Assignment 2

  Preliminary sketches

I decided on my composition from these sketches by looking at light souses, angles and arrangements I felt the first  one was most successful as it made best use of negative space with the antlers finishing on the same line as the bottle.                      
                                  

Media.
I went with oil pastel as it could give the richness I was after as well as gives the ability to build up a large number of layers which I was going to need to capture the skulls form using colour.

Final piece.

I think that oil pastel was the correct  use of media for this piece. As I think the layers built up by it has given a good sense of form especially in the case of the skull. I also think the piece came together to create the richness I wanted.
However there are flaws in the prospective in areas of the skull as well as the bottle seeming to be tipped back on its self.

Drawing animals

What were the main challenges of drawing animals?
I found the main challenge to was weals drawing the pony that even tho I thort a horse stayed relatively still weals it grassed they as in fact constantly walking one foot at a time really slowly so a horse grassing is in fact for different positions. As well as this I found drawing in wing to be a challenge the bigger the paper the more so. Also the subject just wondering off created a challenge this can b seen in my fiber pen sketch and last pastel drawing with the proportions being wrong.

Which media did you enjoy using the most and which did you feel were best for the subject matter and why?

Sketching the pony I thort biro was the best media to capture the beast quickly how ever merging half pastels was the best media to capture it fluffy coat.

Working with the fish I thort a mix between water crayons and water pencils worked best with a white half pastel for the high lights. As these best captured the iridescence of the fish.

Where can you go to draw more animals. Have you tryed drwing an animal on the move yet?

I could try to draw the animals around my home or draw dogs at the part or go to a farm of zoo to find more animals to draw as well as what can be found naturally in fields. I had to finish a fiber pen sketch of a horse grassing weals the horse was on the move. Using a media like Biro or charcoal probably would be more successful drawing an animal on the move.

Research point.
                                                                                 Cat

Dog

                                                                       Horse

                                   
                                      


                               
                                  George Stubbs. The fourth Anatomical table of muscles

George Stubbs's studies of horse's anatomy, particular of the bone and musal structure must of greatly informed his final pieces by enhancing his understanding a horses form and proportions even if the horse had moved out of the position it was originally drawn in.
I can see in my drawing of the pony that it would of greatly befitted from a studie of horse anatomy first as is poorly informed.

                                           George Stubbs. Bay horse and white dog



Research point.

Rearing Horse. Leonardo. 1503-04. Red chalk and pencil
This piece is interesting because it relay captors the hours and its characteristics throw its movement not just its positioning in its pose but the lines referencing how it moved in to its positions.
The horse's pose must of been captured in a quick sketch then the fine tone added later and details added later.

Drawing plants and flowers

How will your experiment with negative space help your observations in future?
It was defiantly a lesson in patients. I did notice by the end of the piece I was not having as much trouble spotting the shape of the negative space witch I was having great difficultly with in the beginning, especially when the space was made up out of the gaps in multiple layers. I did tho learn to just see negative space in the end witch made the drawing move along much faster. I also learnt that drawing negative space is easier when you have a single colour of flat background to help you distinguish.

Which techniques did you use to ensure your plants in proportion.

Mostly just careful observation constantly referencing against already drawn parts and the plant as well as using my pen to gage distances and angles.

How did you achieve an effect of three-dimensional space in your drawings?
In the negative space excises, three dimensional space is created throw perspective, mostly in the small grassy and furn type growth coming throw the negative space right in the rear of the picture.
Three dimensional space is created in the other pieces throw overlapping and tone created by form, made up out of multiple layers of coloured pencils, crayon, and fiber pens. Some times all three. I also sscratched back in to the Media experiment peace creating relief in layer in that way its physically three dimensional

Drawing fruit and vegetables in colour

Research point: Ben Nicholson

Mousehole 1947, Ben Nicholson
Ben Nicholson had this unique style of simplify things such as still lives and adding them to Cornish landscapes. 
I think the reason for this is because he became influenced by Mondrain, wails in Paris, and his work in the neoplastic style influence him this abstract direction. Then Ben Nicholson later moved to St Ives.


Your composition should fit most of the paper's surface. How much negative space do you have left?

I think the banana's composition was a good use of space so I probably should of brought the pepper down lower so its bottom sat flat with the banana's stork. This would of removed more negative space. As for the pastel piece the there is also far to much negative space but it dose create a nice border for the piece. I should of scaled up the image more until it almost touched both sides of the paper and mover the hole piece down so the orange would still fit.

What have you learned from drawing the details of fruit and vegetables?

From the drawing of the details of vegetables I have mostly learned about the intricacy's of the insides of peppers and the textures of a banana's skin as well as pen and ink gives a nice contrasted and an ability to create finer detail wels working with fiber pens.

What did you find challenging on this part of the course?

I found learning how to build up oil pastels to create a 3D affect most difficult. Starting from the dark and working to light over numerous layers. I wasn't having much luck with it but as more and more layers were added it all came together and its now my favorite piece that I've done so far.

Still life

What aspects of each drawing have been successful, and what did you have problems with?

I think in general the line drawing was more successful than the tone piece I think mostly because of the simplistic indications of texture were quite successful like the stippling on the orange and the texture of the banana. Aspects I think were less successful were the other half of the pepper not especially looking like a pepper and the boll not having the correct shape. I need to work on drawing curbs more.

The other tonal peace had less successful aspects but I do like the vibrancy and freeness of it. Less successful elements are the composition, with it being to bunched up and makes the piece look untidy.

Did you manage to get a sense of depth in your drawings? What elements of the drawing and still life groupings helped to create that sense.

The depth is captured in the line drawing by mostly having the objects bunched together on a plait but with a letus leaf in the foreground that over laps with the plait and a banana resting on the plat of to one side. the overlapping creates the depth.

     In the tone piece the depth is partly created by tone and the over lapping of objects but also the banana that is set way back from the rest of the objects.

What difficulties were created by restricted to line or tone?

 Being restricted to line makes suggesting form harder by not being able to use the fall of light to describe the object such as the right had side of the pepper.

     Using only tone and pastels presented difficulties in judging detail as you don't have the skeleton to add the meat to, as you usually do so I found myself orientating around the picture using the original blocks of dark tone laid down.

Detailed observation

Which drawing media did you find most effective to use, for which effects?

The softer pencils were great for creating a smooth merging tone and could give depth as well if harder pencils were worked in before hand or after. So pencils were really good for accurate tone. Ball pionts were far better for hatching or bold lines, blocks of solid tone or stippling as each dote has more presents.

What sort of marks work well to create tone, pattern and texture?

Hatching and cross hatching works really well to create tone. Stippling works well to create pattern, repeated lines can also do this.

Did you enjoy capturing detail or are you more at home capturing big broad brush sketches?

I do ordinarily enjoy capturing detail and if any thing doing this curse has tort me to not try to include excessive detail. However by pencil sketch did not capture the detail of tone I'd wanted because, I was drawing such a small fir cone bud that I had trouble with my observations and the detail suffered because of this.

Look at the composition of the drawings you have done in this project. Make some sketches and notes about how you could improve your composition.

I think the composition of both pieces is ok both being central and use as much of the paper as possible wels still fitting it.

I could perhaps of got a more interesting composition by keeping the size of the items the same but moving them right to one side to create more negative space on one side than the other. 

Did doing a line drawing get you to look at space more effectively?

Yes I think it has because all a line drawing really shows is application of space and an objects form comes down to the space in and relationship of the lines. There for makes you really look at the space between lines cos that such a large part of the piece.

Exploring coloured media

Research point

The Vanities of human life.

Harmen Steenwyck, Oil on oak.

This is a cerfully observed painting that captures the detail of the reflected light. This creates a detailed texture. The composition also captures a lot of detail such as the book being open for the lay of the pages to be captured.

Polygonum Amplexicaute. Charles Mahoney.

I unfortunately have not been able to copy to my blog on this occasion.

This piece a very detailed botanical studie witch must of been incredibly closely observed. There is little negative space as the space is used up with further detailing to best describe the plant in a single composition. Good use of line and pattern that captures the liefs and stalk as well as a great capture of colour giving detailed accounts of dying liefs.

I found the verents of the pastels very expressive and interesting to use as I didn't know up until today, that what I had perversely always used was half pastels and I'd just assumed soft and oil were the same. I think it was the soft pastels witch I found most expressive due to the fluidness in witch they can be used and the ease of merging colours. But they cant give that waxy effect other pastels or crayons can.

Oil pastels:  Did not merge the same way but could be applied really heavily and then scratched back in to with a lot more detail than I thort.

Half pastels: Merge brilliantly as well as can give a bold line but don't build up the same as oil or have quite the vibrancy.

Wax crayon: can give a lovely waxy colour but cant match oil pastels and are weaker when working back on top of a piece nor merge like half or soft pastels.

Markers: Great for hatching or a solid block of black but lacks the subtlety and fineness of a biro or coloured pencils.

Colour pencils: Can be worked Finley and good for fine hatching or shading but lack at laying down a block of colour with any real presents.

Ink: with a pen it can create a fine line but lacks the predictability of a pen (not necessarily a bad thing) It can also be used as a wash if waters then worked in. Using a brush with ink gives a much thicker line than a nib would.

Ink and pen, and colouring pencils defiantly lend them self to finer more detailed work over pastels and crayons.

The technique and experiment I most enjoyed were the use of soft pastel to merge colours together starting from the lightest and oil pastels to build up a thick layer to scratch back in to. I'm looking forward to applying these techniques.