Final Drawings

This sketch is of my friend sitting on a duvet in the kitchen. It took 1 hour. The proportions of the body are pretty much correct along with the angles of the lines. The shading around the body shows depth to the image and also where the shadows are, such as the self shadow under the arm. The shape is uses quite a closed form and a static pose. The subject is very relaxed and you can tell this by the looseness of the arm resting on the knee, there is no tension. You can see that the tension is going through the models left arm as it is very straight, this shows where the weight is. The overall anatomy is very good as you can see the outline of some of the muscles. The detail in the face and on the torso is nice as it adds more appeal to the overall drawing. The shading is especially good on the torso as it helps to define the models pecks and his bone structure around the neck. The shadow on the floor is nice as it adds more interest and creates balance. The faint background works well as it compliments the model but doesn't take focus away from it. The toes and fingers could have been drawn better, especially the fingers at the back as the hand looks in an awkward position.

This still life sketch is of a selection of items from around my bedroom. A nice composition has been used as the items have been positioned in a way that adds interest. The main focal point of this image in the elephants head and trunk and the areas of interest are the two rounded objects on top of the book. This holds the viewers attention to the image more. There are both lines and implied lines in this sketch, for example the line of the DVDs and books and then the implied line that follows around the top of the objects and around the bottom of them, leading the eye around the entirety of the drawing. There is nice balance in this picture and more than one axis for the line of balance to fall. There are some kissing objects in this picture, for example the perfume bottle and the ear of the elephant. Also the near kissing objects such as the elephant arm and the bottom of the right hand side perfume bottle, these don't work well. There are no orphaned objects for the main part of the composition, however the coins on the table could be seen as orphaned, but they are all connected by the table, placed there to help the balance. The backdrop behind is faint as to not detract the viewers attention and acts as a way of completing the picture. The shading works well overall, and you can see where the light is bouncing off some objects, the tonal values differ between darker and lighter objects, thought more could have been added plus the quality of shading could have been higher.

This landscape drawing took 43 minutes. It is of a river running down in between trees, buildings and a path. This picture shows clear perspective as the further down the eye goes the smaller everything gets. Good proportions have been used throughout as the trees are the right size and so are the buildings. This image has a foreground, a mid-ground and a background, although the mid-ground is quite hard to see in my drawing, it is very small. These three layers help to add depth to my drawing and create interest. The shading is good in places such as the river and the tress, though on the buildings they still look flat. Also the path with grass either side is fairly bad as it looks as though the whole thing is sloping when in fact only one section is. The shading has been drawn in the wrong direction. Overall this is a nice composition with a variety of things going on to look at. The top left corner has been left blank which makes the picture look fresher. The fence has been drawn well with cross-hatching to represent the wires, and the tress branched add to the depth of the picture.

Week Twelve

This sketch took 32 minutes. The location of this sketch was next to a church in Todmorden. The image focuses on the bending around of the path with a muddy, grassy slope with tress on. The different heights of the individual slopes are captured well with direction of the applied colours and the line separating the layers. The detail of colour throughout is very effective and have blended together very well. The light source is visible in parts, especially the lighter sections on the tree trunks, and top of the bend of the road. This sketch uses very nice composition as the eye can travel up the picture at ease. The fact that the tress use straight lines and everything else is curves is very effective as it creates a nice contrast. The blending of colours could be improves around the bottom left and more details could be added to improve this picture.

Week Eleven

This is a colour drawing of the town hall in Centenery Square. My medium was oil pastels and they have worked well. The colours have been mixed successfully creating different tones throughout the building, the colour grey shows the darker areas well with brown and white capturing the light source. The path in front of the hall is made up of a mixture of paler colours so that it doesn't detract attention away from the main subject. The angle of the top windows are wrong and tilt too far to the right, giving the impression of a tilting wall. The perspective is good on this building and shows a 2 point perspective, two walls separated by a curved middle section. The front window works well as it looks pushed back from the frame and the wall which adds dimension and helps to create depth.

This is another pastel drawing of the town hall in Centenery Square, but this time of the front. The view angle is interesting as it is front side on creating a foreground, mid-ground and background. The colours have mixed well, with brighter colours used for the foreground. The composition of this picture works well and is interesting to look at. The curvature of the front wall is nice as it acts as a border for the picture. The three layers work well as they fade more the further back your eye gets. The proportions of each object are near correct and the coloured sketch works well. 

Week Ten

This 20 minute sketch is of a viewing box at the Alhambra theatre. The curvature of the box and the upper wall work well as they create nice symmetry and also help to portray the concept of classical architectural design. The curtain has been drawn well with a slight crease to add depth to the picture. The fact that you can see part of the upper floor and the box lower down creates a nice use of layers in the picture adding interest. There is a hint to some design features starting to take place around the bottom of the box, which would have been successful if finished. Shading would have also helped to add depth to the sketch and make it look less flat. The overall proportions are somewhat off and look too squashed in places. 

This 11 minute sketch was drawn in an old church in Germany. It shows one of the side doors and was drawn in 2B pencil.The detail in the window above the door is effective as it draws the viewers eye straight to the middle, where the main focal point is. This sketch lacks any depth at all, and looks very flat as a result. Deeper shading would have helped this problem, although it would have still looked flat. The view point is bad and the centralisation of the door does not work well as it shows boring composition. The sketch does show good balance as it is very symmetrical, and although a very rushed sketch has managed to capture the look of the church door.

This sketch has also been drawn inside the church in Germany. It took 16 minutes and I used a 2B pencil. This sketch demonstrates good perspective and the curvature of the top columns helps to follow the eye around the picture. Some detail has been put onto the top columns and the ceiling helping to add interest. The shading is not too bad, it creates depth to the sketch although would benefit from more tonal values as the picture still looks rather flat. The sketch has been drawn from an interesting view point of sitting down and looking up. There is a nice balance in the sketch and the sense of classical architecture has been portrayed well. The walls are supposed to look at an angle to each other, but looks like they are next to each other, this is a problem that I wasn't able to solve.

Week Nine

This interior landscape shows a very good use of lines. The lines are all at different angles to each other creating the shape of the landscape, there are no curves just straight angles lines making for an interesting picture. You can clearly see the architecture in the drawing with the downstairs next to the upstairs, creating a nice balance in the picture. Almost every line is in its correct place, showing a use of good proportions for the steps, walkway and wall. The empty space at the bottom of left is effective as it creates a more simplistic drawing as you cannot see what is downstairs. The overall shading has been done well, although more could have been added to give more dimension by varying tonal values as well. I used a 2B pencil and overall it is a successful, pleasing to the idea drawing.

This interior sketch took around 40 minutes to complete. The sketch focuses on perspective, as you can see the further away the viewers eye gets the longer the distance appears on the picture. The clean, clear lines and shading show modern architecture very well and uses a lot of solid lines that help to show this too. The curve works well connecting the wall to the rest of the picture. This sketch has a lot of depth and has been drawn from an interesting view point as you can see both the upstairs and the downstairs, including the front door. The angles of the lines are mostly correct and can be seen to follow the viewers eye down into the sketch, mostly the bottom middle lines of the tops of the small walls. The tonal values in the shading are varied creating interest and more depth which work well to show a 3 dimensional place on a 2 dimensional plane.

This interior sketch took 28 minutes using a 2B pencil. The sketch shows a good use of perspective, as the view point goes off down the stairs, demonstrating foreshortening. Although no stairs can be seen, the viewer can still see that the picture is of a staircase as for one the railings demonstrate, but also you can see both floors in one picture and the foreshortening shows this. This sketch looks very 3 dimensional and guides the images eye around with ease even though there aren't many curves, the eye can glide down the ceiling of the stairwell and up either wall. The shading is participially good on the wall lights as there are different tonal values throughout them creating depth and form. The shadows from the lights are also done effectively and add more interest to the overall picture. 

Week Eight

This weeks lecture took place at Leeds City Museum where we had the chance to draw non-human anatomy of taxidermy.

This is my drawing of the Tasmanian dog. The overall proportions and shape are all nearly correct, for example, the body of the dog is the right distance away from it's paws and the head isn't too big for the animal, the tail is possibly too small though as it looks slightly odd. The best part of this sketch is the head and face, it looks very life-like (even though it is dead). The overall shading isn't too bad, although you can tell it has been slightly rushed and the stripes could have been made longer and blended into the body better. This drawing (although a stationary object) has a good sense of movement and this picture clearly shows where the animals muscles and bone structure are. Overall, I am fairly happy with this 34 minute sketch, drawn with a 2B pencil.

This is my drawing of the badger. It demonstrates good form and uses correct proportions. The angles of the badger are mostly correct. Although the drawing does not look realistic, because a badger wouldn't usually be seen in this position, it still looks life-like as you can tell the drawing is a badger, and the shading very much helps with this. The shading going down the stomach of the badger is especially good as it follows the hair lines and flows nicely around the animal, adding dimension to the 2D plane. The arm underneath the face looks very odd and looks as though it comes straight across the badger, when really it doesn't start there. This in turn has made the bottom of the head look strange too. The tail doesn't looked attached to the body though has a nice texture to it. Overall this drawing took 23 minutes, using a 4B pencil.

This is my drawing of one of the skinny-legged long beaked birds. The angle the bird has been drawn at is very interesting and shows foreshortening as the beak looks the same size as the legs, when in reality it is smaller. The curvature of the lines are very effective and have created some very nice shapes that are pleasing on the eye. The curvature really makes you follow the bird along it's body. All the proportions are nearly correct, although the back leg and feet may be slightly off. The basic shading of the beak has worked well and only very partially shading in the body and around the wings has made a nice contrast. The overall composition of the bird is very pleasing to the eye and has been laid out on the page nicely. Overall it took 20 minutes using a 2B pencil.

Week Seven

This week was all about movement and action is dynamic poses and posture. Posture is all about balance and weight and pose is all about gesture, how we convey life through the drawing.

 

This is a series of quick 5 minute sketches, where the model started off in a very static pose, using a closed form and then ended up the opposite, in a dynamic pose, using open form. The first of the three images shows a good sense of balance and weight, you can see that the weight is mostly on the models back leg and she is leaning forwards slightly with her head in her hands. This sketch has a good use of line and shows good body proportions. The middle sketch doesn't use as good proportion as the first as the torso is too long for the legs. The angles of the body are fairly accurate and the slight tilt of the head has been done nicely. There isn't as good balance in this sketch as the last. The last sketch has been drawn too big for the page and as a result the legs have had to be shortened to fit on better, this again is not good proportion. The torso is a better size this time and the head is more upright, which you can see. Overall, as the pose got more dynamic and the form got more open the worse the standard of the quick sketch got, most probably due to the fact that the more open the form, the more lines there are to see.

This is a quick sketch of model lying down resting on her side. The pose that the model is doing is fairly static and her form is slightly more open than closed, as the arms are quite far apart showing you the models body and one leg is reached straight out opening the form up more. The overall posture of this picture is pretty good as you can see a good sense of balance, the picture doesn't make the model look as though she's about the topple over and you can see the weight that flows through arms and onto the models right hand and left arm. The proportions of the sketch are fairly accurate and for a 10 minute sketch a lot of information has been put down. The level of detail is nice as you can see the flattened breast and the slight tilt of the head as she was looking down. This picture was drawn using a 4B pencil.

This is a very quick sketch that lasted less than a minute. It shows movement. It shows the model sitting on a chair and gradually pushing herself up and moving slightly forward till she was in a standing position. The overall line quality is not very good as it is a very rushed piece of art, but the general idea of movement is there, as you can see several heads, bodies, arms and legs all at different stages of the movement.

Week Six

This was reading week. I thought that I would take a better look and have some more practice at anatomy, especially with the female figure.

This drawing is of my model sitting down on the rug with a very relaxed arm and hand posture. In this drawing you can see the relaxedness of the models left arm and hand especially as there is not much tension and the hand looks as thought it is just touching the rug and not putting any pressure onto it. You can also see the tension going through the upper body as the model is very upright and taught. The fold of the stomach under the bra and how one leg is slightly more forward than the other works well in this picture. The overall shading of this picture is not too bad, as it helps to give the picture a more 3 dimensional feel and helps to show where creases of the body are, such as the inner elbow crease. The feet could have been done better by adding toes, and maybe a face would have been nice to complete the picture, though in all, this drawing is of a good standard and shows a use of very good proportion. It took me 29 minutes in total and I used a 2B pencil.

This drawing is very similar to the last, the body has just been moved round slightly and the legs in a different position. In this drawing you can clearly see the weight being put onto the back hand. You can see the tension staring at the shoulder and flowing down to the hand, the arm is slightly bent and the hand is flat. The other arm is the opposite and is very relaxed with no tension at all, you can even see how relaxed the muscles are because the skin is not taught, but has a few bulges. The head is slightly too small for the body, resulting in the drawing appearing strange, the facial features and shading around the neck don't help to compliment the head either. The shading is quite good in other places of the body, mostly the back arm and the stomach area. This sketch took me 30 minutes in total, using a 2B pencil.

In this drawing you can see a very good example of good proportions, everything is the right size for everything else, although the stretched out leg is possibly slightly too short. The curvature of the lines are very good and show good anatomy by displaying the actual shape of the human form of the model. The arch in the back has been nicely done along with the taught upper leg of the bent leg and then the curve on the lower part as that part is more relaxed. The facial features, although not perfect show a good representation of the human female face and the hair strands flow nicely. The posture is good in this drawing, as there a good sense of balance. The shading is not perfect but does help to give the drawing a 3 dimensional feel. This drawing could have been improved by including toes and fingers and maybe looking more closely at the outstretched leg as it is slightly off. This sketch took 22 minutes in total using a 2B pencil.

Week Five

This was our first figure drawing session of the semester. Recapping everything we had previously learnt.

This 15 minute sketch is of the male model sitting cross legged, slightly leaning forwards. Planning has been done for this sketch to get the proportions correct, this hasn't been correctly done as the model looks to elongated. The form is bad on this picture as the model looks too skinny and disproportioned. The bend in the arm is very unnatural and has no mass to it. The bend in the back has been exaggerated too much, making it look as though the model has a chunk taken out of him, not looking realistic at all. The overall shape flows well and it is easy to identify where limbs are. The legs have been positioned well showing that the model was sitting cross legged. The shading is simple and not finished but it is starting to give some form to the overall picture and the line down the back of the back gives a nice indication to the curvature of the spine. I used a 4B pencil for this drawing.

This quick sketch took me 10 minutes using a 2B pencil. The proportions of this sketch are good and the overall form is nice especially around the torso area. The head is in proportion to the body and joins up to it well. The bend of the head has been done well as you can tell that the model is looking down slightly, adding interest and realism to the drawing. The shape of the buttocks are good, as they are not perfectly round but have been flattened out slightly, showing that the model is sitting. The main problem with this picture is the floating leg, the side leg appears as though it is not attached, and although it was not on the floor, it does not look correct and makes the picture look odd. The line going down the back of the spine makes the sketch look odd, although it helps to show that the picture has nice symmetry. 

Week Four

These are my directed study quick sketches. Each are drawn from an angle in which foreshortening will have to take place in the sketch. 

This sketch took 22 minutes. I used a 4B pencil for this sketch of a hair dryer. The focus of this drawing was to get a sense of foreshortening along the blow tube. The end of the dyer is bigger in proportion to the front and higher up so that you are able to view the sketch as though it was moving further away. The shading around the rim of the dryer is good as it gives the object a nice form, as well at the different tonal shading going down the handle of the dryer adding more interest to the image with greater depth and detail. The shadow underneath the dryer compliments the overall drawing as it helps to give the overall picture good balance. This picture could have been improved by varying the tonal values of the shading going from the back of the dryer around to the buttons on the handle. Another negative would be that this picture looks too flat and doesn't have much dimension to it, possibly due to the over usage of hard lines.

This quick sketch took 12 minutes. It consists of looking onto the smaller face of a tissue box, drawn with a 2B pencil. The focus of this drawing was to get a sense of foreshortening along the length of the box. As you can see, the further away the eye goes along the side the smaller their width gets, giving a sense of distance. The overall shading of the box is average, with different tonal values on different faces depending on where the light was hitting the box. The shading on the tissue is good as you can see its form and it has good volume to it, being able to distinguish where the folds lie. The arrangement of the box on the paper is good as it has a nice blank space in the top right, which creates a nice balance. This sketch could have been improved by altering the quality of line and the quality of shading. The overall proportions are correct which makes the picture more pleasing to look at.

This sketch of a toaster took 27 minutes using a 2B pencil. The focus of this drawing was to get a sense of foreshortening along the length of the toaster. This picture was drawn from above the object, creating a more interesting angle. We can recognise the foreshortening by the compression of the top of the toaster, how it looks squashed, also the cable that is running around the outside gets gradually smaller in size, demonstrating this as well. The overall tonal values of the shading have worked well as you can see where the light is hitting the object, especially on the side of the toaster with the white mark, showing that the material of the toaster is shiny in order to reflect light like that. The quality of the shading however is maybe not so good as it looks quite rushed and some of the lines are all over the place. The overall form and proportions of the toaster are good, although the object looks strange as it has bent round, if the quality of shading had been improves then this problem would have been sorted out. 

Week Three

This week we were focussing on composition. We had to think a lot for ourselves as we had to move the objects around ourselves till we thought the composition was good. We would then quickly sketch it and keep doing more, this was a good practice.

In this quick composition sketch we only had 3 objects and the cloth to play with. The composition has both good and bad points. The bad point is mainly the kissing between the bottle and the vase which could have been avoided if either the bottle got moved to the left slightly, or I had moved myself. There are many more good points than bad, for example there is an implied line that goes from the top of the bottle through to the bottom right corner of the jar. There is also a good balance in this picture as it is somewhat symmetrical yet, not too obvious. For a 2 minute sketch I think that the proportion of the objects is relatively good and a fair amount of detail has been involved.

For this quick composition sketch we got the chance to play around with 5 objects. Firstly, there is an implied line formed by the position of the objects, a definite upside down 'V' shape, with a longer sloping side and a shorter steeper side. The balance in this composition is also very good and pleasing on the eye as 3 shorter objects are behind the cloth and the taller object is in front, with a long thin object next to them both in front and behind the cloth. There are no orphaned objects, although there is quite a bit of kissing taking place on either side of the picture. The main focal point in this picture is this tall bottle with all the other objects being points of interest, as neither stand out more than the other. This sketch took me 2 minutes again and I am happy with the amount of detail I managed to put in, especially the different tonal qualities of the line on the vase as you look through the bottle.

This is my final piece from the lesson. This was the favoured composition of the group and it is clear to see why. For a start, there are two implied lines, an outer line and a more inner line, both following the shape of the layout of the objects. This composition uses very nice balance as the tallest objects are in the middle and then to balance them, the composition uses a short, long object either side, and where there is the longest object, on the other side it is balanced by two objects. There are no kissing or even near to kissing objects and none of the objects have been orphaned. The overall composition is very pleasing to the eye. Some of the lines of the objects are not quite correct, though the majority of the picture is in proportion and the shading is pretty much correct. This picture took me 21 minutes.

Week Two

This week was all about shape and form. For example when we concentrate on shape we are looking at the external lines and form is all about the interior of the shape, form helps the 2D drawing to look like it's 3D subject.

This is a plain contour drawing of an arrangement of objects. Only the shape of the objects have been drawn, using a mixture of concave and convex curves, the inside form of the objects has also been drawn, but only as a line drawing, no shading has been added. The overall composition of this picture is very good because it is pleasing to the eye. There is an implied line that makes your eye follow around the picture, this is from the top of the tall vase following down to the top of the object on the far right. There is also a very good balance between all the objects as they are varied in height, though all the same type of shape. Also there is no centralised object, as the tallest of the composition is positioned to the far left, adding interest to the picture. There are no orphaned objects in the picture, although there is a bit of kissing going on between the jug and the thin vase. This picture took me 20 minutes and I used a soft graphite stick.

This is a negative space drawing, much like the contour drawing you can only see the shape of the objects. The point of this exercise was to just concentrate on drawing the negative space around the objects, which in turn would reveal the shape of the objects themselves. The top half of the picture is very strong and you can clearly see the shape of the big vase, though further down the picture it gets slightly muddled and especially as no background was included some of the objects look orphaned and as if they're kissing, when in reality they were not. The texture of the negative space is very effective and creates a lot of interest in the picture, this effect was created by using a soft graphite stick and smudging hard lines. This drawing took me 20 minutes.

After the negative drawing in the session another one was created at home as it was a very interesting task. The picture is of a variety of vases and an old metal bucket. This is a very simple negative space drawing, although a very effective one. The precision of the negative space creating the objects is very good as you can clearly see what the objects are. You can also tell which objects are in front and behind. Charcoal was used for this drawings, creating a different texture from the last, as this one has turned out a more block colour, this creates even more simplicity which complements the picture. Overall this is a successful piece of work.

Week One

This week was concentrating on getting back into drawing. The focus of this drawing was getting the flow of the cloth correct with the checkered material facing the right way. The overall form of the cloth has been achieved with added subtle folds,though these could have been made better by gaining more accuracy. The actual checks on the cloth are in some places very good, though in other places they look slightly odd. If a thick graphite stick hadn't been the chosen material then it would have been easier to add more detail, such as different tonal values for the different checks, unfortunately this wasn't the case and these couldn't be achieved. It took me 45 minutes in total for this drawing, I spent 30 minutes on the shading and 15 minutes on getting the outline of the cloth and the tables correct.