Category: exercises

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Part 3 project 5 exercise 4 – statues

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

I’m not a fan of statues. Too often they represent a defunct empire, colonialism, and men men men men men (to quote Mary Beard in a documentary some time last year). That or delicate flower women, often with a naked breast or two on display if not actually totally in the buff. I make an exception for the ones that move if you shut your eyes … From Dr Who episode 10, Blink. BBC 2007 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByPrDPbdRhc accessed 28/04/19. There are some beauties though, or at least the detail and the skill that went into the execution of them. I’m thinking particularly … Continue reading Part 3 project 5 exercise 4 – statues

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Part 3 project 5 exercise 3 – limited palette townscape

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Oh dear! Well, I haven’t got the perspective much (any) better but I’ve achieved a limited palette drawing of the townscape I struggled with in the previous exercise. This version at least delivered a bit of texture from the application of conte over dried watercolour pencil and I like that.   I strongly suspect that, if I set this aside and then drew it from memory, the perspective issue would resolve itself because it would be a processed and simplified image. Challenge? Well I said it so I’d better deliver! 3rd May – I’ve done my thing with a monochrome … Continue reading Part 3 project 5 exercise 3 – limited palette townscape

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Part 3 project 5 exercise 2 townscape

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Another dreaded attempt at forcing buildings into a proper line on a page. This time I’ve used a soft 7B pencil so I don’t get too involved in sharp corners and points. It’s a little childlike but better than I’d expected, particularly as one of my cats settled on my knee while I was drawing. This is our car park, conveniently empty of vehicles. This may not be strictly ‘line’ but I think it may be close enough. There are many points of variance from real perspective but I’m relatively confident that anyone local would recognise it so that’s a … Continue reading Part 3 project 5 exercise 2 townscape

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Part 3, a perspective on perspective

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Throughout the perspective exercises, I’ve been haunted by Escher and his impossible stairs and landings. I’m fascinated by them but they make my eyes ache and the thought of trying to do anything comparable brings on a mild panic. Why don’t I find it possible to keep track of lines and angles when I’m quite capable of interpreting them both in images and the physical world? Clearly, that information is available to me in a form that allows me to make sense of what I’m seeing (step back, Escher, you’re different!) so why is it so difficult for me to … Continue reading Part 3, a perspective on perspective

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Part 3, project 4, exercise 3 – aerial perspective

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Almost missed this – slip of the page or my head telling me only what I wanted to hear, that there was no such task? Anyway, after establishing I wouldn’t need to risk assess myself for sketching while strapped to a chimney, I had a look through my google photo store to see what I might have in there that would meet requirements and there was a fab little snap of a section of Brighton beach, the lower promenade, where construction was taking place and the sea and sky and the pier took up most of the space. Not a … Continue reading Part 3, project 4, exercise 3 – aerial perspective

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Part 3 project 3 exercise 2 fore/middle/background

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Instinctively this feels ok but as soon as I saw instructions that included rulers and viewers I was thrown because that just isn’t me. I’m realising that I’m more intuitive even though that often leads to wobbles and inaccuracies. I think though that I have a few techniques up my sleeve now to help compensate, one of them developed during an earlier exercise and that led to an interior drawing that I rather liked (I may re-purpose it for one of the perspective tasks). It involves using one of my own photos, reducing it to monochrome, increasing the contrast, and … Continue reading Part 3 project 3 exercise 2 fore/middle/background

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Project 3, exercise 1 sketch 1 tonal study on white ground

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

I’ve had several goes on the Drawing course at this watering can and I’m having several more shots at it here. These constitute work towards Project 3, working on different coloured grounds. This is the first: charcoal on A3 white cartridge. Major success is getting all of it in the frame for the first time! I’ve latched onto his work because of its tonal qualities which might apply to this exercise. No harsh lines, completely blended and calm. It reminds me of ice cream. Also, it’s realism without being photographic and his compositions are almost linear, there’s no fancy footwork … Continue reading Project 3, exercise 1 sketch 1 tonal study on white ground

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Part 1, project 2 monochrome studies

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Are these instructions particularly obtuse or do I have the wrong language chip installed? Anyway, the task was to take two A3 sized sheets (conveniently side by side in my sketchbook); apply a dark wash to one and a light grey wash to the other. As I didn’t have any of the suggested colours to make the first (and also may not have twigged that ‘wash’ meant ‘transparent’) the dark side is a mix of Royal & Langnickel student grade cyan blue and lamp black, and the grey is this mixed with Liquitex heavy body titanium white. Next, came the … Continue reading Part 1, project 2 monochrome studies

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Part 1, project 2 overlaying washes

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

For some reason, the instructions for this task became more impenetrable the more I read them. I’ve done something but whether it meets the brief or not, I can’t be sure. I also used the products of this exercise as the base for the next one – opaque colour mixing – so I had direct comparisons. The second part involved mixing the main colours with white to increase opacity. I used the right hand side of the original washes for this to enable direct comparison. I’m biased here; I like heft and texture rather than watery applications although I can … Continue reading Part 1, project 2 overlaying washes

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Part 1, exercise 3 – painting with pastels

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

I think this task is about using pastels much as I might use paint but I’m really not sure what’s expected. I have both oil and regular pastel crayons so I started with the oils. Thinking of ‘painting’ I wondered if the idea was to use a solvent to facilitate blending so I added Liquin either to the support prior to adding colour, or after the colour to influence blending, but I’m not sure it made much difference. It’s also maybe problematic that the quality of the cartridge isn’t great, being a bit smooth. I’ve blended with both stumps and … Continue reading Part 1, exercise 3 – painting with pastels