OCA drawing 1.1

 Chose a number of regular and irregular objects. Map their forms using line only. Consider the internal spaces. Constantly check the relationship of the objects to each other. Use the adjustments as part of the geology of the drawing.

The sketchbook pieces show other qualities.  More tempo changes, and tone, etc.  But my aim for these linear studies was that I found their purest form to communicate their structure.  I was motivated by the prompt to ‘use the lines we cannot see, that exist inside the subjects’ and marry them to each other.  For example when constructing the composition, observing what plains each piece sit on in relation to each other.  It’s like creating a map of the forms in space and on what base they sit on.

I found that to do this best I needed to use a subtle, accurate line, and increase or decrease pressure on the charcoal to create depth or tone.  

What these drawings then lacked was the expressive nature of the charcoal.  So I worked on separate sketches of still life set ups, experimenting with the charcoal using techniques I’d learned from the initial studies. (See the sketchbook post).

Here I aimed to have no rules and let the drawing fluctuate between parts that worked, parts that I rubbed out or covered up, to try and leave an account of what that drawing experience had been like.

Both styles are important to me.  The academic mapping of the subjects creates a foundation of knowledge and familiarity, but also the more expressive sketchbook style pieces bring life into the work.  A Yin and Yang relationship, supporting and yielding to each other.

List of Images

Cover Image Flockhart, K. (2023) Linear Study 1. [Charcoal on paper, photo] In possession of: The author: Volleges.

Fig.1 Flockhart, K. (2023) Linear Study 1. [Charcoal on paper] In possession of: The author: Volleges.

Fig.2 Flockhart, K. (2023) Linear Study 2 [Charcoal on paper] In possession of: The author: Volleges.