final piece sitting pose (improving with pastels)

In this session on the 23/2/15 I had to decide which material I wanted to use which I thought I needed to improve on. As I had missed the session on pastels I decided that my chosen material would pastels.  

The materials I used were a 2B pencil to sketch my drawing, a putty rubber, pastels, charcoal and an A1 piece of manila paper.  

The techniques I used were extended reach using my pencil for measurements, proportion and scale, shading and tonal study. 

I began by sketching the lady in pencil ensuring that everything was to scale and in proportion.  I then used a dark brown pastel to sketch in the shaded areas and a white pastel to sketch in the highlighted areas, I then blended in the two colours using my finger.  Once blended i began adding blue pastel to the shaded areas and red, and orange to the highlighted areas.  I then added pink pastel in areas to make the skin look more flesh like, once I had done this I gently blended it all in using a peach pastel to  give the skin a more light peachy colour.  Iwhen happy with the skin I began on the hair. For the hair I used red, blue, green, brown and white pastels to make a dark shade of brown.  I struggled with the hair as I found it difficult to show the direction the hair was falling and where the highlighted and shaded areas were.  After researching this problem I discovered that to get more realistic hair I would have been better using soft pastel pencils as they are thinner and you can make more detail with them.  I also felt that these would have been better for the face too as the pastels were quite thick and were difficult to make some detailed touches on the face.  After I had finished the main drawing I began on the dressing gown to show what the lady was sat on.  

I think I have got the proportion accurate and that the skin colours look realistic and accurate, however I got the scale I little too big resulting in me unable to draw the feet and I feel that the face and hair need a little more detail.  Overall I am pleased with my work. 

Pencil sketch 

Adding shading and highlights

Final drawing (unfinished) 

Standing pose using acrylics.

In this session on the 9/2/15 I had to draw a naked lady in a standing pose using the medium acrylic.  

To begin I had to do four timed sketches using the acrylic paint.  I had 4 minutes, 3 minutes, 2 minutes and lastly 1 minute for the timed sketches.  I found it quite hard to do timed sketches using this medium as I didn't feel that I had as much control as I do using a pencil and I couldn't do a rough sketch with the paint.  I think that these timed sketches were a good idea as the helped me warm up using this medium preparing me for my main picture.  

The materials I used for my main piece were a HB pencil to sketch the lady onto the paper, acrylic paints, large, medium and small hog hair paint brushes, a paper towel to dry my brushes on, water for cleaning my brushes, a wet paper towel on a plate to mix the colours on and keep the paint moist and an A2 piece of cartridge paper.

The techniques I used were extended reach using my pencil to get accurate measurements of the lady, painting, shading and tonal study and scale and proportion.  

I began my painting by firstly painting the whole of the paper with a mix of burnt umber and brown paint.  I then sketched the drawing onto the dry painted paper.  I then mixed the colours for the darkest and lightest shades and highlights on the skin.  I painted in the shaded and highlighted areas ensuring that I blending the tones together and making the painting look 3d and not flat.  

I have left the hads unprinted as I ran out of time during the session.  I feel that the scale and proportions of my paint is really good and I think that my shading and highlights is accurate however I feel that I need to spend a bit more time on ensuring that I get the right tones of colour to match the skin of the lady I painted. For this I will take my time mixing colours in future to ensure that the tones are accurate. I will also research other artist painting using the medium of acrylics.  

Research

This is an acrylic painting on canvas. I really like the bright colours in this painting and how the red tones in the background make the green tones on the figure stand out.  I also like how the artist hasn't used true to life colours for the figure but has still used shading and highlighting to make the figure look 3d.  I think that this technique gives the painting a creative feel and I would like to use this technique within my work in the future.  

I really like how this artist has used warm tones for the skin and colder tones for the background.  The highlighting on the right side makes it look like there is a light being shone on her giving a warm glow to her complexion.  I think that the shades and highlights in this painting are excellent and that the artist has added brilliant detail.  I would like to be able to achieve shading and highlighting to this standard by then end of my course.  

Sitting pose using watercolours

in this session on the 2\2\15 I had to draw a naked lady in a sitting pose using watercolours.  firstly, as a warm up, I had to use scissors and card to cut out a silhouette of the lady in a standing pose.  the brown cut out was my first attempt which I think was in proportion but did not show enough detail.  I think that my second attempt (the green silhouette) was much better as its in proportion and you are able to see more detail in the legs and stomach areas.  

The materials I used for my main drawing were a 2H pencil, rubber, watercolour paints, a thin sable hair paintbrush, a slightly thicker sable hair paintbrush, A2 thick cartridge paper, 2 pots of water (one for cleaning my brush and the other for adding water to the watercolours) and a paper towel to dry my brush.  

the techniques I used were wash to blend the colours together, shading and highlighting, proportion and scale.  

I think that the proportion and scale of my drawing is accurate and that my shading and highlighting is in the right areas but needs a few more layers of watercolour to make them stand out.  I also think that I have blended the colours well and  got the shades and tones of the colours accurate, however I didn't  have enough time to finish the face and think that if I had researched watercolours before this session that I would have been able to finish my work on time as i wouldn't of kept hesitating about how to do things.  

To extend my knowledge I will research watercolours and faces painted using watercolours to help have a better understanding of the technique.

                       Warm up

Main Painting

Research

i really like this painting and think the artist has used the different colours well to show darker and lighter areas.  I really like how the painting is not  made to look realistic but more creative.  I will be using ideas from this artist in future work.  

I really like this painting as the artist has blended the colours well to make the painting look more realistic than the painting above, but it still has a creative flare to it making it look like a watercolour painting.  

I think that this portrait drawing is amazing.  The artist has been able to use watercolours to make the painting look incredibly realistic.  I really like how soft the hair looks and how the artist has managed to show the different textures in the portrait.  I hope to be able to use watercolours to this standard by the end of my course.

Charcoal and pastels

On the 26\1\15 I was unable to attend this session, therefore I have just done some research on charcoal and pastel life drawings. 



I like this picture as it shows the photograph of what the portrait is mean to look like  I think that the colours is in portrait are really good however I think that the face needs to be slightly thinner in the drawing.

This drawing stood out to me because its not like a normal realistic life drawing.  I really like how the artist hasn't made sharp edges and has just made more of a point of making the highlighted areas stand out.  I really like this technique.

I like this drawing as its done in a more sketchy way to emphasize on the highlighted and shaded areas as apposed to giving the skin texture,  I really like this technique and think it would look good as a more creative drawing, however I do think that the colours should be blended in a bit better so that there isn't such a sharp line between the colours.

I like this drawing because the artist has used a variety of colours on the body and not the normal skin tone colours, but has still been able to show where the shaded and highlighted areas are by using lighter and darker colours.  I think this a a very good technique and think it would look good as a completed drawing. 

Standing pose using charcoal

In this session on 19/1/15 I had draw I naked lady in a standing pose using charcoal and white chalk.  

Firstly I had to use the extended reach technique.  I did this by using a stick approximately 5ft long and taping a piece of charcoal to then end of it.  I then had to hold the stick in the middle and attempt to draw the lady posed infront of me.  The first drawing was was a 15 minute sketch and the second drawing was a 5minute sketch.  I don't think that the two extended reach drawing are very good however I do like the marks that this technique leaves.  I think that the marks from this technique are very unique and sketchy and none of the lines are perfectly straight.  I like this technique and would like to try and draw other things using this technique.  

The materials I used for my main drawing were thick and thin sticks of charcoal, white chalk, A2 piece of cartridge paper, a putty rubber and a pencil for measurements.

The techniques I used were scale, proportion, shading and highlighting.

I think that the proportions of my drawing are accurate and the shading and highlighting are good.  

I think that the lady's face looks wrong though and feel that I need research faces at a side angle drawn using charcoal.  I think that by researching this it will increase my skills and help my draw faces more accurately.

Extended reach 15 minutes.

Extended reach 15 minutes.

Main drawing.

Research

I think this portrait is good and like how the artist has used the sketchy technique for the shading and left the highlighted areas blank (the colour of the paper).  I think this technique has worked effectively for the portrait and gives a good creative effect.  

I like this drawing and think the artist had done and excellent job using charcoal and chalk to show the highlighted and shaded areas.  I really like how they have done the hair and think that this drawing will help me with ideas on drawing hair in the future.

I do not personally like this drawing.  Although the shading is quite good I feel that the proportion of the nose looks wrong and can't work out of the mouth is just the lady's lips teeth.  I will not be using any ideas from this drawing.  

I think that this drawing is amazing.  I love how the drawing goes from looking realistic at the top too just pencil lines at the bottom.  Everything looks in proportion and the shading and highlighting is done to an extraordinary standard.  I hope to be able to have skills as good as this artist by the end of my course and will deffenatly be using this drawing as a reference for future drawings.  

I again love this drawing.  Although it is possibly unfinished I think that the proportions, shading and highlighting are excellent and I love how realistic it looks. I also think that by the artist using a coloured piece of paper it makes the drawing stand out more and not look flat on the paper.  This is another drawing I will be using for ideas for future drawings.  

Laying down pose

In this session on the 12/1/15 I had to draw a naked lady in a laying down pose.  Firstly I did four timed sketches for practice and to help me warm up for my main drawing.  

The techniques I used for my main drawing were using a pencil at arms length to get accurate measurements for correct proportions, shading and tonal study and scale.  

The materials I used were HB, 2B and 4B pencils, a putty rubber and and A2 size piece of cartridge paper.  

I think that my main drawing turned out well and I feel that I have demonstrated a good understanding of proportion, shading and tonal study.  My favourite part of my drawing is the feet as I think that my shading and toning makes the feet look realistic.  I do however feel that I need to make the darker shades darker for more contrast to be seen between the lighter and darker shades.  

To extend my skills I will research different artists work to see gain ideas on shading.  

 

Timed sketch.

Finished piece.

Close up of feet on finished piece.

Research

This is a drawing I found on Google images.  I chose this drawing as I really like the way the artist has used a sketchy technique for the shading and toning.  I think that this is quite an effective way of shading as it gives a more creative feel but still looks realistic. This is a technique that I will use in future drawings.

I really like this drawing as it looks so realistic and the shaded and highlighted areas have been drawn precision.  I love how the hair is flowing and think the drawing has incredible detail.

I think the shading and tonal study in the drawing is brilliant.  You can see all the toned muscles and the artist has even been able to show the raised veins making it appear that the man has just been working out.  The detail captured in this drawing through shading and highlighting is exceptional and I think that this would be and excellent drawing for me to refer to for ideas and help in future work.  

Sitting pose

On the 5th January 2015 I had to do a life drawing of a nude lady sitting in a chair.  

The materials I used were a 2B and a 2H pencil, putty rubber and a A2 piece of cartridge paper.  

The techniques I used were timed sketch for a warm up, shading and highlight, and extended reach for accurate measurements.

I started off with the timed sketch going from 4 minutes to 1 minute.  I find this technique useful as a warm up for the main drawing.  I then began my main drawing by using the extended reach technique to measure the chair.  I chose to draw the chair first as I could see more of the chair than the woman.  After drawing the chair I used the extended reach for the measurements of the woman and where she was sat in alignment with the chair.  Due to having to leave the session early again I did not get to complete the shading in my picture.  I think that the scale and measurements of my drawing have worked but think I need to improve on working a bit quicker. To extended my skills I will research other artists work using the medium of pencil.

Research

I really like how the shading and tonal study in this drawing give the appearance of texture to the tongue, lips and teeth by adding darker and lighter tones in the correct places to add shine making it look realisticly moist.

I chose these two drawing as they show how a picture can look with and without shading.  This shows how the shading brings a drawing to life giving it a more 3d effect, whereas the unshaded drawing looks flat.  

I really like this drawing as it has so many different shades and tones to show the curves of the body and I think that the artist has made you feel the girls sadness. 

I think that this drawing is excellent.  I love how that artist has used shade and tone making the skin look soft and smooth but showing where the folds are.  They have been able to make the hair appear slightly frizzy and shown all the curves on the feet.  The slight shading in the background makes it look like the lady is sitting on a white sheet.  I think this drawing would be a good piece to refer back to for inspiration.  

Standing pose

On Monday 15th December I had to draw a nude woman in a standing pose.  The materials I used were a 2B pencil as I find this rubs out better without leaving as much of a mark.  An A2 piece of cartridge paper, a putty rubber and a 2H pencil for lighter shading.

The techniques I used were extended reach to get accurate measurements of the figure, timed sketch as a warm up to my main drawing, shading and tone to show the contrast with the shadows and highlighted areas, and negative space to help me get the scale of he different areas right.

This was my fist time drawing a full life drawing.  I found the timed sketches very useful as they helped me workout how to align the body parts and was taught to use the anatomy of the body to help understand the frame of the human body.  I really enjoyed drawing this pose and think that my shading was starting to look good, however due to having to leave the session early I did not get to complete my drawing or the shading.  I do think that I need to improve on blending in the shaded and highlighted areas.  Based on this, I will research different techniques of blending and put my research to pratice in future drawings.  

Research

I think that this chart would be good to refer to as it shows the different shade each grade of pencil makes.  This could help me work out which pencil I could use for shaded areas and highlighted areas.

I really liked this as it show different ways to shade and the outcome of each way. This would be good to refer to to help with my shading and blending in. 

Portrait

In this session on 19/11/14 I had to do portrait drawing of another student in the lesson.  The materials I used were a 2B pencil, an eraser and an A2 piece of cartridge paper.  The techniques I learnt and used in this session are scale, tone, perspective, extended reach, proportion and shading.  

Eyes

Firstly I was told to start by drawing the outline of the eyes.  I had to use the extended reach technique to measure the size of the eyes, after drawing the first eye I then had to measure the distance between the eyes to find the correct position for the second eye.  

Nose

To draw the nose I had to use extended reach to measure the distance from the eyes to the bottom of the nose for the length, and the distance from the inner side of the eyes outwards to find the width of the nose.  I only drew the bottom of the nose and the nostrils as the rest of the nose would be shown through shading. 

Mouth

To draw the mouth I used my pencil to work out where the mouth was in proportion to the eyes.  I then used extended reach to measure the size of the mouth.

Face

To draw the face I used extended reach to measure the distance from the outside corners of the eyes to each side of the face, then from the corners of the nose to the side of the face, from the corners of the mouth to the side of the face and then from the bottom of the mouth to the chin.  I then measured from the top of the eyes to the top of the head including the hair.  This seemed out of proportion to begin with, but once the hair line had been drawn in the portrait looked in proportion to all the other facial features.  

Once I had drawn all the facial features I took a photo of the student to use for the shading.  

I then used all the techniques I have been taught so far to shade in the portrait.  

After taking th above photo of my portrait I noticed that I needed to do a lot more shading and toning on the face, and that the hair needed to be darker with more tones in it. 

I think that the extra shading and tonal work I added has improved my portrait and I am happy with the result.  

Before starting my course I drew a portrait of my daughter.  Comparing the two portraits I can see a huge improvement in my drawing and shading skills and hope that I continue to improve on these skills thought the course.