Draw, draw, draw

I have been busy drawing for my upcoming course, 'Objets Trouvès' with Greg Kerr which starts in Johannesburg next month. Part of our prep was to find an object - not your regular Still Life subject matter which may have been drawn and painted to death already - but something unusual and perhaps strange or unappealing that happens into your life or surroundings.
I had a few false starts with things I found - a woodwork plane - too linear, a toiletries travel bag - too tedious with its zips and meshes, a computer fan - too hard and mechanical... when one day a storm approached, the wind blew, a painting flipped off the mantelpiece knocking off and breaking an early attempt at turning wood on a lathe by my son - which made me a bit sad until...aha, voilà! I had my objets!

There's something deeply satisfying about completing and beholding 20+ drawings you've done of the very same item. I usually draw something, tick it off and seldom feel inclined to do it again, so before I began I dreaded all that slog before me, certain I'd be bored to tears halfway through. But tackling one frame at a time, and with options of different mediums to do it in I became absorbed in the challenges and new perspectives of each rendition.

Starting with three drawings with the humble HB pencil, moving onto six in charcoal and going onto my favourite method, water-soluble ink with bleach, water, brushes and pens (I had whittled a new bunch of bamboo pens while watching cricket on TV days before) which I explored and experimented with for the remainder of the 20 - I've only shown three of those ones here, will get to photographing the rest sometime. So interesting to play in this technique but be warned if you try, I'm told they won't last - the paper may rot and the ink fade!

Bamboo pen two

I whittled another bamboo pen last night, while supper was simmering - a more elegant slimmer version with a sharper point. Then I tried to make myself slow down and do some careful drawings of what was left of the garlic bulbs after I'd made 20 clove chicken casserole for guests on Friday. One of our visitors, staying with us from Edinburgh, requested garlic, so boy, did he get it. Though it wasn't as potent as one would think, as the cloves were whole, and blanched first, so I hope he didn't clear the plane he flew back on the following night.

I love using the bamboo - the sharp point, which made beautifully fine lines, didn't last long, so I see why mas o menos (see previous post) said that you're supposed to work on the nib as you go along. I think I prefer the gentler look of the brown ink. I am annoyed with myself for not planning the drawings better to begin with, so one didn't go off the page at the top, and the other off the bottom.

My new bamboo pen

I made myself a bamboo pen today! I've been wanting one since seeing Laurelines lovely pen and wash sketches, and on Friday I spotted a pile of cut bamboo on a neighbour's pavement, waiting for disposal. So I guiltily sidled up to it today and pulled out a few sticks, feeling like a burglar (which we really had - 3 of - in our driveway yesterday morning - but that's another story). Dogs barked and cars slowed down, but I soldiered on - brought them home and searched for how to set about it.
I found wonderful instructions and diagrams on Daily Art (mas o menos) blog, and his flicker site on exactly how to go about it. It isn't as professional looking and beautiful as his, but I intend to practise and make some thicker and thinner ones - I have enough bamboo for at least fifty. Mine is very green - easier to cut I think without it splitting, but I wonder how it affects the line, it will be interesting to find out. I had to try it out immediately, of course, so here's a rather wonky quick drawing of Johnny Depp - I'm not really an avid follower of all these celebs, but I found a magazine of one of my kids with lots of rather good portrait photos in it - something I don't manage to take myself very often, so I hope nobody minds if I do these exercises using them.