Project 2 Exercise 1

Cloud formation and tone 

The precision and time that Vija Clemin's is capable of is an awe inspiring gift and talent. She is able to re-imagine a natural phenomena to such a precise point, she would have me believe I am actually there myself. 

I take the research points with me as I take a look at the shy for the next few days. 

I start by creating roughly mapping out the tones of the clouds with acrylic paint on newspaper. An experimental drawing. I used a palette knife for application. 

Even though rough and rather clumsy, this was a satisfying way to start. I was able to make marks of the very lightest areas of the could and the darkest, the bottom of the cloud. I can see in these marks that there is a top and a bottom to a cloud. I was also able to map in the several clouds there were in the sky at this time. There were many, all clustered to the right side of my view finder. The sky was blue and it was a calm day: 

I then moved onto making a number of quick sketches using a black line and water colour on acrylic paper.

Here I want to see areas of colour. I want to show volume and I will work quickly to try and capture the gentle movement of the cloud.

I can see a 3 dimensional form taking shape and different tones of colour. I can see the very dark mauve of the bottoms of the clouds and the bright white tops, where the light is catching them.

 I enjoyed these drawings very much, mainly because they are interesting and expressive: 

On my daily walk I take another sheet of acrylic paper, a pencil and watercolours to the very highest point I could get too during my lock down exercise allocation. 

Again, I worked quickly. The sky is constantly changing so I realise that I was just just going to have to work as precisely as I can. As Clemin's said, I needed to take the information all of the way in.  

There is a breeze here and the clouds are moving from right to left on my viewfinder. They are moving in a speedier way than the day before. The wind seems to pull them upwards. There is weight at the bottom of the cloud, almost pulling the clouds down. However the lighter tops were being pulled in the wind and so the entire cloud follows. 

I very lightly apply the watercolour to create very subtle tones. 

I a pleased with the drawings. I made only a few lines and filled the mass of the clouds with watercolour to create mass and tone. I can see there shape and I can also see the nature of the cloud movement on this day: 

The following day the weather is especially changeable. Beautiful blue sky and a warm temperature one moment and  in contrast, April showers and grey clouds the next. 

Here I use a thick black line and watercolours. 

I want to capture the enormous volume of moisture the cloud is carrying. It is full and heavy. A billowing mass. This was something I wanted this quick sketch to depict. A large and heavy mass. 

To the right of my view finder the sky is grey. To the left, you can still see the blue sky that had filled the entire sky only 30 minutes before. Heavy rain is imminent. 

I am pleased that the cloud appears heavy in this drawing. The tones are darker and show a mood to the cloud: 

Struggling to find a different looking cloud, I use photo reference for this quick sketch. 

For this one I use ink and a pen and again watercolour. 

The sky is entirely covered in cloud. The clouds streak from left to right and although there appears to be no break in the cloud, I can see separation because of the tones of each streak of cloud. The clouds are grey tones. Dark to light. 

I use long and wide strokes of my brush to capture the shape and movement. 
The darkest tones are to the left, becoming lighter as the spread to the right. 

I feel happy with my colour of tone here, however what isn't working is the fact the there is no distance to my cloud shapes. The sky appears flat: 

Tonal drawing: 

I use charcoal to create a tonal study of a cloud. My quick sketches have helped me understand the volume and mass of the clouds structure. They have also helped me to observe movement. However now I will stake more time to study the cloud. 

Here I build the mass of the cloud using my charcoal stick. I observe the darker bottom of the cloud and the billowing structure. 

It is one large cloud, however is appears to have a number of layers: 

Reflection: 

This has been a fascinating study of clouds. I feel like I have a good understanding of the structure to a cloud and how much this can change and how quickly this can change. 

I found the quick watercolour sketches interesting and expressive. Using only subtle tones was a great way to capture the sky, without overworking it. I do see that I need to work on creating distance to my drawing. 

The tonal drawing lacks the movement I feel I could see in my watercolour sketches. It does see to just sit on the page. However, I can see areas of movement within the drawing. To the left hand side my application seems to be gentler and moves upwards in the marks. The marks become more solid as you move your eye to the right of the drawing. I can also see the layers of the cloud forming too, the darker outlines are there just beyond the points of the cloud the light touches. 

Through this exercise I looked at the work of Charlie Mackesy. Here he appears to capture the shape of clouds with a very small number of large lines. His lines are fluid and full. He applies what appears to be watercolor within the lines to create tone and depth. I can see where the light hits the clouds. The drawings look so simple yet so beautiful and full of mood and emotion: