one and done?

a few spare hours one afternoon this week had me itching to start the colour module of "found" but as i began to gather the required materials i realized i hadn't seent nearly enough time on the mark-making and shapes modules

"one and done" is not likely to reveal a whole lot of what i like and what i don't as far as marks go nor is it going to help me get past my difficulties in getting those first marks done

colour was set aside then and the inks came out

one thing i had wanted to do in the expressive calligraphy course was to write out some of robert service's poem "the spell of the yukon"

he often wrote of the land, the harshness of it and a loose thought had formed of taking some of those lines, writing them expressively and then adding paint/ink/water to create a landscape, formed of the words themselves

that idea seemed like a good fit with "found" and a first rendering shows some potential 

the lines used were:

"from the big dizzy mountains that screen it,

to the deep death-like valleys below"

apologies, as i forgot to take a photo of the first line before adding ink and water

there is much potential in this so i'll continue exploring the "written landscape" in the coming weeks

on to mark-making then,,, a sheet of good quality drawing paper marked into a grid with masking tape

somehow small squares feel less daunting though i'm just now beginning to feel an overwhelming urge to do this again, no grid, and just do whatever, wherever, and see where that takes me...

black stabilo, black woody pencil, my own walnut and carbon black inks

a bamboo skewer, the pine needle paintbrush i made last year, a dried poppy seed pod, a dried peony flower... such good fun

i began in the top left corner (see below) and did these four squares first

being happy enough with them helped loosen me up and the rest followed swiftly, and yes, it was definitely interesting to grab different tools and try them out

the next subject was shapes and i wasn't keen... not at all

i've never thought a whole lot about shape but i am learning i'm not a fan of rounded, blobby shapes, nor squares - i like most rectangles, some triangles but not all, ovals, though not so much the perfect ones... rosebud/leaf shapes but not too contrived - it's all a "just so" kind of design sensibility i think

i like the shape of nuance

at first I drew dark blocky shapes and was not at all impressed

a fresh sheet of paper and i started with a loose circle but the lines didn't connect so the look was of a circular shape but without that "closed" connection I felt like it was curvy lines as opposed to a proper shape

pickiness aside, i trudged on but with the woody pencil instead - if i had to have shape then i was having texture too

the leaf shapes came next, then the flower, followed by what appears to be an upside-down heart but is actually the shape of the base of my studio spray bottle

the last one was inspired by the antique carved wooden frame of a small painting i bought at a brocante in france in 2019 

this is my first experience drawing with a woody pencil - i've never seen them before but was ordering mark-making supplies from jackson's in london, england and noticed them so thought i'd try one - will definitely have to get more 

an enjoyable second go-round and am actually feeling somewhat keen to do more

but the colour module is also beckoning...