use of a metal grid to create a more organic approach to his portrait, Georgia, 1984, is quite intriguing. (Close, 1984) I finally understand why I had a compulsory evening art class in handmade papermaking when I was studying art in 1989. We were never shown artworks created by using handmade papers. As our course was in the middle of Cape Town’s winter, and the papers refused to air dry, leaving our creations moldy and smelly, I never returned to handmade papermaking. Now, I can see why it was an attraction during that era.

Fig. 2. Chuck Close. Eric, 1990.

Close’s exploration into an enlarged form of pointillism is particularly stunning. Close starts with a simplified grid of undercoat colors, upon which he slowly builds up complementary and harmonious colors to create the illusion of tonal values and hue changes when viewed from afar. This can be seen in the photographs of his work technique for his painting, Eric, 1990 (Close, 1990). (Fig. 2) Unfortunately, I am only viewing his work online, using the zoom to get an idea of what areas appear in reality, but the effect of his technique seems to cause you to desire to look deeper into the image, as if it is out of focus. Each little square of his canvas ends up in having at least three or more colors which together create a hue and tonal value. How he goes from a regular photograph to this interpretation is a mystery to me.

Graham Little

It was interesting to see the very different style of Graham Little. His works are modelled to smooth perfection as the colored pencils and gouache subtly model the forms of fashion models from bygone years. His figures, however, are not glitzy and characterless, rather they display a quiet sense of contemplation and mystery.

David Datuna and Alex Gufeng

While studying the technique of Chuck Close I was reminded of the installation of Steve Jobs– Ayn Rand by David Datuna, in collaboration with Alex Gufeng. Datuna uses a similar “pixilated” style with layers that together create an image which comes into focus and is interpreted by the viewer when seen from afar. However, Datuna created his base image out of a “collage of recurring shaded portraits” of Ayn Rand. The Mironova Gallery, of Kyiv, Ukraine, is quoted as saying, that a “cascading wall of approximately one thousand optical lenses” then superimposes this background. (Taylor, 2011) These lenses are both positive and negative, described as showing the polarity of opinions that people hold on the impact that the late Steve Jobs has had on contemporary society. 


It is amazing how just three artists encompass entirely different ways of working with portraiture. It just goes to show that the human face holds great potential for different means of portrayal and interpretation, ensuring that portraiture never grows old fashioned. A philosophy purported by Elizabeth Peyton. (Peyton, 2006)


Works Cited

Close, C., 1984. Georgia. [Art] (Pace Prints, and Pace Gallery).

Close, C., 1990. Eric. [Art] (Pace Prints, and Pace Gallery).

Close, C., 2014-2016. Big Self-Portrait, 1967 - 1968. [Art] (Official Chuck Close Website).

Peyton, E., 2006. Georgia O'Keeffe after Stieglitz 1918. [Art].

Peyton, E., 2012. Nick. [Art] (Artnet.com).

Taylor, A., 2011. PHOTOS: Ukrainian Gallery Shows Steve Jobs Portrait Made Up Of Hundreds Of Tiny Ayn Rands. [Online]
Available at: http://www.businessinsider.com/david-datuna-steve-jobs-ayn-rand-2011-11
[Accessed 20 July 2016].

The New Yorker, 2006. The Artist of the Portrait. [Online]
Available at: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/10/06/the-artist-of-the-portrait
[Accessed 20 July 2016].

Part 4 Project 4 Structure Exercise 2 Three Figure Drawings

For these three poses, I decided to use photographs of my daughter and her closest friend from university.

I tackled drawing the lying down pose first in my sketchbook trying to get a feel for the overall proportions. I fancied working big, so picked an A2 format for my final sketch. I smeared charcoal over the surface of the paper concentrating the darker smear in the area of the background that is darkest and the area of the figures chest which is in shadow. Using a 6B I lightly sketched in the general position and stance of the pose.

Fig. 1 Preliminary Sketch for lying down figure

Areas which needed tweaking were the position of the head and arms in relations to the angle of the feet. As I started with the feet and legs, I used the size of the feet to work out the relative positioning and proportions of the rest of the figure. There is still evidence of my needing to move the head and shoulders closer to the feet a few times before I was satisfied with their placement.
I used my eraser to pull of the highlights and worked the shadows in 6B pencil. I did not feel it necessary to add details to the foreground as I felt that this would make the sketch a bit cluttered and over-bearing. As cautioned in Drawing Projects “for is important to try and create an opportunity for the eye, whilst exploring the drawing, to discover, and make the metaphorical equivalent of ‘eye-mouth’ contact with it. Out of focus, and in focus areas of a drawing can be created, by giving more, or less attentions to selected parts of the drawing.”  (Mick Maslen and Jack Southern, 2014) I tried to do this in this sketch, not providing 100% of the information available.

Fig. 2 A2-size pencil and charcoal study

After this initial sketch, I read the WeAreOCA article on Susan Askew (Cowan, 21 June 2016). I absolutely love her use of mixed media and blue uni-ball pen. Once again, I am inspired to try to push beyond the confines of what I know. It is hard to determine at what stage this is appropriate when I am still trying to get my figural proportions.

I decided for this sketch to use mixed media: watercolor fine markers, watercolor pencils and various graphite pencils. I experimented a bit with working the markers in my sketchbook. I particularly liked combining the more permanent sharpie blue marker in the shirt with the water-based media. My first sketch did not turn out as I had hoped, so I cut this down and included it in my sketchbook. The final sketch I did has the pose interpreted correctly, but overall, I find this a rather forced and stilted drawing. My pencil sketch has a bit more personality and life to it.

Fig. 2 Preliminary Sketch

Fig. 4. Preliminary Sketch

Fig. 5 Final large study of seated figure

After this I tried to do some preliminary sketches of my daughter in a twisted standing pose. These sketches really did not convey the stance or movement in the gesture.

Fig. 6 Walking pose

As I felt dissatisfied with my ability to get vitality into my poses. I read on a fellow student's blog that she uses Croquis Café to simulate the life drawing experience. I have never really drawn nudes before, but decided to put my prudishness aside and to give it a try. I really love the structure of these drawing sessions. The one-minute poses forced me to concentrate on the main stance of the pose. Initially I was more caught up with the contours of the model, which surprisingly caused the pose to look unnatural and awkward. The more I tried to work with the time restrictions, the more I was able to focus on the main feeling of the stance and to get a better sense of the figure in space. I have often taught gesture drawings, but have often been stuck to contours.

After completing a session, I went back and repeated the exact same poses with the same time frames - a benefit of working with a computer life-drawing session. On my second time through, I was able to get more information down within the time frame and the figures are starting to look more feminine and curvaceous.

The following morning I once again complete a whole drawing session. With each session it seems to get better. I am not convinced that this is something I need to do on a regular basis if I am going to be able to get to the place where I am satisfied with the energy and marking making that captures the expression of the pose.

Part 4 Project 4 Structure Research Point

As it is hard for me to know what contemporary artists are currently depicting the underlying structure of the body, I researched the artists mentioned in WeAreOCA, 4 July 2016, in the article “Facing the World | Self-Portraits Rembrandt to Ai WeiweiI”. (Joanne, 4 July 2016)

Although I did not find work by Alison Watt relating to the human figure, I found her execution of drapery folds very appealing. After studying folds in the initial exercises in this section, I found her huge installations comprising of canvases painted with oils to look photographic in their detail, to be quite challenging. I would absolutely love to be able to see these in real life, and not online.

An artist, whose depiction of the human anatomy is quite disturbing, is the Scottish artist, Ken Currie. The Anatomy Lesson (fig. 2) harks back to Rembrandt’s picture of a similar title,

Figure 1. Rembrandt, 

The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp,

signed and dated ‘Rembrandt ft. 1632’.

The Anatomy lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp. (fig.1) The main stark difference in Currie’s rendition of this age-old theme is that his subject is a seated figure of an elderly woman, who despite her gaunt facial features and thin arms has emphasized hips, breasts, and stomach. The onlookers are not the eager students of Dr. Tulp, but rather ghoulish, grumpy old men who are peering at her form with disparaging looks. Currie’s attention to the detail of the pulling of her skin around her arms and hips conveys the idea of the hardness of her life and the aging of her body. The harsh scar up her torso gives the idea that her organs have been examined by an autopsy, yet her facial expression indicates that she might still be living. It is a very somber piece. When reading up about him in Susan Mansfield’s interview it is interesting that he is quoted as saying, “Even as student, I had a complete abhorrence of the life room, I couldn’t stand this idea of doing mechanical recording of a figure in front of me, it felt like a complete abnegation of the ability to think, to use your imagination.” (Mansfield) His contempt for life drawings can be seen in this portion of the polypytych as the onlookers dehumanize their vulnerable female sitter.

Figure. 2. Anatomy Lesson

(polyptych, right panel),

Ken Currie (b.1960

Another main difference is the focus of the artwork. In Rembrandt’s painting the “viewer’s attention is focused on Tulp, who demonstrates how the muscles of the arm are attached. The corpse’s arm has been laid open for the purpose.” (Museum Het Rembrandthuis) However, in Ken Currie’s artwork the viewer’s attention is drawn to the hollow expression of the female figure and then the cross that forms between her sagging breasts and the long incision running down her torso.

I looked at further works of Currie and found more meaty depictions of the interior structure of the body. These artworks hark back to the images of Francis Bacon. It is interesting that despite the fact that I spent a few hours studying the plastinate bodies of real humans in the exhibition Body World, his depiction of the internal workings of the body are disturbing. He emphasizes the degradation and flaying of body to open its structure to the viewer’s eyes. The bodies in his Tragic Forms series appear tortured and brutalized. (Artsy.net)

Another artist mentioned by the WeAreOCA article, Tracey Emin, also demands attention in her nude self-portraits. In her case, the raw, in-your-face sexuality of her figures totally puts me off. However, as an Expressionist artist, but I think that is exactly what she is trying to evoke in her viewer. She seems to want to portray that she, as a female, has been over-sexualized and dehumanized by the fact that she is not seen for anything other than as a sex object. (Artnet)

Figure 3. Hands Spread on Knees, 1985. John Coplans.

As I enjoy drawing hands, and knees have always fascinated me, due to my being teased for my freckly knees as a child, I found the photographic study Hands on Knees, 1985, by John Coplans particularly appealing. (artnet.com) (fig.3) What makes it appealing is its emphasis on the differences in textures and tones. The hands grip the knees, causing the blood vessels to bulge and the skin around the knees to become more wrinkled than normal. This emphasizes the texture of the aging man’s hairy skin.

This research has led me to see how important the understanding of the structure of the human anatomy can be in the creation of expressive artworks that go beyond merely depicting the visual appearance of the anatomy. In each of these artworks mentioned, the viewer is left with strong feelings towards the body being depicted, communicated in the attention to particular details of the anatomy and in a style which demands your attention.

Works Cited

artnet.com, n.d. Carl Solway Gallery. [Online]
[Accessed 11 July 2016].

Artnet, n.d. Tracy Emin. [Online]
[Accessed 11 July 2016].

Artsy.net, n.d. Ken Curie. [Online]
[Accessed 1 July 2016].

Joanne, 4 July 2016. Facing the World | Self-Portraits Rembrandt to Ai Weiwei. WeAreOCA

Mansfield, S., 2013. Interview Ken Currie on the Terror of Mortality. [Online]
[Accessed 11 July 2016].

Museum Het Rembrandthuis, n.d. The Anatomy lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp. [Online]
[Accessed 11 July 2016].

Illustrations

Figure 1. Rembrandt Van Rijn. The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp. [Art] (Museum Het Rembrandthuis). 

Figure 2. Currie, K., n.d. Anatomy Lesson (polyptych, right panel). [Art] (Middlesbrough Institure of Modern Art).

Figure 3. Coplans, J., 1985. Hands Spread on Knees. [Art].

Part 4 Project 4 Exercise 1 Structure

This exercise correlated with our being able to view the Body World Expo held in Johannesburg. It was so fascinating being able to study the musculature, tendons and bone structure of the human body. If I had not had my family along with me, I would have loved to have done sketches of the exhibits, but as I could not keep them in the exhibition for hours on end, I had to be satisfied with just study the bodies the best I could. What I found particularly interesting was how small the finger and toe bones were in relation to the overall size of the human figure. The rest of the bulk of fingers and toes are made up of muscles, tendons, and nerves. Truly fascinating!

It was also interesting to see how the muscles wrapped around the skeletal form in bulbous bundles of muscle fibres, anchored by tendons.

What was particularly horrific was to see the cross-section of an obese person. The layers of fat literally coated all of the internal organs, displacing them, creating a totally different internal structure to that of a normally proportioned adult. It also helped me to be able to see how different a muscularly well-built individual has far more defined musculature than a person who is carrying extra weight.

I found that it took a while to feel as if I was getting the structure of the feet properly portrayed. My final sketches were of my own foot and that of my 10-year old niece. Her foot enabled me to study the underneath structure of the foot. I think I managed to get the proportions of the toes correct.

Fig. 1 Feet Studies 1

Fig. 2 Feet Studies 2

My first sketch of my hand ended up appearing deformed, so I recommenced the sketch. What I found interesting was how wrinkled my hands appear when studying them up close. I then executed three overlapping contour drawings of my hand to try to force my eye to slow down and take in the contours. (fig. 4) I then did two pen drawings of my hand on top of one another. The hand holding the scissors was far better proportioned than my previous sketches.(Fig. 5) Unfortunately, I find it very difficult to buy a sketchbook in South Africa that does not allow colors to seep through the pages. When I did my first stomach study, the ink from this sketch seeped through, marking the hand drawings.

Fig. 4. Hand studies 1 - contour drawing

Fig. 5. Hand Studies 2

Fig. 6. Hand Studies 3

Fig. 7. Knees

As my mom has just had a knee replacement, I find the structure of the knee quite interesting. In studying the knees I sketched, it was interesting to see how much of the underneath structure is evident in the shadows and tonal values found around the kneecap. You can also clearly see how the muscles bunch out from their attachment on the skeletal structure. (Fig. 7)

As a result of it being the middle of winter in South Africa, and houses are not heated, I did not fancy drawing my own hips and stomach. So for the purpose of this body area, I chose some online photographs.

Stomachs and hips were more challenging to draw than I would have imagined. I found it difficult to get the woman’s hip to stomach proportions to look right. I did enjoy the way the inks reacted to the paper. The jeans were especially interesting to draw. I used watercolor fine markers with washes of water and details added after the paper dried. I used watercolor pencil for the guy’s stomach and torso. I found it interesting to see how different the musculature of the woman’s stomach was from that of the man’s. The woman’s stomach formed a more circular inverted bowl shape, whereas the muscles of the guy formed almost a V-shape as it pulled toward the groin area.

Fig. 8. Male Hips

Fig. 9. Female Hip Study

I tired to sketch the neck and arms of a man using loose 6B pencil strokes. I tried to focus on the shapes of the shadows and tonal values. It was interesting to see how the skin of the man’s left-hand side seems to ripple, despite his being well built.

Fig. 10 Torso study

I think this exercise has helped me to observe subtle changes in tone and the shifting angle of planes to analyze the shape of the areas I studied. The human form is extremely complex. Studying sections of it, in conjunction with my visit to Body World, has heightened my awareness to its intricacies