New Ink Drawing: Reflections

I have been working on this drawing for a week or so. It is ink and acrylic on paper.

This was my first attempt at painting this dome line idea on a big scale, even though I have been painting small versions of these for six months now. I’m pretty happy with this first attempt.

Behind the drawing

I was drawing this line, front, of clouds I saw in the sky. It was something like this view:

I made the bottom of the black line lighter to see if it would create the illusion of the line disappearing into the distance, into a hazy distance.

What works

The contrast in texture of the big gestural black brushstroke and then delicate lines behind. The contrast accentuates the bodily movement that was made in order to create the big brushy mark across the paper. And accentuates the care that went into drawing the fine dome lines. The contrast therefore brings the artistic process of the painting to life: the process of the artist unfolds, the viewer is reminded of the artist’s process that happened for the drawing to be made.

The size of the drawing. These lines and shapes need SCALE! They fill your view and invite you into a world.

The lines do work to an extent. They do do something. The handmade texture of them is charming, it makes the work feel close to the person and the time in which it was made. You can feel the hand and the paintbrush which made the lines. That’s gripping.

What doesn’t work

The whiteness of the drawing. It just doesn’t do anything for me. It just doesn’t excite anything. It’s a bit bland, a bit stark.

The shape of the dome is not quite right. The illusion is of looking across at a sky, when I would like it to feel as if one is looking up at the sky.

Making the black line lighter as it moves back in space. It just doesn’t create that illusion I don’t think. The line could be thinner at the bottom. Or more washed out. Or more evenly gradient-ed(!). But I don’t think it works.

Overall

This was a good first attempt at this kind of work. It’s frustrating to look at because I can see all the things that I want to be better in it, but I don’t actually know how to make them better! That’s the challenge of this new way of working!