I’ve always thought of myself as a sketcher as this process really helps me make connections between objects/things and ideas. I wanted to sketch the successful mortar as it would help me get to know it. I really wanted to experience the mortar and really connect with the surface texture. As a warm up I decided to sketch the test tiles I had made by pressing clay into the surface texture of the mortar. I did this to mimic the mortar but I was aware that they would have the reverse texture of the mortar.
Starting with the test tiles helped me loosen up my arm and hand and helped me to really focus and see what I was sketching. As each tile was a different shape and size I really wanted to emphasise their differences without exaggerating. With each tile I felt myself improving, I was getting more detail in a less clumsy way. Catching the shadows falling on the tiles made me adapt my style, I had never really done such detailed drawing before. I really enjoyed the process of this drawing as I learned that I could sketch in this new way and capture textural details.
The difference in my sketching is visible from the test tiles to the mortar. The test tiles show the depth and give the forms a 3D shape. In comparison, the mortar has a flat appearance and although it suggest a 3D shape with the its angles it has no depth to it. This was not my intention but during sketching I felt exhausted by the amount of detailing I was doing and I thought that giving the shape a 3D likeness would compromise the quality of the drawing. If the mortar was drawn is wholeness then in my opinion the detailing would be compromised, the sketch would be too busy. Although I was not intending for the drawing to be presented as a piece but I wanted to start with this mindset in my sketches, to be aware of composition and complexity so that I could design and sketch a balanced drawing. This sketch has not filled the paper and this was not in my intentions to do so as it was an experimental observation but with further explorations I would consider the size of the paper I would use and the scale of the sketch.
Menna-Clare Samuel 