Drawing... a review on Kollwitz

Choosing Kathe Kollwitz I really like the emotion she put into her drawings and the dark shading she applied to her pieces, I don't have a Litho crayon but charcoal I felt would be the next best option. This type of drawing i feel fits in to what kind of art i want to make in general outside learning, as its not all about precision and more about emotion and capturing an atmosphere around a topic. I admire that Kollwitz uses such dark and untraditional subject matter and makes things nice and dark and takes any prettiness away. Which we all know is the truth. She sort of takes away the mask that people force up sometimes and makes these very vulnerable and exposing drawings. I feel trying out her style will help me dramatise and help develop this emotional side to art, and help me make the kind of work I would someday like to make. 

I soon realised that my drawing of unusual angles on a person isn't very good and i am not good at foreheads, in the drawings i think they are going in every direction possible... oops!

Please do not judge to harshly on this one i realise that it is rubbish, well completely shite if I'm honest,lets hope it gets better, face is to squished, neck to think, head wrong shape, very square, too big to be honest need to go smaller, doesn't look like an old lady, need to add the lines and the wrinkles i think, eye doesn't have a socket, and check bones look like chisels could go on but i won't only so much one can write.

Started to add abit of wrinkles in this one around the mouth but it just looks like she's got a moustache, the face is less flat and abit better but so should be improved, need to watch where i put lines, and look and mark and look and mark, don't do it without observing both ends! The shoulder area i feel is to high and should be lower, and also needs more shadows, feel like its too light!, also is she bald..no.. need to give her hair!

This one is much better than the first one. The forehead and the position on the eyes, nose and mouth have worked out better. Think the shoulder on the left side is too high though, just looks wrong positioned. You can see i found more detail in this one will need to be worked on, but looks older i think. Neck also too thick, need to compact the lines a bit so  it doesn't become to bulky. Think the hair could do with some work, also the crown of the head seems to slide down and doesn't look normal. Need to work on shape of head from the side. I really like the nose, upper lip, and eye area i really love the contrast and feel this is the best part of this one.

Slightly messed u the forehead here as you can tell went to much at an angle, the re isn't much darkness here though need to add more charcoal i think, the condensed neck works, looks less manly, i really like the roughness of the charcoal here as well think it adds to the aging of the woman. Need to be cautious of proportion as that swift mark at the hair is a bit small, also the hair is too light.

This one is just wrong think i know how this happened though as i was beginning to draw at a different angle, and kept moving so i was drawing at two different directions. The neck area is probably the best the face just doesn't work, the shadows don''t go with the shape of a natural face and the nose is too pointy and big and she's developed a white area round her mouth... giving her rabies i think.. oops.

Think the forehead is much better proportion here,, which  is better suited. the proportions of the face is much better as well, made sure i didn't go to sloped and go without looking which greatly helped here, feel theres much development from the initial one, think i've got the sense of the age ass well. Lines as well look more confident and smoother.

The forehead here has went sort of the opposite direction not so good... also the hair line is too far back, in reflection,. i think as well as the lines are getting more confident they are becoming more fluid and curvier and taking away some of the essence of the drawing, as its supposed to have this sort of roughness to it. Think its getting a bit too smooth and pretty shading, need to roughen it up a little bit.

Hair line and forehead is better here, i did try to make sure that i was conscious about where the lines where going and tried not to go in any direction too much. I think as well the shadows have became to smooth, the upper lip area is more of the shading that i am after, need to keep it a bit rough and ready, than perfect and airbrushed. The shoulder area seems to have worked out a bit more i consciously moved the shoulder down so it looked more realistic an less of in unrealistic position. The hair has worked here as well done this by doing it reasonably fast and heavy think this sets in the hair more, gives it volume and colour. 

This is my final try at the Kollwitz drawing style and feel it has improved greatly since the initial try , the forehead is certainly the area of concern her i feel though that you have to watch where the direction of your line is going, and constantly have to look at where your line is going, feel as well this drawing has regained some roughness which helps set the tone of the image. Some areas are still smooth.

 I can tell also that by doing the image several times has improved the confidence in my lines and helped me improve of proportion and position of marks and shadow and the forms, feel my side view of people has improved as before i would never of picked to do a portrait from the side. The image from first to last has also improved, after the first try i thought i wouldn't be able to do it but just shows that if you keep going you can improve and make it less of a mess. So glad that the end one is better than the first think i would of cried if it was the same! I feel as well its helped me in trying to dramatize the shadows of the face but still making it look realistic and not graphic. I still really like the style of drawing feel the charcoal was a great choice as i get to do a great deal in technique with the stick of charcoal.

Thanks for reading 

Annie :)