I did this pen and ink drawing in 2021 after a boat trip in Bridlington Bay. Its of an Arctic Skua eyeing up some food being carried by one of the gulls. I felt privileged to be up close at this moment of typical skua behaviour. I like it but I do recognise that the work is a technical challenge at this scale and that the subject is very personal and probably doesn't have mass appeal. Pen and ink is a disciplined medium with some thought needed to make each mark count and tell the story of the structure as well as the light and shade of the image.
I've exhibited the picture online and at shows and had likes and even some wows but nothing more. As an artist one of the reasons I show my work is to get constructive feedback. I want to get better at creating and I can do the practising but need a little assistance from the audience. I am terrible at judging which of my artworks will be popular and even worse at understanding why.
Artists tend to be good at giving feedback. When I was at school, when I've done classes or even the local figure drawing group, a key part of each session is to give feedback on others work. What do you like, how does the picture make you feel, which areas of the painting don't read clearly and where are there perspective errors? One challenge for me is that I am a reasonable draughtsman but if the source image is confusing, the resulting image will also be confusing - but because it accurately represents what I see I may miss how others may perceive it.
I am a harsh self-critic and sit looking at part-finished works for hours - particularly as they near completion. By standing back or even looking at photographs of the work I can see errors and problems - but not all of them. My wife is excellent at seeing what most people will see - she can see problems but maybe not solutions.
Outside the home I like exhibitions because it gives a chance to meet lots of critics and have a conversation about art. I am quite good at taking criticism because it really is subjective and I'd rather hear an opinion (although I would like it delivered in a specific, structured, non-patronising way ideally). One of my favourites is to walk away from my exhibit and watch how people look at my work - what draws their attention and what do they point at. I like to eavesdrop too as they walk away. Most people feel nervous about speaking frankly in front of the artist sadly - maybe I should make a sign saying "Comments welcome".
I stumbled across a Facebook Group recently which had some art I really liked - "Pen & Ink drawings" with roughly 190,000 members. I joined and started to show some work. Apart from being surprised about the love for a simple plein air study of Kenilworth Castle I was interested in the levels of engagement in the group. Most comments were the usual praise which I think is often from people who appreciate the skill of being able to represent 3D images on a 2D sheet of paper.
The original skua drawing was generally ignored - something which mirrored its appearances to date. There were two really interesting comments though. The first said that the subject was not clear and that maybe some colour in the background would help. The second developed this by suggesting that complex drawings can need some colour to help add a kind of focus to the subject.
Its a big thing for me - if it doesn't work I potentially ruin an image I'm quite fond of but I liked the feedback. I printed a scanned image of the original and just trialled some simple washes and it seemed to work. The end effect is subtle but seems to just give enough separation betwee the white gulls and the cold sea behind. I really like the result and plan to do more. This image (as with the original drawing) is a lot more subtle than it appears in photographs. But subtle changes can dramatically impact the final image and those small bits of feedback were so helpful to me. A thumbs up or a Wow are great but I think most artists would appreciate a few words too - both positive and negative. As long as it is respectful and specific I will always appreciate it.
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