Exploration of ideas for final assignment

Last weekend, I commenced my work period by completing a series of thumbnail sketches of the miniature cacti gardens we found in the highlands of Montenegro.

Fig. 1. Thumbnail sketches of mini succulent gardens.

I was trying to visualize how I would organize the placement of the succulents of the page. I then created a larger 10 inch by 14 inch sketch of an area of succulents. I used a grid to help get the proportions right. I experimented in different sections with varying media. By the end of me initial study period, I felt discouraged as the colors were too contrasting and I did not find that the photographs upon which I was basing my sketches allowed me the minute details that I really wanted to have captured in order to give me a rich visual record for exploration.

Fig. 2. Succulent study using varying media in sections. 

This lead me to believe that it would be better for me to revert to working with my original thistle idea. I washed the surface of the sketchbook with strokes of charcoal grey. I stuck a museum ticket pass as a connection to the history of this region, and some tissue paper onto the surface of the sketchbook. Next, I tried a zoomed in section of the stem and seeds of a thistle plant, experimenting with various media. What I did not like was how the acidic lemon used in the thistle tufts created a disturbing class with the predominantly blue greys of the rest of the thistles.

Fig. 3. Sketchbook study of section of thistles

At this stage, I decided to make my study more about the negative space in between the spines of the thistles, rather than the thistles themselves. I like the detail of the shapes of the negative spaces, but at this stage, I felt that this idea was too simplistic as I had done a similar exercise with my seven and eight-year-old class at my previous school (Fig.4.). So, instead, I reverted to studying the bark that I had collected and to allow my imagination to further develop these studies into a more abstract approach to the subject matter.

Fig. 4. Negative space study in sketchbook

To allow me to experiment, and circumvent a road block in my creativity, I decided to revert to an exercise at the beginning of the previous assignment whereby I had to complete a grid of studies of the folds of fabric. In this study, I gridded off my sketchbook page and complete small studies of areas of the bark in front of me using varying media. To ensure that the page was not white to start with, I created a creamy yellow wash over the entire surface. As I progressed with these studies I found that I was able to loosen up my approach to the bark and towards the right of the page, I started to create studies that were more vibrant in their use of layers and interpretation.

Fig. 5. Gridded studies of bark - sketchbook

For my next sketch, I created a dark, uneven blue wash over the entire surface of the page in my sketchbook, concentrating the wash where the surface would be predominantly dark in the shades. Using mixed media, I built up layers to create the texture of bark, drawing into the wet acrylic washes with drawing pencils. and working white water color pencil onto the predominantly dark surfaces in the shadows.

Fig. 6. Close up study of a piece of bark.

I think that this style of working has potential. I would like to experiment with warmer tones, instead of the blues as the wood I am working with is essentially warm in tone. This study looks more like a study of bones due to its hue range.

!7 November, 2016

I discussed this sketch with Montenegrin artist, Mirjana Maresenic Vujovic, and she particularly liked the fact that the original blue wash still peaks through the dark bachground. She pointed out how crucial this tiny splash of intense blue is to the balance of the whole composition. Her feeling is that this sketch has potential to be developed into a large, abstract study.