When I started this exercise, I was travelling around the highlands of Scotland, but the weather was quite dull, it was very overcast and whilst there were clouds they were very difficult to determine as the whole sky was generally grey and very fast moving due to the wind.
I tried nevertheless to capture the different variations in tone but just felt I was producing a series of non descriptive scribbles with no form and absolutely no likeness to clouds. I tried to introduce some colour as well, even though this was really difficult to pick out, but I was not happy with the outcomes (see sketches 1-4).
Sketch 1 and 2 (graphite pencil)
Sketch 3 (graphite pencil) and 4 (coloured pencil)
As the weather started to improve, I found the form of the clouds starting to change and they began to look more traditionally ‘cloud like’. I was therefore more hopeful that I may be able to progress and tried to concentrate on their shape and form, but I still felt frustrated. I found dealing with the movement particularly difficult – each time I looked up from the paper the shape had changed and no matter how fast I worked I could not retain a memory of what I had seen (see sketches 5 and 6).
Sketch 5 (graphite pencil) and 6 (coloured pencil)
As I had only used pencils up to that point I decided to change tact and try soft pastels hoping this may make a difference, perhaps the texture of the medium would help but I was still not happy with the results (see sketch 7).
Sketch 7 (soft pastels)
Next I tried to copy clouds from a photograph, I thought that perhaps as I had studied them so much just capturing an image on camera would be enough for me to move on with. I used coloured pencils again and ended up getting really involved in trying to replicate the detail I saw, picking out every colour I could see. I felt that the more colour I used and layered up the greater the depth I was creating. However, it seemed that the more time I spent on this the poorer the image became until I found it appeared very flat with no sense of movement (see sketch 8).
Sketch 8 (coloured pencil)
It was at this point I watched the Vija Celmins video, (see previous blog post ‘research point – artists drawing other natural elements’). As I have discussed in that post, I realised that I had become too focused on producing a replica, rather than drawing on my experience and connection with what I saw. All through my earlier research I had noticed how it was more the feeling of a drawing or painting rather than its closeness to an exact copy that I was most connected too but I realised that I wasn’t using this in my own practice.
Once I identified this I became much more relaxed in my approach and just went with how I felt, I didn’t get too bogged down with how the skyscape changed as I drew, I tried more to capture the movement and tone of what I saw, and I think this produced better results (see sketches 9 and 10).
Sketch 9 (soft pastel)
Sketch 10 (coloured pencil)
In terms of progression, I think I need to work on intensifying my application. I think this is true of most of my work, in that I have quite a light touch, however if I want to capture more of the dramatic and dynamic feel of clouds and landscapes I need to communicate that through my mark making too.
Deborah McAulay 