Chapter 8: Developing my drawings

At first I planned to present my work for this chapter in the order of the techniques used, but the post ended up looking rather incoherent. I had worked with themes in different techniques rather than the other way round, so I will present it in this way.

 

1. Backgrounds

In Chapter 6, Raising the surface, I had liked woven backgrounds and their effect, so I prepared some for further work. A few examples:

 

Above: background made with map prints and waste paper	Detail with machine stitching along the edges of the strips
	Grey sketch paper, 110 g (very absorbing), and copy paper with a gesso coat, woven and stitched.
	Sample with the text of my poem written on a sheet which was then coloured with neocolor and woven with strips of gessoed paper.

Assembling these backgrounds takes time, but it is meditative and a lot of fun. It also helps me to let go if I am too firmly fixed on a result. There is something to be said for repetition and letting my hands do the thinking.

 

2. Cornflowers

	My drawing of a cornflower head. I made a template from this.
	I used it in my sketchbook on a woven page from Chapter 6 with blue and violet Neocolor II. The background was also coloured with Neocolor II and then washed.
I like the lively texture of the background which gives the idea of moving stems.
	A sample on copy paper I had used for drying a coloured plate. I sprayed bronze colour through the template and added prints with acrylics in shades of blue.
	An upscaled version of the flowerhead drawing on cartridge paper, cut out and coloured with neocolor. 54x30 cm
	My second cornflower drawing. I made a template and a printing block, for which I used a Factis carving block. The material, a fat layer of vinyl, is a pleasure to carve into.
Before printing I glued the vinyl block it is too flexible otherwise. I made all blocks for this chapter in this way.	on firm cardboard,  the other printing
	The background was coloured with gouache and printed with a block developed from the drawing of a small spelt ear (see point 5,  “wheat”), using acrylics. I drew the cornflower heads (left) and the blue background (right) with inktense pencils which do not quite cover the textured ground.
	The cornflower heads were roughly scribbled into wet gouache with inktense pencils through the template.

 

3. Poppies

	I tried to create a printing block for the poppies with a technique from Module I, cutting an outlined shape to pieces. I aimed for a simple but recognizable shape. The elaborate flowerhead is from an old illustration I found on the web. It is beautiful, but it suggests a rose rather than a poppy.
	Here are the first trials of my poppy shape in my sketchbook. They were printed with acrylics and various amounts of water to create texture in the petals.
	Prints in my sketchbook with watery gouache on Kraft paper.
	Pattern printed with gouache on A3 Kraft paper. I might use this for the paper connecting the covers and the book.
	The poppies were printed with acrylics on a woven and stitched background.
	I glued on  poppy shapes cut from tissue paper with a rubbing of a shell with dark red wax pastels, washed with red gouache. The shapes are glued with one blob of glue, so most of it is loose.
	detail Rye ears were drawn with inktense pencils.
	A more abstract version with a template, drawn with neocolor on the woven and coloured background shown above (point 1).
	Another template version on a woven and stitched background, with gesso and neocolor. The flowers were drawn with inktense pencils. The texture of the stitching breaks up the drawings and makes them more individual. I took care not to be precise.
For the stems I let drops of colour run along machined lines.

4. Gun
	This gun was very beautifully crafted and has lots of lovely details. I like the shape of the hammer and drew it with neocolor (below left). Then I cut out a detail on my laptop and pushed it around in Picasa. The shape makes me think of a bird taking off.
	Another drawing, the trigger and the handle below the trigger, plus shadow, A5.
	Sketchbook page: Templates made from the above drawings, coloured with neocolor (left), and with silver and black ink. I suppose nobody would ever think of a gun when seeing this.
	The patterned texture on the gun handle suggested zig zag stitch, so I tried this on an enlarged print (lazy!) of the photograph and liked the result. The paper is ordinary copy paper, good to stitch into, but I wanted a more sturdy paper which can also take colour.
	So I enlarged the photograph further, printed it on cartridge paper (A5) and coloured with Brusho and Neocolor II. I punched holes with an awl to prepare for stitching, but found that the pattern was too small. The holes however make for a good texture by themselves.
	An even more enlarged print of a detail of the handle, coloured with Inktense pencils and stitched  with a thick silk sewing thread. The stitching was then rubbed with gold wax pastel.

 

5. Wheat / rye / small spelt

Drawing of wheat ears	Drawing of small spelt. I took photographs of this old variety in the gorgeous botanical gardens of Bonn University during my lunch break. I have a fabulous workplace!
	I experimented with lift-off technique (left, A5). For drawing I used a black and white copy of a photograph and pushed it to different positions to create the feeling of a wheat field. Below left: the sheet of firm cartridge paper coated with soft pastels and wax crayons after lifting off the upper layer. I like the enlarged view on the right.
	Lift-off technique with oil sticks and washes of Brusho.
	I made a printing block from the drawing of the small spelt and tried it on an old paper bag with acrylics.

 

6. Pop-up

	There is no shortage of tutorials for pop-up techniques on the internet. I made a couple of trials with waste paper to understand the principle. The trials form an insert in my sketchbook.
	Usually I am not bad at spatial thinking, but it took me some time to figure out how to make a shape stand up. I need a moon …
	Following the instructions on  http://wp.robertsabuda.com   I made this lovely ark and coloured it with neocolor. It helped me a lot to understand how it works.