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.