The brief for this piece was that we recreate an outdoor scene of our choice, bringing together both natural and man-made subjects. As we have focused on land and townscapes, a scene with both would be the perfect setting to tie up this part of the course. Luckily, I live in a fairly suburban area of London so access to both buildings and greenery wasn’t too tricky for me. I didn’t even have to leave my house!
I was looking out the window of my bathroom and I noticed that the houses behind ours would be the perfect viewpoint, as they are easily accessible, and are surrounded by trees and plants in the gardens.
Viewpoint
I began by taking photographs of this chosen area from different viewpoints.
Viewpoint 1 
Viewpoint 2 
Viewpoint 3 
Viewpoint 4
I decided straight away that viewpoint 1 was a no go.
This viewpoint almost completely blocks out the buildings and the greenery completely takes over the shot. Whilst it looks pretty, I felt that it wouldn’t be best for experimenting and putting into practice the skills that I have learnt over Expanse.
Viewpoint 3 and 4 are basically the same, however, in viewpoint 4 I lifted my arms as high out of the window as possible. If only I were able to climb onto my roof, I would have been able to get an even better viewpoint. These two are good views, they show some of the greenery and a lot of the buildings, but I wasn’t drawn to them like I was drawn to viewpoint 2.
Viewpoint 2 is my chosen perspective because it’s got the right amount of everything. From this view (out of the bathroom window) you are able to see basically half of everything. Also, when looking at the different photos I found this one the most inviting and the most inspiring. I think the buildings look a bit depressing if I’m honest; the bricks are dull, the scaffolding is ugly and some of these homes could use some TLC.
The vibrant colouring of the leaves adds something exciting to what is otherwise a very drab scene, and it’s this contrast in tone and feeling that I found so intriguing.
Preliminary Sketches
Preliminary 1 
Preliminary 2 
Preliminary 3
I decided to experiment with the different viewpoints, to see which one felt the best when drawing it.
Preliminary sketch 1:
In my head I knew that this was not going to be the chosen point of view that I took to this scape. Whilst it was an interesting one to have a quick go at, I knew I needed a more adventurous viewpoint to put into play all the areas I’ve covered in Expanse. I would struggle to show depth and perspective in this piece, as the greenery takes up so much of the shot.
Preliminary sketch 2:
The best of the bunch, without a doubt! I was anxious approaching this viewpoint. I know I said above that I knew I needed to branch out and be a bit more adventurous, but all those lines and angles and subjects terrified me for a moment or two, however, this quick sketch was easier and turned out better than I expected. Even in a rough sketch that took a couple of minutes I was able to display accurate perspective. From an aerial view you are able to see far more, and things become more angular, especially linear subjects such as buildings. I find this tricky, but I’ve seen improvement over the past few exercises.
Another reason that I wanted to choose this viewpoint; I have seen improvement in an area that I’ve really struggled with in the past, and wanted to show that in my final piece.
Preliminary sketch 3:
In this sketch, I felt something similar to sketch 1. In this particular sketch there’s too much building and not at all enough natural subject. This sketch was created using Viewpoint 3, where the buildings dominate the majority of the shot. Again, from a high vantage point, I was able to view the many, many lines and angles of the buildings – the extensions, the slope of the roofs, the chimneys protruding out of them, and the windows/doors. There are so many aspects of this to include, which would be incredible further practice, however, I felt that I really needed to have more natural subjects such as trees and plants and stuff, which drew me back to the 2nd viewpoint, as this had a good amount of both.
Creating these preliminary sketches just solidified in my mind how right my choice to use Viewpoint 2 is. The range of techniques I would need to create that piece was daunting but also exciting; creating two subjects that are so different from each other will be interesting but I’m looking forward to it. Working on landscapes and then moving to townscapes has been a lot of fun, but I’ve not really combined the two of them in much of my work, so I’m excited to get stuck into the next bit (if not slightly petrified).
Final Piece
So, here it is: the final outcome.
I spent a long time on this. Probably a lot longer than I should have, to be honest.
I feel a bit upset because, in my opinion, it’s a bit rubbish. I tried really hard with it, but it just doesn’t seem to be quite right. I also find that I’ve been really comparing myself to other students who seem to be miles better than I am at this stuff, but I guess it’s all a learning curve. I’m also incredibly frustrated because I took loads of progress photos of this process and I’ve lost every single one of them, so I could just scream!
I’ll walk you through it…
First of all, I sectioned the photograph into quarters.
I found that this really helped me when creating the previous two townscape exercises. Adding the grid to this photo and then adding the same grid to my page helped me map out in my head and then on the page where the centre point was and where I should begin. At the beginning, I thought the middle window was bang in the centre of the shot, but, as you can see, I was mistaken.
I moved on to then lightly add in all the vertical lines of the buildings, followed by the horizontal lines. Now I had all the buildings mapped in as well as the roofs, windows, doors and any other linear features. I didn’t bother to map in the trees as I felt that I should just work freehand with the media that I chose for them.
I used a range of media to create this piece – pastels, charcoal, conte sticks, acrylic paint, watercolour paint, and even a small amount of oil paint. The most media I have ever used in one piece. I felt that with a range of subjects it would be silly to limit myself to just one or two, so I branched out and used whichever media felt good at that time. I’ve decided to not hold back on my pieces. Beforehand I was apprehensive to go wild with my work as I was worried that it wouldn’t fit within the course guidelines, but a few of the previous exercises have advised us to experiment and to not be afraid to hold back. I want my personality to show through my work, so that’s what I’m trying to achieve.
First, I used a range of pastels to frottage the colours onto the buildings. I felt that this technique was really useful in depicting the texture of brick. Whilst I am pleased with the outcome of this choice, I’m not confident that it was the best one. I experimented with acrylic paint as well, however, my partner accidentally threw away the sheet that I did this on. Yet another frustration. Regardless, the pastel was the best bet for me. Maybe my colour choices aren’t as accurate as they could be, or the pressure applied to the pastels isn’t as it should be, but something just isn’t quite right about this; I can’t put my finger on what, exactly.
I’m pleased with areas of the trees. I think there are points where I have gone too far, but my tutor advised me this would sometimes be the case. Taking progress photographs is good to see where I should have stopped or what I could have done differently. Unfortunately I ALWAYS seem to forget to take progress photos, grrrr! I am trying to remember but I get so caught up in creating that it slips my mind.
I used a range of acrylic paints, water colour paints and pastels for the trees. One thing that I think I’ve managed to portray is the depth of the leaves; some areas are thinner than others, and some leaves are darker than others, or in shade, and I think this is believable in this piece.
I used oil and acrylic paint with some pastel for the sky. This is an aspect that I am quite pleased with. I think I have managed to maintain a sense of realism within the sky, and this gives the piece more depth. To me, I can see that there is a background, middle-ground and foreground within this piece. It feels layered, which is something I was worried I wouldn’t be able to portray. I asked my partner if he could see the different layers of the piece and if he felt any depth at all, and he advises me that yes, he could, so that’s a relief.
I’ve still got a way to come, I know that.
I’m not expecting to be incredible after only a couple of months of practice in this area, but I’m not feeling very confident as of late. I go back to work full time this week and I’m even more anxious that I won’t have the extra time to work on this. I’d like to re-create this piece or something similar in the future, maybe in a more abstract style. I often work in abstract, but I feel slightly apprehensive to put this into my work, as it doesn’t best show the skills that I’ve learnt over this time. That all being said, I have really enjoyed Expanse. Part of me is really looking forward to moving on, but another part will really miss it. I’ve picked up a lot of skills and I’ve learnt a lot that I will put to further practice in the future.
Jesy Gilkes 