Assignment 1 – Tea and Doodles

Assignment 1 Tutor Feedback

Feedback for assignment 1 received:
My comments are in purple, my tutor’s remain in black.

Overall Comments

Many thanks for sending me your first assignment. Your portfolio was sent down from Barnsley to me and it is best to send it directly to me using the sticky labels provided.

I need to get hold of up to date stickers then as my tutor was changed after I started the course.

I have read through your online blog and it gives me a good idea of how you are doing with the course, It is also a useful place to put sketches and exercises that don’t have to be sent as the final assignment.

Mark making is traditionally the place to start and it is useful if you can take some of that experimental attitude into the more traditional means of working.

The charcoal drawings are a good place to start but please remember to fix them as they rub off easily against each other and on handling and start to fade.

Fixative can be bought in any art shop or else the cheaper method is to use Hair spray, which has the same effect. The non-perfumed version is preferred.

I have a love-hate relationship with fixative, hairspray and charcoal. It never seems to ‘fix’ with me!

Project 2 exercise 2 where the use of the charcoal reveals the grain of the paper is very effective. The drawing of the two objects done large in close up is good as it shows the use of all the tones but it has a worn look and the drawing needs to be sprayed and reworked to bring it back to life. Similarly Project 2 exercice2 (iii) has a to grey overall look to it and needs to be reinforced with a dark tone a mid tone, light and highlight the latter of which you can get with a putty rubber. However I do like the composition the angle of which is direct and imaginative.

Insert photos for ref

Again project 2 exercise 4 needs to be fixed. The drawing is good especially the cup but as an arrangement it is a bit lacking.

The white chalk on black paper is a nice idea but there is a lack of a mid tone probably because it was difficult to achieve and in this case you might find that if you try to fix it the drawing will disappear because of the way that the fixative reacts with the whited chalk. Try it and see.

You seems to be most at home with the pen and I like your freedom of use with your ink drawing on the mauve coloured paper.

Assignment 1 Assessment potential

You may want to get credit for your hard work and achievements with the OCA by formally submitting your work for assessment at the end of the module. More and more people are taking the idea of lifelong learning seriously by submitting their work for assessment but it is entirely up to you. We are just as keen to support you whether you study for pleasure or to gain qualifications. Please consider whether you want to put your work forward for assessment and let me know your decision when you submit Assignment 2. I can then give you feedback on how well your work meets the assessment requirements.

Feedback on assignment

Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Quality of Outcome, Demonstration of Creativity

The objects in the final assignment have been chosen in order to exploit memories and associations. There is some exploratory work in the sketchbook showing compositional changes and ideas and it is a good idea to try out about four different arrangements before deciding on the final one. Then its good to experiment with different media to find the one you are most comfortable with. I like your use of ball point pen – a favourite among artists because you cant rub it out and it stops you from getting precious. It is also a surprisingly intense medium and I think your drawing of the Gerbera and the Vase stand out really well.

This is my new favourite medium and I think I enjoy it for that fact, I can’t get precious about my work. It is quite liberating.

The use of mixed media is interesting, if you can bring it off ,especially mixing colour with black and white. I think I would have done the vase in colour as well as the cloth thereby leaving the Buddha in splendid isolation in the centre of the picture. The watch is particularly well drawn, not an easy thing to do.

This was a new thing for me, I wanted to see how pointillism works. It’s more than just placing dots to create light and shadow, it involves layering again and again to build up a depth. I am particularly pleased with the watch.

Sketchbooks

Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Demonstration of Creativity

The sketchbook is filling up nicely with a variety of approaches. Discovering the use of ball point pen is a particularly good page and you use it with confidence drawing the ellipses and the shading to good effect.

Research

Context, reflective thinking, critical thinking, analysis

It is important part of the course to be able to write about and form opinions of other artists work and I see you have looked at the work of Odilon Redon. Another artists to include in your research is Seurat and especially with his conté drawings on rough paper which gives an impressionistic appearance,

I need to look more at artists as I did in my A-level course. This was useful.

Seurat

Another artists worth looking at is Morandi and his etchings which exploit cross hatching to achieve tone.

Morandi

Learning Logs or Blogs/Critical essays

Context, reflective thinking, critical thinking, analysis

The leaning log is developing well. There are headlines that are so grey that they are almost disappearing which you might like to alter.

To check.

I would try and get into the habit of writing more about the artists and the exhibitions you have seen.

Completed Assignment 1 & reflection

[post edit: my submitted work for this unit was lost in the post on return to me. I am already thinking of assessment submissions and am so sad that I do not have this unit to include.]

In my previous blog outlining my preparation for the first assignment, I brainstormed several objects around me that meant something in some way. Referring back to the mark-makimg exercises and the emotive response I needed to reflect on, I knew I needed to have a variety of reactions to the objects in order to deepen my drawing response. I also mentioned that the media I would choose for each object reflect the marks I want to make, I feel they matched the mood I would be trying to create in each part.

I see myself as a little nostalgic, happy to sit reminiscing about the smallest thing. I specifically started to look for objects that spark a memory with me.

The coloured vase takes me back to my childhood; I remember it sitting in the hallway of my grandparent’s house. It was a gift from my Great Grandad to my Great Nanny. It gives me a feeling of place, a grounding, a sense of belonging in a loving environment. Words I feel when I take myself back – happy, content, fun, cosy, interesting, creative, flowing. The gesture and marks need to be as flowing and free, and so brush and ink allowed me this movement.

I chose the Buddha statue as it evokes some mixed reactions. I am interested in the Buddhist philosophy and have enjoyed it teachings. This statue reminds me of this peace and structure. However, in a previous house, it had been blown down from the window sill by the blinds caught in the breeze. The stone statue landed on the floor where I usually laid my baby. She was in the cot at the time. There is a chip in it to constantly remind me but also to teach me a lesson! Straight, quick sharp marks with a black pen matched the emotion.

Simple and expressive contour lines for the photo frame helped to reflect a flowing and free time as I was finding my feet in life, shown by the photo taken the first year I met my husband 23 years ago.

The pointillism in the watch symbolises every movement in the time that I need to acknowledge (I said I reminisce!). Time is such a constraint that we have put on ourselves, that we don’t appear to be in that moment. The objects are on a baby blanket that I made whilst pregnant with my first child. I got so completely lost in making it and so here I was making the moment count. Charcoal allowed a soft, effect to accentuate the tones of the folds of fabric.

The gerbera was a flower in my wedding bouquet, soft, peaceful but carefree marks to match the memory of young love and laughter. I used a ballpoint pen which I now love. I wanted a contemporary and striking effect and the coolness and glow of the pen helped to gain this.

The assignment text seemed to suggest that I should use a variety of drawing tools and marks. As mentioned before in a previous blog, I thought I would use this obstacle and link the media. It didn’t have the softer effect I was imagining.

Looking back on this first attempt, I realise that a lot of my work needs to have meaning and symbolism. This is obviously no bad thing and is what the assignment text asked, but I would like to work with a spontaneous response to a subject and so maybe this will be possible in future exercises.

However I decided to have another go, making a simpler and quicker response to the objects. Firstly, fewer objects and secondly, using mostly one medium.

So much happier with this attempt, it is not so complex because of fewer objects and one medium. The marks may not be so apparent but the gesture and flow that I drew with reflected the feelings of the object.

Assignment 1 reflection using OCA assessment criteria for Drawing 1

Demonstration of technical and visual skills

I have definitely noticed an improvement in my observational skills over the last few years especially. As a primary school art teacher, I have go back to the basics with the children and find myself relearning along the way with them too. In drawing activities, I direct them to draw what they really see, and it’s not as easy as it sounds. I find myself often looking at objects wondering how to represent them best in drawing, what material or technique, where are the blocks of light and shadow.

I am getting braver in what material to use and in doing so I hope my perfectionism fades a bit. I would like to be more spontaneous and maybe with a less familiar tool, this would help me be more relaxed as I learn how to use it.

Through teaching the young children, I start to introduce composition to them in its simplest form. I try to apply this to my work but often I become too abstract and random and just try to get a feel for balance along the way. This doesn’t often make for balanced work but it does offer a more fluid spontaneous way of working…hmm, how to get both?!

I purposely planned the composition first of all in this assignment and noticed it didn’t really impede on the rest of my work flow. One bit of effort at the beginning can make for a more flowing drawing. I will make more of my composition planning in future.

Quality of outcome

I am pleased with the outcomes of both attempts, especially the second drawing as it is simpler. I feel I have managed to capture the light and shadow and also unified the picture to some degree despite using various drawing tools. However, I think I have tried too hard and it’s not ‘fluid’ enough; as I have mentioned before I would like to be more relaxed and spontaneous. I would like to do more with continuous and gestural line drawings. I am surprised about the effect of blue ballpoint pen and am glad I have another tool to my arsenal; I usually can’t stand it when the children write with it, but art is a different matter now!

Demonstration of creativity

I think I have demonstrated creativity in this assignment. I have interpreted the text my own way; I dealt with the original obstacle and thoughts on using more than one drawing medium, I have added personal meaning to the drawing and allowed my mark making to reflect this. I wonder if I could have actually practised my need for fluidity and produced another attempt in such a way. However, I think this owl have lost the original aim of the assignment in that mark-making in response to the text would not have been the focus.

Context reflection

No research was completed in this, it was more about me finding my feet in this module. I enjoyed researching Redon and in hindsight would have looked up and emulated some other artists but all I wanted to do was put my own pencil to paper at this stage. This is the first time I have completed my learning log online so I am still getting used to posting with some frequency. I have also got to get used to the 21st century social media problem of not getting any viewers or comments! I have to remember that is not why I am writing the blog 🙂

PART 1 Practise for Assignment 1 – Still Life

I almost want to leave it at this gestural sketch!

PART 1 Planning for Assignment 1 – Still Life

So, I am now working on the first assignment for Drawing 1. It helps me if I rewrote the assignment criteria out in my shorthand and words. It allows me to jot down thoughts and plans as I go through.

Original brainstorm for assignment

I’ve always felt that I could improve my composition skills, even before I started the art course I am on. I try and run the Golden Ratio through my work but more often than not the work is more abstract, gestural, expressionist and I guess spontaneous. However, this is no excuse not to work on composition, so I need to practise for it to become second nature. I think it probably is, as I am aware of myself ‘eyeing it up’ and feel if it is not sitting right.

Working on composition, thinking about relative sizes and balance

Final layout and plan, thinking about materials to use and how to connect them

Through the various OCA Drawing 1 forums there was some discussion as to the intention and aims of the task. Using various media, create one drawing? Or, create drawings using various media? I originally felt that the first option would lead me to create a rather disjointed drawing, where each component is different to its neighbour. I thought my workflow and process would be stop-start and I would lose my momentum.

However, I thought I might work with this ‘obstacle’ in my assignment. So, yes, use a range of media but demonstrate connection between the objects, i.e. bring a hint of one medium in to another.

The media I have chosen for each object reflect the marks I want to make, I feel they matched the mood I would be trying to create in each part. For example, a drawing pen helps me make quick, hard lines for the Buddha statue (I have mixed feelings about this object which I will expand on in my final reflection!), brush and ink make soft, flowing, relaxed lines on the vase.