Assessment

For my assessment, I had to include both a building or man made objects to apply what I have learned about perspective, as well as natural forms too. This was a struggle to find in a place like Birmingham but I settled on the statue in front of the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. The statue provided a great focal point with lots of detail, while being surrounded by modern buildings and structures as well as a lot of plant life.

Preliminary sketches

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As you can see, I considered another point of view in front of the BMAG as well before settling on a previous view point I had looked at. The first sketch just didn’t seem to provide enough greenery for the composition. I liked how sketch 2 provided a variety of areas, greenery, structures and a unique centre focal point of a stylised statue. I tested out mixed media and combing my use of a fine liner pen and ink to create a detailed view that fades into the softer medium of ink, that draws the viewers gaze to the centre on the main focal point of the statue. I really liked how this looked and couldn’t wait to test this idea out on some A2 paper.

The Assessment piece

I really liked how this piece came out and is one of my favourite pieces I’ve produced in Part 3. I love the contrast I was able to create between an incredibly detailed statue and the hazy soft approach to the surroundings, I think it works well, especially with the limited palette I chose to focus on in Part 3. I feel the detailed approach to the statue draws in the viewers gaze and soft background and foreground help to create an immersive atmosphere. I debated whether to go in with my fine liner pen again on top of the ink, but I glad I didn’t as I feel this works well, anymore detail could be distracting and take away from the piece rather than add to the drawing and the atmosphere. I wanted to show the business and diversity Birmingham has, with the busy bustling high street and office buildings behind, the beginning of the the classic architecture of the museum in the top right but also the serene areas that you can find, which are filled with plants. This drawing informs the viewer of what Birmingham has and I find its a unique view. This area is usually quite busy, with people rushing past not caring to look around. I’m glad I took the time to look around and find such a diverse view.

With my use of tone I think I was able to successfully capture my composition in a way that is intriguing, its not too much for the viewer. The use of walnut ink allows me to still layer and apply dark areas of tone, but adds a warmth and depth I might not have been able to capture as effectively with black ink. I struggled to differentiate my use of tone to establish a difference between the foreground and the background, I think I achieved this but barely. Perhaps I could have found a finer brush to draw in more details on the plants in the foreground to help differentiate the different aspects of the depth and view. I think to improve I should definitely take the time to think more about how to establish a foreground and background that aren’t drastically different, but not too similar either. I want to be able to find that balance and that is something I should focus on moving forward.

I know that landscapes and city-scapes are not my forte and I can definitely improve in this area, but I think I have progressed and the exercises have helped me to improve on skills and ideas on capturing such a vast and difficult subject matter. I am proud of my outcome and I think I can see the improvement from when I first started Part 3. I think I would like experiment with colour as I work through Part 4, but I am glad I took a lot of time in Part 3 to focus on a more monochromatic approach within my drawings. I also spent a lot of time drawing with a pen which is quite out of my comfort zone and I am definitely much more comfortable with this medium now. I feel by keeping a simple monochromatic approach helped me to really grasp and develop my drawing skills on landscapes. I did enjoy some of my oil pastel approaches but I feel to really capture distinctive details like the bark on a tree, pen has really helped me to achieve that.
One aspect I really struggled with was my use of line when approaching building structures, and although I feel I have definitely improved on that, I feel I still need to practice this more.

Moving forward

Moving forward to looking at portraiture, a subject matter I am much more comfortable with, I feel I can really start expanding my use of media and really explore with colours and and different drawing mediums. I want to get really experimentative and branch out and develop my drawing skills more, especially with using colour. I am excited to move forward and watch my skills develop even further.