Observational Drawing

This observational drawing is of a decorative tea light holder my family has had as a deck decoration since I was little. Because it's an outdoor decoration and we've always lived in a seasonal climate, we put it away during the snowy season. This is significant because when I was little I thought these were so beautiful and one of my favorite games was to pretend that these holders were fairy houses, so I was always very excited when they were brought back out of storage and I could play pretend with them again. Now, I keep one of these on my shelf as decoration and to hold any small candles that come my way. Because of its intricate design and significance to my childhood, I chose to draw this object for this project. As I was drawing out the figure, I realized that it was forming at a slanted angle and wouldn't fit entirely on the page, but I kept with it anyway and allowed the bottom to get cropped off.

I created this drawing using a 2H, 4B, and 6B graphite pencil, a tortillion, and a white eraser on sketch paper. I knew that graphite would be my only material in creating this work so I went with the light-weight sketch paper. I drew the basic lines and lightly shaded using a 4B pencil, then went in with the 6B to make darker shades creating a wider range of value. After erasing sketchy lines and smudges, I used the hard led of the 2H pencil to create crisper lines, especially in the more intricate areas such as the decorative top. I choose to use tortillions when shading because I can easily control how blended it becomes. A white eraser is great when using graphite because it easily lifts up any unwanted marks and effectively creates highlight on the object.

I began by clearing off an area of my desk and put down a large sheet of paper to place the object on in order to easily see its cast shadow, rather than trying to identify the shadow's value against my black desktop. I then drew the form starting with the basic shapes, then focused in on certain areas to add detail and value. I started with the square top and worked my way up to the intricate top where I spent a lot of time looking at the negative space of each section. I then started working on the mid-body, making sure my lines were all parallel and that the glass panes were equally sized. The base was difficult because of the number of evenly cut slits in the walls but I did my best to keep them all equal distance from each other. I then went in and added shading creating value in each section of the object. By blending the shaded graphite, I captured the texture of the thin metal the holder is made out of. Value was a major thing to pay attention to while drawing in the shadow because that is what makes a shadow look like a shadow— the smooth range of value. If I were to continue with this project, I might do an ink wash for the part of the background that isn't the desk because it would contrast the white paper that the object is placed on, creating a full range of value throughout the piece.