Task 3: Drawing as you See It- Line/Tone/Mark/Pattern

Drawing as you see it...Line/Tone/Mark/Pattern

Continuing to explore line drawing using ten different drawing tools, in response to my chosen visual subject; Punk, with a focus on drawn line, tone, made mark and pattern. I explore how pressure, stroke, direction and gesture dictate my line and how different paper can effect this. I used hatching, cross hatching, scribbling, shading and making marks and pattern in this brief. I used the line to describe light and form in both a very accurate and precise way but also a way that could be stylised or suggested. 

I continued practicing pen with continuous line and I have begun to add some patterns and think about pen strokes and direction and how pattern can work with blank space to create effect. 

I used pattern/made marks as a visual device to describe complex and detailed information such as...

Pattern was used here to create new planes/sense of depth to my drawing...

These patterns/made marks are highly controlled/manic and loose.

This is a sketch focusing on line, I used a reference photograph of some 'northern soul' dancers. I let direction of the strokes direct my line as I wanted to create movement in the blank space to mirror the dancers. I chose to only highlight a few parts of the other bodies on the page to add to the dance hall vibe when its dark with a few parts lit up- the spot light here is on the dancer and all his body is visable. I used coloured pencil to describe the background as I thought it worked well to juxtapose the clarity of the pen line and blank white space. 

Here I used a  lot of pressure to create boldness in the jacket. This was a quick sketch and I just wanted to experiment with a simple bold technique to portray this jacket. I think it worked in portraying the boldness of the jacket but overall I don't think it was a very successful piece as there is not much narrative or interest in the piece. Perhaps more made marks, patterns and cross hatching would have added interest to the jacket or the background/person around it. 

Here I used a find liner in black to draw out a punk's rebellious expression and I decided to fill in the shadows and darker shades of the image with a pattern. I think this worked well as it added some more interest to the image and it also worked well with the crazy message of the piece as the pattern is almost 'too much'. It almost rebels but still remains inside its borders. Perhaps to improve this piece I could explore allowing the crazy punky theme to let the patterns over run their borders and create mayhem on the page.

Above: Vivienne Westwood, and right; with her friends in her shop 'Sex'. I looked at line, form and tone here. I used orange to imbue an essence of her within the image; her ginger hair.  I think the gesture of the line work in the image really continues the wild and free theme that Vivienne Westwood is; the swirls of hair and curving lines suggest fun and the opposite of ordered and sensible. the directions of the swirls head outwards from the centre along with some of the fingers however most of the fingers point in; I think the direction of these lines helps the audience to be drawn to the centre of the image but to also notice her wild mane. The small amount of pressure I put on the pen was used to juxtapose the intensity of the image, I wanted it to feel balanced and I think this worked as it doesn not seem 'too much' yet still seems powerful.

Here I used different pressure to draw the dots and experimented using dots to create form. I like the effect the dots have and I found it meant my positioning of features was more accurate as with the dots you can carefully suggest them where as with line once its drawn its drawn. However this technique took much longer than drawing using line so if a piece was under time constraint this would not be an appropriate approach. I decided to centre the image on the face so used the most pen there and more loosely further away. I then added colour using coloured pencil and added some more pen dot marks with a fine liner:

The below illustrations are my interpretations of Vivienne Westwood's catwalk and print spreads.  I chose to focus on these as I could identify the punky edge to the garments and makeup and hair of the models. I used shapes of colour to map out the clothing using felt tip pens and then added water to make a water colour look. I left a lot of the page blank as I liked the relationship the colour had with the white space and how it allowed the colour to not overwhelm the image. I then added line, mark, pattern and tone using black fine liner to them to bring the image together and describe the garments and models features.  

I found that the paper I used for the below images really helped me to use the watercolour paintbrush with an accurate gesture as the paint didn't run where you didn't place it to and yet it was smooth enough to allow the pen to be applied at multiply pressures and the gesture of it was uninterrupted. 

I used pattern and made marks as a visual device to describe complex and detailed information such as his necklace and neckline, his beard and facial features, and the way the clothes fall to leave shadow on his body. Pattern was used here to create a sense of depth to my drawing as it adds more truth to the image and allows the garment to be identified as Vivienne Westwoods and also recognition of the model. The black also works well to tie in all the colours and patterns. The patterns and made marks are thought out but loose, however the shadows have had to be drawn over multiple times in order to create the depth so those marks are a lot more controlled. 

( Look up Yule Bringer & Nigel Peak)