Expressive Drawing – Foundational Structure

Finding a Structure
Expressive Drawing - Chapter 10 - Build 2
Acrylic on Paper
59.4cm x 84.1cm (23.4" x 33.1")

I enjoyed the last chapter of Expressive Drawing by Steven Aimone. I’d lost my way for a few chapters but picked up the threads for a last hurrah.

Chapter 10 is about foundational structure. Stephen says:

Foundational structure occurs when a series of shapes join to cover (or engage) the entire drawing space, holding the space together in rock-solid fashion.

He calls foundational structure the drawing beneath the drawing. It can be obvious or implied and can supply a drawing with clarity and coherency.

Developing a Grid
Expressive Drawing - Chapter 10 - Build 1
Acrylic on Paper
59.4cm x 84.1cm (23.4" x 33.1")

The chapter explores, two types of structure: the grid (not necessarily square) and large underlying shapes.

Playing with a Grid
Expressive Drawing - Chapter 10 - Play 1
Collage
20cm x 20cm (8" x 8")

The play exercise involves drawing horizontal stripes on a square piece of paper, cutting the paper into 64 squares and then rearranging them. Steven suggests repeating the exercise a few times; which I did and even drew one of the resulting patterns.

Playing with a Grid
Expressive Drawing - Chapter 10 - Play 1
Graphite Pencil on Paper
20cm x 20cm (8" x 8")

The first build exercise is about working with a grid. In the first part, you draw a grid and respond to it as you draw. In the second part, you start with some automatic drawing (see Expressive Drawing - The Drawing Process) from which you allow a grid to evolve and to inform the rest of the drawing.

Starting with a Grid
Expressive Drawing - Chapter 10 - Build 1
Charcoal and Wax Crayon on Paper
59.4cm x 84.1cm (23.4" x 33.1")

The second build exercise has a similar format, but is about working with underlying shapes.

Planned Structure
Expressive Drawing - Chapter 10 - Build 2
Acrylic on Paper
84.1cm x 59.4cm (33.1" x 23.4")

Elaine and I are planning to frame the painting/drawing at the top of the post to go into our sun trap dining room - it is too brightly lit for us to hang any delicate or valuable art. I'm considering tidying up the top right-hand corner of the picture before framing it.

Finding a Structure - Tidied
Expressive Drawing - Chapter 10 - Build 2
Digital from Acrylic on Paper

What do you think? Should I tidy it or leave it?

Expressive Drawing – Equilibrium

Walking the Dog
Expressive Drawing - Chapter 8 - Play 1
Ink on Rice Paper
40.5cm x 20.5cm (16" x 8")

In Chapter 8 of Expressive Drawing, Steven Aimone identifies the importance of equilibrium or balance in nature and suggests a drawing incorporating a sense of equilibrium, speaks poetically about nature and life.

Related Drawings - Asymmetrical
Expressive Drawing - Chapter 8 - Build 1
Graphite and Charcoal on Paper
59.4cm x 84.1cm (23.4" x 33.1")

Steven defines equilibrium as the unity that occurs when opposites or polarities come together like yin and yang. He identifies examples of different types of polarities such as night and day, hot and cold, wet and dry, pain and pleasure, hope and fear, love and hate, light and dark, active and passive, rough and smooth, top and bottom, inside and outside, front and back, left and right, and so on. He explains that equilibrium provides a feeling of stability and is usually a desirable and necessary thing, but sometimes instability gives a sense of life, excitement and tension.

Related Drawings - Symmetrical
Expressive Drawing - Chapter 8 - Build 1
Graphite and Charcoal on Paper
59.4cm x 84.1cm (23.4" x 33.1")

The play exercise for the chapter involves creating drawings with left and right balance without resorting to symmetry. The build exercise entails creating a pair of related drawings. They both have a sense of equilibrium, but one of them is almost perfectly symmetrical and the other is asymmetrical.

Flying a Kite
Expressive Drawing - Chapter 8 - Play 1
Ink on Rice Paper
40.5cm x 20.5cm (16" x 8")

I still haven't got back into the swing of these exercises, but I am persevering, trying to absorb the ideas, and trusting I will be inspired by some of the later chapters.

Expressive Drawing – Rhythm

Rhythmic Drawing with Several Motifs
Expressive Drawing - Chapter 7 - Build 3
Digital

In Chapter 7 of Expressive Drawing, Steven Aimone discusses Rhythm. He observes there is a rhythm in all living things and suggests if a drawing displays rhythm, it can be experienced as being about nature or life itself. I agree that there is something primal about a drawing with a strong rhythmic component.

Rhythmic Repetition
Expressive Drawing - Chapter 7 - Play 1
Graphite on Paper
84.1cm x 20cm (33.1" x 8")

The initial play exercises concern creating long thin drawings based on the rhythmic repetition of vertical lines.

Horizontal Rhythm of a Vertical Line Bar Motif
Expressive Drawing - Chapter 7 - Build 1
Acrylic on Paper
84.1cm x 59.4cm (33.1" x 23.4")

The first build exercise is also about the rhythmic repetition of vertical lines. The instructions for the exercise are like those for previous exercises - you add elements to the drawing and remove anything you don’t like by erasing or obscuring it.

I had a major loss of mojo during this exercise. The drawing quickly reached a point where both Elaine and I were enthusiastic about it. Elaine even talked about framing it. I decided to do one more thing, which spoilt the composition and then spent weeks adding bits on and covering bits up - never finding a pattern I enjoyed. Part of the problem is once lines have been erased or obscured, the drawing begins to look overworked. The white acrylic I use intensifies the problem because it's not a pure white - it has a slight creamy yellow cast. My loss of confidence and enthusiasm was also due to a lack of time for drawing and painting.

Rhythmic Drawing with Several Motifs
Expressive Drawing - Chapter 7 - Build 3
Charcoal on Paper
59.4cm x 84.1cm (23.4" x 33.1")

I began to get things back together on the final build exercise - creating a rhythmic drawing with several motifs. I wanted to draw it again and refine it. For a change, I decided to do this in GIMP a free alternative to Photoshop.

Valentine’s Day Card Doodle

Happy Valentine’s Day Elaine

Hearts are difficult - to draw. They are all curves and changes of direction. It is easy to hesitate while drawing them and this results in scrappy looking lines. My trick is to use a brush pen on rice paper. This combination gives a pleasantly blotchy line – a bit of hesitancy is just lost in the noise.

I used Winsor and Newton alcohol based ProMarkers to colour the design and lettering. They also spread unpredictably on rice paper – which means they can be blamed for any tendency to stray outside the lines.

The overall effect is controlled untidiness (a phrase borrowed from John Lovett).

The pattern was inspired by an exercise on rhythm from Expressive Drawing by Steven Aimone. I sketched it out, then refined it by tracing it and tweaking it multiple times using an LED light box.

I drew the motif and the letters on separate pieces of rice paper before combining them in GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program - a free alternative to Photoshop) and uploading onto a Moonpig card.

Happy Valentine’s Day Elaine.

Expressive Drawing - Repetition

Repetition of a Motif
Expressive Drawing - Chapter 6 - Play 1
Mixed Media on Paper
59.4cm x 84.1cm (23.4" x 33.1")

Chapter 6 of Expressive Drawing by Steven Aimone is about Repetition. Steven defines repetition as the recurring appearance or presence of a visual element such as a line, mark, shape, texture, tone, colour, directionality, etc. He argues that drawings that feature repletion naturally hold together.

Repetition of a Motif
Expressive Drawing - Chapter 6 - Play 1
Charcoal and Graphite on Paper
59.4cm x 84.1cm (23.4" x 33.1")

Repetition is one of the five principles of composition identified by Arthur Wesley Dow in his work on Composition (see Repetition).

Repetition of Multiple Motifs
Expressive Drawing - Chapter 6 - Build 1
Charcoal and Graphite on Paper
59.4cm x 84.1cm (23.4" x 33.1")

The Play and Build exercises in this chapter involve creating drawings with one or more repeating motifs. The exercises employ the approach common to most exercises in the early part of the book: draw, observe, absorb, repeat, (undoing, covering up or veiling as necessary).

Repetition of a Motif
Expressive Drawing - Chapter 6 - Play 1
Mixed Media on Paper
28cm x 38cm (11" x 15")

I haven’t been doing much painting recently, and it’s years since I’ve painted in acrylics. As an experiment I painted over some of the drawings from these exercises.

Shape Motif Repetition
Expressive Drawing - Chapter 6 - Build 2
Charcoal on Paper
59.4cm x 84.1cm (23.4" x 33.1")

Work has been really busy recently, but I am beginning to get back into the habit of (and enjoying) more regular drawing and painting.

Expressive Drawing – Composite Drawing from a Sampler

Composite Drawing from a Sampler
Expressive Drawing - Chapter 5 - Build 1
Charcoal and Graphite on Paper
59.4cm x 84.1cm (23.4" x 33.1")

Chapter 5 of Expressive Drawing by Steven Aimone concerns Texture. The build exercise  involves creating a Composite Drawing from a Sampler. It is a two-part exercise. The first step is to create a sampler of the different textures in a subject. The second part is to create a drawing without reference to the subject, using the sampler as a reference with little or no regard to how the textures are arranged in the real subject.

I created a drawing based on the view from our garden. I was pleased Elaine found the picure reminiscent of the local landscape without knowing my choice of subject. I suppose I cheated really because there are parts of the drawing that are obviously supposed to look like a landscape.

Expressive Drawing – Multi-Shape Drawing

Multi-Shape Drawing
Expressive Drawing - Chapter 4 - Build 3
Acrylic Ink and Paint on Paper
59.4cm x 84.1cm (23.4" x 33.1")

Chapter 4 of Expressive Drawing by Steven Aimone concerns Shape. I’ve posted drawings from the earlier exercises in this chapter on a previous post (see Expressive Drawing - Shape Compositions).

The third and final “Build” exercise in the chapter is a more open-ended examination of shape and shape relationships – you are even allowed to use more than one colour. I began the with some automatic drawing (aka mindless doodling, see Expressive Drawing - The Drawing Process). This evolved into an exploration of organic and geometric shapes.

I used acrylic paint and old brushes for the exercise. This choice of materials raised questions about the difference between drawing and painting. I’m not sure this is an important differentiation, but I covered over some expressive lines which I was disappointed to lose. For the next few exercises, I’m going to focus on line work with more traditional drawing materials such as charcoal and graphite.

Expressive Drawing – Shape Compositions

Angular and Curvilinear
Expressive Drawing - Chapter 4 - Build 1 - Part 1
Acrylic on Paper
59.4cm x 84.1cm (23.4" x 33.1")

I am continuing to work with Expressive Drawing  by Steven Aimone. Chapter 4 is about Shape. Steven identifies the ability of shapes to act as a metaphor for personality, emotion, psych and spirit as one of their most important attributes. He also observes that the relationships between shapes can act as metaphors for relationships between people, concepts and things.

The chapter explores some of the different characteristics of  shapes in contrasting pairs:

• Geometric v Organic
• Static v Directional
• Simple v Complex
• Angular v Curvilinear

The exercises focus on the same concepts. Shape Compositions is the first "Build" exercise. Part 1 explores angular and curvilinear shapes. Part 2 examines organic and geometric shapes.

Geometric and Organic
Expressive Drawing - Chapter 4 - Build 1 - Part 1
Charcoal and Graphite on Paper
59.4cm x 84.1cm (23.4" x 33.1")

I'm enjoying the book, but my progress has been frustratingly slow. I'm hoping to devote more time to it over the next few weeks.

Expressive Drawing – Conversations Between Orientations

Diagonal
Expressive Drawing - Chapter 3 - Build 2
Charcoal and Graphite on Paper
42.0cm x 59.4cm (16.5" x 23.4")

Conversations Between Orientation is the second “Build” exercise in Chapter 3 of Expressive Drawing by Steven Aimone. The objective of the exercise is to explore our responses to different line orientations.

The directions are:

• Start 3 drawings using a mixture of horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines.
• After drawing the initial lines, choose one of the drawings to emphasise horizontal orientation, a second to have a mainly vertical orientation and the third to focus on diagonals.
• Develop the three drawings at the same time using the assert and obliterate approach from chapter 2 (see Expressive Drawing - The Drawing Process).

Horizontal
Expressive Drawing - Chapter 3 - Build 2
Charcoal, Graphite & Acrylic Paint on Paper
42.0cm x 59.4cm (16.5" x 23.4")

The Horizontal drawing is the only one in which I felt inclined to obliterate and reassert.

Vertical
Expressive Drawing - Chapter 3 - Build 2
Charcoal and Graphite on Paper
42.0cm x 59.4cm (16.5" x 23.4")

I probably strayed from a strict interpretation of the exercise because the chapter is all about lines and part of my focus was on suggesting shapes.

Expressive Drawing – Conversations Between Line Weight

Elaine and I are settling in to our new home. Now the moving frenzy has died down I have more time for drawing and painting – I even have a studio.

I’ve returned to Expressive Drawing by Steven Aimone (see Expressive Drawing - The Drawing Process). Chapter 3 is about Line and Mark. There are some initial “Play” exercises involving the creation of samplers using different tools on different surfaces.

“Build” exercise 1 is Conversations Between Line Weight. The steps are:

• Draw a simple line drawing using a ballpoint pen
• Create 6 photocopies and stick them to the wall
• Use a charcoal pencil and different line weights to create 6 variations of the original drawing (in my case scribble)

These are the results:

I enjoyed the exercise and am becoming a big fan of standing up to work. I’ve started tracing the drawings in ink (particularly the long flowing curves) as a technique for improving the quality of my lines. The results aren’t great, but they are improving.

St Peter's for Bob

St Peter's For Bob
Watercolour On Paper
26cm x 18cm (10" x 7")

It is over 2 years since Bob asked me to paint a view of East Bridgford church. Unfortunately, his request coincided with a shift in my interest towards sketching and away from creating "finished" works. The problem was compounded because Bob wanted the scene to include the copper beech – which became a compositional challenge. I tried a variety of ideas without finding anything that worked.

When Elaine and I sold our house, this gave me the extra impetus to finish. Especially when Bob and Angela invited us to lunch on the Sunday before we left the district. I was pleased (and extremely relieved) to be able to deliver the framed painting before joining them for our last meal in the village.

The Five-Value Monochrome Study and Two-Layer Geometric Sketch from Watercolor Painting by Tom Hoffmann helped to clarify what to include in the picture and what aspects of the painting were going to be the most challenging.

I’ve not found time for any other drawing and painting since we sold our house. It’s weeks since I’ve picked up a pencil or brush. The process of buying, selling and moving house seems to have taken for ever. Thankfully, we are now settling into our new home. In the next week or two, I am planning to restart where I left off with Expressive Drawing by Steven Aimone and to retake Liz Steel’s on-line sketching class - SketchingNow - Foundations.

Expressive Drawing - The Drawing Process

Expressive Drawing - Chapter 2 - Build 1
Charcoal, Graphite & Acrylic Paint on Paper
84.1cm x 59.4cm (33.1" x 23.4")

I’ve started to study and follow the exercises from Expressive Drawing by Steven Aimone.

Expressive Drawing - Chapter 2 - Play 1
Acrylic Paint on Paper
84.1cm x 59.4cm (33.1" x 23.4")

The subtitle of the book is A Practical Guide to Freeing the Artist Within. It contains a stimulating mixture of theory, exploring the works of other artists and practice.

Steven has an expansive definition of drawing. It includes far more than the representational drawing I have focused on so far. He defines drawing as “the arrangement of line and mark in space, designed to serve a variety of expressive purposes.”

Expressive Drawing - Chapter 2 - Play 1 - Right Handed
Acrylic Paint on Paper
84.1cm x 59.4cm (33.1" x 23.4")

Part 1 is about the Drawing Process and begins with Automatic Drawing – drawing with no plan, no purpose and, no conscious control. The instructions are simple:

• Work on big paper with a decorator’s brush and either artist’s acrylic paint or house paint.
• Hold the brush by the end of the handle in the palm of your hand
• Load the brush with paint.
• Approach the drawing surface as if you were a fencer with one of your feet forward and the other back.
• Stand far enough away that you need to lean forward to reach the paper.
• Without thinking or planning, make a line, a squiggle, a doodle - capture your first impulse.
• Step back and look at the line or lines you just made.
• As soon as any urge to respond occurs, do it - make another mark.
• Repeat. Keep going. Looking and responding until nothing more occurs to you, or until you like what you see. Then stop - the drawing is finished.

After Automatic Drawing the next concept is Working in Flux. You start with some Automatic Drawing and then obliterate part of the drawing with white paint and then repeat.

Expressive Drawing - Chapter 2 - Play 1 - Small
Ink on Paper
14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

There are 3 exercises:

• Play 1 - Automatic Drawing with some variations
• Play 2- Working with Flux Non-Objectively
• Build 1 - Working with Flux Narratively

Narratively - involves including symbols and text.

The exercises have been a satisfying change. I’ve particularly enjoyed the spontaneous attitude and the broken lines created when a brush is running out of thick paint.

Expressive Drawing - Chapter 2 - Play 2
Charcoal, Graphite & Acrylic Paint on Paper
84.1cm x 59.4cm (33.1" x 23.4")

Build 1 (at the top of the post) was an interesting experience. As the layers built up the drawing changed from having an angry atmosphere to the relatively calm end result.

January 2017 Sketches

Dog Crockery
28 January 2017
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
20.3cm x 14.0cm (8.0" x 5.5")

Hamish came to stay for a few days in January. He is very polite. He brought his own crockery and some flowers for Elaine.

Dog's Rose
30 January 2017
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 20.3cm (5.5" x 8.0")

He’s an old man now, so I managed to grab a sketch of him while he was having a snooze.

Hambo!
24 January 2017
Ink and Watercolour
Daler Rowney A6 Ebony Sketchbook
10.5cm x 14.9cm (4.1" x 5.9")

Mark Taro Holmes (Citizen Sketcher) wrote a recent post about drawing quick sketches while out walking (Personal Trainers Hate this Sketcher – How to lose weight by drawing!). This has inspired me to do the same. I try to take a 30-minute walk most lunchtimes and I’ve added a 7-minute sketch into the routine. It’s been too cold to comfortably hang around for much longer.

Stokes’ Mill from the Foot Path
20 January 2017
Ink
Daler Rowney A6 Ebony Sketchbook
14.9cm x 10.5cm (5.9 x 4.1")

So far most of the sketches have been of bare trees, but I’m moving on to buildings and other objects.

Very Cold Finger Post
23 January 2017
Ink
Daler Rowney A6 Ebony Sketchbook
10.5cm x 14.9cm (4.1" x 5.9")

The exercises for my latest project (Expressive Drawing by Steven Aimone) require some new materials.

Materials for Expressive Drawing
16 January 2017
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
20.3cm x 14.0cm (8.0" x 5.5")

I will share some of the results in the next few weeks.

What Comes Next 2017

Christmas Books - 2016
29 December 2016
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
20.3cm x 14.0cm (8.0" x 5.5")

Elaine gave me Experimental Drawing by Robert Kaupelis and Expressive Drawing by Steven Aimone for Christmas. I intend to use these to structure my drawing practice in 2017. The other book in the sketch is Everyday Matters by Danny Gregory. It’s a book I’ve wanted to read for ages and was a present from Julie.

It’s a long time since I’ve thought about what I want from drawing and painting. The last time I wrote a blog post on this was in July 2013 (see What Comes Next).

I enjoy ink and watercolour sketching and I intend to carry on with this in 2017, but I also want something more. Sketching stuff around the house using the same techniques is becoming repetitive, so I’m going to explore some other approaches to drawing and painting.

I’m going to be more experimental in my sketching - use some different tools and maybe even try some collage, but this can wait until the summer. Initially, I am going to focus on drawing and painting techniques.

I know I want to paint, but I don’t know what or how. As a result, I’m not very inspired. Part of the problem is also my lack of mastery of watercolour, so I am going to continue reading and following the exercises from Watercolor Painting by Tom Hoffmann.

I want to make more confident and interesting marks and to incorporate more emotion and spontaneity into my drawings and paintings. I hope to achieve this by reading and following the exercises in the books Elaine bought me for Christmas. The exercises in Experimental Drawing look like they could take a couple years to get through, so I’m going to start with Expressive Drawing - which is all about intuitive mark making. The emphasis is on nonrepresentational drawing which will be a change for me but I’m excited to give it a go.