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Showing posts with label pen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pen. Show all posts

Wednesday, 25 September 2013

We illustrate to say goodbye...

So today is the last day :( and after cleaning the house we have a last session drawing on the front terrace. When saying goodbye, there's no better way than representing it by line so whilst everyone sat here:


I drew them!


We said adiós to the village




Then relaxed on the beach, before we head home



And that was my trip! 

A roller coaster of mark, line and colour - I'm really glad I booked on to it! It's given me a sense of place within my work this coming year that I just don't think I would have got by staying at home. The sketchbook has been a place for me to think, explore and dream and bookending the long summer with drawing trips has been the best. Now it's back to reality, and the grindstone of uni, third year, life! Let's see what the next 9 months might bring....



Hasta la vista Cutar, hasta próxima vez

Monday, 16 September 2013

Is there a problem with pattern?

During my travels this summer I've tried to keep a sketchbook with me. Whilst away in France I had the view of the Beaujolais Hills and started abstracting pattern and line:



The houses sprawling across the valley


and a compositional train journey, capturing elements of the landscape as I passed through


Flattening the landscape seemed to come naturally, absorbing what was in front of me and translating this into line. It feels very graphical, which has its own quality, yet feels removed from what I might want to achieve in 3-dimensional form. Time for experiments, when I get back in the workshops and studio, but for the time being I am enjoying, paper, line and pen.

Sunday, 24 June 2012

Day Five: Old Rum Distillery and Maro

Day 5 already? It's all going so quickly!! We were taken to another great venue this morning - a crumbling old rum distillery! It was such an interesting space. I became slightly overwhelmed and panicked I think, trying to record everything rather than pacing and taking my time.

 This first drawing grew from one page into two, there was so much to record and I didn't just want to stay in this one spot. I feel this unresolved and panic abandonded....


 The whole space was incredible though, just look at this photo!!!


I decided to wander around the space a bit more and record some quick drawings of shape


I started abstracting shape from all over the building, all the rust and crumbling holes, each of these had their own shapes and dimensions to play with.

 I worked with all the shapes and recordings that were around me, overlapping on site and playing with minimal colour combinations that I have most enjoyed since yesterday.


 Trying to record another composition, but the pen this time is too vivid for this sensitive building

The pattern overlayed on the top is taken from this discarded pellet shot board. I was playing with the light effect ideas from yesterday but in situ with what I could find.


Inside the building the negative space was really interesting


Again I took lots of photos and will be using these as reference for future ideas and projects


After the Distillery we head to Maro for lunch, another drawing spot and el playa! Lunch was Calemares and I left some which I wish I had drawn :( Waiting for it to arrive though and there was a small gap in the wall with exposed piping, I liked the shape so scribbled again


After lunch we had a shady spot to draw from with a multiple of choice: landscape, colour study, shadow shape or ruin. I opted for the colour study to begin with as I'd felt cheated in my attempts earlier on in the day


I chose to backdrop with the colour then draw over the top with the industrial lines of the cabling and the lampost, I quite like the effect... Afterwards I was looking around for a different kind of subject. I saw these railings casting a shadow and so drew that but on their own (and with bad colour choice: purple and pink) they didn't seem to work. I then looked around for other shapes to compliment and took the steps that were coming down from a church (green) then the zig zag of another set of steps (yellow, alternating) plus the horizon line (grey)


I stuck with the horizon line and drew this in an alternating fashion from different viewpoints over the top of one another. I like the abstract linkage and feel there is lots that could be developed here.


 Then as a total constrast I took to recording the birds that were flying in and out of a window in the ruin of the mill. They were so talkative and I followed them flying. More studies like this are definately on my agenda! I like the monocle wearing birds on the left - real character and lots of open development for this...hmmm?

 this was my set up at the ruin!
 We went down to the beach after this and I had intended on drawing this beautiful rock formation that was down there, but I swam up to it instead, which was actually just what I needed!!

As we head back from Maro we stopped off for Tapas in Benamargosa. I had spicy snails and a russian salad! There was whitebait on the menu too, yum yum! With a bullfight playing on the TV we stopped for a short while so I had a quick sketch of our scene before we head off.



Then we went back to Cutar and found that England v Italy was playing on the TV in the local bar! I wasn't interested in watching the game but thought it a great opportunity to draw some people! So I went along to draw the crowd, whilst they all watched.

I used bold expressive pens for this drawing


And I'm really pleased with the minimal line and colour in this one

Saturday, 23 June 2012

Day Four: Caleta

Today we went out to market, alongside the harbour, beach, bar and art shop for coloured pen supplies! This was another nice day, albeit very hot and difficult to work in at times - thank goodness for my big floppy hat!

After tutorial last night talking about the application of different degrees of colour, line and mark-making I borrowed a set of coloured fineliners and bought a pack of broad and fine tipped felt pens - this caused an explosion of colour today! Starting off with some simple line experiments...
Then visiting an awe-inspiring harbour!! So much texture, colour and composition - I wanted to record it all!!! Lots of photos for future reference, to which I will dedicate a whole other post too, but for now, my drawings, starting with the boats and their funny shaped lamp heads...


I really enjoyed overlaying all the media, the colour combinations of the ink and the watercolour was great, really textural. The sun was getting really hot though and there was zero shade other than from the hat on my head, so this one was a little ambitious for the situation:

However this worked much better as it was on a smaller scale:

I loved the composition left by these lobster pots


and after yesterday's introduction to Luis Gordillo 
I was inspired to abstract the circles in to this nice pattern:

We stopped for lunch at this point, rehydrating over a number of Fanta limones y Nesteas! After lunch we head to the beach bar. I loved the layout, all the wicker and cane, lampshades swinging overhead. It called for more drawing, but as I opened by book this happened:


It got me very distracted with all my new pens so I just had to play with the colours...


I then applied a bit more consideration


and wondered what it would look like if you overlayed this idea....



After experimenting a little more with pattern, shape and exhausting my new vibrant colour pallete:


I started to draw out the bar and its lighting features:



Robyn and Martyn fell asleep providing a great life study


Then it was time for a dip in the sea before documenting the beautiful bright parasols: