Anatomy

I decided to start a sketch back purely for anatomical studies because I always want to know how things work. I love taking things apart and trying to put them back together again.

I have books on anatomy and physiology left from my years of studying acupuncture and learning point location. Also, 20 years of finding points on people means getting to feel the different bones muscles and tendons. etc.. Drawing the muscles seemed a good way to start and it is fascinating to see what is under the surface of clothes. Although I have been going to life drawing classes for a while, it is not the same as getting down to learning how to draw and understand the structure of the body.

My intention is to keep drawing the anatomy for a long time because I think it is like learning scales before playing pieces and as I am very interested in drawing people it seems the best route to take.

I found it quite difficult at first  and resorted to copying from a book on anatomy for artists but then decided to go back to my more technical books and draw from them. Showing form with cross hatching made sense when there were so many insertion points and easy to get confused with which muscle was going where.

It may seem a little obsessive but if it gets me using my sketch book more it must be good! 

Draped material

 First attempt at drawing material.
I draped a towel over a chair, drew it with a 4b pencil on A5 sketchbook and as it was getting dark it became harder to see what I was doing.
Next time I would like to do it in charcoal, much bigger to get the detail and form.

Research two contrasting artists

I chose Alphonse Mucha and Ronald Searle as two contrasting artists to show the difference in approach in their drawing.

Alphone Mucha 1860-1939
Study for plate 72 from " Documents Decoratifs" 1902
(pencil with white on paper )
from Mucha's book on artistic theory

Alphonse Mucha
Study for plate 59 from "Documents Decoratifs"
(pencil, watercolour and white on paper)
from Mucha's book on artistic theory

They are both illustrative but both show extreme detail in their approach but in completely ways.

Alphonse Mucha, 1860-1939, is more well known for his art nouveau style and his decorative style of using women surrounded by floral decoration. These two preparatory drawings show his attention to the placing of objects, i.e. how the chairs and placed, the table and it's runner, the plates on the shelf echoing the curves of the chairs and the use of circles within squares.
The drawing on the right shows the intricacies of the detailed leaves and grapes fitted into the objects. The delicate drawing of the silver spoons balances the whole picture with the cutlery at angles leading the eye from one part to another.

"Antique Dealer's Fair"
illustration from " News Chronicle Saturday Sketch book"
( pen & ink and watercolour) 1954
Private collection

The contrast of Ronald Searle's approach is shown in the cartoon of the antique fair.  I particularly love the humour
which pokes fun, gently, to the preciousness of the antiques. The detail is seen in the objects themselves, the chairs, the clock and ornate candelabra. The perspective is exaggerated to make the point of the fragility of whole scenario.

The man with a large jumper over his suit, with a suitably embarrassed look is so well observed. The "coconut stall" with the antique sitting waiting to be hit, shows inventiveness and lots of humour.

"The Dreaded Paperwork"
Illustration for "Lloyds Bank, Exporting for the Smaller Business"
( pen& ink, watercolour and pastels ) 1981
Private collection

The drawing on the left has, for me, great emotive power. Again, the detail is important to give it credibility and the use of the over large pile of paper turning into the torturing demon an example of true inventiveness.









What I like about these two artists is that the first, Alphonse Mucha, is deadly serious about beauty and his portrayal in decoration of natural forms, whereas Ronald Searle is mocking this by exaggerating the precariousness of beauty. In each case the artist has precise control over their skill in drawing but puts it to different use.

Figure drawing

First attempts at drawing figures, clothed, quick and drawn in an A5 sketch book with a pilot, hi-techpoint pen.


The sketch on the right was the first, trouble with the hand and an attempt to focus on line rather than tone, I found I was being very careful and not thrashing about in my usual way.
The second, on the left, I started much faster and I think it has more life in it. Not so preoccupied with line but more with shapes and angles.
I realise I have left out any background.

I then went for a cup of tea at my local deli and drew whoever was around. This time I got some of the background in.


This man, on the right I tried to draw mainly in line without my usual scribble. The background of a bench and tub of flowers has not come out well. Too much detail and it overpowers, too little and it is hard to see what it is.

The main thing was to get over the embarrassment of drawing in public at close proximity of people chatting to each other.


The drawing on the left was one I would have liked to spend longer on as the stripes on her top gave a good indication of form. However, she was moving, she was right in front of me and I was trying to be discreet.











This young girl was oblivious to me but moved all the time. However, I think I have not done too badly  and I have got some of the background in.

A very quick sketch of my friend, Petronella, who was painting at the time. She was moving very fast and almost impossible to get any detail. I used pastel on lining paper and find that when I use the side of the pastel, I work differently. It is more from the inside out. When I use line, I am more aware of the outline and how to contain what I see.

Another quick sketch, of Paul, who, at least, was still. I would like to do more to this. He was moving his hands too much for me to get detail.

Christine, during the google hangout, taken from the quick pencil sketch done at the time. I wanted to see how my drawing changed if I used different media for the same drawing. What I learnt was that it did not change the actual substance of the drawing. It seems to come down constantly to observation and how much is seen. 

The different media just gives it a superficial gloss. ( or not ) 

 These are two quick sketches in an A5 book. The piano tuner, who has a problem with his right arm (too long) and Paul, who is rather faint.

Summing up. Assignment 2 and exercises

I have just put together my work for assignment 2 and some exercises and feel I would like to do most of it again.

I am surprised ( perhaps not!) at how careless I have been in not reading the instructions properly. My biggest mistake was in the tonal drawing. I read the project, looked at the image in the book and of I went to draw a still life in pastel. I completely omitted to put in any natural form! The whole of part two is about natural form.
I used an A3 sketchbook, used both sides of the paper and found that, when it comes to presenting work for the assignment, there was a problem!

I am very aware now of how much I see in paint. This is becoming very clear and the minute I start to use colour in drawing, I see everything in terms of a painting. The difficulty of mixing colour with different media was very frustrating to me.
For me, it got very confusing to think in terms of drawing but to use colour which could not be mixed easily. I cannot see the point of trying to use colour in drawing without having a better intention as to what I am trying to achieve. For this reason I would like to do most of the work again and really think about what and why I am doing it. When I did use colour it was too bright, no drama and no atmosphere.

I would like to do far more drawing in black and white, using different marks. The range between charcoal, pen and ink, pencil and graphite is enormous and I feel I have not explored it enough. I would like to spend more time on line drawing as well. Using all the different colours and media took away from the importance of line in my opinion. Line drawing is one of my weak areas and needs more practise.

I found the brightness of fruit quite disturbing in most of my drawings and would like to rectify that by tackling it all differently.
Apart from fruit and veg, the natural objects found on a walk did not appeal to me in any way as I found it difficult to make a composition out of them. They should have been left on the walk, drawn in situ and worked out so that they were part of the landscape instead of being taken from it.

I would love to spend more time on drawing animals and felt that the section on it did not give enough attention to it.
It seemed out of balance to spend so much time doing still life with so many different media but not spend time exploring the anatomy and texture of animals. How to draw animals in situ, combining background, composition of one or many; there seemed a huge chunk that was not dealt with.

The flowers in coloured pencils was a nightmare and it is only now that I realise that I need to spend time using line to draw flowers and learn how to do that before attempting them with coloured pencils. It come back to drawing rather than painting again. If I see flowers in terms of paint, it is going to be difficult to see them in terms of line.

Assessment criteria points

Demonstration of technical and visual skills.

I think I have demonstrated a certain amount of skill both technically and visually except the skill of coloured pencils. Oil pastels I need to work on more.



Quality of outcome

The quality of outcome is not up to my standard so far. Presentation needs a lot more work and in a more coherent manner. I think my communication of thoughts and ideas are just okay but still need improvement.


Demonstration of creativity 

I have not shown enough creativity so far and wish to improve on that.



Context reflection

I have done more research than is shown but I need to get more written up. Critical thought is there but not written sufficiently.

Fish on a plate

Watercolour pencils ( blue and purple ) on watercolour paper with wash and sepia ink splattered. Approximately A3 size.

This is done very quickly because I realised that I did not want to take the fish out of the paper, let alone stare too long at these dead creatures. They are on a plate which is covered by the paper.

I started with blue water coloured pencil, followed by purple. Washed roughly. drawn into with blue and purple. Splattered with sepia ink and drawn into with a goose quill picked up in a field.


I have not got enough detail in the fish and I have not shown the light shining on the scales. The paper is roughly drawn and not accurate. Instead, I went for the composition, the freshness and the despair of the fish.

I Cannot Play the Violin! (i.e..coloured pencils )

I cannot play the violin and what is more, I don't want to.

Here is the dilemma. Would I want to if I could or can I not play because I don't want to?
I have to admit that I dislike high notes of any kind and that my worst nightmares have been when sitting to the right of piccolo players or the triangle player. It hurts! There have their place but not anywhere near me.

I first picked up a violin when I was 8yrs. old and quickly discovered that if I held in on my lap, pegs up, body down, I could bow more easily and it did not hurt as much. Later on in life I discovered it was called a cello and it was bigger. Good. Progress.
Playing the cello was fun but sitting in an orchestra with all the other cellists I found claustrophobic. I looked behind me and saw a double bass.
That moment started a a life long love affair with the double bass and the world of low notes.
Low notes are basis of all harmony, bass players are down to earth, real and most of them do not dash up and down the fingerboard showing off their concertos.
My double bass and I have been happily joined at the hip for nearly fifty years looking down from my high stool at the others scampering around trying to achieve some kind of peace of mind with their instruments.

What this is about is my dilemma with coloured pencils. I can only compare the art world with the music world in that it takes many years to find one's way, practise and get on with it.

Coloured pencils are like the violin. Completely alien to my way of thinking. I have tried them and they do not do what I want them to do. Should I change my perception of them? I have tried them, on white paper, on grey paper, over acrylic, over watercolour and still cannot see the point of them ( no pun intended.)

What would I do with them if I had completely mastered them? Would I be able to show life, movement, the excitement of colour? The experiments of going wrong and then correcting it without using a rubber?
One line with a coloured pencil does not express much unless followed quickly by another, and another and another. Even then, they do not express what I want to express.
Do I want to spend time struggling to get a technique which I don't want to use because it is contradictory to what I love?

I could not play the violin because I did not like the high notes. I still don't like high notes.