Tea and Doodles

I went through my sketchbook, especially my holiday sketches that I hoped might be useful for this section, as well as the preparatory sketches for part 2. The following are drawings that included elements I would like to include in a larger drawing. Such features include a body of water, mountains and rock formations as well as ruined or derelict buildings. With this in mind, I brainstormed the following compositions.  In reflection, the compositions are similar. As I stated in my afterthoughts, I think I need to get this drawing into being and then I can move past it. I will return to this exercise again and again, which is no bad practice.

Go for a walk. Find a familiar view. Use viewfinder and focus on a point of interest. Make four sketches during the walk. Draw rapidly. Draw over any mistakes, restate what needs to be depicted. Try to capture the idea of what is seen through drawing; think of sketching as taking notes. Try to get in, everything no matter how roughly. Fast drawing helps to concentrate and see more clearly, shutting out unnecessary ‘noise’. Make written observations where appropriate: * time, weather, direction of light and shadow * main point of interest * the division of space into foreground, middle ground and background  * patterns and textures, repetition of large and small shapes, tonal values etc

Having been a meteorologist in a previous working life, I was looking forward to this exercise. I have always loved watching clouds form and seeing the shadows they cast on each other as well as on the ground. However, this is an exercise I feel I need to come back to as I have been too formal in the drawing of the cloud formation and my drawings seem flat. More practice and observation here, possibly on a close-up scale rather than within a landscape. The following three sketches are further developing cloud study, but more of a detailed look at a particular cloud formation. White ink on black paper Chalk pastel on blue paper  Eraser on black pastel in art book (no tooth)

The landscape is a readily available subject for artists. It is fascinating how we experience one particular landscape at one particular time in our own particular way. I am interested in the effect of time on the interpretation of a landscape. Artists often return to the same scene each season or even a few hours later. Even minutes can see a change in light, tone or subject. CASPAR DAVID FRIEDRICH The Wanderer above the sea of fog FÉLIX VALLOTTON La grand nuage 1918 La Mare, Honfleur 1909 Use tour Martello à Guernsey - such ‘Phare à 1907 La route d’Honfleur 1902 STEV’NN HALL CRYSTAL LIU

This was a fun few hours. I braved the heat and went to sit in the nearby wooded area to our compound. 42C heat, various ants nests and a couple of curious workers cut short the session but maybe this changed the way I worked...less formal perhaps? I am in a quandary at this stage as to my drawing style. I feel I have a lack of definition in these pieces but am I trying for more detail, too much perhaps? I feel like I am missing the tonal areas. In adding the colour, am I aiming for atmosphere or quality of drawing. Or am I over-thinking it all...?!

Another exercise pushing me to be at one with my surroundings. I’m forever in the car...making time to really see what’s around me will never be time wasted. Although I know I really have to dedicate the time in the first place, this is proving the issue. As a result, I am relying more on photographs as reference. Perspective and distortion are possible problems with this. But for reference to add detail after initial observation is a benefit.