Occult Designs

I've created a series of drawings on a smaller scale inspired by Adrienne Rozzi. Out of drawing on a small, medium and large scale, I found the medium size most comfortable. Drawing from a smaller scale I felt was hard to get finer details due to the limited space.

This drawing is a development from my witch piece, focusing on the placement of the burning flame in the hand. This is a good improvement and I feel this is because I was able to refine detailing due to the larger scale. I was actually surprised at how easy I managed to draw the hand as hands are normally my weakness in drawing. I had a photo of a hand in front of me holding a candle stick to help me get proportions and placement correct. I added the lines to add depth and form to the image as Rozzi does.

I used these three leaves to experiment with different sized nibs to see which I preferred. From left to right; 0.05, 0.3 and 0.8 nibs were used. The thicker the nib, the more bold and dark the lines came out. I personally prefer the 0.3 and 0.8 to the 0.05 as it adds more shade to the motifs.

As you can see from these to comparable images, adding more lines to creates a more detailed appearance. However I feel the leaves on their own aren't intracut nor interesting enough. Flowers and other plants need to be featured to create a more decorative peice.

This is an image of the Ouroboros, the occult symbol of the serphant eating its own tail. I used the bottom of a mug to sketch out the perfect circle. I alligned where the head and tail would be and reshaped the circle into the shape of the emblem. Using the fine liner, I filled most of the snake in black, leaving white sections to define the scales. I started from the snakes head where I used a 0.8 nib pen which was far to thick to create refined detailing. I found sizing down to a 0.2 enabled me to create more defined scales.

The snakes mouth is too long and pointed compared to a real life snake. Drawing this from a bigger scale will allow me to clarify the detailing on this drawing. I like the fact there is more black than white as others I have created aren't as bold as this. I plan to draw this snake on a bigger scale and use a different type of paper to see which surface I prefer to work from.

Below is all my sketches from this page. I included some smaller symbol motifs, drawn straight with a 0.8 nib pen with out initially sketching it. I find simple line drawing looks more striking when the lines are well marked with a prominent, thick pen.

The eye drawing I used as an experimentation for creating a 3D shape. I pupil of the eye has been established using curved lines, heavier pen strokes from the outside, become feathered towards the centre.

The flames underneath the eye I think are a massive improvement from my previous attempts of drawing this kind of design. I have layered each flame on top of another to create a more intracut finish. The more I add to this piece, the more complex and captivating it would be.

To develop my work further, I will use these drawings to create screen prints, embroidery and more detailed designs, experimenting with different media e.g. charcoal.