Drawing 3: Major Section Completed

The upper wheel and brake portion of the drawing are now done, along with the large shadowed areas that sit behind it. The deep relief afforded by the contrast is really working in this drawing - I think it will be quite a dramatic piece when completed.

For those interested, the dark areas are done with a very soft B5 pencil. I work the graphite into the page in a disorganized fashion, trying to avoid patterns that would look like artifacts unnatural to the subject matter. When laid down this heavy, soft graphite appears oily on the paper, and it reflects light which is counter to what a shadow is. Just like heavy oil paint shows clear bush marks, heavy graphite literally reflects the technique the artist used to apply it. The way a work like this is lit when on the wall becomes quite delicate as a result, and in situations where the light changes, the drawing will look quite different at various times through the day. I render the shadows in a crosshatch fashion to breakup the reflections. Even then I find I have to adjust the lights over my drawing table so as to avoid reflections as I work.

Soft graphite is also prone to smudging, which in this kind of drawing style is the last thing I care to have happen. Once completed, I spray the work with a fixative to "lock" it down. As I draw I keep a separate sheet of paper under my hand to help avoid blurring things. With a drawing like this that has so much shadow I have to be very careful in planning how to work down the page.

Here's two more update photos. Let me know what you think and don't be shy about becoming a blog member. I post updates on my Facebook site linking to here but would love to see how many folks are following the work and whether you have any questions.

Enjoy!!

Jacob

Drawing 3: 10 Progress Photos

Here's a set of 10 progress photos documenting the start of this drawing. I'm really enjoying this one, almost as much as I found the last drawing troubling. It's a composition with lots of contrast both in terms of detail and tone. I'll let the photos do the talking for this post.

Enjoy!!

Jacob

Drawing 3: Layout

Today I completed the draft layout for the third drawing in the series. This will be a more dramatic composition with large deep areas of shadow and a strong juxtaposition of circular elements in the background with linear elements in the foreground. The rotation in this composition places wheels at opposing corners, which lends a sense of tension and movement to the piece.

I've given some thought to why I choose a particular composition to draw at any given time. These are pretty abstract works and the idea that they somehow reflect anything about me, the artist, can seem a stretch, but there are strong connections. Drawing 2 was rotated upside down. I've just finished a set of life changes that have in fact flipped my world on its head. I can't say I willfully set out to reflect that in the artwork; but it found its way there nevertheless. Seems there's a healthy dose of my subconscious at work in these drawings.

This composition reflects my state as well. The wheels feel like they are rotating, yin/yang like, perhaps toward a place of stability or an alignment that could be considered normal. The linear elements provide a strong feeling of connectedness between the wheels; holding the whole show together as it spins around. That's a good summation of where I'm at just now, settling out after a big change. Again, I didn't pick the drawing with that in mind - it's as though it came to me as the right one to draw now.

Here's the photo composition and the rough layout. The next step is to setup the drawing on water colour paper and then begin the rendering. I'm looking forward to it!

Between Drawings: The Locomotive

I thought it might be interesting to post some information about the locomotive that I'm using as the subject for these drawings.

The North Carolina Transportation Museum is located in the town of Spenser, about 45 minutes drive north of Charlotte, NC. The museum has a great web site and I'd encourage you to check it out if you're at all interested in trains, planes or automobiles.

The following information about the steam locomotive I'm using for the Decapod Project comes from the NC Transportation Museum's web site.

© North Carolina Transportation Museum

Seaboard Air Line #544

"The locomotive was built by the American Locomotive Company in March 1918. This 2-10-0 Decapod was built for the Russian State Railroad, but never delivered due to the Revolution of 1917. Before the locomotive could be used in the U.S, wider tires had to be installed since the Russian Railroads used 5-foot gauge, instead of 4 feet 8 ½ inches. It then became the property of the United States Railroad Administration, begun in 1917 to control the shipment of vital war supplies during World War I. Decapods were employed on branch lines throughout the Seaboard system, being based in North Carolina at Hamlet and Raleigh. During the 1950s these decapods were transferred to the Gainesville Midland, a Seaboard subsidiary in Georgia. The 544 was placed on display in Atlanta in 1965 and later sold to the North Carolina Railroad Company in 1980, which donated the locomotive to the State of North Carolina. The 544 was cosmetically restored in 1996 for display in the Robert Julian Roundhouse."

Drawing 2: Finished!!

The second drawing in the series is complete! :-)

This one is much more about surfaces and focal points than the first work and it was unnerving to draw. I like to have a sense that the piece is coming together as I move through it. This one didn't do that until very far into the effort. With so much flat area the "pop" of there being depth in the work was a long time in coming. It arrived with the completion of the dark area, behind the wheel on the upper right. Without the view into those deeply shadowed zones the drawing wouldn't have worked. There's always the risk of that happening with every work and it tends to give me pause at the start of a new composition. I suppose it's another aspect of having patience, which is something I find this sort of drawing demands on a consistent basis.

Another aspect of this work that made it challenging was the lighting direction - it's upside down from the real world object. This isn't a natural way for objects to be illuminated and it proved a bit hard for me to get right at times. The easy test, of course, is to rotate the page around and see if it makes sense. After looking at the composition for many hours doing this actually looked odd as well. It's an interesting comment on how the eye and mind work together to create a familiar view of the world. We're highly visual animals and rotating something 180 degrees jars that familiarity and forces a reevaluation to take place. I think that's one reason the piece grabbed my attention. I'd be interested to know if you have the same sense looking at it.

Here are the final progress photos and the finished work. Hope you enjoy it!

Jacob