You never know what you will find.
I found this perfect lithograph in a charity shop for £1.50. I did consider selling it on. But, as I play violin, plus I like the movement in this image, I have decided to hang on to it. I especially admire how the artist depicted the bow with one deftly executed line.
References:
Weisbuch. C. (2008) Le Violoniste. [Lithograph 123/250]. 33 x 28cm. Private collection.
I had some very encouraging feedback from my tutor on Assignment 4: The Figure. He suggested that I rework some sketches to give more depth using tonal contrast. The following few pieces I feel have benefitted from being revisited.
I feel that the extra shading has been well worth the effort involved. There is more depth to the images and a greater illusion of form emerging.
I have begun an attempt to develop the above image. I tried to transfer some of the figures to a market scene as follows:
I’m not sure whether this will work. I left it after a couple of hours work and did the other two rework assignments whilst the idea percolated in my mind awhile.
Update:
I have other pieces to rework and shall revisit these over the following few days.
References:
Walker.M. (2020) A Group of Figures [coloured/ white pencil on A3 black paper]
Walker.M. (2020) Seated Female Figure [coloured pencil on A3 cartridge paper]
Walker.M. (2020) Seated Male Figure [coloured pencil on square kraft paper sketchbook]
Walker.M. (2020) Seated Male Robed Figure [coloured pencil on square kraft paper sketchbook]
Walker.M. (2020) Seated Male Figure [conte stick and pencil on A3 cartridge paper]
Walker.M. (2020) Reclining Male Figure [pencil on A3 cartridge paper]
The following post is the result of homework given during a zoom-hosted OCA workshop on reflective writing techniques. This is taking place over two consecutive Saturdays in July. In the intervening week students lucky enough to be included were tasked to come up with a short blog post (250 words – exceeded here) presumably for the purposes of critiques during the anticipated second session this coming Saturday morning.
Drawing 1: Drawing Skills: Assignment 5: Personal Project: “Hypervigilance”
Having almost come to the end of Drawing One: Drawing Skills, I approached this final assignment with some trepidation. I felt somewhat like a battery hen let loose from its cage in that this was the first occasion, in the course so far, that I had been asked to come up with my own initial ideas.
I settled upon developing a self-portrait from my sketchbook. Having been inspired by Facing Death, a self-portrait by Picasso, and having a yen to experiment with print, I decided to create a short series of experimental collagraphs based on my self-portrait sketch. With little idea as to what the outcome may look like, I set about drawing, in my studio, the enlarged (flipped) image onto a sheet of A1 mountboard.
Such a large relief plate necessitated the use of a baren. It produced a grainy/patchy print. However, I persevered. Inspired by Picasso’s collages in the Picasso and Paper exhibition at the Royal Academy, I realised there was scope for turning it into a mixed media piece. I cannibalised three other prints – cutting and pasting from one to the other. This process felt a bit sacrilegious in that I could almost hear the ghosts of purist printers past protesting in my head.
There was a stern quality to the expression on the face which made me think of my tendency towards hypervigilance. The piece then had its title. Feeling the need to soften the image somehow, I added flowers cut out of photocopies of doodles of daisies I had produced following a morning walk in the countryside. This also added some colour contrast together with the addition of yellow and green to make the purple ink “pop” and gave the image a bit more appeal.
When requested, my brother-in-law, an artist himself, fed back that the image put him firmly in mind of Byzantine Art. He said that I had even added a hint of a halo around my head using yellow paper. This had been unintentional on my part. But as soon as Byzantine Art was mentioned, I realised the connection as, though I have no inclination toward organised religion, I do have a penchant for iconographic Christian images. Included amongst my collection is a small plaque depicting a detail from Vladimir’s Virgin.
Where do I go from here? My brother-in-law liked Hypervigilance so much that he bought it. This left me financially the richer, but poorer as regards a tangible outcome for Assignment 5. I have the two remaining prints which I managed to pull from the plate before the PVA-coated cardboard lost its integrity. When I look at the image, I feel it is a bit flat and could use more depth. I tried adding Conte stick around the jawline to the subsequent version and this appeared to help. I shall continue to work on this in a similar vein.
Update:
I did not receive feedback from the workshop tutor as I failed to upload this post to the correct Gdrive. Instead, I emailed it directly. Lesson learned, follow instructions!
References:
Detail, Unknown artist. (first third of the 12th Century) Our Lady of Vladimir, [tempera on wood]
Hall Museum Church of St Nicholas, Moscow. [Online image] Available from: https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/hdsjournal/wounded-presence-virgin-vlaidimir-icon. [Accessed 21st Jul 2020]
Picasso. P (2020) Facing Death. 1971 [crayon on paper] Picasso and Paper. Royal Academy. 25th January – 13th April 2020.
Walker. M. (2020) Hypervigilance #1 & #2. [Mixed media A1 mountboard. 84.1 cm x 59.4 cm.]
I cannibalized one of the blue collagraph prints to take the glasses frames and pasted them onto the purple print – which can now be more accurately described as a collage – and added the neck area too from the same blue print. This left me with a “holey” print. This I laid on top of slate blue mountboard as so:
I intend to lighten the areas slightly where the slate blue mountboard shows through. I shall leave some areas dark, such as around the neck, to form a choker. This may, or may not, have beads spelling out the words “Am I normal yet?”
I haven’t forgotten about the third in this triptych:
I shall work on these further very soon.
Update:
I shall attempt to recreate the above effect using lime green highlighter pen, collaged yellow and blue paper and crimson gel pen/biro.
I carried out an online search for contrasting colour combinations and came upon Johannes Itten. He wrote a book, The Art of Colour, wherein he included his theories on colour use. I have yet to read it, however from what I gleaned online he suggests that colour associations are both subjective and objective. Although colour contrasts are generally accepted what jars and what resonates will vary from person to person.
I’ve decided to concentrate on just one image rather than attempting a triptych, the following is rapidly nearing completion:
How can I improve this image? I feel that I’ve done all I can to it and that all that’s left to do is to ensure the collaged layers are pasted down satisfactorily. It has come a long way from the initial sketched inspiration. I feel that the contrasting colours hint at both an icy and an alert state which earns this piece its title. Though the furrowed brow may not be so much in evidence these days, making this self portrait more expressive of how I used to be rather than how I am now, it reminds me that the scars of hypervigilance are not so very far beneath the surface.
References:
Itten. J. (1961) The Art of Color. New York: John Wiley and Sons.
Itten. Johannes. (1921/22) Kinderbild [online image] Available from: http://www.bauhaus-imaginista.org/articles/4787/johannes-itten-and-mazdaznan-at-the-bauhaus [Accessed 4th July 2020]
Picasso. P. (1971) Facing Death [crayon on paper] [online image] Available from: https://www.pablopicasso.org/images/paintings/picasso-self-portrait.jpg
Walker. M. (2020) Self portrait from sketchbook [pastel on paper]
Walker. M. (2020) Hypervigilance #2 [mixed media on A1 cartridge paper]
From a design for a painting created to thank my niece for looking after my pet rats several years ago. I redraw it here onto a (roughly A5) piece of lino with the intention of cutting it for a relief printing process. I look forward to doing that tomorrow afternoon. Then comes the delight of inking it up and taking prints on my new Acme wringer printing press.
It’s my first stab at a reductive linocut print:
Started by cutting out white areas such as clouds, the Dreamer’s face hands and feet as well as outlines. Then I printed in yellow water based ink:
I made up a jig to align plate and paper up centrally and so that I could add another colour more or less in the same position after a few more cuts into the plate:
There is perhaps a little too much going on in this pic. It may well have benefitted from a few blank areas just to give the eyes a rest and emphasise the flying figure as the real focal point. But otherwise I’m happy with the result.
Update:
Monday’s efforts after a hard day’s work and a few cuts into the plate:
I thought I might use the pink and green prints on card to collage areas such as the sky and fields (onto the yellow card) in pink and green respectively. Not sure yet. I’d end up with one image instead of three. Perhaps I could hand finish all three using coloured pencil crayon?
The pink print is the least successful due to ink falling into the cut area therefore obscuring the pattern on the dress. This was due to my not cleaning the plate between prints. Lesson learned. I shall experiment with coloured pencil on this print first, so if it’s spoiled as a result it’s no great loss.
References:
Walker. M (2020) The Dreamer. [Acrylic on 40cm x 60cm canvas]
Today’s efforts; again I feel the need to stop and consider awhile. It needs something but I’m not sure what right now. Come back to it tomorrow.
I have to say that I prefer the latest version to the one that sold. I think it’s more human and less like an anachronistic byzantinesque icon.
References:
Walker.M. (2020) Hypervigilance #1 [mixed media on A1 cartridge paper] Private collection
Of the four prints I took from the mountboard plate, one sold and three remain. I’ve decided to work concurrently on these remainders as one complete idea. The following is the point which I reached today. I stopped to blog the work so far because I believed it could benefit from thinking about overnight.
I have played around enough with these today to warrant a rest and rethink as regards how best to proceed.
I have some lino discs into which I have cut simple flower designs. I shall ink these up and take prints which I shall collage onto these self portraits.
This is my Assignment 5 project as it stands. However, it is no longer in my possession: I sold it. This leaves me with the versions in blue and in purple to develop using similar methods as those used for the above. I chose to print this image rather than use coloured crayons or any other medium to produce a portrait, because I love the magic of the moment when peeling a print away from the plate. It’s both a surprise and a pleasure and these feelings do not appear to diminish with time/familiarity.
I am concerned that I may risk copying or reproducing what I’ve done already with this next version. I think it’s important that I develop it further in some way – at least use different colours, not just mimic. But is that the right way to go? Perhaps I could take the strengths of the sold piece and reuse them. Trouble is, I fear I’ve already produced the best version. This has cramped my thinking somewhat. But tomorrow is another day. I get to play with this:
References:
Walker.M. (2020) Hypervigilance #1 [mixed media on A1 cartridge paper]
I just managed a further couple of prints off the mountboard plate before it began to lose its integrity. Parts began peeling away from the plate as the final print was removed.
I intend to use parts of a previous print, from the sectional plate I did earlier, for a collage. These are in a nice dark yellow, almost orange colour:
I still have these plates. I may print from them again and use them to produce different coloured elements for the finished collage. Then I shall select the best result out of all three and submit that one for Assignment 5.
I think I’ll cut out “white” areas of the blue prints, lay each onto white mountboard. Then indicate on the mountboard which areas will show in the cut out areas and make interesting patterns and textures on the mountboard. Then glue the print down. I’ll then draw onto this and/or collage on top.
This is how far I’ve got with this. I have finished cutting the plate and have taken my first two prints. I discarded the very first for now as water based ink soaks into the plate and comparatively little onto the paper.
My plan is to use mixed media and collage techniques to add depth and texture to this image. A bit of orange and lime green should be effective. Also some pattern and a few of the following scattered about to soften the image slightly. It’s a bit intense as it is:
I added some pastel and wax crayon colour:
I may redo and have seperate A1 pieces in orange, blue and in turquoise. The look in my eye in this picture reminds me of my hypervigilance in groups of people I do not know well.
My partner commented that the upper lip was too long from nose to top lip. I shall attempt to rectify on another print first before attempting it on this one. He said it looked a bit leonine. We experimented digitally with adjusting the mouth to reduce the gap between top lip and nose. In the meantime I emailed a relative with art experience at degree level and he enthused about the image as it stands in particular the animalistic quality to the point where the offered hard currency for his own copy. He also said that it had a Byzantine feel to it and liked the iconic Christian undertones. He suggested adding a gold Celtic symbol to the earring. I shall return to this image with renewed enthusiasm. Very cool.
Maureen Walker's blog: An Artist's Journey 