Ooops - lost the momentum!
Given that I’ve not done a huge amount in July, I’ve combined July and August as I go back to basics and rebuild the habit.
Date: 23/8/22
Comment: Charcoal, Total time: 28 mins
The jug was not a smooth one but made up of flat planes which in theory should have been easier. It was not but it is better than the previous jug. Again I tried using the compressed charcoal around the bottome but it came out brown! I think I will get rid of it as I found a packet of thick willow charcoal. But one thing that is interesting is how the blending of the table came out. Because I just wanted to create a contrast, I didn’t worry about finesse but in the end, it came out really well blended and gradiated. Just need to be bear that in mind for the next one.
Date:16/8/22 – 22/8/22
Comment: Digital, Building No. 19 Total time: 129 mins
Firstly, I was committed to trying and making this drawing as detailed as possible and took my time about each part. However, I stopped when I got to the ground floor door as the bulk of that was hidden behind foilage and I tried to draw beyond the reference image. When that didn’t come out so well, I quit. Before that, I think I made real progress in being able to get better lines. I’m still not quite there in being able to choose thick/thin lines appropriately but I am edging forward.
Date: 18/8/22
Comment: Charcoal, Total time: 15 mins
This was a distended jug! But I failed to capture where those parts were and just looks as it is – poorly drawn. I tried the compressed charcoal again but it didn’t really stick to paper that well.
Date: 17/8/22
Comment: Charcoal, Total time 10 mins
Actually this was the same jug as before, just on its own in the reference image. This time, firstly I tried to get the proportions right (I’m going to ignore the handle) and I used mainly the willow charcoal. I even used the eraser to get some highlights. Overall I think the shading improved a lot aroud the jug. I did sort of ignore the striations to any real degreee.
Date:13/8/22
Comment: Charcoal; total time 19 mins
This the first object. I abandoned trying to do skulls and simplified the process to try and get used to the material. A lot of this drawing used the compressed charcoal which, as can be seen is more brown than black! I also used willow which was better but more fiddly to hold and use.
The jug was striated but I dont think I managed to capture the proper level of shading. The cup was a bit better.
Date: 10/8, 11/8 and 12/8/22
Comment: Digital, Building No. 17 Total time: 61 mins
I forced myself to take things slow and make sure my lines were cleaner which meant making sure they lined up with a consistent thickness. I also tried to see beyond the reference image. This had a lot of foilage covering parts which I tried to ignore.
Date: 4/8/22, 5/8/22 and 8/8/22
Comment: Digital – Building No. 16 – Total time 66 mins
This one was very detailed and contained a lot of greenery which I did attempt remembering to put that on another layer. I may need to look up how to do greenery. I cheated by using a bit of colour.
The biggest issue with this was the reference image which when it was expanded, lost lines. One lesson from this was that I should have stepped back and tried to think about what I was trying to draw/trace and then gone with that. After all it is just buildings so unlikely to be anything complicated. I may have got cleaner and better detail.
Date: 1/8/22 and 2/8/22
Comment: Digital – Building No. 15 – Total time 30 mins
Like way too many of the reference images, this contained a lot of herbage that I ignored but like before I did try to make a conscious effort to decide what should have darker lines and what should have a lighter touch.
I also tried to shade this in but really to highlight the difference inside the doorway. Didn’t quite get the colour right and couldn’t change it because I forgot to use another layer!
Date: 26/7/22 and 1/8/22
Comment: Charcoal – Skill No. 7, 19 mins total
Firstly, this was started with a pencil to block in to try and get the proportions right. I did not get it right and I think is because the internal reference points that I used were not right or fixed.
Secondly, the shading I tried something different. I put down some charcoal and then spread it across the page to get rid of the white-white. I then went back and laid down the light and dark areas without worrying about the detail. And I tried to do this quickly. The block in part took 13 mins but the charcoal part was 6 mins.
The one thing I didn’t do is use the erase to get highlights.
Date: 26/7/22 and 30/7/22
Comment: Digital – Building No. 14 – Total time 26 mins
Before I started this, I actually spent a min or two asking myself which lines should be thicker. And then tried to do so via pen pressure to gain some control.
Date: 23/7/22
Comment: Digital – Building No. 13 – Total time 15 mins
The reference photo had a load of vegetation which I couldn’t be bothered with.