Thought for today: The value of white space.
I’ve been working in charcoal on paper recently, revisiting some ideas from way back. I like the richness of tone that comes from charcoal.
Mixing different types of stick, rubbing back and indeed rubbing into the surface builds up complex layers. I did that with Out of the Forest, and I tried something similiar with Fern 1.
This drawing is based on the interwoven fronds of a woodland fern, looking directly into the centre. The tonal scale is relatively short, there being no proper white nor intense black. This would have been called a ‘soft print’ back in my black-and-white photo printing days.
I then drew Ash 1, another woodland scene but this time of the damaged trunk of an ash tree.
Out of the Forest and Fern are both drawn on paper primed with white paint, which makes the charcoal sit on the surface. Ash is drawn directly onto the cartridge paper, and so there is more charcoal held in the fibres.
The immediate result of this change in the characteristics of the materials was that the black-white contrast was hightened. My original intention was to use much more subtle shading but (for the moment) the white space is working hard for me, and I like it. Tomorrow I might not like it as much, but as ever the injuction ‘stand back and wait’ seems a good one.
