Exercise 2.0 - Rapid Sketches

Research: Action Painters

"Action painting, direct, instinctual, and highly dynamic kind of art that involves the spontaneous application of vigorous, sweeping brushstrokes and the chance effects of dripping and spilling paint onto the canvas. The term was coined by the American art critic Harold Rosenberg to characterize the work of a group of American Abstract Expressionists who utilized the method from about 1950. Action painting is distinguished from the carefully preconceived work of the “abstract imagists” and “colour-field” painters, which constitutes the other major direction implicit in Abstract Expressionism and resembles Action painting only in its absolute devotion to unfettered personal expression free of all traditional aesthetic and social values."
Encyclopedia Britannica. (2019). Action painting | art. [online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/art/Action-painting [Accessed 18 Aug. 2019].

Rapid Sketching

For this exercise I decided to use the opportunity I had when visiting 'Henstead Exotic Gardens' recently. It was a present for my Dad who used to love photography and so I thought it would be a nice way to spend time together and both  learn more about our cameras since this was an organised photo walk with a professional photographer.

I spent the day looking for interesting patterns and ways to capture the plants in unusual ways and was really pleased with how my photos came out since I'm not very knowledgeable about cameras.

Here are a few of my favourite photos:

I'd like to use these photos in my future sketches and see where it takes me.

For this exercise I decided to capture the plants, drawing very quickly (about 3 mins each) and changing my view.

Palms

Bamboo

Interesting tree

Close up of the branches

1 Minute Sketches:

The 1 minute sketches I found really fun but so difficult. I noticed that the things I was trying to sketch that had more precise shapes or details was so hard to capture in such a short time and this is something I need to practice. The less detailed plants were easier to capture and I'd like to continue doing this exercise to improve my skills.

Added Thoughts:

I really enjoyed these sketches, being in a beautiful place taking in all the nature and the intricate patterns and shapes of all of the exotic plants at Henstead were just so inspiring to me. To use just an ink pen to capture these details in limited time spans took away the need for perfectionism and helped me to pick out what was essential to the look and feel of the plants and trees.

I actually feel these sketches turned out quite successful and am really pleased with the different textures I've managed to create in very few lines. At the gardens I managed to find quiet spots to draw so as not to be 'watched' while I was sketching which helped take the pressure off. I sat in a lovely hut, surrounded by beautiful ferns and trees, you felt like you could be anywhere in the world in that little oasis.

I did feel uncomfortable sketching in public overall but I really did enjoy focusing on the plants and their details, finding the quiet spot helped to not feel so exposed whilst drawing. This was a valuable exercise for me to show that I don't need to spend a long time on a sketch to get good results and that sketching outside is something I can do with limited supplies. I also learnt that sketching quickly is a good way to 'forget' perfectionism for a little while and get drawings down on paper fast. 

These techniques will definitely be used in my future sketchbooks. 

Exercise 2.1 - Limited Line Drawings

Research:

I found these artists work really interesting. M.C Escher has a real surreal style and reminds me of Salvador Dali. I hadn't heard of Noma Bar before and was really amazed at his work. It's so clever and some of his pieces are very strong. I really like his work.

M.C Escher
Mcescher.com. (2019). M.C. Escher – Biography. [online] Available at: https://www.mcescher.com/about/biography/ [Accessed 18 Aug. 2019].

Mcescher.com. (2019). M.C. Escher – Image Categories – Most Popular. [online] Available at: https://www.mcescher.com/gallery/most-popular/ [Accessed 18 Aug. 2019].

Noma Bar

Dutch Uncle. (2019). Dutch Uncle - Noma Bar. [online] Available at: https://www.dutchuncle.co.uk/noma-bar [Accessed 18 Aug. 2019].

Digital Synopsis. (2019). 60 Brilliant Negative Space Illustrations By Noma Bar. [online] Available at: https://digitalsynopsis.com/design/negative-space-art-illustrations-noma-bar/ [Accessed 18 Aug. 2019].

This exercise was to try to use a limited number of lines to create a sketch and see if you and others could still tell what the objects were. I was really nervous about this exercise because I am used to looking at detail and was worried how the sketches would turn out.

I didn't really enjoy this exercise because I felt like I wasn't drawing things 'properly'. I think the objects are still obvious what they are for the most part.

Husband's Reaction:

I showed my sketches to my Husband and he knew what some of the sketches were, some he didn't get right and others on his second try he got right. I think this will take more practice for me to get the hang of drawing in this way.

Every Day Sketches

Sketches from my everyday out and about...

Exercise 2.2 - Investigating Process

Referencing the work of Lucy Austin we were to make studies of certain materials and or techniques to explore the different ways we could create with them.

For this exercise I chose to use my mini sketchbook, using charcoal pencil, collage, acrylic paints, paint brushes and a catalyst wedge tool

Charcoal Pencil and Catalyst Wedge Tool

I wanted to explore how these different tools and mediums could work together in different ways, depending on how you applied them and in which order.

Charcoal pencil is very smudgy and so I wanted to see what would happen if you added paint over it and also added the charcoal pencil on top. I experimented with washes of paint, starting with watercolour (before I decided to stick with acrylic) and then onto acrylic.

I am really into black spots on white as a pattern right now and I used the left over advertisment I had to cut up and make shapes to glue onto the pages. The process was all very random and fun.

I also used the pattern with the charcoal pencil to continue the theme.

The catalyst wedge is a tool I haven't used before and just received in the post recently. I wanted to see what it could do on a small scale.

How the different types of paper affected the media also really interested me. I had a mix of watercolour and other sketchbook paper pages and I loved how the paints worked with the natural textures in the watercolour paper.

Chapter 1: Watercolour study.

Chapter 2: Doodles study

Chapter 3: Washes Study

Chapter 4: Catalyst Wedge Study

Chapter 5: Catalyst Wedge Study 2

Reflection:

I found these studies really interesting since these were mediums I usually work with however I wanted to see what else they could do. The catalyst wedge tool is new to me and I was interested to see how it made marks with the paint. I only used one edge of the wedge so there is still further study to do.

The paint behaved differently on the different paper types and I played with layering the elements differently on each chapter.

These studies are going to be very useful for future paintings.

Exercise 2.3 - Blind Contour Drawing

For this exercises we were to practice drawing the outline (contour) of things firstly only looking at our paper a bit (Semi Blind) and then not look at all (Blind). I was nervous about this exercise because I knew the sketches wouldn't be pretty. I decided to do my drawings at the local cafe which gave me a lot of subject matter to choose from and also from a video I was watching to add in a bit of variety.

This first semi blind sketch I quite like and also my first blind sketch I like too but the others are pretty awful. However I ended up quite liking the exercise and it was nice to see what the end results were.

Semi Blind Sketches:

Blind Contour Sketches:

Exercise 2.4 - Drawing with Tea Bags

For this exercise I chose a feather collected from the park, some jute string, a philips head screw driver and green tea.

We were to use our chosen materials to create a simple sketch after we had experimented to see what marks we could get with them.

I used red and black poster paint as I had it to hand to draw with and found it quite interesting how the different objects made different marks. My favourite was the jute string, which gave a really grungy effect which would work well as a layer for a drawing or painting but isnt so easy to draw actual objects with.

I liked the marks of the screw driver but chose the feather for my final sketch. I wanted to incorperate some collage as well. I had had a flyer come through the door with a pattern I've been really into on the model and so I decided to cut it up and include it on my page. I started off with putting it under my flap created from the previous exercises in Part 1 and then cut it up to try to create a cup shape.

Screwdriver

Jute string in black, feather in red.

Green Tea.

I did the green tea all over the page and allowed that to dry. I really like the effect it gives and wanted to draw over it. I used the feather and black paint to sketch a cup.

These techniques would be good to develop further into my sketches later on in the course. I think the mix of green tea and the feather make a good team and would be really good to use in landscape sketches. I also think the green tea would work well with fine liner pens as the green tea looks a lot like watercolour and the pen lines would really stand out against the softness of the wash of tea.

Exercise 2.5 - Drawing with Objects: A Journey Scrapbook

This exercise was so much fun and I'd definitely like to try more of these types of sketches. I decided to do this exercise when my Brother and I went to London for the day for the You Tube conference, 'Summer in the City'.

I collected my wrist band, ticket and a subway wrapper and used them to create these sketches.

Here I used my wristband as the back of the chair of this lady with fantastic hair. Her hair was grey, blue and pink and looked so beautiful tied in these French braids, I just had to draw her. I also quickly sketched the Instagram logo and Summer in the City logos whilst waiting for the panel to start.

It was quite difficult trying to capture her hair when drawing quickly, but I'm fairly pleased with how it turned out. I'm not sure how successful the wrist band is as her chair back but I wanted to use it in the sketch I had already created.

We stopped for a quick lunch at 'Subway' and I tore off some of the wrapper to save to complete this drawing. I really like how this one turned out.

This one is my favourite. My brother just got his new car and it was my first time riding in it. He had driven us to London and so I wanted to use that some how in my sketch. My ticket for the event became the perfect option, I cut it up and used it to create this fun sketch. I used the QR code for the head lights and the text to represent the stripes he has down the side of his car.

On the way home it was raining a lot but then we drove through this amazing huge rainbow and I wanted to capture that in the drawing as well. I think it turned out the best of the three sketches.

Sketching in this way has been an eye opener for me, I really enjoyed capturing the special moments of our trip using these collected elements and doing the quick sketches was a great way to remember the day.
I'd definitely like to do more sketching like this since I found a connection in it and a purpose. I think looking back on these types of sketches would be really lovely in years to come.

Research 2.0 - Sophie Peanut

Sophie Peanut - Illustrator. (2019). Sophie Peanut - Artist, Urban Sketcher, Illustrator - Halifax UK. [online] Available at: http://www.sophiepeanut.com [Accessed 23 Aug. 2019].

Sophie Peanut is an illustrator from Halifax, England. Her work is mainly created from a rapid sketching technique using watercolours and ink, which I find really interesting.

Her series on 'Sketching People at Work', is very fascinating to me. I love how she used a concertina style page to capture various corners of the workplaces she chose.

I can relate to her wanting to try to capture the 'feel'and 'smells' of the place as this is something I would be interested in portraying myself in my own sketches. I like the way Sophie added text to her sketches to describe certain things within the drawing.

I am sure I will find her tips very useful for my own rapid sketches as this is something quite new to me and I'd like to pick up some new techniques to improve.

Sophie's work has a lot more atmosphere and depth than my simple line sketches. I'm dabbling in adding watercolours but have not yet achieved the quality I would like. I am very interested in learning techniques to create detail without taking a long time to do it.

I found this blog post about rapidly sketching people, which is something I am interested in so will leave this link here for reference:

Peanut, S. (2019). Quick People Sketches - A Lesson in Letting Go by Artist Sophie Peanut. [online] Sophie Peanut - Illustrator. Available at: https://sophiepeanut.com/quick-people-sketches/ [Accessed 23 Aug. 2019].

Merits and pitfalls.

I think there is a lot of merit to working quickly and learning techniques to do so effectively. You can create a big body of work and also sketch across a range of subject matters, like landscapes, people, still life.

However, I would not want to solely focus on rapid sketching as it's nice to take your time and lose yourself in your drawings sometimes.

Other Artist's Using Rapid Sketching:

The first artist that comes to mind is Danny Gregory. Danny Gregory. (2019). Danny Gregory. [online] Available at: https://www.dannygregory.com/ [Accessed 23 Aug. 2019].
I came across his life sketching many years ago when I was trying to find my way with drawing. He has a similar style to Sophie Peanut and I like that both of these artists document life in a very vibrant yet simple style.

Quentin Blake. (2019). Quentin Blake. [online] Available at: https://www.quentinblake.com/ [Accessed 23 Aug. 2019].

Similar in terms of medium to Sophie Peanut and Danny Gregory, Quentin Blake uses simple brush strokes and intentional lines to create his characters and their environments.

E.H Shepard En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Winnie-the-Pooh. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnie-the-Pooh [Accessed 23 Aug. 2019].
His illustrations for Winnie the Pooh remind me of Quentin Blake in that they are created with simple marks and paint strokes but have a more gentle feel to them.

I was trying to find artists who use other mediums and who also use the principle of rapid mark making. I had a look online and then in my art book - The art book. (1997). London: Phaidon.

Erich Heckel Arthive. (2019). Windmill in Dangast by Erich Heckel: History, Analysis & Facts. [online] Available at: https://arthive.com/erichheckel/works/198140~Windmill_in_Dangast [Accessed 23 Aug. 2019].
Erich Heckel has quite a rapid style, especially in his painting 'Windmill, Dangast'. He uses the paint in bold marks and uses bright primary colours.

Cy Twombly Nga.gov. (2019). Untitled (Bolsena). [online] Available at: https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.93392.html [Accessed 23 Aug. 2019]. is another artist who uses rapid marks in his work. 'Bolsena' is a good example of this.

'The Art Book', made reference to Jackson Pollock, https://www.jackson-pollock.org. (2019). Jackson Pollock: 100 Famous Paintings Analysis and Biography. [online] Available at: https://www.jackson-pollock.org/ [Accessed 23 Aug. 2019] which is another famous artist who uses striking mark making techniques to create very vibrant pieces. 

All these artists use a similar technique but have a very different outcome for the final piece of work.

I would like to experiment further with this style and see where it takes me.

Exercise 2.6 - Pareidolia

Keith Larsen: Bored Panda. (2019). I Have Pareidolia, And I Create Characters Out Of The Faces I See. [online] Available at: https://www.boredpanda.com/pareidolia-illustrations-faces-in-places-keith-larsen/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic [Accessed 22 Aug. 2019].

Cy Twombly: Tate. (2019). Cy Twombly 1928-2011 | Tate. [online] Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/cy-twombly-2079 [Accessed 22 Aug. 2019].

Justin Sutcliff: the Guardian. (2019). Objects are people too: the quirky world of facial pareidolia – in pictures. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2017/aug/09/ojbects-people-too-facial-pareidolia-in-pictures [Accessed 22 Aug. 2019].


It was so interesting looking up the work of these artists. I didn't realise there was a whole art movement for seeing faces in every day things. I really like Keith Larsen's work, it's so funny and I love the graphic, simple style he uses to illustrate these faces.

I found this exercise so much fun. Seeing faces in things is something I have done myself over the years but never thought to take it any further. This was a good opportunity to do so and see what happened. I really like the end results.

Research 2.1 - Lucy Austin

References:
Lucy Austin. (2019). Lucy Austin. [online] Available at: https://lucyaustin.artweb.com/ [Accessed 23 Aug. 2019].

RWA. (2019). Lucy Austin. [online] Available at: https://rwa.org.uk/artists/lucy-austin [Accessed 23 Aug. 2019].

Lucy Austin is a print maker and painter from the U.K. Her work is quite abstract taking inspiration from the urban landscape and her imagination. Lucy uses a combination of techniques including collage, drawing and painting.

This is a link to a series of watercolour pieces Lucy created entitled: Tender Machines 2012/2014:
Lucy Austin. (2019). Tender Machines. [online] Available at: https://lucyaustin.artweb.com/untitled-gallery-119428 [Accessed 23 Aug. 2019].

Another artist who works in watercolours is Emma Block: Emma Block Illustration. (2019). Emma Block Illustration. [online] Available at: http://www.emmablock.co.uk/ [Accessed 23 Aug. 2019].

Emma is a watercolour illustrator from the U.K. Emma's work has been commissioned by various companies and she has also published her own books.

Emma's watercolour art has similaries to Lucy Austin's work in that they both have a strong sense of pattern and shape. However Lucy's work is far more abstract and structural where as Emma's work is more illustrative and she quite often has people in her paintings.

Lucy uses the watercolours behavior on the paper to her advantage in the patterns it creates. This is shown in the backgrounds of some of her works. Emma uses watercolour to create fine details and like Lucy uses other media to enhance the piece.

Lucy seems to use the different mediums to create textures whilst Emma uses other mediums to create more fine details.

Research 2.2 - Niemann and Steinberg

Christoph Niemann: 

Christophniemann.com. (2019). Christoph Niemann. [online] Available at: https://www.christophniemann.com/ [Accessed 23 Aug. 2019].

Instagram.com. (2019). Christoph Niemann (@abstractsunday) • Instagram photos and videos. [online] Available at: https://www.instagram.com/abstractsunday/ [Accessed 23 Aug. 2019].


Saul Steinberg: Saul Steinberg Foundation. (2019). Home - Saul Steinberg Foundation. [online] Available at: http://saulsteinbergfoundation.org/ [Accessed 23 Aug. 2019].



I have selected some artworks from both artists to show the comparisons between them. I really like the humor in Niemann's work, how he uses everyday objects to create art work that looks like something else. His imagination to see something differently to what it is commonly used for is amazing.

Steinberg's work has a different feel to it. He uses shapes within his works and sometimes faces but the way in which he presents them feels like more of a political message and more of a serious take. I was trying to think of the best word to describe his work and wondered if satire was the best fit.

satire

/ˈsatʌɪə/

Learn to pronounce

noun

1. the use of humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.

Lexico Dictionaries | English. (2019). satire | Definition of satire in English by Lexico Dictionaries. [online] Available at: https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/satire [Accessed 18 Aug. 2019].

I can appreciate the imagination in Steinberg's work but prefer the humor of Niemann's creations, they have a more light-hearted feel to them whereas Steinberg's make me feel uneasy.