The Journey of a BA (Hons) Drawing Student. Theo Mack

[Theo Mack]

Hi all,

For those who are interested:

I am a new student at Falmouth College of the Arts studying BA (Hons) Drawing. An unusual and very young degree that focuses purely on the art of Drawing. Here I will be posting regular updates on my progression, work and reflections on what I have been doing. Plus, also some personal work.
More than anything I hope that I will be able to look back at the thread and see improvements and progression. I would also greatly appreciate any comments, ideas or constructive criticism.

My pursuit is to become a better drawer every passing day and to have a fantastic career that I can thoroughly enjoy!

[Theo Mack]

Here is where I will be spending most of the next few years of my life.

[Theo Mack]

Our first challenge was to produce 48 A4 Drawings in a 6 hour day. They could be based on anything, as long as they had a theme. Therefore I chose memories. This meant I would not have to fiddle around with staring at and repositioning an object to draw from.

Never before have I been in such a drawing trance and so concentrated on finishing that I block out all other communication without even realising! The time passed ridiculously quickly and I managed to do 47. 1 off! By the time I got home that night I was mentally and physically exhausted.

Here are some phone snapshots of my work from the day

[Theo Mack]

Today I went to a viewpoint that looks over the shipbuilding yards of Falmouth to so some drawing in my new handmade sketchbook!



I focused firstly on quick 5 minuet drawings of a close up view of something below us. Then I moved on to drawing through a viewfinder to help create accurate structures and finally I produced a double spread drawing of the factories.

I couldn't help but wish that I had the skills of David Muirhead Bone when I was looking over the vast shipbuilding landscape!

[Theo Mack]

Thanks Kendall! I will certainly check this guy out and write about him in my journal. I have only glanced his gallery but he looks really good from what I have seen.

Today was my first life drawing class ...and the third life drawing class that I have ever had in my life. I find it tricky to figure out the anatomy and correct alignments. Everything to do with 8 heads in the body etc. tends to go straight over my head. It was also a shock when the model took his clothes off, this was a first for me!

I only managed to get a couple of phone snapshots from today due to constant lecturing and note taking so here's what I managed to capture. Any advice on mistakes etc. would be extremely helpful!




(now I am up to date, so the thread will start to be updated daily rather than minutely!)

[Theo Mack]

Here is an observational drawing based on this anti seagull spiked object which I managed to find on the foreshore at low tide. It was too architectural and precise for my comfort zone but I still enjoyed drawing it. I would say mostly it helped me with my accuracy when drawing things from still life.

We have also been studying lines for the past couple of days. As a result I have found myself seeing lines everywhere! Is it normal for art lectures to take such an effect on people? We are currently looking in depth at what style of line best describes static and moving objects.

[Velocity Kendall]

Nice!
Its a good idea to study the best work you can find. one of my favourite drawererers is this guy, you can see all his sketchbooks online here

http://www.jamesjean.com/sketch/2007/Blue/2

[Theo Mack]

Apologies in advance for the poor photo. I was trying to use Pentimenti in this drawing. I was also focusing carefully on perspective and fading the lines as they travelled further into the distance. I always find it difficult to know when to stop a drawing, I think that I may have finished this one a little too early. Still I am pleased with the outcome!

[Theo Mack]

These are some car drawings which I managed to squeeze in on Saturday. Only another 30 or so to go!

[Theo Mack]

Got back yesterday from a weeks drawing study trip to Tresco in the Isles of Scilly. The place was beautiful and I had a fantastic time wandering around the island doing a drawing whenever something caught my attention visually. Here's some of the finished drawings from the sketchbook which I took.

Most are of the landscape but there are also some drawings of statues and my classmates which were done at the pub in the evenings. Somewhere below there is also a tree which I made up by mixing different plants together which were in the tropical gardens on the island.

[KateyParr]

Dude, I live in Falmouth

What's the uni like?

You've made a good start so far.

[Theo Mack]

Really? that's a surprise! Do you surf?

I have only been at the uni for a few weeks but all I can give so far is good feedback. I'm just back from a weeks study trip to Tresco in the Isles of Scilly which was amazing for drawing..!

I'm loving your anatomical drawing of the heads especially. I think I will try this.

[Mindinart]

Cool start. Whoa, 48 drawings in 6 hours, sounds like very interesting and challenging university.
Good luck and keep up the good work!

[Theo Mack]

Here is a simple journal entry that I made which I quite liked from today. During break from the life drawing class I decided to draw my friend who was more than happy to do his usual pose.

Also there is a half our study of today's model. Although there are proportion problems still I think that I am gradually improving! I'm loving every second of my course so far.

[Theo Mack]

Today I focused on stylizing a life drawing of a clothed model. The day was based around fashion. Usually I hate paint, but I had a few successful drawings with it so I actually really enjoyed using it.



Also, I managed to squeeze a car drawing from the college car park during break. Drawing with a straight line in the freezing cold is really quite tricky!

[Theo Mack]

I added another car drawing to my sketchbook recently. Tried emphasising the perspective here, which make is look like a bit of a toy car! Plus, I finally have a scanner!

[Theo Mack]

Here I was experimenting with creating space and playing around with different ways of adding and removing depth + space.

[Theo Mack]

This drawing was done with ink and a quill which I made out of a feather. It was quite painstaking having to refill the quill ever 5 minuets however I’m really happy with the results. I have never spent so long on one line drawing before.

When I get the chance I’m going to scan it in properly and do some photoshop tablet work on it!

[Classmate]

Wow, this one is SUPERB! How long it took you draw this piece?

[keeptime]

Wow, it's great seeing you do so many different things. 48 drawings in six hours sounds crazy! That ink drawing is pretty intense too. Definitely subscribing.

[Theo Mack]

Looking as some more prespective today, I added a wave purely out of interest as I'm considering applying the design to my surfboard. Also there is the most recent car drawing here too.

[Theo Mack]

Started a new Moleskine sketchbook today, going to have a theme of trees and vegetation for this one. It's always tricky to do trees properly in a drawing without spending hour on them.

[Theo Mack]

A life drawing from today. Looking back the proportions seem crazy, but I remember bing sure they were right when I was drawing it. It was an unusual angle after all?

[Theo Mack]

Another life drawing from today. I do like the faint shading of the darker areas, even if it does make the figure look flat. Also, its a shame I didn’t give myself enough room on the page for this drawing.

[Theo Mack]

Another tree pen drawing done in my Moleskine sketchbook tonight.

[ja1307]

Nice sketchbook you are improving very rapidly. Its great that you are doing a course that is so drawing focused. I am jealous wish there were such courses about when I flirted with art college instead o all the conceptual art and model making shit that was going about. Love the way you are drawing so many different things and there is so much observational drawing. You are going to improve very quickly I can tell. Keep up the good work.

[Theo Mack]

I sneak into the Fine Art and Illustration life drawing sessions on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, both of which finish at 8pm. So its usually 9 by the time I get home. After an 8am start and a full day of drawing it's exhausting! - Still loving it though.

Here are a few drawings done from tonights session:

The main drawing from tonight. Not too happy with the hand and legs on this one.


A 2 min sketch. Although I got the positioning completely wrong I'm still happy with the figure considering how little time I had.



Some more practice on legs that I managed to squeeze in at the end.

[Theo Mack]

Here is a selection of 10 min drawings from the life class today.

[surrealistic]

going good so far, its nice to see you experimenting with drawing styles, especially with the life drawing stuff. i like the one you posted november 7th especially, though her left foot looks a little strange

[Theo Mack]

A batch of quick, recent life drawings. starting to get used to proportioning without constant measuring!