Observational figure drawing

To start off this project I wanted to study human mannarisms such as body language.  Sometimes I tend to draw in a rigid style and miss out important details. This time I paid extra attention to the details and tried to use a looser line in order to capture the variations in different people and the way they behave.

These are some of my observational drawings from Cheltenham.  I mainly used pen in order to practice my confidence with drawing the human figure. I spent the day observing the public and trying to capture the situations with quick sketches. When I got back I added some water colour to some of the drawings from memory and tried to capture certain moods. This is something I need to do often as it will help with my aim of capturing mood and atmosphere in order to convey emotion. Also, just as importantly, my ability to tackle the things I find challenging when drawing the human figure.

Cafe - observational drawing - pen

Most of the people in these situations are quite relaxed. I tried to capture body language and the way they interact with each other. 

Cafe - pen

 

Cafe - pen

Pub - pen
 

The drawing below obviously portays a mother and her son. He seems curious and unaware of any time restrictions. His body language shows that he is interested in looking else where as his mother walks ahead of him, pulling his arm as if to hint at him to hurry up.

Arcade - pen

Cafe - pen

Town - Pen

Cafe - pen

Cafe - pen

Cafe - pen

Arcade - pen

Cafe - pen

Cafe - pen and water colour

Cafe - water colour and pen

Cafe - pen and water colour



Cafe - pen and water colour

This was a useful exersise that has given me practice with drawing people and the natural, every day poses that people do depending on how they are feeling. I was hard to capture any intense emotion so quickly and with an outside view, but the way people move and interact always shows small signs of how they are feeling. And this is very useful to my project.


Proposal

     My aim is to research the different ways people perceive different emotions in art and to lead up to a final piece that conveys an emotion effectively. This will mirror my final major project. For my final major project I aim to tackle the stigma surrounding mental health with a loose cartoon style. This will hopefully appeal to young people and be a bridge to help and advice rather than evoke emotion.  I will research into people’s responses to this and make sure I am using the appropriate style. For my research project I will be exploring this in more detail. I am going to analyse how people convey emotions (what's in their heads) and how this can be expressed using various styles, colours and media.  This will give me a greater understanding of communication techniques and how to effectively convey what it is I intend to say to people through my work. My work for my research project will be a much more detailed style with different communication objectives to my work for my final major project. My aim for my research project work will be to portray certain emotions and evoke a feeling of empathy from the viewer. My target audience is mid twenties and above. This is because the subject matter might be quite intense and may not be suitable for children.  The process will involve a varied study of other artists work and the techniques used by film makers, artists and illustrators etc. My final outcome of work will be stand alone pieces suitable for galleries. This may vary depending on which direction my work goes in. I have also considered patterns and a more decorative approach, creating work that would be suitable for t-shirts with 'emotion' as the theme. I plan to experiment with a short graphic story about a girl who experiences difficult emotions due to mental health issues and obstacles in her life.  This graphic story will give me the chance to experiment with different techniques and sequential work.  My final major project and research project will run along side each other. I can use the techniques I have learnt from one project, to better the outcome of the other. I have practiced conveying emotion through fan art I have created from TV shows and experimented with conveying emotion through facial expressions and intense detail. Essentially, I want my research project work to express an insight into some of the intense emotions that my target audience for my fmp might be dealing with, in quite a literal way. Whereas my target audience for my fmp already know how they feel, so my work for that is merely a quirky tool to point them towards where they can find help. My target audience and aim for my research project is to evoke a feeling of empathy or an insight into the mind of someone dealing with a certain emotion and/or is suffering with a mental health issue. This is my starting point and a useful link between projects. I will be experimenting with a wide range of techniques and emotional responses. I don’t want to limit the situations and emotions I convey. I want fulfill the potential of my work by experimenting with a wide range of techniques and by having fun with it.



Work Process (Time plan)

Every two weeks (timescale can vary) I will set myself these four tasks and carry them out according to what stage I am at within the project.  Each task will start with at the basic level and progress from the previous stage.  Depending on how each task is going and deadlines/failures/successes/changes in direction, the timescales and tasks may vary. This is the basic guildine to be carried out from January until May and then I will send completed work off to print and assess my progress, making a new time plan as I see fit.


1. Next stage of graphic story and general research.

2. Next stage of stand alone pieces (planning/inspiration/techniques) and general research.

3. An artist, film maker or musician similar to my style/objectives or who uses a useful/inspiring technique. (plus) general research.

4. Relevant observational drawing. Location/figure etc.

These are some of my quick notes, trying to organise my thoughts!

Research Questions

Do different colours really evoke different emotions?

I will be creating a piece of emotional artwork and then will recreate it in various different colours and then compare them to each other. I will consider the different effects the different colours have despite the subject matter remaining the same.

Does the style of a piece of artwork effect our emotional engagement with it?

I will research into artists who have very different styles but similar subject matter. I will research the effect each style has on how the subject matter is portrayed. I will also be experimenting by taking some of my own work and reproducing it in a different style to see how this effects the feel of the piece.

What are the different obstacles faced when portraying emotion through narrative work and stand alone work?

I will create a short sequential piece and analyse the difficulties that arise and compare them to creating a stand alone piece that also conveys emotion.

Can surrealism be a good choice when conveying emotion or is realistic work more effective?

I will research surrealism and how it has been used to express matters of the mind, it's effectiveness and comparison to realistic work.