1. Charcoal portrait

This is General Alfred Milton. I don’t actually know where the reference came from but I think he looks like a Civil War hero with the mustache. I figured out how to draw more delicately with the charcoal on this portrait. Previously I had a difficult time getting fine, light layers to model the facial expressions. I am pretty happy with my improvement but there is still a lot of nuance that I need to practice. The hair is somewhat volumetric, but not quite modeled the way that I would like. I am the most satisfied with the neck. I think the transitions between tones are gradual, nothing is outliney. There is a good texture; the marks are nice but not overbearing.

2. Simple maquette drawing

I created the reference image myself for this drawing. I used cardboard to create a house and used a lamp to get dramatic lighting. This assignment was based on drawings by __________. I am really happy with how the reference turned out! It is simple but there is a lot of visual interest created through the shadows. I was able to model the large empty space to be really smooth with a good gradual transition from dark to light. I enjoy working with graphite because it can look really soft, gentle and smooth but the downside is the amount of time it takes to reach a nice finish. It is not the most efficient medium. I don’t have a picture of it finished. I could take one but I’m not inclined to do that. Suffice it to say, it turned out really well. My professor put it up on the wall!

3. First charcoal figure drawing

This is the first time I have drawn a human figure. The reference for this image is a marble statue. I think the stone the man is sitting on is my favorite part of the drawing. It feels volumetric and has some good lights and darks. The man is not as finely modeled as I might have liked. It’s giving beginner student art. I absolutely should have put more time into this piece but life happens. Oh well.

4. Complex maquette drawing

This drawing is a follow up practice to the simple maquette drawing. I did not photograph the final drawing but I am pretty happy with the process photos. I started out drawing the stars without creating bounding boxes sooooo they were not the right size. I restarted and measured the dimensions which turned out much better.

I created this composition on my own. I did not put a lot of time or thought into it. I think the idea was nice but the lighting was not quite up to standard and the depth of the image was to shallow. I enjoy the practice though, because now I know better.

These are from a few months ago. Now I’m working on different projects but I thought I’d get this posted. Hopefully I post more work this semester!

MONDAY, OCTOBER 31 2022

I started a new project in my Design and Color class! First, we were to create three black and white, square still lifes using items commonly found in table settings. One of the main focuses was to create interesting negative space with both the dishes themselves and the shadows. The guiding question was “how do the shadows overlap and interact with the other shapes?”

These three images are my original attempts at the assignment. Image B does have some interesting negative space, as outlined below. There is a small portion of negative space/shadow at the bottom of image C that is compelling but the rest of the image is too open. Additionally, the knife is not aligned with the cutting board and the angle of the highlighted spoon points away from the center of the image.

None of these compositions were incredible so I pulled on my boots and hiked farther into the land of forks and negative space.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2 2022

The next class focused on the same concepts; negative space and shadows by overlapping. These arrangements turned out MUCH better than the first batch.

Thumbnails are quick sketches or practices that help you to plan out a piece of art before you create a final version. We spend a lot of class time making thumbnails which has significantly improved my art. A significant amount of time dedicated to preparing for a piece of art is vital. If you are able to work out the composition, value and color scheme before you begin painting, the creation of the final piece goes smoothly. Although the first batch of images were decent, I am much more pleased with the results of my second attempt.

This is the composition that I choose as the basis of the rest of the project. Next week we will create abstract drawings based on this image and then create value and color studies.