SCENES NOS. 1-5. December 4, 2015
Lines made with a brush and quink/distemper on Japanese paper 20″ x 30″
The previous exercises on Broad Lines ended with the depiction of a scene: the eastern garden. I was not very happy with that depiction. It is a depiction derived from a view. Today, I made a few exercises on the same scene. This time, I wanted to abstract the depiction from a view into fewer strokes with the broad brushes. This entails the removal of a series of elements that make the scene, such as the illusion of depth and perspective. Ultimately, what persists throughout these exercises is the wild nature of the eastern garden.
Scene No. 1 is my first attempt. The elements of the scene are depicted through lines of varying shade, length and angle: the foreground of grasses and plants, the background of trees and other vegetation, the open wooden gate and the footpath that traverses foreground to background.
Scene No. 2 attempts to delineate the footpath with greater contrast and the distinction between foreground and background made with horizontal lines. The perspective begins to disappear.
Scene No. 3 breaks down the elements into separate objects floating in space.
Scene No. 4 attempts to depict the scene by focusing on the dark horizon line broken where the footpath crosses.
Scene No. 5 is a minimal depiction of the scene with only vertical and horizontal lines. The footpath is represented by the lighter shade of line in the centre.