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Friday, 26 April 2013

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:

Love Cherries







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:




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:
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):

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