Exe 2.7: Objective drawing

Exercise 2.7: OBJECTIVE DRAWING 

In this exercise we were too take an item from the list provided and explore an object visually. The aim was to draw the object as seen using a pencil or fine liner, exploring the textures and physical qualities of the object. Size: A4

I chose to draw a pair of shoes using a fine liner and an umbrella using a range of pencils.

Fine-liner drawing

photo of shoes!

fineliner start of drawing of shoes

Final drawing of shoes, fine liner and wash shadow

Pencil Drawing:

photo of umbrella

stage 1: pencil drawing of umbrella

Stage 2: Pencil Drawing of Umbrella

Stage 3: final umbrella

                                                               What did I do?

1.     I drew 2 objects from life in order to draw one in a fine liner and one in pencil. The drawing of the shoes was drawn on cold pressed watercolour paper for no particular thought out reason initially other then it was available in my home. It was useful when I cheekily decided to use an ink wash for the shadow though.

2.     For the pencil drawing I drew on cartridge paper and used a range of pencils from HB, 2B, 4B and 6B. I haven’t done this in a while as recently I find myself sticking to HB pencils so it felt god to rediscover the tones of the softer pencils.

How do I think/feel about this?

1.     I enjoyed the objective drawings as I find them less taxing then generating an idea….the idea is staring you in the face…literally!

2.     I preferred using the fine-liner as I found I had to take a risk and commit to the line more whereas with the pencil drawing I found myself working far slower and possibly overworking areas which meant that I last some of the initial fresh contrast present in the beginning of the drawing. The fine-liner drawing of the shoes did have its limitations regarding incorporating tonal value, which was easier to create with the pencil.

How well did it go?

1.     I think the drawings as a whole were successful in that they represent the objects drawn.  

Where they fall down perhaps is the demonstration of texture, which may have been more effective using a stain like a wash or paint.

2.     I prefer the pen drawing because I prefer the contrast and I think the umbrella drawing began to loose that quality towards the end.

3.     In both drawings the perspective is not 100% accurate and this influences the proportions especially in the handle of the umbrella drawing.

What did I learn?

I relearned the advantage of using a range of pencils to create tonal value but struggled to not make this look repetitive and thus lose the contrast initially created.

What and how would I do it differently?

I wouldn’t have chose a black umbrella to draw as it was difficult to see the tonal differences and contrasts on the actual object which translated into the drawing.

How have I put theory into practice?

I tried to use some of the marks that I had read about in the mark making exercise ie: stippling points, line and cross hatching to produce tonal value and texture in the shoes.

How can I use this to plan new learning experiences? 

I will continue to draw objective sketches in order to build up a repertoire of images in my mind so as to improve my visual memory and ability to draw without an object in front of me.