Part five Personal project and written element: Self- assessment of previous assignments

Assignment 1

In retrospect, I feel that I still need to work on incorporating more of the expressive energy conveyed in one of my first exercises on mark making. My work is still tight and tends towards being illustrative, rather than expressive. In investigating different ways of working I checked into the work of David Hockney.

Fig. 1. David Hockney. Celia 1973.

David Hockney’s lithograph with washes of grey of Celia 1973 (Hockney, 1973) is a sensitive drawing with an enigmatic tension about it, despite the casual clothing and captured moment feeling of the drawing (fig. 1). He has shown Celia sitting in a simple wooden chair with her arms resting on the armrests. Hockney indicates the chair and interior with just a few simple sketchy lines. Celia sits with her face turned 45 ° to the artist with her gaze looking downward towards the lower left of the picture plane. Her facial expression shows a slightly concentrated frown, making the viewer wonder about what she seems to be pondering.

I think that the tension in the pose is created mainly through subtlety dynamic seating position of Celia. Her legs point towards the right of the canvas, whereas her neck and head turn towards the left. Her neck is also not centrally placed on her shoulders, but rather closer to the sitter’s right shoulder showing a slightly awkward twist in weight balance and making the pose seem slightly uncomfortable. 

What appeals to me about this drawing is the fact that he has minimized his use of lines to just a few flowing lines which calligraphically suggest the contours of the form and shadows. The edges of the grey washes often form the contour of the forms, being slightly darker due to the way in which watercolors dry. The darkest region of the drawing is the upper body and face, where he has used darker washes and more concentrated descriptive contour lines. This area is balanced by the fact that the ends of the chair’s armrests and Celia’s shoes are in darker tones. The darkest regions form the points of an off balanced diamond. This adds movement to the pose, drawing your attention to the top of the diamond, Celia’s tousled tied-up curly hair. Her hands are elegantly suggested through simple contour lines and well observed washes of tone in the tones.

An area which my tutor pointed out was to be more observant of comparative sizes and scales of objects as they relate to one another. This is an area in which I think I have been able to improve over the course of the Drawing 1 course.

Fig. 2 Louise-Jeanne-Aimée Hervieu.

Still Life With Apples,s.d.

In response to reviewing my research for Assignment 1, I viewed some more charcoal and chalk drawings of Louise-Jeanne-Aimée Hervieu (fig.2.). What is particularly noticeable about the drawing Still Life With Apples, s.d. created with “charcoal and stumped black chalk, the paper slightly abraded and scored by the artist to create highlights” is that she worked expressive lines which emphasize the shadows and details of the cut and whole apples. (Hervieu, 1878 - 1954) These lines are energetic, taking delight in implying the movement of light and shadows over the surface of the forms. If I compare her way of working to the way in which I worked the graphic media in my Final Assignment for Assignment 1, her drawing has a greater dynamism and sense of depth than my tentative rendering of the forms in my drawing. I feel that I have slowly improved in being able to work charcoals and chalks, as evident by the way in which I worked Reclining Figure for Assignment 4. However, as I really enjoy this media, I would like to see continued improvement in my being able to add contours and details gesturally to the contrasting tones of my work.

Assignment 2

Looking through my preparatory exercises for Assignment 2, I think that the projects that worked the best for me were the ones where I use inks incorporated with other media. I think my drawings of the bird-of-paradise flower is successful and the chili on bark because I was able to incorporate intricate details in fine markers on top of washes of ink. I particularly like the way that the inks of the chili drawing although all black washes have varying tones due to the varying makes of ink. In my coming assignment I would like to explore the use of inks more. As they were packed away during our two months of moving from house to house before settling in Montenegro, I did not use inks in my figural studies, and I think that I could have done more expressive artworks had I worked with this media in conglomeration to the other media. I need to continue to explore the use of "soft, fluid edges with more decisive mark making." -Clare Wilson.

Reviewing Clare Wilson's report in conjunction to my artworks, I see how important it is to ensure that when using color in an artwork, you don't use too much of the same hues and tones on varying objects, as it leads to a busy, unfocussed composition. I also need to continue to work on being able to only hint at the background with suggestive lines and not to become too concerned about illustratively including all details available.

Assignment 3

I think that the artworks that were the most successful in this section were the ones that used fluid media such as inks. I seem to have a greater ability to move beyond the illustrative when working with media that is less controllable. The project I enjoyed the most was the landscape study of the stilted village at Ganvie. My use of an achromatic palette really helps to draw one in to the subtlety of lines and reflections. I also felt that my ability to draw the reflections of the ladies in the dugout canoe to be less literal than previous studies of mine. My final study for this assignment section of the dilapidated porch is not as expressive of the layers of dirt and grime as I had initially desired to portray.

Assignment 4

During the course of this section I did not have access to my inks as they were already packed for my move to Montenegro. This forced me to experiment more with water color paints and pencils, as well as charcoals, contés, and acrylic paints. I particularly enjoyed working on my final self-portrait with the rainbow reflections playing across my face. I know that the whole time I was working on this final drawing I had a sense that this drawing could be a total mess and a waste of my precious final hours in South Africa before my move. But, I also had a sense that if I could pull it off, it would have stretched my ability to work on my self-portrait in a novel manner. I was pleased with the final result, although I don't think the final piece expresses how tenuous and innovative this approach was to me.

Aspirations for Assignment 5

I have struggled for the past month to come up with an approach to this assignment. Part of the struggle has been trying to adapt to my new country and heavy teaching load, but part of it has been my own fear of pushing beyond my previous achievement level. I was greatly comforted today when reading and watching video interviews of varying artists. They all express this idea of the fragile nature of artistic expression and the ability to release creativity in such a way that your artwork has the ability to stand on two legs.

I am challenged by Bryan Eccleshaw’s commitment to doing a drawing a day for 365 days as described in his video featured in Drawing Every Day – Bryan Eccleshall. (Jane - WeAreOCA, 2013) In many ways I feel like my art needs a shot in the arm, and maybe this is an approach which will get me back into the mind of an artist again. I agree with his comment, “…there’s something really powerful about a wall full of similar images. I once saw an exhibition of Joseph Beuys drawings. Each was inscrutable and fragile, but together they started talking to each other (as it were), which leant the whole something that each component couldn’t hope to have.” (Jane - WeAreOCA, 2013) After seeing how powerful the 57 small drawings of Vessna Perunovich were, I can fully relate to the idea that numerous drawings on a small scale place alongside one another would be impactful.

I think what I am challenged the most by Vessna Perunovich's work is in finding a way to manipulate line, texture and color to evoke an expression which the viewer has to interact with. My work tends to be illustrative, not allowing too much participation on the part of the viewer. I want to somehow start working towards a greater sense of involvement on the part of the viewer. I think at this stage this might be best achieved through using a less illustrative approach to my subject and a great fluidity of line usage.

I have fallen in love with the amazing colors and textures of my new country, Montenegro. Our periodic explorations into the surrounding countryside, along with the daily views from our windows, fill me with a sense of wonder that I am able to live in such a quaint corner of creation. I think that I wish to use this sense of exploration and delight as my impetus for this final section of this course. I want to take what surrounds me and capture some of its enigmatic beauty, but somehow in a way that is inviting and non-illustrative. That will be a real challenge for me.

For this purpose I will start with a series of studies of simple textures found in the plants found in this region. I am particularly attracted to the stark contrasts found in the humble thistle found throughout this region. So will use this as a launching point and then see where this takes me. I also want to explore using differing backgrounds and supports for my drawings, to help invigorate my work with layers that add to the intrigue of the work.