Have you discovered any new ways of using your drawing tools to depict surface and texture?
Yes, I have developed more variety in the use of line with dip pen and ink, and think I can extend this to other line-based drawing tools. I guess it will also influence my mark making with pencil and increase sensitivity for the variability of lines. I also liked the more experimental ways of using ink with various instruments, although for now, I’m not very confident to use these techniques. It probably needs more practice and exploration. Maybe this is because I feel there is so much to explore in the traditional drawing tools, that I’m not yet ready to be more experimental. But it may also depend on the mood of the moment, so overall I’m very glad to have also tried out the more experimental approaches, they had a mind opening effect with much potential.
How successful were you at implying form with little or no tonal hatching?
I think I was quite successful in depicting form using only line. This was achieved by indicating surface and texture elements with lines that followed the object’s forms. What I found more difficult was to indicate tonal shades without hatching. This is somewhat of an unresolved point: When I use parallel hatching over delicate lines that characterize the objects features and form, it always has a somewhat destructive effect, like crossing out what I’ve done earlier. It’s less disturbing when viewed from a distance, but most of the times I found the object better before applying the hatching. I haven’t fully explored how to use line and denser texturing to indicate tonal differences, this is something for the time to come.
What are your impressions of frottage as a drawing technique?
Due to practical difficulties, I see frottage rather as a preparatory and experimental technique for my own practice. Practical problems arise from the need to use rather light paper to take off the impression, which is at odds with the heavier paper I prefer for drawing. Secondly, the applicability of the technique is limited to objects that are sufficiently flat and not living or at least not dangerous. I constantly think of crocodiles here because I once made a drawing of a crocodile because I was so fascinated by their ‘surface texture’.
Nevertheless, I like frottage for the beauty and unpredictability of the effects it creates. It might also help to overcome mental blockers when one is confronted with an apparently difficult texture, by bringing out its basic structures. So I can well imagine to integrate the technique from time to time in preparatory studies. Frottage might also be very interesting when used in the context of printing. I’m thinking of linocuts here, and that frottage might be helpful as a preparatory technique to find interesting marks.