Rotation: Sketching and Drawing

In this rotation we focused on drawing from observation, an important skill to broaden the artist’s visual library. I found that, while drawing from observation, I challenged myself to draw not what I assumed to be there, but what I could actually see.

Due to Covid, I could not come into class to draw at the Tate. So, I instead walked around my local area and drew people and scenes which I saw there. The locations I found myself in were, King’s College and a coffee shop nearby.

I started by drawing people in the surrounding area, I tried to focus primarily on capturing interesting shapes and lighting (however I found myself occasionally straying from observation when trying to add value).

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

I struggled to draw environments from observation. I instead drew details on the buildings I saw and nature to help familiarise myself with the process of drawing buildings. In future, I would like to do more building studies so that I can improve my skill and environment designs in my personal work.

From home, I drew using different tools, such as pen and ink. I tried to do simple outlines of form using white pen on black paper. I used an ink pen to draw fragments of my home. Below I have included some of the rough drawings I attempted over the week.

• 

• 

Whilst drawing at home I had to contend with a very difficult obstacle (who just had to be centre stage…)

• 

• 

I chose a sketch of two women in a coffee shop as my comic panel. I decided to make the narrative very simple; an unexpected love confession. I kept the added panels loose and sketchy to match the aesthetics and look of the observational piece.