Introductory project: Stage 2: Observing qualities: The necklace

I chose this necklace to be part of my Tropical Tourist theme, as I like the simplicity of the beads, the slight irregularity of shape and colour, and how the colour graduates from dark green to sea green to yellow, a bit like and the size from small diameter beads to go at the back of the neck to larger ones at the front.

I tried to think of ways to indicate this in my observational drawings, and decided to use matte card and paper to echo this material. I am not sure what the necklace is made from, but I think it is some sort of shell that has been dyed. The fact that the dye has been taken up unevenly is what makes me think it must be a natural material. Here, I used an erasable black felt tip pen, but working on cardboard made it hard to erase anything:

For these drawings, I tried looking at the necklace from a variety of angles, and to capture the foreshortening effect when I held it with one end nearer me than the other. I also looked at the beads in close up and curled round as well as straight:

The following sketches are with graphite sticks on cream paper, first the whole necklace as a continuous line drawing, then in more detail, capturing some of the beads in close-up:

Here I again try to capture a sense of the weight and feel of the necklace and its disc-like beads:

Here I look in greater close-up at the beads and their relative sizes, shapes and the way they stack together:

Looking at the above sketch now, as I add it to this blog, has made me think it would lend itself to being interpreted as paper collage, using coloured and patterned papers in graduating colours of green to yellow.

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ACTION: Return to this idea of paper collage and try a few experiments.

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This is an attempt to use the length of the graphite stick to give an impression of the disc-shaped beads that make up the necklace:

Next I chose to switch to black paper and white pen to try to capture some of the shine on the edge of the beads, which I think works well. I tried a few different things: a quick rough sketch showing the overall shape of the necklace, an examination of the beads when the necklace was bent around, the button fastener, as well as a doodle to indicate the overall movement and feel of the necklace:

I then noticed that the beads were reminiscent of another pattern I had created using the sponge brush dipped in ink, which I used in my mark-making in response to the straw hat. This time, it seemed to me that white on black would be more appropriate as a way to indicate what I could see. Indeed, the pattern and variation created where the ink has pooled gives a really pleasing effect, and one that really does suggest the curved discs of each individual bead:

Looking at the above photograph now, it also has quite a ghostly air, as well as suggesting an X-ray of some kind, perhaps the vertebrae of some unknown creature?

More mark-making with sponge brush and slightly diluted white ink on black paper:

Here I used the pointed edge of the sponge tool, trying to create shapes of varying thickness, like the graduating size of the beads:

Here, I again used this tool, joining up the marks to make circles like the overall shape of the necklace:

Here I used a stiff brush to paint and stipple the ink into the paper:

Looking back at what I had produced and liking the effect of the dabbing of ink on the first sample, I then took this further, experimenting with the spacing of the marks and the intensity of the ink, in order to see what effects this produced, which I think are quite interesting: