Large scale drawing is somewhat of an endurance task.
And I’m not Match Fit for it.
I’m back in the studio as full time as I can be now. I’ve done some explorations and exploratory drawings on smaller paper – about A3. I tried out some different materials and made different marks, and got obsessed with greens. The favourite currently is the one you get mixing my two old favourites, Payne’s grey and yellow ochre. Especially because sometimes they don’t mix, and if left in a jar for a couple of days you get a lovely sediment that sits beautifully on the paper. Anyway, after visiting Ian Andrews in his studio in Aston… he’s another drawer of large abstracts… I came away full of inspiration and a recommendation for a different sort of paper. Which of course I ordered as soon as I got home. It’s called giant size, because it’s 4’x5’ approx, and 400gsm, so is very heavy and robust and is taking whatever I throw at it, including leaving a large puddle sat on it over a couple of days.
I have been trying to decide whether to use ink or graphite on this delicious ground. I am full of indecision about work lately, but in the end, came down to ink because that’s what I wanted to feel, sliding my old nibs over this glorious paper. I may well decide to use graphite too, but it does make me twitchy as I am a bit of a purist. I am not mixed media. I hummed and hawed over whether I should allow myself to use masking fluid, but then eventually did, because it becomes an absence, not a presence of something different.
I am not Match Fit… I said… the concentration required for a drawing this size is lacking, as is the physical strength to be at it for too long at a time. I’m coming away from it every 20 minutes or so. Which is good for my eyes and joints I’m sure, but I feel I need to immerse myself in it for longer periods to get the best from it. Also, I am full of doubts. From all sorts of directions.
But I shall persevere… after lunch…
