September - Week 3

Written 01/10/2025

Sketching ideas

So, my idea is to do a 1920s Welsh miner with a pit pony. So my main things I wanted to practise were miners and ponies (but also 1920s aesthetics). I must say that I checked to see if pit ponies were still used in the 1920s, and to my horror I discovered they were used up until the 1990s! The last pit pony only died in 2011! So... yeah... something that is vaguely 'set' in the 1920s would NOT be anachronistic with a pit pony in a mine!

I started with practising the men. Since Marjorie Miller's images are so stylised, I decided to look at pictures of male models as well as miners. Here is my basic practise of the two

cartoony sketch of a miner and a male model — The height difference is very funny here (I genuinely didn't do it on purpose!)

I then wanted to practise the face, since I wanted it to have a 1920s art deco aesthetic. I started by drawing men from photos. I used the Doctor X poster as a basis for one, and a male model in profile for the other

A sketch of a young man with slicked back hair and thick lips — I was half using the reference photo and half trying to match an aesthetic I had in my head, I probably should have stuck closer to the former

This is more direct from the reference photo, so it looks better

I then decided to find 1920s (or at least 1920s style) art that I could take inspiration from. I will say it was hard to find men with the aesthetic I wanted (slicked back hair and dark-ish lips)

Two mens' faces in a cartoony style, with text '1920s men's face (from 1920s art)' — I like that I managed to make the first one not look like I drew it XD

A man in a suit with a strong 1920s aesthetic — I REALLY liked this one, sadly he didn't look 'pretty' enough for me

I then turned my attention to the ponies! These actually weren't AS tricky as I expected (not easy, but I could get the basic shape)

A sketch of a pit pony — The harness was okay to do in a 3/4 pose but I thought it could clutter things up in profile (and as a background element)

A portrait of a pony — The sadness feels very fitting here

A sketch of a pony — This is the pose I want for the final piece, it was surprisingly hard to get the canter to look right

I then did some practises of the composition of the piece, the miner and the pony walking (like the woman and the dog in the original). I decided instead of holding a leash or rein, the miner would hold a lamp (I know real life pit ponies would have been harnessed but I decided to take artistic license, i.e. I didn't want to include that)

A sketch of a miner walking with a pit pony, text reads, 'holding flat cap', 'he is guiding the pony in darkness' — To mimic the original person clasping her breast, I thought he should clasp a flat cap

A sketch of a miner walking with a pit pony in a mine, the top third shows mountains far away from the miner — I decided to have the top third show the sky in part so I could have the moon but also to make the background not just coal

I then realised I needed to practise the lamp, and the miner holding said lamp in his hand

A drawing of an old fashioned portable lamp — I am hoping this is from the right period (a lot of images online, hard to know what is authentically 1920s)

A drawing of a hand holding the top of a lamp — Hands are hard, but this turned out alright!

Here is the plan for the final piece (pencil and painted versions)

A drawing of a miner walking with a pit pony in a mine, the top third shows mountains far away from the miner — A more refined version of the above images really

A loose watercolour painting of a miner walking with a pit pony in a mine, the top third shows mountains far away from the miner — Mixing watercolour is so annoying, it runs out very quickly (hence why it isn't fully coloured - hopefully using watercolour paper will help too)

How the process is going

Well, by the fact that this is being written in October (and I am atill not finished!) means that I am woefully behind. I have had a few busy weekends last month, so I can hopefully make up the time THIS weekend and wrap this all up and move onto my next artist. I think I have a solid plan, and practising the mixing of the watercolours should have helped too.

Anything I have learnt

I have learned that I should probably schedule specific 'art time' for myself so that I can get things done!