Going back to my 100 drawings I did earlier on, I decided to pick at one and develop it further into some more potential designs. I came across a hairy cow doodle which fit the bill.
I’ve really enjoyed doing these, I love hairy cows anyway but these drawings and sketches would create some really quirky and cool prints. I love finding new imagery to use for my work.
Independently, I decided to take a trip to Roath Park in Cardiff to do some more drawing similar to the national botanical gardens of wales. These were a bit less man made than the gardens as nature grows where it wants to which had a much more organic fresh feel which was sort of more inspiring that the gardens. Below is just a couple of trees that varied throughout the park. This was just to get the jist with shape and form which could be used as inspiration later.
Although I said early Roath Park seemed more organic, it has a man made lake which inhabits loads of bird life. This were also helpful to sketch as they didn’t move too much. I have always loved birds so I knew that I would be able to use them in my work.
Water has always been a challenge for me to draw but being in the same environment for a period of time gave me a little time to practice. As is was a clam day the water had some brisk movements which gave me a variety to experiment with. I had some cool outcomes that I was actually pleased with considering I wasn’t able to do it before.
In result in this experiment, it has given me more drawings to create further designs for my final body of work including actual textile pieces to link it to my practice.
I used four different medias to create these pieces, first pencil, water colours, gouache and biro pen. All four pieces meet up into a 360 view so when all joined it would be the view that I saw.
Unfortunately all joined up it isn’t really possible to catch the effect of the contrasting pieces together. This was a good experiment for using mixed media to create one piece.
This was the second trip to a coastal path and beach that was again used for inspiration for my work. The task was do to the opposite of the first, to draw the actual landscape this time but to draw it in a 360′ view. This was to stretch the thinking of how you would normally draw a landscape, as usually for this example to draw the very breath taking view of the sea crashing upon the cliffs but also drawing what would be behind that. This means not really being able to choose what we want to put in our landscapes to make them interesting and beautiful. However on the occasion, sometimes the none picturesque view can be more interaction outcome than the one expected.
Above is the picturesque view.
This one is the none picturesque view.
As the weather was bad, wind and rain, we were unable to finish these long landscape drawings. They were to be done in four goes. As I took photos of the view I am able to finish the drawings in my own time. I discovered that it is hard to position and scale the landscapes which was a good challenge for myself. Below is just a starter of the four drawings.
They’re unfinished yet but are developing nicely, I have and am going to use a different media for each section. When finished I wish put together to make a 3D view. So far my favourite is the none picturesque view which was no what I expected at that start of this task when I saw it for real. I’d like to do this again but finish it in the actual outdoors to get the full feel of this exercise.
Here are just some more views I saw. Also a quick sketch of the ‘secrete garden’.
In the photo below you can see I have split up all the mini sketches in relation to similarities such as line or stroke, or blending it even tone. This is an exercise so I can develop all my smaller drawings into larger more creative ones from inspirational aspects.
Below are some outcomes that I came up with by using similar techniques but with more media.
This drawings have been blown up in scale and focused on both micro and macro features.
In the first photo, I drew over a news paper article photo to challenge if this would be a representation or expression. I used different colours to enhance the photo. I drew without looking but still with the image in view so I could still sort of follow the outlines. I really liked this outcome, although photographs are now argued to be the new drawing as they are a physical representation, where as now I have turned it back in to a real drawing.
The second picture was a page three model for people to admire as a representation of a beautiful woman, however I again played around with unconventional ways of drawing and used my fingers to smooth pair around her curves and express what I see as beauty rather than pornographic photos.
This is a comparison from my normal style in the top left of the photo to the new expressive embodied style in the bottom right. Here I was actually trying to feel the ridged mountain rather than drawing an exact representation which sometimes I do still prefer.
This was drawn listening to a very fast paced rhythm, also including the different experimental ways of drawing. In the photo you can see the position of the pencil in my hand and at what angle it is used at. This gave me an interesting outcome as I had barely any control over this and it produce some harsh marks and lies that very much mirrored the music I was listening to, a very interesting technique that I have been trying to get to grips with.
Here I drew on brown parcel paper with bleach and used a light to capture the outlines made by the affected areas, I really loved this effect against the light gave a sense of freedom and happiness of life from the bird it’s self, almost expressing it’s life.
Above is the negative of the first picture this experiment was an attempt again with bleach to outline the shape and shade it in detail, this worked okay but needs light to be able to show the true effects of the bleach so slightly less successful but still effective.
This attempt was a failure, I used tissue paper and bleach but the bleach had no effect and dried out almost instantly leaving no trace of a drawing behind, but just because you can’t see it does it really mean it’s not there? it is still a drawing, but it could represent a historic moment, e.g extinction, you could look at it in anyway possible in that respect.
The unconventional aspect about this piece is that it was drawn on the back of a sketch book instead of in one. Here I could express my self in what way I was feeling at the time, as it was a sturdy and tough surface, I could roughly mark small engraved lines into it to represent my tension at the time, these marks and expression combined created an unusual look for the bird which is opposite to what a bird usually is, smooth and delicate. Including all these aspects I experimented and resulted in effects that have stretched my knowledge as to what I can do as an artist and how far I can stretch what drawing actually is. I choose this design as it is tattoo that I have that means something to me, which I also think resulted into a more personal outcome rather than just a representation of my actual tattoo.
What I have been trying to do throughout this project, is to push the meaning and boundaries of what a drawing really is.
I have been using different types of media to get uncontrollable surprise results from what my hands would usually produce, because I am not in control of a certain media does this make it a drawing as I have no intent in the final outcome? Why experiment and push these boundaries? For a start, experimenting with different unusual medias come benefit by finding interesting outcomes that you would never get before, it can improve creative thinking and confidence during the process, or even show that your previous skills are the skills that you should stick at as other medias could be scrapped as they are not up to scratch, this may be a disadvantage because of time wasting, however your knowledge and I understanding of drawing is clearer and fuller. By also experimenting with the actual process instead of the media also in an unconventional way can also stimulate new outcomes and and understandings, such as drawing without looking and drawing by holding only end of the pencil.
When it comes down to drawing vs. expression I feel that I have got a whole new understanding that drawing should be more than a representation, such as my previous style below.
From reading on Collingwood’s theory during lectures, I do believe that a drawing should have more embodiment and expression in the suitable time and intent of the work, rather than a clear mirror image that again could still be used in the correct place that may still be a work of art, but lacks in feeling and a connection through the artist and the work and the artist with the viewer and the viewer with the work. From expressing more in my drawings I feel that I have developed my own style to relate to my embodiment during the process. All this linked together has built up on my knowledge of understanding myself and my work more. I will continue to further my understanding by building up on this experimentation throughout the rest university which will also benefit my actual subject area, textiles, and stretch creative meaning throughout my work.
jadesberry 