4 May 2018
Exercise 1 Groups of objects
I have to choose at least 6 objects of different sizes and shapes, of which some should be three-dimensional forms made from rectangles and cylinders.
I do a few short drawings…I am not comfortable with drawing a see through rectangular box. I understand the idea is to get solidity and see fundamental forms of a cube, a sphere, cylinder and or a cone in objects.
The above exercise on black paper with white charcoal helps me to understand why my brain plays games with me: optical illusion and trying to find the box like form ( rectangular) that is imprinted in my memory…is the drawing then what I saw…or what I think I saw, or what I think I should see?
Wip: I do some prep sketches in my sketchbook with a graphite pencil, then start on the charcoal drawing. I use Hannemuhle paper and with a piece of charcoal I start suggesting edges with lines to also show the relative proportions of these objects, then blocking in the forms and shapes. I have a challenge to imagine that I can see through these forms – my coffee mug, a coffee press, my oil paint box, a sketchbook, old fashioned reading glasses, a bag of coffee and chocolate. At this stage I want to focus on having a realistic representation of the forms in my composition and not to many distortions. I believe my lines should represent the objects.
I smeared out the chocolate box during the drawing process and see that I need to draw more lines to confirm the shape and form of each item.
I do think the forms show transparency and weight, but the drawing could be overworked.
Exercise 2 Observing shadow using blocks of tone.
I sit outside…it is autumn in my part of the world and a beautiful sunny day. It is midday and the sun will soon cast longer shadows. I use charcoal blocks; messy on the brown paper and I progress to tonal values with the aid of fixative and white charcoal block.
Exercise 3. Creating shadow using lines and marks
Exercise 4. Shadows and reflected light
I started in my sketchbook with a perfume bottle and used a pencil with my putty eraser.
For the exercise I choose a grey tone paper and used the same perfume bottle as above, I add an old fashioned bottle to the composition of shadows and reflected light.
