24/10/16 - Lesson 5

This week, we were not using pencils to draw the model but instead, we covered the whole paper in charcoal and then we rubbed into it to reveal the paper. This then formed the shape of the model. We also had several lights shining on the model so we could have different tones to rub out, making her look more realistic. This was an incredibly difficult task for me since I couldn't rely on my pencil for an outline or detail. I feel that some of the outcomes are okay but I think I could have improved them with more light work. 

17/10/16 - Lesson 4 (Homework)

For today's homework, we were given the task of drawing five objects in our hands. The positions I chose were varied and to be honest, it was very hard to find a position that I could draw well but I did manage to find some I could do. I used a wide range of materials so that they all didn't look the same or boring for that matter. I used, water-colours, charcoal, pencil, water-colour pencil and acrylic. Some materials worked better than others. The water-colour pencil is probably the weakest one since it didn't come out that well but I wanted to use coloured pencil to experiment this time rather than pen, like I always use. The plain pencil is my favourite one since it is very detailed and all of the joints are in the correct place with the right amount of shading. 

I feel that each drawing does represent something in a sort of narrative.

PENCIL DRAWING: It represents my passion for drawing in all forms and the pencil also represents that I do like the traditional way of drawing with a pencil than using all kinds of new materials. It tells the story of how much I have loved to draw throughout my life.

CHARCOAL DRAWING: This drawing represents me having fun with only simple objects rather than technology. The charcoal represents how dull creativity has gotten in today's society since everyone is so absorbed in technology. 

WATER-COLOUR DRAWING: This drawing shows that I enjoy using technology for amusement like watching YouTube, going on Facebook and games like Angry Birds. The iPod uses colour but the background is dull since technology is overwhelming. This tells the story of not only me but society as well. 

ACRYLIC DRAWING: This drawing shows that I like using coloured card to make beautiful creations, like paper-cut portraits. The colour shows that I like to use bright and cheerful colours rather than gloomy and dark ones. 

WATER-COLOUR PENCIL DRAWING: This drawing shows that I often use glue in my work to also make more creations like collographs. There is no real symbolism behind the water-colour pencils since I used it to experiment with. I don't like the outcome that well so I think I'd stick to plain pen next time since I am better at using it.

17/10/16 - Lesson 4

In today's lesson, we were looking at foreshortening, which is the modification of an established scale in a drawing of the human figure to represent perspective. The model this week was marked with pieces of paper, which helped calculate the differences between the different parts of the body and this made sure that we had everything in the correct proportion from the perspective. I think that I have definitely improved this week as the body actually looks more realistic now thanks to the new techniques I have been taught. However, she was posed at odd angles and it was especially hard as she was lying down this week so we had 45 minutes to draw her so I took extra care. Still, I made some mistakes of course but they will be corrected and I will get better!

10/10/2016 - Lesson 3 (Homework)

For homework this week, we had to draw a negative space self portraits with objects that reflects our personality. I chose these items because of the way they represent me:

Batman mug: I love to drink tea.
Maltesers: I enjoy eating sweets.
Juice: I'd rather drink something simple than something extravagant.
DVD's: Watching films are enjoyable and I like to criticize on them a lot about effects and characters.
Laptop: I write various stories on it as well as making videos and digital drawings about my favourite shows.
Paintbrushes: Doing art in general allows me to be creative and to express myself.

This is the most busiest drawing as I put most of the items that reflect me in this one so I could do more focused ones later on. This drawing consists of charcoal and pencil, which aren't my strongest point in my art. Certain elements of the drawing look better than others, like the Maltesers, paintbrushes and books/DVD's stack as the shading makes them stand out from the page. The laptop looks decent but the screen I feel should have been a lot darker and the bottle needed more sharpness. The mug looks a bit rough with the shading and could have been blended in a bit more.

Pokemon Plushies: I love anime and I really enjoy drawing and writing about them. 

Cupcakes: They are really pretty to look at as well as being very tasty.

I used pastels for this as well as pencils and water-colour pencils. I decided to be spontaneous and draw my plushies with only on light focused in a certain area. The pastels did bring out the shadows quite well but I feel that it is a bit too heavy in certain areas. With the colours, I didn't colour all of the areas but rather used continous line work to shade in the areas that stand out the most on the actual plushies. The cupcake was placed at a tricky angle but the colour and dark line work helps bring out the icing and package around it.

McDonalds: It is one of my favourite fast food joints but sadly I can't eat them all the time but I do enjoy them now and again! 

This is my favourite one of the three as I love the pen work I did on this. The continuous line work was very good for bringing out the shadows of the food and packages on the table. Since it was on the table against a wall, I had to be very light with my tonal work but I think the outcome was very good. I especially think that the nuggets and cup stand out from the table quite well.  

I used pencils, pastels, water-colour pencils and pens for these drawings which helped give the items more of a realistic angle to them. The pencil helped me especially to bring out some of the darker areas of the items. This was a nice task to complete since I was drawing what I like the most and I look forward to doing more drawings like this in the future.

10/10/16 - Lesson 3

In today's lesson, we did more nude figure drawings, but this time, we were looking more at the proportion, where we had to get the size right. We measured the figure by using our pencils to mark out the arms, legs etc onto the paper. I found this to be much easier than just doing a drawing at any size and just drawing straight out since marking and planning is so much better. I feel as if my skills have really developed this lesson and I look forward to going into deeper detail with foreshortening next week. The top image here is my favourite as I feel that I really captured the angle of the model well and that all her body parts are the right size thanks to the new measuring technique we were taught. The only problem with the image is that it isn't big enough, which is something I definitely want to work on as we draw more nude figure drawings.

3/10/16 - Lesson 2 (Homework)

We were all given the task of drawing four household items in a negative space. I drew a mug, a perfume bottle, a teapot and a pop bottle. I drew two of them in normal pencils, one in charcoal and one in pen. It was interesting to draw items in a negative space and I feel as if it helped me with my observational skills. My favourite drawing here has to be the perfume bottle as the line work with pen on it really brings out the shading and angle of the bottle. I wanted to use something else besides pencil and charcoal in the drawings as it gives my work a wider variety of techniques. The Batman mug is probably my least favourite since the actual mug is the colour black and I can still see the pencil markings when I tried to shade it in with charcoal and doesn't look realistic enough.

3/10/16 - Lesson 2

In today's lesson, we were doing nude figure drawings with a woman as our model. I found it difficult at first as some body parts were hard to draw due to the poses and some body parts ended up being bigger than others.When drawing the woman at different angles I tried a variety of techniques, like drawing with my left hand, drawing blindly, drawing semi-blind and drawing within five/ten/twenty/thirty minutes. I feel that some of my drawings were better than others due to the poses the woman was making. Working with charcoal is proving to be difficult for me as I work better with plain pencil and also fine pen. My favourite piece has to be where I drew her lying down and then used a variety of pens on her that were different colours. Although I liked the style, I focused more on the drawing than the model, which I shouldn't do since the model's details are more important. I look forward to doing more nude figure drawing as it proves to be very interesting to me as well as helping me to develop new skills.

26/09/16 Lesson 1 (Homework)

In addition to the lesson, we were given a homework task to draw a self portrait of ourselves. I found this to be a difficult task as certain parts of the face are tricky for me to draw. Doing the hair was my favourite part of the drawing as it allowed me to work on my shading as well as the cheeks. I need to work more on my eyes as I feel that they do not look realistic enough and I know I can do better. With future lessons, I will hopefully be able to develop my skills with observational drawings.