The intentions for my drawing project were to explore the theme of people in a city environment capturing ideas of movement and life.
(Untitled, mixed media - watercolour, ink, charcoal
varnish & graphite on stretched paper, A1)
To do this
I began by recording ideas of people and crowds, drawing quick sketches whilst
on location to create a strong atmosphere of life and city living.
Throughout my project I used a variety of arrangements to emphasis depth
and density in turn generating ideas expressing noise and movement. I also experimented
with media combinations using contrasting materials to show differences in
texture, in turn adding to the detail to attract the viewer’s gaze. In the
development stages I found that the use of ink together with graphite sticks
and charcoal on paper enabled me to use different tones and textures together
to help enhance the movement of the subject matter. During this process I also
incorporated varnish to add a glossy surface to the dry materials used thus
adding another layer helping to generate depth. When refining my ideas I began
to use hints of watercolour combined with the black ink to my work which gave
my ideas an uplifted atmosphere, creating more life showing the ideas in a
positive light as opposed to gloomy monochrome.
Towards
the refinement stages of my project, my ideas began to focus purely on the
lines and shadows of the people as opposed to drawing the figures true to life
placing them in a recognisable scene. This allows the spectator to make their
own assumptions of the lines and marks, whether they see them as silhouetted
figures or records of noise and movement. One problem that did occur was the
use of paper and the fact it would warp due to using a wet on wet technique. To
solve this I did try out my media combination onto cardboard but I found that
unlike on the cartridge paper, the lines made on the wet ink soaked into the
card so you could no longer see them. In response to this I decided to go back
to using cartridge paper but by stretching it beforehand so that the
paper did not warp so much creating a flat surface.
The idea
of focusing on movement came from my artist research most significantly into
the video installation work of Michal Rovner, an artist from Israel. Originally
a photography and sculpture based artist, Rovner began to move towards film
based work during the 1990's. Her videos depicted crowds of anonymous people,
animals and birds often in monochrome. Her most recent films look at
silhouetted figures moving across an environment. The video that most inspired
my ideas of movement was her piece called 'Current' which focuses on themes of
time and energy. (Follow this link to see 'Current' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kc3m5sRRnq0) It was
this piece that inspired my ideas to develop and focus on the shadows and
shapes of the crowds to create movement and depth in turn generating a bustling
atmosphere. I think the influence behind my ideas is clear showing
positive links between my own ideas and the ideas of my inspiration.
Evaluating
my ideas to my own set brief I believe I have successfully explored the theme
of people and crowds capturing them in their environment creating a bustling
atmosphere through the use of lines, tone and texture. If I were to continue
this project I would focus on how to effectively scale up my ideas whilst still
using delicate marks and textures to create movement and depth.
