I have toyed with creating a web page dedicated to drawing for some time and finally – here it is. . .over the next couple of months I will add more content both images and text – so don’t go away ! I look forward to sharing my thoughts.
The concept is to only showcase my very latest work – I.e. drawings made from September 2026 onwards. Since my early days at art college, I have been interested in exploring new ways of working and experimenting with new materials, techniques and processes.
In the western world, most of us have a reasonable understanding of what a drawing is – or do we ?
My aim with this page is to challenge preconceived notions and come up with my own definition. I draw every day and most of my pieces are realistic or figurative, however, I also experiment with abstraction as it can be liberating to be free of the constraints of realism . Seen in isolation, some passages (parts) in my drawings, could be described as abstract, whilst other parts of the drawings might be detailed and technically accurate. I like to dabble with the expressive potential of drawing and whilst , some areas might be bold, others are delicate.
Certain materials facilitate expressive approaches, for example, soft pastels and charcoal, whereas others such as HB pencils and technical pens are more suitable for academic approaches. I aim to share drawings made with a variety of media and drawings that cross boundaries. Some paintings could be described as drawings and vice versa. In addition I will be using unconventional media – for example home made ink and quill pens etc. Over the years, I have enjoyed experimenting with techniques used by Renaissance artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, and Raphael. By contrast I will also look at contemporary drawing and attempt to discover new ways of working. . .
My first sketch was made with willow charcoal and compressed charcoal and smudged with a tortillon (smudging stick).
Sometimes drawings are a means to an end – stages in a process. This charcoal study was one of a series created as visual research for a painting. I did not use any photographic reference and the image was from my imagination.
Detail of “Deben Lines” wet and dry media exploring line and tone. Copyright Chris N Wood 15.09.26 charcoal, graphite, Lamy fountain pen, Quink ink etc
The Deben Estuary Suffolk. This is the entire composition (Deben Lines) A wet and dry media study exploring line and tone.
Canis Lupus Copyright Chris N Wood
The above scribble is a quick experiment to capture the essence of the breaking sea rolling in from across the North Sea. This is a small segment of the drawing which was made with a Lamy fountain pen and dissolved with a large synthetic brush and pure water. I like using the Lamy because the nib is perfect for drawing and the ink is water soluble. The drawing itself was done at breakneck speed and the mark making tries to capture movement.
