Heart of Gold (2024) - Pencil, digital & tryptche

Heart of Gold emerged from a desire to reconnect with hand drawing and with the ambition to produce my largest drawing to date (this is approximately A1 size). During the production of this piece I was keen to achieve a strong sense of light and shadow.

The form of Heart of Gold is derived from a matrix of curvilinear abstract lines that spread out across the paper in all directions. The chosen forms are ‘chiselled’ out of the void using dark graphite pencils and in particular 2B, 4B and 6B lead weights. For the lighting of the scene, I took inspiration from imagery captured during NASA’s Rosetta mission. Further to this, the illustrated details depict a variety of science-fiction inspired references including spaceships and robots.

The drawing is scanned and manipulated in Photoshop to increase the overall contrast and to add colouring effects. A subtle blue hue is added globally to emphasize the gold details. The final presentation is split into three separate panels as an asymmetrical tryptche, which I believe makes the piece easier to digest.