Some Charcoal Drawing Projects

APPLYING MARK MAKING

We’re now going to do a series of studies and drawings based in mark making. These drawings are textural drawings, and are standard drawings for students of the arts.

Having practiced mark making we now need to apply that experience. Firstly, it’s advised to make studies of objects that have obvious textural qualities. The drawings that you make of these objects should imply the textured surfaces.

In the examples of the drawn objects, notice that the textures is the main force of the thinking behind the drawing.

You will also notice that the texture in the drawings are not an exact copy of what is seen but a metaphor (something that acts for something else) for the surface. Draw as many textured objects as you can as this makes for good practice.

In these examples, we have made some close up drawings from nature, and inanimate objects from a textural mark making approach. The way in which we do this is to draw the basic outline and structure of the object first. Then the idea is to fill it in with marks that give the sense of touch that the object has, and how it looks.

In example 1, we have a small ear of grass.

The main area of texture here is in the little seeds of corn and how they are formed. All these examples are constructed out of a type of microscopic observation.

In the second example, we have the closed buds of a flower and the ribbed effect of the stem. In this drawing, there is a contrasting approach of styles. There are the carefully drawn structures of the buds and the stems compared to freer drawing at the top of the buds where the flowers are trying to appear and some leaf formation around the neck of the buds. This contrast in the drawing techniques makes for a more visually exciting type of drawing.

This approach is carried through into the third example of a flower. The carefully observed structure and texture of the stem has been drawn with consideration and a formal approach. Whereas the flower part of the drawing has been drawn more quickly using an appropriate mark to suggest the texture of the flower.

In examples 4,5,6,7 and 8 we have a very well organized formal approach to the production of the drawings. These studies were drawn in a structured and well thought out way. Laying down a series of logical marks within the structure that perform a visual textural manifestation of the plants, that is both exciting and pleasing to the eye and the intellectual inquiry it evokes.

One should look at the studies of nature from Leonardo da Vinci. These observations from nature are so compelling. We can also take inanimate objects and treat them in the same way. Take For example the drawing of the sandal; it’s composed of many different marks that bring the sense of texture and character to the drawing. One should also look at the studies of old boots by Van Gogh.

TEXTURED STILL LIFE

Next we look in detail at a very fine example of a textured still life drawing. Notice that there are many objects that have definite textural qualities to them, and they lie juxtaposed to each other to give a textural diversity to the group, which in turn makes the group composition visually very exciting. To make a drawing like this you need to select a number of textural objects, put them together in an interesting composition, and place the textures in such a way that they complement each other. For instance, put rough against smooth, furry against shiny, hard next to soft, and so on.

Use a window mount to frame the composition, selecting the most interesting array of textures. Start by drawing the outline of your objects through the window mount. When you have completed this task, you can fill in the textured areas.

You can construct the drawing and establish the composition by using as your example the Van Gogh copy of sunflowers. Having successfully drawn the outline of your objects in the composition, you can now start to make the drawing. Use mark making that expresses the idea of texture and surface. The best way to approach this is to experiment with marks that might imply the textures that are pre sent in the still life. When you are happy with your results, apply them to the appropriate part of the drawing. In the series of drawings shown over the next couple of pages, we can analyze how we have achieved this.

1a) The straw hat has many textures that make it a visually dynamic object to draw.

The basic construction of the hat is made of a series of lines that follow the form.

Between these lines is a series of marks, which forms the implied pattern of the woven texture of the hat.

The woven texture of the hat then opens out to a broader weave, leaving air-type holes that help to keep the head cool. In the analysis of this texture one can create the rendering of this surface by drawing first a series of crossing bands. This gives us the negative holes in the hat pattern, which we tone in as a black shape, which in turn implies the holes in the hat. It also gives us the positive weave pattern of the straw, in which we place the mark of the woven texture.

1b) Notice that we have started to construct it in the same way as the previous band, using a series of bands that cross over each other to create a diamond type pattern.

We have then uniformly filled in some of the pattern of the diamond shapes with a black tone, leaving us with a crossover band pat tern. This crossover pattern has a woven stitch texture. This is done by placing a little black mark that forms the pattern of the stitch on the bands. At the top and bottom of the band there is another type of stitch. This is put in by a series of small vertical lines that follow the edge of the band.

2) The broccoli is drawn, and then texture is implied by a series of tiny little dots or circles placed tightly together to give the textural impression of the flowering of the broccoli. The stem is drawn using a series of parallel lines that echo the form of the stem.

3) The cabbage is drawn using a number of organic type shapes that follow each other's contours and the form of the cabbage. Leaving a small uniformed space between the shapes that act as the veins of the cabbage leaf. The shapes are then shaded in with a very dark tone to give a very convincing impression of the leaf.

4) The celery is simple. Draw the structure as with the other objects. Then it's just a matter of putting a series of straight lines that run close together down the stem of the vegetable.

5) The onion is similar to the celery in that you again draw the structure first, and then draw the lines that imply the outer layer of the skin that forms the bulbous effect of the onion. At the top of the onion draw in the leaf type growth. Putting in such

finishing touches to the texture will make the object just that bit more convincing.

Other examples of finished textured still life.

TEXTURE STUDIES FROM NATURE

Here we have more excellent drawings from students who have applied their knowledge of texture to another subject - nature. Firstly, as we did with the previous drawings the students have focused in on single objects from nature. These drawings can quite easily be done in sketchbooks out in the field or brought back into the studio environment.

This research is a way of storing information for future use, and indeed if you look in the sketchbooks of artists such as Leonardo da Vinci you will see his studies from nature, and they are an inspiration. This type of work is a visual enquiry and essential spadework needs to be done by students who wish to acquire the visual knowledge that is needed to produce more established works.

TEXTURAL LANDSCAPE DRAWING

After completing your many studies from nature, you should be able to now move out into the landscape and make a more comprehensive study of the subject. As with the other drawings you first need to establish your composition - do this using your viewfinder or window mount. Draw in lightly the outline of the composition. Once you are happy with the structure of the drawing you can now go over it with conte crayon. Now you need to place in the texture. Here is an explanation of the type of textures that we have encountered in this drawing:

1) A series of oblong shapes with some indication of shaded texture to give the implied texture of stone.

2) The roof tiles on the side of the house are layered over each other, with the underside of the tiles being drawn in slightly dark, and heavier than the top of the tiles this gives the impression of the shadow being cast by the tiles. This in turn brings a three dimensional quality to the drawing as well as a sense of the texture.

Also in figure 2 we can see the brick is shown in situation. Staying with example 2, we can see how the tiles on the lower part of the building are demonstrated by a series of horizontal lines that run parallel to each other. These are then broken up by a series of diagonal lines that follow and imitate the pitch of the roof. Finally, the doors and windows are filled in with vertical lines. The lines on the door give the impression of wood and the lines on the window give the impression of the reflection of the glass.

3) In these illustrations we see that we have a variety of marks that imply different types of vegetation. Such as scrub type bushes and two different type of foliage. We also have different marks for the trunks of the trees.

The drawing in the below example relies on tone, and the texture is made using the rough surface of the paper.

COMPRESSED CHARCOAL

Compressed charcoal is made from finely pulverized high-grade hard charcoal. It’s compressed into round sticks and held together with vegetable glue. The soft brittle consistency of the compressed charcoal enables you to create very dense black velvet tones. The tonal value of the charcoal can also feel harsher when applied to the surface of the paper compared to the quality of the tone made with the natural charcoal, which appears much softer and airy.

1) A broad mark made by dragging the charcoal across the surface of the paper and applying different pressures.

2) A dense tonal gradation from light to dark.

You will notice how much stronger the black of the compressed charcoal is compared to the black of the natural charcoal.

3) A tonal area created by horizontal and vertical lines. These marks are made by using the side edge of the material.

4) A series of random marks that move from darker more intense to lighter more open.

5) A sphere created by placing the side of the charcoal on the paper then drawing a circle with it putting more pressure on one side of the circle to give the impression of the form through the illusion of light and dark.

6) Using the side of the compressed charcoal make a dark square, lay beside it a similar light square. This gives you the illusion of a box.

7) Closed vertical lines creating tone.

8) Vertical, horizontal, and diagonal lines creating a crosshatch tone.

9) Open vertical lines giving a visual striped impression.

10) Diminishing right angles fading in tone from front to back giving the illusion of space.

Cont. to: Compressed charcoal – projects