Dear Cleo
I hope you are well and enjoying your Easter holidays and that you are looking forward to your trip to Dorset to see your Granny C.
Today I started Part 2 of my course, it’s a new technique drawing into a charcoal ground with a putty rubber. I did this piece as a test piece to see how things went with the technique.
Figure 1 (17 04 04) Charcoal erased with putty rubber on A5 China white Canson
I just used what was on the coffee table as a motif but I needed to try out some types of paper to see how they adapted to this technique and to see how to use the putty rubber. It was not the best choice of subject because the reflections in the glass are by their nature quite linear, and tend to prevent an overall smoky effect that I think the technique is intended for. I am thinking a portrait or a figure, something along the lines of the Burlington House cartoon, with softer transitions from highlight to shadow. it was a useful experiment with the technique though, the Canson suited the medium quite well but I will try a few other types of paper before I commit to the final piece, I managed to get a very dark black and I got used to using the putty rubber as a drawing tool. The only thing wrong with the final result was I forgot to use composition, as I was concentrating more on the technique, I sorted this by flipping the final image in Photoshop. I don’t think it’s a bad first attempt and I am looking forward to trying it out again.
All my love as always
Mickos x
Dear Cleo 