A Titanic Experience - The Big Draw in Belfast's Drawing Offices 2015

October is The Big Draw, a festival championed by The Campaign For Drawing, in the UK, to encourage and promote drawing as an activity that includes everyone.

Obviously, this sits extremely well with me, as I view drawing as one of the most important ways to connect with our own selves as well as communicating with others.

A festival like this is the perfect opportunity to shine a spotlight on drawing, and what better venue to get Belfast on the map, than the Harland & Wolff Drawing Offices?

The Drawing Office, 1912

These iconic buildings were where naval architects and draftsmen drew up the plans for the ships which were built here, including the Titanic. I have been honoured to have regular access to the building over the past couple of years for drawing workshops, in partnership with the Titanic Foundation, who are in charge of ensuring the buildings are cared for. Soon, major renovation work will be underway and the building will return to it's former glory.

Maeve and Siobhan, from the Titanic Foundation, helping with the set-up

Did you know that the word 'titanic' means Gigantic? Massive, enormous, fantastic? If we're having a BIG Draw, it might as well be titanic. Over 100 people, children and parents, arrived to make it not only a big draw, but a really big class too.

Tables were laid with long lengths of paper, like table cloths, and after listening to me reading a story, which featured Samson and Goliath, the two huge yellow cranes which tower above the Ship Yard,  everyone set to work, drawing on the same sheet. 

But that really did mean EVERYONE. It wasn't enough that the children were drawing - the parents had to do it too. After their initial hesitation ('What? Me? Oh no, I can't... I haven't... but....'), and a small bit of encouragement ('here's a pen', smiling face), Mum's and Dad's started joining in. 

Above, Dad is engrossed... 

This changed everything. No longer were the adults over-seeing. Now they were participating. In fact, the parents were so settled in that we had trouble stopping them! 

By George, aged 7

A peek at Bailey's drawing 

After an hour and a half, 8 large sheets of paper were filled, a Titanic effort, of fun and imagination. A very different type of drawing to what the original draftsmen were doing in this building, but imagination is the start of every idea, and the ideas were flowing today. There was a tremendous feeling of happiness and well being. H&W - happy and well!

H&W - happy and well! 

With Judith, my enthusiastic helper, and all the drawings of the morning

This link takes you to a video created by Paul Marshall. 

https://vimeo.com/144224737

Some of the artists!

Thanks to everyone who came and drew, and thanks to Maeve, Siobhan and Catherine at the Titanic Foundation for their work in setting up and promoting the event, and to Judith Gordon for helping. 

Portrait Drawing, graphite pencil

I have just finishsed work on the preparatory drawing for a portrait commission.

I don't always do such a finished 'rough' - it often depends who the client is, how well they know my work, and what their requirements are. I do enjoy this stage - it's a great way to get to know the pattern of the faces and sort out balance of tones etc, in order to create a good portrait (as opposed to a copy of a photograph, which is an entirely different thing altogether).

Finished rough with client-led alterations

Also, in this instance, the photographic reference was from a couple of years ago (as provided by the client) and this means the little girl's face has changed shape as she has grown. So it is necessary to use more recent photographs as further poeints of reference to ensure the portrait is a satisfactory mix of truth as it was when the photo was taken, combined with the truth of how the child is seen now. 

I like to start with the eyes, choosing one eye to be dominant over the other.

Once most of the first face was blocked in I moved to the second face. Children's faces are difficult as they are so much smoother with more subtle variations in tone across the flesh. 

At this stage, above, I showed the drawing to the client, as a sneek preview to ensure things were looking familiar to him. He was delighted and asked only that I take some of the fulness away from the jaw on the child - you will notice this if you look at the final drawing at the top of this page. I also softened the tones a lot on bothe faces and finished the background loosely. 

The size is 32cm x 35 cm. I will show you the colour version when it is done. 

Now I'm off to the post office to send the original for approval - fingers crossed! 

Next up: Two day landscape water colour workshop 

In November - Portrait Drawing workshop and Oils weekend. For info email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk 

The Big Draw - 

As part of the Big Draw 2015, I am holding a Children's Drawing session at The Harland and Wolff Drawing Offices in Belfast's Titanic Quarter on Saturday 30th October. The event is free. For bookings and info  Catherine.mccooey@titanic-foundation.org or call 028 9073 0490. 

More information here

                   http://visit-belfast.com/whats-on/event/the-big-titanic-draw

Titanic artwork

Yesterday I delivered a drawing to The Drawing Office, in Belfast's Titanic Quarter. It was an illustration of Lilian Bland, the first woman to build and fly her own bi-plane..! (as you do!)

Not the best photo, but you get the idea

I used 300b drawing paper, which was almost like card. I stained it with a mixture of Sepia and Black ink (seriously diluted), and applied it with a broad decorating brush. I always say that white paper 'isn't your friend', and tinting this sheet meant the drawing looked a bit oldish, but also softer on the eye. It saves a lot of elbow grease too in the pencil work.

With Maeve Curran, Destination Manager at Titanic Quarter

It will be hung as part of an exhibition in Titanic Belfast for the month of March as part of the celebrations for International Women's Day.

Drawing in The Drawing Offices, Belfast, for Ireland's National Drawing Day

Last weekend I gave the first ever drawing class to be held in The Drawing Offices, in Belfast's Titanic Quarter. 

May 2014, students drawing the building

This is where the highly skilled draftsmen drew plans for the ships built by Harland and Wolff, including Titanic and Olympic.

100 years ago, draftsmen drawing the ships

Location drawing always presents it's own challenges specific to each site. This room is big and empty, which could have been daunting - it's aircraft-hangar-large, with lofty arched ceiling making people seem very small indeed. 

But, daunting it was not.  

This photo of me before everyone arrived gives an idea of scale, though it shows only a small part of the room. In reality, the size of the room is breathtaking.

The atmosphere of the room was still, with a delicious kind of calm. None of the students had been here before, and location drawing was new to most of them. As one student put it, its good to get out of your comfort zone. I tackled the enormity of the building by 'reducing it' into more manageable sections, which not only allowed students a user friendly introduction, but also gave us scope to appreciate the finer details of the room. From the reflections in the inner windows (which revealed layer upon layer of rooms, patterns and shapes including Titanic Belfast, the new museum across the way), to the paintwork on the walls. The paintwork is crumbling, but in such a beautiful way that it is worthy of a portrait in itself. 

The briefing

The concentration

happy students! 

Here are just some of the drawings the students did, in a very short time. 

It was a lovely afternoon, a fantastic experience and so appropriate to be drawing in The Drawing Offices.  I hope to have many more drawing days there in the future. 

If you would like to attend, please email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk 

www.juliedouglas.co.uk

www.draw-in.co.uk