Traditional Art

Outcomes

Human Head Construction

Week 1 - Self Directed Study

To improve my understanding of the human face and strengthen my drawing skills, I’ve been focusing on quick studies. These fast sketches help me work through mistakes more quickly and spot recurring issues that need more attention.

I started with a study of a face in a three-quarter view, taken slightly from above, which introduced some foreshortening. In my rough sketch, I made a few errors - like drawing the left side of the face too wide, which flattened the perspective. I also made the forehead too short, something I tend to do, which gives my faces a child-like appearance. The left eyebrow was also positioned too low, but that was an easy fix.

For rendering, I used crosshatching to build smooth transitions in the skin. It took too long to reach darker values, so I tried smudging - something I don’t usually do - to see if it would help create a softer look. I then layered more crosshatching over that. While I didn’t mind the smudging, the values still felt too faint. That might be due to using a mechanical pencil, which is closer to an H grade. To fix this, I lightly went over the darker areas with an 8B pencil.

The reference image I used lacked contrast, so I bumped it up to make the forms easier to read. Around that time, my sister gave me some feedback and shared a photo of a toy bear lit under different conditions. The version with strong direct light created more dramatic contrast, but even the softer lighting had interesting shadow groupings. That’s something I want to observe more carefully and practice capturing in future studies.

For the second portrait, I focused on high-contrast values and deep shadows, so I chose a reference that would help me practice this. It was much quicker to complete since I didn’t have to keep my lines clean - just block in the shadow shapes and fill them in. The result is a bit dustier and messier than I’d prefer, but overall, I think it turned out okay.

I also experimented with smudging again to smooth out the values and reduce the harsh, grainy pencil texture. While I think this study achieved what I was aiming for, I’d like to refine my ability to create similar effects using only crosshatching.

In terms of likeness, I think both studies turned out well. I really like the crosshatching details in the first portrait and the strong value grouping in the second. Ideally, I’d like to combine the best qualities of both into a single portrait. The dramatic lighting in the second study definitely helped make it a more striking piece.

Study 3 & 4

Back again for more portrait studies. This time I wanted to try rendering without smudging or crosshatching, just adding values by blocking it in like the second portrait I did. It was a lot more dificult to group a strong shadow like in the previous study because there were no deep cavities in the eyes and the lighting was dim because it was an overcast day. I quite liked how the piece was looking above on the far right because the contrast between her eyes and hair in comparison to her skin was good. I should have kept this contrast up but as I attepted to render it further, the contrast died out.

My lecturers liked the personality of the portrait on the left, especially the stylised curly hair which contrasts from the realism of the face. Some feedback I recieved for it was to add more contrast to the eyes - maybe highlight too -  and add a glint of highlight to the jewellery. I personally feel like I could have executed the hair far better The silhouetted shapes are ok but there could have been a more harmonious sway of motion which brought it all together rather than odd strands coming out randomly. The values of it is extremely muddy and I dislike it - I feel like I could have done a far better job. The portraits on the right where quick studies to practice my value grouping... unsure of the outcomes. The eyes in the top right dont have any shadows being casted on the eyes themselves so the dark shadows under the nose and eyebrows arent effective.

Figure Drawing From Life

Week  - Drawing Centre

Lifedrawing at the drawing Centre!! I really enjoy these sessions regardless of my outcomes. We were meant to focus on heads for this session but I also made use of the full figure life drawing as you can see below on the left.

Starting with the heads, I am really happy with the resemblance I managed to capture in my studies. From left to right (the order I drew them in). They are all very simillar in rendering approach but I managed to capture his likeness quite well by the second attempt.

ANALYSING MASTER WORKS

I felt like I reached a stagnant part of my growth because I wasn't making any breakthrough to improve my rendering abilities of the human face. I decided that this would be a perfect time to go back and analyse the professionals to see how they are doing what I want to achieve.

Lets be really harsh here and compare my 20min study with these 2 pieces done by the professional's on the right. This observation will help me to spot what I am missing from my observational portrait studies. 

First thing that jumps out to me are the VALUEEES! The professional artists really make use of their darker darks which help convey form and depth. In my study the values are really timid and I only hinted at the existence of the shadows which are barely visible. Ok what else? The line weight! In the light areas you can barely see any line textures coming through - this helps to push these areas forward and contrasts very effectively against their deep shadows. In my piece the outline is quite dull and consistent which makes him look like he is a sticker rather than existing in a space. What else? The professionals really make use of the person's unique facial structure and features. By exaggerating what the artist thinks effectively encapsulates the model's essence, the piece turns out more cohesive. This results in a piece that is far more calming to look at. I should have chosen to focus on 3 key areas where I would push the contrast rather than spread myself evenly throughout the entire face. The middle piece for example, focuses on the man's ear, eyes and nose. The contrast and detail in these areas are far more advanced than in the forehead, clothes, and mouth - where they are left with dimmer suggestive rendering. For the piece on the right, the main focus is left in the cohesion of the three large silhouette-like shapes;  her jumper, her pointy face, and her hair. These all have a triangular  / dainty appearance to them which is really nice to look between. None of these areas are rendered excessively they are really primitive but because the ear (which lies in the centre of all the areas of interest) is rendered to a high lever, the viewer's mind fills in the gaps.

Questions / conclusions that have come from this observation can be summarise as follows: 

• Where is the light coming from? Try to exaggerate this by increasing contrast so that the lighting is more impactful against the model's face. 

• How warm or cool is the light source? How strong is it? This will effect the ambient occlusions and bounce light but you can also change it to your liking to fit the atmosphere you would like to create for the piece

Again, value grouping!!! I have been trying extra hard to group my shadows but comparing my attempts to the pros really show me I still have a lot to learn and practice. They not only manage to group their values but also draw with more value variety. The transitions between the light and dark use a rich variety of values where I still struggle to replicate. The values feel patchy and uncontrolled in contrast.

I constantly feel as if I cant go dark enough with my pencils and that is what is preventing me from making my work better but I know that this assumption is wrong. Above are incredible examples of how pale values can be just as successful if done right. It's not how dark it is comparatively to ALL values that exist, but only comparative to the values you put down on the paper. You choose the extremities of what is "light" and "dark" in the piece.

Again, value grouping!!! I have been trying extra hard to group my shadows but comparing my attempts to the pros really show me I still have a lot to learn and practice. They not only manage to group their values but also somehow manage to draw with more value variety than I ever manage to achieve!! HOW??!!

With these two experimental studies, I tried to explore different forms of rendering. In the first (piece on the left), I tried to copy a piece by James Labuschagne to see if I could pick any of his methods up. Unfortunately, I found it impossible to imitate his craftsmanship and it made me feel like I didn't know how to hold a pencil.. His lines are both extremely thin and sharp - for perfect details and contour lines - whilst also being large and powdery - for smooth gradients and values. My study doesn't have anywhere near the amount of line weight variety. My lines are only thick and powdery. This might be because I don't sharpen my pencils with a knife and so the nibs are short and stubby which don't provide the same versatility. and my pencil were also blunt which I didn't think was going to be a problem for a piece that at first glance might have appeared to be hazy with not much definition that requires a sharp pencil..

For the second study, I had watched a video on the Van Dyck Z. This is a method to improve your ability to capture the likeness of your model. It is a method where you focus on the "Z" shape formed by the brow ridge, the side of the nose, and the underside of the nose. I decided to test this out by doing an even quicker study on the right of the page. Since I wasn't focusing on value it went right out of my consideration. The empasis on the Van Dyck Z for this study even lead me to make a rather deep and dark outline of the nose and face which isn't soo appealing but it's not what the study was about. Instead, I will talk about the outcome of what I was studying: likeness. I definitely do agree that It helped with likeness in the eyes and nose area, because this was the fastest study of just around 15 min!! But the likness of other areas of the face such as the head - it is too short (this is an issue I have found with my studies!!) isn't helped with this simple method. In the rendering I just used straight lines which I believe resulted in a poor outcome because there is no consideration for the forms in complex areas such as the beard or the forehead wrinkles.

And last but not least, what was said in the week 2 lecture on 'Renaissance and the Dutch Golden Age' : 

''While an Observational Study focuses on accuracy (resemblance & detail), a portrait is an artistic representation of a person - the intent is to display not just the likeness, but also capture the personality & mood of the person. 

The piece above demonstrate this quite well.

Figure Drawing From Life

Week 2  - Drawing Centre

This life drawing session was fairly ordinary, but I used it as a chance to focus on light and proportion. One small win was being able to draw the face more often - something I used to skip due to time constraints, especially during last year’s sessions at the Drawing Centre.

In the first piece (left), I think I should’ve drawn her foot larger to add the sense of depth and foreshortening. Still, I’m happy with how the upper body turned out - it feels proportionally correct

The second figure (centre) shows a bit more of a weight shift; her head aligns with her front foot which helps suggest that she’s leaning into that side. It’s an okay study, though I’m not a fan of the strong outlines - they make the figure feel slightly stiff and more stylised than I intended. (The extra sketches around it were done later using Line of Action for practice.)

In the third study, I’m pleased with how I handled the shadows, especially on the leg that’s closer to the viewer. I intentionally made those shadows darker than the ones further away, which added depth - something I felt was lacking in the earlier pieces. That said, my lines still feel too sharp overall, and I want to work on it moving forwards.

Coloured Portraits

Week 3 - Practice Session

This session was our first in-class session of the block. I enjoyed working on this piece... until the coloured pencils had to come out. 

Drawing the structure of his face came quite easily to me because his features and facial structure is so interesting. the lighting also helped to group the shadow shapes - especially in the eyes. 

when it came to the colouring pencils, I wasn't sure whether to go for a cold or warm coloured focused study. The warm-toned paper felt like it would give a perfect base for a warm colour palette, but the blue in the model’s t-shirt and background created a lot of cool bounce light, which made a cold-toned portrait seem more suitable.

This is the first time I picked up colouring pencils to render a face in years so I was understandably hesitant and unsure of where to start. I had so many colours yet couldn't seem to find the right one I needed. I got a little help from my lecturer where they introduced colour zones like yellow around the mouth. this added some life to the portrait but I struggled to sustain the use of yellow elsewhere in the portrait because I was trying to make it mainly a cold portrait.

The piece seemed to have potential in the second process picture but when I tried to work on it further, the realistic illusion was lost. The blue on his nose bridge is too dramatic and the white on his nose, cheeks and forehead makes his skin look ashy.

This is a practice piece done outside of class to attempt a warm portrait. It started alright, with a consistent colour pallet of this burgundy / deep purple-pink.. but I then tried to introduce yellow into her skin like in her t-shirt but it didn't look appealing so I tried to remove it by rubbing it out. As I tried to remove it with an eraser it smudged the colours instead. I was curious how much it could smudge... and that answer is obviously a lot.. and I really disliked how it looked in the end..but I couldn't remove it as it would only smudge rather than remove any pigment. So I decided to just end this practice piece and take the lesson. I personally really disliked the attempt at using more saturated colours that I was seeing in the reference photo but at least I got to learn through this piece.

In our second coloured portrait lesson, we were drawing a portrait that contained both warm and cool tones. This was a tough session in my opinion. Getting her features where difficult and colouring was even more so. When trying to render the warm complexity of her skin and trying to transition it into the cool shadows, it blended into a muddy mess. My lectures said I captured her likeness well, and while I do believe I was able to capture form effectively, I think I made her look too old and tired from the dark rendering around her eyes.

Warm Portrait

I tried again, focusing on the warm tones and trying to build up smooth transitions. Combining colours and rendering techniques to achieve form, spatial definition, mood & convincing representation of lighting - portrait of a model in colour. I don't how i made him look soo yassified when I wasn't trying to. this is probably because of the pink tones and high contrast between eyelashes & eyebrows against pale and smooth skin.
feedback I got for this piece is to add green to the surrounding features and bounce light in the hair, lips, and skin. 

Warm & Cold Coloured Portraits

Week 4 - Assessable Piece

For this portrait, I chose a reference that featured both warm and cool tones to meet the brief of a “warm & cold coloured portrait.” The subject’s skin has warm undertones, while the cooler tones are found in her clothing and hair. This combination also created some interesting bounce light that I wanted to explore.

Starting with the sketch phase, I approached this piece more carefully than my previous four, where I struggled to capture a strong likeness. I didn’t have time for another redo, so I took my time refining the proportions until I was fully satisfied. A recurring issue I faced was drawing the head too short and the face too narrow - likely due to the way shadows affected my perception of width. Once I corrected those, I moved on to colour.

I felt much more confident using coloured pencils this time around. Unlike in my earlier attempts, I wasn’t overly worried about getting the exact right shade in the first pass. A slightly off colour can actually add depth and variety to the piece, especially with the low opacity at this stage.

I then started blocking in the darker values, particularly in the shadowed areas. This step still gives me room to make reversible changes, since those areas will eventually get much darker - mistakes are easier to cover up here, which keeps the process more flexible.

I continued to add more and more detail using a firmer hand with more pressure once I was sure that what line I was about to put down was correct. The clothing was a little more challenging because I hadn't been practicing the use of cold colours as much as warm in my practice pieces and I also hadn't practiced rendering other materials other than skin or hair so this is definitely something I should think about in the future to practice. My lecturer also mentioned how I should darken the blue bounce light on her jaw because it is too bright for the value read to be effective.

Here is the final result! I am quite proud of this piece. I have struggled with colouring pencils a lot, but as my fifth attempt, I am happy to say I've managed to put everything I learnt in the previous 4 to make this piece successful. Something I haven't focused on in my practices was rendering clothing. This made it difficult to render the turtleneck and jacket to make it look like it is made of a different material other than smooth skin or hair. I'm also very happy with how well it reads in greyscale too! Looking at my reference image, I do feel like some of her unique charm was lost and darker shadows in the eyesocket cavities, nose, and jaw could have defintely been darkened for a better sense of depth and light and shadow so - just like in greayscale - I am still working on my contrast!!!

Figure Drawing from Life

Week 5 - Drawing Centre

We had another session at the drawing centre! I had missed these very much. to get back into practice, we started with 5 min warm up sketches. this can be seen on the far left image. I noticed I was drawing the ribcage and shoulders to slimly. I also wasn't capturing the forms very well on the top half of the body but the legs do seem to have some potential as the foreshortening can be pushed on the leg closer to us. Even then, that leg should be longer than the one behind it so it's foot should be further down the page. The two sketches on the right where done in 15 ~ 20min. The one in the middle is a little stiff and flat but I managed to overcome these throught my second attempt (which is the image on the far right).

Figure Drawing from Life

Week 5 - Assessed Pieces

Warm up of 3min sketches. I am happy with these because they look dynamic and the proportions are plausible. The sense of gravity and weight distribution is also satisfactory. I could keep working on my line weight and the way I simplify feet. I think I am far better at simplifying hands than I am at feet because I dont practice drawing them as they are most often hidden away in shoes.

When it came to the 40 min study I was unsure to what level of detail I should take it to. Because we had more time, I ended up stiffining my lines and using harsh outlines. The proportions have no issues but I could have explored more muscles and forms like the collar bones, leg muscles etc.

These were 30 ~ 40min sketches. They are far less detailed than the 30min done in the Drawing Centre two days ago  but I worked on my lineweight and simplifying feet! Which I think was done quite well. It's looking a little too geometric, i should bring back the curves. also fade the line that is further away. bring in definition in the muscles.. Make the head larger. I made the head larger in photoshop for my submission

foreshortening should be shown by using scale. The feet should be larger. The muscles should also be better defined especially in the legs.

I've learnt a lot  through quick head studies, I have to keep working on my contrast. I'm always too afraid to go too dark too soon but I have to remember that even if it goes wrong I can just try again - especially in graphite.