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Drawing from Nature explores representations of nature and culture with the juxtaposition of a pencil & camera - © Lloyd Godman

The Act of  Drawing from NaturE
(with thanks to Rodney Browne)
       

 

The following series of images have been captured from a SVHS video tape and along with the related text give some idea of the process and method I use to make these combined drawings with photographs. 

 

Generally I work at night or if there is no surf  to ride, early in the morning. While I have a studio where I can lay out the work, the space is often taken up with other projects, so for this reason I have tended to make these drawings on the dinning room table. Also they take a long time to make and I can work while having some social contact with my family. Aspects of the drawing can be repetitive and tedious so at time I can watch T. V and divert my attention to the drawing during the period of the adverts.

Initially I lay out the photograph in a position on the full size piece of paper ( around 800x500), that matches the location on a smaller rough sketch I have previously made. 
 

 

When I print the photographs, I make two one which is used as a working image to lay on the paper for the drawing and the other as a final image that will be dry mounted to the paper once the drawing is completed. 

 

I begin the drawing by marking  out from key features of the photograph or in the case illustrated here,  dominant lines from the architecture of the building. I imagine how they could extend out from the photograph and metamorphosis, taking  their own organic form as part of the drawing.

 

 

Gradually the elements of the drawing begin to take shape on the page as a series of key lines extend outwards from the photograph giving some idea of how the drawing might evolve. Initially these are penciled in and once the main structure of the image is formed, they are later  transferred to to pen and ink

 

 

Once these key lines have been established I begin to fill in the areas with a series of  overlapping pen line that creates a random type of cross hatching. Through this technique, I gradually build up the tone of the various areas to match the tone in the adjacent areas of the photograph to create a toning blending that gives the illusion of a blending between photograph and drawing.


 

 

Once the areas near he photograph have been completed and there is an illusion of continuity, it allows the drawing to become something other than the photograph. This building up of tone to imply texture is a gradual process and it can take several weeks to achieve the desired effect.

 

 

This image illustrates the way the tone and texture is developed up in the image as a series of overlapping pen marks. I found that black pen was the best medium o use to match the blackness of the photograph. For the first drawings competed around 1992-3, I used a Rotoring Pen 0.5 or 0.7 with black china ink. But the later drawings were completed with a Pilot V 2000 0.5 pen.

 

As can be seen from this image some areas of the image evolve faster than others leaving gaps on the paper which are later filled in.

 


 

The finished work -

 

detail from finished work

 

detail from finished work