Drawing Diaries

Images and comments from a week at home. Four studies set.
It is impressive to see such incredible development after only 8 weeks. They are now all completely competent drawers.
Judge for yourself.

Marianne

Granite Wall and Doorway

Teapot, Cup and Saucer

(I love the shells Marianne, just the right amount of shading - Sylv)

Australian Shells and Coral

Open Cupboard

Judy

Natural Artefacts - 'Fairly pleased with this one. Looking at the negative spaces between the objects definitely helped but I had difficulty making the right hand shell look like a shell.' (Love the glister on the glass pebble- Sylv)

Cupboard

'I didn't enjoy doing this one. We had builders here and I couldn't concentrate. I was going to do it again but when I came back to look at it again, it struck me that it was in fact more a record of my emotions when I drew it. I think it shows in the dark lines and the over all heavy handed look of it.'

Cofffee Pot and Mug - ' I'm still having a problem with drawing ellipses but over all I felt it wasn't too bad' (With all of the curves and the perspective I think you did a great job with this- Sylv)

Section of Wall - 'I enjoyed this one. I wanted to convey the age and 'cragginess' of the well worn steps and wall. I think that although man made they have a very organic feel to them.'

Marian

Natural Artefacts - 'Now I know why artist give their work titles - I am calling this one "Driftwood, and other more recognisable natural artefacts".

I thought my second attempt was better, but Peter still had to be told what it was - for anyone else similarly perplexed it is called 'shells in sunhat"!' (I could tell that and am really impressed that you not only drew one pine cone but two!' - Sylv)

Cupboard under the Sink - 'I was pleased with the different angles of the various bottles, which I think work quite well, but found the clear plastic wrapping on the open packet of scouring sponges - Yes, that is what they are - difficult to get right.'

Section of Wall - 'I had two attempts at this and was not happy with either. I am really struggling to draw identifiable modified contour images of loosely structured objects, when a lot of the structure and texture that makes them

recognisable has 'fuzzy' edges or is reliant on change of colour.'

(I think you have captured the essence of the wall extremely well Marian - Sylv)

Coffee Pot and Mug - 'Back in my comfort zone here with some definite edges defining recognisable shapes. I was pleased with the coffee pot but could not get the metal holder of the coffee beaker quite right.'

Peter

(Clean lines and great perspective work here Peter...cleverly joining two tasks into one.. creatively sneaky - Sylv)

Open Cupboard /Teapot and Mugs

Minotaur

Scaffolding

Lyn

Coffee Pot and Cup - 'I thought this will be ok good negative shapes, clear outline ...... so I decided to do it large. Big mistake as any incorrect lines are more apparent and it just would not come right.' (Looks great to me Lyn - Sylv)

Untidy corner - 'Did not enjoy this - started in the garden but was being irritated by flies and getting hot so I took a photograph to finish it off. Not a good result, no idea how to make lots of leaves look good.'(Easy..leave them out! They do not add much to the overall image, which I really like - Sylv)

Shelf - 'Not too bad to do but as I wanted to sit down I was looking up at it.'

Natural Artefacts - 'I gave up on my first attempt as I couldn't get the stones to look OK. I then took a few stones out of the arrangement to make it a bit more simple. Of course I had chosen the prettiest shell which proved to be the most difficult. It still is not too good but I was reasonably satisfied with the end result.'

'It is interesting how the tasks you give us present new challenges each week, I would like to speed up a bit but overall I am enjoying the experience.' (Good, I'm glad - Sylv)

Phil

The shelf - 'in my cupboard was fun drawing. I really liked doing it.' (It shows in your confidence of line Phil - Sylv)

The teapot and the mug - ' was fun when I started, but gradually became a nightmare.

The mug was ok, but I made it too big, so it became a problem with the teapot.

Especially because the teapot is made of glass.

If I still have time I will make a new one.'

Natural Artefacts - 'The composition of stones, shells and a piece of olivewood was a nightmare from the start.

There was a big hole in the wood, which I could not draw properly, also the lines in the wood were difficult to draw.' (But the overall effect is pleasing - Sylv)

Section of Wall - 'As I do not have an untidy fence or wall on our property, I chose a section of a small wall with our shoes on it and rosemary in the background.

It is a subject I was already longing to draw for quite a time, but I was afraid doing it. Thought it too difficult. I really liked doing it.'

Elaine

(You did well to capture the curves and perspective here - Sylv)

Coffee Pot and Mug

Cupboard Shelf

Natural Artefacts

Granite Wall

Catherine

The Teapot and Cup - ' was the drawing I enjoyed the most as it is part of Susie Cooper tea service passed down to me by my parents. I love the lines / shape of the teapot.' (It is a super drawing Catherine- Sylv)

Natural Artefacts - 'With the still life I enjoyed choosing the objects and setting it up though not as easy as I first thought. Several different set ups before decided on the final one.' (I like its simplicity - Sylv)

The Wall- 'caused me the most difficulty and also.....

The contents of my kitchen cupboard but both drawings turned out OK.'

Lyn

The key questions to answer when drawing out and about are
'What should I include? What should I leave out?'

Elaine

In last week's lesson the focus was on identifying interesting nooks and crannies that offer potential for drawing.
My talented course members are now really showing greater mastery of the skills introduced since the start of the course.

Phil

After two outdoor sessions of one hour and a still life inside, results were incredibly good.

The gallery shows the artists at work and results here at the quinta and at home during the rest of the week.

Home practice this week was guided but each student had a choice in their compositions:
A section of wall in the garden,
A corner of a storage area,
A flower in a glass of water.

Gallery 4

Lyn

Bread oven - (seen above) looked reasonably straightforward but how wrong can you be, couldn't get angles right. ( I think it looks great. Sx)

Corner of my garden - this is a corner and I was able to sit in the shade - again it posed lots of new challenges. Not sure it was a very good choice as the flowers took forever.

Flower in a glass - The Agapanthus looked really pretty in the glass and adding the shell added to it. Once again I learned the hard way - the agapanthus had lots of small flowers to draw and although the shell looked good it was a 'b.....' to get it to look like a shell !!

On reflection I thought I had taken a step back this week but I have learned a lot from the different subject matter I have used. I can do it after all, it just takes a lot of perseverance and I feel shattered as I have spent so many hours drawing this week.

Catherine

I really enjoyed drawing the passion flower ..........the glass was the easy bit.!!

The granite shed I enjoyed as I have wanted to draw that since we moved here.

My least favourite drawing is the shelf with assorted items on. Took 2 hours and not happy with it at all but at least I am finding out what I like to draw and what I don't.

I can see how I am improving though which is pleasing.

Marian
Corner of the Garden- While I am pleased with the buddleia, flower pot and steps I don't think the rest of the drawing works at all well, but I can't fathom out why.

Under the Stairs - I think I need to like the subject, or at least find it interesting in order to draw it, the vacuum cleaner just didn't inspire me. It took me as long to draw it as it took Dyson to invent it, but without the same level of success. (I don't agree with this ..Sx)

Flower in Glass of Water - I love this, it restored my confidence after the problems with tasks 1 and 2. The flowering artichoke was great fun to draw and well worth the effort.

Hollyhocks 2 - A possible final project so I re-drew the hollyhocks in flower. I think the result proves my theory that I draw as much with my heart as with my hand.

Phil

The glass of water with a flower was a hard one!

It is difficult to draw flowers and leaves.

I could not really find a small section of my garden with formal structure and organic forms,

so I chose a view of the house of my neighbour.

As I have no shed I choose a shelf in Peter´s work shed.

I really loved drawing the last one, as I noticed that I am getting a bit more confident.

Judy

Garden Drawing - Really enjoyed doing this one. A late afternoon spent drawing in the sun. Bliss! I didn't know how to make the gravel look like gravel though. Do I need a symbol? I think I'm at a point were I am itching to shade and would really like to be able to convey textures better.

Utility Room- I'm having a bit of trouble with perspective at this point as you can see in the top of the bin but I think that lesson is coming later. I never realised how complicated a vacuum cleaner was before I tried to draw one. It took longer than all the rest put together. I was pleased with the floor tiles but would have liked to have made them look more like stone. My ambitions are ahead of my ability right now but I feel like I am learning so much that I could eventually achieve them with enough practice.

Dying Rose- it wasn't meant to be but it was, poor thing. I found myself fascinated with the reflections in the water. I'm definitely seeing the detail in things now, it's just deciding what to leave out.