Charcoal and ellipse

In this session on the 12/11/14 I had to choose which area of my work I felt needed more practise.  The areas I chose were using charcoal and drawing ellipse. I found a picture of a glass bottle on the internet to attempt to draw using charcoal.  The materials I used were a 2H pencil to sketch the bottle, an A2 piece of cartridge paper, charcoal and white chalk.  The techniques I used were sketch, scale, proportion, tone, shading and ellipse.  I think my charcoal drawing worked well and I can see an improvement on my ellipse drawing but still think I could improve on the ellipse.  To do this I will research ellipse further and practice drawing ellipse at home. 

Oil painting

In this session on the 5/11/14 I had to use oil paints to paint a cloth draped over a pot on a table.  I firstly had to paint the whole of my paper with a mix of tan and brown oil paints thinned down with white spirit.  I then had to draw the prop using the oil paints and my paintbrush. The materials is used I this session were tan, brown, navy blue and white oil paints, white spirit to clean my brush and thin the oil paints, a medium sized hog hair paint brush, an A1 sheet of paper and a piece of torn cloth for wiping my brush on and using to erase any mistakes I made.  The techniques I used were extended reach to get the proportions accurate, shading, painting, perspective, scale and tone.  The areas of my work I think worked well are the shading and tonal work.  To extend my skills I will research oil paintings and the different techniques using oil paints.  

Research 

I have researched other artists oil painting, and below are a few I liked on Google images.

I really like the colours and style that the artist has used in this painting. I love how they have made the kettle appear old and slightly rusty, the eggs look like they have a satin finish and the table look shinny  in arrears.  I think that the artist has done an amazing job with this painting and I hope to be able to achieve this quality of work within my paintings by the end of my course,  

I chose this painting as I like how the person is using their finger as a tool to help blend in.  I think that this is a good technique and I will definitely be using this technique when using oil paints.  However, I am not too keen on the painting itself, I really like the colours that have been used but I don't like the rough style they have chose to paint in.  I don't think that I would use this style within my own work. 

I like how simple this painting is and how the grey background makes the flowers stand out more.  I think the shades and tones used work really well and look effectiveand I like how you can see that the paint has been put on thickly on the flowers only adding texture to them.  I would like to use this style and technique within my work.  

This painting appealed to me as you can clearly see that the artist has used thick brush strokes and all the different colours used can be seen.  I like how they haven't tried to blend the colours in, but instead  they have used quite bold colours against each other. 

The bright colours used made this painting stand out to me.  I really like how the artist has made the painting feel warm, inviting and relaxing by using warm colours for the sunset and the cool colours in the sky.  I also like how they have painted the sea in warm yellow, read and orange tones to reflect the sunset.  

Painting fruit

In this session on 22/10/14 I had to paint fruit which was arranged on a plinth.  The tools I used were a 2B pencil, hog hair paint brushes sizes 8 and 10, acrylic paint (blue, yellow, red, white, black), A2 cartridge paper, pot of water for cleaning, pot of water for diluting the paint, paper towel to dry my paint brush, a pallette and a couple of sheets of wet paper towels put on my pallette to stop my paint drying.  

I sketched the outline of the fruits onto my paper using perspective, proportion and scale.  I then mixed my paints together to get the exact colour of the fruits. To ensure I got the right colour I held the colour up to the fruit.  I made the lightest and darkest shade and tint on each of the fruits.  I then started to paint the darkest shade of the fruit first and then adding the lighter tint, blending them together on the paper with other hues of paint I had made.  I then made a shade of grey for the background and tried to add a slight bit of colour from the fruit for the shading of each of the fruits,  

I am quite happy with my painting as I haven't painted in a very long time.  I think I got the scale and proportion quite accurate and think the banana looks quite realistic, but I think I need to work on my contrast of tones and shading and trying to be more precise with colours.  

To extend my skills I will research other paintings on the internet.   

Research

I like this painting of the two peppers because the artist has used the colours really well to show the shaded and highlighted areas.  I also like how they have used a slightly green tone to show the shadowing in the table.

I chose this picture as it shows the actual object painted and the painting itself.  I think that the proportion in the painting is excellent and I that the shaded and highlighted areas are demonstrated really well, however I don't think that the artist has got the correct tone of colour.

I really like this painting as the artist has made the tomatoes look smooth and has blended the red tones in well.  I also like the different tones of green that have been used for the stems.

I think this painting is amazing.  The artist has made everything look extremely realistic and you can clearly see that so many different colours, shades and tones have been used.  Each individual item appears to have the right texture to it and everything looks so fresh and tasty.  I would love to be able to paint to this style and standard and hope that I can achieve this one day. 

I chose this painting as I liked how the black background made the red strawberry stand out.  I think the red tones used make the strawberry look fresh and juicy, and the green tones in the leafy area give the impression of a rougher texture.  

Colour wheel

In this session on 15/10/14 I had paint a colour wheel.  The tools I used for this were a hog hair paint brush and gouache paint in red, blue and yellow.  I was given gouache to use as it is thicker and can be thinned down with a little water.  

Primary, secondary and tertiary colours.

Firstly I had to paint the primary colours (red, yellow and blue) in the three inner triangles, and the three squares on the outter circle that the points of the triangle touched.  I then had to paint the middle triangle with secondary colours (orange, green and purple).  To make these colours I had to mix two primary colours together in the correct proportions to get the exact shade of green, purple and orange.  Lastly I had to paint the reaming squares on the outter circle with tertiary colours (yellow green, blue green, blue purple, red purple, red orange, yellow orange).  To get tertiary colours I added more primary colour to the secondary colour.  

Complimentary colours

I had to paint the complementary colours (red and green, blue and orange, yellow and purple) in the boxes next the the colour wheel.  Complimentary colours are the colours which are directly opposite each other on the colour wheel.  These colours will make each other stand out from one another. 

Tints and shades

I had to paint the tints and shades on the bottom of the page.  To do this I was given white and black gouache.  I chose to use red as my main colour for this section.  To get different tints of red I mixed red and white, adding I little more white each time to achieve a lighter and lighter tint.  To get different shades of red I mixed red with black adding a little bit more black each time to get a darker and darker shade.  

Tints and shades of the complimentary colours.

By mixing the complimentary colours together you get different tones of brown and grey.  Next to my complimentary Colours I have painted the tints and shades of the complimentary colours mixed together with black and white.  

I really enjoyed learning all about the colour wheel in this session and know that everything I have learnt today will help me with future sessions.  

Research

Below are images I found on Google images.  I chose these images to show how others have demonstrated the colour wheel.  

Glass drawing with pastels

In this session on the 8/10/14, I had to draw glass bottles arranged on a plinth.  The materials I used were black charcoal, whitle chalk, and light gree, dark green and yellow pastels.  Manila paper and a 4B pencil.  The techniques I used were shading, shape and form,colour, texture, tone,  composition, proportion, perspective, ellipse, scale and smudging.  I really enjoyed using charcoals and pastels in this session adm was quite pleased with the tone and shading of my work.  The area I feel I could improve on is the ellipse technique.  To extend my skills I will research different ways of using pastels and practice drawing ellipse.  

     

Research 

I chose the above two pictures as I liked how they were just glass object.  I like how well they have managed to give the impression of shinny, streak free, smooth glass.  I especially like how the top picture shows different shaped glass objects.

 

I liked this drawing as the artists has been a little less subtle with the highlights in the glass and just adding little shimmers of white to show the shine.  

I chose this drawing as I like how it gives the impression of movement.  I think the artist has done a brilliant job making the water look clear but visible by using charcoal and white pastel for different tones, highlights and shading.  I would like to use this style and technique in my work in the future.  

I think this drawing is amazing.  I love how the artist has used white pastel on the bottom of the polar bear to give the impression that the light has gone thought the glass and it hitting the surface it's stood on.  I also love how different shades and tones have been used to show all the different angles and that the polar bear has a textured glass surface.  The blackness of the nose and eyes are bold and stand out and also show a more smooth texture compared to the body.  I think that the style and technique the artists has used here is something I will definitely remember for future drawings.  

Negative spaces

In this session on 1/10/14 I had to draw the negative spaces in an arrangement of objects.  The materials I used for this were a 4b pencil and and A1 piece of paper.  To do this I had to draw the shapes of the negative spaces making sure I got the perspective and proportions right.  After I'd drawn all the negative spaces, I used a dark tone to shade in the negative spaces which made the positive spaces on my drawing stand out and began to show the shapes of the object in the arrangement.  I really enjoyed doing this technique and found it quite easy to do. The areas of my work I could improve are to try and work a bit faster to try and complete my picture.  To extend my skills I am going research other negative space drawings. 

Research

From the research shown below I have discovered new techniques and ideas for negative space drawing.  I really like the different objects and items other people have used such as the bike and the bird in the tree.  I also really like how some artists have drawn patterns and even used a selection of colours to show the negative spaces making the positive spaces stand out more.  

Boxes

In this session on 24/9/14 I had to draw boxes placed on each other.  To do this I had to use proportion, one and two point perspective, and parallel lines. I used my pencil at arms length to measure the length of the boxes to draw them to scale on my paper.  I then had to shade in the boxes to add tone and form.  I found this session quite difficult as It took me quite a while and quite a few attempts to get the proportion and perspective right.  After getting it right I liked my outcome and think this technique will be very useful for future drawings.  

Research

The research shown below is from an art book I own. After reading through this I think I have a far better understanding of one and two point perspective and I think that this will help me get the correct proportions within my future drawings.  

Drawing natural forms with ink

Timed sketches

17/09/14

This is a photo of the timed sketches I did to practice drawing with a fine-liner ink pen.  I found that the quicker I had to draw the less detail I was able to put into my drawing.  When I had to draw using my left hand I found it a lot more difficult but discovered that I was noticing different details on the object I was drawing.

Using water with fine-liner pens

17/09/14

During this session I had to collect natural form items from outside and arrange them on a plinth.

In this photo I had 30 minutes to use a fine liner pen to sketch the natural forms I had collected.  The technique I used for this was continuous line drawing. I found this style of drawing strange to begin with but as I got used to not taking the pen off the paper the technique got easier and I began to enjoy.  I liked the overall effect the crossover lines gave to the picture.  After I had finished sketching the objects I had to use a paintbrush and water to add tone and texture to my drawing.  Using water on the ink caused the ink to run allowing you to add a contrast of tones and shades. To extend my skills in this technique I will research continuous line drawing and using water on inks and practice my research at home. 

Drawing with dip pen

In this task I had to use a dip pen with ink in a pot and draw the natural forms I had arranged on the plinth.  I found the dip pen difficult to use to begin with, but once I got the hang of it I found it quite easy to use.  The technique I used during this task is crosshatch.  I liked using this technique as it is an easy and simple way of shading in.  The areas of my work I think worked well are the proportions and scale of the natural forms.  The areas I think I need to work on are contrast of tones and tonal qualities.  To extend my skills I will research crosshatch techniques. 

Research

Below are images I have found on Google images whilst researching the crosshatch technique.  From researching this technique I have learnt various ways to show shaded and highlighted areas.  I think that this research will be very useful for future sessions.

Continuous line and wash techniques

Below are three pictures I found on Google images of continuous line and wash techniques. I really like how much detail has been put into the first picture using the continuous line technique and how they have managed to add the impression on darker areas by going over the area several times.  

I chose the second picture as I liked the sketchy feel to it and how the wash technique they have used adds tone and colour, however I do feel that a little more care could have been taken with the wash technique on the faces as I don't like how the hair and skin tone are the same.

I chose the third picture as I liked how it demonstrated three different techniques using the same drawing which shows how different a drawing can be by using different techniques.