1. Describe the craftsmanship of your drawing.
I wanted to do a perspective that was up close and had some negative space. I usually like drawing compositions closer up to have plenty of space to really focus on the lights and the darks of the object. I wanted the little pot to be my centerpiece since it was really cool looking and had a lot of different values. I made sure to use all the pencils, since last time I did a still life I had a very light hand and didn't really move past 2B. Using the whole range opened up the piece more.
2. Are your values and shadows realistic? How many values did you include? How and why are values important?
I feel like my values are pretty realistic. Still life is not my strength, so I made sure to push the darks and the lights more than i normally would. I used the whole range of values that the pencils gave me, from lightly using the 2H to being dark and heavy with the 8H. These values are important because it makes whatever you are drawing look realistic and 3D. Without values the objects look like a doodle or an outline for a cartoon.
3. Is there a clear source of lighting?
The lighting was hard because there were many different lights coming at different angles, which created interesting shadow. In my perspective, the lights in the backside of the room were right on my objects. You can see the multiple highlights in the pot from each of the lights.
4. How important were the compositional sketches?
The compositional sketches were really important because it allowed me to try different perspectives and objects in my composition. It also allows me to see which ones work and which don't, instead of going into my final and then deciding in the middle of working on it that I don't like how the objects are arranged in the composition. Doing multiple was very helpful since there were so many objects on the table and so many perspectives to choose from.
5. How is your final drawing successful?
My final drawing was successful because of my composition and value changes. For my composition, I liked how the perspective is very up close to really focus on a few objects than having a bunch and it being to crowded. For the value, using all the pencils helped me be successful to create the widest range or values.
6. Are the proportions, structure and perspective of the subject correct?
I feel the proportions are correct, I really focused on where each object overlapped the other, and how to blow up the perspective to fit the bigger paper. Of course it isn't perfect, but it looks correct compared to the photo. The pot was the hardest to get right just due to it's shape and all the details within the pot.
7. Does the placement and grouping of the objects create a pleasing arrangement?
Yes, the placement of the actual objects were already set, but finding which objects looked good together was the hard part. I liked the objects I choose to do, and the closer up view of them. Picking the pot to be the centerpiece was very pleasing to me, because of all the values it had and it had a darker tone than the other objects.
8. Is there a center of interest and is it well located?
The center of interest is the pot, as previously talked about. I feel it is well located because it's not dead center, it's a little bit raised, and all the other objects are in front of it, so it stands tall and proud in the back. It was a good pick because it had such a nice shape and the top piece was very interesting.
9. How well did you manage your time and resources throughout the process of creating this drawing? Do you see where you could improve in this area?
For this project, I managed my time very nicely and worked faster than the previous still life I did. I am usually a slow worker, but was surprised to find myself done with a few days left. This is a nice change, than being a few days behind. I'm sure for the next project which is Prismacolor, I will be having a time management problem. That is one of my slowest mediums.
10. What challenges did you encounter during this project and how did you overcome them?
Some challenges I encountered during this project was using the whole range of pencils. I tend to have a very light hand with still life, so it was hard to really push the darks in the piece. I can even go back and push the darks even more. Mapping out the darks and the lights first before fully shading the object really helped to use the whole range and blend them together so there wasn't a line of dark and then a line of light.
11. What have you learned drawing a still life?
This time doing a still life, I used to be a little bit more heavy handed. I also learned how to look at an object and see the darks and the lights without using color. It's easier for me to draw the object with color, but breaking it down into just the darks and lights without really thinking about color was hard for me. In the future I will have to do more still life since it's not something that comes easy to me.
I wanted to do a perspective that was up close and had some negative space. I usually like drawing compositions closer up to have plenty of space to really focus on the lights and the darks of the object. I wanted the little pot to be my centerpiece since it was really cool looking and had a lot of different values. I made sure to use all the pencils, since last time I did a still life I had a very light hand and didn't really move past 2B. Using the whole range opened up the piece more.
2. Are your values and shadows realistic? How many values did you include? How and why are values important?
I feel like my values are pretty realistic. Still life is not my strength, so I made sure to push the darks and the lights more than i normally would. I used the whole range of values that the pencils gave me, from lightly using the 2H to being dark and heavy with the 8H. These values are important because it makes whatever you are drawing look realistic and 3D. Without values the objects look like a doodle or an outline for a cartoon.
3. Is there a clear source of lighting?
The lighting was hard because there were many different lights coming at different angles, which created interesting shadow. In my perspective, the lights in the backside of the room were right on my objects. You can see the multiple highlights in the pot from each of the lights.
4. How important were the compositional sketches?
The compositional sketches were really important because it allowed me to try different perspectives and objects in my composition. It also allows me to see which ones work and which don't, instead of going into my final and then deciding in the middle of working on it that I don't like how the objects are arranged in the composition. Doing multiple was very helpful since there were so many objects on the table and so many perspectives to choose from.
5. How is your final drawing successful?
My final drawing was successful because of my composition and value changes. For my composition, I liked how the perspective is very up close to really focus on a few objects than having a bunch and it being to crowded. For the value, using all the pencils helped me be successful to create the widest range or values.
6. Are the proportions, structure and perspective of the subject correct?
I feel the proportions are correct, I really focused on where each object overlapped the other, and how to blow up the perspective to fit the bigger paper. Of course it isn't perfect, but it looks correct compared to the photo. The pot was the hardest to get right just due to it's shape and all the details within the pot.
7. Does the placement and grouping of the objects create a pleasing arrangement?
Yes, the placement of the actual objects were already set, but finding which objects looked good together was the hard part. I liked the objects I choose to do, and the closer up view of them. Picking the pot to be the centerpiece was very pleasing to me, because of all the values it had and it had a darker tone than the other objects.
8. Is there a center of interest and is it well located?
The center of interest is the pot, as previously talked about. I feel it is well located because it's not dead center, it's a little bit raised, and all the other objects are in front of it, so it stands tall and proud in the back. It was a good pick because it had such a nice shape and the top piece was very interesting.
9. How well did you manage your time and resources throughout the process of creating this drawing? Do you see where you could improve in this area?
For this project, I managed my time very nicely and worked faster than the previous still life I did. I am usually a slow worker, but was surprised to find myself done with a few days left. This is a nice change, than being a few days behind. I'm sure for the next project which is Prismacolor, I will be having a time management problem. That is one of my slowest mediums.
10. What challenges did you encounter during this project and how did you overcome them?
Some challenges I encountered during this project was using the whole range of pencils. I tend to have a very light hand with still life, so it was hard to really push the darks in the piece. I can even go back and push the darks even more. Mapping out the darks and the lights first before fully shading the object really helped to use the whole range and blend them together so there wasn't a line of dark and then a line of light.
11. What have you learned drawing a still life?
This time doing a still life, I used to be a little bit more heavy handed. I also learned how to look at an object and see the darks and the lights without using color. It's easier for me to draw the object with color, but breaking it down into just the darks and lights without really thinking about color was hard for me. In the future I will have to do more still life since it's not something that comes easy to me.