It’s All About Preparation

Old Mill Creek (Work in Progress)
Watercolour on Paper
24cm x 34cm (9.5" x 13.5)

This is my current watercolour project – a view of Old Mill Creek near Dartmouth.

The picture is at a make or break point where I need to start adding details to bring it all together.

This phase highlights any weaknesses in a composition and there are a few issues I wish I’d addressed before starting the painting.

Old Mill Creek, Dartmouth

I should have been more diligent in my preparatory thumbnails. The trouble is I liked the slightly unorthodox composition of the main reference photograph. This lulled me into a false sense of security. I drew a couple of sketches to experiment with the sizes and positions of the swan and the boats, but I didn't complete a full exploration of the the composition with tonal and colour thumbnails (see  Castle Cove - Thumbnail Sketches and John Lovett's article Thumbnail Sketches)

Background Trees - Test Swatches

One piece of preparation that paid off was some experiments I did before painting the background trees. The basic technique is similar to one I've used previously (see Silver Birch) - paint a pale green wash and add darker and darker greens to it as it dries, I refined the technique for this picture in a number of trial swatches.

Movement in the Mannikin Frame

Movement in the Mannikin Frame - 1
Copied from Figure Drawing for All It's Worth
Graphite Pencil on Paper

This is my second post about the mannikin frame from Andrew Loomis’ Figure Drawing for All It’s Worth (see The Mannikin Frame - Part One).

On his second page of mannikin frame drawings, Loomis stresses the importance of incorporating life and action into the figures. His drawings on this page are looser and more dynamic than on the previous page.

Movement in the Mannikin Frame - 2
Copied from Figure Drawing for All It's Worth
Graphite Pencil on Paper

The first two sets of drawings on this post are copies of Loomis’s drawings. The third set is based on gesture drawings of Elaine.

Movement in the Mannikin Frame - 3
Wax Crayon & Graphite Pencil on Paper

Elaine took three 1 minutes poses while I made scribbled gesture studies in coloured crayon. Subsequently, I drew the mannikin frame on top of the gesture drawing. I had to use the male frame because I haven’t reached Loomis' explanation of the female mannikin.

The drawings haven't turned out quite as well as I had hoped for, but this leaves plenty of room for practice and improvement.

September Sketches

Conker on the Half Shell
14 September 2014
Watercolour on Paper
18cm x 12cm (7" x 5")

This month I have been mostly sketching things I've picked up while out walking.

Papier Pig
24 September 2014
Graphite Pencil
Winsor & Newton A4 Heavy Weight Sketch Book
21.0cm x 29.7cm (8.25" x 11.75")

This pig is one of the few exceptions. It is one of four papier-mâché pigs made and given to Elaine by our neighbour Jeff’s sons.

Very Small Pine Cone
17 September 2014
Graphite Pencil
Daler Rowney A5 Graduate Sketchbook
210mm x 149mm (8.3" x 5.9")

Going for a walk and collecting something to sketch is a good way to end the working day with some fresh air and a bit of exercise

Dried Grass
18 September 2014
Graphite Pencil
Daler Rowney A5 Graduate Sketchbook
149mm x 210 (5.9" x 8.3")

These small detailed studies are absorbing and good practice.

Holly
21 September 2014
Graphite Pencil
Daler Rowney A5 Graduate Sketchbook
210mm x 149mm (8.3" x 5.9")

Sketching the holly has helped me to realise the need to revisit the basic modelling technique from the Natural Way to Draw (see Modelled Drawing). The sketch does not reveal the full curving shape of the leaves. It would help if my shading was more directional and if I increased and decreased the pressure of the shading to show curvature. This is something I will think about over the next few weeks.

The Mannikin Frame – Part One

Mannikin Frame - 1
Copied from Figure Drawing for All It's Worth
Graphite Pencil on Paper

In Figure Drawing For All It’s Worth, Andrew Loomis uses the idealised human proportions (see Proportions of the Figure) as the basis for a quickly drawn stick figure.

Over four pages of illustrations, he introduces one of the most interesting concepts in the book.

Loomis presents the mannikin frame as a tool for drawing figures in preliminary sketches, an important step in learning anatomy and an approach for drawing figures from life.

It also seems to provide a method for developing a hurriedly scribbled gesture drawing into a more complete drawing.

Mannikin Frame - 2
Copied from Figure Drawing for All It's Worth
Graphite Pencil on Paper

The drawings on this post are copied from the Loomis’ first page of mannikin drawings. For the first two sets of drawings I drew a vertical line and carefully divided it into eight with a ruler. For the last set, I divided the line by eye.

Mannikin Frame - 3
Copied from Figure Drawing for All It's Worth
Graphite Pencil on Paper

Loomis stresses the importance of practising with the mannikin frame and even over the few drawings on this post, my copies of his figures became more interesting and animated.

Blogging Again - August Sketches

Spex - Sign of the Times
9 August 2014
Graphite Pencil
Winsor & Newton A4 Heavy Weight Sketch Book
21.0cm x 29.7cm (8.25" x 11.75")

I’m back after a five-week break from blogging.

It’s been a strange month. It started with a two week trip to Chicago with only 24 hours’ notice, then my workload became heavier and heavier and finally a pair of Internet providers conspired to disconnect us for two weeks.

The Tap - The Faucet
24 August 2014
Graphite Pencil
Daler Rowney A6 Graduate Sketchbook
10.5cm x 14.9cm (4.1" x 5.9")

Work is eating into the time I have available for drawing, painting and blogging. I've decided to focus the time I have available on sketching the things around me. This post contains my favourite sketches from August.

Little Kilner Jar
7 August 2014
Graphite Pencil & Wax Crayon
Winsor & Newton A4 Heavy Weight Sketch Book
21.0cm x 29.7cm (8.25" x 11.75")

I've released how important drawing and sketching is to my feelings of happiness and well-being. Thirty minutes of intense concentration quietens the mind and shuts out all other concerns.

New Toothbrush
4 August 2014
Graphite Pencil & Wax Crayon
Winsor & Newton A4 Heavy Weight Sketch Book
21.0cm x 29.7cm (8.25" x 11.75")

I never used to find drawing relaxing because I was trying to draw well. Now I just set an alarm for 30 minutes and see what happens.

Experiments with Scraping

Between the Rocks
Watercolour on Paper
27cm x 17cm (10.5" x 6.75)

I am continuing to explore the different mediums and techniques from Ann Blockley's  “Experimental Landscapes in Watercolour” (see Experiments with Acrylic Ink and Experiments with Gouache). I tend to use these investigations as a warmup at the start of a painting session.

Scraping involves applying a layer of watercolour and partially scraping it off before it dries. It is a good technique for creating texture in things like tree bark, rocks and walls. You can use different tools to create different textures.

I've written about scraping before (see Scratching and Scraping), but it is a technique I've never mastered.

The picture at the top of this post is my third attempt at this scene. The first two were dreadful. Part of my problem is that Ann and other authors recommend using a creamy mix of paint. When I try this, the paint usually dries before I have achieved the desired effect, especially if I am working on a large area like the cliffs in this view.

In this version I painted an initial pale yellow and pink wash and after this was dry a thicker, but still relatively watery green wash.

I moved this wash around with the edge of an old plastic loyalty card to create the appearance of cracks and other textures in the rock. I was conscious of the need to keep my focus moving round the whole painting and not to focus on one area at the expense of the rest. As the wash started to dry it became easier to scrape it off completely to create highlights. The experience was more like sculpting than painting.

Sketching Challenge – Final Sketches

July Challenge Day 27
27 July 2014
Graphite Pencil
Winsor & Newton A4 Heavy Weight Sketch Book
21.0cm x 29.7cm (8.25" x 11.75")

These are the last few sketches from the July sketching challenge - my task was to sketch from life for exactly 30 minutes on each day in July.

July Challenge Day 28 - Sketch 1
28 July 2014
Graphite Pencil
Winsor & Newton A4 Heavy Weight Sketch Book
21.0cm x 29.7cm (8.25" x 11.75")

July Challenge Day 28 - Sketch 2
28 July 2014
Graphite Pencil
Winsor & Newton A4 Heavy Weight Sketch Book
21.0cm x 29.7cm (8.25" x 11.75")

July Challenge Day 28 - Sketch 3
28 July 2014
Graphite Pencil
Winsor & Newton A4 Heavy Weight Sketch Book
21.0cm x 29.7cm (8.25" x 11.75")

It’s been an interesting experiment. Drawing every day was bound to have a benefit, but the 30 minute time limit was unexpectedly important.

July Challenge Day 29
29 July 2014
Graphite Pencil
Winsor & Newton A4 Heavy Weight Sketch Book
21.0cm x 29.7cm (8.25" x 11.75")

The first advantage is that it’s not very long.  It is easy for the “it’s only half an hour” argument to win in the internal dialogue about what to do today.

July Challenge Day 30
30 July 2014
Graphite Pencil
Winsor & Newton A4 Heavy Weight Sketch Book
21.0cm x 29.7cm (8.25" x 11.75")

The other benefit is it forced me to put more trust in my eyes to estimate size and alignments. I tend to spend time trying to measure relative proportions and angles by holding a pencil at arm’s length. Thirty minutes doesn't allow much time for this, so on many of the drawings I put my faith in my instincts and just winged it – this has been liberating and nerve wracking in equal measures.

Where's the Biscuit?
July Challenge Day 31
31 July 2014
Graphite Pencil
Winsor & Newton A4 Heavy Weight Sketch Book
29.7cm x 21.0cm (11.75" x 8.25")

I aim to continue drawing every day, but I am relaxing the 30 minute rule - 5 minutes is good enough and so is 5 hours.