Week 4 - Life Model, Animals, Birds...

Mel our excellent life model, is being joined this week by an Owl, Pochard Duck, Hedgehog, Thrush, and a Kiwi Bird, courtesy of Worcester City Museum.

You will continue to build on the drawing skills you've gained over module, reviewing this week; proportion and spatial relationships, and experimenting with creative picture making techniques, such as collaged textured paper in response to tableaux of Mel and the animals.

Preparatory Work

Working in groups prepare your textured collage paper as follows . .

·       Using a print roller, roll black acrylic paint across several pieces of A1 paper –  the more textured and varied in tone/density, the better. (at least 2 A1 sheet per person)

·       Using graphite sticks make a series of rubbings on A1 cartridge paper from different surfaces in, around studio and outside the Garage. The more varied the A1 sheets the better.  ( at least 2 sheets per person)

·       Using Charcoal, rub different densities of tone on several A1 sheets of paper. ( at least 2 sheets per person).

Collect sheets & place to one side. 

Warm Up Exercises

Preparation

Use the animals to create an interesting Tableaux with the life model, for the whole class to draw. Consider tableau titles??  (Tutor may assist in arranging tableaux).

Or tutor could set up one tableau if more practical, better use of time...

Exercises

Students to choose their own warm up approach that works for them, (e.g. blind drawing, non-drawing hand, continuous line etc). Tutor to give timings (e.g. 30 secs to 5/10 mins) for the following exercises: 

·       Draw 1 of the animals in the tableau.

·       Draw 2 of the animals in the tableau. 

·       Draw 2 of the animals and Mel 

·       Draw 3 of the animals and Mel

·       Draw 4 of the animals and Mel

N.B. Set an intention for each drawing e.g. Will your focus be line and use of density of line? Or will your primary concern be texture? Use at least 2 drawing tools and switch materials regularly when appropriate.

Warm up completed.

Spatial Relationships

Tutor to spread the tableau throughout the studio space, some parts could be bunched up, others spaced out.

Students can use charcoal or pencil.

This next exercise will introduce the notion of spatial relationships.

'Take a line for a walk' exercise – This builds on the 'build drawing' continuous line approach, of hand eye synchronicity. Place a sheet of  A1 paper on a vertical drawing board, start the drawing half way down the left hand side of the paper, you will eventually draw slowly across to the other side of the sheet.

Begin the drawing at a left hand point of the tableau, to start find an area of interest to draw first, it might be Mel's foot, or some part of animal, now let your eyes wonder across the tableau and allow the charcoal/pencil to follow suit on the page, whatever your eye notices of interest draw on the page, it might be a claw, the box the animal/bird is in, even the light fittings or pipes in room, Mel's profile, then into her eyes and mouth, follow your instincts, look at the floor/ceiling, and remember to keep the charcoal/pencil on the page, all the objects will join with your 'walking line' . You may find you can't draw the entire tableau, so place another sheet on the board and carry on were you left off, then attach together with masking tape when finished.

Tactile Drawings

Tutor to place Mel and animals in interesting positions – don't worry about spatial relationships, tableau set ups, as they will be drawn in isolation.

Students to use black & white mixed media, ink, charcoal, pencil, chalk , erasers, even wax candles etc.

Now we will focus on texture.

Review the textured sheets, pick a sheet that corresponds in some way to one of the animals, using a pencil draw the outline of the animal, then cut out. You may wish to 'draw' with your scissors, like Matisse, leaving the pencil out of the process.

Draw and cutout another animal/bird from the texture sheets, consider where you draw/cut out, a particular part of the sheet might be more suitable. Next, draw and cut out a Mel from a sheet.

Glue the cutouts onto a clean piece of paper. Now consider page design/composition.

Next work back into the cutouts; use different types of line, and texture. The aim is to describe the texture/surface of the animals/Model - how will you describe the contrasting skin, hair and feathers of the animals and a human being? Freely experiment. Go for it!!

You might apply dense layers of line or/and texture in some cases or a very limited use of line or/and texture in others. Consider applying shadow, so the animal/Mel aren't floating on the page.

Combine Tactile Drawing and Spatial Relationships.

 Tutor to arrange an interesting tableau, suggesting narrative, or animal/human relationship/s

Again students work with B&W mixed media.

This exercise we look at both texture and spatial relationships.

Start by doing a quick preparatory drawing of the Tableau -  use your view finder to frame an interesting composition/angle. You can choose to draw all or some of the Tableau. Allow 5 mins and no more.

Next select 2 or 3 of the animals or/and Mel to draw and cutout of the textured sheets. This time the animals/Mel have to be in proportion with each other. 

Glue on a A1 sheet, continue with the drawing around the glued collaged parts, draw Mel if you haven't already done so, add more animals,  if you wish.  Applying texture, line work, shadow, and work back into the collaged animals/Mel.

Review the drawing, how's it working in terms of space/picture planes? Are some pieces in the background coming forward, or areas in the foreground look like their in the background ? Try correcting this, work over with chalk, or replace cutouts with drawings, vice versa. Most importantly have fun making the tactile drawing.  If an area doesn't work, stick a small piece of paper on top and draw it again.