Project 1: A personal Landscape-indoors. In this project we must explore a personal space, “adopting a more journalistic approach” in order to enlarge the view and avoid narrow focus, aiming to present all reality of a “living space”. In this exercise we must push ourselves technically, as well as to try depicting “personal truth”.

Exercise 1: A personal space

I spend a significant amount of my time serving people: cooking meals, serving, washing dishes. My kitchen is an authentic personal space for me. It is a great scene for a reportage, because there is a lot of action in the kitchen and numerous objects/participants: dishes, plates, pots, utensils, gadgets.

Some first rough sketches below I did with 6B Derwent Grafic and B I Love Art pensils.

While I was working on these raw sketches above, and thinking about how I could develop the project, I caught myself on my overwhelming feeling of chaos. These objects have been so dominating in my life, chasing me beyond the kitchen, sticking to my thoughts. They command and control me in my personal space, where I am always engaged in the never-ending process of taking them, using, cleaning, putting them back and so on… and This is a deeply chaotic process. I reflect on that CHAOS feeling which has because the base for the project below. I wanted to channel this feeling through the composition, combining all the elements together in one picture, so I could emphasise their quantity, their domineering overwhelming power, their time taking nature and function in my life. I tried to bring all of them together in photo, using my Photobooth App.

I deliberately made the composition as a space, crowded with objects to show their power and strong dominating nature. I used bold colours, designed every element, outlined edges, to make every object stand out strong in the overall composition. I decided to work with my Japanese aquarelle set and soft pastels from Sennelier, because they give rich and vibrant colours. To work on edges and fine details ( lines on onion and potato skin, decoration on the tea cups) I used pastel pencils from Giokonda. The unity of bold colours, strong brushwork and crowded composition decision give a “objects are jumping on you” impression which I was aiming for.

Since I was working on an A2 size paper, it naturally took several days to finalise the drawing. I was approaching it every morning, thinking about different objects and items I wanted to place on the surface of the paper. The brushes in my hands move differently every day. At some point I used soft pastel pencils from Giokonda to outline the edges of each item to show their own independent existence. Something was missing for me while observing the items, so I added a bunch if greenery : salad leaves and a bunch of parsley. This addition transformed the drawing, making it more dynamic and live.

In next few days I have developed the project, working on negative space left around the perimeter of the surface. I had been thinking how I should fill it because I didn’t what to leave the white negative space. So I added bright red tomatoes and citrus fruits, creating more drama with a colour. I thought about bay leaves, but the dull green colour didn’t seem enough for me.

This is a photo of my bed side table with a night lamp. I really liked the orange colour of the abajour and the shades distribution on the wall. The intimacy and isolation. The reportage from my bedroom is a chance to create a very different mood in my drawing: from busy kitchen to ephemeral space of sleep and end of the day.

Some preliminary sketches in A4 format.

DEVELOPMENT. Another drawing with soft pastels, A3 size paper from Clairefontaine, and textured paper couleurs assortis.

This drawing looks interesting and different in black and white. The textured surface of the paper I used, in a monochrome version gives a dramatic effect. Small vertical pieces of black pigment create a sense of space which is falling apart and moving, a sense of moving physical reality, which is slipping away. I named this version “Time is moving”. The soft night light and shade, and the closed door create an intimate isolated space. There is a strong sense of instant moment of Time.