This exercise, as the title suggests, required me to observe and render tone. It asked that 2 simple shapes be placed together and lit from one side. After spending a while wandering around the house searching for inspiration, I settled on a tea pot and mug. Both were plain, without pattern, but had interesting shapes. As I’d done in previous exercises, I began by working in my sketch book; doing a few quick studies, working out where the big areas of light and shadow fell.
I now spent a good few minutes tracing the shapes I had drawn with my eyes. Looking from the page to the subject, comparing where I had been successful, and where I needed more focused attention next time. In these early sketches I feel I barely scratched the surface and would need to pay more care and attention to the half tones moving forward.
So as not to get stuck drawing the same thing, in the same way, over and over, I tackled the subject with a different approach. Switching from graphite pencil to charcoal, I laid in a block of dark ground. Then, with a kneaded eraser and a very soft, dark charcoal pencil, I pushed and pulled the tones around. I like this one; it felt much freer to make than the earlier ones and I believe that’s visible. I was also starting to think about the composition at this point. I concluded that this layout, with a bit more space between the objects, allowed for more interesting shadows and a more pleasing ascetic.
Switching to a larger surface and sticking with charcoal, I worked on a more refined version. I failed somewhat to capture the shapes of the objects, but as the exercise was tonally based, I persevered until I got the forms to feel somewhat three dimensional. I also paid more attention to the shadows cast by the objects, something I hadn’t done in previous versions. In previous exercises I could have quite easily stopped at this point and moved on. But I felt although I had essentially fulfilled the brief, I hadn’t cracked it yet. All the above drawings had been done post day job and in various cramped places in the house. If I was to produce a drawing that really taught me something, I would need to put some extended time into a piece. I resolved to give it a whole weekend. Setting up a composition and lighting arrangement next to my desk, I locked myself in the studio and began again.
Working with vine charcoal, I began by laying in the obvious areas of shadow. Slowly, working layer by layer, I built up levels of tone until I had roughed in the main forms. Taking breaks isn’t something I do naturally, once I get going I like to plough the furrow until I’m spent. But as I’d decided I wasn’t going to rush to a conclusion, I allowed myself to walk away. When taking these breaks, I would move the work so I could look at it from a distance. This was a great decision. I found viewing it from afar, my mind would wander to the areas that needed work. It was like magic — I didn’t have to think about what needed doing: I would blankly sit drinking tea and, out of the corner of my eye, I’d spot something.
This spurred me on: continuing working in concise blocks of time, I concentrated on the work area by area. A few times while taking a break, as well as moving the drawing to distance, I would turn it upside down. Thinking about some of the graphic design tasks I’m required to do for my day job, I often find that flipping or rotating a design allows you to spot unbalanced elements. So it made sense to use the same technique here. Again, it was of great help. Having been looking at the image the same way for a long time this fresh perspective offered new insight. After four hours, I was completed shattered and had to stop, happy knowing I had laid a good foundation for the next day.
Day two began not at the drawing board but with some photo editing software. I’d taken a photograph of the piece at the close of play the previous day. Looking at the drawing, I felt I could be a lot braver with the tonal range. So rather than blunder around and waste a lot of time, I thought I’d do some experiments digitally. I de-saturated the image and using the contrast control, I played around with the tonal range. This confirmed my suspicions: I could indeed go a lot darker in the shadows and a lot lighter in the highlights. I then proceeded to work on the piece for another few hours. Knowing when to stop is as much of a skill as the actual rendering. I’ve killed many a drawing in the past by tweaking and fiddling ad nauseam. So once I got to the point where I was stressing over minute things that couldn’t been seen at a metre away, I stopped.
I have mixed feelings about this drawing, on the one hand I’m relatively happy with the result. I think it’s one of the technically better drawing I’ve executed this year. In my opinion, it does a reasonable job of representing three dimensions and I’m happy with the composition. On the other hand I do find the outcome a bit boring. It really doesn’t say anything that couldn't be achieved with a camera. I see it as a technical exercise that could have come from anybody’s hand. I don’t see me in there which is something I’ll be keeping in mind for future tasks.
Anyone for tea?
Happy scribbling
Comments