The following piece was produced on plain a3 paper with Charcoal.

Starting with the proportion, the anatomy appears mostly correct however with the musculature the trapezius muscles appear to thick in conjunction with the rest of the body along with the gracilis muscles appearing to thin, this in turn makes the rest of the leg look to thin.

Moving onto the pose, it's a dynamic pose as we can see the figure's weight lean onto his left foot in order to balance himself as the right foot is about to lift up, it's also an open pose as the arms aren't completely closed by the side of his body.

The anatomy of the face has also been considered and this assists in the expression and mood of the piece as he looks on into the distance.

The lighting on the figure is direct and this causes a terminator line down the middle of the body where light is transitioning to darkness, highlights are also considered, an example of this is on the thigh area on his right leg.

The shadow on the piece is both casted and self shadowed, examples of casting would be his stomach area where as the self shadowing would be his right arm since his body is blocking it from the light, the chiaroscuro is best seen to the figures right side of his body.

By using light and shadow it helps reinforce the form of the person and this also effects the soft material of which is skin, the contrast is high in this piece and that increases the depth.

Constructively his left hand appears to thick in proportion to his wrist along with his left foot looking to small in proportion to the rest of the body, there also appears to be a limited amount of vertical mark making in the piece.

Saturday 14th December

Facial Anatomy: Expression And Mood

The following pieces were produced on plain a3 paper, the first piece being produced with pastels and the second being produced with water colour pencils.

The first piece correctly acknowledges placement of the eyebrows in order to increase the surprised expression this is also helped by the tilting of the head.

The expressionism in tone helps the expression as the warmer colours present it to be a lighter scene in which is a more pleasant suprise rather than one with a darker atmosphere, complementary colours are also used to create more harmony in the piece.

The second piece similar to the first one presents disgust as the subjects tilts her head more along with the raised eyebrow however unlike the first piece this one uses more contrast and that sets the mood as being darker as the purple dictates the shadows.

The eyes in the pieces also assist with expression, the top image with the eyes looking directly at the viewer presents that the figure is interested where as the bottom image the figure is looking on into the distance presenting more of that disgust expression.

The backgrounds also help with the mood as the blue background on the top image helps enfore it to be a happier mood where as the grey background on the bottom image presents it to be more uneasy and unsettling.

Constructively the angles could be more interesting which would also help with the mood and expression as they currently look to static and not dynamic enough. Lighting has been considered as we can see the highlights on the face however the shadows could be darker and this would increase the contrast and the mood.

Thursday 5th December

Facial Anatomy: Portraiture

The following three pieces were produced on plain white A3 paper with Charcoal.

The pieces above correctly present proportions on the face with minor issues present such as the the left eye on the first piece. (More explained at the end)

The mark making used on the pieces is subtly applied throughout all three pieces, where hair is concerned the lines are not all in one direction and this allows us to see the shape of it.

Shadow and light has been used and this creates form and depth throughout the three pieces, the fact that gradients are used for the lighting on the face makes the skin look soft as well, meaning materials have been considered.

Highlights have been used and this creates a chiaroscuro effect on the pieces especially down the nose of the second piece.

Constructively there is a lot of contrast which is good however the first piece doesn't appear to have as much and this presents it to be flatter than the other two pieces, perspective on the second piece appears to need attention as the contours to the left of his face make the cheeks bones appear larger than they would be in real life, this also makes the head look flat rather than round. 

Finally the third piece needs some work on proportion as the nose appears to small, it would be positive to make the face longer in order to accommodate lengthening the nose.

Friday 22nd November

Environment - Final Piece

This piece was produced on plain white a3 paper with watercolour pencils in 4 hours.

Starting with perspective the horizon line would be across the bottom of the house, a vanishing point is considered as foreshortening can be seen on the path, the best example would be that the chairs close to the house appear smaller where as the plants around the pond appear larger, the orthogonal lines would be far off the page as well due to the horizon line being so high up the page.

A foreground, midground and background is seen, the foreground being the plants and path with the house being the midground along with the sky and trees being the background, the trees in the background appear to have been made darkrer in order for the midground to gain interest.

The focal point appears to be the chimney as this is within the rule of thirds along with it having a darker roof near by which increases the contrast, it also contains the most detail in the piece along with a path that leads the viewer to the side of the page in which the chimney is.

Although lines are present, the bushes and trees use a different saturation in order to create their form when next to the house or sky, using different hues enables the clouds to stand out as well.

The impressionism of the bushes lends a helping hand to the focal point as there doesn't appear to be to much detail in those areas and since foliage is on both sides of the page this increases the balance and harmony of the composition.

Constructively the pond appears to have to much detail and this could lead the viewer away from the proposed focal point, lighting could also be considered more as the piece appears to be to flat and lighting would increase the dynamism in the piece as a whole.

Thursday 28th November

Figure Drawing: Impressionism With Colour And Tone

This piece was produced on white A3 paper with pastels In 1 Hour 30 Minutes.

To start with the values used there appears to be a large amount of warmer colours as apposed to cooler colours however the cooler colours have been placed so that the warmer colours don't completely take over the piece, this is evident especially around the stomach where the cooler colours are used to present light hitting the skin.

Moving onto the contrast there appears to be more on the body and arms than that of the legs and that's a problem as it doesn't create balance within the piece and makes it feel as though the legs are disconnected from the rest of the piece.

Shadows are correctly presented as it's possible to see a casting shadow on the floor from the figure and also some self shadowing under the breasts.

Constructively the brown hue is to overpowering when it comes to the colour range, the choice of a saturated yellow and pink allows the skin to look more realistic in this impressionistic piece but it doesn't blend correctly with the blue and red areas, evident around the leg area.

Sunday 24th November

Figure Drawing: Drapery

This sketch was produced on grey A3 paper with Pitt Artist Pens in 1 hour 50 minutes.

Beginning with the values there doesn't appear to be a large amount of contrast due to the grey paper but it's possible to see gradients throughout and this allows us to see the light highlight the higher areas of the dress however by using cross hatching as the way to produce the mark making it's possible to see the direction in which the drapery hangs off the figure, this can be seen specifically where the dress hangs between her legs.

There appears to be a large amount of self shadowing with in the dress as it creates bumps in it's form and this allows us to understand it's surface as the gradients previously explained make the material appear softer than that of the skin which has less shading and we're also able to see casting shadows from the shoes on the floor.

Constructively the part of the dress hanging from her left leg doesn't appear to go around the top of her leg properly and this makes it look as though her leg isn't connected to her body underneath the drapery.

The lighting on the dress to her right side could have more contrast to create more harmony in the piece as a whole, it feels as though much of the shadows are to her left side of the composition.

Friday 22nd November

Still Life - Final Piece

The following piece was produced in 3 hours 30 minutes on brown A3 paper with pastels.

Looking at the piece as a composition we can see that the rule of thirds have been applied as the plant hits the top left of the piece, we can also see foreshortening happening as the orange floor narrows inwards this implies depth within the piece.

As an arrangement no objects appear to be kissing along with a balance in values as the warm orange is countered with the blue walls and blue plant, this increases the harmony within the piece.

We can see shadows are being cast to the right of the page implying that the light source is to the left, we're also able to see some highlights on the vase and fruits which moves us onto the materials.

The natural objects such as the fruits don't reflect a large amount where as the man made materials such as the kettle reflects most objects in sight, this establishes form with in the piece.

Constructively the perspective of the pots seems off as they slant slightly to the right, the lid of the kettle also requires some fixing as the ellipsis is off.

More contrast should be added to the grapes in order to increase the depth within them, the same can be said for the shadows in the piece as they all appear to be the same saturation.

Sunday 17th November

Figure Drawing: Dynamic and Static Poses

The first sketch was produced using pastel pencil on grey a3 paper, the middle sketch was produced using charcoal on plain a3 paper and finally the bottom sketch was produced using pastel pencil on plain a3 paper. The top and bottom sketches took 30 minutes whilst the middle sketch took 45 minutes.

The sketches all indicate a usage of pose, the top sketch presenting it's self as a dynamic piece includes information such as weight as it's possible to see the woman balancing herself up with one foot on the ground as the weight from her right leg begins to move in mid air.

The second sketch is again a dynamic piece as it appears as though she is about to get up from the ground, her hands and feet balance her up and this presents again usage in weight, the gesture with in the piece is closed as her legs close against her body to create a ball like effect, the arms can be considered open however.

As for the bottom piece it's a static pose in which is balanced on the chair as the weight from her bottom holds her up. As for the gesture it's open as the arms are not closed together.

Constructively the middle piece needs more time spent on the anatomy of the hands, the fingers appear very sharp on the left hand when they should be smooth. 

The neck on the bottom sketch is also very thin and the left shoulders perspective appears to be off.

(Next week may contain a fix for the issues described)

Friday 08th November

Transparent Objects: Tonal Values In Refraction And Distortion

The following piece was produced on grey A3 paper with charcoal and white pastel in 1 Hour 20 minutes.

The values used with in the piece are of a high contrast, this for example can be specifically noticed in the glasses where highlights are presented.

The lighting is indirect in which causes a terminator effect on some of the glasses, the lighting in the piece also affects the form of the glasses as well as the materials, by having lighting in the scene we're able to see through the glasses transparency, this creates distortion when one glass is in front of another as seen in the piece.

Where shadow is concerned it's possible to see that the glasses cast a shadow onto the table along with the place mat and shadow is also used for the chair in the background, this creates higher contrast as it's very dark as apposed to the highlights on the glasses.

Constructively the base of the glasses are kissing on the left hand side and almost on the right hand side.

The ellipses on the bottom of the glasses could also be corrected as they are at an incorrect angle, the shadows of the glasses could also be a lot stronger on the right hand side.

Saturday 02nd November

Man Made Forms: Vehicles

The following piece was produced on brown A3 paper with Pastel Pencils in 2 hours.

To begin with the piece correctly presents usage of light to help reinforce the form of the car, since it's shiny we can see a large usage of contrast, especially where the metal is painted black, we're able to see where the light is bouncing off it.

By correctly reinforcing the form we're able to understand the hard and soft materials, for example the back of the trailer is made out of wood and we're able to tell this because the rest of the car is metallic and shiny with a large contrast where the wood doesn't have.

Line is also considered where the car doors are, by looking at these lines we're able to see the angle of the car and the piece correctly foreshortens as it reaches the trailer of the car, this implies depth in the piece.

Constructively the contour of the roof isn't in correct perspective to the front of the car where the grill is, it's angle is incorrect.

The ellipses at the back of the car which represents the wheel is also not at a correct angle, the same can be said of the light to the right of the car.

Sunday 27th October

Tone And Colour Values: Sky Impressionism

The following piece was produced on grey A3 paper with acrylic paints in 1 hour 15 minutes.

First off we are able to see a great amount of contrast, as the weather is slowly becoming darker from the bottom of the page we can see it gradients up to the top of the page in which is brighter and perspective is also considered with the larger clouds at the top of the page.

The lighting appears direct and due to the fact it's strong we're able to see the form in the clouds, specifically the opaqueness around the edges of the clouds which show signs of movement in the piece as the clouds deform.

The colours used in the piece are very cold, little balance is shown between warm and cold colours and the colours used like purple and pink are very saturated however they do manage to highlight the brighter parts of the clouds.

Constructively there isn't much harmony in the piece, it all feels unbalanced and the colours don't mix correctly, shadows have been considered with the purples but this doesn't blend well with the whites of the clouds.

The darker colours at the bottom of the page also don't blend in well with the brightness of the clouds, perhaps if it the blue background was more saturated at the bottom of the page it would work better.

Reference like a building or town would've been a good way of showing scale in the piece, even if it's not that large in the composition.

Saturday 19th October

Handling Complex Information: Impressionism (3 Sketches)

The pieces above were produced in under an hour each, on plain white A3 paper with Grey Toned Marker Pens and Pitt Artist Pens.

The pieces above have all used lighting to depict the form of buildings and foliage, most of this lighting is direct and comes from the sun with little indirect lighting be present.

With light being considered this also gives way to shadows and we can see that the direct light is hitting off buildings to cast shadows onto other buildings, this can be seen in the middle image when the tall building in the middle is casting a shadow onto a building to it's right.

As for mark making we get a difference between hard and soft materials, specifically between the foliage and buildings, the scribbles around the page depict the softer foliage which is in movement whilst the contour of the buildings depicts hard materials such as brick.

A foregound, midground and background is also present in the compositions as we can see best in the middle image, the foliage to the front of the page creates an angle of foreshortening implying a sense of depth in the image.

Constructively the foreground in the first image is to light which distracts us from the focal point which is the town, if a silhouette was added as the background the midground would be highlighted more and increase the angle of foreshortening.

As for the compositions the rule of thirds could be considered, all images appear to have a focus point in the middle and if fixed more balance could be added for harmony.

                                                           

Tuesday 15th October

Mixing Media: Interior Perspective [Fix]

This piece has been produced in order to fix the issues present in last weeks Mixing Media.

(This piece was produced on A3 Blue Coloured Paper with Sketching Crayons and Pastels, I will talk only about the fixes, you can can check out last weeks piece to see what my constructive input was)

To begin with depth has been worked in, we can see this by the tones of the walls behind the pillars, they're dim which highlights the pillars and makes them become an area of interest, if we follow the implied line of the pillars it leads us to to our focus point which is the blue window to the right, this is our focus point due to the contrast in light and dark this also happens to be in the rule of thirds and contributes to the composition.

Perspective has also been improved as the proportion of the arcs in the pillars now get considerably smaller the further away they are, this also goes for the rows of chairs where detail lessens to present a vanishing point.

Constructively it suffers with colour values the piece appears saturated, for example the walls are a tone of grey and take up a lot the composition, the same goes for the yellow windows where there should be more highlight to show glass and light coming in.

Sunday 13th October

Mixing Media: Interior Perspective.

The following piece was produced within 3 hours using sketching crayons and pastels on a grey toned sheet of A3 paper.

The horizon line is considered as it cuts through where the top of the stairs are and this allows the rules of perspective to be considered such as the vanishing point where we can see the chairs narrow inwards, the same can be said for the pillars where to the sides of the page they appear large and narrow in to the middle in order to become smaller. The focal point can be seen to the right of the page where there is a large amount of yellow along with a wooden notice board which corresponds to the rule of thirds.  

Colour wise it uses a lot of greys and browns which allows the greens, yellows and reds to pop out however there seems to be to much brown which can make the piece appear less interesting perhaps using more colour would fix this particularly as it reaches the window where colour is used.

The media used correctly mixes together as it's difficult to differentiate what is pastel and what is sketching crayon, most of the media blends in allowing objects to present their materials correctly, for example the wooden chairs which have scrapes going down them.

Constructively it comes down to the areas of interest where there appears to be to much happening on the page, to much detail has been given to areas which don't need it such as the chairs to the front of the room and this makes it difficult to identify the focus point. 

The perspective of the arcs to the right of the page could also be fixed as the lines don't appear rounded enough compared to the left hand side, the chairs to the right also seem out of perspective as the chairs to the left should be in line with them however they're not.

Sunday 6th October

Architectural Rendering: Exterior Of A Modern Building.

The following piece was produced with in 3 Hours using Pitt artist pens and pencils on plain A3 paper. 

Straight away a focus point is established as we look directly at the top corner of the roof to the right of the page, this also reflects usage in the rule of thirds as it's to the top right of the composition. Contrast and Line thickness are the main reasons for this focus point and it's also the reasoning that our eyes move down the orthogonal lines to the left of the page to the vanishing point where we see the entrance to the structure. Detail lowers as well as we reach the vanishing point in order to create more interest in the focus point.

The vantage point appears to be at quite a distance since the whole building is in perspective, this also allows us to clearly see the horizon line which if we were to draw a line across the page it would be where the darkened trees are. 

As for the light and shadow we can see that more contrast is used towards the focus point than that of the vanishing point, attention to values in the clouds and car park are also thought about as we can see reflections from the pillars.

A foreground, midground and background are also recognized as we can see the darkened trees in the background and the car park in the foreground.

Constructively some of the lines are off, specifically the lines behind the pillars which seem to curve a little, this disrupts the orthogonal lines and there also doesn't seem to be enough space for the building in the composition, it seems to be kissing the sides of the page when it could be a little more inwards to make more space for a background. 

Thursday 3rd October

Still Life: Composition [Fix]

This piece has been produced in order to fix the issues present in last weeks Still Life. 

(Again produced on A3 with Charcoal, I will only talk about the fixes, you can check out last weeks piece to see what my constructive input was)

The range in contrast is far superior in this piece than the last piece, there is a higher amount of darkness and that brings out the brightness in the man made objects such as the jars and bottles, this creates more areas of interest.

The objects are more spaced out than before thus there are no longer objects kissing.

There is also a much stronger focus point on the jar to the bottom right since it's the brightest object, it's also in the rule of thirds which the previous piece didn't have.

Constructively the other piece did have a better use of gradients and the box to the left is misplaced, it would be better to let the vase be seen more.

Saturday 28th September

Still Life: Composition

This piece was produced within 1 hour 45 minutes using Charcoal on plain A3 paper.

The piece focuses on the composition whilst establishing a difference between manmade and natural objects, the high angle vantage point allows the vases in the back to be seen creating a background for the objects in front of which creates more depth.

The oranges to the left and right of the image create a focus point due to their contrast, it has brighter points than that of the vases and this makes the eye flow around their contour to the manmade objects which have more shape to them because of the form.

The composition feels even due to the natural objects on both sides however the use of shadows from these natural objects deny it from being perfectly even as the contrast and positioning of them is different.

Constructively the piece suffers as the range in contrast just isn't enough, it's difficult to differentiate between the oranges and the vases even with the brighter patches on the oranges.

The composition could be more interesting as well, perhaps using the rule of thirds on the vases along with spacing all the objects out more would do a better job.

There is also the issue of objects touching, the oranges are slightly kissing the vases along with the two vases being straight down the middle which disrupts our perception of depth in the piece.

The final issue would be that the vases appear titled to the right, it seems more time needs to be dedicated to the man made objects contour.