Research Point : Odilon Redon

Odilon Redon  inspired study (conte crayon and graphite stick), here I taking the head theme from such pictures as Cactus boy and and the strong colours of Veiled Woman 2.

I have used a Buddha head ornament that we have a home as the main subject matter:

Exercise : Tonal studies

Here I am using cross hatching techniques to generate different tonal variations in pencil, felt tip,  graphite stick and biro. I have chosen biro complete a picture using, mainly, a series of cross hatched marks.


Cross hatch mark making study 1:

Cross hatch mark making study 2:

Final picture using cross hatch technique:

Exercise : Shadows and reflected light and shade

In this drawing I am using charcoal and making use of the putty rubber to help define the reflections in my still life sauce pan and poaching spoon. Object chosen as they are both metal, lots of reflections.

Exercise : Study of reflected from one object to another

Here I am implying form by using tone but am pay attention to the way the light is reflected of the subject matter and how it impacts the neighbouring objects. Here I have drawn a cup a ladle and a banana (help prop up the ladle), even though the side of he cup closest to the ladle is not in the light/ in shadow the metal of the ladle is reflecting light back onto the shaded side of the cup.

Exercise : Observing shadow and light formations on a surface

In this exercise I am using tone to suggest form,  paying attention to how the light hits the objects I am drawing, attempt to represent the contrasts between light and dark.

My subject matter, kept simple, an apple and a cup.


Sketch 1:

Sketch 2:

Sketch 3, here I am trying to refine the contrasts that I am seeing:

Exercise : Supermarket shop

Still life exercise pulling together the previous exercises on form, we are not at this stage using tone to help suggest form and volume.

In both drawings I think the bottom of the cylindrical objects could benefit from being slightly deeper.

Pen and Inktense blocks:

Pencil/Coloured pencil:

Exercise : Jars and jugs

Here I am drawing bottles and glasses (collection of six cylindrical objects) and am trying to suggest, as with box exercise, form and volume paying attention to the drawing of the ellipses.

I have approached this exercise drawing free hand i.e., I have not use rulers or technical drawing equipment... my excuse for some of the not so vertical lines in the drawing of the bottles

Pencil drawing 1:

Pencil drawing 2, slightly more elevated view point:

Pen drawing:

Exercise : Boxes and books

In this exercise I am trying to express the form of the collection of boxes by using line only

The key to this exercise was being mindful of the edges of the boxes you can't see, in my drawing above I have darkened the edges you can see but the edges you wouldn't are still visible in my drawing... showing how each box was constructed to give a sense of form.

Research point : Van Gogh

Here are my studies of two of van Gogh's drawings, drawn with ink and bamboo pen.

Tried to replicate the marks he uses, how the marks are put together to build a picture but in away where you are always conscious of the individual marks. Avoiding outlining the individual objects with in the picture. Adding a sense of perspective type of mark that is applied (thicker, longer in the foreground)


View of Saintes Maries street

View of Saintes Maries with cemetery

Exercise : Line and other marks

Here I am exploring the different marks I can make with my selection of drawing instruments, covering a small error of paper consistently trying to use the same approach to how the mark is applied.

My favorite marks from this exercise


Charcoal stick held at top and quickly rotated:

Bamboo pen side of nip gently tapped against paper:

Bamboo pen, nip movement around paper controlled by flicking the nip in the direction I wanted to go... nice stuttery quality to the line:

Exercise : Using charcoal

In this exercise I am focusing on covering an error in charcoal, again exploring different approaches to applying the charcoal to the paper.


Here I am using the tip of the charcoal, the side of the charcoal  and experimenting with bread and a putty rubber to lift out areas of densely applied charcoal.

Here is a detail of the marks left by the lifting the charcoal with the bread and putty rubber. Looks to me likely some ghostly fish shapes... realization here is that I should not just see the rubber as an instrument for removing marks that have been made in error but also an instrument for drawing.

Exercise : Mark-making techniques

In this exercise I am exploring mark making with several drawing instruments, moving a way from the individual mark to explore how each of the medium can be used on it's own fill a given space. 

At this stage I felt most comfortable whilst using  pencil/ coloured pencil, however I liked the layered effect I could achieve with felt tip pen and the precision of the ball point.

Exercise : Doodling

Here I am doodling, making varied marks using a combination of  pencil , graphite stick, biro, conte crayon, soft pastel,  felt tip and charcoal.


Here the doodle is just that making marks with the different medium with out turning these marks into picture.

Here I start making marks as a doodle, with no sense of the what I want to draw but soon feel the purple marks made with  the felt tip pen look like the heads of flowers. This then influences the the  marks and colours I use to complete the drawing.

Here my doodle starts with a collection of black marks which, which looks to me like a rock. I complete my doodle thinking Japanese Zen garden.

Doodle starts with a series with rectangular hills, my picture turns into a collection of buildings

Here I decided to be a little less obvious with the subject matter that I had in mind once I started the doodle (volcano) and wanted to give the marks more room so have more empty space around the marks and less cross over of the marks.

Exercise : Holding pens and pencils

Here I am experimenting with a variety of drawing instruments, in all cases I found that the closer I held the drawing instrument towards the tip the greater control I had over the marks I was making, including the amount of pressure I could apply.

With charcoal I needed less pressure to make a mark on the paper,  given this I felt that I able to produce more interesting/varied marks whilst holding the charcoal stick in away that reduced the amount of control I had over what was happening on the paper


Pencil (HB) held near tip:

Pencil (HB) held near center:

Pencil (HB) held at top:

Graphite stick (6B) held near tip:

Graphite stick (6B) held near center:

Graphite stick (6B) held near top:

Charcoal stick held near tip:

Charcoal stick held near center:

Charcoal stick held near top: