02 June 2015

Drawing on Tuesday - 20th Century galleries, V&A

Intending to draw the chair and its shadow, I found myself drawn to the coffee service ... it was the perky handles that did it -
Starting with a (faint) blind drawing, and moving the sugar bowl closer in to fit across the page (just about), I spent a happy hour looking more carefully and readjusting proportions, angles, just about everything ... but not quite enough, somehow - the jug was my starting point and now looks too large. Sometimes it's a good idea to rub out and start again. At this stage I was ready to do some rubbing out - but nothing too drastic -
 I loved how the lines of the decoration reinforced the structure of the objects - the blue lines whooshing up along the handles, like a roller coaster on the rebound. By drawing the decoration, it's easier to draw the shapes ... you can't say that of all crockery. This design, produced in 1900 for a short-lived outlet called La Maison Moderne, also came decorated in roses ... hard to imagine...
Adding colour was the final step -

We were able to sit in the garden and watch the children ("little cherubs") splashing in the pool, amid the new installation by Mexican architect Frida Escobedo -
(via)
Imagine those platforms filled with people enjoying the noonday sun... and of course the "cherubs" in the water....

The 20th century galleries provided a tremendous range of items to draw. Najlaa filled pages with "useful" items like teapots - and this fanciful Mercury from a poster -
 JanetK explored a bench -
 JanetB's sketchbook has quite a few radios, including the Fada "Bullet" Streamliner model 115 (1940), made in a plastic called Catalin which, unlike Bakelite, could be produced in a range of solid, mottled, translucent, or transparent colours -
 After producing an astonishing number of pages of drawings, Caryl  worked into this one -
Click on the photo below to read the story of Lufsig, which Jo took from the exhibition label - this Ikea toy became very popular in Hong Kong, mainland China, and even Canada -

During June the Drawing on Tuesday sessions are taking a break, resuming in July. I'm hoping to continue drawing on Tuesdays in Berlin throughout the month ... why not pick up a pencil, wherever you are?

1 comment:

Stitchinscience said...

Thank you all for sharing these drawings, it is fascinating to see them. Hope you have a great time in Berlin.