This exercise was about trying out different ways to hold pen and pencil and how this affects the marks that are made. It was also about making different types of movements, varying drawing pressure and exploring a variety of different drawing tools.
I filled seven sketchbook pages for this exercise, because there was so much to explore. I started with an A4 sketchbook for the first two experiments, then switched to an A2 sketchbook following instructions to use the largest sheets I could find – and stayed with the A2 format for the remainder of this project. The larger pages permitted trying out many different techniques on a single page, which made visual comparison and reflecting on the different types of marks easier.
Page 1: making marks with a fineliner (A4)
I (inadvertedly) made mostly small marks with small movements and compared the effect of different hand helds for each type of mark.
It felt more natural to hold the fineliner like a writing tool than any other position , for example closely to the tip or at the end, but changing the hand held helped to create novel effects because there was less automatized control over the hand’s movements. As a right-handed person, using the left hand resulted in somewhat erratic movements which created interesting effects, for example when dangling to make dots.
Page 2: making marks with a pencil (HB) (A4)
Next I tried out mark-making with an HB pencil. Holding the pencil in unusual hand positions, like between index and middle finger, or with 4 fingers bent around the pencil, resulted in subtle differences in marks.
The effects of different hand helds were sometimes rather unimpressive, compared to the black fineliner before, or as they would have been with charcoal. I think the effects become stronger with the darkness of the medium, or with the contrast to its background.
Page 3: large, gestural movements on a large sheet of paper
I chose an old A2 sketchbook for this exercise. I enjoyed making large and fluent movements despite some initial shoulder pain due to an inflammation. Varying the pressure of the line required more concentration. More pressure resulted in thicker, darker lines, while less pressure made thin, light lines. The combination of both on a single page created a depth effect, with the lighter lines receding into a distance.
Through this exercise, I realized that I had only made very small movements and small marks on the first tries, and that varying the size of movements is another factor affecting mark-making. I decided to continue in the large sketchbook because I enjoyed having more space on the sheet.
The next 4 pages were devoted to trying out different media: charcoal, dark brown pastel block, wax crayon, and graphite pen.
Page 4: trying out different media – charcoal
I used a thin, soft charcoal stick and tried out different hand helds, tip angles onto the paper, drawing speeds, and mark types, for example fine versus thick lines, fast vs slow movements, or lines vs dots.
I found it difficult to vary a line’s thickness by changing the pressure applied while drawing it, because it required much conscious effort to move on the paper and twist the tip simultaneously, while taking care not to break the charcoal.
Page 5: trying out different media – pastel block
On this page, I explored mark-making with a dark brown, pressed pastel block which I thought might behave similarly to Conté Crayon. I discovered that the pastel I used was rather soft, but still allowed to draw fine, dark lines when applied at an edge of the tip.
I enjoyed trying out different types of movements, pressures and mark types and the naturally diverse marks created from the pastel block – much more diverse compared to the fineliner I used for the first experiment. Changing habitual mark-making movements opened up the pathway to creating a huge variety of new marks, which I found very rewarding.
Page 6: trying out different media – wax pastel
I chose a blue wax pastel for a change from all black and explored its behaviour with a variety of marks.
An interesting discovery was that by focusing my attention on controlling my movements while drawing a line pattern, I was able to change my sort of drawing frenzy into a meditative experience. The resulting line patterns were decidedly distinct, with the second conveying a more calm impression.
Page 7: trying out different media – graphite pen 2B
Again, the new medium inspired making new marks by varying hand helds, movements, pressure and angle.
One of the patterns was done by pressing the tip at an angle onto the paper and carrying out twisting movements with the hand. By chance, a structure was created which looked like a human eye. I termed it “the inadverted eye” (see second pattern at the bottom when enlarging the image).