Drawing fruit and vegetables in colour

Check & Log
Your composition should occupy most of the paper’s surface. How much negative space do you have left?
In all three drawings I was conscious of this and feel I have been quite successful, but less so with the drawing using coloured inks and markers. Probably because I arranged the lighting to cast long shadows on one side (intending to dramatically enhance the appearance of the negative spaces around them) with the light falling on the objects on the opposite side, producing dramatic contrasts of tone – light on one side, dark on the other. I couldn’t arrange things in a way which looked balanced and the cast shadow at the far right looks as though it is pulling off the corner of the page. Despite this I concentrated intently on the shapes formed by the negative spaces, trying to achieve a balanced composition by carefully arranging the objects and the lighting, together with the resulting shadows. I tried to fill up most of the paper’s surface with the objects and and cast shadows, even running some off the edge of the page in the coloured pencil drawing. In the pen and ink drawing I thought about cropping the paper on the left hand side but didn’t. Although I have done this in the image on my learning b/log. With the other two exercises I wouldn't say I had a problem arranging the objects to fill up most of the paper. The only problem with them was arranging them in a balanced way, but I got there eventually. Of course I could have zoomed into the views more, but then I think the negative spaces would have been less apparent.

Using hatching to create tone - watercolour pencil

What I have learned from drawing the details of fruit and vegetables:
Using hatching to create tone:
When using coloured pencils on their own in the past, I couldn’t take to them. The colours appeared weak compared to other mediums, but when I tried them out by firstly applying dry pencil shading, then a damp (not wet) wash over the top, it gave more intensity to the colours, helping to build up depth and definition where desired. Shading with a pencil point dipped first in water (on the grapes sketch) intensified the depth of tone even further – perhaps too much. Yet when I looked at them from a distance they looked more convincing than I expected.
On reflection, especially with the second and third sketches, I can see I got too carried away experimenting with different techniques rather than concentrating on just hatching alone. But if nothing else it was probably good practice for future drawings. I used loose hatching on the orange segment, rolling the pencil between my fingers. A technique I used for the first time was to use the pencil dry, blend with a slightly damp brush, once dry, hatch or shade with dry pencil. I used complementary colours for shadows, as well as cool muted colours. Blue being the complementary of orange was used in the areas of shadow. I also decided to use it in shadow areas generally, to help unify the composition, particularly as it seems to combine successfully with the dark sepia I used to tone down and help darken the shadows. Whereas I think sepia alone would have been too colourless and ineffective. I also think blue is effective for cooling down areas of deep shadow, helping to give them depth and recession.
Dip pens and markers – when doing my experiments, I discovered that using lighter colours first (under darks) is a good idea; if things are done in the reverse the lines and colours will be visible.
I also discovered that I really enjoyed using ink from a medicine or ink dropper – squeeze and instantly a blob of ink appears, which can simply be pulled outwards with the end of the dropper to form lines of varying thicknesses, reaching outwards in all directions - had to be careful though, otherwise the ink could easily run all over the paper. Dip pens (changing between 3 different nibs) worked surprisingly well when I tried them out on 90lb watercolour paper, considering its uneven surface,  yet were hopeless on a certain absorbent sketch paper. I’m guessing that maybe the watercolour paper was sized better, making it less absorbent.
Altogether I did three or four preliminary sketches of the fruit in different arrangements with the dip pens and markers, but they aren't illustrated here.

Using markers or dip pens - final drawing

Oil pastels
As I’d included a sliced section of red cabbage in the arrangement I thought it wise to practice possible techniques to use for the texture of the sliced section. Whether I filled the dark tonal areas first, then the lightest or the other way round, I noticed the colours merging into one another, darkening the light tones and lightening the darks. Eventually I tried a really light sketchy technique, simplifying the detail significantly, leaving areas of the paper showing through. This seemed to be more successful than all previous attempts. Although the paper was a buff shade it was noticeable and at last I think I began to realize the meaning and intention behind using the term ‘let the white of the paper break through’ in the instructions - the metaphorical ‘white’, designed to help discourage people such as me from using a too heavy handed technique which shows in the resulting merged and dulled down appearance. This may be fine for some effects but I don’t think it was the intention on this occasion.
By using a cotton rag dipped in odourless thinners in parts of the background and gently dabbing it onto areas of dry colour, this resulted in gently spreading the colour giving a subtle muted effect. I used this technique in the background, which I think helped it to merge more softly into the distance, helping to make the fruit and vegetable arrangement more apparent in comparison.
As the red cabbage looked very isolated from the rest of the group – being the only object not overlapping with any other, I tried to integrate it by adding touches of the colours from within it, throughout the rest of the composition, which seemed to help promote a more harmonious effect.


What I found most challenging about this part of the course:
 During the process of drawing the cos lettuce with coloured pencil - using hatching to create tone, initially I wasn’t enjoying filling the veined leaves – getting impatient with the complex network and my enthusiasm was starting to wane. But I decided to persevere and eventually started to notice some semblance of recognition appearing. I could make out pattern and shape in them and some directional movement – however the central area is inaccurate (see sketchbook). The final drawing has only one lettuce leaf, and this was fairly straight and flat in reality, whereas I previously sketched the whole lettuce. I think the sketch version works better as a three dimensional object because of this. Although, adding plenty of tonal shading and cast shadow on and around the lettuce leaf helped its 3 dimensionality. On the part furthest away, using a little artistic licence - adding more curves would probably also have helped. When sketching the individual pieces I have the distinct impression I got too carried away by detail.
Building up what I thought was adequate colour and tone on each object, without going overboard, proved a little tricky, particularly with the pear in the first drawing, as it had a stubborn tendency to look flat and distorted. I noticed that even after applying what I thought was sufficient build up of varied yellows it still looked rather colourless - but I suspect by then I had already added a bit too much purple and sepia in the shaded areas, trying to obtain more three dimensionality. So I added more rich dark yellow in an effort to balance the effect. I was a little nervous of using purple for shading on the pear as it is such a strong dark colour, but I think it worked better once I warmed up the look of the whole pear with deep gold yellow near the end. The process was helped by repeatedly moving away to view the drawing from a distance.


For some reason I had more difficulty arranging the objects in the dip pens and markers exercise (above), trying to achieve a sense of balance, once the shadows were included. Because the bottom right hand side shadow runs of the edge of the paper it seems to pull the whole composition in that direction, causing it to look bottom heavy. The shadow being so long and dark doesn’t help matters either. The final drawing seemed tedious and I felt I had completely overdone some of the colours and layers, to the point of deadening the effect in places. The cast shadows became very dark, whereas beforehand I thought they were too bright, so I added the darker colour, which I think it needed, but it is probably too dark. I think the first sketch gives a better example of cast shadows, as they appear more vibrant to me in this one, without looking over the top.
I wanted to include the complementary hues of violet/yellow with red/green in the shadows, some red from the apple and yellow from the banana, but the risk of the colours merging and mixing into a dull mud was quite high, so I had to be careful with this aspect. Fortunately I don't think it turned out too bad and the underlying colours are visible, adding interest and depth, which I was  surprised about, considering how many layers of colours I applied in some areas. I did get lots of prior practice, scribbling around with and overlaying a multitude of  colours in my sketchbook, so maybe it paid off a little.

Using oil pastel

 I was getting increasingly frustrated at the length of time it was taking to arrange the objects for the oil pastel drawing – over and over again, still not arriving at an interesting composition and yet often when I turned away and happened to glance at some other fruit literally thrown into a couple of bowls nearby, I found their arrangements somehow interesting. However, I couldn’t use these as they were mostly just one or two types of fruit without sufficient contrasts of texture and shape i.e. oranges and bananas. I wondered if I was thinking about it too much and just becoming fussy to the extreme, but from what I’ve read on the subject it does seem to be a not too uncommon problem! On the whole I was quite pleased with this drawing. What I like about it are the variety of textures and the objects look quite 3 dimensional, picking up the directional light effectively. There is a sense of depth also created by the overlapping nature of the objects. However, the blinds in the background are too distracting. I realized my error and tried to blur them with a turpsy rag but it isn't sufficient, and - as my tutor pointed out - the line between the top of the sliced red cabbage and the blinds should be more broken up ie. it would look more interesting if its shape at the top was angled so that it doesn't run parallel to the slats.

Exhibition Elizabeth Magill

Crawford Municipal Gallery, Cork, 23 November 2010 – the featured exhibition at the time didn’t hold my interest. So I called to the first floor permanent exhibition hoping to find a painting I had spotted on the previous visit in August, but discovered it had since been removed – not so permanent then.

The permanent exhibition is housed in a traditional style gallery containing a relatively small collection of paintings, displayed in two adjoining rooms. The section of the building accommodating this gallery was originally built in 1724 as the Cork Cutoms House.

Crawford Gallery (old photo)

http://www.crawfordartgallery.ie/history.html

My disappointment was soon compensated for when instead, a recent arrival that I hadn’t seen before, caught my attention. It was a painting by Elizabeth Magill with the title of ‘Blue Constrictor’.



Blue Constrictor, oil on canvas  153x183cm

This is composed of tall dark treetops silhouetted against a vivid blue and mauve sky. The inner area of a few of the tree forms look transparent; their tops fading into the sky above. From the low perspective a distinct sensation is created, of looking upwards at the treetops from below, serving to heighten their striking presence. Wavy snakelike lines of  yellow, green and red interweave the trees like dancing ribbons. Flecks and streaks of vivid yellow bounce around in the air and further flecks and bands of electric blue running up and along the tree trunks and branches, create such an energetic sizzling atmosphere – I could almost feel the static emanating out of it! The often thick brushstrokes contained in these marks appear to counteract the precise detail of the trees. The whole painting seems charged with a sort of eerie energy, providing me with quite a sublime experience.

On researching the artist’s work it was interesting to note that trees and birds are regular key features. Perhaps there is a bird or two in this one but I can’t spot it. The glens and coastline of Northern Ireland, where she spent most of her childhood are big influences. They give me a disinct sense of loneliness and isolation, devoid of human presence.

Also, on reading a little about the techniques employed in Elizabeth Magill’s work, she has very often incorporated photographic material in the process and in the case of the trees in this painting it looks to me as though this was a possibility, although it is described as an oil painting.

Parlous Land (Roches and Rooks), lithograph, 84x59cm -  later in the summer I discovered this on display in the Hunt Museum, Limerick and it certainly lived up to my high expectations.

She is quoted as describing her work as follows:

"I'm not so much painting what is there but what I imagine might be there", ... "These works are not landscapes as such, but more like suggested backdrops to how I feel, think and interpret the world."

'Blue Constrictor' a rough sketch I made at the gallery

Research Point Louise Bourgeois

An artist who worked in a quite expressive style is Louise Bourgeois (b.25 December 1911 – d.31 May 2010). She was a renowned French American artist, better known for her sculptures (particularly the spider structures) than for her drawings.


Maman, Guggenheim, Bilbao, Spain Retrospective-2003


On spiders

"I came from a family of repairers. The spider is a repairer. If you bash into the web of a spider, she doesn't get mad. She weaves and repairs it."

The artist's fascination with the figure of the spider – endlessly fertile mother and sinister predator – made itself felt in numerous works. This is Maman above (1999), an enormous sculpture that took up residence on the banks of the Thames in 2007

Most of her work was autobiographical - suggestive of the human figure and based on themes of betrayal, anxiety, and loneliness, said to have been influenced by childhood trauma.

The texture in some of the early abstract drawings of the1950s (although pre-dating the Maman spider sculpture) is to me reminiscent of the sinewy forms of the limbs.

Their surreal appearance is not surprising, considering the times in which the artist was beginning to hit her stride at the same time as the surrealist movement, just before World War II, though she didn’t develop the same shock tactic style.

Her lengthy immersion in African art is believed to have been an influence on these drawings, resulting in a collection of images that both symbolized and transcended autobiographical suggestions.

In many of the drawings, I find the linear quality and arrangement of marks quite mesmerizing in their directness and decisiveness, reminding me of spontaneous doodles; something from out of the unconscious.

untitled crayon on paper 1950

Untitled-Drawing-1950 ink on paper 11 x7 inches. A Year of Positive Thinking

Louise Bourgeois was also an important force during the rise of the American Abstract Expressionists in the late  1940's and early 1950's, as well as during the 1960's and 1970's feminist movement.

This quote serves to very clearly communicate to me the importance of sketching on the move:

“Drawings have a featherlike quality. Sometimes you think of something and it is so light, so slight, that you don’t have time to make a note in your diary. Everything is fleeting, but your drawing will serve as a reminder; otherwise it is forgotten.”

Louise Bourgeois, Drawings & Observations  Louise Bourgeois: The Insomnia Drawings  Whitney Museum of American Art June 14-Sept. 21, 2003 220 individual, red, blue and white drawings made during an eight-month period (Nov. 1994-June 1995) of sleep deprivation.

 

Insomnia 1994-95



View from the Bottom of the Well
- drawing from the 1950's

 

 Most of her work was autobiographical - suggestive of the human figure and based on themes of betrayal, anxitety and lonliness, said to have been influenced by childhood trauma. 

The texture in some of the early abstract drawings of the1950s (although pre-dating the Maman spider sculpture) is to me, reminiscent of the sinewy forms of the limbs. Their surreal appearance is not surprising, considering the times in which the artist was beginning to hit her stride - at the same time as the surrealist movement, just before World War II, though she didn’t develop the same shock tactic style. Her lengthy immersion in African art is believed to have been an influence on these drawings, resulting in a collection of images that both symbolized and transcended autobiographical suggestions.

In many of the drawings, I find the linear quality and arrangement of marks quite mesmerizing in their directness and decisiveness, reminding me of spontaneous doodles; something from out of the unconscious.

Louise Bourgeois was also an important force during the rise of the American abstract expressionists in the late 1940's and early 1950's, as well as during the 1960's and 1970's feminist movement.



Untitled - ink on paper 1950



Untitled crayon on paper 1950



This quote sends a strong yet poignant reminder across to me, of why it is so important to sketch on the move:

“Drawings have a featherlike quality. Sometimes you think of something and it is so light, so slight, that you don’t have time to make a note in your diary. Everything is fleeting, but your drawing will serve as a reminder; otherwise it is forgotten.”

Louise Bourgeois, Drawings & Observations



Louise Bourgeois

http://ayearofpositivethinking.com/2010/05/31/a-great-artist/

Still Life Group Using Line and Still Life Group Using Tone

Still life group using line Medium used - black Pitt artist's pen and coloured felt tips.
Still life group in tone Medium used - conte crayon


Aspects of each drawing that have been successful, and what I had problems with:

Still life group using line I decided to again try using the upright easel but had difficulty with accuracy of the contour lines due to my arm hanging in mid air and having nowhere to rest. I became frustrated by this, and consequently  picked up the board and placed it on my knee so that I could turn it round to enable easier drawing of shapes of outlines of certain objects ie. the top of the leek and the shape of the parsnip. 

I was also having difficulty placing the objects accurately on the paper even though I was really concentrating on the negative spaces, their size and shape, in between. On occasions I have used a viewfinder (as in this case), but even with this I find  that if I move even only very slightly I have to continually line it up again with the objects. Despite this, it does usually help with correct placement of the first one or two objects, after which, the rest will hopefully follow on easily, but it doesn’t always happen. I can often lightly sketch in one object after another and so on (but my eye can deceive me) and when I look again I spot some inaccuracies in scale and positioning, compelling me to adjust them again. Its seems that only a slight movement of the head can make all the difference, so it’s just as well I didn’t draw them in straight away with ink and then discover the above discrepancies! Alas, further practice is needed – and a very still head!  

In the early stages my approach started to become quite uptight, which naturally is far from ideal! As I progressed (once the objects had been placed) I began to cool off, realizing I wasn’t helping myself with that kind of approach. So I made a conscious effort to loosen up, especially as I don’t want my work to look tight and contrived.

I wasn’t sure how to go about making reference to the colours so I decided to just hint at it in strategic places – as the drawing was primarily about line rather than colour.

By doing this I did find that it helped in deciding whether the colours were balanced and distributed evenly.

The inclusion of the chopping board, I would say, helped to emphasize a diagonal movement, preventing the drawing from becoming too static looking.

As I was conscious of correct perspective and foreshortening I think I have gone some way to achieving this, with the mushroom on the right hand side and the near end of the long leek. The sliced onion at the back would be larger if placed directly alongside it, but in this case it is only the same size as it was placed a little further away.

Using line - art pen and felt tip markers

 With the still life group in tone - below, after I had every object sketched in, I reduced the size of the celeriac as it seemed to dominate the rest of the arrangement and I didn’t think it was desirable, considering its position at the back (it would also make creating a sense of depth difficult). Even after this it still looks large but more in proportion. I also slightly increased the size of the earthenware pot – I included this because it was hand made and has an organic look, harmonizing with the shape of the other objects. I found that I needed to repeatedly blend the area on the left side of the celeriac (in shadow) to give a smooth transition with the cast shadow area, as it had a persistent tendency to look too obvious and cumbersome, as if about to topple over.

Although I tried to work quickly and was conscious of varying the marks, I think the drawing appears to lack some spontaneity, mainly because I also thought that the drawing needed to look finished. I wouldn’t say it is overworked, yet there seems to be such a fine line between this and finished I’m not always sure where it is. The paper I chose to use has a good tooth and is neutral in tone, and the chosen medium – conté crayons. I enjoyed using both because: the medium lends itself well to a tinted paper; the neutral tone causes the colours to appear more vibrant than on a white background and is perfect to use white on.  It is relatively easy to build up layers with this medium and it is vibrant and expressive, yet quite easy to obtain detail due to its sharp corners and edges. It is also very stable and controllable in comparison to the crumbliness of soft pastel.

How did I manage a sense of depth in my drawings? what elements of the drawings and still life groupings helped to created that sense?

The sense of depth I think is created by inclusion of: the overlapping of objects and the diagonal direction of the board in the case of the group in line - above, all help to create movement within the composition. I felt there needed to be at least a suggestion of light and shade to give a feeling of depth and I think I got too carried away with this. The onion at the back looks about the same size as the mushroom at the front on the right, but it is larger in actuality, which is what I wanted to achieve. At the suggestion of my tutor I deepened the ellipse on the pot (below). It's an improvement but I'm not sure if it's enough, as the upper part looks slightly more curved, yet is closer to eye level than the base, so should be more level. 

Before ellipse rounded off on base of pot

Still Life Group Using Tone after improving the ellipse at
base of pot - Conte crayon 

I think there is an apparent sense of depth also in the still life group in tone, despite the onion and garlic being relatively small objects in the foreground. This may have been due to the gradual building up of tonal layering and the obvious differences (contrasts) between the tonal ranges used and the use of complementary colours of orange and blue. The lines seem to respond by creating a sensation of pushing and pulling against one another. Using lines and marks following the contours of the objects blending some areas quite smoothly (such as the celeriac) also to help to define depth in the composition.

Difficulties created by being restricted to line or tone:

Still life group using line I thought it would be impossible to create a sense of depth without using tone, so I added cast shadows and shading to the objects and as I wasn’t really sure how far to go with shading in this drawing, I have a feeling I went too far with it…..and that they tend to detract from the other details in the objects.

By being restricted to three colours in the still life group in tone I had to be more aware of trying to depict a varied tonal range – more of a challenge to remind myself to vary the pressure and density  of the shading within each colour. I think this is much more obvious in the darkest shade. I decided to use two very close colours for each of the three tonal ranges i.e. dark  green combined with dark blue for the darkest areas. This was to help give some added variety within each tonal range.

Research Point J.D. Hilberry

J. D. Hilberry
Using a technique he developed of blending graphite and charcoal, J. D Hilberry successfully obtains an amazing realism to his drawings. His objective is to focus on drama created by light, shadow and texture by producing all his drawings in black and white, and to evoke a certain emotion or follow a narrative.
The drawings are so realistic that they easily fool the eye of the viewer into thinking they are real objects on
display; he has been successful with trompe l'oeil – traditionally the realm of oils.
He takes a large amount of time to ensure the arrangements are perfect; right down to the tiniest detail, such as arranging the crumples in a paper bag (as in this drawing of Onions and Garlic). The composition is set up so as to lead the eye through and around his meticulous arrangement, he says, using techniques of 17th century Flemish classical realism. The result I think looks totally unpretentious yet appears to serve the purpose.

Onions & Garlic