2D Beeld Onderzoek

Now, at the end of the first period, I can say that this subject was really surprising for me most of the time. I learned a lot, mostly technics how to use color, cole and pencil. Everytime we had to try something new or make several variations I started with something and ended with something really different I would not have made like that before. And everytime I did not immediately see the sense of what we were doing or thought I wanted it to do in a special way, I anyway followed the instructions and got always a better result than what I originally wanted it to do. But this was also the most difficult part for me, really to TRY something. I noticed that everytime we should do something different I had already a very specific idea of a possible result in my had, like for example when I made the first colored variation of the coal drawing. But that was exactly wrong, because what I got had always the effect of artificialy constructed, or at least it seemed to me like that. I noticed that I’m in general working that way, I try to make something following an already fixed imagine of the result in my head, and just if it not looks like wanted, I make more different variations. This is also on what I want and need to work from the second period on, in order to work more free and spontaniously, less forced. Let me a bit more guide by the process itself, maybe that’s the best way how to say it. I don’t know if this will radically change my way of working or if I want that, but it helps me for the moment a lot to find out more about what’s possible. Something which already helped me with that was the use of the Spalter, a really broad kind of pencil, which does not allow to paint to many details. It was really hard for me to paint in that way at the beginning, and it still is a bit. But anyway it got better while using it more and more times.
Sometimes I was a bit worried, because other students made a lot more different variations that I did. But I have to admit that if I would have made a lot more myself, I would have been a bit lost, because than it’s really difficult for me still to decide my favourite. I don’t know if it’s always helpful to produce to much, at least for me personally.
The teacher gave clear and understandable instructions, which was especially good for me because my Dutch is not yet that good. So it was easy for me to follow his lessons. I have the feeling that I learned a lot, but I also had my difficulties and had to admit to myself that I sometimes want to work to forced to realize any development. I learned that you can’t get better if you want to force the things to much. I need to work on that.

After that, I still went on to try more, and made another variation in order to see which effect another radical color change would have. I did not like what I got, I think the reason is that I had already a final result and was not able to make a deconstruction out of it which I still would like.
















The last few lessons left until the end of the first period consisted mostly of making a row of variations of this sequence, trying different color combinations using the color composition, in order to come closer and closer to our “personal favourite”. We should also remember the technics we had learned before, like using the pencil in different ways and painting with more or less water.
This was the most interesting process in the whole first period for me, because I first chose all the colors out of my color composition I liked most to colorize the picture. After several tryouts I noticed how constructed they seemed, how artificial. The colors I chose didn't fit to the chosen motive, or better it’s original expression any more. I did not have the feeling to be on the right way. So I changed the colors radically, still using my color composition. What I got was then, in my opinion, a lot better than before. This was for me personally a big step, because I would never have chosen the colors which finally seemed better to me at first. However, I than had more or less found the colors I liked most in that case, which gave my picture the best effect. I made some further variations of it, trying to, for example, connect the fore- and background better or playing with intensity, bightness and structure of the color, following the teacher’s advices, until I had the final result which I liked most.
















The next lesson consisted of a research of the different colors visible in the photos we took as homework. We should try to mix the colors with acrylic color and paint them next to eachother in 5x5 cm squares. It was really interesting to have all these colors next to each other, especially because every single color was painted in the same size, not like in the photos themselves in which one color appeared maybe just as a little dot. Then we had to cut out the squares and recombine them to our individual color composition, which should make personal “sense” for us or how we liked it most. We got very deep into the theme, having a very close look also on very light shades. The most difficult thing for me was therefore to mix also these different shades just with the three prime colors.
Using the color composition we finally had, we had then to colorize the chosen part of our coal variations. We had to make different variations of that, this time using different combinations of colors.



































For the following lesson we should bring some painting material, especially acrylic colors in the prime colors and a broad pensil, a “Spalter”. By mixing the colors in the right way we should try to get “black” and paint whole sheets of paper full with it. I was really surprised by what we should do, because I thought that mixing yellow, blue and red would give brown, and not black. It was then also very difficult for me to get the right color (I did not really succeed), I got more variations between brown and violett. Then we should also do some “tryouts” with the color shades, trying to use the Spalter in different ways and also to use the color more or less covering. At the end of the lesson I noticed that we were doing more or less the same with color and pencil as we were doing the week before with the cole. We got the homework to take photos of interior and exterior situations with different light and color moods.
















We had to choose the best or most interesting drawing we made and further the most interesting part out of it, using paperstripes to hide parts of the drawigs in order to find the right part.
This was pretty interesting for me, because I noticed that the drawings I liked most (seemed the nicest ones to me) were at the same time not from ME. What I mean is that I perhaps copied some styles from artists I knew and used them to make my variations without being aware of it. I finally chose a part from a picture I really could identify with myself, which was the one I had made in the first lesson.
This part should then be copied several times, enlarging it and varying the technic to use the coal on the paper. Everything was important, the thickness of the lines (also some tries without any lines, just drawing flat), our position towards the paper and the way we held the coal in our hands.
















The next step was to combine all these different motives to one single coaldrawing, trying to place them in a senseful order. The homework we had to do until the following lesson was to make four new drawings which should show the same motives, but we should vary e.g. the way of placing, drawing, adding details etc. The condition was to “try something”.
I already have a little experience with coaldrawing, so this was not that problem for me, also because in this level we were really free in the way we used the coal. But I had at first some difficulties with the homework, because “trying something” lets a lot of possibilities. Finally I decided to axploit the condition and tried to do the homework as free as possible and had for the following lesson a row of different variations of the coaldrawing, reaching from abstract to surrealistic.
















The first lesson of this subject started with drawing several motives that told us the teacher with coal on sketch paper. For example “Several little girls standing in a group”. We had to combine and place these motives partly free, partly following the teacher’s introductions. We had to make three pieces of paper with these motives.