I enjoyed working through Part 3 and looking at landscapes, even if the subject matter is far out of my comfort zone. Sticking to a monotone palette and limited mediums helped me to concentrate on the subject matter and how to get that right. As I progressed further into the exercises I should have began branching out in these areas more and looked into getting more experimental. For my assignment piece I explored combining two similar mediums, a fine liner pen and ink, which worked well but I should have looked into how to really create a scene effectively with combining these mediums.
I was able to get a bit more creative when I was looking at Project 2 Exercise 1 and how I can depict clouds. I looked at a variety of mediums and I should have explored that further and carried it through into the other exercises instead of holding back. I am happy with my use of pen in this module though, I think I have greatly improved in that medium especially when depicting trees up close. I struggled with foliage as it is quite a vast and complex thing to capture, especially in an effective manner.
With my use of pens, as suggested by Hayley, I should have looked more at how I can use this medium more effectively, such as using a variety of pen nibs to add more depth in my drawings. And also look at introducing colour within this medium as well.
Looking at broader scenes would have been ideal to consider other mediums or becoming more experimentative with my use of fine liners. I think exploring ink for these vast scenes earlier on would have been good for me, and also oil pastels. I did try these in some later drawings briefly, but I think for a larger scale drawing they would have proved very useful.
In my feedback I am always happy to hear how I do well with my Artist Research, but I think I can improve an look through more sources such as books and perhaps interviews to really strengthen my knowledge. This could lead me to have a better understanding of some Artists, styles and themes. I am interested into looking more at the themes and concepts of art and narrative in my Part 4 with John Berger’s ‘Ways of seeing’ . Looking forward to Part 5 I know I’d really love to explore on portraiture and the female body and ‘Ways of seeing’ can offer lots of powerful insight into that as well as looking just at Artists work. Looking at contemporary Artists along side historical is vital to really develop my themes and narratives as I love to combine a traditional approach with modern themes. I found that looking at Modern Art, although it can be wild and different, far from traditional drawings, I can still take lots of inspiration from this and apply concepts and ideas to my own work. I want to try and look at more exhibitions and how viewing art in person can give it new context. Although this may be hard to achieve with lockdown restrictions.
Again, I should really experiment with a variety of mediums to really explore what i can capture and create with my work. I could explore non traditional mediums but also all the ways I can use traditional mediums. Considering portraiture is something I am very confident in, I don’t think I should have any trouble with exploring a variety of mediums for this section of Drawing 1.
I should look at a variety of styles to really immerse myself in exploration. One of my favourite Artists is Edward Hopper and how he creates immersive scenes with people, but I could also look to more simplified styles like Cubism, especially when tackling more complicated exercises like groups of people.
I know that I need to explore more with my mediums and take time to really explore ideas. I’m excited to move into Part 4 not only for drawing but also for researching and developing my ideas and themes further.
Simona Hopewell : Drawing 1 