I chose an interior scene for this assignment, it was one which I had found interesting during my last project in this part of the course.
I was drawn to it because of the simplicity of it, but also because of the suggestion of human form through the hanging dressing gown.
Research during that project had also drawn me to the work of artist Toba Khedoori and I felt that I could incorporate some ideas from seeing her work. In particular I liked the idea of a scene sitting as if in mid air, giving a sense of detachment. (See earlier blog post).
I made some very loose sketches to decide on the view I would use, and decided for a portrait orientation viewed from the right hand side as I was standing looking directly at it. This view gave most interest to me as it was not a straight forward shape but was very subtle in terms of perspective. I also decided at this point to include some of the skirting at the foot of the door on each side rather than just the door, but not to include any other elements of the surrounding view. This decision was mostly influenced by looking again towards Toba Khedoori’s images, I hoped that this may add to the overall effect of the scene being removed from its context.
I had some ideas about medium. The brief asked for colour; I did not want to use mixed media or coloured pencil, but wanted to consider other materials that I had not used as much so far in the course. I therefore made small partial drawings of the subject using – tinted charcoal; conte sticks; inks; and ail pastels with linseed oil (see image below).
I liked all of the results from this practice, each had a very different quality and effect. However, I most enjoyed the effect of using oil pastels with linseed oil and decided that I would use this medium for the final piece. I felt the effects I gained with this medium were most successful – I was able to get varied textures and by using the linseed oil I felt I was also able to blend the pastels where needed. Although it was my first time working with oil pastels in this way I also found the process quite instinctive and intuitive to my drawing style.
The brief required that I use a sheet of paper at least A3 in size. As I wanted to make my image in the centre of the sheet I decided to use an A1 size and roughly mark out an A2 space for the drawing in the centre of the sheet. I felt any smaller than this would not work as the image would appear lost at this scale
I used a conte pencil to mark out the initial image on my paper working from the live view. This turned out to be an error of judgement. I had wrongly assumed that this would easily be covered by the oil pastel once I started working and rub off easily where not needed later on, whilst still giving me a good guide to work from. This was not the case and much of this can still be seen in the final image. However, I gradually began to like the contrast of the conte in and around the composition.
The process of working the pastels with the linseed oil did not go the same as it had in my initial practice and my technique fluctuated and varied greatly throughout. I’m not sure whether this was about the larger scale or external influences and demands on me at the time. Again I had to work at different times on this piece so it was completed over 2 weeks, unlike the initial practice piece which was completed in one sitting. I think this in a way led to me needing to ‘warm up’ each time I approached it which left me little time to get into the flow. At one stage I became concerned at this apparent inconsistency, but on reflection I feel that different parts of the image benefitted from different approaches to applying and building the medium.
The different stages of my drawing are shown below.
The image below is my final piece. I am happy with the overall outcome in terms of composition and use of the medium. I will experiment with oil pastel in this way again, but I need to factor available time when considering this so that I am properly prepared.
One thing I did not consider in advance this time was the full range of colours I would be using. In the past I have used a limited palette – sometimes this has been intentional and other times it has been because of availability. However, this has always resulted in me being more open to seeing a wider range of colour and more creative in my colour mixing. This time I allowed myself every colour that was available to me but then found it very difficult to think more creatively, particularly when looking at light and shade. This reinforced to me that less is more and I will carefully choose limited colours for each project in future unless directed otherwise.
Deborah McAulay 