Lichfield Aftermath

Today we followed up on the previous sketches and photos we took in Lichfield with a series of sketches and small productions that we used to explore different themes. We also tried different materials from the ones we used before so that we could explore the full drawing spectrum with inspiration from the artists that I have listed.

This first image was copy of one one of my photos of one of the corners of the cathedral printed on A3 drawing paper, and I decided to experiment with the tonal aspects of the image by using white chalk for the highlights and ink cross-hatching for the darker areas. What I really like about this experiment is the use of the chalk for highlights as really adds some much needed contrast to the image and overall makes it more visually appealing. However at times the cross-hatching isn't up to par and to be honest there isn't much recognisable difference in the image expect for the darker lines in some places.

The second image was taken from a memorial stone within the church and was sketched with pencil initially and then filled in with oil pastels to give colour and tone. What I like about this image is its general atmosphere of mystery and, in a way, magic because of the wispy dream like swirls of smoke and the almost Arabic design of the gauntlet within the image. However the tonal aspect of the image is leaves much to be desired and overall needs a total revamp or a change in sketching material.

This is the start of a large A2 experiment in tone and and line that first started out as a large sketch of a spire of the cathedral which was then covered in shavings of graphite and rubbed in, then was given a watered down acrylic wash over the tonal areas and finally partially drawn lines of the details within the structure drawn in fine-liner. I believe this to be the least successful of my experiments and that was partially the reason a gave up on it. It looked good as a large sketch and then a tonal study in graphite but when I added the wash it blended the tones together, losing the darker striking tones and making it look like a giant graphite smudge, and then the lines didn't help either by making the structure seem flat and less imposing as it was. If I could go back in time I would have forgotten the wash and the fine-liner and instead have focused on the tonal aspects to create line and contrast instead of the amateurish harsh lines of a pen.

This image was done in the last few minutes of the lesson and was when I stopped working on the third image. It is a pencil sketch of a stone sculpture's face on green recycled paper. If I was to work on this more I would begin to add tone and rub out my previous lines to create a tonal study of this sculptures face and maybe even add a bit of white chalk to emphasise highlights on the lighter parts of the face when necessary.