104
APPLYING MARK MAKING
We are 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 practised mark making we now
need to apply that experience. Firstly, it is
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,
you can see 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, I 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 organised 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 is 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.Part Two – CHARCOAL
Charcoal projects
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