week 10 session 10 abstract charcoal

 Abstraction with charcoal, layering.

Abstract charcoal.

Here i did an "Abstract" charcoal drawing. 

I first grabbed a piece of A2 paper and masked it off with some masking tape. 

I then collected some resources that I needed, I grabbed some willow charcoal, a rubber and some compressed charcoal and spare masking tape and had paper on side just incase I needed it. 

I then looked through my childhood themed EPQ Primary photos. 

I made sure to look at lots of different photos of mine, and select one that I think would work with the technique. We were first asked to draw from our primary sources, so I chose a really old photo of Catcti on my bathroom windowsill, these were really special to me and was a big part of my childhood, as when I was young, about 8-14 id always keep my own cacti and id take care of them really well and they lasted for years, I really loved cacti and these were some I had, so they were super special to me and really relate to my theme of childhood and Nostalgia,  I really found it nostalgic to gaze upon and look at, it brung back memories. 

This is the reference that I used, down below, under this text.

I began by drawing ONLY simple shapes! I took the essence of the cacti and really conveyed it through to my picture / drawing. I really highlighted how round the "flowery" part of the cacti and really showed the smooth affects of the stem / root thing, I also drew the pots smoothly and rounded, and I really highlighted each spike.

I then smugged the drawings gently with some tissue, blue tissue paper stuff, meaning the lines are still there but smudgey, creating the affect of an echo. I really liked this as it was, but we werent allowed to stop there.

Next I continued layering my picture with different pictures of these cacti and then smudging them out slightly hut not fully, then again, but turning my picture around as the session progresses. By turning it around I ended up getting really cool affects and looks to my artwork, I really think that this technique went well. I added the word "Cacti" in Welsh onto my art in a few different areas, I added more pictures and then I used compressed charcoal and a side of a bit of paper to really bring out some high contrast spikes of my cacti. I continued this process and didnt rub some out as well, so that I had some popping but some not popping, and the layering affect really worked in my opinion, it really does scream and remind me of an "Echo", which was the theme for these drawings. 

I really enjoyed the entire process of this charcoal drawing, i found it very self-expressive and broad and I believe that it was a great excise and charcoal experiment to really bring out my thoughts and ideas in an abstract form.

I actually really love how this turned out- i really love the sharp edges of the cactus, I think thats its really sharp and dark, I did this by getting a piece of paper and using it as almost a paper ruler stencil, that concentrates the charcoal onto the paper, and then I put the charcoal on and then I took it off and repeated this process, and it made this really harsh and depthful interesting marks and I really like them and how hard and sharp they are. I think this really brings this picture forward and really pushes the image out of the picture almost and adds a 3d and layering affect to my drawing, I love it!