Exercise 1.4 Lines and edges

 Exercise 1.4 Lines and edges

 After reading the brief the sentence that really stuck out to me was “Approaching this exercise as a way of taking a line on a journey across a the space of paper”

This led me to my first collection of work, creating that journey across a page with a continuous line. Looking at the lines of the items and tracing them onto the page. Focusing on the pen and the route I needed to take to capture the essence of the item. The way I worked reminded me of a etch sketch, trying to draw a house with a single line having to go back on yourself to capture a window or a door.

 I did the sketches on A5 and intended them to be quick sketches to make basic line drawing to base the rest of my sketches on. But I found they took a lot longer as I had to spend a look time analysing the items as I drew them and work out which  why I was going to take the line whilst maintaining connection with the pen and paper.

I believe these three sketches have given me a good starting point to develop on from, within my lines and edges work.

The next two pieces I went into more detail using a continuous focusing on the texture rather than just the edges. Aiming to create repetitive shapes that resemble the knit from the jumper and the beads on the bag. I choose these two pieces to focus on they were the most texturally interesting. I chose to work in pen for both using a 0.5 fine-liner for the jumper and felt-tip the bag. I chose to work in pen as this medium would work better to create the continuous line I was hoping to achieve. 

Both images took a lot longer to produce than I had anticipated, I hadn’t gauged how many lines were needed to create the detail I required. I started with the bag, using loops to recreate the beads on the bag. I felt this was a successful sketch as the loops produced the texture of the bag.

The jumper was not as straight forward as the bag, I had to work out a pattern that could be repeated whilst maintaining the continuous line. I chose to go with a V-shaped pattern repetitively moving. The movement reminded of signing my signature with the continuous looping with the pen. I also wanted to make the marks in the same direction the knit was travelling in. Although my hand ached at the end of the sketch the marks definitely helped to capture the texture from the knit. 

I then wanted to see if I could capture the dress with detailed lines. I chose to work with lines using them to go in the direction of the fabric. Using a fineliner to produce the lines whilst observing the dress and the way that it draped and the directions to take the lines in.

I next wanted to spend some more time on experimenting with different lines to capture the bag. 

I first started with working with a felt-tip pen using quick continuous looping movements working at speed, over lapping to create shade.  Working on A3 size paper which enabled me to work quicker than working on a smaller size as the meant I could create bigger movements with the pen rather than small delicate marks.

The sketches I wanted to look at different modes of lines, using dotted, broken and scratched lines, some more successful than others. With the broken line piece, I went back to my experimental tools. I wanted a tool that would create a broken line and decided to try a twig I had collected on one of my outings. I was hoping the uneven rough end would achieve the broken line I was looking for.  I chose to work with acrylic paint as it does not dry as quick as gouache paint, which would give me more time to work with the medium.

Carrying on with the broken line theme I then moved onto dotted lines, I chose to do this with ink and a paintbrush which I could load up with ink with each dot if needed. This piece was a lot more controlled with the dotted lines and creating a simple outline of the bag.

My final piece was a scratched line, this was not one of the most successful sketches. The reason it was not successful due to a large amount of detail having to be produced in a short amount of time before the paint dried. I had made the paint wetter, so I had time to work into the paint, this was a mistake as I then did not have the thickness in the medium to make the marks more prominent. As a result, it is the sketch is very indistinct.

The first thing I noted that even using my dominant hand producing the repetitive pattern in the zip I realised that in focusing on the pattern I had struggled to keep the proportion of the pattern. I think this may have been down to the lacking in focus as I thought it was something I could easily produce. Whereas when using my less dominant hand as it felt unnatural, I had to focus more on the way I was holding the pen and the how the lines were being produced. This one turned out straight but a lot lighter as I was holding the pen lighter than in the other hand.

I wanted to try creating a sketch solely from looking at the bag and then sketching what I was looking at without looking at the page I was drawing onto. I chose to go with an A4 size to restrict the amount of space I had to work with to condense the image. Following the outline of the bag with my eyes and then tracing that with the pen. I chose to work with pen as I would not have to worry about the medium running out. It was difficult not to look and felt very unnatural not focusing on the paper but on the object. Trying to draw in a more minimal style but trying to capture some of the beadwork on the bag. Although the finished piece is was not aesthetically pleasing it definitely stretched my brain and made it work in a different way.

 

I then wondered what would happen if I closed my eyes and tried to draw purely from memory and without being able to see what was being drawn. I chose to push the boundaries even further and chose to work with ink. This would also mean that I would not see the amount of medium that was being applied to the paper.

This was a lot tricky than the previous picture as I had to remember what the jumper looks like as well as finding the page, whilst making sure I had enough medium on the brush. I chose to work on a A5 piece of paper to reduce the area to work on. I tried to capture the texture with the marks I created. Although the picture was not accurate that was not what I took from this piece, by taking away sight it got my brain working differently. Rather worrying about what the mark marks that I made it was more about the way I made the mark and the way I viewed the jumper. Remembering key marks and textures I was trying to capture.

 

With the final selection of work, I chose to focus on how the lines appearance could be altered with simply altering the way I held a tool. I wanted to investigate how a loose grip would alter the normal steady line. And at the other end of the spectrum I wanted to see how the line could change with a tighter grip.

Keeping with a simple line technique to see the difference in the lines that would be created and using the tools and medium. I reflection I should have used the same size paper to make it more accurate but I chose to use an A1 sheet for the loose grip as I felt it would be easier to work on a larger scale with a looser grip. And then I chose to work on A3 for the tighter grip as I felt that logically I tighter grip would make the movements narrower.

 With the tighter gripped I noticed it was harder to create any as much detail if any and to get the tighter grip I was holding the paintbrush closer to the brush. This technique meant I put more pressure with the movements which created thicker heavier lines. 

Whereas with the lighter grip, I held the brush at the far end. This gave a much freer soft stroke to the marks created. I also noticed how it had become easier to capture a slightly more detail with this technique as I found it easier to direct the brush. The brush marks that were also created where lighter and more delicate. I found that I was producing the lines quicker.

After looking at all the different methods of line drawing I felt the final method to finish of this exercise would be to see what would happen If I changed the speed in which I worked. Creating an image of the dress with swift movement and then creating the same image in slow methodical movements. Using the same amount of skill of observation but developing them at a different pace. 

Moving faster made the lines of the dress more simplified. I found the fast brush marks left drag marks as the medium diminished, I found the effect that this made pleasing and gave some more depth to the sketch. 

 

Whereas with the slower movements I found I did not achieve the same style of line as the slow lines. The lines remained solid. It also meant that the slower movements meant that I could add more details with the lines that I produced. Although the more detailed of the two I preferred the less detailed fast strokes created from the first image.

The one thing I have learnt during these assignments is that it is not about the perfect image at the end it is the journey you have made to create the image. It has been learning how to observe the item I am sketching, learning different ways to adapt to sketch the item. Quick sketches, textured sketches although way through to blind drawing. As well as learning the different types of lines I could use to create these sketches. I enjoyed the thinking outside of the box, seeing all these new ways to view the item and put it onto paper. I can see how this will help me with future development of ideas and concepts.