Ink Still Life

The assignment for this project was to use ink to do an observational drawing of three mannequin in different orientations: one vertical, one horizontal, and one on diagonal. I was also required to create a background, which I did in ink.

I began the process by sketching the three mannequins in pencil. Once I was satisfied with the sketches I went over the outline using an ink pen with a nib at the end to hold the ink. This created fine lines for the outlines of the maniquins. I then used the ink pen to hatch (draw small lines) and crosshatch (draw lines across the hatching lines) to create value. I chose the right for my apparent light source, creating this artificial effect by doing my hatching and crosshatching on the left. However, in my background I contradicted this. I started in colored ink, using a bamboo ink brush which holds the ink better because bamboo is hollow. I made colored shadows to the right of each mannequin, creating the effect of a light source on the left. Once finished with the shadows, I outlined everything in black ink using a brush to eliminate access empty space.

I chose these positions for the mannequins because I thought that they would create diverse and interesting effects on the shadows and values. To experiment with a variety of techniques, I used hatching for the center mannequin, hatching and crosshatching for the mannequins on either side, and a bamboo ink brush for the colored shadows and background.