Category Archives: Part 1 Exploring composition

ASSIGNMENT 1

For your first assignment, review your sketchbooks and project work so far. Think about all you’ve learned about scale, cropping, selection, flexibility and judgment and make a decision about which area you’d like to develop for your assignment piece. This could result in one drawing or a series of drawings. Your subject can be anything you like but, whatever you choose, the relationships within your drawing(s) should set up an intriguing and engaging composition.

I start by reviewing some drawings from the projects of this chapter.

1.1 Observational drawing

1.2 Using space

1.3 Changing the scale

1.4 The human form

I am very interested in learning to draw and paint the human form and choose to continue exploring this for the first assignment. I am immediately exploding with ideas about where this could go:

For Part 5 of Drawing 1, I explored figure drawing through yoga poses, focusing on how the poses feel while practicing. I produced some mixed media drawings through painting my hands and feet while moving on yogamat sized paper and a concertina book and still remember this as a work I really felt alive about at the time. I practice yoga (almost) daily and have so for the last 15 years, so it is very linked to my experience of the body. For this first assignment of Drawing 2, I want to reconnect to that last of Drawing 1 and bring it further ( and will not even allow my mind to compare or tell me that what I did years ago was better).

I start by looking for photos of myself practicing and although they are a few years old, they are the best clear photos I will use:

In several of the ideas I have on the Assignment map, I see these figures surrounded by a lot of space. I am thinking of the work by Matthew Carr that I saw during a visit to the National Portrait Gallery in London in 2017:

I really like the very special composition, with the tiny heads detached from any body or surrounding, floating on the grey page.

(Visit National portrait Gallery August 2017 , my photo)

A body, hands and feet connected in a pose, contrary to a head, immediately show direction though and want to land at the bottom of the page. I reverse the idea of Matthew Carr by drawing three bodies without heads. I start with a smeared charcoal background:

I will admit that I had the idea to draw the figures in a detailed realistic graphite drawing but after much erasing switched to a blue ballpoint pen and a free doodle drawing:

And then of course I couldn’t resist to add a flower poking out :

I was aiming for surreal and strange, expressing the mix of deep and weird feelings arising, but I don’t feel these drawings work yet.

I choose two other poses that are even more anchored to the ground with a heavy sense of gravity from my photos and explore them in a similar composition on the page but with a different media- Indian ink. I am using a nature beige coloured A4 paper. I first draw the figures in water only with a large brush and then add small dots of ink:

I need to add some dark lines to make the drawings more readable:

Within the figure, I like the contradiction between the complexity of the tones and shapes that form in the puddles with the simplicity of the whole. I also like the contrasts here of the dark, heavy figure and the vast emptiness of the surrounding that form an interesting tension. I think using a white paper would have added a sense of void around the figure, while the beige tone is “something” and reminiscent of skin. I am unsure through if you can see what is drawn here if you are not as familiar with the figure as I am.

Both postures is a merging in towards my own center, and I want to draw this by placing the figures in a cave, or a womb (a birthing canal) and use flesh colours . After some experimenting in my A4 sketchbook, I decide to use a square format:

I have been experimenting with Cobra watersoluble oilpaints lately, diluting them too much and letting drops flow and will try this here – letting the element of the drops become one more element of gravity.

I start by painting the figures on a small square canvas 25,5×25,5 cm:

Then develop the cave/flesh/womb around, diluting the oil paints strongly and using a larger brush in large motions.

These are the final paintings with the paint dripping, emphasizing gravity:

I was aiming for fleshcolours and the sense of inner organs, but this got more colourful than I intended. I am using photos from a time when my hair was purple though!

I want to try using the same paints in softer colours for another pose- a deep backbend. Deep backbends are the poses that bring up the strongest floods of emotions, especially fear, during the practice. I decide to come back to the vertical format and already know the title of this panting: Facing those fears.

A quick coloursketch on A4:

I choose a canvas of 30×40 cm and am careful not to overdo the colours this time. The paints are really strongly diluted with water. ( I need to ask my tutor if she has any experience with this and if there is an issue of fading with time.)

Again I start with the figure in the white space:

Then I add the background and let the strong, dark drops represent the fear:

I am surprised how much I like this little painting. Sometimes I spend days and days on a painting. This was such a light and quick sketch/painting and it already feels finished. It really captures my feeling in this pose, such a vulnerable surrender.

I agree that these last three works are rather paintings than drawings, but I have decided to not let that stop me from exploring. I am on the painting pathway after all.

Finally, finally I have arrived at going BIG! I have had this dream of having a huge space where I can move around huge canvases and be messy for around 20 years I think, long before I even started to paint again. Until now I am still painting in our shared livingroom/studio with items from every familymember to watch out for. But NOW! We have just moved into a huge empty house that will be completely renovated- so this is my chance! I buy a big roll of whitish paper and prepare one larger than me canvas on the wall and another on the floor. Last summer I was doing many drawings in the sand by sitting or lying in different poses and moving my arms and legs symmetrically. Since then, I have been wanting to do this on paper.

I am prepared:

I am listening to loud music in my headphones and standing in front of the vertical paper with a charcoal stick in each hand. I have promised myself not to be attached to the outcome, but just live the feeling in a sort of solitary performance and raise my arms wide- inhale.

I still tricked myself into seeing something kind of figurative drawing instead of leaving it as an abstract pattern like in the sand. I decide to paint the feet red.

And getting into the paint with my hands..

If I crop the drawing it has more or less the shape of a yogamat and is some snakelike Kundalini energy rising:

I move on to the paper on the floor and first sit in a center split. I am listening to a Shiva/Shakti song and will draw with a black coloured pencil in one hand and a red in the other.

I try to draw my own shape but am annoyed by my thick coveralls ( it is freezing cold up here in the attic) and my lines are too rugged:

I shift to a lotus posture and draw in various symmetrical shapes as long as my arms can reach. This time I am slightly held back by having to use the sharpener all the time!

I am quite happy with the shapes produced:

But I haven’t gotten this far to draw carefully in coloured pencils! I unpack my acrylic paints and realize that all my materials are for smaller formats- these are my largest brushes!

In position again, with one pot of red and one of black acrylics:

And this is where I should have stopped painting! At this stage, I find the drawing successful:

But I did not stop here… As always, I tried to discover a face or something recognizable, so this is the final drawing:

I am not particularly satisfied with these large drawings as results, but it has been an incredible experience of figure drawing in the sense that I have used my whole body in the expression. It has been an absolutely incredibly liberating experience and I definitely want to continue drawing HUGE and using all of my range of motion.

REFLECTION ON ASSIGNMENT 1:

For this Assignment I have neither produced a finished drawing , nor a series, or maybe I have produced several. I have allowed myself to open up lots of different pathways to continue exploring. So as a minus, nothing is clearly finished. On the plus side- I am full of ideas!

I will give myself a big minus for working too closely from photos though for all of the first drawings. During the contextual research about Prunella Clough, I admired the way she used her own photographs and let shapes and elements reappear in her paintings, rather than reproducing them and thought that I would love to work like that. And then, immediately after, I fall into the trap of using all the photos way too closely.The last paintings in huge formats were liberating as I did not have any reference other than my own joy of movement.

I chose to study Drawing 2 before Painting 2 with the precise wish to practice my drawing skills, especially the figure and perspective drawing which are my weakest points. This is definitely something I want to develop through this course, rather than relying too closely on photographs.

1.4 The human form

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Coursemanual:

Aim: Drawing the human figure allows you to develop skills in observing underlying structure – the ‘engineering’ of the figure – combined with the natural grace and flow of an organic form. The effects of the way weight is distributed and light falls to reveal volume are hard to pin down but hard to fudge; figure drawing is like a workout for the eyes. By drawing parts of the figure, you can develop your skills in managing several inter-related elements within a drawing – rhythm, weight, volume, structure. The object of this exercise is to create a drawing which leads the eye of the viewer into the overlapping twists and turns of the limbs. Use your judgment to make the most powerful statement you can.

Method: Make a drawing of two combined body parts. This might be two feet crossed over, folded arms or a hand resting on a waist. Look at the curves and the rhythms set up by those curves. Look at the muscles and bones under the skin and the tension and energy they give. Make a drawing which has a curving or sinuous composition using parts of the human figure. If necessary, consider lighting the limbs with an Anglepoise lamp or similar to give yourself more dramatic tones in the manner of chiaroscuro. Don’t leave the limbs to taper off into nothing, even if that means cropping. Don’t be more tentative because you’re working from the figure; redraw and correct vigorously to achieve the most accurate drawing you can.

I am starting this exercise by looking for a pose with two limbs overlapping that creates interesting forms, drawing the eye of the viewer in.

I think it is the wording “twists and turns of the limbs” that immediately guide my thoughts to Egon Schiele’s selfportraits, where there is often a twisted, tense quality of the limbs. He often emphasizes the hands in angular, twisted shapes and is not afraid of letting limbs taper into nothing. There has been quite a heated discussion on the OCA email group about Schiele’s work, but despite his questionable morale, I am still a great admirer of his art.

I want to draw a quick series of poses , focusing on the dynamic of the poses more than catching the perfect anatomical shapes. I prepare a long roll of cheap paper from IKEA and place myself in front of the mirror with Indian ink and brushes at the ready.

It is quite confusing at first to draw from the mirror, but I soon get into the flow :

Although the thin paper gets quite wobbly from the ink, I decide to turn it over and continue sketching on the reverse:

I pick out a few poses that I find most interesting:

I decide to continue with the two legs, one folded backwards and the other draped over. This pose is at the same time simple and a little intriguing, it takes an extra second to realize how the legs are folded. I like the shape of the whole, forming something like a symbol, close to an infinite symbol.

Although I initially started drawing on the cheap paper roll just for quick sketches, I notice how the wrinkles of the paper make me think of skin. I like the physicality of this, the tactile quality it adds, and decide to continue drawing on this too thin paper.

I start experimenting with a Winsor&Newton Vermillion ink. I draw in water first and then in red, so that it bleeds a little. This drawing in red reminds me of Louise Bourgeois’ inkdrawings.

Using the water to create more wrinkles, also reminded me of a drawing by Portuguese artist Ilda David that I really liked from the book “Ilda David from dark to light”, drawn only in water on white paper:

(Image from: Faria, N (2016). Ilda David Do Negro a luz, Desenhos do 1986-2016. Portugal: Dokumenta Fundacao Carmona e Costa.)

This drawing is so simple and so effective. I try drawing my entwined limbs in water.

I find that my pose looks like a sign or a symbol. I will draw it small, leaving a large white page around tell the story and let this mark be a symbol.

I find it effective how this very subtle mark sits on the page, but I am not happy with the shape. I decide to try and draw in pencil first and then water

This drawing is much better! But when i try to erase the pencil (close up)…

…I rubbed a hole in the paper…

I decide to try this proportion of the white page and the small symbol with a brown ink too:

Here the drawing went well, but it is not effective with the brown ink. It needs to be either really subtle, like the water, or stronger on the page. I colour in the brown ink with a black Indian ink and add vermillion details in a cubic pattern:

This drawing works again. It has enough interest to sit so slightly on the large page and still let the page be in balance.With this pattern, the legs have a snakelike character.

I am still curious about exploring the very subtle though, and decide to try out drawing the same pose twice again, with Winsor& Newton white ink on a Fabriano watercolour paper.

This could work, but is not as appealing and subtle as using only water.

Next, I decide to try out a technique I tried in a lifedrawingclass- cutting out the shape of the pose and then drawing the contours using this positive or the negative mold with graphite powder.

I am using a small drawing of the figure on the bottom of the page again.

I like how it looks with the surrounding powder and wonder if I can fixate it like this.

The answer is no. I try this twice with different methods.

I find this second less messy version still has some interest, with the different layers of white and then graphite spreading out from the figure. It looks like a creature in a nest.

I continue with making a composition using the positive and the negative molds:

Here my two intertwined limbs have morphed in to a landscape. I see something like fallen soldiers on a battlefield.

I am still hanging on to the idea of my figure as a symbol and it’s relationship to the page when I discover these works on newsprint by Kaoru Arima in the wonderful book Vitamin D: New Perspectives in Drawing:

(Image from: Dexter, E (2005). Vitamin D: New Perspectives in Drawing . England: Phaidon press)

As a final trial for this project, I choose a page of a newspaper and paint a white cloud for my drawing to sit on. I choose a page with an image of a man with the arms crossed, which mirrors my crossed legs. I blacken out the face so that it doesn’t become the main focus .

I like this final of many versions of this pose. I has an interesting interaction with the other elements of the page. It is placed on a different layer through the white dot, but competes in strength with the hard red blocks, the rather strong image top right and the larger texts. The drawing itself is a little caricatured with the foot too large. The man with the now black dot head is looking down at the drawn legs.

Reflection: How far does your drawing direct the viewer’s gaze? Did you manage to retain the tension in the limbs – or do they seem a bit floppy and directionless? Have you managed to add an extra dimension to what could otherwise be a technical or academic exercise?

I think this pose directs the viewers eyes in an interesting loop. When this symbol like drawing is small at the bottom right of the page, it redirects the viewer back towards the center again. It reminds me of an infinity sign or of the letter in an unknown pictorial alphabet. In the last version on newsprint, it competes with the many other strong elements, but I find that after scanning the page, the eyes return to the loop of the legs.

I have allowed the process to guide this project, responding to way the paper wrinkles or the graphite powder blows instead of approaching it from a technical or academical way. Inspired by the previous projects, I have played more with composition and scale than an accurate anatomical drawing. I can think of so many interesting ways this project could have gone. I lost sight of the Egon Schiele inspired way of seeing the limbs. I will choose to continue looking at the human figure for the assignment though and develop this further.

1.3 Changing the scale

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From the course manual:

“Aim: The focus of this project is to explode notions of scale and experiment with an extreme change of scale to achieve a powerful drawing which suggests monumental landscape or architecture. Before you start work, spend some time thinking about the implications of manipulating scale in drawing composition, for example scaling up a particular feature of a landscape, still life, or even a portrait.“

In order to understand the scale of an object, I need to understand it in context. I will always perceive an object in comparison to another that I already have a sense of scale for. For example, If I see a human, or a car, I will have a stored idea of roughly how big they are. If I see a pebble the size of a human, I will perceive it as a rock, not a pebble, and if it is much larger than the human, as a hill or mountain maybe.

“Method: Find a handful of small objects, e.g. pebbles, shells, buttons, toys. Cluster these objects together and focus in on a cropped area. Experiment with using a frame for this. Make a large drawing which gives the impression of a landscape view or architectural detail, using these objects as your source material.“

“By cropping your subject you’ll ensure that the whole composition has power and energy.”

I immediately imagine to use pills as my subject- very small objects that can quickly become very big in our awareness in the case of illness, or addiction or also in the overuse of medication in our society.

Wanting to create a context that shows the changing scale of the pills, I place them in my hand (quick drawings in my sketchbook)

I know more or less how big a hand is, so when comparing the pills to the hand, I have a sense of their size. When they are much bigger than the hand, they seem huge.

How can I do this without the hand? I can choose a low standpoint, as if I am small and looking up at them. I try out several versions and viewpoints in pencil in my sketchbook:

Adding only a horizon line does not give the wanted effect. I try placing the pills against walls, or brick walls, as I intuitively know how big a brick is.

A tiled wall makes me think of a hospital, a brick wall some storage unit maybe.

I have decided that I will include the walls to put the pills in the context of a room.

I create a little “miniroom” with a folded paper and try out many compositions by photographing them:

These are the two compositions I choose to explore:

I am remembering the paintings of Alex Hanna, often featuring packages of pills leaning against a wall in monochrome paintings. I will keep the colour scheme very subdued too, echoing the dullness or sadness of the subject.

I want to draw as big as I can, so I use a roll of brown packing paper that I stitch together for a piece of 160x 120 cm:

I first try out both compositions in small in diluted acrylic on the same brown paper:

I choose the composition to the left and square it up to my very large paper:

I start with very diluted acrylics, but soon see that I need to use more coats to have the lightness of tone that I want. I am using Titanium White and Payne’s Grey Amsterdam acrylic paints.

I add the shadows in Indian ink:

I choose this paper because it allowed me to draw a very big picture, I might have had an advantage of starting from a white background and achieved subtler tones. In the flesh, as it is so big, the drawing has a rather strong impact already. On the photograph, I see that the composition is not yet enough to show a real change in scale. Maybe the pills are just lying in a small package for example, and are shown on a billboard.

I need to add another element to the context- like the tiles, that I will perceive as having a certain determined size that I know from experience. I will also add a hint of the ceiling of this “room”.

While marking the ceiling in charcoal and plotting out the bricks, I have a spontaneous idea to add the element of a door instead. A door will immediately show that this is a room, and we have an intuitive knowledge of the size of a door. This will be the final element that will really make the change in scale clear:

This is the final image, 160x120cm on brown paper, Amsterdam acrylics and Indian ink:

I think I have achieved an extreme change in scale in this image- the pills look huge put in the context of the room. The dimensions of the room became clearer when adding the elements of the ceiling and the door.

I think the pills have an oppressive, rather threatening quality which also reflects how something so small can become so big in my awareness.

1.2 Using space- Henri Matisse

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After studying the work of Elisabeth Blackadder, I will make a different piece inspired by Henri Matisse’s more sophisticated use of space and pattern.

In the blogpost about the composition and use of space by Matisse, I chose to look at “The red studio” from 1911.

Image from: Ars. c2019. https://wwwmomaorg. [Online]. [13 December 2019]. Available from: https://www.moma.org/collection/works/78389

In this painting, I like the combination of the detailed elements and the swirling linedrawing of the furniture that creates depth the sense of space.

I start by looking at the line and shapes Matisse is using, while using items from my own surroundings.

I decide to paint my own livingroom/studio in this manner, but choosing a blue background. My walls are normally white, but I will imagine them blue, and take some freedom in moving the objects as well.

This is a study in acrylics and gel pens in my A4 sketchbook:

I decide to replicate this on an A1 Canson Mixed Media paper using acrylics for the painted items and pens for the linedrawing.

This is the final drawing, with some added decorative elements. It is difficult to see the line well on the photograph, it has a nice gloss in the flesh.

These are close ups:

I think that I have achieved balance between the painted elements that immediately attract the attention, and the space around it in this drawing. I believe the three smaller, lighter items on the right are balanced out by the heavier red frame on the left as well, not letting the drawing tilt to one side or the other.

1.2 Using Space- Elisabeth Blackadder

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I have started this project by taking a look at the work of Elisabeth Blackadder and Henri Matisse, as I have described in a separate blogpost found here: https://clarasdrawing2.design.blog/2019/12/13/elisabeth-blackadder-henri-matisse/(opens in a new tab)

I am currently on an unplanned visit with my mother, so I start exploring different compositions in my small pocket sketchbook, by looking around for interesting objects. I think Elisabeth Blackadder would have found a lot of material here, my mother being somewhat of a collector too. They also share an interest for anything Japanese and cats.

I am placing different collections in various arrangements, working intuitively as I observed Elisabeth Blackadder doing in the videos, moving them around and combining shape and colours, leaving the objects flat, without shadow or sense of depth.

I am using coloured pencils in my small format pocket sketchbook.

I observe how important the weight of the larger colour fields is, without it the collection of little things completely loose interest . Also how a brighter coloured item immediately draws my attention and can balance out a much larger darker colour.

I discover a beautiful kimono and take some freedom with the colours and patterns when including it in the next compositions:

I continue my exploration on A4 sheets with the coloured pencils and water that turns them into watercolours (unfortunately on too thin paper that wobbles)

I think both of the above work- it is helpful to have the large red main object, the kimono, dominating the composition that immediately becomes clear and solid. I could maybe argue that there is more a sense of background in these than in paintings with many smaller objects and clearer balancing separate colour fields.

I think these last three would have benefited from painting the objects somewhat larger and use fewer items, for a clearer composition, they are all somewhat cluttered. The larger colour fields come more to value in the two right hand ones with the middle one being the calmest. Allowing the darker field surround the space where the smaller objects are placed holds the composition more balanced.

I have to leave France again, without the satisfaction of pushing any of these further. After three more stops, I am finally back home in Lisbon and approach this project again. I observe how different it feels to look at my own familiar objects when composing a still life- how I do not only see shapes and colours but my own ideas and preferences.

I liked several of the compositions with the kimono above and am continuing the idea of a larger clothes item dominating the image. I chose two for trials- a sloppy purple west and my blue winter painting overalls and start with some compositions in Lascaux Aquacryl in my A4 sketchbook.

I choose to continue the purple west on a slightly orange background and the blue overalls on the lemon yellow background, contrasting larger darker objects on bright backgrounds and in both cases placing the main object to the right side.

I switch to a Fabriano watercolour paper and continue with quick A5 trials in Lascaux Aquacryl:

I have added other objects that are meaningful to me- my yogamat, the espressomaker, a small plant, brushes and sketchbooks. I find the purple west interesting but too unclear a shape and decide to explore the version with the blue overalls:

I decide to continue with the composition to the left. I choose a Fabriano A2 watercolourpaper and Lascaux Aquacryl:

The image to the right has two layers of paint for brighter colours, more detail and I added a brown line to give it all some hold- something I observed in one of Blackadder’s kimono paintings.

Finally, I decide to go over the drawing with gel pens for some more life and a contemporary touch in this final version:

I think it is quite clearly inspired by Elisabeth Blackadder’s paintings, with the objects floating freely in a field without depth. I am still really unsatisfied with this drawing and launch into a final trial directly on the A2 paper, following my initial trials in the small sketchbook while still in France.

The verion on the left is in watercolour only, while the right side is after enhancing with gel pens. The objects are too small and blank to balance out the large surrounding colour fields. I would crop this drawing like this:

As a conclusion, I have used this exercise for a lot of intuitive trials and reflection on space and composition. It has been a lot of flapping around (also sleeping in five cities in 8 days), and I feel unsatisfied with the final outcomes. I feel like I have learnt some precious lessons about composition though, and definitely gained new respect for the art of Elisabeth Blackadder.

Project 1 Observational drawing

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This part of the course encourages me to take a closer look at composition through observational drawing.

Drawing 2 coursebook:

Aim: ” This project encourages you to reflect on the wider potential of observational drawing, in particular how you can use what you look at more experimentally as you develop your composition. You probably normally start by finding an interesting subject or setting up a still life. This project asks you to reverse this process by finding what may seem an initially unpromising subject, but one with several elements, and then building up the composition to create an interesting drawing. This will encourage you to reflect on the potential of a more creative and open-ended approach to composing drawings.

The “unpromising subject” immediately makes me think of the contemporary artist Mimei Thompson who paints beauty in the everyday, in a ripped open trashbag, in a fly, or in the weeds between her house and the studio.

(Images from Thompson, M. c2014-15. Mimei Thompson. [Online]. [7 December 2019]. Available from: http://www.mimeithompson.com/work/collection/2014-15/#, with permission of the author.)

In an interview with Alli Sharma for the “Articulated artists” blog, she sais: “I was interested in looking at neglected corners, with the idea of finding something transformative in the everyday.”

Quote from http://articulatedartists.blogspot.com/2013/10/mimei-thompson-talks-to-alli-sharma-at.html (Blogspotcom. 2019. Blogspotcom. [Online]. [21 September 2019]. Available from: http://articulatedartists.blogspot.com/2013/10/mimei-thompson-talks-to-alli-sharma-at.html)

This is a subject I like very much exploring – transforming the everyday, the so-obvious- we don’t see it, into something that make us reflect again.

When I look around the room, my glance first falls on a cable and a lamp in the corner- definitely unpromising and I decide to just start here.

I use pencils and soft pastels for a first approach.

I decide to try using cut out shapes and graphite powder as I experienced in a lifedrawing class recently.

I decide to move away from the initial motive and focus on repeating certain elements.

This was a good warm up, but I am still looking for an unpromising but captivating motive.

I discover it as soon as I step out of my front door the next morning :

I am a very early riser, and usually see the streets before the garbage van passed by- which is often a desolate sight. The problem of the amount of trash we produce is also one that I can burn for and am excited to look at through this exercise. I have lived years in Asia where the amount of trash, and especially plastic, become very painfully obvious, as the collection system is often lacking, so the issue is not swept away from sight.

From a visual point of view, I am interested in the glossy surface of the plastic bags and the interesting textures created in the creases. Before the daylight, the plastic reflects the colours of surrounding streetlamps and neon signs.

I start with some pencil sketches in my A4 sketchbook:

I continue looking for interesting lines with Indian ink. Here I am mixing very “analytical” marks drawn with a nib pen, and more accidental marks when dripping ink on wet places (A4 sketchbook).

Indian ink on grey paper starting with “accidental” blobs:

Then nib pen and brush:

I also do a quick sketch using oil paint on paper, in Payne’s grey and black, to get a feeling for a more painterly approach.

I photocopy the above sketches, as recommended in the course manual, and play around with different combinations and details and patterns.

This is my chosen composition:

The bin bags look like flowers and I start calling this drawing “toxic flowers”.

As I started with the bags found outside my own front door, I decide to try out combining a photo of my house and these toxic flowers. Using my own house as a background brings back the question of MY own responsibility in the mountain of trashbags brought out here. This is not a distant problem- how many bags have I brought out myself and how much of that could I have avoided?

A quick test drawing with the photocopied “toxic flowers”:

I like the contrast between the image in the background and the sketched details. I decide to take a photo and make a phototransfer of the front of my building, keeping the image black and white, or rather grey and grey.

With the difference in scale, I let the trash bags pile up to almost cover the house:

I like the absurdity of these images. I also create small trash bags that are more in scale with the house:

I also try to substitute the drawn bags with some I roll from a trashbag in plastic. In the second one, I allow the plastic to tower up to almost cover the house- really indicating the problem here, with a feeling of drowning in the quantity of trashbags.

Finally, I come back to the photocopied ink drawings with this more “romantical” composition, where the trash become decorative plants.

I like the aesthetic quality of the images above, and also the critical message they convey, but my images are becoming too illustrative, and I have lost track of the aim of the exercise- to work closely on the composition.

I come back to focusing on shapes and patterns with dry pastels on black paper. Here I am also introducing the colours of reflecting streetlights:

The idea of the plastic bags looking like flowers brings my thoughts to Georgia O Keeffe’s paintings of flowers in close up.

I explore various compositions of close ups of the trash bags, with the idea of a “toxic flower” in mind.

I chose the close up like the second in the bottom row and try it out with dry pastels on grey and black paper as well as ink nib pen.

There is a phallic element with the tied part of plastic, another parallell to Georgia O Keeffee’s orchid close ups.

As I liked my first experiments with inks above, I decide to draw this final composition detailed in ink with a nib pen , and then wet the drawing once the ink is dry, and apply random spots of ink around the detailed drawing.

This is the final result- Indian ink on grey paper (21x23cm):

I like the difference between shiny parts where the ink has dried thicker, and matte parts where the ink is thin.

I also want to try and draw this “toxic flower” directly on a dark grey trashbag, elevating the plastic bag to an object of beauty.

I do a quick drawing in pastels on black paper to try out the colours of reflecting neon signs for this composition.

This is the final drawing in colour on trash bag:

I overworked this drawing and it lost the spontaneity I was aiming for. I decide to give it another try and only add a slight touch of blue, instead of all the different reflected colours. This is the final drawing on a black trash bag:

Reflection: I could just keep going experimenting with this subject, so I have definitely managed to turn an unpromising subject into one that I can become really curious about and continue working on. In the middle, I got sidetracked to looking at it more conceptually and lost the focus on the composition, while using the phototransfer of my house as a background. Finally focusing on detail allowed me to come back to the essence and drawing the trashbags as a toxic flower.

I tried using dry pastels and Indian ink with nib pen and brushes, phototransfer and collage and finally drawing in acrylics on plastic bags.