Develop PROJECT
a drawing
DAVID BRAMMELD shows you how to develop initial sketches into a fully-fledged painting while putting a creative spin on a familiar favourite subject
T
he bottle ovens of the Potteries (the Stoke-on-Trent area that once produced world-famous tableware and sanitaryware) are fascinating subjects to paint. I have many photos of these iconic structures in various stages of decline. I find it incomprehensible that these important buildings – part of our industrial heritage and often decorated with beautiful details – are allowed to decay into a sad and neglected state to be lost forever. This painting was to form part of a series with an industrial theme. It is an ongoing project that I keep adding to from time to time. Bottle ovens are difficult shapes to draw; apart from the challenge of symmetry, the proportions are awkward to get right. At first, they seem quite simple and straightforward, but perspective and scale need to work together if the drawing is going to work. Other buildings are often attached to them. Naturally, where the adjoining roof meets the circular bottle there is an unusual juxtaposition where the pitched roof rises up the tapering bottle shape. There are also all the signs of neglect and abandonment that on the one hand are sad to
54 Artists
& Illustrators
witness, but at the same time very interesting to draw. Many of these buildings display scars of alterations and damage accrued over the years; some of the exposed walls are painted white as they would have been internal walls at some point. Nature plays a powerful role in trying to reclaim neglected buildings, so when mortar gets dislodged from in between brickwork, soil accumulates, and airborne seeds sow themselves. Grass, flowers, weeds and trees start to grow in abundance, in turn trying to force the bricks apart with their thickening root systems. All of this helps hasten the decline. I have drawn this particular subject many times and find something new every time. Every bottle oven has a different shape and size. Many were part of pottery factories built adjacent to canals, which were originally used to bring in raw materials and transport out finished ware by commercial barge. They remain potent symbols of our past heritage, existing in an era when manufacturing industries were prominent. In my own artistic practice, I feel it is important to acknowledge this history as it has helped shape the
character of the area as well as the people. At the same time, I want to place it into today’s context. For me it is a lifelong influence and inspiration, something to keep going back to again and again. As my work moves in different directions, it is interesting to see how my interpretation of the same subject has changed and developed over time. With this particular image, I had previously explored different approaches using a variety of media, for example by producing a small series of A3 studies, in watercolour, charcoal and pencil. Certain subjects have such an appeal that there is always something different to say about them, and for me this is one. I think I will always find something new to say about this image, such is the fascination it holds. With Potteries Memory I liked the flexibility of working with mixed media: applying paint in different ways, drawing with various pencils and pens. It is about finding the best qualities of a particular medium and using them in combination with the best qualities of a different medium to create something new. At least, that was the intention.
