Introduction
At the end of every module I reflect on how much I've learnt over the course of the 10 chapters, and this module has been no exception. It's pushed me, in particular, to put pencil to paper and do some drawing. I'm guilty of being a little shy when it comes to drawing as a developmental topic, always finding excuses to make quick sketches instead. Also useful have been the mark making exercises and making landscapes using coloured papers.
I made two books for the final chapter of this module. The first a book about maps has already been posted. This second book is about landscapes. I've concentrated mainly on one landscape trying to make images in a number of different ways, but at the end I've incorporated some more drawings. Whilst the 'map book' was full of page extensions and folding pages / inserts, this book is a more simple affair.
Each book page is a square, opening as a long landscape double spread. I've decided to go through the contents first before showing the covers.
Page 1
Revisiting some useful mark making. The sewn spine of the book is visible on the left hand side. Simple but useful marks: cross-hatching, rolling the lead point, dots and dashes, crossed lines. I used these for the first drawing of my chosen picture:
Page 2 - 3
I've used the image below as a base for a series of images; however I have made one or two adjustments to suit my purposes. Firstly I've lifted the background into a more defined area of ploughed field and simplified the branches for a more stylised effect. I also omitted the ice - for the sake of colour and also because I wanted to add a gradient to the front.
I have liked working with the drawing of Van Gogh enormously and tried to incorporate some of his mark making. I also really like the work of Ravilious, particularly the way he uses lines to describe his landscapes, so my drawing of this view is a bringing together of ideas from both these artists. The drawing is quite stylised:
Pages 4 - 5
I really wanted to revisit coloured paper landscapes and firstly highlighted two areas of interest:
Pages 6 - 7
Working in the style of David Hockney allowed me to introduce some fabulous colours:
Using this painting as a starting point:
Pages 8-9
I made a relief collograph plate, using mount card, and printed this off in a dark base:
Having finished with this theme I then made a few pages of landscape drawings drawing.
Page 10 - 11
Using an image, I took on the way to Houghton Hall, of a simple stubble filled ploughed field in a moderately rolling landscape. I adjusted the image and incorporated a tree at the top of the hill, where the diagonal hedge reaches the horizon, to draw the eye up to that area:
Pages 12 - 13
I returned to the image of the standing stones of Callanish, I had used these to make an coloured paper landscape earlier in the module. I made a drawing of all the stones, appended this to a brooding black and white photo and folded these together as my final pages of the book:
Half fold of drawing
Full drawing:
Drawing and photograph extended:
The Book Cover
I put the drawing of Callanish through the printer at A3 size and cut down a little. I decided on a hard binding for the book, joining two pieces of mount card with double sided tape and affixing some colourwash paper for the (outside) spine, then attaching the images to the card. The inside of the double sided tape I hoped would affix the sewn binding but this didn't work as planned, so I'll need to glue it in at some stage:
The front:
The reverse:
And bound with some leather thong and a label:
