Monday 8 October 2012

Landscape Study, King's Cross

The sun sets, man dies. It is right. But what a pity not to be able to paint anymore.

Mancini, Antonio. (c.1852) In: Heisinger, U. W. (2007). Antonio Mancini: Nineteenth-century Italian Master. 

 









One of the last of a series of major projects attempted for the end of my undergraduate course. The location was the handyside area near the renovated granary square near King's Cross Station. Took about 7 weeks on-off, partly because the study was started in mid-April, but due to a bout of really bad weather and setup for the degree show the study was postponed for most of May, and it was finished at the current state in June (something like 7-8 overall sessions).












(above) The first drawing of the study- many, many, many changes to the drawing, perspective from this initial state.

 
 









Halfway through the study- the lay-in was relatively there, but it was time to get more specific and more accurate in the drawing. From this state, had help from a member of the KX Estates people who would stop by and offer crits and point out the mistakes (in the drawing, especially even up until the end!) Many thanks to Aleks for his boss observational skills

This study was counted of sorts as a graduation piece, I am beginning to confidently work on a sustained study with improvements in the overall drawing- the challenge of a long study seems to be being able to tighten the drawing stage, and accurately expressing the visual phenomenon in regards to the amount of information that can be conveyed. 70% of the time unfortunately is a waiting game, having to sit out until the correct lighting situation presents itself. Out of an average 3-4 hour session, there was perhaps only a 1-2 hour window of opportunity for observation of the cast shadows (even then it changes dramatically depending on fluctuating light). So plan the drawing! The perspective was a real pain, and the drawing changed quite a lot throughout the session, partly because every subsequent sessions seemed to present new information.