Drawing
In week one, we investigated observation methods to place objects in space onto a 2-dimensional surface using line and comparative positional measurement. We further observed dark Areas of still-life objects to define them in space, and finally, we made light areas to inform the viewer of the space on a 2-dimensional surface.
Drawing week 1
Exercises in the first week of drawing introduced line and edges, light and shadow. In exercise one, we observed shapes and marked dark areas on still life objects to define form. I drew a cozy bedroom scene. I used this to help me with my resolved work number 1, The Royal Hotel, Queanbeyan 1927. In the following exercise, we experimented with two perspective drawings. I then read the recommended views of three artists on realistic drawing: Julian Meagre, Susan Kester, and Alexandre Granger. I used this advice to help with my perspective drawing. I am very interested in the focus as I strive to be a realistic painter. My art is realistic but still has a painterly feel. My art does not look like a photograph but with a connection to the object that a photo cannot capture. I spend a lot of time and observation on drawing an object’s detailed rendering, which is derived from contemporary figurative art. I use photographic images as a reference source, which I use to create detailed drawings and a more definitive style that is unlike photo realism but has an emotive narrative in its rendering. The exercises from this week helped me focus on drawing perspective and an interior space. As you can see from the photo of a bedroom scene from the illustration, I used lots of blending. I was happy with most of the drawing, except the chair, which appears to be floating. I think if I added a line where the wall and floor join, that this would anchor the chair in position.
These exercises were landscape-based. We were to draw in plein-air. I chose the view from my porch. It is a beautiful spot with lots of shrubbery and a bridge. I like the combination of nature surrounding a man-made object, the bridge. The first few exercises were to observe the shifting shadows of natural and manmade. I completed three basic sketches, spending just five minutes on each. I looked at the shapes of the objects. I find this step in my brain from imagining what the tree looks like, freeing it to observe from nature, not from memory. The exercises made us look at the foreground, middle ground, and background. They encouraged us to look at the view at different times of the day and observe the depth of the shadow. We also used portrait-style paper to complete this landscape and mark the highest point of the scene. I only marked in the shapes, not drawing what I thought was there, but breaking the image into shapes. Once I had completed the basic shapes in my resolved work number 2, I looked at the dark and shadow in more detail and added more ink.
Exercises week 4: Drawing Portraiture.
Week four exercises concentrated on drawing a portrait. Again, the use of mathematics in art to help with proportion and placing features appealed to my drawing style. I spent a lot of time drawing various faces using the facial guide lines and proportions:
- Eyes are halfway down the face.
- The face is 5 eye widths across.
- The underside of the nose sits halfway down from the eyes and chin.
- The inside of the eye runs in line with the edges of the nose.
- The pupils run in line with the outside edges of a relaxed mouth.
In addition to these instructions, I did further research using Realistic Portraits in Coloured Pencil by Karen Hull,2019, Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc. I observed facial changes from different ages and drew quick sketches. The face fascinates me, the multitude of expressions. I drew quick sketches of facial features. I observed facial changes from different ages, from infants to old age. I scrutinised the smooth skin of youth to the changes in collagen as the skin ages and begins to sag. As you can see from the resolved portrait, this has turned into a passion, and I was thoroughly captivated by the stages of life. I also learned a valuable lesson about why it was essential to fix the graphite before closing pages. I used these calculations to inform my consolidated drawing number 3.
Painting
Still life, painting from observation. I set up two objects for the week 2 exercises. A clear glass bottle and an opaque plastic bottle. The first exercise uses continuous line drawing with tones of black and white. I did the piece very quickly to capture the moment of the light hitting the objects of that moment in time. As there was one continuous line for each object, they were slightly off, creating a rough effect. The following exercise again used continuous line painting in solid blocks of colour straight from the tube with no blending. The two images overlap and create interesting shapes. The lines overlap and move inside and outside of each other. The fourth exercise involves negative shapes. This helped me to relate one object to another and to draw challenging results more easily. I found this quite an instinctive way of painting, just following the shapes, not acknowledging it as an object; this was useful for my resolved painting number one.
For this exercise, we looked at harmonious colours, complementary colours, warm and cool colours
We also explored the components of colour: factual—the colour in isolation, actual—where it sits next to the other colours and the relationship formed and personal – how the individual perceives the colour (perception of the colour).
The individual perception was fascinating to me as I am colour blind. I know, crazy for an artist. I struggle to tell the difference between certain blues and greens, and when they are at a specific wavelength, the colour strobes between green and blue. I have learnt to just call it turquoise and move on. I enjoyed completing the colour wheels, choosing warm and cool colours, especially with the naturally warmer colours, like red and orange, and this exercise allowed me to see that a warm colour can also have cool tendencies. Exciting in these exercises was the phenomenon of colours when surrounded by another colour. In the two-colour squares, the placement of the two colours makes the other middle colours really pop and stand out from the page, whilst others seem to recede. This fascinated and excited me as I thought of all the areas I could manipulate with this process.
Exercise weeks 5 and 6. Abstract art.
I am a realist painter who does not understand abstract art, so I was excited about doing these exercises. I was hopeful they would help me appreciate what I saw; I am a realist painter. I struggled with the apparent randomness of week five, but the inverting exercise allowed me to add more realism to an abstract painting and I learned a lot. This compositional experiment was about moving away from realism into abstract art. Experimenting with blocks of colour, which created a flat image. It is more about the expression than the reproduction of the image. The exercises have helped me develop a sense of composition and a greater understanding of colour and light and how to create depth and dimension. The masking technique in exercise one was advantageous. I have used masking tape in my watercolour art (e.g. horizon line for a seascape and creating a neat frame around the surface). So, using PVA or acrylic medium to seal the tape was an excellent tool for me. I find the exercise number 2 quite threatening, with its short stabbing strokes, and the painting is split in two, with the blue side being peaceful and the red side chaotic. I like this painting better than the resolved artwork number three.
Printmaking
Printmaking Number 1 – Screen Printing and Lino Cut Printing
For screen printing, I bought a beginner’s kit, and I was not sure what to do with all the pieces. For my stencils, I began by using three pieces of 300 gsm paper glued together, as suggested, but it was tough to cut through. For my colour scheme, I chose three shades of blue for the child and green for the background. The blue represents sadness, and the metallic green represents growth and recovery from childhood trauma. I was going to do the child in black and white, but it lacked depth; I thought using colour would be more appealing to the viewer. I intend to surround the background in printed flowers, representing beauty and hope. I have CPTSD, so I like to surround myself in beautiful things. As a child, I felt drawn to lovely things, and I learned to take pleasure in little things, like daisies in the grass. I still did not get a good image with my stencil, so I rummaged through my art stash and found some old (over 30 years) transparency film. This worked much better, but I still encountered problems. First of all, I drew the outline of the child, and I cut it out, and it just fell out. I realised I have to keep some little tags. I realised I would have to cut out three stencils for the different colours, and I tried to add detail to the design. The paint went bubbly, so I had to watch some YouTube videos to prevent this next time. I like the colours I chose, but the piece did not convey the emotion behind the art —fear and submission. I tried once more, but the paint kept bleeding under the stencil (photo 2 Flowers). I suspected it was the slightly runny acrylic paint I was using. I will need to continue practising with this medium. I went online and ordered five tubes of engraving colour, and I experimented with different mediums. I use student-grade acrylic, Indian ink, and engraving colour. The results tell a story; the Indian ink and engraving colour outperform the acrylic, which bleeds.
Next, I began lino-cut experiments. I wanted to create something cheerful to break the pace. I started with smaller blocks; the first was 5 cm x 5 cm. I just carved shapes into it, but it came out as a solid green block. I then made a 10 cm x 15 cm block; it is a carving of a cherry blossom tree. It was a lot more successful. I thought I was ready to carve an A4 lino block. With the practice pieces, I realised how unlike drawing the focus was on negative space, working out what to leave in and what to take out. I used engraving ink and 110 gsm cartridge paper. Even though I rolled with a rolling pin and pressed the paper over the engraved block, the result was a disappointment. I made eight prints in total, and the image above is the clearest, but as you can see, not all of the detail is present. I will recut some parts of the block and reprint it later.
Printmaking Number 2 – Collage
For the studio practice, I made two pieces, both of which include flowers. The first experiment I used acrylic paint, cardboard and tissue paper. I then used cut-out stamps over the top.
The second experiment was a lot neater and more focused. I used old birthday cards, acrylic paint, tissue paper and a printing block. The first attempt was very sloppy and rough. The second was a bit more polished. However, for my resolved collage I decided to paint with fabric. I made two resolved works. I used cotton sheets from a charity shop for the fabric, front and back. I enjoy making quilts, finding disparate fragments, and bringing them together to create a cohesive whole. I find this traditional storytelling method very relaxing. The technique of building quilts is quite similar, but for my second piece, “Drunkard’s Walk,” I decided to include a curved design, which I have not done before. The process of making one of the quilt panels is shown above.
I completed the following process:
- I decided how big I wanted the quilt to be, and I decided I wanted a throw-size quilt. I then estimated the size of each stitched-together, patterned square. I then made the templates out of baking paper.
- I placed each template onto the fabric and cut out eight squares of each colour. I then placed the templates on top and marked the design with a water-soluble pen, and cut the shapes out.
- I then found the middle of each shape and attempted to pin the pieces together. It was very tricky and did not work very well, so I decided to snip one of the pieces, gently around the join, ¼” seam. This worked perfectly, and the pieces joined beautifully. I pinned the two pieces together.
- I stitched the pieces together and pressed the seam back
- Each block had 16 squares (4×4). I arranged the pieces first, sewed four columns, and then joined the columns to make the block. I then pressed the seams to make a nice, neat block.
- I then machine-sewed all the blocks together to make the quilt top.
- I then cut out a piece of fabric, slightly bigger than the front side. I did the same with a piece of low-loft cotton batting to ease the stitches. I then used long-hand stitches to baste the three layers together.
- Then comes the fun part. I decided to quilt my layers using the ‘stitch in the ditch’ method, which means you follow the seamlines of the pattern, both across the length and width of the quilt. This emphasises the pattern.
- The final step is to create a binding strip that goes the whole circumference of the quilt and machine stitch to make the edges neat and to finish the quilt.
The two resolved works show how slightly tweaking an idea can lead to two very different designs. The “Drunkard’s Walk” (quilt 2) is more technical in its design, whereas the “White Picket Fence” (quilt 1) is much freer in its design, with the pieces pieced together randomly, making sure the finished piece is harmonious. Quilt 2 is very precise about where the pieces go, but quilt 1 is trial-and-error as you move the squares of flowered fabrics into a pleasing painterly design. The ‘White Picket Fence’ design, with its random arrangement of pieces, represents the freedom and creativity I found in my adult life, despite the challenges I faced in my youth.
The ideas I want to convey with my artwork are my strength in living with CPTSD and borderline personality disorder. I use my art to work through the pain and anguish of my childhood trauma, which is still part of my life, even though I am now 59 years old. I wanted these pieces to feel harmonious and to tell of the strength I have come to find in my adult life. I have provided a more detailed conceptual reflection in my resolved work, delving deeper into the emotional and psychological aspects of my journey. I have been making quilts on and off for over 25 years. I enjoy the relaxing process when things go right, and the challenges when you hit a problem and have to problem-solve
and be flexible in your thinking. The quilting process allows me to continue a traditional art form and give it a modern twist. I love the fact that you can take cast-off fabric and turn it into a new piece, which provides love and comfort. I admire the works by Jenny Bowker and Brenda Gael Smith. Bowker’s quilts often reflect personal journeys and cultural motifs. She uses photo-transfer techniques, which I will explore next. My quilt motifs are metaphors for emotional states and invite viewers to reflect on resilience, boundaries and transformation. I could also explore wearable quilts like soft sculptures that move with the body, turning emotional narratives into performance.
Printmaking Number 3 – Concertina Book
I have not made a concertina book before, but it was so much fun; I am sure I will be making many more in the future. I used handmade paper because it looks so beautiful and soaks up watercolour perfectly. When I had put the pieces together, I thought it was finished, but when my husband, a perfectionist and engineer, came home, he saw that all the pages I had glued in weren’t facing the same way, so I had to start again. I designed each panel and sketched it onto the paper. I printed the full story on the first page, then entered each sentence with the relevant character. I wanted to make
the narrative a journey, using native animals as the characters. I used watercolour paint and graphic markers with metallic gouache for sparkles and moonlit accents. I played with textures and patterns, using stylised fur, feather and foliage with decorative motifs, spirals, dots, and hatching. These elements run throughout the book, telling the story of a moonlit bush parade.
Ceramics
Pinch Potting
I had never used clay before, so I was nervous but excited to begin. The first ceramic experiment was to make two pots using the pinch potting method. I was tasked to design a small cup with a handle. I used 300g of air-dry clay for the jug, plus extra for the handle (as I do not have access to a kiln). The clay was a beautiful white colour. The brief was to design and make an item that was comfortable to use. I designed a cup with a handle, three legs, a flared top, and a floral design. I first made a slip, which works like a ceramic adhesive. I did this by breaking down the clay into small coin-sized pieces and dissolving them in water. The pinch method means forming the clay into a ball, making a hole in the middle, and gently squeezing it between your fingers to create a shape. I went a bit crazy shaping the flared top, but I liked the design, so I decided it was not a cup but a snack bowl. I found it too hard to put legs on the shape, as I could not get the clay to support the dish. After completing the body, I put the item in a plastic bag to prevent it from drying while I made the handle. The handle needed to be no thicker than 2 cm. I used the scratch-and-slip method to attach the handle to the body. As it was drying, I had an accident and snapped off a piece. Undeterred, I continued painting the object with white acrylic paint, then painting a floral design on top in three colours. After drying for a week, I glazed the bowl with a waterproof sealer. I think for a first
attempt, it was pretty good and has a certain charm. The second pinch post evolved into a gravy jug. I used the same process, and again, I think it has a certain charm. I like the finger marks and the rustic form. I used the same floral design. I enjoyed making these little pots because they don’t take much time and have a whimsical appeal.
Slab Building
First Attempt: I forgot to take a photo, but it was a flop.
Second Attempt.
Third, fourth and fifth attempts.
The second experiment used the slab method. I found this technique extremely difficult; the clay was too heavy and would not keep its shape. For this piece, I had to make a jug. First, I made a pattern. I had to concentrate on form and function whilst developing my hand-building techniques. The item was to be 18 cm high. The clay I used had instructions in Chinese; the only thing I could read was the firing temperature. (I had ordered it online). After I made my pattern, I used a rolling pin to flatten and even the clay to about 1 cm thick. I then placed the pattern on the clay. I could not get the clay to hold its weight, so I rethought the pattern. I began again. The pattern looked much better this time, and I could visualise the jug more clearly. However, the clay started to crack and split everywhere. I would get the piece perfect, and it would collapse. I decided to make the jug with a square bottom, reasoning that it would be stronger, and I could use supports to prop it up until it dried. I formed four sides and the bottom, and I propped the sides up with drink cans. The last side would not remain straight; it kept sagging. I tried stuffing the inside with paper to help support it whilst it dried, but it was still wavy. The bottom piece started to split and droop. After I allowed it to dry for a day, I removed the supports, and the result was a disaster: the bottom fell off, and the whole thing split and crumbled. I abandoned that piece of work and began again. I was worried I wouldn’t get a finished piece, so I decided to make the jug smaller. As you can see from the photos, I even struggled with a smaller piece. I managed to get a shape that resembled a jug. I had to add a lot of water to the clay because it was cracking and still not holding its weight. I formed a spout and added the handle. I was frustrated almost to tears. I allowed the jug to dry, and a week later, I used the same floral pattern and process as with the pinch pots to decorate it. The result is not very good. I really did not enjoy this hand-building process. In the tutorials, students were holding up their beautiful, professional-looking items, whilst my attempts felt amateur. Although I did not have access to a kiln, I thoroughly understand the processes of under glazing, bisque firing, kiln drying, and the final glaze firing. It was fascinating to see one of the students open her kiln after a bake during a tutorial. I used acrylic paint and a waterproof sealer instead of glazing, as I do not have access to a kiln, so all my pottery is “green”.
Ritual Artifacts
Bread basket and candle holder.
For my resolved ritual objects, I used the coil technique, which I thought would be easier to maintain their form. It also makes a pleasant, intricate pattern. I decided to make a bread basket, as family meals are essential to me, since my family lives far away and I don’t see them very often. My design, “Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread”, is the title of my bread basket. It is large enough to hold enough bread for family visits and celebrations. Whilst being functional, it is also a ritual piece. I was brought up in the Church of England, which, as a high church, takes communion, the blood and flesh of Christ. Family get-togethers are an essential part of contemporary life. The silver paint I used adds enchantment. I turned a simple domestic object into a shimmering artefact. I also completed a second artifact that unfortunately sagged on one side whilst drying, but is still beautiful. Similar to the bread basket, I coloured this piece in glittering gold to uplift it from a simple scented candle holder to a ritual artifact. I like scented candles when I am practising yoga, and I can now use them to focus my mind with sparkling objects. I think, overall, it is too hard to learn ceramics from online videos; I would have benefited from some hands-on experience and tuition. I will look at some local ceramic lessons.
Sculpture
Sculpture Number 1 – Soft Sculpture
Sky Roarer.
The purpose of the soft sculpture experiment was to design a crazy creature. I had to choose elements from three animals; I chose a combination of a lion, an eagle, and a horse. To begin with, I observed many images of these animals. I then drew a rough sketch in my visual journal and used Copilot to complete a digital image. I chose these three creatures to embody vision, courage and endurance. I selected a palette of four core colours to keep the design cohesive. This sculpture is not just a mythical guardian but a mirror to my own transformation. The eagle’s sharp gaze becomes wisdom and courage in creative rebirth, as I decide to rekindle art after a long pause. In the first attempt, I began breaking down the creature’s parts and made a pattern. I decided to use aluminium wire to create an armature so the sculpture could be in dynamic poses. I used felt and hand stitching to assemble the creature. I began making the parts, but it wasn’t working as I envisaged. The legs didn’t fit properly, and it looked totally wrong. I had to rethink it, learning from the mistakes of the original attempt. So, I drew another pattern using simplified parts. First, I began with the front legs, which were to be lion’s legs ending in eagle’s feet. I used thinner wire and twisted four stands together to form the feet’ skeleton. I then used felt to cover the wire and added claws. I needed to keep the feet as skinny as possible to mimic the eagles. I then assembled and stuffed the rest of the creature. I added child-safe acrylic eyes and then stuffed it with polyester stuffing. I then attached the wings and stitched on the lion’s mane and the horse’s tail. For the talisman, I made a Turkish evil eye protector in resin, in four colours: blue, white, black and dark blue. I then used natural shells to make the talisman into a pendant. The talisman reflects any evil magic to the sender.
Sculpture Number 2 – Wearable Art
Hijab Creation.
As Spring begins to heat up, I was thinking about Muslim women who have to wear a hijab. Specifically, how their whole faces are covered with only a slit for the eyes, and that it is made of black fabric that absorbs heat, while the men wear white, flowing robes. I wanted to create a rebellious, glorified version that reveals women’s strength and dignity in the face of this oppression. I used a wire armature to hold the shape, adding an 8cm height to the top, a space for women’s wisdom to gather, and elongating the head. This is underneath the top, hiding it from view. I used black linen and black veil fabric. The frame was to rest on the collarbones to restrict movement. I had difficulty in this area, and I remembered I had a neck brace from a long-ago accident. This was perfect, as the wire frame could be glued into it, and I covered it with black material. This was perfect as it added to the oppression by almost totally restricting head movement, and the fit was very hot. I was going to embroider the veil in front of the eyes with metallic thread to further limit vision. However, the veil material was too fragile and the needle broke the strands, so instead I made the inner head covering with a V shape in the front of the eyes, which almost totally blocks the view. The veil then covers this, so the viewer does not know how restrictive the garment is. As per my original sketch, I made the antlers from armature wire, tin foil, and air-dry clay. The clay was porcelain and was to be baked at 130 degrees for 30-50 minutes. Unfortunately, once dried, the clay began to crack, which, visually, I thought was great, but the antlers were just too heavy both for the frame and the wearer. I had to rethink, and as I was going to be sitting on the magical giant chair, I thought of making a crown. I made the crown using rainbow glass beads. It’s still heavy, but as the weight is distributed around the head, it is ok. I finished the piece by gluing sequins over the veil part, further rebelling with beauty and frivolity.
