Mixed Media

This assignment was to compose a photorealistic drawing by using the grid technique. My photo was of the partial solar eclipse over the summer. For this project, my duplication was the same size as the photo. The photo and the drawing were divided into 1 in. X 1 in. sections and we had to work square by square, erasing gridlines and the drawing paper along the way. The materials used were charcoal, ink, and drawing paper.

Before composing the piece I had to pick a picture, which was that of the partial eclipse. I cropped down the photo so it would have a formal balance with the eclipse as the main focus and reduced the saturation to black and white. Then we needed to adjust the image to have a full range of color. I composed my drawing by drawing a border equal to the size of the photograph and gridded the photo and drawing paper into 1 in. X 1 in. squares. Then starting in the top right-hand corner, I valued the section with the darkest value using ink and the lighter values with charcoal. The middle and left of the drawing is a blend of both charcoal and ink. I started by using an ink pen in the top right-hand corner. Then I switched to painting on the ink to give it the darkest value.

Over the summer a solar eclipse was going to take place over the US. However, living in Maine we could only see the partial eclipse. My brother and I wanted to see the partial eclipse, but unfortunately, we did not have the glasses to see it. Instead, we tried to take pictures of the partial eclipse using our iPhones and took this relatively clear picture of it when some clouds passed over it. The things that bother me about the composition is how dark the piece turned out and the partial eclipse itself. The drawing was much darker than the original photo, but that was done to the printer as it prints darker. The other thing is that the main focus of the piece was lost into the shadows of the clouds. If I were to do this again I would not value as darkly and lightly, or not, value the eclipse itself.