1. Marks and lines - Fractured marks

Part 1

First task was to take multiple sheets of paper, and to move the compressed charcoal around each sheet, taking note of the impressions and marks made, whilst varying pressure, angle and direction of charcoal.

I did about 5 of these pieces but have picked the 3 below as the most interesting.

1) horizontally flat charcoal- pressed in short bursts away from the body

I like how the mark starts strong and then fades into the white of the paper as I release the pressure. I also like how you can see the speckled darks and lights of the “natural grain” of the charcoal. It reminds me of a tide beaten beach.

2) horizontally flat charcoal - swept in wide circle and spiral motions

I created these marks just my swirling the charcoal around the paper as it laid horizontally against the paper. I found it interesting that the ends of the charcoal seemed to make the darker marks than the marks made by the rest of the charcoal‘s length. When I look at these marks I see unruly curls of hair billowing in the wind.

3) vertical charcoal - crisscrossed over the page at different pressures AND horizontally flat charcoal swept lightly in stripes and then slightly firmer around the edges of the paper

I enjoyed playing with the pressure of the horizontally laid charcoal with minimal overlapping of these bold strokes, and seeing how the diagonal lines, created by holding the charcoal on its end, still peek through the horizontally made marks. It‘s reminiscent of a sheet rain tapping against a trio of lead set window panes in a wooden frame.

Part 2

This exercise introduces the putty rubber and how it’s use, in contrast with the dramatic willow charcoal mark making, can create lights, darks, texture and form.

I covered my A4 sheet with different types of marks such as spirals, squiggles, grids and lines of differing lengths, pressures and directions.

As instructed, I worked the putty rubber into a point and applied the rubber across page, in contrasting directions to the charcoal marks. This technique appeared to soften and blend the mark edges. It also lightly lifted or removed areas of charcoal where the putty rubber had been more firmly applied.

Part 3

The final section of the fractured marks project focuses on using ink pens for mark making and introducing a water saturated brush across the piece to disrupt the ink marks.

I used a range of different pens:

• fountain pen

• brush pen

• marker pen

• alcohol ink pen

I did this in the hope I would see variations in how the water interacted with the different pen marks.

The marker and alcohol ink pen marks were largely unaffected by the water, but the fountain pen and brush pen started to bleed out into the water brush marks and water splatter.

I particularly like the marks made with the water and brush pen as the pigments started to lift and separate out. You can begin to see a bluish tone start to show where the original ink line has diluted away.

I tried to puddle some of the water on the lines to see how far the ink would run. I absolutely love how the pigment has moved to the edges of the puddle and lightened up the centre. It creates some real drama.

I chose to spatter water across the piece by flicking the water loaded bristles across the page. I really enjoyed watching the little water specs begin to dapple the strong and stark ink lines. It created complexity and texture that wouldn’t have been possible with the pen alone.

I think this technique creates some beautiful marks, but it is quite unruly and not easy to control. You have to let the water do the work and wait to see what marks remain. Relinquishing this control is somewhat out of my comfort zone.