Drawing...a revieiw on Cozens

The practioner i looked at for Drawing from Observation is Alexander Cozens. I picked him as i liked the imaginative take on drawing landscapes and the fluid and rough marks made by ink to produce the landscape scene. Looking at all his work you realise none look the same, as you have this input of memory and imagination from drawing from Blots on the paper, to piece together the scene. I really liked the quick and immediate sense from looking at these drawings like they were drawn so quickly, getting in as much information that matters onto the paper as fast as possible. Looking at other artists who sketch down an image quickly like Ernst Ludwig Kirchner I thought it would be quite easy to get a grasp of the technique and dive into Cozens style and technique. I chose this image to try out as i liked that it had that sense of foreground and background and not just floating forms on the page and liked the sense of working with the media in such a carefree way using sploges and blots to add abit of my own twist on the image.

I wanted first to have a good at the right hand side of the image as it seemed more dense in mark making, and though t it would be best to try out this side more as it has more going on. One thing i learnt from this initial try was to constantly keep the brush wet, as you get very dry marks and the ink doesn't go very far, making messier marks.

This was my first try at doing all the image, starting at the hills and working my way down, i don't have the composition right in here though the background is taking up to much of the foregrounds space, but i like the hills final outcome you see that continuous sense from it to get all the shapes of the mountain on the page.

Sme happened here again think i should re-evalutate where to start, the foreground is just rubbish!

My pot of ink has a stick attached to the lid so i thought about experimenting with this to sketch out  the landscape, i really like how with my lack of control of how the ink come out, you get these really bold and think parts of ink and really thin and weak lines, makes the process more unpredictable and creates a very interesting image. would like to try this out more!, but later on going back to using a brush as i haven't mastered that yet.

Here i started at the treesand sort of worked up the down from there so i could  stretch out the foreground  more and let the forms have a better  juxtaposition on the page. think this technique has worked out better, everything seems to have more space and is less squished. START FROM THE MIDDLE AND WORK OUT!

Think I've learned my lesson for wetting the brush the lines are coming out smoother  and freer, less scribbled on. I like how here when I've dipped the brush in the water the colour in the ink goes abit, i like the way it creates abit of depth as some marks seem closer and some further away from the foreground, giving that sense of direction and more realistic quality.

Don't think this is the bes to be honest need to get more ink on the brush, as its turning abit grey and white instead of black and white here! Also the foreground is abit squished up again.

Tryed to make the mountains a little less taking up the whole space here so i consciously  made them smaller, i  really like the fluidity o the marks that quickness gives. Gives less time for me to make changes and second guess.

Think here i've went abit over board and made the mountains to small  and foreground too large, swapped them around, thin i was just trying to make sure the background doesn't get to large as in perspective it isn't as large as the foreground forms and objects. Need to sort this out. Equal it out Annie!

Worked it out...BOO-YA! Smudged abit of the grass in the foreground..oops but things seem more in the right composition and in the juxtaposition. Think i definately need to put more ink onto the brush though stull abit grey and white!

This is my 10th try at Cozens style and compared to the first tries is considerably better!.

Still really like the way in which you draw in this technique, think its a great way to put information down onto the page, even if it isn't in a hurry, creates a great visually interesting piece and has that artistic quality and not following reality too closely. Think I've got more of a grasp  at how to position the forms in the landscape to get the perspective right. and how to place thing in the right place.

The technique of doing everything more than once i think greatly helps your seeing of the scene and you add more detail as you see it as your looking more, and learning more. Its a great way also to develop your skill, and its seems to get better the more you do it. Anyways i think i need to improve certainly!

Thanks for reading the essay above :) 

Annie x