Week one: Reportage and life drawing

Also in our first week of our reportage project, we were given our first life drawing lesson. In this lesson we were given a professional burlesque dancer to model for us. In the lecture theater where we were based we had brightly coloured lighting and did many different drawings, where the model posed in various positions. We were working against the clock producing studies within different amounts of time, going from quick minute sketches to longer, 20 minute drawings. We were also challenged to do things like create multiple sketches of the figure on one page, and sometimes turn our books upside down also.
Throughout the lesson I varied my media and marks, experimenting with tone and line. I found the class to be quite enjoyable and was happy to be life drawing again after it being such an important part of the course I previously studied.
I found that the lighting in the room was fun to experiment with in colour in my studies, and in my palette when experimenting with paints I often used a lot of reds and pinks, resulting in quite a feminine feeling.

In this study I have created multiple drawings in pencil, overlaying the different poses on one page and flipping my book upside down also. It creates a crowded feeling. 

I am unhappy with this study done in charcoal, although the marks are quite suggestive.

I am not pleased with this one either in fineliner, although I like the feeling given by the figures pose.

I enjoyed adding colour to the studies here with watered down acrylic

In this study I tried to focus the colour of the lights and where abouts on the models body they were hitting and tried to paint this on to my study. I think the effect might have worked okay.

I am still unsure on this, using graphite and adding water to different areas to direct the viewers eye across. 

In this study I focussed only on the figures face however have used very limited detail and I am not happy with it.

I have added a tiny bit of red paint to this study to lead the viewers eye again, however I wish I had used a bolder media rather than pencil to create a bolder and more obvious look because my pencil marks are quite unrecognisable in comparison

I have drew the same pose multiple times and gone lighter to darker on the page, using pencil and ending in charcoal.

I dislike the colour palette I have worked with here but have tried to build the form of the figure in quick measured brushstrokes. I am not sure if it is correct in proportion.

I think I have used pencil here and fluid marks with watered down acrylic to suggest the figures surroundings and also the lights used in the theatre. 

Same media here, I think this study worked better, it also has a very feminine feel.

I have painted details in pink with tones giving the idea of shadows on the skin etc but the colours give the same feel as the previous.

I think that this first life drawing experience helped benefit my practice because I was able to further study capturing people in a limited time period. I was also able to further experiment with media and think about what was working and what was not. Even though I am not overly pleased with the studies I have created I enjoyed being able to study life drawing again. I think that in the future when I am on location capturing people in my sketchbook I could remember the pressure of drawing under these different time limits and remember my capabilities with experimenting with media etc.

Reportage

Our first assignment when starting university was entitled 'Reportage', and for this project we were given the task of filling ten whole sketchbooks drawings of anything and everything that surrounded us each day. This was at first quite a challenge for me, as previously in past assignments I have filled less than half of this on completion! However, when I got involved and began drawing quick sketches of my surroundings (objects, people, buildings and so on) I found that it was quite easy to pick up a speed when concentrating on making basic lines and shapes to illustrate something rather than going into full detail  (although on occasion I did this too).
It was quite a challenging task because, especially when on location and drawing, I had to draw moving subjects which I am very much not used to. A lot of my drawing time took place in the shopping center opposite our University where I would try to capture people going about their day as well as items in shops and cafes, and also on the bus where I would create quick studies of people sitting on the journey.
I created my drawings experimenting with different medias regularly. Often when producing work on the move I would use basic media like pencils/graphite and fineliner. However when I had more time to sit and look at an object, I would often experiment with media such as acrylic and watercolour paint, ink, charcoal and chalk, soft pastels, oil pastels and even things like dirt and mascara I also tried to experiment with my sketchbooks, purchasing ones which varied in size, shape and colour.
Our project aimed to get each of us to forget our knowledge of how to accurately draw things in front of us. We were encouraged to do very simple and fast sketches of things, and also to disregard any ideas we might have about our own personal 'style'. This helped us to strip back our work and go back to the basics of drawing. We were given opportunities to do life drawing in this assignment, and just before we started went on a trip to beautiful galleries where we were able to begin sketching, I therefore had constant inspiration both on campus and beyond.

Early sketchbook work 

In my first initial sketchbook for reportage, I mostly worked from home over the period of a weekend, before our project had completely started. This meant that I had quite a bit of time to observe my surroundings and draw/paint etc the things around me in more detail. I at first found it quite difficult to keep thinking of ideas for my work, so had to keep a very open mind and continuously presented myself with opportunities, trying to remember that literally anything around me could be illustrated. I worked worked by quickly sketching something in front of me simply in pencil, and then continuing to experiment with other media. Here are some examples of my earliest studies. 

Earliest study of house on our trip

study of Sophie, I was using much lighter marks here

Tiny cactus drawings in watercolour (after sketching them out)

I mostly enjoyed sketching our plants at home (fine liner and pencil)

Some quick drawings of my necklace using graphite and watercolour (and a drawing of a candle using graphite and pencil)

Drawings of books with watercolour & fineliner

Double page drawing of plants at kitchen window using watered down acrylics

Very quick drawing in charcoal of my neighbors dog

Mascara with ink and watercolour

Perfume bottle in same style (do not like this study!)

bras/watercolour and fineliner

sunflower gift in acrylic

Drawing of my ukelele using watercolour, fineliner and brusho

Studying my plants with acrylic paint

Simple line drawing of my watch in fineliner

Quick drawings of a teddy (I prefer the below in watercolour)

Sketching myself in the mirror and my own feet in front of me

Line drawing of plant - I enjoyed studying these best.

Painting of train ticket using watercolour and fineliner

Sketch of stereo/clutter and scissors

Using coloured pencil, hanging souvenir from Germany 

Enjoyed painting these (watercolour) - flowers collected on outing

Bedroom clutter - I was unhappy with the colours 

My elephant sticky notes - I was quite happy with this at the time.

More work

When returning to university after practicing these early studies alone, I found that I was able to strip back my drawing a lot more and go out and about on location creating studies that were very very quick in order to keep up with the requirements of the project. Therefore a lot of the studies I was creating were very quickly done, sometimes just scribbles on a page where I attempted to capture a building or a moving person for example in a matter of seconds. Here are some examples of this:

Quick pencil drawing of three others, my marks are too light here.

Very quick church sketch in fineliner

Working from inside a cafe - cookies in a jar

Cake sketches from cafe

Group of people collected in town

Street view outside uni

More street views

Houses in pencil/graphite

Light pencil sketch of church

Quick and very light pencil sketch of Hans on bench

Lady waiting in queue using purple and black pencil

Quick studies of people in studio from behind

Man on bus

similar sketch in fineliner - man on bus

Carly in Mcdonalds. Used charcoal and lighter tones to sketch the people further away

Artists who inspired me

When looking on the internet for artists who inspired me, I instantly found the artist Rob Conway who creates reportage studies. I was mostly inspired by his studies of people, and found that these strongly influenced my work because he captures them very well. His studies are limited in detail because of the speed he works in however this does not mean they are of a lesser standard or quality. I was particularly impressed by his sketchbook work - especially the way he captures people, but also some of his building studies. I was able to look at his studies amongst other artists and find influence towards my own work and the way he captured people and general environments had a great impact on my previously discussed studies as well as future ones. Here are some examples found on his site: 

I like how these studies are side on, we are unaware as to whether or not the character knew he was being studied.

I admire the artists use of media here, and continuous lines

I like how well the environment has been captured and the scribbly marks.