Part 1 Exercise 3 Creating shadows using lines and marks

Exercise using four different media

In the above exercise, I found the sketch that gives the best impression of the smooth, manufactured plastic surface of the mouse is the top right exercise created using a black ballpoint. However, I loved the flow and feeling of working with the cartridge ink pen. It has more expressive potential in that the quicker the movement, the thinner the line; whereas, more labored strokes turn out thicker. I enjoyed using the stick with dip ink in the fourth example as an expressive alternative. However, it was harder to control the movement and proportions as many "happy accidents" occurred. I need to play with different sticks to see how they work differently. I need look out for reeds and feathers to try different writing implements.

 

While watching the movie Turner last night, I noticed that the artists was portrayed as sketching with his hand holding the very end of the pencil. While experimenting with hatching and cross-hatching, I eventually tried to hold my pen at the end, like the actor did, and found that my strokes came quicker and I actually had greater freedom with them.

Yesterday, my husband and I were each given a bunch of tropical flowers as part of Teacher Appreciation. As it was my daughter's graduation - half a world away - it was special to be given flowers on this special day. So, for the "objects" to draw, I chose to record my impressions of these flowers.

As I cannot get A1 and A2-size white paper in Benin with of a thick enough tooth to hold charcoal and conté, I prepared two large pieces of green blotting card with a layer of white finger paint. I often use finger-painted papers as collage papers for my elementary classes, so I thought to experiment with creating my own white background. I deliberately did not try to make it totally uniform in the spread of the white paint as I thought it would add to the express nature of the sketches. So with this in mind, I used this card as my background for an 8B pencil sketch of the bunch of flowers.

I thoroughly enjoyed working this sketch. As I was trying to get a loose impression of their forms, I did not do a preliminary sketch. As a result, the sketch is not picture perfect, but I feel like I was able to capture something of their essence. Where I did struggle was to show the intrinsic tonal difference between the red flamboyant and the lighter toned frangipani. With such an organic subject, I don't know how to get the intricate shades and folds, as well as to depict the intrinsic tonal value as being quite different.



Tropical flowers

Form depicted through marks and lines.
Media 8B pencil on blotting paper coated in  white finger paint

Detail on the main flower

Learning Points

• Implied lines are created when dark tonal areas meet lighter tonal areas.
• I need to learn how to create a sense of intrinsic tonality in colored flowers, without the use of color.
• When drawing organically complicated subjects, it helps to let go and enjoy the expressive quality of the items being drawn and not feel compelled to the rigidity of realism.
• White figure-paint makes a very nice surface to work on, you can even erase pencil marks without removing the paint.
• I love working with organic forms better than man-made forms.
• I need to keep experimenting with different ways of holding my implements in order to get different effects. 

So far, I think the exercise that made me most aware of how form is impacted by primary light sources and reflected sources was in the drawing of the seedpods on the shiny coffee table. It was especially difficult to determine the light source and the intensity of the various lawyers of shadows as our lamp light is not bright enough to illuminate the seedpods as well as my paper at night time. As our living room has multiple lights, it made for complex shadow ands highlights.