One of the rock formations at the Falls of the Ohio State Park in Clarksville.
This is the finished drawing that Shawn worked on the first day and that was posted as an in-progress piece. He combined oil and dry pastels.
Sam studied the water of the lake and pushed dry pastels into subtle blends and textures. I think he intends to add a few more trees to the blue area to obfuscate the edge of the world.
Jessica got lose and much more involved with mark making in this piece which adds a lot of interesting textures and color combinations.
Fran worked with oil pastels on this Gargoyle and show a very keen eye for detail.
Ashley found this beautiful fountain and has treated one of the figures as fleshy rather than bronze, extending the life drawing sessions into the landscape sessions. The first two days at Cave Hill produced some very interesting approaches to pastel. A few further explored charcoal and several of those were very strong. I am including here some of the pastel works and the different approaches taken in the processing of those images. Some were using oil pastels and others dry, and several were using these media for the first time with very little intro other that the two previously posted videos. It's like having a box of new toys, you pull out a few to see what they do and you end up creating an experience that shows you something about who you are as an artist. Self discovery is a very positive things when it comes to creative explorations.
The response to Cave Hill was very positive that I'm thinking another trip there next week would be a good idea. The Falls of the Ohio (click to go there) is also a good idea, but I'll have to drive down there in the next day or so to see if the locks are open because of the heavy rains in the last week or so. If they're open, the interesting rock formations will be under water which doesn't mix well with dry pastels.
It was actually nice to be in the studio for bit today just to see everyone's progress. Pastels, dry or oil, are not easy to get used to. I think everyone is doing a fantastic job of being creative with the new medium. I noticed that the nicer pieces, in my opinion, were the ones done quickly with big fat strokes of pastel and lots of layered colors like Jessica's above. I noticed the tighter and more accurate I try to get with the oils, the more cartoonish and fake my results seem to be.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed looking at what the class did and just how different all of our drawings are. I feel that we all ended up with some great things going on and I am looking forward to going back to Cave Hill to finish the projects. All creative and wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI also hope that the Falls will be a good experience too. I have been before but looking at all the fossils. That may be a good idea! Driftwood, fossils, and whatever we can find.
ReplyDeleteI don't want to be a pooper. :( But, I just looked at the weather forecast and they're saying cloudy on Monday. Which is fine, of course. But thunderstorms on Tuesday. Thursday they are saying cloudy again.
ReplyDeleteThis is just a suggestion Brian. If we want to hit the Falls of the Ohio maybe we should do it Monday and Cave Hill later in the week? My thought is there will be less chance of it being flooded the earlier we go and we're more assured of actually getting there. If it's cloudy on Thursday we can still draw at Cave Hill.
And I have a question. How did Shawn do oil and dry pastels together? I would think apply the dry and then the oils on top? I really liked that drawing and might like to try the two together.
I am glad my drawing got positive feedback because I was really uncomfortable with it. I was not used to the loose look. As frustrating as using new materials can be it feels good when you start to get how to use it.
ReplyDeleteBrian lied. I only used oil pastels at Cave Hill. One drawing was loose and quick using the color of the paper as a ground. The one shown here has a ground layer that is extremely blended mixed with a loose thick layer over it. Drawing experiment number 27,641. I'm not sure what would happen mixing dry and oil pastels. That sounds like it could be the recipe for experiment number 27,642.
ReplyDeleteI didn't lie intentionally, I though you said you combined both dry and oil pastels when I asked you during class on Thursday. Go for the experiment!
ReplyDeleteI love Sam's drawing, the water looks absolutely fantastic and so realistic from a distance, and when you get up close you can see all the different marks he made to create that effect. Great job!
ReplyDeleteCave Hill has been a very inspiring experience. I think i will return to this site after the class is over and spend a few hours just taking reference photos. There are some amazing sculptural pieces there and the atmosphere and light in the early morning is quite interesting.
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