Nurgul Ozkeser – Part One

Each week we set a challenge for our students to encourage them to try something new or look at things a little differently. It’s a chance to step away from their course work, explore a theme, and create something just for fun. The challenge this time was simple: create a piece of artwork using only black and white. No colour allowed.

It’s a great exercise in observation, focusing on tone, shading, contrast, and structure without relying on colour to carry the piece. We have had a wide variety of submissions of which we will reveal on Thursday as usual.

However, in the mean time we were so impressed by the collection of work Nurgul Ozkeser sent in for this challenge that we felt it deserved its own post. Perhaps not just one… but two! She didn’t just submit one or two pieces, she sent a whole set of studies, all based around the black and white theme. Enough for two blog posts!

These images range from bold ink drawings of flowers and foliage to delicate pencil work and tonal still life studies, there’s a real range of techniques and subjects here. Her glass studies on black paper are particularly effective, showing a strong understanding of light and reflection. The fruit and vegetable drawings are subtle and well observed, and her shell sketches are detailed and precise.

Nurgul clearly put a lot of time and effort into these pieces, and it really shows. Thank you, Nurgul, for sharing these with us, we are delighted to share them here! Stay tuned for the next instalment tomorrow.