The Innovative Artist - Drawing Dramatic Landscapes

• Introduction 6

• Materials and tools 8

• Expressive drawing 24

  • ‘The exhilaration of the summits’ Working en Plein Air 26
  • Drawing with graphite 30
  • Landscapes in graphite 42
  • Drawing with charcoal 52
    • Landscapes in charcoal 60

• Developing your personal language 66

  • Inspiration 68
  • Order from chaos - Expressive drawing with liquid graphite and pastels 70
  • Fast foundations - Expressive drawing with liquid graphite and ink 80
  • Breathing space - Developing confidence and vision 82
  • Set in Stone - Step-by-step project 84
  • Resolving your drawings 94
  • Proper preparation 96
  • Instant atmospherics - Expressive drawing media in harmony 98
  • Heading Out to Sea - Step-by-step project 100
  • Strength in Flexibility - Using liquid charcoal, graphite and pastel 106
  • Trust the process - Working in charcoal, pastel and inks 108
  • The freedom of ink 114
  • Autumn Sun and Shadows - Step-by-step project 116
  • calculated risks - Charcoal, pastel, inks and paints 122
  • A celebration of nature - Mixed media and pastel paper 126
  • On the edge - Creating Sharpness 132
  • Showers, Sun and Shadow - Step-by-step project 138

• Towards abstraction 146

  • Changing direction - Revisting a Composition 148
  • Surface and light - Textured Drawing 150

• Next steps 168

• Index 160

For 30 years Robert had an extensive career as a professional Graphic Designer and Illustrator working for many companies such as KPMG and PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC).

Robert now works as a self employed fine artist and tutor winning regular art awards for his distinctive and expressive style of work in numerous international competitions.

Robert’s drawings are regularly exhibited with Nitram Charcoal (from Canada) at Art World International in Frankfurt where his work has received much critical acclaim and attention from a wide range of international fine art businesses. He's a training partner for several leading UK art businesses and art holiday companies throughout the UK including Higham Hall and Rydal Hall in the Lake District and HF Holidays.

As a leading Canson Ambassador in the UK, he regularly teaches workshops promoting their fine art papers at many different popular events such as Patchings Art, Craft and Photography Festival near Nottingham and Ilkley Art show in West Yorkshire, amongst others.

He exhibits throughout the UK with a wide range of prestigious galleries (including Mall Galleries). His work can also be found in numerous public and private collections throughout the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the USA. He regularly contributes to The Artist magazine. To see more of Roberts work visit www.rdcreative.co.uk

Part of The Innovative Artist series that gives insights into the working methods of leading contemporary artists who are pushing the boundaries of art, Drawing Dramatic Landscapes by Robert Dutton, regular contributor to our sister publication The Artist, looks at ways of using graphite, charcoal and mixed media to create dramatic landscape drawings. Aimed at more experienced artists who are keen to explore materials and methods, Robert shows you how to combine media, such as liquid graphite and metallic inks with pastels and collage, working predominantly in black and white and, from life, outdoors for much of the time. Numerous exercises are included alongside examples of Robert's work, which he has annotated with descriptions of the methods he has used to obtain such dramatic results.

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The Innovative Artist: Drawing Dramatic Landscapes is aimed at artists who wish to explore new ways of using a variety of drawing media to create striking, dramatic landscapes.

Author-artist Robert Dutton uses his expressive, loose style of drawing and painting to capture, with great emotion, the power and drama of the landscape. Robert combines media such as liquid graphite, inks, metallic inks, charcoal and water-soluble painting and drawing pastels, and also experiments with collage work.

Predominantly focusing on working in black and white, this book is a highly-instructive guide to the techniques Robert himself uses, with numerous exercises and larger step-by-step projects throughout the book showing how he works. Alongside these are numerous examples of the authors finished artworks accompanied by informative captions explaining the methods used to create them, thereby providing both instruction and inspiration.

Of his work Robert says, 'Primarily my work is focused on landscape and my beloved northern wild open vistas, dramatic mountain peaks and and intimate hidden corners of moor and dale.

'Landscape is the great escape, a place where my creative vision is thoroughly released with a direct engagement and expressive response to my subject. I immerse myself in the landscape and allow the interplay between what I see but more importantly what I feel to create each and every individual piece of work.

'More often than not everything is started on location. It has to - the physical engagement with the sublime landscape is so important. I plan for the weather but if it rains, so be it - it goes into the work as its all part of the process.

• Acknowledgements