In order to practice and develop my skills of drawing light and shadow more effectively, especially reflective surfaces, I did a drawing to practice and develop my tonal skills. For this exercise I used a range of charcoal from white to grey to black and a putty rubber for accentuating highlights. I chose two objects with reflective and shiny surfaces, I used a white mug and bowl, positioning the mug on top of the bowl for an interesting composition but also so they could create interesting shapes on one another with their shadows and reflections.
I am very happy with how this came out, although the proportions of the lip of the mug are a bit skewered. I really like the shadows the mug made from being on top of the bowl, and how it created highlights around the shadow. I think the composition I created was an interesting one. I am not a fan of using charcoal, but I think having various tones of greys helped me to create much more interesting shadows. The putty also helped me to maintain straight lines and certain shapes. I’m very happy with how this one came out.
However, I wanted experiment with reflective surfaces in order to show shadows and reflected light in a drawing, and furthermore experiment further with a style similar to Odilon Redon’s work. I used in ink in the previous exercise in order to capture his black and white colour palette, however this time I wanted to try etching into a material in order to more accurately capture his style, as his pieces were mostly etched prints.
I decided to experiment with scratch cards which reveal a copper foil, I planned on utilising cross hatching on these as that is a common technique of Redon’s. However on these cards, you are drawing with a highlight, not a shadow such as drawing with a pencil, which is something I’ve never done before, so I was nervous going into these etchings/sketches.
I was really surprised with how well these came out and also how the copper reinforces the metallic texture I’m trying to capture on the lamp. I found I really enjoyed drawing with highlights rather than shadows and again love the minimalistic black background. Furthermore I think it really captures the industrial quality of both the lamp and Redon’s personal style. the cross hatching works really well capturing highlights as well as for capturing shadows. With my assignment next, I know this is something I want to explore a little more and think about incorporating into my final assignment piece.
Simona Hopewell : Drawing 1 