Picnic Scene Drawing

The original inspiration for this work was drawing artist Robert Longo, and his large scale charcoal pieces. I was hugely interested in how he pushed the boundaries of drawing, also linking abstraction with figuration, in a relatable way. The photos I used are distorted and transferred into black and white. Using black and white has connotations of olden times, whilst also making an image trickier for one to understand. The distortion and blurry marks means that the audience can interact with my piece. If someone goes up close, they will be able to see individual marks and understand my process, with the work being unintelligible. But from afar, the work becomes clearer and more comforting. In this way, I want the viewer to feel challenged by the work, but also for the viewer to feel the challenges that I had whilst creating it. I want this piece to have a big presence, and I feel that the black and white of charcoal and paper is quite powerful. However, as Robert Longo referred to, the charcoal is in essence just dust. I like this because it adds a delicacy to the piece. I want the audience to be able to work out that I created the work just with charcoal, rubber and my hands.