Week One - Abbey Park

For the first week our visual design tutor decided to take us to a place called Abbey Park, as it was the first time we had all gotten together to draw I was feeling very motivated to get on with this brief. Now what I learned coming back this year is that last year, we had a set amount of work, so if we did what the tutors said (12 thumbs and 1 final) we would pass (just). If we did more, we would increase our chances of achieving higher marks. For 2^nd year it’s more about the learning curve, developing sketches from one level to another. Of course this does not mean to do an insufficient amount of work, but to focus constantly on your own progression as an artist. I began with pencil thumbnails on sight and from my own photos to build some good compositions and get my head around the area. 

Although it’s getting to that time of year where everything is wet, cold, and windy (perfect time to draw!..) the weather decided to be somewhat stable so some nice sketches and photographs were achieved. I was satisfied with my thumbnails at the park and determined what I would do from a select few; these were primarily the sketches with water reflections. Water at the park attracted me most because of its reflective properties, it seemed to be a challenge to repaint everything on the horizon back in as upside down reflections. I really enjoyed this trip and always look forward to the weeks where we have to go out to specific locations and make the most of what is around us; in this case these green landscapes and environments are very useful buildings blocks for designing your own work. Using traditional mediums did prove to be difficult, but quick mark making allowed me to explore colour aswell as understand how water reacts.

This task also helped me understand about colour, how it reacts when water is apparent alongside the time of day and weather/temperature of the environment. I think for these weekly briefs we are expected to work both traditionally and digitally so it gives us a chance to improve our digital skills. My final did take me longer than I hoped as I am still new to digital painting; but because of this I picked up some some new techniques and after the thumbnails I found a specific workflow that was best for me. It is important to know that environments are heavily reliant of perspective and lighting, as most things are, but specifically these attributes really have to be nailed when it comes to environment’s to present forms and depth of field accurately.

       

As a personal reflection on this week’s task I will probably add a traditional final and some more value sketching to solidify my traditional skills. Although I do not have the greatest interest in environments, Abbey Park is quite a unique place with flat landscapes and interesting areas to study, it seems like a great place to go back to now and then do study light in green areas. Digital painting is difficult when you have not had much proper practise. but after many more weeks of this I am getting more and more comfortable with it.