February 7, 2014 – Africantapestry

Thankfully there is always an end to yesterday. And to whining. Once I got tired of my own whining about this not working and that not good enough(see the previous post), I had the clarity to see that the only way to change what I don’t like in my art, is to work at it.

..Clementines in charcoal on paper, 43X60cm..

So here is what I went for:

I worked only charcoal and white conté sticks.
Large format. I will go bigger still, bit for the time being 43x60cm is plenty.
I put the drawing on my easel and work with the whole arm and not the wrist, standing back often to get distance.
No details.
Large and free strokes.
No erasing.
No planning ahead, trusting impulse.
Still worked from life..whatever is around, but no photos.
No direct copying, put marks and lines as I felt and wanted, whether it is correct or not.
Stopped early enough, while I still had the urge to continue.

I enjoyed this process todayeven though it still has my typical mark making, I feel happy about it. Will continue experimenting.

The paper is bending on the easel as I didn’t add a big enough support behind it, so the colour and focus are not perfect all over the paper.

Some close ups below to see the marks and smudges.

Close up 1

Some of the close-ups actuall make for nice pieces on their own..so the piece of work can be torn or cut into sections and reworked..maybe collaged as part of another work…?

Close up 2