EDAM Week 4: Drawing in Space and Light ( 1 )

Week 4 of Extended Drawing for Artists and Makers with new tutor ( Anne Teahan ) and a new 3 week project  starting with drawing in space ( seeing the world transparently ).

We started with  an introduction to  artists  who'd explored the idea of space  using 3D media  (  have tendency to think of space as nothing  but it's integral  to seeing in the same way as gaps in music are important) - how they treat space inside a room, a landscape or the human form. 

We looked particularly at the work of Chiharu Shiota  ( I regretted  not getting to the exhibition 'Lost in Lace' )  looking  at how objects take on the characteristics of the process of 'drawing' with thread 

 The work of Cornelia Parker  where space appears trapped  within the charred remnants from  a suspected arson  ( I was lucky enough to see her retrospective at the Whitworth  and more recently at Turner Contemporary)

The gestural  marks from her 'bullet drawings'  share similarities to Antony Gormley's 'Domain Fields' (below ) with space intruding into the forms.  

The spiralling lines of  his 'Feeling Material'  contrast with the overlapping parallel lines of 'Matrix 1 and 2'  with a feeling of  crosshatching, building up layers of density.

Giacometti's 'The Artist's Mother'   also shows space built up in layers and cross hatched marks. 

Then to work,  ' harvesting marks' from these artists  to build up layered drawings in charcoal, using different grades ,lightness, thickness,  lots of dusting off, trying to keep  a feeling of space , going back in with  a rubber when it started getting too heavy . 

 The second one  I did contrasting the 2 Antony Gormley pieces  was more successful. Before lunch  we set up a layered  background for the observational drawing in the afternoon ( we  put a border of masking tape around the edge of the paper and then drew a charcoal frame within it  to define and enclose  the  space from the start ) 

 After lunch we looked at the work of Jenny Saville and Ginny Grayson,   how they'd layered marks and made continual , visible adjustments as they drew  which added to the richness and complexity of the surface. 

 The objects I brought in  were the pewter vase which I've drawn several  times before ( above)  and  for transparency, a glass pyrex jug . Who knew that it would be so satisfying  ( if difficult)  to draw! 

 Rather than setting up a still life , we started with one object  and then added  another, building up layers and composition. Challenging  but interesting, one of my problems is that I've done very little drawing with charcoal as I hate the mess and it irritates my skin and  so usually wear gloves. Fine for gestural marks but  clumsy and awkward  for detailed observational work, but I persisted! Perspective is all over the place too   but looking down from an easel , my position kept moving. 

The next session is  drawing in light ( seeing the world as a series of surfaces touched by light)- I'm off to  look for some black and shiny objects !