Traditional Art

Year 2 Term 2

Final Analysis: Thoughts on Term 2

This was a very challenging term. While I definitely managed the workload better the intricacy of the tasks was also greatly increased and the use of life models put even more of a time constraint on work. Thanks to all of these factors though I think my skills have been really well tested and as a result I have grown a lot as an artist.

One of the biggest things I learned this term was to be less afraid of trying new mediums. Both the inks and pastels were mediums I was afraid to try due to the fact they are messy and in the case of inks, impossible to erase. However, I ended up loving the process of drawing with both but especially the inks. I was also surprised by how much I enjoy both line art and the shade-first approach. I think I understand that both have their uses now and I'm less tempted to "pick a side", as it were; I feel comfortable using either depending on what I think is more suitable for the task at hand.

Despite all these positives there is still a lot of room for improvement. I think a lot of my pieces still lack contrast, which is something I have struggled with since the beginning of the year. However, using coloured mediums has shown my ability to invoke that level of depth so I just need to transfer my confidence with colour into my use of dark mediums like graphite and charcoal. I think I am nervous and also struggle to press very hard especially with pencils so this is something I will have to be aware of and make adaptations for in my future work.

Another thing I really appreciated this term was the opportunity to analyse more of other artists work, especially the impressionist piece. I think taking a critical look at famous pieces of work has made me more aware of the technical and aesthetic features of my own work just by virtue of practise.

Overall this module has been really fun and challenging and I think it has helped me to greatly develop my skills. I'm going to miss this next year.

Week 25 - Realism and Art Nouveau

I started by blocking out the head and torso in proportion to each other, however I didnt inculde the facial features which could have caused issues.

My initial attempt to define the face went questionably as the eyes appeared to be facing forward but the nose slightly off to the side.

I refined the facial features to make sure they all pointed in the same direction and then drew in the rest of the figure. I decided to draw the full figure rather than just below the knees purely becaue the model's trouser flares were so cool I really wanted to include them.

I decided to use pastels again for this piece as they were so fun to use last time. However, I knew I wanted a more realistic colour pallet this time so I stuck to neutral tones.

After shading the face I used the same pallet and technique to create the arms and hands.

Next I decided to colour the smaller areas of detail, the shoes, hair and accessories.

I added colour to the top and trousers. I think the highlights on the trousers are a bit too intense and I should probably knock them back a bit to reduce the contrast. I think the materials are fairly well conveyed and more importantly the anatomy is correct.

I think the way I have drawn the skin tones is particularly effective as the pastel pencils mixed really well to convey the subsurface properties of the skin. I think the shirt is lacking detail as I struggled to recreate it without the original model to reference from.

After feedback I added more detail and blended out some areas of the face. I also added some small pops of varied tone and colour to the shirt and trousers to make the piece seem more cohesive.

Overall I think the piece is effective. My understanding of anatomy and figure drawing as a whole has definitely improved as the semester has progressed and I think my confidence has grown along side this. I've also enjoyed using pastels a lot and I think I am more effective at using them than coloured pencils when it comes to conveying intensity of colour and tone.

Week 24 - Focus on Human Figure

Thumbnail sketch focusing on shadows and highlights.

I roughly blocked out proportions. I hadn't drawn a pose from such a front-facing angle before so this was strange.

Next I added shading to the face incase this shrunk the head in relative proportion to the body.

The head now looked tiny so I knew I needed to adjust the width of the shoulders and torso to be significantly narrower.

After adjusting the torso width and adding more detail to the legs the figure was looking much more realistic.

I added some light shading to the clothes and then worked on refining the creases in the shirt as this was the most detailed area.

The finished piece. After feedback I darkened the shadows in the face and the jeans overall to add more contrast.

Overall I think this piece was successful but I fell back into my old habit of rushing to block out the proportions rather than taking my time to get the lines accurate which I think delayed me significantly. As a result I then ended up rushing to shade the trousers which made them look far less refined than the shirt. I think I captured the character of the face well and the anatomy is correct overall but the messy shading in areas lets the piece down overall.

Week 23 - Combining Black and Colour Media

I learned from the ink line task that focusing on line first can be really effective as long as I observe properly and don't rush so I tried to outline the shapes accurately from the start.

Next I refined some of the lines and fixed the shape of the legs. I also added some basic shadows around the leg and neck and drew the fingers in clearer and gave a rough impression of the blanket so that the figure didn't look like it was completely floating.

I decided to just map out the shadows initially to make sure all the proportions were correct. I chose a fairly neutral pink for the outline so I wasn't concerned about this overpowering the shadows.

Like in my earlier colour pieces I decided to limit my colour pallet to only 4 main pastels, pink, purple, peach and dark blue. I really enjoyed using these new pencils as the pastel material is much softer than normal pencils so it was much easier to get darker and brighter tones.

Finally, I used black to emphasise lines where there was either shadow or high contrast. I think overall this piece is really effective at conveying both character and human form.

I think my choice of colours was strong and I'm glad I chose a more exaggerated and unrealistic pallet as it made the shading process more interesting and fun compared to if I'd only stuck to realistic peach and brown tones.

Choosing to outline first, then add shadows and then build colour worked out really well in terms of both fun and efficiency so I think that is the workflow I am going to adapt all around in future.

After feedback I reinforced some of the highlighted areas and lightened the top plane of the head. I also blended some of the black into the shadows where they were darkest.

I think if I did this piece again I'd add some kind of rendering to the blanket the figure is sitting on as while the outline was clear enough for the sketch it seems quite empty in comparison to the full colour figure.

Week 22 - Ink Wash in Traditional Chinese Painting

This week's task was to examine a traditional Chinese painting and reflect on how ink techniques have been used to influence spatial definition, atmosphere and mood. After browsing through the COM I chose this piece in particular to study.

Attributed to Li Cheng (李成, 919–967), Five Dynasties period (907–960), A Solitary Temple Amid Clearing Peaks (晴巒蕭寺圖), ink and light colour on silk, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri

I chose this piece to analyse because I think it's a beautiful example of the detail that can be conveyed with inks.

Both ink washes and precise lines have been used to great effect in this piece. The use of fading the washes creates the impression of mist and atmospheric perspective. This adds an amazingly effective sense of depth to the piece, making the mountains seem monumental in the distance behind the solitary temple.

The finer details in the foreground such as the delicate foliage and bridge have been created with finer more controlled lines. This sharp detail sits nicely in contrast with the soft distant mountains.

I think the atmosphere of this piece is incredibly calm and tranquil. I believe that the use of monochrome ink adds to the peacefulness as I can't help but think if this piece was full of vibrant greens, blues, and reds it wouldn't be as calming to observe. This is an interesting quality of ink that I don't think extends to other monochromatic mediums such as charcoal or pencil which have a much rougher texture; inks smooth flowing nature helps contribute these effects into the piece they are used in. However this isn't to say that inks can't be incredibly powerful or intense, but in this case where they have been softly blended and built up through multiple layers of washes the overall impression is incredibly soft and calming.

Week 21 - Body Dynamics // Ink and Ink Washes

Task One: Ink Washes

Initial thumbnail focusing on just drawing in the shadows.

The final result of layering ink washes.

This first task was especially challenging as I had to get used to using inks as a medium. I ended up treating it similarly to watercolour, mixing multiple intensities and layering them to crate darker areas.

I think I captured the form fairly accurately given the rough nature of the inks. I was using quite a large brush as I tend to prefer working this way with paints but I decided to swap to a smaller thinner brush for the outline activity we did next in order to allow myself more control over the line.

One thing that was interesting about using inks compared to the other mediums I've experimented with this term is how easy they are to manipulate the darkness of. It's much easier to get the darkest possible tone with inks than it is with pencil or charcoal which often requires a dozen layers or pressing impossibly hard, so that was a refreshing change.

Task Two: Ink Lines

I started with the head and torso. I focused on the exact shapes and proportions of each individual segment of the body in relation to the lines surrounding it.

I added the legs and started adding more detailed lines to break up the bigger shapes.

Focusing on using line weights to show form and shadow.

Adjusting more line weight and background details

I think my strongest piece from this week is the line drawing. This surprised me as normally I'm much more comfortable painting/rendering than outlining. I think the difference this time was that the ink is inerasable which made me really focus on the shape of the lines and forms I was capturing, as opposed to my normal approach of getting something rough down and then worrying about refining it later.

Task Three: Washes & Lines combined

I thought it would be quicker to start by roughly blocking in the areas of light and dark for this task and I was right. I think this is less accurate than if I had outlined first but this way I was able to go in and refine the shapes with more layers of ink and outlining.

I tried to stick to roughly 3 tones, focusing on areas of highlight, midtone and shadow to avoud myself getting too caught up in blending. I think that the final result works well and I really enjoyed the way the ink didn't let me hide any mistakes I had to just work with them.

The finished pieces

I really enjoyed this week's activities and I think that inks being a more permanent medium has contributed to a bin increase in my observational skills. I'm now much more confident observing before putting anything down on paper which is something I've previously struggled with. I think I'm going to be using inks much more often in the future, at least in personal work if not in this module as I've discovered they're really nice to work with.

Week 20 - Figure on Black Paper

I found this week's task particularly challenging. I think I am so used to drawing in a dark medium that switching to the inverse caused some cognitive dissonance. I was so used to drawing an outline and pressing hard for the shadows that my hands were doing it automatically. This slowed my progress significantly which meant I couldn't block out enough detail during the session to finish the piece so I decided to do a second piece building on what I'd learned before so that I could have a completed drawing.

The first unfinished attempt.

My second attempt, from photo reference.

One way in which I made my second attempt easier was by editing the photo to be in black and white and high contrast so I could see the highlights. I had to make sure I didn't outline the figure so I instead added a white background and erased around the edges of the forms where there were shadows.

Considering my poor initial attempt I am glad I tried again and think that the second version was much more successful. It's much more challenging than drawing in the dark mediums I am used to but I enjoyed the challenge this presented.

Week 19 - Focus on Anatomy

For the initial thumbnail sketch I focused on blocking out proportions and lining up landmarks.

I got as far as blocking out the basic proportions. While I think my capturing of the anatomy is relatively strong here I think the piece could be improved by the use of more confident lines and less sketchy-feathering.

The finished piece. I used a combination of line weight and basic hatching to try and convey form on top of the base sketch. The most challenging part of capturing this pose was getting the foreshortening of the legs right but I think overall it worked and looks natural.

Initial thumbnail sketch. I feel like I compressed the width of the pose so I knew I needed to extend the arm and legs outwards to avoid this cramped feeling.

Finished drawing. This time I focused more on getting cleaner lines and I think it paid off overall the piece seems a lot more refined despite being at a similar level to the previous one.

The finished piece. I again has little time to shade but I think that my linework was relatively effective in conveying shadows in this piece.

Despite having less foreshortening than the previous pieces I found the standing pose to be particularly challenging. Getting the balance right with the contrapposto was difficult but fun.

The finished sketch. I used a basic armature of lines and circles to get the angles of her limbs right. This proved a much more reliable method than just eyeballing it.

The final piece. I had no time to shade this piece but I again attempted to control my line weight to convey form and shadow to some degree, although I don't think it to be as successful as the last piece.

Overall I think my pieces this week were successful and I learnt a lot, particularly in the use of measuring and landmarks to get accurate proportions during the initial sketching stage. I think if I did this again I would try to work less with lines and more with tone like in the week 1 portrait because that way I wouldn't run out of time to depict some of the most crucial shadows. However, as far as a task for understanding and capturing human anatomy goes I think this was really beneficial to my understanding of the human form.

Week 18 - Portrait in Cold and Warm Colours // Impressionism

Practical Task:

My vision for this piece was a heavily warm pallet of reds, browns and pinks with the eyes being in a contrasting blue. Thankfully I have very warm toned hair so the overall warmth of the piece was mostly going to be controlled by those colours which I would then work into my skin as well. I knew the shadows of the piece would be cooler than the highlighted areas but I didn't want them to be too cool so I opted for a neutral purple rather than a cool blue in these areas.

In the initial sketch the forehead was very square and I needed to add more space at the back of the head.

After fixing these issues I was much happier with the sketch and was ready to move onto adding colour.

As usual I started from the eyes and worked outwards. I used a restricted pallet of reds, browns, pinks, and purple for the shadows initially, so I could control the warmth of the piece. The only exception was the blue for the irises.

I added a small amount of the blue from the eyes into some of the shadows to create more harmony in the colour pallet.

I used 4 colours for the hair and focused on building in in sections as if I was sculpting.

I continued to add shading to the skintone. The shadows for this piece were really fun to capture.

The finished piece.

Unlike last year's self portrait, I'm actually really pleased with how this one turned out! I think purposefully restricting my colour pallet helped a lot with controlling the impression overall.

One thing I would improve would be the slight misalignment of the foreshortened eye. It was less of an issue in the sketching stage but as I continued to colour I think it became more and more obvious. I don't think it takes away from the overall piece too much though.

I think the colour choice was very successful and despite being a heavily warm portrait it still feels balanced. I am especially pleased with how the blues of the shadows looks in contrast with the lighter areas of skin tone. I think both this and the cool colours portrait have reminded me how much my skills have improved in just a year.

Contextual Task:

For this task we were asked to analyse an impressionist's portrait. I've actually decided to analyse two portraits - the first one is a more traditional example of an impressionist work, Little Girl in a Blue Armchair by Mary Cessatt. The second is a far more contemporary post-impressionist piece, Dorothy Hodgkin by Maggi Hambling.

Portrait #1:

I chose to analyse this portrait because it represents how I feel about many impressionist paintings - bored. Don't get me wrong I actually love impressionism as a concept and as a way to convey character in a portrait but more often than not I find myself thinking it's a bit tame. I think being used to more extreme forms of distortion and abstraction in expressionist and contemporary art has dulled my senses, however, I recognise the importance of the impressionist movement as the beginnings of what would later influence the post-impressionist and eventually expressionist art styles.

Mary Cessatt, 1878, Little Girl in a Blue Armchair, Oil on Canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC

Firstly, I need to clarify that I quite like this painting; it's use of extremely vivid blues for the armchair is refreshing and brings a real sense of life to the piece which is lacking in it's tired and bored looking subjects. The mood this piece creates is really effective, it definitely captures the impression of the girl and her dog clearly. The use of rough unblended colours in the fabric of the chair and the pattern on her dress is particularly interesting. I think the combination of an impressionist style and depicting childhood is very clever - personally I don't remember the exact patterns of all the garish floral upholstered chairs my grandmother had but I certainly remember the impression they gave and it looked like this portrait. I think impressionism is perhaps the art style of nostalgia - it isn't trying to capture the scene as it is, it's trying to depict it as it would be remembered.

Portrait #2:

The second piece I wanted to analyse is possibly my favourite portrait of all time, a commissioned portrait of renowned chemist Dorothy Hodgkin painted by Maggi Hambling. Is this piece technically impressionist? I don't know, probably not, I expect it's closer to expressionism, but the day I start trying to classify art based on technicalities is the day art is dead to me, so I'm going to analyse it here anyway! I think the piece has many of the important hallmarks of impressionism, that being unblended colour, an affinity for depicting natural light and an overall focus on capturing the impression or in more modern terms the general vibes of a person rather than the actual detail in the scene. This portrait clearly also has some surreal elements but that's neither here nor there.

Maggi Hambling, 1985, Dorothy Hodgkin, Oil on Canvas, National Portrait Gallery, London

I find this piece fascinating to look at. Everything leaves an impression; the papers strewn across the table, the atomic models and the textbooks and folders lining the shelves. Even the wallpaper has been captured in an interesting way. At first glance it looks fairly standard but it's only at second glance you notice the multiple blurred arms, capturing the frantic and absorbed nature of the chemist in her work. I think this surreal addition perfectly demonstrated the purpose of more impressionistic works, showing the feeling of an event not just an image of a moment. Even though it's completely impossible for Hodgkin to be working with 4 arms at once, the viewer immediately intuits the depiction to be conveying movement rather than literal anatomy.

In addition to this, Hambling's creative use of colour in the light and shadows is reminiscent of many early impressionist landscapes. The vivid blues in the shadows and warm reds in between highlights create a depth in form which, while I know the chemist did not have actual splodges of red and blue on her face, beautifully convey her face shape and forms a lasting impression.

Week 17 - Colour Aesthetics in Portraits

Portrait #1 - Cold colours // Life model

For the cool colours I knew I wanted tp take the task literally and place a heavy focus on the blues. I was warned that this may make the portrait look like a smurf but for some reason I decided to ignore this and follow my artistic instincts.

I started sketching from the eyes outwards. I initially blocked out the head shape in a lighter blue which is almost invisible on camera, and then started building features in a darker blue adding basic shading as I went.

I think through this piece I found the perfect balance of sketching/shading for my process. I think sitting at a more dramatic angle than usual also helped me understand the foreshortening of the eye which is something I often struggle with.

I started building up tone in blues with only small pops of pink in the cheeks to add warmth. At this point the smurf-factor was increasing but I knew I had to trust my own vision for one.

I was careful adding in greens and yellows and made sure to balance them with equal amounts of pinks and purples so that the portrait didn't end up looking sickly.

I started adding the darkest shadows around the eyes, nose, and beneath the chin. This added some much needed depth to the piece.

The finished piece.

As a final step I added some smaller areas of colour to break up the large planes, such as on the cheeks, nose and forehead. This added a higher level of detail which I think helped the piece feel complete.

I really enjoyed this portrait, especially the freedom of making atypical colour choices. I think the small pops of pink and yellow I added on a whim have really added to the colour depth of the piece.

In terms of structure I think this portrait has the strongest resemblance to the model of any piece I have ever done. I think this is because I was sketching in blue and was concerned it would be hard to erase I took extra time to observe shapes before putting anything down. This makes me wonder if a more permanent media like oils or inks would appeal to me more in terms of the results I would get by it forcing me to observe more attentively.

Portrait #2 - Warm colours

I focused on using warm pinks, reds and browns for this piece, with purple for the shadows. I knew I needed to avoid blues and greens as these would cool the piece down too much.

The initial sketch - I needed to enlargen the ear and make the headshape rounger but the oveall features were well proportioned.

I fixed some of the incorrect shapes and neatened up the overall shapes while adding in some landmark shadows

I started building tone from the eyes outwards. This portrait was to be a mix of warm and cold colours so I would use cool purples and blues for the shadows and warm browns and pinks for the highlighted areas.

I continued to build tone, trying to darken the shadowed areas more while still using the tone of the paper to help in the ligher areas. At this point I was trying to shade without the original reference which was difficult.

This piece was challenging, mainly because our lesson was cut short and so I lost an hour of development time. I managed to get the sketch finished and map out the key shadows of the face but in terms of capturing the details of the lighting I struggled despite looking for alternative reference. As a result I think the piece looks a bit flat and lacks depth in its shadows which isn't helped by the fact I struggle to build darker tones with the pencils as I cannot press too hard. However, I do think I captured likeness very well in this piece, especially compared to where I was at the start of term.

After feedback I I added more differentiation to the highlights and shadows and shaded in the shoulders. I think the cheekbone shadow is too desaturated and needed more purple but as I was unable to erase or build more tone using the coloured pencil I couldn't actually execute this.

Week 16 - Focus on Portrait

Practical Task:

This week's task was to create a portrait in charcoal. This was my first ever time using charcoal which was intimidating but we were also instructed to focus on using tone without an underlying sketch to work off which was interesting so I decided to reflect on it in more detail here.

As always I started with the eyes and worked outwards.

I was tending to shrink areas with heavy shadow such as above the eyes and between the mouth and chin so this needed adjusting.

I fixed the proportion of the shadowed areas and started to build tone on the face and head. It is much easier to build tone with charcoal but it's also much harder to control for small details.

I finished adding the basic tones and now needed to work on refining some areas and adding details.

I added some smaller details particularly around the eyes and nose and changed the shape of the mouth slightly to better resemble the model.

The finished portrait. After feedback I added more differentiation between the planes of the face, making sure it wasn't lit flatly.

I found that I really enjoyed the tonal approach to drawing, much more than the sketch method of previous weeks. I wish I had been doing this all along! It's much quicker and easier, presumably because the human face isn't made of lines it's made of shadows and shapes. This is something I will be remembering in my future tasks as although I enjoy sketching I think in activities where resemblance is key I will put more focus on mapping out tone rather than getting a nice looking sketch. I think there is probably a compromise between both methods where I will feel most comfortable, perhaps sketching and shading as I go.

Contextual Task:

For this task I chose to analyse the aesthetic and technical qualities of the painting pictured below The Lute Player by Frans Hals. I actually hadn't come across this painting or this artist before in my studies but I found the piece quite striking so I decided to analyse it here.

Frans Hals, 1623-1624, The Lute Player, Oil on Canvas, Musée du Louvre, Paris

The colours of this piece are warm and inviting and the performer appears to be lit by spotlight. The piece gives the impression that the performer is playing a jaunty tune, and the guitarist in me notes his use of pizzicato (plucking near the bridge), although I'm not sure this applies to lutes. Pizzicato normally makes notes sound brighter so would further add to the light-hearted mood of the piece.

From a technical perspective I think the brushstrokes in this piece are masterfully free and beautiful. This is especially noticeable in the hair and on the subjects left (non-plucking) hand. I think the artists use of building tone from dark to light as noted by the highlights in this hand has created a real depth and brightness to the skintones expecially. The ruffles of the costume are also well captured despite the realtice lack of detail.

Compositionally the piece also works really well as your eyes naturally move from the face to each hand and then bacl to the face in a triangular layout. Overall I think all these aspects combine to create a really bright and dynamic impression.

Week 15 - The Human Face

I started off using a mix of the Loomis method and Reilley lines but now I don't think this works particularly well when drawing from life because it forces idealised proportions which are unlikely to be accurate to the model.

My initial mapping out of the facial features was coming across as very sad and soft whereas the models features were much more intense and sharp so this was something I knew I needed to adjust.

After feedback I realised I had been distorting the perspective of the face, drawing what the features would look like head-on rather than from the slight angle I was sitting at. Once this was pointed out I focused on observing the shapes much more carefully.

I started adding some basic shading around the eyes and nose. Getting the beard right was a concern but I decided to sketch it out and then use the eraser to highlight any important areas.

I added hatching to the rest of the skin, trying to follow the forms of the face.

The final piece.

I'm normally more inclined towards smudging to achieve a final result but recently I've been working on my hatching to speed up my ability to get forms down during a life during session. I think that the portrait is successful overall but some of the hatching is still to messy. I think I have a tendency to draw the lines too long which makes them much more obvious than if they were smaller hatch marks. For my next portrait I'm going to work on controlling the lines better to reduce this messy impression.

I think the overall resemblance could have been improved if I spent more time in the initial stages of the sketch focusing on the shapes in the face, so next time I'll focus on spending more time observing rather than immediately scribbling down. My thumbnail sketches always seem to have much better resemblance than my final piece so I wonder if focusing on tone rather than line shape will help me in the future as well.

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