The aim of this exercise is to use collage to explore and extend mark making. Also to use discarded off cuts from my old drawings. The suggested subject is a still life using a couple of objects focusing on form and texture.
I decided to use for my still life a pewter hare ( with one ear missing! as one of its ear ‘s had snapped off) the hare has a rough almost pitted texture that reflects the lights and darks , I almost chose a silver metallic penguin cocktail Shaker. As a contrast the penguin has a very smooth and highly reflective surface. For my third object I added a small piece of white satin fabric.
I then gathered together a range of discarded drawings, I also did a page of random marks using a graphite pencil.
I spend some time looking over the drawings looking for interesting marks and shapes , I then cut with scissors and ripped my drawings into different sized strips.
I spend some time sorting my torn drawing pieces into tones and marks. I also took some time exploring a composition. I did a couple of very small sketches before beginning my drawing.
I used A2 paper used landscape , I roughly sketched in my still life. Using PVC glue and a brush I slowly built up my drawing layering on my paper materials . I used my iPad to “draw” the shadows using a drawing app basically I did a page of grey colour using my finger to make the marks then printed the sheet out to use as the shadows.
REFLECTION
I have some previous basic experience of collage making and enjoy the way the medium is very versatile and allows me to experiment.
Looking at my final drawing I was fairly pleased with my outcome. I would never have used collage in this way and really learnt a great detail from following the exercise. Matisse referred to his paper collage patterns as drawing with scissors and I was pleasantly surprised that collage can be used to explore mark making. I felt that the exercise allowed me to produce a very expressive drawing. The exercise was very intricate and time consuming but did make me realise just how collage can be and that is can be a part of the drawing process. I did a couple of drawings using a range of graphite pencils but feel that they lacked the drama of my collage. I feel in the drawings the tonal values are very flat and lack depth or structure – I feel I didn’t quite manage to capture the denser or deeper tones I found the collage process very exciting,and liberating – I feel it has endless possibilities. I also liked the way that the exercise allowed me to reuse old drawings and allowed me to focus on looking at and dissecting a drawing – looking at it in an entirely new way.
sarahdrawingmedia 