Sending work for Assesment

   Today I sent off my work for Assessment.
I am quite worried that I have not done everything correctly.
 I realise that I have foolishly signed most of my work and cannot remove it. My tutor brought this to my attention in his feedback for Assignment 5 but by then the damage was done. I somehow missed the instruction not to sign work along the way. I will know now not to do this in the future.
 I have also worked too much on loose pieces of paper and sticking them into a sketchbook doubles the weight of my parcel. I need to change the way I do this for my next course and work far more directly in sketchbooks.
 I also could not buy the right kind of portfolio in a large enough size and the one that I have is quite floppy and bendy, I hope it survives the post.

Written Element for Assignment 5 Response to feedback.

EXPLORING THE CONNEXION BETWEEN MEMORY AND THE LANDSCAPE.

   I began this assignment looking over my coursework, trying to find what was most successful and what  I could improve on. I felt my drawings for Assignment 3 were some of my better pieces as well as ng some of the ones I enjoyed most. What seemed to stand out about the more successful drawings was a feeling of nostalgia. I also think I find this in the work of my favourite artists. I find a poignant beauty in all that is nostalgic and mysterious and the ability to capture atmosphere is something that I strive for in my work.

  Studying the work of Sigmar Polke I was very interested in the way he has drawn in ink over a red and blue ground. It seems to give a feeling of age, and this feeling of the lost past is what I am hoping to achieve.

                   
                                                              Sigmar Polke.

                                
                                                                              David Godbold.
               

I am drawn to these very beautiful and atmospheric pictures of trees 
by Michael Wann, they have an element of mystery and sadness to them.

                           
                                     
                                                                 Michael Wann.

This is not so much conveyed through the subject but through the execution. There are very dark areas which draw us in and make us use our imagination because things are not defined. We are given glimpses of detail only where the sunlight strikes through the trees.

 Juxtaposing areas that are highly detailed with areas that are less well defined or dark is very much how we experience our memories. Memory and nostalgia for the beauty of the past, seen through the landscape drawings I worked on in Assignment 3 are clearly to be my theme.

  I began sketching some old toy soldiers that I used to play with, experimenting with scale and colour, creating overlapping layers, thinking about childhood and its far-reaching influence.
              

                                 various pens and coloured pencils.

  About six years ago I moved back to the area where I was brought up as a small child. I am surrounded by my memories of that time which seem so intimately connected to the landscape. There still stands the tree I used to climb as a child.

watercolour and fountain pen

Fountain pen.

             
I have drawn it from two different angles. I wanted to lead the eye to the nice, comfortable place where I used to sit as a child and look out half-hidden on the world below. As adults we do not have the same opportunity to observe half-hidden and it is the sweetness of this memory and its unobtainable simplicity that I find attractive.

  I also drew two pictures of my present self just looking at the tree.

         

Marker pen and wash.

Watercolour and fountain pen.

       For me they have a slightly sad, nostalgic feeling for lost childhood, but I am not sure that these images could convey to others the feeling I am trying to put across. However, they helped to build up ideas and feelings in my head.

  At this point I went and sketched more local trees. I wanted to encapsulate my connexion with this landscape. My own roots being in this very soil. The age of the trees and their being silent witnesses to the lives of many generations. Wherever I go I feel very strongly the presence of my childhood-self. It struck me that the image of our old rocking horse could work well as a symbol of childhood rather than a drawing of myself as a child. The rocking horse is an old fashioned toy that has been in our family foe generations past, and stands not just for my childhood but more universally for childhood in general. I wanted to incorporate this symbolic image and tried out the idea of it being in the middle of some trees.

Sepia Pencil, fountain pen and wash.

                 

I like the image it feels abandoned ... in the woods of one's childhood perhaps? I think it might suggest the idea that one leaves childhood behind, but you carry it about with you always.

    My next problem was to try and tie all these elements together; my love for the beauty of the landscape, my feeling of being rooted in and tied to the landscape, and the way that it is inescapably impregnated with memories of my childhood, in such a way that I feel the presence of my childhood-self accompanying me as I move through the landscape.

 I was also thinking of a new way to place the drawing on the page and came up with the idea of using my own head as the boundary for the image.

Charcoal pencil.

                               

  I like the way that at first glance you see the landscape, and only with a closer look do you see the profile of my head. 

I tried overlaying the image of the rocking horse, as if it was more in the imagination than a physical object; but I felt it was unsuccessful, messy and confused.
  

  My next experiment was to try for the effect that Polke achieved in the piece above, with a wash of colour behind and the ink drawing over the top. *I also tried sepia ink to create a feeling of age. This drawing is inspired by the illustrator Anthony Maitland's use of ink and mark making. I ended up defining the edge of the drawing too much and making my profile too obvious.

Sepia ink with dip in pen and wash.

        

Illustration by Anthony Maitland.

Illustration by Anthony Maitland.

   For my final piece I started on a white support, sketching in the outline of the head in pencil. Then I began work on the drawing on the inside. I  flipped an earlier sketch the other way, wanting to lead the viewer's eye in a spiral,  from the roots up through the tree and onto the rocking-horse on so deeper into the picture. I worked hard on trying to get a definite foreground, most of my attention given to the tree roots, a middle-ground, with the horse and a faded background of trees. I struggled with getting enough tones, I think this is one of my weaknesses, though I think I eventually got some depth to the drawing. I went for pencil and black ink rather than sepia, because, although I like the look of the browny ink, the pencil has a lighter and softer touch. My mark-making although varied in shape and direction, I don't think it was enough in size, I feel the drawing would benefit from some larger more sweeping marks. Seeing that the drawing is in the shape of a head, it being smaller on the computer screen means that it is more obvious than when viewed in real life. I flicked the edges with a brush loaded with ink, and I like the effect, making me think of the swirling mists of time and mildewed ancient paper. I wish I had kept the drawing lighter and hadn't got so dark in places, as it is a very sharp contrast between the whiteness of the paper. The image is meant to convey the theme of nostalgia, or at least a part of it, for I would say it is a many faceted emotion. I was trying to create an image for a Proustian moment, "In Search of Lost Time".

                            

                       
                                                Pencil, charcoal pencil and dip in pen.

Close ups.

                         

Assignment 5. "Exploring the connexion between memory and the landscape."

I began with looking over my previous Assignments and coursework, 

looking at what was most successful and what elements I could improve on.

When looking over all the work, I feel my drawings from Assignment 3. were some of my better pieces, as well as being some of the ones I enjoyed doing the most.

Watercolour and fountain pen.

Fountain pen.

Watercolour pencils and water. 

Brown pencil.

Three shades of felt tip pen.

Watercolour pencil and water.

Pencil and graphite stick.

Mixed media.

A small bit of dip in pen and graphite pencil on a white support.

What I think stands out about these more successful drawings 

is a sort of feeling of nostalgia.

I also think it is a distinguishing feature in the work of the varied Artists whom I like.

I love the nostalgic, mystery and ability to capture atmosphere that appears in the work of not only my favourite fine artists but also my favourite illustrators.

Illustration (especially children's illustration) is what I really love and am hoping to do. 

I reread all my feedback 

(to take notes on the suggestions how to improve) 

and I also looked up lots of the recommended artists.

I found that Sigmar Polke, David Godbold, Michael Wann and David Eager Maher had in some of their work a feeling of the effect I was going for.

I could learn from them.

I gathered some work by them that I was attracted to.

Sigmar Polke.

I'm interested in the way Sigmar Polke has drawn over the top of this red a blue background. 

I don't know why but it sort of gives a feeling of age. 

David Godbold.

Again, like in Sigmar Polke work above David Godbold has drawn this on a unusual choice of support, the lined paper almost makes it feel like someone's daydream in class. 

lovely drawing, almost Albrecht Dürer-esque.

Michael Wann.

I like these very beautiful and atmospheric pictures of trees by Michael Wann, I think they have an element of mystery and sadness to them,

and this is not so much conveyed through subject 

but rather through execution. There are dark areas which draw us in,but make us use our imagination because things are not defined. We are given glimpses of detail only where the sunlight strikes through the trees.

David Eager Maher.

David Maher's work is very illustrative,

which I love, some of it reminds me of the illustrator 

Edmund Dulac or of my favourite illustrator Arthur Rackham.

Illustration by Edmund Dulac.

Illustration by Edmund Dulac.

Illustration by Arthur Rackham.

Illustration by Arthur Rackham.

I find looking at different artist's work helpful to sort out in my head ideas, and I can use elements from of what I see in order to build up a feeling of what I am trying to express.

Juxtaposing areas that are highly detailed with areas that are less well defined or dark.

I still didn't know quite how to start, so, as my theme was nostalgia, I did some sketches of some old toy soldiers I used to play with.

various pens and coloured pencils.

I was also aware of not just sketching but experimenting

with ideas of scales, colours and not being afraid to draw over the top of another drawing, creating overlapping layers. 

pencil pen and wash.

“My theme is memory, that winged host that soared about me one grey morning of war-time. These memories, which are my life—for we possess nothing certainly except the past—were always with me."

Evelyn Waugh.

About six years ago, I moved back to the area were I was brought up as a small child, I am surrounded by my memories of that time.

watercolour and fountain pen

Fountain pen.

This is a tree I love and used to climb, drawn from two different angles. I wanted to lead the eye to the nice comfortable place where I used to sit as a child and look out, half hidden on the world below.

Marker pen and wash.

 Watercolour and fountain pen.

Two drawings, of me, just looking at the tree.

For me, they have a slightly sad nostalgic feeling of lost childhood, but I am not sure if  these images could convey to others the feeling I am trying to put across.

Though, it is all helping to build up ideas and feelings in my head.

I went and sketched more local trees.

ink and a stick, (a long match stick, I think it was).

Sepia ink and dip in stick.

I think I was able to get some interesting marks using sticks, in these two drawings.

Watercolour wash and fountain pen.

Dip in stick and wash.

Ink onto wet paper (creating a pleasing misty effect) and then (when dry) back into it with pen.

I wanted to convey my connection with this landscape.

My own roots being in this very soil.

The age of the trees and their being silent witnesses to the lives of many generations.

Feeling the presence of childhood-self.

I wanted to incorporate this old rocking-horse. 

Watercolour.

Pencil, fountain pen and wash.

Sepia Pencil, fountain pen and wash.

And came up with the idea of it being in the middle of some trees.

It is a rather nice image, I think, it almost feels abandoned...in the woods of one's childhood, perhaps?

A suggestion of how one leaves childhood behind, but carries it about with you always.

Experimental Test Pieces.

I then wanted to try tying all these elements together.

I was also thinking of a new way to place the drawing on the page.

I came up with the idea of using my head as a boundary for the image. 

(1)

Charcoal pencil.

 I like the way at first glance you just see the drawing, and only with a closer look one sees the profile and head. 

This was more of a test piece, so not very worked, but I was quite pleased with the idea.

Close up.

The next one I drew I wanted to try overlaying the rocking-horse, as if more in the imagination then a physical object.

I started with a pencil drawing of some rather beautiful trees in this head border idea.

(2)

I then, in a red conté stick put in the rocking-horse and some of the toy solders, but I feel (although in theory, striking) it was unsuccessful, ended up looking a bit of a mess.

My next experiment was to try for the effect that Sigmar Polke achieve in the piece above, with the wash of colour behind and the ink drawing over the top.

I flicked red and green watercolour onto my support, 

it ended up quite pleasingly looking a bit like a tree.

I then added the outline of my head. 

I also like this as it is now.

(3)

I finally draw the wooded scene in with dip in pen.

Although I quite like the end result, it looks very dark, and quite sinister.

Which is not what I was trying to get.

Close up.

(4)

Sepia ink with dip in pen and wash.

Next I did this drawing, witch I quite like.

I was hoping with the sepia ink to create a feeling of age.

It's very much inspired by the illustrator Anthony Maitland's use of ink and mark-making.

Close up.

Illustration by Anthony Maitland.

Illustration by Anthony Maitland.

(5)

Sepia ink, dip in pen and lots of flicking with a paintbrush.

Another idea in sepia, 

I like the composition but not so much the execution.

I ended up defining the edge of the drawing too much, making the profile too obvious, I wanted the viewer to see the drawing inside the head first and the head after.

Close up.

(6)

Pencil and charcoal.

I then tried it without the rocking-horse, and in pencil, so to try and get a soft and subtler edge.

The tree is good, and feels a bit like Michael Wann's dark, mysterious trees.

This was, I think, the best test piece, but I decided I wanted the rocking-horse in my final pieces.

Close up.

My Finally Assignment.

"Exploring the connexion between memory and the landscape."

Pencil, charcoal pencil and dip in pen.

I started on a white support, sketching in the outline of the head in pencil.

Then I began work on the drawing on the inside.

Really, the composition is similar to the drawing I numbered (5), only flipped the other way, but the tree on the right and the head is more like the one from (6).

I wanted to lead the viewer's eye in a spiral,  from the roots up through the tree and onto the rocking-horse on so deeper into the picture.

I worked hard on trying to get a definite foreground, most of my attention given to the tree roots, a middle-ground, with the horse and a faded background of trees.

I struggled with getting enough tones, I think this is one of my weaknesses, though I think I eventually got some depth to the drawing.

I went for pencil and black ink rather then sepia, because, although I like the look of the browny ink, the pencil has a lighter and softer touch.

My light source comes from top left, I like simple lighting.

My mark-making although varied in shape and direction, I don't think it was enough in size, I feel the drawing would benefit from some larger more sweeping marks. 

Seeing that the drawing is in the shape of a head, it being smaller on the computer screen means that it is more obvious then when viewed in real life.

I flicked the edges with a brush loaded with ink, and I like the effect, making me think of the swirling mists of time and mildewed ancient paper.

I wish I had kept the drawing lighter and hadn't got so dark in places, as it is a very sharp contrast between the whiteness of the paper.

The image is meant to convey the theme of nostalgia, or at least a part of it, for I would say it is a many faceted emotion.

I was trying to create an image for a Proustian moment, 

"In Search of Lost Time".

I am pleased enough with the finished drawing... though, I always feel I could do better.

Close ups.