Research point - George Stubbs

George Stubbs anatomical studies of horses would have helped inform his final paintings as this knowledge of underlying structure be it the skeletal frame and or the layers of surrounding muscle would have allowed him capture a truer/ more correct representation of the horses form.

In the following studies I have drawn the skeleton of a cat, dog and a horse from photographs found on the internet, on the biro/ink drawing of the skeleton I have placed, the outer form that I have imagined, as suggested by the skeleton, in a layer of smudged charcoal so that the skeletal frame is still visible.


Cat:

Dog:

Horse:

Part Two - Research point 1 - Detailed Drawing

For detailed drawings I immediately thought of  the work of Stephen Wilsthire, Cityscapes drawn on a large scale besides the  quality/ accuracy of the drawing in some cases these picture are drawn from memory. In some of his drawings he introduces colour ( e.g. a yellow taxi a new scene) but I prefer those without colour drawn purely in black pen. 

http://www.stephenwiltshire.co.uk

For a past artist, pre 20^th century I think of the anatomical studies of Leonardo da Vinci,  following link to an article on the accuracy of his studies  which includes examples of his drawings.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17907305

For both artists attention to detail is about wanting to achieve a true representation of their subject matter, possibly more so in the case of Leonardo da Vinci.  Another work that makes me smile (has anybody counted the eyes) drawn out the motivation of scientific research is  Robert Hooke's The Eye and Head of Drone Fly (1665)

Other works that have recently seen (Master Drawings from Mantegna to Matisse, The Courtauld Gallery ) that are perhaps a better reflection of detailed work where you would expect more artistic licence to be at play are the studies for an engraving by Pieter Bruegel  The Kermis At  Hobeken (1559). The drawing depicts a festival in the Flemish village of Hoboken

http://www.pieter-bruegel.co.uk/gallery/engravings/hoboken-mid.jpg

Assignment (D1) Two

In this still life drawing I have chosen to use coloured pencils as personally they push me towards a more controlled/ tighter end result, a better observed and therefore more representational piece of work. That said as part of the preparation for the final drawing, I used other medium (Ink, oil pastel and charcoal) and a looser approach to work out a composition I was happy with.

The still life includes some pears and a purple cabbage and two bottles, the contrasting man-made object as suggested in the assignment brief. Felt the light coloured Williams pears would contrast well with the dark leaves of the cabbage.

I have left the bottles as recognisable forms roughly sketched in pencil, with a straw in each bottle to help link the bottles to the rest of the drawing which is in colour. I think the unresolved nature of the bottles helps to emphasise that the main subjects in the drawing are the pears and cabbage and adds, in my opinion another area of interest in the drawing. In the top left hand corner of the drawing again I have used charcoal for the grey wall behind the scene to add a different texture to the picture.

The table surface I am not entirely happy with but I am not exactly sure what I don't like about, would another layer colour plus the burnishing technique help here...possibly.

Also think I should have made the cabbage dark..though I am sure the tones are true to what I was seeing at the time.

First ideas on subject matter were different to my final choice, mushrooms peppers and a banana skin. I felt the composition, not helped by the subject matter, was following the mistakes I had made in assignment one, too much of a disconnect between each object.



Shitake mushrooms study 1:

Shitake mushrooms study 2:

One of the thumb nail sketch studies for the pears and cabbage still life:

Pears and cabbage still life study 1:

Pears and cabbage still life study 2:

Pears and cabbage still life final drawing:

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