Check and Log: Tone and Form

How difficult did you find it to distinguish between light from the primary light source and secondary reflected light?

Initially I found it difficult to distinguish the two and I also found it difficult, therefore to render a difference between the incident light hitting the object and the reflected light so they ended up looking very similar in value when drawn whereas the reflected light should in fact be less distinct. I also was often missing the sliver of reflected light that is frequently present at the shadow side of a rounded object. This thin strip can be quite small and it is easy to miss it if you don't know to look for it specifically. 

Referring to the diagram of a sphere in the notes and annotating prints of Martha Alf's strongly illuminated studies of fruit helped me to overcome this difficulty.

How has awareness of light and shade affected your depiction of form?

Awareness of light and shade has allowed my depicted forms to appear more solid and three dimensional giving more depth to the drawings. It has also prompted me to try to improve my handling of the media I have been using to enable more satisfactory rendering of light and shade. 

Struggling with a drawing tool means that I concentrate too much on the tool and end up missing important details of light and shade. I am therefore convinced that lots more practice and the resulting improvement in confidence in handling different implements will allow me to concentrate better on the forms. For example I concentrated well on the tonal variations when using the pencils after a few practice runs but when I changed to pen the principles were lost as I struggled with the pen. The remedy, therefore will be to practise more with pen.

Exercise: Tonal Studies

Page 27 and 29: Sketchbook 1

Exercise: Tonal Studies

I completed this exercise on 18th October

The purpose here was to create an illusion of three dimensions on the flat paper using a hatching technique. The instructions for the value scale construction were not really clear but since it asked for four distinct grades of tone using four different drawing implements I constructed 4x4 square value scales in biro, dip pen, graphite and fineliner.

I then chose four crops from the garden- lemon, apple, onion and a small squash and attempted to draw them using hatching and cross hatching with a fine drawing pen to describe the tonal variations. This was very difficult. I forgot about observing the reflected light on the edges of the fruit and veg (apart from the apple and onion). I kept going building up more and more layers of cross hatching  in the shadows. I then built up hatching in the background to try to make the highlights on the subjects stand out better. It didn't really help. I almost hatched the study into oblivion. There's a distinct lack of subtlety in the tonal graduations here. I plan to do multiple sketches using pen/dip pen and biro to experiment with this and hopefully get more confident and competent. 

Following this I referred back to the mark making exercises at the beginning of the course and realised it would have been helpful to to that before starting this exercise. I also referred back to the Van Gogh pen and ink drawings in my sketchbook. I then searched for hatching in work by other artists work. I found some illustrations by Zak Smith, a contemporary artist who's style has a lot in common with graphic novels and comics. He uses fine hatching extensively to build tone and form. I then found more formal examples of the use of pen and ink hatching and also hatching in etching in works by Michelangelo and in a detail from "Melancholia" by Albrecht Durer. I put these examples in my sketchbook for reference.

Tone and form - sketchbook

Page 31 and 33: Sketchbook 1

I wanted to improve my handling of the drawing pencils so did some practice in my sketchbook. I first tried to establish a value scale in graphite building up the tone gradually layer on layer so as to avoid embossing the paper. This gave a better tone than  had achieved in the previous drawing. I used the full range of pencils available whereas previously my habit had been to always use very soft pencils. This allowed me to create a wide range of mid tones and darks. There was quite a tooth to the paper which meant that several layers of graphite had to be applied before a smooth tone appeared. This means that the dark tones do not show even jumps in value as they get very dark very quickly and are thereafter quite similar. The lighter and mid tones show a grainy texture as building them up more would have resulted in them getting too dark. This might work better on a smoother paper.

I then went on to do a further sketch. In 'Experimental Drawing' , Robert Kaupelis recommends practising rendering form by starting with spheres then moving on to eggs and repeating drawing them over and over again with lights in different positions and different media. The only sphere I could find was a tennis ball and I thought the texture might make it difficult for me to pick out the reflected light so instead I chose four pomegranates from the garden. I like them because they are almost spherical but have some suggestions of angles between certain planes. They also have a fairly reflective surface. I managed better this time to identify the reflected light on the pomegranates and the tonal alterations were smoother. The reflective table they were sitting on made rendering the cast shadows quite complicated owing to the overlapping of reflections and shadows. Overall I'm quite satisfied with this attempt although it looks a bit overworked especially the background shading. This took a bit too long for a quick practice sketch I need to do some faster sketches in different media- perhaps it would be good idea to set a timer and to 5,10 and 15 minute sketches to loosen me up and stop me being too precious with the sketch book.

Project: Tone and Form

Sketchbook 1: Pages 23-25

Exercise: Observing Shadow and Light Formations on a Surface

This exercise was to start using shading to depict light and shade on a surface. I chose two objects, an apple and a mug which had a reflective surface. I first made a couple of quick sketches to show the broad areas of light and shade. 

In the first sketch I struggled to do a simple rendering of the broad areas as the shadows were very complex. I realised that this was because there were too many light sources, There was the main room light above as well as light from the window and a lamp placed to one side. I also struggled with the handle on the mug which looks twisted.

For the second sketch I made life easier for myself by using a single light source. I closed the blinds turned off the overhead light and just used the lamp light to identify the broad areas of light and shade. I found that squinting and looking through my eyelashes helped as it eliminated a lot of the detail. Note that on this one I have not described reflected light on the edge of either the mug of the apple.

The next step was to draw all the gradations of light I could see and to try to include reflected light as well as to try to get all the areas to merge in a series of tonal shifts.  I was feeling a bit more confident about identifying the areas of light and shade and it was a bright day so I decided to use sunlight through the window as my light source. Unfortunately this did create some problems. I was interrupted several times during the course of the drawing and each time I came back the light had changed in direction and intensity. At one point there was a beautiful bright shaft of sunlight so I tried to capture this. A lesson I learned from this exercise is that If using natural light I must work fast or make lots of reference quick sketches with notes. 

I have managed to identify the reflected light on the edge of the apple and there is also light reflected from the apple and mug into the tabletop and a reflection of the apple on the surface of the mug. However, I did struggle to maintain a tonal difference between the main directly illuminated areas and the reflected light. This was especially problematic because the strong illumination meant that the reflections were very strong. The other technical problem with this was that it all got a bit smudgy as my had passed back over the surface of the paper. This meant that highlights which I had intended to remain crisp and white didn't stay as intended and I had to go back into my work with a rubber to lift the graphite back off but it left a bit of a residue. 

I also noted that where I had tried to build up intense shadows I had pressed a bit too hard in placed and embossed the paper. I needed to practise building up tone gradually to avoid this.

The handle on the mug is a bit better then the first sketch but it still isn't quite right It is still a bit twisted.

Following on from this I had a look at the work of Martha Alf in 'Experimental Drawing' by Robert Kaupelis. I printed a couple of her pieces out and put them in my sketchbook labelling the incident light, cast shadow and reflected light to act as a reminder.

I also looked at some other artists working in graphite to see what could be achieved in terms of tonal graduations. Serse - an Italian contemporary artist uses a subtractive technique in which he erases from a base of graphite to describe ripples and splashes on water. In doing so he creates smooth tonal gradations. 

Looking at the Jerwood Drawing prize website I found Tanya Wood's 'Pillow' which was shortlisted in 2012. I had a look at her website which shows many images of crumpled paper bags, memo pad paper and life sized renderings of a pillow and a sheet recently vacated by a sleeping occupant. The artist comments that the work concerns the ' fragility and preciousness of life explored through the close study of surfaces disrupted by human actions' I like this and find her renderings of the fragile folds left by a person's head on a pillow - which are unique and inherently transient, quite affecting. It is also interesting to note that meticulous and detailed pencil drawing is an acceptable form of self expression in today's art world. Looking at 'Vitamin D- New Perspectives in Drawing' as well as the Jerwood Drawing Prize catalogue I am struck by how many different techniques, styles, concepts and media are represented and acceptable within drawing today. At the moment I'm only really looking for drawings to inform my progress in technique but hope to explore in more detail the concepts behind different artist's approaches as time goes on.

Basic Shapes and Fundamental Form: Check and Log

Are the objects in your drawings the correct size and shape in relation to each other?

Most of the objects are reasonable in terms of scale in relation to each other and the shapes are generally readable as what they are supposed to be. 

However, in the boxes and books exercise I must have made a mistake quite early on in the drawing with  the placement of the horizon line because the last box I drew was not correct in proportions and size in relation to the piled up tower. Although the tower looked generally OK there must be a problem here that I didn't pick up in order for the last box to be so out of proportion. 

When objects are viewed end-on I am struggling to get the proportions right. Also some of the vases appear to be levitating because the relationships I have drawn are not entirely accurate.

Do the shapes between the objects look correct?

Although I knew that I should look at the negative shapes I have still produced erratic results in terms of placing the objects in the correct position in relation to each other. Some of the negative shapes are quite inaccurate. For example, in the supermarket shop exercise there was a significant negative shape between the pasta packet and the tins which is almost lost as I struggled with the foreshortening of the bean tin.

In the large scale jars and Jugs exercise, there is a problem with the negative shapes as looking at the finished sketches the objects do not relate well to each other and some of the vases look like they are floating in mid air.

Do the objects in your drawings look solid?

The books and boxes and the bottles and jars from my sketchbook look three dimensional although not necessarily solid and weighty. Some use of tone would help with the solidity. The large scale jars and jugs are not so good. The vases on the right side of the page look very flat compared to the bottles and demi-john on the left. In the absence of use of tone to describe the form they would have benefitted from being rendered as transparent to allow use of further ellipses to describe the form. Alternatively the use of the surface cross-contour lines might have been helpful. 

The objects in the supermarket shop study look more solid owing to the use of surface colour and pattern and some use of tune although this could have been developed further.


Have you managed to create the feeling of depth in your drawings?

I have tried to create a feeling of depth by overlapping objects on the page to indicate their relative positioning one behind the other.  While this does give some impression of depth it doesn't really go far enough.  

In the supermarket shop exercise I have tried to convey depth by using tone and colour and by making the drawing on the pasta packet in the background paler and less detailed than the objects if front of it. The drawing, however still looks rather flat. There is not enough tonal variation with shadow formation and recession of objects. This could definitely be improved.