Line Drawing as you See it
'Have the courage to draw it yourself' - Andrew Loomis, 1947.
He came up with seven primary functions of line:
- To convey its own intrinsic beauty.
- To divide or limit an area or space.
- To delineate a thought or symbol.
- To define form by edge or contour.
- To catch or direct the eye.
- To produce a grey or tonal gradation.
- To create design or arrangement.
INVESTIGATING LINE
Good drawing is defined by the unique craft of its maker, the context it exists within and how it communicates a message.
Artists...
Jonathon Edwards - feathered line
Richard Sennat
Picasso - bold, minimal, fluid
James Jarvis - loose, minimal, cartoony
Tina Berning - minimal, fluid, handmade
David Hockney - minimal, accurate, selective
Lucinda Rodgers - pen, ink, brush, observed
Jon Boam - low fi, naive, anarchal
Ping Zu - movement, texture, gesture
Matt Boismier - gesture, fluidity, observed.
Working in monochrome I used 10 different tools to make a minimum of 3 drawings with each to continue last week's task but with a focus on exploring the drawn line. I have chosen to research and explore Punk as my visual subject.
The visual subject I have chosen to research and explore is Punk, Ska and the Northern Soul.
Think media - brushes/paper/ink/pen etc
Do primary research - draw from life - take photographs!
I started off by doing some quick simple research using wikipedia with which I recorded key points in my sketchbook:
Then I went to the library to see what books I could use that would link in to this project. I managed to find;
- England's Dreaming - Sex Pistols and Punk Rock, Jon Savage
- London from Punk to Blair, Second Edition - edited by Joe Kerr & Andrew Gibson
- Riot Grrrl - Revolution and Style Now! - Black Dog Publishing
- Roots of Street Style- Zeshu Takamura
- Vivienne Westwood - Claire Wilcox
FASHION
(1970-77) Northern Soul (aka soul boy) Northern England (Manchester, etc)
Just when the popularity of mods and soul was declining, a movement developed in the north of England by mod lovers who tried a new take on American minor soul. Wigans 'Casino' and Manchesters 'Twisted Wheel' were one night parties that attracted attention from all over England for the acrobatic dance steps that featured back flips and high kicks ('74-'76).
Key Elements:
- A loose style that could withstand heated dancing.
- Baggy pants that flared from the waist.
- hem width of 24-50cm
- white socks
- football t-shirt: they were youth who loved football, it was the perfect item for hard dancing.
(1970- late 1970's) N.Y 'Punk' originally meant a cowardly hooligan. Originated from the New York underground scene. Punk addressed themes that major musicians wouldn't, including social criticism, homosexuality and S&M. Punk rock was not based on knowledge and experience; instead it aimed to bring back the original pure passion and energetic beat and style of rock music. N.Y punk was less angry than British punk; times were not as tough economically in New York. Starting with Lou Reed of N.Y's Velvet Underground, the scene grew, including Iggy Pop & Stooges, Patti Smith, New York Dolls, Richard Hell, of Television, Heart Breakers, Blondie, and the early Talking Heads. Though most of the N.Y. punk scene was intellectual, U.K punk adopted the basic style created by Richard Hell, with his short hair and ripped clothes held together by safety pins. The instigator of U.K. punk Malcom McLaren, invited Richard Hell to form a punk band in England, but was refused. Instead he formed the Sex Pistols with a Richard Hell look-alike, Johnny Rotten, as the bands vocalist. At gigs and clubs like 'CBGB' and 'Max's Kansas City', the mods style could be seen night in and night out, with its emphasis on black, ripped shirts and jeans. But even how hard this style was pushed by punks, in the end it never became popular in New York except with a small number of people.
U.K Punk (aka: Plastic Peculiars) (1976-78) London. London youth suffered from a high rate of unemployment and entrenched social classes. In this continuing 'no future' situation, the punk movement, with its powerful beat and undisguised violence immediately captured the hearts of underclass youth.
Punks instigator was Malcom McLaren; he belonged to and was active in Situationist International (SI: an anarchist political organisation that turned its anger at capitalist society into a refutation that aimed at restoring and creating cities.) In 1968 Malcom saw the stimulated reaction of the youth to the anarchistic, violent actions of SI and students during the May revolution in Paris when they were shown on T.V, and he knew that radical ideas would become part of pop culture and have an impact throughout the world. In December 1971, himself and Vivienne Westwood opened a teds revival shop 'Let it Rock' at 430 Kings Road, in a tough working class neighborhood and in 1973 they opened the rockers and zoot suit shop; 'Too Fast to Live Too Young to Die' and in 1974 opened 'Modernity Killed Everynight' and 'Sex'; a fetish S&M shop that sold rubber and leather. This is where the SI type of anti-establishmentarian, provocative style was first seen. After managing the New York Dolls in N.Y. he returned to England and formed the Sex Pistols; changing the lead vocalist in his band to a frequent customer to his shop 'Sex' and Richard Hell look-alike and gave him the stage name Johnny Rotten. Wearing items from Vivienne's shop, which was renamed 'Seditionaries' in 1977, Johnny Rotten made punk style popular. It was an anti-style made of ripped clothing, even the naked body becoming clothing with tattoos, piercing and bondage elements - it was very cutting edge.
At the time, the kind of music street kids listened to was 'Pub Rock'; it refers to the simple and nostalgic rock 'n' roll and R&B that was performed at these local pubs. Kids felt alienated and different from the big rock stars that played in big halls, and they were getting bored with concept-based hard rock and progressive rock bands. Kids then took the three-chord melody of pub rock and put their own message to it, giving it the speed of true rock 'n' roll. If they had £200 they could press their own record on an independent label; this meant punk bands debuted one after the other and punk rock started growing. They were street kids who bought rock back to the streets again, away from the big business and industry it had become. It incorporated the reggae sound from Jamaica which had recently become popular. The punk spirit of 'always ready to evolve' manifested in the sound of The Clash, the mods style of The Jam, and following on Goths, the decadent makeup of The Damned; these four bands plus The Stranglers, made up the top 5 punk bands in the U.K. In 1977, the Sex Pistols had a single 'God Save the Queen' that hit No.1 on the charts, this was the peak of the punk movement. During their U.S. tour in 1978, Johnny Rotten quit and the band dissolved. In 1979, when Sid Vicious died of an overdose of heroin, 'punk' died with him.
Underground culture became major, and the punk spirit of free thinking, always seeking new things, changing for the better, and creating new things with ones own hands caused a sir in the media world. Magazines like 'I-D', 'The Face', and 'Arena' came out, creating a huge movement that included style, music, graphics, art, politics, literature and which even today continues to had a big effect on society.
The Sex Pistols vocalist, Johnny Rotten, loved clothes and was really quite fashion conscious, even going so far as to tear up a brand new suit and hold it together with safety pins and staples. He promoted a mode-like punk lifestyle.
Key Elements:
- Parachute Jacket
- Tartan check was the motif of the Scotland army that resisted the British Empire at the beginning of the 18th Century.
- Apron with a diaper-like flap.
- 'Sex' bondage pants. Of all of Malcom and Vivienne's designs, this item caused the greatest commotion. In 1976, Johnny Rotten wore a prototype of these pants at a Paris concert.
- Straps around both legs expressed the frustrating immobility felt by the poor youth in a recessionary economy.
- Zippers at the crotch and feet. A detail of S&M clothing designed for quick sex.
- A 'Seditionaires' gauze shirt. Motifs were the Antichrist, swastika, and Queens stamp. With metal fittings on the shoulders and armholes. It became a bondage item.
- Mohair-border sweater: originally an old 50s style item, but when Vivienne put holes in it and sold it at seditionaires, it became part of the punk wardrobe. Since nearly every home had a mohair sweater. It was an easy item to acquire.
- The anti-hippie punks changed the hippie slogan of 'love & peace' to 'hate & war'.
- Rubber soled shoes with stitched toe monk strap. From Malcoms teds shop (Let it Rock) Incidentally, punk and revival teds had a continuing rivalry. Robot brand goods became famous. In 1984, 'A Store Robot' opened, selling Robot rubber-soled shoes. The store became a trendsetter for the 80s.
Punk Rockers; Glen Matlock was kicked out of the Sex Pistols in March 1977 because he was a Beatles fan. His replacement as bassist was a former Sex Pistols groupie and old friend of Johnny Rotten's, Sid Vicious. This is a style worn by Sid Vicious, who got his nickname from Johnny's pet hamster, his real name is John Simon Ritchie. His style was heavily influenced by rockers and Rastafarians. Both of their styles were somewhat grungy. It came from the N.Y. punk Dee Dee Ramone. Ramone thought that the rockers style was the height of 'cool and groovy' but at that time the punks were on very bad terms with the rockers.
- Anarchy T-shirts: Motifs were of revolutionaries of the day, whether good or bad. Some included SI, which hit the limelight during the May uprising in Paris 1968, the Nazi swastika or the portrait of Karl Marx. The most famous were graphic designs by Jamie Reid (England), a friend of Malcoms from art school and fellow SI activist. The cut-out ransom lettering style was entirely an SI influence. His graphic designof the 'God Save the Queen' t-shirt showing the Queen with a safety pin through her nose was a striking visual that had everyone talking. This coincided with the 25th anniversary celebrations of the reign o Queen Elizabeth in 1977.
- Spiked hair: Richard Hell's jaggedly cut hair became a fashion, with its aggressive spikes held in place with soap or vaseline.
- A chain with a lock hanging from it was an item always worn by Sid Vicious.
- A 'Seditionaries' t-shirt on the theme of homosexuality.
- This Sid Vicious t-shirt, with the words 'She's dead, I'm alive. I'm yours.' was sold only in the three months between the mysterious death of Nancy Spungen, Sid's girlfriend, in November 1978, and Sid's own death.
- The uniquely punk 'pogo dance' style was Sid's invention. The name came from the pogo stick, a toy used to bounce straight up and down.
- Their style can be seen in the Pistol's semi-documentary film (produced by Malcom) 'The Great Rock 'N' Roll Swindle' (1979) and 'Sid & Nancy' (1986). The Punk feeling can be seen in The Clash semi-documentary 'Rude Boy' (1978) and 'Jubilee' (1978)
Street Punks. Seditionaries items were beyond the reach of underclass kids so they arranged clothes they had by themselves. Their style became the mainstream of punk. Since they were anti-hippie, anything that didn't look hippie was alright:
- Dog collars
- Chains expressed bondage
- Hobnailed belt
- T-shirts and sweaters were torn and worn with holes. In the summer of 1972 a major jazz festival was held. Malcom tried to sell t-shirts of Chuck Berry and the other participating musicians, but nothing sold. Upset, Malcom took scissors and cut them up. Vivienne recycled those damaged goods by stitching them up and putting zippers on them. They apparently became popular when sold at 'Let it Rock' The image still comes from Richard Hell. The ripped items of street kids were not designer brand, they were DIY.
- Naturally they were against long hair. As long as one's hair was short, it didnt matter if it didnt stand on end.
- Accessories made of dangerous items such as safety pins and razor blades expressed radicalism. Fake razor blades that couldnt cut also appeared. Safety pins were pierced through ears or noses. The items were an imitation of the pop artist Andy Warhol's tastes.
- Decadent makeup: Eyeliner and other glam elements were also incorporated.
- A school uniform blazer was turned inside out, pulled apart, and held together by safety pins. Even a dress was made out of a black garbage bag.
- Sue Catwoman: A Sex Pistols groupie whose hairstyle, which resembled that of the Batman comic strip character 'Catwoman', became famous. She appeared in magazines and fanzines frequently at the time.
- Since leather shoes were expensive, mostly one saw sneakers that were falling apart.
- In 1979 Vivienne changed the name of her shop to 'Worlds End' and even came out with an autumn/winter collection in Paris in 1981. She made the transformation into a world-class designer and became independent of her partner, Malcom. She was the second British person to successfully enter the Paris mode world, after Mary Quant. With her appearance in Paris, she closed her store 'Worlds End' from 1983-86, but in 1987 reopened it with her London collection. She went on to win acclaim as 'British Designer of the Year' two years in a row in 1990 and 1991. In 1992 she was awarded the 'Order of the British Empire (OBE)' by Queen Elizabeth. In 1993 there was a punk revival and her designs garnered renewed attention. She has declared that 'Orthadox is the graveyard of the intellect' as she provides intellectual, avant garde designs.
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I have been looking on youtube to find some resources and I watched http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylVAhH_uJHI which was useful in informing me on some of the opinions of the time. It includes the general public and those directly involved in the punk movement including bands, groupies and those involved in production. I really liked some of the phrases and words they used so I wrote some down I thought particularly meant something within my project and also print screened their expressions which worked best with the point they were making. I used this secondary research as reference for some sketchbook work:
I also researched into the Sex Pistols and printed off a range of photographs from their website along with images of some of their merchandise and posters, I then created some work from this:
During this work I was focusing too much on achieving an accurate representation and I definitely feel I need to start pushing myself further to bring some interest into my sketches; Matt's second seminar on the subject of Line, and looking through my peers sketchbooks has reinforced this. I love how some of my peers are using two complementary colours to draw, emphasizing key aspects of the image, it definitely brings some life and movement into the work, I also noticed that a lot of people were practicing drawing the same image again and again, using a range of medias and just sticking with the same media until they felt confident with the sketch; this is something I really need to introduce into my sketchbook. I need to spend more time thinking about the image beforehand and more time experimenting, instead of going straight into a sketch relying heavily on the reference material.
I think because I usually use two or more references for my work, I am used to combining and changing elements a lot, however in this project I have been working from just one and I have relied far too much on this one image. Matt suggested looking at the reference image, taking it in, understanding its shapes, and then having a go at drawing those shapes or lines out. This is definitely a technique I will be trying with my next load of sketches.
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