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| 3-4-17 colored pencils, smooth Bristol |
This week’s colored pencil class assignment is a rocky
shore with water. Suzanne instructed us to pay attention to the patterns on the
water’s surface, the direction of the flow, the reflected light and the subtle
color variations. To draw the currents, I had to make lots and lots of small
marks with a variety of blue, green and gray pencils. It was tempting to color in
some areas solidly to get the values right, but then I’d lose the sparkles of
water evident on every single ripple, no matter how tiny. (I know I say it
every week, so I’ll resist declaring that this was the hardest homework yet!) I
don’t know if it’s done, but I had to stop sometime.
While I was away in Cannon Beach I missed the lesson about reflections
on water, which I regret, but it was also nice to have a break mid-quarter.
Each assignment takes many hours over several days of work – a lot more intense
desk work than I am used to.
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| Source photo |
Although I knew from the get-go that the class would be
focused on working from photos as a learning tool, and although I am certainly
benefitting from the assignments, by the seventh week, I have to say I’m
nonetheless frustrated. It was especially evident when I sat down to begin this
week’s homework. Usually I have no problem simply hitting it, but this time I kept
procrastinating by sharpening pencils, emptying the shavings, cleaning off my
desktop, rearranging the desktop – basically doing everything except beginning!
Trying to engage with photos taken by someone else is difficult at best. (It
might be slightly better if I were to work from my own photos; I think we’ll be
doing that at the end of the quarter.) The drawings feel like the exact opposite
of the lively, spontaneous results I try so hard for (and love so much) in
urban sketching. I know many artists work from photo sources as a matter of
course, but it’s just not for me.
I sympathize with your frustration of drawing from someone else's photos but the results, particularly the water, are really good. From the sounds of it, you also got your desk cleaned and pencils sharpened. That's got to be a good thing :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Larry. And yes, my desk needed cleaning, so procrastination sometimes comes in handy. ;-)
DeleteI really like this drawing! You did a wonderful job! I've been thinking about it... and maybe drawing from photographs, someone else's or our own, could be a step toward drawing more readily drawing from imagination. Instead of being in the moment and focusing on the 3D subject at hand, we have to kind of relive a moment, or pretend we were in that moment (if it's not our photograph). I feel like that would open up the parts of our brain that store memory, and because memory is fallible (mine definitely) we can make things up as we go... letting our selves create beyond the confines of the image on the photograph or imbellishing on what we actually see in the photo. I'm mean, wouldn't it be fun to maybe add a frolicking otter to your rocky shoreline, or change the colors to reflect that it's at sunset, or or expand the image and make a longer shoreline? That's something I can't bring myself to do when sketching from life. Just a thought...
ReplyDeleteHmmm, that's a very interesting question, Wendi! I can see how that might work if it were my own photo, because then it really is bringing up the actual memory of the event (which would be helpful in stimulating the imagination, too). But for me, it's almost the opposite when I use someone else's photo -- I can't find a way to engage with it beyond the 4 corners of the 2D image I see. But you've got me thinking. . . and I'll be thinking about it during the next assignment!
DeleteI think it is really hard to get emotionally involved in photos that aren't your own. You did a really nice job on the water...both the color and the reflected light! I find that large expanses of water are so hard to do.
ReplyDeleteThanks very much, Joan! The whole time I was working, I was thinking how much easier it would be with watercolors! ;-)
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