3. Drawing
The range of life-drawing sessions I have attended varies, between online specific themes of performance art with constant movement, dancers from the Northern School of Contemporary Dance and classical Indian dance shaping to conventional in-person guided studies at the Millenium Gallery, Sheffield.
Although the artwork produced was useful to develop an expressive gestural style, props and themes set by hosts were distractingly incongruous to the concept I wish to encapsulate; the somaesthetics of core strength, the sensation of stretch, extended lines of the female form and meditative self-awareness developed through yoga practice. Inevitably setting up my own sessions was a way to dictate the length and shaping of the poses to emphasize the concept.
Led by dance tutor and choreographer, Charlotte Potts, previously a student of the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, I collaborated to produce a recorded session merging the yoga flow and contemporary dance. I performed the routine myself to create a movement piece from which to draw.
I also arranged three group sittings at my studio with previously drawn life-model Jenny. With a PowerPoint yoga poses as stanceinspiration for the model. As host, having to combine the responsibility of timing and direction felt more pressured to produce a good session, detracted from the focus on observation – a total contrast to the anonymity of online or gallery sessions.
To tackle this dilemma, responsibility of timing was given to the model for the shorter poses. And subsequently a series of poses were timed in conjunction with the Art Sounds playlist, a technique deployed by Matisse during his ‘cut-outs’ sessions (Buchberg, 2014). As ‘music carries with it a feeling’, this altered the dynamic of expression to a more relaxed frame of mind; enabling a more atmospheric approach converging with free-flowing gesture in relation to the style of the music being played.
The longer poses of the in-person sessions give more time for visual absorption, each view a new frame to discern the nuances of tonal hollows and mounts of the female form, but the drawings often become over layered and complex. Multiple drawings of the same pose help maintain the free expression and retains the intense observation. With equal merit, the rapid seizure of line taken from movement-based pieces, abandons the constraints of mark-making accuracy, subconscious instinctual gesture searching into the fluid connection between the optical and the tactile.
Looking into drawing of varying concepts, of the body, gesture and abstract, noting that there was a severe lack of publications in the library of female artists whose practice uses drawing as a primary source of creativity, despite having seen extensive array of sketches and delicate abstractions of line of the work of Bridget Riley Hayward Gallery Exhibition. Work by Paul Klee and Vivara Stepanova, developed geometrical mechanical interpretations of the female form, the Stepanova piece having a great sense of movement and vivacity.
A variety of mark making enhances the work as a piece itself rather than just an expressive observation; gestural drawing with paint, combining different media between a sketchy style, pastels pen, and digital manipulations. Despite having tried different drawing materials: charcoal, pastel and pen I still enjoy the pencil but feel the need to progress in the expressive dimension of my practice.
During feedback it was suggested to investigate recording movement with Motion Capture based in the Barbara Hepworth building at the University. Discussing this system with technician Stephen Calcutt, my concern with using this technology, is that it removes the instinct and intuition element of drawing by hand. As I previously explored drawing the faster pace of dance, if capturing the movement becomes too abstract it loses its frame of reference, the preference is to retain an essence of the female form in the images produced.
52 digital tracking ‘spots’ attach to the subject, wearing a skin suit, and may be positioned anywhere on the body. In this sense, to retain the intuitive expression perhaps the ‘spots’ can be used to emphasise specific areas of the body – the line of the arm or leg, the shapes made by fingertips, the edge of the jaw, follow the contours of the core strength of the torso – ‘drawing’ the areas of focus with the tracking spots. This may be worth exploring to push the boundaries of the determination to retain the instinctual. As stated by Lucy Gunning, in the book What is Drawing?
“How recording something with a pencil or a camera isn’t so much a way of capturing an existing thing as creating a new one.” (Kingston, 2002, p. 77.)
With time restrictions this is something to be explored in future studies, as I found with photography, there is a limited range of sensory articulation, how do we retain the intuition and the sensorial drawing through technology?
Using drawing tablets would gain a digital format for drawing, exploring software manipulations and use of layers to fragment the linear planes, the separations of drawing. This is physically achieved in this installation piece by Diane Cooper. Digital manipulation and layers of imagery give the photography of Hannah Starkey a richness of colour and depth of light that at first glance in the current exhibition at the Hepworth Gallery, appear to be paintings an essence that is lost when viewed in a book or online.
This separation and layering approach would be an interesting development, disseminating the linear expressions, alterations of scale, and layers of abstraction.
Looking through my source sketch books, with examples of the brightly coloured semi abstract paintings of Maggir Robinson my own graphics work and prints from previous studies that perhaps my medium of choice could be print. To use the drawings just to denote the seam lines of the garments may appear as flat blocks of colour. Adding placement printing of close ups of the sketchy quality of the drawings to give depth and visual texture of to the pieces.
After meeting with Technician Peter, we discussed remezol dyes that bond with the fibres of the cloth, devore satin and velvet, and discharge printing that removes colour from the fabric to replace it with another, often leaving a halo effect, would it be possible to use a metallic print and make a feature of the halo?
Looking at colours, I have wished to use faceted .jewel tones to represent the value of the body, the preciousness of creativity and sustainable worth of using quality natural fibres. The primary colour range of ruby, sapphire, emerald, jet, silver, and gold has felt troubling and garish. The richness of the indigo dyed samples samples and the black of the Remazol dyes having a blue/black hue, has cemented my colour choice from black through a precious palette of shades of blue.
Images
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- Drawing session from recorded performance.
- Sivinska McCartan, C. (2022). Side Stretch. [pencil on paper].
- Sivinska McCartan, C. (2022). Cobra. [drawn image on drawing tablet].
- Powerpoint slide for pose inspiration, Images taken from Asana Rebel. (2022). yoga Images [screenshot]. https://asanarebel.com/en/
- Sivinska McCartan, C. (2022). Flow Kneel. [pencil on paper].
- Sivinska McCartan, C. (2022). Flow Kneel Stretch. [pencil on paper].
- Sivinska McCartan, C. (2022). Flow Lunge. [pencil on paper].
- Sivinska McCartan, C. (2022). Flow Lean. [pencil on paper].
- Sivinska McCartan, C. (2022). Flow Forward Lean. [pencil on paper].
- Sivinska McCartan, C. (2022). Seated repose studies 1, 2 & 3.. [pencil on paper].
- Klee, P. (1922). Dance, You Monster, To My Sweet Song [Pen and ink]. In Huggler, M. (1965). The Drawings of Paul Klee (p.21). Borden Publishing Company.
- Stepanova, V. (1920). Figure [Coloured ink on paper]. In Levrentiev, A. (1988). Vavara Stepanova; A Constructivist Life (p.58). Thames & Hudson.
- Bacon, F. (c.1959-62). Turning Figure [Pencil and oil on paper]. In De Zegher, C. (2003). The Stage of Drawing:Gesture and Act (Illustration 32). Tate Publishing.
- Gunning, L. (2002). Blankets [32 Photographs]. In Kingston, A. (2003). What is Drawing? Three Practices Explored: Lucy Gunning, Claude Heath, Rae Smith. (p.94). Black Dog Publishing.
- Cage, J. (1982). Dereau No. 33 [Intaglio print on paper]. In De Zegher, C. (2003). Stage of Drawing:Gesture and Act (Illustration144). tate Publishing .
- Cooper, D. (2003-2005). Swarm [Corrugated plastic, ink, acrylic, foam-core, , photos, velcro, map, pins]. In Kovats, T. (2007). The Drawing Book, a survey of drawing: the primary means of expression. (p.149). Black Dog Publishing.
- Starkey, H (2013). Untitled [Photograph]. artuk. https://artuk.org/discover/stories/hannah-starkey-contemplating-womanhood-through-photography
- Robinson, M. (date unknown) Abrstract landscape [Oil on Canvas]
- Sivinska McCartan, C. (2022). Weave Metallic. [Photograph].
- iStock. (2013). Galass background [Stock image]. iStock. https://www.istockphoto.com/photos/sapphire
- Fabric Collection, wools, linesn, cotton and silk.
- Indigo print Samples, University of Huddersfield.
References
Buchberg, K., Cullinan, N., Gross, M., Haupfman, J., Lohrengel, S., Serota, N., & , . (2014). Henri Matisse, The Cut-Outs (3rd ed.). Tate Publishing
Kingston, A. (2003). What is Drawing? Three Practices Explored: Lucy Gunning, Claude Heath, Rae Smith. Black Dog Puyblishing Ltd.