Below: Distance Learning activity 1 – 2 hours of contour drawing practice (I believe this was pre-cross contour)
Distance Learning activity 2 – working on Project 1, determining an artist
For this section, I have to admit that I actually completely ditched my project at the last minute. Originally, I chose David Hockney as my artist of interest. I didn’t get around to drawing in his style (mostly because his style and mark making just seems so beyond my current capabilities) but I can show you a picture I took as my model still life, as well as a decent chunk of my written report for Hockney that I ended up trashing in favor of working on Christine Sun Kim’s work, and I can show practice for that one instead.
Above: Figure 1.1, the theoretical still life I would’ve chosen with Hockney.
“Given that Hockney has been influenced by cubism (a style used and popularized by Pablo Picasso’s influence), he seemed to have a tendency of incorporating odd perspective twists into his drawings and paintings. Although some of his later and famous paintings show no distortions in perspective, a fair mount of his works indeed display proportions and viewpoints that take advantage of curvature and diagonal lines to create an almost unreal space in which he distorts the audience’s line of sight. I found these buildings to be a good match for what Hockney might change. such as turning the right side building’s edge downwards to create a warped illusion, shifting perspectives as if his drawing spot changed from time to time throughout his works.” – Jason Hong.
(in-progress work, analyzing how I want to tackle emulating CSK’s work)
Below: roughly 3 hours worth of sketching
Overall thoughts –
Honestly, looking back this amazes me. Can you believe some of those simple sketches used to take me so long because I wasn’t used to drawing and felt anxious? I almost don’t feel the progress but I think it shows here that there has been some progression and I’m really grateful for that, so thank you Miranda!
Lovely to hear, Jason! I appreciate your commitment to improving your drawing and opening up your work to new possibilities.
As for being anxious or intimidated about making a “good” drawing, try to focus on just practicing right now rather than pursing results. Just like playing an instrument, it’s all about practice and focus and not letting the end result get in the way of enjoying the process. We will also look at a lot of artists over the semester that break the rules of traditionally “good”/realistic drawing, so hopefully that will grow your confidence and help you appreciate your work for what it is now.