GA1A01 - Theoretical Foundations of Art and Design – Submission Four

Submission - Self Portrait

The scanned image turned out a little darker than the original

For the final submission of the portfolio summative, I chose this self-portrait I drew a few months back because I deem it’s the best traditional work I have produced this year, and I will be explaining the artwork in detail and why I think this is my best work.

The reference photo I chose from was one I took earlier in the year. I found this photo to have very soft diffused lighting over my face, and I chose this lighting over harsh and contrasting (such as closely shining a lamp over my face) because I felt the resulting drawing would bare more resemblance to my real face as you don’t walk around every day with a lamp shining over your head. This choice however also raises the difficulty of drawing my self-portrait as the slightest shade change can result in deforming the face.

The time spent on this drawing was around 10 – 12 hours (three nights of 3 – 4 hours’ work). I spent the first night getting the proportions matching as closely as possible, which meant heaps of light line work, comparing, and erasing/fixing. I highly prioritised this step because the human face is perhaps our most sensitive region of visual perception and the tiniest alteration/difference in proportion can be easily picked up. Next night I did the majority of shading, mostly on the eyes and skin, and then on the last night I drew the hair and finished up the whole drawing. I left the clothing mostly without detail to keep the focus of the portrait to the face.

Features I felt I did well were the general proportions of the face and the shading on the skin to show form. I feel these two features were the standouts of my portrait and the reason I think the portrait bares great resemblance to my face.

Features I felt that were most difficult to draw were the eyes and hair. The shape of the iris was especially challenging due to the preciseness needed to make it look natural. Hair was more time-consuming than difficult, but I think the shading requires more attention than I have given it.

The features I felt I could improve most are also the details around the eyes and the hair. Details such as eyelashes and my eyeliner became mixed up, which I feel could have been fixed by drawing the details much finer. The hair needs another night of detailing each strand and the overall highlights need improving especially around the side of the head. Overall I think I did a fine job on the self-portrait.

Wang, Q. (2013). Self-portrait. 

Portfolio Submission Three

GA1A01 - Theoretical Foundations of Art and Design – Six Life Drawings

Drawing 1: Gestures of female model

I decided to submit this drawing because I believe it demonstrates an understanding of form, movement and weight. This drawing comprises of three sketches, each of the same model in different poses. The sketches also differ in the amount of time spent on each; therefore they also differ in the amount form and weight.

The centre drawing was done within the least amount of time, so it only comprises of gesture lines. Even so, the flow of movement can be seen by from how the lines curve from the head to the spine to the legs and arms, both creating the form and showing positions of where they are.

The outer two drawings show more form and weight than the centre as they also comprises of spherical forms. As seen in both drawings, the centre of weight is in her buttocks, with the weight of her tummy pulling towards this centre in the left drawing. Movement can be seen in her spine how it creates a wave-like shape.

Improvements that could be made to the drawings include more visible gesture lines in the outer two drawings, and if the drawings were more in the correct proportion.

Wang, Q. (2013). Gestures of female model.

Drawing 2: Posterior pose of female model

I chose this drawing as it is a more refined drawing of the previous three of the same model and shows better anatomy. The gesture lines and spherical forms can clearly be seen within the outlines, similar to a combination of the previous three. A smaller gesture only drawing of the same pose is situated on the top-right of the page.

A distinctive feature of this drawing compared to the previous three is the twist in her waist. The twist can be seen in the gesture line of her spine, showing movement. The spherical forms in this drawing create a more proportionate drawing than the previous three.

Improvements that can be made would be a better eye for detail, especially her legs. Her knee lacks proper form from an anterior view, and her lower legs are not correctly in proportion.

Wang, Q. (2013). Posterior pose of female model. 

Drawing 3: Box form gestures

I chose this drawing even though it is rather rough because box form emphasises on movement and form rather than accurate anatomy. This drawing comprises of two fighting stance poses, the left a mid-punch pose and the right an injured pose.

These two poses show strong movement, as this can be seen from the curves and twists within the gesture lines and box forms. The curves can be seen in the left pose with the arms positioned 90 degrees to the torso and the right leg bend and tip-toed. The twists can be seen in the right pose around the torso as the boxes are not lined up with each other and a progressive twist of the boxes from top down and vice versa.

Improvements that could be made would be stronger outlines to show the box forms more clearly, and tidier boxes as there are too many diamond-shaped boxes that did not quite fit the box form style.

Wang, Q. (2013). Box form gestures.   

Drawing 4: Overlapping poses

I chose this drawing because out of all my life drawings, I believe this one shows the most understanding of weight distribution. The drawing comprises of three poses which overlap onto each other, but all share a common pivot point. This pivot point is set in the centre of contact between the model and the surface he is sitting on. The three poses combine together to show the model getting up from a surface as if he was getting out of bed.

The first of the poses shows the model lying on the surface with his bodyweight shifting downwards. This can clearly be seen by looking at the model’s waist and hips as there is a noticeable curve inwards that would not be seen in an upright position.

The second pose is the intermediate pose showing the distribution of weight shifting from all over his body to his right arm and shoulder. This weight support can be seen by the way his arm is stretched straight to be used leverage for his entire body, with the muscles in the arms tightened.

The third and final pose shows the distribution of weight shifting from his right arm to his buttocks, as he is now in a sitting pose. His left arm is leaning on his left knee, showing small weight leverage of his torsos. His right arm is no longer leverage and this can be seen by the relaxed muscles in the arm.

An obvious improvement that could be made to this drawing is to not have the poses be cut off the top of the page. I made a mistake with the starting pivot point of this drawing, therefore the positioning of the three poses ended up as they did.

Wang, Q. (2013). Overlapping poses.

Drawing 5: Transitional poses

I chose this drawing because I believe this one shows the most understanding of movement out of all my drawings so far. The drawing comprises of three poses which each occupy a third of the page in landscape. The poses show the model getting up from a starting position into a sprinting pose, representing the movement of an athlete during the start of a sprint.

The first pose shows the model kneeling with his left hand on the ground and head facing to his right. The distribution of weight and nearly all his force focused on his right knee so that he would be able to push himself up with velocity. His right hand is place on top of the knee so that in movement he would push the arm onto the knee, and the force of the push will lift his upper body up.

The second pose shows the model just on his feet from the previous pose, this time weight and force shifting to his left leg to start creating momentum for the sprint. His right arm swings to keep his body in balance. As he had just gotten up, his head has yet to face upwards.

The third pose shows the model taking his first step in the sprint, now with his head up and facing on eye level. His legs and arms have alternated in force.

The big improvement to this drawing would include properly lining up the poses to give correct perspective, which again I made a mistake with the positioning of the first pose.

Wang, Q. (2013). Transitional poses.

Drawing 6: Sitting Pose

I chose this drawing because I believe this one shows good understanding of anatomy. The pose was difficult to get proportionate, but I believe I can point out the mistakes.

The pose shows the model leaning on her right arm as leverage, her left leg over her right, left arm relaxed on her legs and waist, and head facing 45 degrees to the right. Her clavicles are prominent, her ribcage can be see through the shape above her waist, and her tibia bulging out due to the left leg being pressed against her right.

The mistakes and lack of details in this drawing would be:

·        Her hands which still lack correct anatomical especially with the carpal bones.

·        Her neck and the lack of details on the face.

·        Lacking detail on her toes and metatarsals.

·        Her torso may be a slight big longer than anatomically correct. 

Wang, Q. (2013). Sitting Pose.

BCT GA1A01 - Portfolio Submission One

Commentary For My Six Drawings

First Artwork - Cherries in Love

When I was looking for art to draw online, I found this image which was too adorable to pass up. I desaturated the image for reference, and sketched the image with HB, 4B and 6B pencils.

The shading on the cherries turned out quite well. For the tint in the background I lightly shaded the area with my HB pencil, the softened it with a small brush. I used my kneaded eraser to create the hard lights, and the 6B pencil for the darkest shades. It’s harder to tell when desaturated, but the shade under the cherries is not its shadow. It is in fact the cherries’ reflection, which is reflected off a glossy surface presumably. 

Laxman. (2012). Love Cherries. Retrieved from:

http://speckyboy.com/2012/07/22/30-stunning-examples-of-still-life-photography/

Second Artwork – Rocks

 

For this piece of art I wanted to experiment with using markers on a proper image for the first time. I chose this picture of rocks because it has simple shading, and involves drawing negative space, much like what we did at Albert Park for the first week of class. I drew the outlines and simple shadings with pencils, then went over them with four different markers: blender, Warm Grey 1, Warm Grey 3, and Warm Grey 5.

The image looks alright, but much many improvements can be made such as more detailed and blending of the shading. I did not take enough risks as I didn’t want to accidently ruin the image with a wrong stroke of the marker.

Secor, D. (2012). Rocks. Retrieved from:

http://landscapesinpastel.blogspot.co.nz/2010/05/chapter-fourteen-rocks.html

Third Artwork – Water Drop

 

Being able to drawing realistic water has always been a goal of mine as an artist. A water drop seemed like a good starting point for a balance of simplicity and detail: not too much graphite needed, yet the slightest difference in shape and shade has a huge effect on the overall image. I chose this image for the lighter background so I won’t need to tone the paper. 

I used different shade of pencils with my brush to create the soft edges of the water ripples. The most challenging part was sketching small spheres of water that’s bouncing upwards, as each has its own refracted lights and shadow. Adding more detail to these spheres would be the main improvement I could make, and perhaps using charcoal for the hard shades as well.

Retrieved from:

http://www.mysouthlakenews.com/2012/08/city-of-southlake/water-conservation-twice-a-week-a-permanent-solution/attachment/water-drop

Fourth Artwork – Rain Drops on a Window

 

For this image I decided to do something different, which was to draw numerous less detailed subjects as opposed to one main focus of an image. It was a rainy day so I decided to draw from my head how water droplets would look on a window.

I toned the paper with graphite powder which I obtained from sharpening my pencil and crushing the shaved lead. It was toned unevenly on purpose to create the appearance of a tinted/foggy window. I drew each droplet randomly with some reference (spraying water on the table) on how water drops can look. I shaded the droplets with a HB pencil and pulled lights with my kneaded eraser. This created simplistic spherical shapes with three dimensions, but no detailed enough for refractions.

Improvements that could be would be more details for each water droplet, and perhaps a more realistic grouping of different shapes and sizes of droplets as the image still gives off an artificial feeling.

Fifth Artwork – Straw in Water

Continuing on with my fascination with water, I draw this sketch of a cup of water with a straw inside. This sketch turned out well in my opinion. 

I first toned the paper by shading all over the page lightly with a HB pencil, and then smudged the graphite with a small brush. This way I could create highlights with my kneaded eraser. I experimented with charcoal, which I used to draw the dark edges of the shadow. I smudged the edges as well to give it a soft water effect. The straw’s refraction is perhaps the highlight of this drawing as it displays the intriguing effects a clear liquid has on light.

The main improvement that could be made to this sketch would be a better balance of contrast between the cup and the shadow, and perhaps more hard shadows for the water inside the cup.

Sixth Artwork – Elderly Man

Thinking about a portrait to draw, I chose my Facebook cover image which had the face of this elderly gentleman. The faces of elderly people are especially interesting and challenging to draw due to the wrinkling and sagging of the skin. I initially tried using cross-hatching for shading, but quickly found it too complex with all the different tones and curves on the face, and opted for brush smudging instead. 

The end result is not bad, but I believe it could be improved with a better method of shading (e.g. if I took my time with each shade line) and perhaps the use of charcoal pencils for higher contrast.

Unfortunately I could not find the original drawing of this man so I can only link the image I drew from.

Retrieved from (Slight Profanity):

http://love-noeline.blogspot.co.nz/2010/11/draw-rest-of-fucking-head.html