Observed Charcoal Drawing
Class #1: Here is the start of the journey. I have some very very rough outlines, but I think there's too much negative space. I kind of dislike working with charcoal right now, because of all the mess that ends up everywhere. I'm really hoping that view will change over the course of this project. 
Class #2: To combat my problem with negative space, I decided to do my piece in portrait instead. I'm happy with the shadow for my vase in my picture, but I don't know how the my iPod will look with the wine glass reflection on it — that will be a challenge for me, especially with a medium like charcoal.
Class #3: I finished shading the iPod in my piece today and I kinda love how the reflections on it turned out. They still aren't complete as I do need to add the white pencil highlights. I also started with the little vase, but I'm saving the wine glass for last because I don't want to procrastinate on the vase. I'm just noticing right now, but the vase has become a little asymmetrical — gotta fix that next time. 
Class #4: Made a ton of progress today — so much so that I finished! I blended out the vase and the wine glass, then added white highlights on everything. From this angle, the wine glass in this looks kinda deformed, but I promise that it's symmetrical in real life. I also changed the shape of the reflection on the iPod, because I realised it was less the round part being rand more of the stem in the reflection. Overall, I'm rather happy with my work. I think I've improved a lot since my last charcoal piece, and maybe even come to like charcoal a little more (no better motivator than a piece well done)! As for what I need to do next time, I feel like the wine glass's shadow is just a little bit wonky, so that will be a little quick fix I'll do right before the fixative.  |
| Here's the final piece! |
PEER CRITIQUE
Nina: You have good balance. I think you can improve your contrast and unity. The objects aren't shaped that proper and they could be improved. I feel like the contrast in the phone is good but could be improved more on the vase as it looks the same as the transparent wine glass even though it is opaque.
Claire: The contrast is really contrasting. Especially with the black iPod screen. I think you used your white highlighting pencil well. The shadows on your glass and vase are also really realistic and blend smoothly. The shapes are kind of wonky, but it's hard to make perfectly symmetrical glasses and stuffs. Your vase shadow is also nice. You did a good job making the glass look like transparent glass. The vase looks kind of transparent too, so maybe your should have tried to not do that, because it was ceramic. Maybe that's just me. The composition is also really good. You don't have much empty space, and the sizes are ratio-ed the same way it is in real life.
SELF REFLECTION
This project was a pretty big challenge for me because it successfully combined my two weakest suits— observed drawings and charcoal. When we were told about this project, I was nearly sure I would fail epically in trying to manipulate charcoal while trying to observe values from real life. However, I don't think it turned out half bad. My favorite object would have to be my wine glass, which was ironically the thing I was most worried about. I feel like my use of the highlighter pencil on it was really effective and made it look much more realistic than I expected. Looking at the picture now, I can still see that my shapes are off, especially the shape of the vase. As I mentioned in my updates after each class I had noticed it before, but there's something different about looking at a drawing in real life and in a picture. I agree with Claire and Nina about the fact that my vase looks transparent. It's values were very similar to those of the table, so I had to completely rely on the dark value on the inside and it's shadow to prove it's opacity. I feel like this could've been fixed by adding another object behind it, but I was crunched for time and so couldn't add another in.
The meaning of this piece might seem pretty far-fetched for an outsider b/c it's very personal. I wanted a kind of past, present, and future theme to go on in this, but more centered around my life. I chose the iPod as my past. It was my first "phone" and it definitely changed my little sixth grade life when I got it. I also chose it because I felt it was a pretty unique object. Other people were using mostly traditional still life objects, like glasses, ceramic works, perfume bottles, and the slightly more modern old-timey cameras. I felt like my iPod, as an "artefact of today", stood out against the more traditional objects in both my and other's pieces. I chose the vase for my present, simply because of the gardening kick I'm on right now. Even though it might be fleeting, it's a small part of my definition of the present. I also find it kind of cool how the iPod reflects on the vase, like my past reflecting on my present. I wasn't really sure what to choose for my future — how can you represent something that doesn't exist yet with an object? I decided to go with something that would likely influence my future: alcohol, as represented by the wine glass. Neither of my parents drink, so I think it would be interesting to see how alcohol would influence my life in the future. Would I be too scared to drink? Would I have a more "normal" experience with alcohol? There questions don't have answers yet, like all questions about the future.
In conclusion, I'm really glad with my improvement during the course of this project, and with the meaning of the piece itself. I might not be opposed to do more charcoal or observed drawings in the future. Who knows?
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