Hebden Bridge: Colours in Spring

This drawing was created using 2H, 2B pencils and a variety of coloured pencils. It is a scene that deals with colour in the town of Hebden bridge and contains lighting that is created through the vibrant colours.  The countryside is nicely captured in the varying textures and shades of green with the bare trees scattered throughout it. This foliage works well and helps to show the brightness of the day. The bridge itself took some time to get right as one half is straight and the other half curves. With the addition of colour, the entire bridge does seem to curve incorrectly which is an issue that could only be rectified by straightening the edges with darker lines.

The contrast of textures between the cool trees and the warm building is also evocative of the colour of the day. There isn't a cloud in the sky and its clear message of a sunny day in Spring is one that definitely shines through. The buildings are all straight and have a sense of depth volume and weight. The texture of the water seems to have worked as well as it is a combination of crosshatching black, brown and blue which gives a somewhat watery look. This has also translated well in the blackened areas that convey shadow in and around the sides of the water.

The rule of thirds is present in this drawing and there is a convergence of vanishing points in the distance. The eye is also drawn to the center before the outside, something that was intentional through slight tone variations. In conclusion, this excursion allowed for a drawing that depicts the warmth and beauty of an exterior natural setting and the use of colour only enhances this further.    

National Media Museum: Modern interior

Today's drawing was at the National Media Museum in Bradford. It was difficult to find an interesting composition that would form an attractive piece of interior architecture. This staircase was chosen and purposely cropped in order to fully highlight the spiralled nature and textural variety whilst still managing to keep to the rule of thirds. Different tones and areas of rubbing helped to depict textures. This is evident mainly on the reflective glass around the staircase and on the thin strip of light running down the length of the rail. 

As far as shapes go, it is a very linear composition but it does also contain many squares which add to it's variety and realism. The shading that was incorporated is also a contributing factor to the form of the objects and give them a less flat and more pronounced feeling, There is clear implied line running from the bottom left foreground to the bottom right foreground and around in a circular path to the top left background. The jagged nature of stairs adds a nice contrast and balance to the flat walls and glass of the rest of the drawing. Finally, the overall drawing, completed using dark and light pencils and some small areas of marker in darker sections, conveys a sense of depth and volume thanks to the lighting in the image. There had been many other areas in the museum where lighting played a factor to the drawing but this was the best one due to the reflective elements and shadowed areas. It was also directly facing a large window which brightened some parts, most notably the bottoms of the steps in the left of centre. 

This drawing was inspired by having to look deeply for places of interest in a building that was relatively dull architecturally. When this was found, it was successful because it helped to create beauty in a scene that I did not originally see beauty in. It broadened my perspective on searching for scenes and the best possible drawing in a given space.

Next week: Hebden Bridge        

Cartwright Hall: Classical interiors

The layout of this drawing was chosen after careful consideration if the hall's interior and how the various different shapes within it, complemented each other in the best possible way to create an interesting balance of weight, depth and attraction. This scene, of the staircase, which in some ways reminds me of an old castle interior contains various textures and elements that draw the eye. The cup, the stairs and the walls all have different materials that make them but they all work together to allow for a better finished piece.

Looking at the idea of symmetry and the rule of thirds, this scene was also chosen for it's various angles and perspective lines such as the way the two halves converge on an imaginary line in the central distance and how the staircase and it's banister help to give a sense of depth and volume to the lower floor and itself. One issue is that of the ceiling and its angle. Due to the slant on it, it makes the picture look slanted and this optical illusion is an annoyance of the picture.

Elsewhere though, the addition of smudging and tone also help to add to the overall idea of depth and volume with smaller, more detailed designs having been added to areas of the pillars which emphasise the building's architectural precision. There is a nice variety of shapes in this composition as well such as in the square windows in the centre, the rounded edged cup in the centre foreground and the arches in the left and central background all of which help to ensure that the scene has a point of interest in every third of the drawing. Pencil was the chosen medium for this as it allowed for the effective representation of those sharp boxed lines around the stairs and pillars. Starting with a lighter 2H for general mapping and sizing, before moving on to a B for shading and relining the piece was the best method that I thought would capture the architectural realism of the hall.      

Finally, the lighting in the room came from the window, with a small amount of light coming in from the left and right sides of the image. This added to the composition but made it more difficult to fully capture some smaller element near the base of the window. Overall though, this drawing has worked with various levels of success. There is a clear sense of balance and depth but there are certain issues in the way the perpective works on the tops of the pillars. They were angled slightly off of where they should be but it isn't a major issue and doesn't draw the viewer's eye away from the overall drawing.

Royal Armouries

Today, the subject of drawing was the architecture of the inside of the Royal Armouries in Leeds. It is full of amazing structures and areas with great vantage points. The space that was chosen for this drawing was located near the centre of the building where most of the floors and walkways converge. The choice to do this as a landscape was wise as it was easier and better for fitting everything into one space. The omission of the knight statue was also a good choice as it took attention away from the overall focus of the picture and in some ways ruined the weight and balance that was attempted for the final piece. The tone and shading seemed to work well as the lighting cam in from above so it was darker to the sides. Due to a lot of cables and paths, the centre of the page seems somewhat crowded compared to the rest of it but this is okay as it is an accurate portrayal of the real architecture.

A major issue that was found was the ability to accurately draw the perspective and vanishing point of the windows on either side. This was partially rectified in some areas by creating a tonal depth to the windows but overall it was definitely one of the more challenging drawings and one that I am not overly pleased with due to my lack of success with these windows.

As a whole composition though, the eye is drawn to the centre and partially omits the windows and forgives them due to the complex nature of the centre middle ground and it's varied use of line, shape, form and depth. This depth was no doubt-ably added thanks to the varied shading and crosshatching which was used for this reason. It was difficult to get a lot of detail into this space but using some instances of rubbing, there was a creating of some areas being more well lit than others. Other than this, the drawing of the chain mail mesh at the lower area of the page helps to put the scale and distance of the objects into perspective. There is a definite contrast in texture between the centre and the outside and this seems to compliment itself. As well as this, the rule of thirds is present due to the various smaller details providing the drawing with points of interest.

Overall, I struggled with the perspective of the windows and it partially looks flat and abstract because of this. It is, however, a learning experience and I hope to take all that I can from drawing in this wonderfully complex architectural environment and rectify my mistakes for the class' next excursion.

Landscape drawing: Scenic composition

This week, we drew scenic compositions from inside. From the window of the university library, there was a visibly beautiful scene that could be drawn. Using a variety of pencils to experiment with layering and hardness of line, the scene came together. The pencils used were 2H, 2B and 6B. This difference of pencil lighting is most evident in the left of centre where the edges of the roof is darkened and the trees contain various levels of light and darkness in order to create the illusion of depth.

The vanishing point of the piece is in the center background and so a lot of work was put into making the various lines converge on this piece. Many small details were added for texture as well in order to create more three dimensionalism and form to the smaller objects of the drawing without taking away from the overall composition. The roof in the bottom left area moves nicely off of the page. It works to give a sense of continuation to the viewer as there is an implication of further scenery to the left of the canvas. The small details on the brick walls are powerful in adding depth to the shape too. This worked as the bricks were naturally around the same size and shape and so, this symmetry is pleasing to the eye.

More work could have been added to the tone of the grass in order to further the implication of a grassy area to the left of center but it isn't a huge problem as the trees draw the eye away from this and make the viewer automatically respond to it as grass even if they haven't necessarily seen the real scene.The use of the rule of odds came into play when choosing this scene as I made sure that there was a point of interest in each ninth of the picture. This has worked well for the overall composition and has provided a lot of interesting textures, sizes and tones that work individually as the eye looks around the drawing but also as a whole, complimenting each area. This has been a successful drawing but there are some noticeable issues such as the flat 2D nature of the building in the background. This was a perspective issue that came from my vision obscurity through looking from a small, high angled space.

The composition does well to fill up the space without seeming crowded or under used. As this was early morning, the light was quite evenly spread but it did come slightly more from the left of center which I incorporated into the tone and shading aspects of my drawing. There is a definite implied line as one looks at the drawing and automatically follows the path of the zig-zag building roof before looking at the back right and looping around anti clockwise to the bottom left. Finally there is a very still and calm mood that suggests peace and tranquility even though it had rained earlier that day. One thing that doesn't work as well is that some of the pencil quality is quite blunt which limits the realism in places. This does however, make it stand out in others such along the outline of the path.

In conclusion, scenic composition has provided me with a chance to experiment with layout, lighting, tone and general drawing ability which allowed me to create a composition that was inspired by a nice scene that combines both rural and urban elements.

Landscape Drawing On Campus

The layout of the two drawings are very nice. The chosen angles worked well as they were planned out prier to the drawing using thumbnails.

The first drawing of the Re: centre building on the campus has a lot of angles and measurements that had to be lightly drawn out, from the general to the specific, in order to get the correct shading, tone and portrayal of distance in the drawing. The addition of the extra scenery around it such as the tree and the wall in the right foreground make it believable and add realism to the drawing. Using rubbing techniques and highlighting using a rubber, the glass effect of the many windows could be reproduced. There is, however, a slight issue with the perspective of the left side of the building as it seems to curve in on itself slightly. This would not be noticeable to anyone who had not seen the actual building but it is still a small problem that could have been rectified by remeasuring the buildings angle and checking how that would be transferred into the left of centre. Overall though the tone and shading is nice and shows depth in the drawing, something which is important in a landscape scene. Saying this, it has been a good start to the world of drawing buildings and creating a landscape on paper.

The second drawing is of the Richmond building from the outside and was another difficult building to draw due to the varying perspectives and angles. The curved centre area is bigger lower down than at the top which came out well in the drawing. This stands out more due to the shading and tone that was added using smudging at a later stage. This also adds depth to the drawing, something that it lacks in places, such as the main entrance in the far left of the drawing. A sharper pencil would have been better as there is quite a bit of fuzzyness to the drawing. It is still nicely laid out and contains some simple shapes in order to form larger, more prominent structures. Due to bad weather, this drawing was rushed in places but in a way the style of it works with the structure of the building. The bush is quite well smudged as it is clear that the wind is blowing it to the left of the drawing. There are a couple of perspective issues with the building on the right of the image as well due to a misjudgement with the angle but this has been rectified as well as possible. This drawing is not as successful as the first drawing for these reasons but it is all part of the learning experience.      

Drawing at Leeds Museum 17/02/16

The taxidermy collection at the Leeds Museum was full of different creatures of various shapes, sizes and textures. Choosing an eagle to draw gave me a chance to practice with an avian pose. The way that the bird positions itself on top of the branch and a weighted dynamic to the drawing. Realism is also depicted in the way the bird tilts it's head to the side, looking at something in the distance. Using charcoal as a medium, I worked closely on the feathers in order to try and get a sense of individual feathers as well as grouping of the textures. The eyes were darkened and lightened a couple of times in order to get a better sense of life in the creature. The lighting in the room cast an interesting shadow to the back of the character which adds form to the character.

An issue that I found with this drawing is that the shading on the neck that is meant to separate the feathers of the head from the body has actually created the illusion that the head is slightly further forward than the rest of the body. To rectify this, smudging around the head and neck might have been a good idea to darken and smoothen the body parts.      

This Jaguar was chosen due to the nice skulking look of the animal and the way it's back and head lean slightly. This creature was quite low to the ground and so when drawn, I attempted to put a lot of small elements into a smaller space. The way the jaw curves and smooths coupled with the curve of the left side of it's face add depth to the drawing.

The legs are all different in their shapes and positions but work well as a whole due to the way that they add posture to the animal. The smudging that was later added to the legs help to add weight through the casting of shadows and light but the body does not seem as realistic as the face.

The face seems like it could leap from the page but the body is much flatter. This could be due to the difficulty of the reflective lighting that I had to draw during the lesson. Overall though This has been an enjoyable exercise that has allowed me to draw animalistic forms that are very different in scale and proportion from that of a human figure.   

Drawing Movement

This drawing is a study into motion using the medium of oil pastel. Using my fingers to smudge and spread the colours around, I managed to create an interesting development of movement with varying levels of lightness and darkness which add form to the character. The different thicknesses of line create tone in the drawing and the way that the three drawings are so close show definite movement from right to left. Even muscle structure works in favour of this as the curve of the back in the right drawing suggests a follow through to the middle drawing.

An issue with the drawing is that the final pose of the three has a bit too much masculinity in the shape of the face. There are errors that cause it to almost look like the model is a soldier wearing a helmet. The thickness of the line here doesn't work for this reason and affects the muscles in the same way. To rectify this, the darker lines should have been taken back and made thinner in order to portray a smoother face and body with more femininity.

This drawing, my first time using ink as a medium, came out quite nicely. The brush strokes formed nice variations in line and helped to portray the lean and eventual transition into a horizontal position. The table suffers as a prop as it looks too flat and takes away from the human figure who's posture and different ranges of shading, (using my fingers) have created an interesting pose. I think that this is down to my inexperience with ink and therefore struggled to recreate the form in a clear and three dimensional way.

Emotion can be seen here which makes the drawing far more interesting. It looks like loss or despair as the first and second seated drawings appear to lead to some sort of eventual breakdown where the subject lays down and gives up. The pose transitions nicely in a way that could draw the viewer in. The monochromatic nature of the ink could also add to a possible belief that the drawing shows the emotions of loss and pain. Looking at it from this perspective adds new meaning to the drawing which is something that is powerful from an artistic view.

A lot could be said about the ink making it hard to recreate facial features, again due to lack of skill with the medium but in contrast to this, it works as an overall composition as the movement of the body conveys the expression rather than having the need for a face. In conclusion this has been an interesting study into motion and using ink for drawing and so It has been extremely beneficial to me.

Emotion: Drawing Feelings

This week, Steve posed for us in a variety of ways that conveyed emotion. This first drawing of shyness is quite powerful even though that the addition of the chair to the drawing makes fear seem like the primary emotion. The muscles and curves of the chest and the way that the model was arched and leaning slightly are all well portrayed. It is fascinating how a pose can convey characteristics and how the shape and form of the body can help in the future when moving into animating characters.  

Loss is the emotion here and it is clear as there is an evident portrayal of the pain and suffering in the model as he holds his head, racked with anguish. The shadow at the base of the body adds to the gloominess as I used smudging to highlight the bleakness of the pose. Working from the general to the specific was the key to this pose as the arch of the back and details of the muscles all add to the overall feeling of the drawing. Even though it is not anywhere near the standard of Picasso, the emotion of despair that I attempted to create could be reflective of Picasso's blue period, in my mind most notably, "The Old Guitarist." 

The final drawing for this week was fear. The cowering nature that Steve took for this with his hands up to protect himself all add to this. The smudging that I incorporated in order to add to this as well as the clear skeletal bones that are shown on the body such as the scapula make the form stand out and gives the drawing implied weight. This drawing may stirs up our emotions of the unknown and we may are drawn into the intrigue and wonder of what it may be that Steve is cowering from. The depth of the cushion was poorly done on my drawing though as it looks flat and almost out of place. Possibly crosshatching with a dark pencil would have resolved this. Overall though, I am happy with this week's drawing and I feel that I have learned quite a bit about conveying emotion in a drawing. 

The male figure with a new male

 This week we had a new male model with a much more muscular and hairier body than Steve. He provided a different structure with was interesting to draw. This first picture of the man sat down conveys weight in his slouched nature as well as emotion. This drawing is very successful as it combines various textures such as the cloth on the chair and the dressing gown hanging on the back of the chair. The hair on the model came out well, showing a well shaded texture and depth as well as weight implied in his lean. The body is in proportion and the muscularity of the back and legs are particularly evident.

Even though the form of this drawing conveys realism, the pose feels slightly plain and boring. Not much is going on which makes it a bit dull. However, the waved nature of the front of the body from the neck to the waist show a good sense of the weight and structure of the body. The model was naked but still wore a watch which draws the eye away from the rest of the drawing. This is due to making the watch too dark in the drawing and not focusing more on the definition of the lower arm. Overall though the anatomy works well and there is muscular defininition which causes a more interestion effect, most notably around the gastrocnemial.   

Emotion is quite effectively portrayed in this drawing as there is a mood to the pose. The folded arms and he slight twist of the body coupled with the tilted head all make this an interesting pose. Even though the face is not visible, the character is still identifiable as having feelings and realism. It is a somewhat domineering stance but also elegant and full of life. Just looking at it now from an anatomical point, the lines added around the latissimus dorsai and gluteus help to further show the twist in the body. This drawing is an example of how something simplistic with slightly different elements can create a good example of characterisation.   

Drawing a woman: Implied weight

When the female model returned, we drew her in a way that would focus on weight and anatomical structure. This first drawing does have this to an extent but also has some errors to it. As this was a quick drawing, I had to make sure that the implications were all there without a great amount of detail. This worked well as the bent nature of her body does imply that she is leaning on the pole. Her legs are very straight also which, even though was how the model was standing, takes away from the realism of the drawing and makes the form more rigid. The shadows on here convey depth and form too and even though it isn't the most interesting of poses, the individual elements such as the positioning of the hands and the slightly arched nature of the back all work together to create an effective piece.   

The conthroposto of this drawing is what makes it stand out. It adds to the weight of the drawing and the realism of her position. The way the hand rests on the edge of the table makes the pose believable. Continuing on from the form and shape studies that I did during the still life part of the module, the texture of the table cloth only enhances the overall drawing without taking anything away from the model. The muscles on this model are interesting to observe in this position as the contortion of the body provide a new take on the now stretched abdominal and oblique areas. I like this drawing as it has successfully conveyed the elements that I had been trying to achieve during the lesson. The sfumato effect came out on the implied edge of the table as well and the pose and different levels of shading make it so that an implied line can be created from the middle to the top.
  

A study into Steve: Sat down, stood up and holding a turkey...

 A fairly straightforward form for the subject, this drawing looks into shading, texture and muscular structure. The cloth covering the table is interesting and contains various lines and marks that imply it's texture. The addition of the prop takes a lot away from the overall piece but this is made up for by the general layout of the body. Steve, the model has a reasonably thin body but contains some well defined muscles. Using shading, I attempted to  recreate this muscularity around the deltoids and serratus areas. There is also definition in the bicep but it doesn't contain the weight in the drawing to truly make the viewer believe that the prop is being held by him. Weight is however, nicely conveyed around the gluteus as it is believable that Steve is sitting on the table. I found this to be a fairly successful drawing that contains some errors but a learning experience all the same.
    

This drawing again focused on the muscular areas of the body. Straight away see that the pectorial muscles add to the piece. The legs are too small though which is a major error in this drawing. The skeletal structure has some visible elements in this due to the protruding clavicle that Steve has. In comparison to the drawing before this one, I also failed to create a believable person to object relationship. There is, however, success with the form of the upper body and I would even go as far to say that I can see the person's motivation and emotion.

   

Finally, this drawing of Steve in a walking position contains a nice representation of structure and motivation. The character is clearly walking, even though the drawing is slightly angled. As a further experiment, I added in the Turkey to show that the addition of a prop can very easily change the interpretation and meaning behind a drawing. In a sense, this therefore combines a knowledge of life drawing with imaginative composition, something which becomes important in animation and character modelling. As a note, the layout of this drawing contains a lot more dead space than it's predecessors, most likely due to my choice to draw it quite small. This takes away a lot of the emphasis that I tried to establish with the shading and muscularity but once more helped me when it came to understanding good and bad in a drawing. Therefore it is my least favourite and in my opinion, least successful of the three when it comes to a study of muscles and form. 

The skeletal structure: Optional week

This drawing is a study of the human skeletal structure. The form that it takes is an interesting one and the overall contortion of the body adds to this. I found that the three dimensionalism in this piece adds to the realism and layout of the drawing. On completing it, it was successful as the positioning and scale of the anatomy is all well represented. The shading of the individual bones such as the scapula and pelvis helps to make the drawing stand out as well as add to my knowledge of the human structure. If i was to draw this again, I would aim to focus more on the Femur and Anterior Tibial bones in order to make them less flat. On reflection, I would also add more shadows under the skeleton in order to further convey weight, most notably from the right humerus down the the right phalanges. Overall though I am happy with this study into the skeleton as it was a new drawing experience close but still reasonably far from the normal life drawings that I have been used to.