Week 11: Value Range and Shading

Being a big part of drawing, I had studied shading and value before. Even so, I was not familiar with terms such as core shadow and terminator, but with simpler, common sense principles such as “the part facing the light is brighter” and “the shadow the object leaves on the ground is darker near said object”. Otherwise, I drew from observing the object and reproducing what I saw without knowing any technical terms. Though, looking back, knowing some theory is better than doing things blindly. 

That being said, for this task I first experimented with composition by drawing some preparatory sketches before deciding on the final one:

After some feedback I ended up with the third one. The first was quite boring because of having  too many small horizontal objects.Plus, the perspective on the skull wasn’t quite working, having overcomplicated myself yet again. The second was better in terms of perspective on the skull, and seemed a bit more interesting than the first one, maybe because of the slight 3 point perspective. Still, the third one that I put together after the feedback was best, because of the cylinder that breaks the horizontality. I also took out the skull since I decided keeping things simple for the moment  was best. 

I ended up with this composition, and turned the photo to grayscale so I could see the values better:

I first sketched the objects, paying attention to symmetry and ellipses. I think, in terms of composition, I could have done a better job, since I find the repeating pattern of the rocks a bit boring, though it is slightly softened by the shell that was more interesting than the rocks.

Then started marking and shading the darkest shadows on the objects:

For the other objects it was easy to find it, but for the cylinder, being transparent and made of plastic and so, having reflections, made it a bit harder. 

I then added gray tones going toward the highlight and darkened the shadows where it was the case:

I added details and shaded the background. This is the final work:

I really like how the key and cylinder turned out (especially the torn tape detail and the reflexions on the plastic), but the shading for the ground could have been cleaner. And, as I mentioned already, composition wise I could have done better. 

Week 10 - Ellipses and Symmetry

For this task I put together this composition: 

I wanted it to be a 3 point perspective composition so I could practice this more while also practicing symmetry and ellipses.

Like for the measured constructive drawing, I first blocked out the space that the objects would occupy by drawing boxes and also determined how wide the ellipses would be:

I then drew the ellipses using the same technique from week 8:

And drew the objects by drawing the lines connecting the ellipses:

I erased the construction lines and cleaned around the drawing a bit:

And then shaded the drawing:

When it comes to constructing the drawing, I didn’t particularly encounter any difficulties, besides my tendency to over exaggerate the perspective and the slight distortion on the ellipse at the top of the salt shaker. In terms of shading though, I recognise I could have done way better if I had given myself more time with better organization. The tones are similar and make the drawing seem flat and the reflexions on the glass could have been more accurate. On the other hand, I quite like the texture on the orange.

I will certainly come back to improve this drawing if given the time.

Week 9 - X-Y-Z Section Drawing

Since I was already quite behind and the deadline was approaching, so I chose to use the same shell I used for the orthographic drawing because I already had the thumbnail to help me construct the object. I had to make a decision: to get the tasks done by the end of the deadline or to do it by the book and risk not finishing it. I decided that finishing it in time was the right choice, but for next term, this is something I would like to change: to organize myself better in order to avoid this kind of situation.

I followed the instructions from the recording and started by choosing my unit of measurement - half of the shell’s height - and drawing the Y plane:

Since the shell is a more complex form than the one in the example, I couldn’t define it’s form yet. I decided the best way was to draw the box defining the space it occupies. And so, I continued by drawing the X and Z planes: 

I must admit the multitude of lines confused me, so a more organized, cleaner way of working on such a drawing would have benefitted me. 

After drawing the planes I started sketching the shell. I used the planes as much as I could, though looking back I could have done better, since the orientation of the front part of the shell (the spiralling one), doesn’t perfectly match its corresponding plane:

After cleaning the lines, this was the final work:

Week 8: Measured Constructive Drawing

The measured constructive drawing was technical enough, but I enjoyed it much more than I did the orthographic one. It also helped me visualize the objects in 3D better and draw more acuurately.

I started by measuring the objects and drawing boxes in order to delimit their height and width and where they are placed on the page compared to the other objects. Then I marked where the ellipses would be and how wide they are by drawing other boxes:

I sketched the objects, drawing the ellipses using the technique presented in this week's recording. I am not used to this way of drawing ellipses and, if I'm being honest, I found it a bit to complex. I must admit I got a bit confused with the lines. I usually only draw the box and the two lines marking the halves of the ellipse/ Though, I understand that way might be less accurate.

After drawing the objects, I erased the construction lines, straightened and cleaned a few others and shaded the drawing:

Week 7: Orthographic Drawing

I have to admit: orthographic drawing was one of my least favourite tasks this term. Though it is a bit too technical for me, I understand it’s use and how it can help me develop my art skills and my sense of perspective. 

For the first one, the symmetrical object one, I didn’t have any simple object that would still be interesting enough to draw. I didn’t want to draw a box, that would have been way too simple and would have probably defeated the purpose of the task. Unfortunately, that led me to draw something a bit more complicated than I probably should have. I found a small human skull replica I had bought during a trip and decided to draw that:

Since it is a plastic figurine bought from a souvenir shop, the human proportions might not be accurate. Since human anatomy wasn’t the point of the task, I think that is not a problem.

I started by sketching the thumbnails, to make sure I understand the way the skull is constructed and how the height, length and width work together:

To be honest, I struggled with the foreshortening of the top view because of the complexity of the object. After trying and failing a few times, I started trying to visualize every element on the “face” of the skull as circles going around the skull, disappearing under the main part of the cranium. As layers of a cake. You see more of the ones above and then less and less of the ones under. That made the perspective a bit more easy to understand and helped me pull off the foreshortening. It wasn't perfect and I can always do a better job of it, though. 

After that, looking at the thumbnails and also at my reference I started building the front image:

And, measuring to make sure the main proportions are right, I built the side and top views:

Again. foreshortening for the top view was tricky and might have resulted into a not so accurate top view. I believe I should have picked less complex objects to practice foreshortening before moving to something as complex as a human skull. It is something I will keep in mind for next time. 

And this was the final piece:

For the second drawing I chose a shell, since, again, I didn’t want the object to be too simple:

As with the other one, I first sketched the thumbnails:

Then built the final drawing: