From reading the exercise, I quickly caught on that this was an exercise to explore positive and negative space, and the effects of contrasting the base colour of the sheets that I would be using.
For this exercise, I thought that it would be best to create an imaginary tree, as this would give me the chance to fashion a tree that would display the use of space well.
As recommended for the light background I used a light grey opaque wash, and then went onto lightly sketching out the outline of a tree. Due to this being about space, I did not want to put a tree onto the page that would look lost and without place, so I designed it so that there would be an impression that the tree continued off the page and that it had been cropped in size. After sketching the tree out, I mixed a concentrated colour of ultramarine and payne’s grey and with a fine brush, lightly went over the outline to get a better picture of how the tree looked. The next thing to do after checking whether the design would be successful or not was to block in the colour which I did, diluting the pigment for the finer branches to give the impression of weight and aerial perspective.
For the contrasting monochrome study I chose to use a slightly diluted ultramarine and payne’s grey was in order to create a smooth base, greatly helped by the previous tonally graded wash exercise. I found that painting the negative space with the light grey more time consuming than the last study, but as I progressed across the page, the image became clearer and took an intriguing finish.
Both studies definitely have there advantages, as the first study of the two creates the impression of a bold shadow and a block of colour, and the choice of colour works well in establishing the two spaces on the page. By using a colour other than black, one can see the effects of this technique in a more subtle and aesthetically pleasing way, rather than examining a black shape on a bright white page. For the second study, even though more time is needed to complete it, the outcome gives a clean sharp line and interesting layers within the study.
These effects could be used well within more abstract pieces, and reminds me of Andy Warhol’s portraits, depicting areas of the faces with blocks of vibrant contrasting colours.
SOPHIE FAWCETT'S OCA LEARNING LOG 