For my first attempt at something like this I’m quite proud of the outcome.
In the past when I have had to include shading in a sketch, I’ve really only thought to use black. In this particular task I used a range of white, grey and black compressed charcoal sticks, and I found that the group of colours combined was really effective.
I began by shading in the mid-tones using the grey sticks, and then followed it with the black stick for the darker tones. I really liked how these tones looked when blended together as it really brought the sketch to life and began to give the items more shape. Using the varying tones of charcoal sticks I was able to portray the curvature and shadowing of the jars in a more realistic way.
When I added the white charcoal stick, I was able to cover up any smudges that had accidentally occurred, and I was also able to really highlight where the light was hitting the objects. In the places where the lamp was closest to the jars, the whiteness of the light almost seemed to eradicate the colour of them, which I tried to show using the white stick.
At the end, I slightly smudged the different colours to subtly blend them together. Again, this gave the sketch more life, as the gentle mingling of the colours looked more lifelike and natural.
In the future, one thing I would like to try is using a wider range of items and objects such as pieces of fruit, an item of clothing or something completely random. Hopefully this is something I will attempt in the very near future.
For this task I chose a book, a can of drink, a bottle of foundation, a bowl with a spoon in it, an orange, and a scrunched up chocolate wrapper.
Approaching this task, I didn’t feel completely confident.
Still Life is not something that I am used to or something that I felt would be a strong point in my coursework. Saying this, I gave it my best shot.
I created this piece using a charcoal stick, and I was pleased with the effect that it had. After drawing the initial lines of the items I felt unsure as to whether I had gone for the correct drawing utensil, and found myself questioning the entire piece. I thought the sketch looked too ‘loud’ and that it would suit a subtler look, something gentler. As an experiment to salvage what I thought could be one for the bin, I began to smudge what I had drawn. I slowly rubbed my finger along the lines of the items, and this seemed to make the sketch more appealing to me. The lines were softer, the sketch was far kinder on the eye, and I much preferred the appearance. As I continued to sketch and edit, I became far more confident in myself and the piece that I was creating.
One thing that I have learnt is that just because an objective says ‘loosely describe’ does not mean that the task is a simple one. I approached this thinking that it would take me not very long at all. It took a far longer amount of time than I anticipated and I’m pleased that I stopped where I did. I re-started this task three or four times before I felt relatively happy with the outcome, but each time I saw some improvement.
To begin with, I think I chose objects that were too adventurous for me, and I struggled to form them on the page. I moved the items around a lot and something wasn’t quite working, and this is when I decided to change the items altogether. After attempting a few test sketches on the new items and moving them around a lot, I settled on this lay out as I felt it looked the best. At first I had placed the book at the very back, however, when I shifted things around, I thought “why not see if it works elsewhere?” and it really did. The book was tricky as the front cover is bent and the top right hand corner curves upwards, giving my sketch the appearance that the lining is off, however, I can assure you it’s on purpose! Also, I didn’t realise until the end but I have placed the larger items either side of the smaller items, and I think this frames the sketch nicely.
I settled on this lay out and these items because I felt they were something that I could comfortably draw. In hindsight, I think I was neither right nor wrong with that statement. It was a tricky few hours trying to get this drawing to a point where I felt happy, and I think if I had continued trying to perfect it, I would have been awake for about a week.
For me and for now, this is the best that I can do and I have made a mental note that this is going to be a practicing point for me, and that I’ll strive to improve my Still Life drawing techniques.
Reflecting on this piece, I now know that my skills to focus on regarding Still Life are items that have lids or openings at the top or bottom of them. It was tricky to create the right shape or width opening for the can and the bowl, and something I really had to and will continue to work on.
When creating marks that expressed my interpretation of ‘calm’, I began by allowing myself to get into an almost meditative state – breathing deeply, letting my muscles loosen, and zoning my focus into this one task.
1.
I then simply began letting my hand move around the first section of the page freely and allowed my relaxed state of mind to transfer through to my work. The lazy, wandering lines that I produced were created with a charcoal stick and came out quite light which reflects my mood and attitude when in a calm state of mind – the pressure of my hand was gentle and the motion whilst drawing the lines was soft and sweeping. Using my finger I smudged these lines slightly to make them appear even more fluid, similar to a calm, soothing river.
2.
For the second section of the page, I created a series of circles. I found drawing light, simple circles repeatedly extremely therapeutic and enjoyed layering them upon each other. I believe circles represent a lot of things – unity, the world, togetherness. I think what I was portraying was that I feel my most calm when in a group or when I feel that I have everything together.
3.
When creating number 3, I placed a black oil pastel at the top of the page and intended to draw a line straight down. Obviously my drawing hand had different ideas, as what it produced was a smooth curved line. I began to repeat this same motion over and over and the result was a group of markings which reminds me of swaying grass or the ocean.
4.
For the final section of ‘calm’ the first thing that sprang to mind was family. I drew a smooth, simple circle for each member of my family. To look at, the markings don’t necessarily look calming or that they would represent this particular feeling, however, to me it depicts that same feeling of togetherness mentioned previously, and a sense of relaxation and simplicity. I created this using the black oil pastel, and then went over the circles again with charcoal.
Angry
Moving from calm to angry took some thinking about.
I envisaged the feeling of ‘anger’ and took myself back to a time where I had felt that emotion and remembered it most vividly. Surprisingly, it didn’t take long for the creative part of my brain to switch from wanting to create soft, smooth markings on the page to the complete opposite.
1.
For the first section of the page I recreated a similar line sketch as when I created the first section of ‘calm’, however, this time the lines weren’t as gentle and flowing as they were previously. This time I drew jagged lines and pressed the black oil pastel very hard into the paper, creating an aggressive and sharp appearance. I think this is what it would look like if you could see a person experiencing uncontrollable anger, with their temper and thoughts wildly darting all over the place.
2.
After the violently drawn lines of number 1, I attempted a different approach for the next section. Placing a piece of charcoal on its side I rubbed it in random directions, varying the pressure of my hand against the paper. I think this represents a habit of becoming agitated or angry very quickly and a person’s thought process darting one way and then the other with no control. I really like the effect that this technique produced as I think it’s a great contrast that represents that the journey from fine to angry is not linear and is something that is different for each individual. Not everyone experiences anger as something that is unruly and out of their control, sometimes it can be something that clouds their mind and consumes them, and sometimes it isn’t an emotion that is fast paced and sudden.
Next, my favourite of the 4.
3.
This one explains me quite well I think, and I’m pleased with how it turned out. My thought process whilst drawing these lines with thick black oil pastel was that when the line begins at the top, a person can be in a cool, calm and collected frame of mind. In the middle, where the chaos happens, is when this person loses their cool, their temper rapidly switches and they act irrationally or in ways that they wouldn’t if they were happy or relaxed. Where the line runs straight again is when all is resolved and this person realises that things didn’t really need to escalate quite so much and all is actually fine.
4.
The last image of this sequence was really interesting to create. Using the black oil pastel, I drew a repetition of swirls and lines, some hard and dagger-like, others more curved and uncontrollable. I then went over these markings in charcoal and used my entire hand to smudge it, as though I was wiping a window. I then used the oil pastel to create points and sharp edges coming from the centre of the smudge. I think the effect of this is really powerful, and I personally feel that it represents a malfunctioning brain or a brain that is becoming fogged with anger and is on the verge of losing control.
Joy
Creating ‘joy’ was interesting, however, I think it was my least favourite of the four. For me, there’s just something more enjoyable when creating a piece of art based on a negative emotion. I feel that my creative mind opens more and a wider range of ideas come to me.
1.
For the first section of this, I stuck with the way each emotion is depicted in lines. When I drew the sweeping lines above with a charcoal stick, the memory of being on a rollercoaster ride and experiencing pure happiness sprang to mind. The up and down direction of the wiggling line reminds me of the motion of a rollercoaster, gliding upwards and swooping back down, almost as if flying.
2.
The second drawing makes me think of fairy or Christmas lights, maybe because it was around Christmas time that I created the sketch. What I was thinking of when I created this were the little pockets or pods of happiness along the course of my life. Friends, family, a job that I love, meeting my partner, moving to London, exciting things that have happened. If another person had created this I would have no idea what it represented, however, when I look at it it brings joyful thoughts to me.
3.
In the next section my thought was – A BRIGHT IDEA! It’s always such a joyful moment when you have an a-ha! moment, when a brilliant idea comes to mind or when you produce the plan for an amazing piece of artwork. I used a black oil pastel for this, the swirling motion in the centre of the page is what I imagine my brain looks like when trying to come up with a plan or a goal to work towards, and then the dashes outside of that mess is the very moment I think, “by Jove, I think I’ve got it!”
4.
In the last part of the page, I closed my eyes, thought of the word ‘joy’ and then just put my hand to the paper. For me, these markings don’t actually represent anything for me other than the motions it took to create the lines bought a content feeling to me. I like things to be in order and for things to be straight-forward – who knows, maybe I was trying to portray that feeling in this piece of work?
Anxiety
1.
Coming up with the first part of this emotion, I was sat thinking about how I could put the feeling of ‘anxiety’ into a sketch or a group of markings. This is a feeling that is very much a big part of my life, so it felt fitting to use it for the emotion of my choice. During the time that I was trying to come up with a first idea my partner said “why are you fidgeting your leg so much?” and that was it. I made the decision to use a thin piece of charcoal and to continuously stab it into the page, to represent my jittery-ness when I’m feeling anxious. I have a habit of bouncing my leg up and down or twitching my fingers when I feel this way, so it seemed like a good choice. As the dots progressively lessen and get further away, this represents slowly coming out of a period of feeling anxious and beginning to experience a clearer state of mind.
2.
My favourite of the four ‘anxiety’ pieces is this one, as I really enjoyed creating it and I really like what it represents. Using a black oil pastel I drew a repetitive swirling pattern in the centre of the page, which to me, looks like what a build up of anxious feelings would look like. The swirls springing out of the centre represent ‘overthinking’ and that anxious feeling becoming an emotion that is wreaking havoc and is bursting out of that little mental box you try and keep it in.
3.
For the third section I decided to create the progression of an anxiety attack. To begin with, a mind will begin to sway out of that feeling of contentedness or solidity, and will slowly wind itself up until… the anxiety attack happens. A thick, tangle of emotion that is beyond control, and seems never-ending. But, at the end you come out of the other side and you realise all is not as bad as it seems and slowly your mind starts to slow down and descend back into a more comforting feeling of normality. I used black charcoal for this, using my fingertips to smudge along the different lines and markings to accentuate how the feeling of anxiety clouds our vision and makes us feel foggy or out of focus.
4.
Finally, I feel that this drawing represents a brain. Not a brain, my brain. The different sections of this brain are meant to represent emotions and how they make us feel. The clear sections might be joy, happiness, excitedness, pleasure, relaxation. However, the black, smudged section represents anxiety and how it makes a person feel. The image that I’ve gone for is that suffering from anxiety can be a very difficult and dark place at times, and it’s something that always lingers in the back of your mind, regardless of which particular emotion is at the forefront of it at a time.
This task was both useful and testing at times. Recreating textures with extremely fine details or repetitive drawing patterns can become tedious, however, I found that with perseverance a really effective portrayal of a particular texture could be created in either a simple or an abstract way, dependant on what that texture is.
To begin, I’ve always thought that the wooden panelling of my bathroom door looks similar to the markings of a tiger, and on closer inspection I noticed much more than what I thought were just lines of differing tones of wood. The darker parts of the patterned wood are made up of tiny circular markings and fine lines, creating the darker hue. I recreated this particular texture using a variety of B, H and HB graphite pencils. For the darker sections of the wood I used a dab of water on my finger to smudge the pencil markings so the difference in the colour of wood was subtle but noticeable.
The texture of a loop knit cardigan was my least favourite to draw, as it seemed that my many attempts to recreate my interpretation of it didn’t turn out as I had intended. Again, I used a variety of B, H and HB graphite pencils to create this texture, drawing the endless layers and loops of wool. This was not as simple as I had assumed it might be. In hindsight, I think the texture would have been far more effective if I were to use coloured paints, chalks, or even pastels to better define the shades, layers and shadows within the material of the cardigan.
For my third experimentation I decided to depict the texture of a smooth, rubbery leaf. I thoroughly enjoyed creating this texture as it was an interesting one to create, and proved the perfect opportunity to try out a number of drawing utensils. I used a variety of HB and B graphite pencils, charcoal sticks and small amounts of water to smudge the charcoal for the parts of the leaf that were either darker in colour, or in shadow. The dark shade of the charcoal created a greater degree of contrast between the light and dark areas of the image, which better displayed the natural creases and grooves of the leaf than if it had just remained a simple pencil sketch.
For the final texture, I included a frottage example of the brick wall in my bedroom using a charcoal stick. I began by rubbing the stick first one way, and then the other way across the paper. This technique is incredibly effective when creating a textured piece of artwork. The effect that it formed was really interesting and it is definitely my favourite piece of the four. Through the use of frottage I am able to see quite clearly parts of the wall that are rougher than others, the grainy feel of the brick, and the tiny details and markings upon each individual brick in the wall.
Jesy Gilkes 