The First Attempt, Part I

So, here is my first attempt at "the project".

I have been kinda putting off this post, because I'm not too terribly proud of it. But I will try to look at it as a learning experience, rather than a finished product. (metaphor for life, perhaps?)

As I believe I stated before, I am not by nature an artistic person. So there will be be a bit of learning that goes into the process. I showed my rubbing to my sister-in-law, who was an art major, and she was able to immediately suggest techniques which will improve my future attempts. Anyway, without further ado, here it is:

This is a rubbing of my Grandfather's Grave, Roy D. Mattson. I realize it is kind of hard to read. I'll get to that in a minute. His death was really the first time I ever had to contemplate the notion of mortality, so I thought it fitting that his grave be my first attempt. However, I am slightly regretting my choice now: he was such an important person in my early childhood, I wish I had waited till I could do a decent job with his rubbing.

Moving On.

Let's go over what I've learned:
1) A toddler is a poor expedition partner.
2) I used charcoal pencils for this rubbing. Whole sticks of charcoal would have worked better, eliminating some of the lines and making it easier to read. (See 1993 vs Roy D.)
3) Another difficulty with pencils for rubbing is they become dull very quickly, and if you neglect to bring a sharpener, you find quickly yourself SOL.
4) I also experimented with various types of charcoal, since I really had no clue what would work best. As I quickly discovered, the softest gave the crispest, clearest lines.
5) The angle of the rubbing also has an effect: vertical works well, horizontal is pretty illegible (notice the shift from left to right on the top part of the rubbing). I think I got the best effect from a 45 degree angle.
6) For presentation purposes, I think need a tripod for my camera, and better lighting.

My sister-in-law was also concerned with my choice of paper for the rubbing, namely newsprint. She mentioned that it degrades quickly, hence it only being used as sketch paper by most artists. However, for me its thinness was ideal for the rubbings, and the contrast comes through beautifully. I hesitate to use anything more substantial for this reason. Any suggestions for a paper that would hold up better over the long term, but is still fairly thin?

Stay tuned for: First Attempt, Part II.