Direct Observation and Descriptive Writing Guidelines

Introduction

Isola Farnese is a town built out of the place on which it stands; we are exploring the organic relationship it has with its surroundings in relation to the effect of a chosen theme on your 5 senses.

Light

Look at the effects of light around you: direct light, filtered light (through foliage, shutters and flapping curtains), reflected light, absence of light (shadows and shade)

What atmosphere is evoked by the play of light in different locations of the town (how would you describe this light - hazy, clear, dusty light, etc…) Does light dominate the place or not – what feel does it confer to it?

Consider contrasts, juxtapositions, discordant effects of light; silhouettes and stencil effects

How does the light falling upon the town affect the relationship between its surfaces and forms, or between its colours?

Can you describe the effect of ambient and colour temperature on your perceptions of light?

Negative Space

Consider the ‘drama’ of the spaces left between buildings, people, objects, vegetation or geometrical patterns

How do gaps, voids and passage ways create the identity and atmosphere of Isola Farnese?

Do you notice any patterns / repetitions of negative spaces?

Consider the range of scale of negative spaces - from the gap between tiles to a valley between two land masses; consider unexpected details/effects

Ask yourself how crucial these negative spaces are to the interplay of light and colour, textures and surface patterns (such a shaft of light channelled through broken brickwork, etc.)

Colour

Look at the effects of colour around you: what mood/atmosphere does colour evoke here?

Can you describe the colour range of the buildings -is there a prevalent style, are there accidental colour relationships?

Find examples of subtle tonal harmonies; consider juxtaposition, discordance, contrast, natural and man-made colour relationships.

Describe how residue and presence of colour reflect weathering and the passage of time.

How does colour relate to the surroundings of the town? Does the deliberate use of colour remind you of other places?

Consider the effects and the relationship between colour and light – how does the atmospheric light and shadow of this afternoon affect your perception of colour at Isola Farnese?

3 Dimensional Form

Describe the arrangement of surfaces, forms and angles around you: what patterns, rhythms and structures are apparent?

What atmosphere do they evoke? Is the environment open, claustrophobic, tightly packed, threatening, welcoming, etc.?

Describe the movement of your eye and body as you move around these spaces and structures (easy, fluid, cumbersome, relaxing…)

Find examples of harmony or discordance between the arrangement of inter-related forms

Consider, too, the presence or absence of human forms and how they might animate and inter-relate with the environment you are drawing

Texture and Surface Pattern

Consider closely the interplay between natural and man-made patterns and textures of Isola Farnese: how are textures created by erosion, carving, scratching, weathering, agglomeration? Do you notice rhythm, repetition or other patterns?

Consider the scale of textures around you, from roof tiles and brickwork or cobblestones, to the grain of an ancient wooden door, etc.

How do the textures and patterns of the town evoke a diary of its history (for example, what is the visual effect of a shiny ice-cream advertisement on top of Roman or Etruscan architectural fragments, etc.)

What atmosphere do the patterns and textures of the place evoke? What do they FEEL like?

Descriptive vocabulary you might like to use (just for a start!):

fractured, tinted, rugged, weathered, robust, jagged, heavy, light-washed, eroded,

resistant, imposing, resilient, softened.

Invent surprising ways of describing the colours around you –‘lemonade light filtering through the trees’ or ‘the sky turned the colour of peptobizmol’

GM & EGB, 2007