Drawing engraving 28th November

Engraving   28th November

With today being the first day of printing, we started off with a talk on the processes we will be doing over the next three weeks. There are many different materials and ways to engrave.

Woodcut is the earliest printmaking technique, and the only one traditionally used in the Far East. It was probably first developed as a means of printing patterns on cloth, and by the 5th century was used in China for printing text and images on paper. Woodcuts of images on paper developed around 1400 in Europe and slightly later in Japan. These are the two areas where woodcut has been most extensively used, purely as a process for making images without text. The artist draws a sketch either on a plank of wood or on paper which is transferred to the wood. Traditionally the artist then hands the work to a specialist cutter, who uses sharp tools to carve away the parts of the block that he/she does not want to receive the ink. The remaining raised parts of the block are inked with a brayer and then a sheet of paper, perhaps slightly damp, is placed over the block. The block is then rubbed with a baren or spoon, or is run through a press. If in colour, separate blocks are carved and used for each colour. Linocut is a similar process to woodcut, but a block of linoleum is used instead of wood.

Collagraphs are built up in a collage-like process onto a rigid base. The resulting plate is then inked and printed onto paper. Collagraphy is a very free form of printmaking and achieves very vibrant colours and a great depth of tone. Collagraphs can either be relief (where the ink is applied to the upper layers of the plate) or intaglio (ink is applied to the whole plate and then removed from the upper layers, left only in the recesses.)

Drypoint: A variant of engraving, done with a sharp point, rather than a v-shaped burin. While engraved lines are very smooth and hard-edged, drypoint scratching leaves a rough burr at the edges of each line. This burr gives drypoint prints a characteristically soft, and sometimes blurry, line quality. Because the pressure of printing quickly destroys the burr, drypoint is useful only for very small editions; as few as ten or twenty impressions. To counter this, and allow for longer print runs, electro-plating (usually called steelfacing) has been used since the nineteenth century to harden the surface of a plate.

We were taken to the 3D room where the printing would take place and shown how to turn our engravings into prints. It started with placing a piece of paper in some water to soak and while that is happening the ink is placed on the aluminium plate using a fine cloth and then the excess is rubbed off with a clean part of cloth. After the ink is removed the plate is then placed in the printing machine and the paper that was soaking in the water is drained of any excess water and layered on top of the aluminium plate. Finally the whole thing is run through the press and the paper is focused onto the aluminium plate and the ink is imprinted onto the paper.

Having been shown the printing process, it was now time for me to have a go. Using a photo from the cathedral trip of a dragon, I started drawing out the outline using the tracing paper. When I had finished the outline I placed the tracing paper over the carbon paper and layered both over the aluminium plate. Then taking a fine pen I traced over the lines I had already made.

With all the lines pressed onto the aluminium plate, it was now time for the next part of the process which was engraving. I took the metal tool that looked like a pencil and started to scratch away the surface of the aluminium, taking care to plan the areas of light and shadow before I made any marks on the plate. I started with small light lines in one direction for the lighter areas, then going over them in the other direction using the cross hatching technique to create deeper and more texture lines for the shadows. I kept doing this till I had all the different layers I needed for the print.

As it was now the end of the lesson, I would have to finish printing on Monday. This was my first attempt at print making. I enjoyed learning about the different methods you can use to achieve a print.

Drawing many tones with a couple of colours 24th November

 Many tones with a couple of colours 24th November

Today's study was a look at colour and how to use it correctly with tone. We were given a large scale still life set up to paint, focusing on the tonal difference between the separate objects. Having set up the board, we were given an A2 piece of paper and four colours of acrylic paint. With only four colours, we had to adapt to match the tones, using the two warm colours (yellow and red) as the lighter tones on the still life, and the two cool colours (blue and the green) as the shadows. This is because cool colours tend to recede.

I started with the lightest part of the objects, using the yellow to cover the brightest areas, slightly going beyond so it would be easier to blend the dark paint with the light to get a gradual tonal change. Ignoring the fact that the four colours we were using looked nothing like any on the object, we had to see beyond the idea of realistic colour. Instead we were to think of the colours as light and shadow, warm and cool, and use them to create different tones.

What I found difficult was that I wanted to use the acrylics like watercolour paints, blending the paint together to get a gradual smooth transition from one colour to the next. This is hard to do with acrylics, especially in a short time frame, so instead I layered the paint thicker and tried to make the colours work with each other, ignoring my need to blend. I still worked the colours into each other, but not with a smooth finish. It made it look very abstract.

I enjoyed this lesson. It was interesting to see and learn different ways of using and applying colour to a painting. It shows that the colours don't have to be realistic for a painting to look good. I think I'll have to try this style of painting out a bit more and also experiment with some other techniques of painting.

Drawing Human form in different ways 21st November

Human form in different ways   21st November

With this Friday being the last lesson on life drawing I was hoping to increase my speed so I could complete a couple more pieces.

The lesson started with a quick 5 minute study. This was a good way to warm up as well as getting used to drawing quickly; something I need to improve on. For the first three poses we were told to get as much of the form down as we could. For the last few poses we only had to draw a stick man made up of five lines, one each for the body, arms, legs and a circle for the head.

We were then told to turn our board around to the side of us so that we could draw on it, but not see what we were drawing. Using a piece of charcoal, we had to draw the model making sure not to look at our drawing, or taking the charcoal off the paper. The results were very interesting; mostly mad scribble, but they did have some figure shape. Finally, on the same page, again not taking our charcoal off the board, we had to draw just the outline of the model, but this time with the opposite hand. It was an interesting exercise that made you concentrate on what you were drawing.

We then moved onto a larger drawing where we covered the paper with black charcoal, then used the rubber to add light by erasing the dark. As I have done this a couple of times during the course, I'm starting to get accustomed to drawing this way. Using the rubber to lightly draw the lines and to map out the figure, I then started to pick out the lightest parts and gradually add and blend in tone. We were then given white charcoal to make one part of the drawing more detailed. We were told this is how the old Masters worked and that the drawings they did were just a part of the painting process. I chose to draw the model's arm and shoulder as they were in the light and had more tone.

Finally we were given a different way to start a drawing; instead of measuring we had to draw lines and angles that would form the figure we were drawing. This looked almost like construction lines in a building. It was a very different way of drawing from last week, but having got used to measuring angles, it wasn't too hard. After the lines were drawn we could then go over them with a bit of colour to sketch out more of the curves of the figure. It was an interesting lesson and gave me some different ways of looking at the human form.

Drawing tone and colour 17th november

Tone and colour   17th November

Today’s lesson was a study on tone and colour. We were given a photo of a portrait and a copy of the same painting, but it was only an outline. We then had to paint in the tone using acrylics. It was a good warm up exercise focussing on creating tone using paint.

I started with the darkest parts, adding one layer of paint, then using water to gradually blend the darker layers into the white paper. Using this method I continued layering on paint, creating the gradual tone to mimic the shadows in the painting. It was easier to make the differences in tone blend together with a smooth transition from dark to light using the paint in this way.

 

After finishing the first study, we moved onto a larger painting of a still life, continuing a focus on tone. I roughly mapped out each one of the objects, making sure I concentrated on measurement and proportion. The main part of the drawing was the outline of the object, adding only a minimum amount of detail as I would be adding that with the paint. With the sketching done, it was time to add colour and tone. Much like the first exercise, I started with the darker areas and blended them with water to make a gradual tone change from dark to light. While painting I continually noted the different tones and textures on the objects. Even though they were in the same light, the various objects were casting different shadows on each other. I had to make sure all the tone I added was consistent. I also had to ensure there was enough contrast so the individual objects didn't merge into one. I did this by making sure there was a defining shadow, or a small change in the tone, so you could see that the objects were in front, or behind each other.

Using tone is important because it can define a subject as well as make it look three dimensional, being able to depict tone when using colour is an important  skill. Without tone, the drawings and paintings would look flat.

Friday Drawing Life Drawing Figuring out the body

Figuring Out The Body

Once again it was the end of the week which meant another all day life drawing session. After enjoying last Friday's class I was eager to get started. In the first part of the lesson we were focusing on capturing the essence of the figure by doing quick sketches. We started with 5 minutes then had less and less time till we were down to 30 seconds per drawing. I found this was an interesting and difficult way of drawing because I normally take my time and like to map out every part before I move on. However, with this I had no time to spare and had to get as much down as quickly as I could before the time was up. I had to try and think of ways to capture the form of the figure as quickly as possible with the least amount of lines. With that in mind I started drawing quickly.

From one drawing to the next I didn't have much time to think about if the position or proportions were right on my drawings, I just had to go with my first instinct. After drawing normally for a while, we were then told to make a couple of drawings without taking the pencil off the paper. We only had a couple of minutes to draw a pose with just one line, and not taking the pencil off the paper. The pencil was always moving forward. With this type of drawing I had to think a step ahead of where my pencil was so I could keep the line going in the short amount of time we had. This was a hard way to draw. I not only had to think of the outline, but how I would connect the lines inside.

After the quick drawings were done it was time to start the main study. We started covering the paper with charcoal, then mapping out the figure. Using the same system as last lesson, I started measuring the model by establishing the head size then seeing how many head lengths go into the rest of the body. I then resized that onto the paper so that the figure would fill the page, once that was done I started drawing the head and shoulders measuring as I went and adjusting where I needed to.

Once the figure was drawn I had to add tone. With the black background I had to take away the dark areas with a rubber to show the light. I went around the drawing adding darker tones for the shadows and rubbing away to show the light. I was just finishing when it was time to start the next drawing. We were given a shorter time to finish this last drawing, 50 minutes and we weren't allowed to use any curves. This was interesting to practise because it made me notice how a lot of the body is made up of curves. I started a new drawing only using straight lines. I made what seemed a very cubist figure that was very different from the other I had done today.

With time up, I reflected on what I had done today. In a short amount of time I had done several quick drawings, a long study in charcoal, and a 50 minute study. I was happy with what I'd finished. I know I'm improving and I can tell I'm getting a lot quicker with my drawings. It's only 8 weeks into the course, so I'm looking forward to seeing how much I will improve over the coming months.

Drawing Monday Tonal Development 3 November

Tonal Development   3 November

After the half term I was ready to get back to the collage and the drawing lessons. Even though I've done some drawing at home over last week it wasn't the same as having the group lessons. I missed looking at the different styles of the class, getting ideas, and being able to talk through your thoughts. Getting feed back from the other students is something I find very useful.

This Monday's lesson was continuing on from last week, which was developing tone. We were set a task to draw an object of our choosing on a large A1 piece of paper. We were then to cover the paper with charcoal so we had a surface to add and take away from.

Having made my feathers in micro-macro a similar way I was eager to try out this way of drawing again. I started by picking my object. This was an important task as I wanted an object with a contrast of textures so I could have a range of tones to draw. Searching through the boxes of objects I found one that was very interesting. I still have no idea what it was, but it seemed to be made out of natural materials.

I started by closely examining the object, turning it around and looking at different angles so that I could find the most interesting view point to start my drawing. I finally settled on turning the object so I could see the inside and part of the outer rim. This was so I could get the contrast of the bumpy inside and the smoother outer skin of the subject in question.

Having established what I will be drawing, I then had to cover my paper with charcoal. This was simple, but messy. After going through one whole charcoal stick I was ready to start the drawing. We were to begin by rubbing away the charcoal that we had just put on as a background. This was a different type of drawing than normal, but I just saw it as drawing the light instead of the shadow.

I started my drawing by lightly mapping the outline making sure that I didn't take away too much of the charcoal to begin with. I then quickly rubbed out the parts where the light was hitting object. This time taking away more of the black charcoal and starting to work on tone. With this method I had made three tones; the black background, the grayish tone that was the mid light; and the lightest tone that were the spots where the light was hitting the object. Having the basic tone mapped out, I was now ready to add and work back into the layers with some more charcoal. This was easier than I thought it would be as the charcoal when smudged made it easy to blend tones together, creating a smooth transition between the tones.

I found trying to get the tones of the smooth areas difficult as they had very little change in the tone other then gray to black so I had to work out ways to get the texture without losing any tone. One of the many good things about working with a black charcoal background is that I could add many layers to one part without damaging the paper. This was a good thing seeing as parts of my object had very complex textures. The only way I could have a good contrast with the tones and still keep the texture, was to layer smudge the layer on top of the paper over again until I was happy with the results.

With a lot of the layering done, I quickly went over many parts of the drawing adding darker or lighter parts making sure the contrast was there so the object stood out from the background. After a lot of adding and taking away, and then adding again, I was happy with my artwork. The lesson on building tone by taking away was not only useful, but enjoyable.