#institchescreative2020 - out of the shadows

Well this week we were going to be drawing spirals but that’s going to have to wait till next week now because today I have decided to take advantage of all this beautiful sunshine we’ve been having in the south of the UK and explore drawing shadows instead. 

​As I have been on my (OK, not quite daily) early morning walks around Fleet Pond I have noticed the shadows and dappled shade being cast by the newly emerging leaves and wondered how I could use those creatively. I’m always tempted to take loads of photos, but in reality my photos often just reside on my phone/PC and this is only the first step towards being creative. I was looking for a more immediate way of recording my surroundings, so today I decided to take some basic tools with me and get stuck in.  

​The technique I chose is shadow-drawing, which is a simple way of recording the shapes or outlines of objects on the page. It has to be said that it is much easier to do on a still day or indoors if it’s as windy with you as it was here this morning. Indeed, you can do this anywhere as long as you have a good source of light and something to draw that has an interesting shape.

​But its a great technique to save for a sunny day so you can benefit from that extra sunny feel-good factor. 

You don't need much to get started:

• some paper (fairly stiff if you're taking it on location) or a small sketchbook (maybe one of the pamphlet books from week one). I took a strip of stiff cartridge paper folded into a concertina
• a pen which draws easily – ie has free-flowing ink (eg a fineliner or a marker). Waterproof ink is good
• Leaves, flowers, twigs or anything with an interesting shape – its shadow wants to be more than just an amorphous blob!

Optional - for adding extra interest any or all of the following:

• Something white and waxy eg a white wax crayon, or oil pastel or a piece of white candle (sharpened a bit with a knife if necessary)
• Waterbased paint – eg watercolour, Koh-i-noor, watered down inks, food colouring if that’s all you have in the cupboard
• A large soft paintbrush, or foam brush
• A small piece of charcoal or a soft pastel or some chalk
• Small pieces of scrap paper
• An ink pad – black or any colour

What to do
As I said earlier, this part of the exercise can be done indoors or out 'in the field'. Just adapt the instructions to suit and  enjoy the experience!

​1. Hold your item over your paper so it casts an interesting shadow. This is easier in a controlled environment, but in the field with a bit of trial and error you will probably be able to get into a position where you can see the shadow and still get your pen to the paper. And don’t worry about the funny looks you’ll get as other daily-exercisers run or stroll by – you’ll soon get lost in the moment.

2. Trace around the edge of the shadow with your pen in one single line of you can. This is where it really helps if its not windy! Don't worry if the shadow moves, just do your best to get the essence of that shape on the page. I must confess that even when I'm indoors I find it really hard to hold the objects still while I draw. (Read on to the end to find out why that might be...)

3. Keep going; add as many shadows as you want to your drawing, with as many different pens or crayons as you like. 

Tip:
Make the oily or waxy lines the last ones you do, as the pens will not like drawing over them, and you might clog up your pen tip – ask me how I know…

​As I wanted to get the feeling of the profusion of new spring growth which is bursting through with enthusiasm at the moment I just kept layering more shadows over.  It's very forgiving, so there's no need to worry about wobbly lines or getting exact copies - nothing in nature is tidy. I could have done much more, but I needed to get home to write this! You can’t see them yet, but there are wax crayon lines in there too.

And here's the one I did at home - look closely and you might be able to spot the white wax crayon...

Layer it up
Now you might consider that a finished drawing, but there is much more we can do. If you have worked along with me so far and gone for the spring leaves theme it's now time to add the next layer.

The next step is to add some colour with watery water-based paint. I've ​chosen various greens which match the subject well, and as you can see from the photos I’m using a large brush and not really taking much care where the paint goes – I want a loose feel.

When the paint is dry you can add some detail and contrast with a couple of extra easy techniques.

Stencilled leaves
1. Cut or tear a stencil (leaf shaped in my case) from a piece of scrap paper.

2. Crush some charcoal, pastel or chalk on a piece of scrap paper so you have a fine powder - you only need a tiny bit.

3. Rub the powder through the stencil to create solid leaves which contrast with the drawn lines. You can choose to have them lighter than the background or darker, or a combination - whichever makes them stand out well.

Printed leaves
1. Take a firm veiny leaf – new growth leaves aren’t really tough enough for this, being soft and juicy, but older leaves work well. I’m working with the ceanothus in my garden. Ivy or another small leathery leaf would also work well.

2. Press the veiny side onto the ink pad and rub hard to pick up some ink (cover with a bit of scrap paper to protect your fingers)

3.  Position on your page and rub hard again (covered with another clean scrap of paper to protect it)  to print delicate impressions.

Tip 1:
If you don't have an ink pad you can make a temporary one with a pad of kitchen paper and some ink (it does use quite a lot of ink mind) or experiment with liquid paint.
Tip 2: 
The scrap paper that you covered the leaves with to protect your fingers when you inked them is great for collage.  Cut or tear roughly round, glue to the page, draw some veins in...

And that's it; done! 

Variation
There's a variation on this shadow drawing technique which is a really good illustration of how fast we are whizzing through space (or actually how fast we are rotating). Here's what to do:

1. Set up an interesting object to draw in bright sunlight, next to a large sheet of paper. 

2. Trace the outline repeatedly as the sun and hence the shadow moves. You'll be amazed how quickly it changes...

Don't forget:
We really hope you enjoyed this little creative break and hope it gave you a reason to get outside in the sun and lose yourself for an hour or two.

We’d love to hear how you got on … take a quick snap and post it over on Instagram and use the hash tags:  #institchescreative2020 and #institches2013.  Don't forget to follow both us and the hashtags to see what everyone else is creating too! 

On Facebook reply to the relevant week's post with your comments and images. And don't forget to actually follow InStitches on Facebook to see what everyone else is up to.
Until next time - keep the creativity flowing...
​
Terry & Hazel

To make you smile...

I know I said that working indoors was easier than working outside as you can control the conditions better, but when I wrote that I hadn't anticipated this...

... having to sit on the table so I was on the right side of the shadow!

​Or this...

... that's Godfrey - I was in his sunny spot!

​You have been warned!