In this week's life drawing session, we started to look a lot more at texture and how it was achievable in a range of media. We were given the option to attempt media such as paint which is something i have never really focused on or used more than a couple of times across the year. I would have to learn how to use it correctly at one point or another so i decided it was time to give it a good attempt and stick with it in an attempt to improve. The vast majority of the poses were fairly short, never tolling over the five minute to ten minute marks, making it a scenario where i was forced to jump in at the deep end an simply hope/ try my best.
The first attempt came to me as a surprise due to the general difficulty, especially with the stiff, spread-out bristles of the paint brush i used in an attempt to add extra texture. While i attempted to paint, i attempted to imagine it as a pencil or charcoal and then used it in relation. This did not work as i could not smudge, adjust or remove any marks i create, on top of this, being left handed made it a rather painful process as i started from the left side of the image, making it very difficult to paint without smudging the paint with my hand. As you can see, i got very little beyond the outline done and a fairly crude one at that, especially with areas such as the head.
The second attempt was a little more structured as i felt slightly more comfortable with the paint but was still making up the techniques as i went along, which in turn created a more structured image but i was still left with nothing more than a crude outline with out of proportion arms and body. The head did not turn out too badly though shape wise. At this point i realised that i was really starting to struggle with the media but refused to give up until i created an image i was relatively happy with.
The third attempt is where things within the painting began to make more sense and generally improve as i continued. We were given an extension to ten minutes on this pose, allowing me more time focus on the outline as well as some simple shading/ texturing. Mid way through painting out the fairly crude outline when i began using a white wash to add a bit of extra detail, i realised that i could use extremely thin paint, mixed with water to create faint construction lines that i could then paint over afterwards. I was then able to use this technique in the next image. I attempted to stipple the brush and even resorted to using the opposite end of the paint brush to add texturing effects for the plant behind Gordon and the beanbag he was perched upon.
It was then time for the fourth and final painted pose which i felt relatively happy with, even if the amount of detail and texture is somewhat lacking, bare in mind that this was still a five minute painting. By painting the rough outlines first using a thin paint/ water solution, i was able to get the correct proportions before then gong over these with solid colour. Using a small amount of water, mixed with some paint, i was able to add in some basic shadowing without making it look too overwhelming or messy. I attempted to use the end of the paintbrush to add the creases in the fabric Gordon was lay across but the paintbrush seemed too rough to add any precise details.
The last pose of the evening was a fairly long one, providing us with forty minutes to fully complete it. We were supposed to create a fully shaded and textured image but i may have stepped away from this to experiment with various media, all in combination with each other in an attempt to create my own textures. For this, i drew the simple sketch of Gordon in his attire, added some simple shading and then moved to some other media. I put in all the required highlights using a stick of charcoal, smudged it wherever necessary and then added definition and fine detail by cross-hatching with a fine liner. Even though i did not get very much done of the overall image using these techniques, i felt as if it went quite nicely and taught me a lot about what does and does not go well together.
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