Reflection on Assignment 5 Feedback

Overall

I waited a while between the last tutorial to write up my reflection on the feedback. This is partly because I have been very busy, and partly because its was worthy of significant consideration. In approaching Part 5 I was focusing more on my approach to work than on the finished result. I am planning, as discussed, going to create more work using this approach and possibly base much of my on-going work on the approach I’ve developed during this part. Where relevant I will update the cycle write up for the work I complete before submitting for assessment. If the new work is part of the best then I will include it in my assessment submission, and I would hope that there will be at least one piece that does.

Reflection on Part 5

Direction

The overall challenge I set myself for Part 5 was to develop my ability to convey an impression of a landscape, rather than to focus of accurate portrayal. I want the viewer to gain a sense of the scene from looking at the picture, leading to a level of interest in the image beyond that simple representation of the scene.

Visit to the National Gallery

It is strange, given I work in London and am on an Art Degree, that this was my first visit to the National Gallery. In visiting the Gallery I needed to focus, at least to a degree, and so I chose to consider primarily Landscape images. That didn’t restrict me too much, as there are large numbers of them in there, but it at least allowed me to have a meaningful approach.

Considering Part 5

Work Review

The course notes for part 5 require a written review of the part of the course so far. To a degree I’ve been doing this as I go, with the following articles providing the main content:

• Assignment 1: Evaluation and Reflection
• Reflection: Part 2 So far…
• Part 2 Feedback and Reflection
• Part 3 Reflection
• Assignment 3 Feedback
• Part 4 Reflection

Part 4 Reflection

Approach and Progress

As noted previously, I knew from the start of the course that part 4 would be a challenge for me. I started making progress with Life Drawing classes, but a change of working approach made it much more difficult to get to these sessions as much as I’d like. Strangely, therefore, I’ve been doing less life drawing during the Part 4 than I did earlier in the course.

Part 3 Reflection

Assignment 3

Fit to brief

Composition

The image includes both natural and man made objects, with plenty of scope for demonstrating depth. Oddly for the Langdales there wasn’t that much water vapour in the air the day I took the visual notes, and so there wasn’t much aerial perspective present. I considered adding it anyway, but I quite like the darker mountains in the far distance.

Part 2 Feedback and Reflection

In the following extract I’ve retained the relevant feedback for my development and removed content which seems inappropriate to share. Missing content is denoted with “…”. My initial reflection on the feedback follows it.

Overall Comments

…

In the blog you write about your research method. It would be good to use drawing as the principle research method. When you spend time with a subject and forget about what’s ‘right’ you make some good work. At the moment though, you tend to be hidebound by the discoveries / methods of others. Allow yourself to investigate the media and the subject THROUGH drawing and not through reading about other people’s way of making things.

Part 2 Submission Notes

Somewhat reworked to reflect Part 2 tutor feedback changes. Little substantial change.

Summary

Part 2 has been, to say the least, quite a journey for me – even after adding a month to my intended submission deadline I still haven’t really finished it properly. I’ve only done one initial Monotone Drawing (Part 2, Project 3 Ex4), when I had intended to do a series of them and pick the best. I didn’t manage to get to the experimentation with mixed media (Part 2, Project 3 Ex3) at all – despite plans for a number of things I still wanted to try. In fact, that is a summary of my Part 2: A lot done, but so much more that I wanted to do. I fully intend to “back fill” the missing material, but we will see if the other parts are a packed as Part 2. If so, time might not allow…

Art being viewed…

One of the influences that I have is a regular supply of images and works from the Internet. Some of these come through Twitter (See https://twitter.com/waddy100), others from new articles and so forth. Most of these will go unrecorded, and float through. Some of these end up referenced in blogs and considered more formally – and a very few will end up printed and considered in my physical sketchbooks. I view and collect far more material, however, than I would ever write up in any formal way. I have, therefore, decided to acknowledge and comment on a small proportion of it. This is, in effect, an electronic extension of my physical sketchbook for recording the art I view and my thoughts on it.

Part 2 Approach

I’ve been trying to work out how best to approach part 2. To consider the best approach I’ve considered the volume of work, and my thoughts

Volume of work

The following is a list of the Projects, exercises and elements for consideration needed in this part of the course:

Assignment 1: Evaluation and Reflection

Reflection and Evaluation

What went well?

I like the image overall, as stated previously. The items have meaning for me, and I am hopeful that at least some element of that shows through. The drawing was well received by my wife, who will have similar associations with the individual objects chosen. She called it “An homage to Greece” which fits my intention fairly well.

Project 2: Basic shapes and fundamental form

Reworked following part 2 tutor feedback.

Ex 1: Groups of Objects

Approach

Considerations

• What subject to choose?
  • The examples imply kitchen and household objects, but that isn’t stated as a requirement. There should be some simple geometric forms and others that are more complex.
  • Despite not requiring household objects they do fit the brief very well, and there is plenty of scope for interest.
  • An alternative might be ceramic materials. Maybe a bag of clay, some glaze buckets and ingredients etc. This could make for an interesting composition. There is then scope to incorporate a concrete floor or the bench behind it.
• What surface to use?
  • It is stated A2 or A1, but encourages an imaginative use of materials.
  • Might be worth trying some of the paper we use as packing. Quite a robust material and probably suitable for use. In this case it would probably be worth having ripped edges rather than neatly cut to emphasise the “utilitarian” nature of the materials.
  • Similarly I have some yellowed wallpaper off-cut (I think its an underlay) which might make an interesting utilitarian material.
• How to “loosely describe” the objects? How to achieve representation of “weight, transparency, shine, etc.”? How might the contents help in the depiction of the form?
  • The sample image is a line drawing, but the assignment doesn’t specify that it must be. Definitely could be lines with basic shading etc.
  • In this case I like the start I made in my practice drawing: Light outlines, then darken for the visible lines and lastly a bit of shading and context using a variety of line strengths etc to provide the interest.
  • The answer to the follow-on questions clearly relates to what is being drawn. In the case of a plastic
• One colour is specified, but not the mark making material. What would fit the subject? What would I like to work with?
  • This partly depends on the material I’m drawing on. If I’m using a utilitarian surface then the mark making material needs to work with that. There
• What context should the items be placed in? (What sitting on and in the background.)
  • For kitchen items the kitchen itself would make most sense. Possibly the worktop and back wall, for example.
  • For the clay materials the best context is the pottery or glazing/kiln room depending on whether I am drawing the making or firing.

Considering personal visual language

Context

The course notes make the following observation:

“personal visual language by looking at some images by the following artists from different art historic moments, each working in a very different style, but each very firmly absorbed in the activity of drawing: Leonardo da Vinci, Käthe Kollwitz, Cy Twombly and Jenny Saville.”, Course Notes p13

Assignment 5 feedback session

Overall Comments

You have been a thoughtful student and have demonstrated to me that you have the ability undertake a degree level piece of academic research.  Your drawing skills have developed but I think embarking on the degree will really speed that up and help you to commit more time to drawing. Importantly, your understanding of art and its possibilities for you as a maker has really developed. In particular, there is plenty of scope for you to continue to ask questions of drawing as it relates to sculptural practices. Best of luck with your future studies.

Assignment 5 Evaluation and Course Reflection

Assignment Suitability for submission

Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills

I like the submitted print and narrative images, and am starting to get an idea of how to approach work using the techniques indicated within the course. The quality of the self-portrait indicates how far I have to go in figure drawing, as this is probably the most significant area that needs improvement in the submitted works. I think I have many more hours of observational drawing ahead of me before I fully crack that. (As my tutor put it at one point “I’m still stuck in symbolism.” Clearly demonstrated by the nose in the attempted self-portrait.)

Project 5.1: Print Evaluation and Reflection

The Images

Balance Print

Reflection on “What is drawing?”

Context

My reconsideration of this subject started with this article: https://weareoca.com/subject/textiles/what-is-drawing-2/

I first considered this when I saw the following lines in the course Aims:

Sculptors use of photomontage

During my research for Sculptor’s use of drawing I came across the implication that Henry Moore used the idea. This is implied, and to a degree shown, in this article:

“In 1937 and again in 1938 Moore famously photographed maquettes for two Reclining Figure sculptures very close to the lens, so as to make each diminutive object look enormous against the distant landscape … it is perhaps more likely that these photographs are not so much tests as they are declarations of triumph: they are demonstrations of his sense of the monumental. Rather like physically lifting objects from the ground and holding them close to himself, here Moore brings the maquette so close to the lens (and therefore the viewer) that its monumental scale is confirmed.” Rachel Wells, ‘Scale at Any Size: Henry Moore and Scaling Up’, in Henry Moore: Sculptural Process and Public Identity, Tate Research Publication, 2015, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/henry-moore/rachel-wells-scale-at-any-size-henry-moore-and-scaling-up-r1151302, accessed 05 October 2017.

Project 5.1: Testing the leaf print…

Despite my earlier post‘s statement that I wouldn’t bother, I decided to try to elicit some feedback on the print from the OCA forum here: https://discuss.oca-student.com/t/foundation-drawing-abstract-monotype-on-the-theme-of-balance/5846

Kaffe Fassett’s colour at Mottisfont