Drawing Micro-Macro Feathers on a large scale

Feathers on a large scale 19th September

Friday's work was an extension of last week's study; looking closely at small subjects and drawing them on a larger scale. I looked again at the small white feather I brought in last week. I also had a close inspection of last weeks drawings, noting the many different ways I had drawn the feather. I picked a section of one of the drawings, and enlarged it further.

I'm not used to drawing on such massive pieces of paper, or standing up while drawing. However, having my work upright in such a large scale while I continue working on it, allows me to stand back occasionally and have a better look as it develops.

Drawing on large pieces of paper makes me more aware of how to fill and make the most of the page. Composition is important when doing something like this; draw too small and your competing with the rest of the white paper, draw too big and you risk not fitting your art work on the page. Achieving the right balance of positive and negative space is an important lesson to learn.

After much thought I decided on a blown up section of the center of my feather. It had a balance of both the soft light and the hard sturdy feeling I wanted to convey in this piece. Having mapped out the drawing on my paper, I chose to use charcoal. Having used it in my previous study I found it had the variety of marks I was looking for. Turning the piece of charcoal on its side, making soft wide marks was perfect for the light fluffy feel, and sharpening the edge, created a hard bold look which suited the hard lines in the middle of the feather.

While slowly marking out my first lines with the black charcoal, I explained to the tutor what I was trying to achieve in this work. We discussed what I'd done so far and ways to go forward. The tutor suggested covering the paper in black and then removing parts with a rubber. This was similar to a technique I'd enjoyed doing earlier this year, while working on black paper.

Drawing on black paper is a different approach which makes you look at light in a different way. Instead of adding 'dark', you add 'light'. Also, colours seem much brighter without the white to tone them down. Next to black, colours seem to vibrate. However, doing a small scale drawing on a black piece of paper is very different to a massive sheet of white paper.

It took a long time, and about three sticks of charcoal to cover half the paper. One thing I did notice while covering my paper was when making large fast circular motions, the dust from the charcoal made a beautiful spiral, spinning out over the paper before falling to the floor. This reminded me of the Milky Way Galaxy; a deep coloured centre of a cloud of dust, slowly fading into nothing.

After covering my paper with black, (and most of myself in the process) I paused to consider how I was going to remove the layers of charcoal I'd spent so long applying. It would be interesting seeing something appear, by taking some of the blackness away. It will be the reverse of the 'normal' way of drawing.