Traditional Art

Week 1

Introduction to Perspective

In my first lesson of Traditional Practice, we were introduced to primitive shapes in perspective, and the fundamentals of the concept. We were taught the different types of perspective too, which we'll tackle drawing later in the year.

For the fundamentals of perspective overall, there are three components to the fundamentals we must always keep in mind:

Horizon Line - This is the line which represents the meeting of the ground and sky, or alternatively represents the viewer's eye level. This can help you in placing objects in a scene when drawing from life based on how you view it; seeing the top plane of an object means your eye level is high and the object will be below the horizon line, and vice versa.
Vanishing Point - These are the axes that determine the perspective point, 1pt perspective has one vanishing point and so on. This axis is the point where parallel lines will converge.
Orthogonal Lines - These are lines which meet at 90° or are perpendicular to one another, which you draw from an object's corner to the vanishing point to implement perspective.

There are multiple types of perspective too, which have varying uses and vanishing point frequencies ranging from 1 to 5. The highest perspective method is the "fisheye", using 5 vanishing points and curved grid lines to mimic the distorted view fish pertain. This method is technically challenging but produces unique results with barrel distortion, rendering the straight lines curved - it's great for panoramic views and scenes. Since I won't be confronting expert perspective techniques like that for now, I'll go over the main ones:

One point perspective - this is the easiest method, with a singular vanishing point sitting on the horizon line, with all of the orthogonal lines converging into this sole axis. It works effectively for scenes such as street views which tend to show buildings decreasing in size with distance, perfectly complementing the aim of perspective drawing.
Two point perspective - two vanishing points sit on the horizon line, generally far from each other to prevent a cramped scene with squashed objects. Two dimensions of the objects converge into the two separate VPs respectively. This is the most commonly used method and one we'll be using frequently. Bonus: drawing straight lines out from each VP at multiple angles to create a grid is a great way to initiate creating a scene in perspective, extruding squares on the grid upwards to act as placeholders for subjects before detail is implemented. This component is known as "Grid Lines".
Three point perspective - functions the same as two point, except with an additional VP outside of the horizon line. Three point is generally used for scenes in which you want to establish great scale and height; for example, you could put the third VP high above your first two on the horizon line and draw 3D rectangles which will resemble skyscrapers in a vast city scene.

Starting the practical work of this session, we were tasked with drawing primitive shapes like rectangles and squares in two point perspective, observing these shapes in still life with a collection of them ahead of us. We were taught a method of drawing these individually, in which you draw a straight horizontal line faintly to establish the base of the shape. You then stretch your arm out, holding your pencil horizontally in the same way as the drawn line, and gradually tilting it to gauge the angle of the converging points. You repeat this tilt on the drawn line on paper to see where the angle would sit in your drawing. Repeat this once again for the other face and you can independently draw the rest of the shape using parallel lines, mindful of the distortion caused by distance.

These were some of my attempts at the task.

With this warmup task, I found myself struggling due to being out of practice which I recognise to be my bad habit - I don't draw enough. To build confidence in art, practice makes perfect; drawing as often as you can prevents you from being rusty, maintains your confidence and improves your skill exponentially - even if for just 5 minutes a day. My line confidence was lacking as you can see by the unsteady linework and scratchy shapes. My other issue was being too concerned with creating a clean shape with perfectly parallel lines that I'd forget to apply the distortion of perspective that alleviates the realism and plausibility. I would try to keep these points from my tutor in mind in the next task.

Our next task would be to draw a collection of primitive shapes in a scene, referenced from real life in front of us. I began with a small thumbnail mostly concerned with negative space to understand the composition, followed by a larger one more concerned with the construction of the shapes, I drew a grid of thirds over this one to help the composition of the proper drawing. I was told to do my thumbnails a little bigger next time so they're still readable.

This is the end result of the next task.
(I don't know why the quality of this image came out crispy when I transferred it here, sorry)

To begin this one, I drew guidelines bordering the edges of the page which were implemented to prevent me from drawing the scene too big and it spilling off the page, it's important for all components in a scene to be easily visible for presentation merit. I then faintly drew a grid of thirds to align with my thumbnail and help with drawing the scene. Finally, I started sketching the shapes out using the pencil tilt method. I took a considerable amount of time to do this, likely to my lack of confidence from not drawing much over summer. My tutor corrected these and I observed it to understand my mistakes through visual demonstration - I had issues again with lacking distortion and the orthogonal points failing to converge due to the lines being too parallel. Sadly I failed to capture a photo of my composition before feedback, which I need to make a habit of to show the improvements.

With this feedback, I attempted to render one rectangle at the back, considering the "1-2-3" method seen mostly in cubes and rectangles, in which there are 3 values found on the 3 visible faces. The side facing the light source is the lightest, the side facing away the darkest, and the one in between the midtone. However, I believe the shadows were too dark and the midtone and darkest value too close. The edges of a shape like this generally have the shadows bordering the edge, with a sharper shadow rather than a soft gradient. Other than that, I think this was a good start to rendering again.

Dev Log Evaluation:

This lesson was rough as the return to drawing after being so out of practice was jarring, but it was a necessary struggle to get back in the flow of drawing. Throughout the lesson I did feel my line confidence improving slightly so I hope to improve further with more practice. I already understood the concept of perspective and have experience in drawing with 1-3 points, mostly with 2 but I'm very used to drawing from my imagination using a grid - this meant drawing from observation without a grid was difficult as I had no vanishing points to use as reference, but I felt myself getting better at drawings the shapes independently over the course of the session.

I have a long way to go, but this is a good start. I'm keeping myself open to criticism and taking it with a positive mindset, understanding that there will always be something to improve so I should strive to try my best at all times.

Week 2

Submission Piece 1

In this session, we worked on our first submission piece, in which we performed an observational study of a collection of primitive shapes keeping perspective in mind. The entire session was dedicated to creating these pieces so I was able to focus on getting the perspective and composition correct before I started rendering.

To begin, I took a photo of the reference for future use and added a grayscale filter to determine the values. Then, I drew a thumbnail in the corner with the general construction. I noted that the die must be large as I consider it the focal point of the composition, but this became a problem later as I over-scaled it.

The first photo is my attempt at the scene, the second is following the feedback. My tutor pointed out that I over-scaled the die and caused the other shapes to become tiny in comparison, throwing off the composition. He also made sure to line the shapes as my pencil strokes were faint and lacking confidence. Finally, the point of implementing distortion was reinforced as a consistent weakness of mine.

My tutor showed me a technique to accurately place the dots of the die on my drawing in which you draw diagonal lines from each corner of the face, followed by horizontal and vertical lines where the diagonals intersect. With this, draw two more lines horizontally and vertically to create sectioned quarters. With this accurate grid, implement the dots where the horizontal and vertical lines converge. For the face on the right, distorted by perspective, do the cross technique with diagonal lines as previously demonstrated for the center dot. With this, draw a smaller square within the face which represents the distortion of the whole face, at the corners add the remaining dots.

With the general composition complete, I was able to begin rendering. I took a while to get the perspective right so I did the rendering in my own time at home. Due to the largely subtle shade of the cubes, with a very light mid-tone, I used a 2H pencil for the faint application of tone. Since I was primarily working with cubes/rectangles, I employed the previously mentioned "1-2-3" technique where the values of each exposed face holds a distinct value. I'd leave the top face, facing the light source, blank as the lightest value, the left face the midtone, and the right the darkest. To add extra depth, I softly shaded the edges with a gradient, with a sharp outline on the edges where most of the shade collects. This process was repeated for every cube.

I applied the same "1-2-3" technique to the die, using a 2B pencil for the base values to attain a darker general tone. The grainier texture of B pencils was beneficial as it was reminiscent to the streaky wood found on the die's surface. I held my pencil almost flat to the page and pressed my index lightly on the tip of the pencil for a thicker pencil stroke, speeding up the base rendering process. I drew lines horizontally to accommodate for the flow of the wood on the die, even though I wasn't working on the texture or details yet, this would establish the wood's directional rhythm effectively and benefit me when I start rendering. I also applied subtle gradients around each edge of the shapes for general depth. Later, I acknowledged that the right face's value was too close to the top's so I darkened it with a 2H pencil to subtly emphasize the tone and set them apart, increasing the readability.

For the wooded texture, I drew loose streaks left to right on the die's face, free of reference with a 4B pencil to employ further value as this face has the darkest value of the whole composition (excluding the dots). Despite this being free-handed, I ensured it followed the horizontal flow I establish in the base rendering. With these loose strokes setting the tone of the texture, I went back to my reference to implement the darkest streaks and shaded around those for an accurate look matching the reference, even erasing some areas for tonal variation which I found in the reference.

I repeated this process for each face on the die, repeating the linework on the edges to reinforce the sharpness and heavy value. I used a 2H pencil exclusively for the top face to portray how it faces the light source.

Shading the dots, I used a 4B pencil to establish this as the darkest value overall, outlining the circle and the highlight, filling it in and subtly shading the highlight.

With the process explained, this is the outcome. Yay! I got a clear photo but there's a clear shadow coming from below, so when I submit this I'll be sure to use the photo scanner.

Dev Log Evaluation:

With my first submission piece completed, I can say I'm feeling more secure about traditional work than I previously was; traditional drawing is something I'm vastly familiar and I'd consider rendering with pencils a strong suit of mine, so I knew I'd be fine doing that. With my struggles mostly being with perspective and line confidence, I found these issues improving gradually as I worked. For example, my lines were sloppy and misguided in the first lesson, but as I got used to drawing cubes frequently, when finalising this piece and doing outlines, my lines were much smoother and straighter - executed with confidence.

My main point to improve on is taking process photos - while I did this frequently with rendering, it slipped my mind in earlier stages. With each step complete, I'll take that achievement as a reminder to take a photo too as I want to show my process effectively.

I believe my next goal is to implement the cast shadows more, you can see implied lines in this piece but not a strong tone to them, so I'd like to add some confident shadows in my following submission pieces. I will also be sure to check the composition with fresh eyes to ensure each object is proportional to one another as I tend to over-scale things.

Week 3

Ellipses and Symmetry

In today's session, we were introduced to the concept of ellipses - this is a method used to construct curved objects accurately such as vases, glasses, bottles and bowls that have more complex structure. We attempted more observational studies focused primarily on form.

This was my first attempt at using ellipses; I began by drawing a straight vertical line to mark the base of the vase, followed by some elongated circles varying in size to mark the change in volume throughout the object, mindful of the initial vertical line so that symmetry would be present in the drawing. With all the markings made, I drew curves using my wrist for smooth lines following the distance of the circles to construct the general shape of the vase.

As my first attempt, you could see the symmetry was inaccurate in the long pipe section in the top-half which my tutor pointed out, therefore I would improve this mistake by placing the tip of my pencil on the edge of a circle and placing my finger on the pencil on the vertical line, slowly shifting the tip to the vertical line and then marking where my finger ended up on the page. This is an effective strategy to confirm the symmetry of your ellipses.

My next attempt featured the same issues with symmetry, so I employed the previously mentioned pencil method following this.

For my next attempt, I focused on the distortion caused by distance with ellipses - the general rule is that the further away an object is, the flatter the ellipses will be. Most of my observations were relatively flat because I was viewing them on a table from my seat; however, this drawing was of my drink perched underneath my sketchbook, meaning it was heavily stretched and round so I could effectively demonstrate the distinction between the distance's distortion. I believe this attempt was improved compared to my previous ones and I was rather proud of it! My improvement was visible - the symmetry was improved and you could see foreshortening with the cap too, demonstrating my upper view.

Unfortunately I forgot to photograph this drawing before feedback, but this was my go at a scaled up drawing - my tutor prompted me to draw bigger, as this would push me out of my comfort zone. Drawing small won't improve my line confidence as big strokes must be executed efficiently, not to mention our submission pieces take up the majority of the page so getting used to drawing large will improve my skills as an artist.

The feedback my tutor gave me was to push the width of the vase's midsection outward to emphasize the curvature, as shown by the corrected line on the right. Other than that, the drawing was good and definitely improved.

This was my final attempt, done independently and with little to no feedback, displaying my increase in confidence.

Dev Log Evaluation:

This session felt like a success due to my imminent improvement in confidence demonstrated by my willingness to step outside my comfort zone, upscaling my drawings to ameliorate my line confidence with smoother, quicker pencil strokes. I also found ellipses to be easier compared to primitive shapes in perspective, due to the natural curvature, I found less pressure in getting it right while shapes like cubes are rigid and require neat, straight lines which wasn't my forte.

I still feel like I must improve on attaining accurate symmetry, though I know I can do this through the method of placing my pencil on one half to gauge the length of the other. Other than that, I left this session feeling confident and ready to carry out a symmetry piece containing ellipses.

Week 4 + 5

Submission Piece 2

We began our 2nd submission piece in this session, focusing on ellipses, which are circles viewed in perspective, and symmetry. This meant the piece would include lots of curved objects like vases and glasses - I'd have to ensure the symmetry was correct and the ellipses demonstrated the anatomy of the shapes effectively for a good grade.

I began with a thumbnail sketch of the scene, generally more concerned with the composition of the scene over ellipses' acccuracy at this point. Despite drawing a box to contain my thumbnail, the drawing still managed to spill out which my tutor mentioned - I believe this is due to drawing the bottom objects first and higher than intended, causing the top one to spill out. A fix for this would be to reverse the order of objects drawn, or to draw just the outline of the scene (acknowledging negative space) as that way I can prevent the issue and still focus on smaller details after.

Taking my tutor's feedback to heart, I ensured I would try this new method by drawing the vase at the back first. This image shows the initial steps to its construction with just the base vertical line and the ellipses.

I observed that the centre of the incense holder lined up with the edge of the vase so I was able to place the symmetry line with ease, allowing the placement of the incense holder and teacup to be efficient.

Before + After Feedback:

My tutor pointed out that the vase at the back stretched too high and made contact with the edge of the page which would make my presentation suffer - therefore, he brought it down and squashed it too as I'd elongated it in general. We figured out that the symmetry line broke away to the left rather than leaning into the right, allowing the foreshortening to work properly and appear like the bottle is shrinking with distance, emphasizing the distortion.

With the lines cleaned up and the final details of the incense sticks added, I could begin the rendering stage. Although to implement the incense sticks, I had to be careful with their placements. I found that the left-most stick aligned with the top hole of the vase so I could place that and work from there. To do the rest accurately, I used the technique of "plumb lines"; these are vertical/horizontal lines extending from notable details of an object used to align other details and place them correctly. For example, I drew a horizontal line outwards right from the first stick and a vertical one extending from the right edge of the incense holder - with these two lines converging, I found the accurate location of the other tallest stick. I repeated this method with other details to gauge the other sticks' placement. With that, rendering would begin.

I captured a photo of the scene, careful to ensure it was from my exact perspective so the photo reference was accurate, and set it to a grayscale filter to determine the values. With this setup, I began working on the incense sticks and teacup with soft pencil strokes as these are the lightest values, along with a 2H pencil to ensure the subtle tone.

Tip: Starting your rendering with the lightest values and gradually moving to the darkest can help you determine the darkest value without over or underdoing it, guessing it at the start. With most of the values in the scene built up, it'll be easier to estimate the darkest value.

I followed this up by shading the incense holder. The lid atop it is likely made of aluminium, due to its lightweight nature and frequent use for decor; I ensured this material was portrayed through making the highlights and shadows thin and vertical, following the contour of the shape. For the glass casing beneath, I used an HB pencil for its mid-tonal properties, scribbling the shadows with curvature following the shape of the case to imitate the glossy nature of the glass. I picked off a rubber shaving and rolled it into a small ball to carefully carve out the highlights.

For the wine bottle, I marked out the core shadows and highlights, filling the whole base with a midtone using a 2B pencil to establish its darker nature. I built up on this with a 4B pencil for the darker areas, following the reference closely to understand how the reflections and shadows warped on this glass bottle, following its contour. Finally, I used a 6B pencil for the darkest areas such as the top bottle cap, embossed logo and name.

For the vase at the back, I first used a 2H pencil to lay out the base value, followed by another coat with a 2B pencil. The application of the 2H pencil underneath the grainier 2B pencil was to eliminate the rough texture as this vase seems to be ceramic with an epoxy resin glaze, meaning it has reflective areas but the general colour is matte, unlike the translucent/transparent glass materials found elsewhere on the scene which have more complex shadows due to the ability to see through them partially. With this in mind, I shaded over with a 4B pencil as usual keeping in mind of the darkest areas, found where the wine bottle reflects, the bottom of the vase, and the bottom of the chute where the handle overshadows it. I repeated the eraser trick again for the precise highlights. The only hesitance I experienced here was with the pattern found on it, which I queried my tutor on and I was advised to omit it as we'll tackle patterns in the 2nd year. This meant I had to use my imagination for the vase's midsection where the pattern would no longer be, but I improvised and imagined it as a monotone object to achieve a realistic look.

Dev Log Evaluation

With some cast shadows added in to accomplish my previous goal, I finished my 2nd submission piece. Compared to the previous one, I'm happier with this one. I felt like I captured the materials of each object rather effectively through rendering and I had an easier time with this one due to the inclusion of ellipses, which feel much looser and more flexible to draw and render. I believe the detail in the reflections came across effectively too, attaining a realistic look.

I think my weakest point with these submission pieces is general placement of the scene, as you can see my sketchbook rings at the top, which I may have to edit out to save its presentation. My tutor gave me a tip in solving this issue, in which I draw a faint but large square in the centre of the page as this can aid me in placing the objects properly without leaning too far in any direction, preventing my drawings from going off the page. Overall, I think I did well with this piece and will continue to work hard in the future to improve.

Week 6 + 7

Submission Piece 3

Today's session featured our final submission piece for this block, combining all of our learned skills over the weeks. We had to consider all aspects of the previous submission pieces (perspective, ellipses) along with the inclusion of rendering this time. Previously, rendering wasn't mandatory but it's imperative here. Therefore, I'd dedicate all of my lesson time to ensuring the proportions and perspective was correct so I could spend time at home rendering.

I began the process with the usual first step of drawing a thumbnail of the scene. This time, the sketch didn't get cut off on the end of the page but it did go over my initial grid. I'll make it a point for the next block to start all my thumbnails with the tallest object so everything fits in the grid. My thumbnails have improved and I've been able to capture the basic construction of each shape and overall composition with a single attempt.

After adding the die, I drew a vertical line to mark the base of the jug.

Next, I added the ellipses where the volume of the jug shifted.

Finally, I outlined the jug overall.

For today's feedback, my tutor pointed out that I tend to overscale objects which leads to me overcompensating for other objects by squashing them into the scene. This was demonstrated by the jug I drew above being much shorter and especially wider than it was. My tutor scaled the die down and thinned out the jug, the teapot just needed bringing down a little but other than that my initial sketch was good.

I employed the same method I used the first time the die was included in a submission piece of making marks to pinpoint the accurate location of the dots, beginning with diagonal lines stemming from each corner.

This step is followed up by horizontal and vertical lines intersecting at the centre as we just determined where that was in the last step.

With the vertical and horizontal lines giving me halves on each side, I was able to half them again with two more vertical and horizontal lines giving me quarters. The intersection of these lines showed me where the dots would lie.

I entered the rendering stage as all of the composition was sketched out and checked by my tutor. I exclusively used a 2H pencil for the teapot as it holds the lightest base value of the whole piece, being off-white. I had to be careful with sketching the shadows not to make them too dark and intensify its tone so I held the pencil with my hand higher up so my strength wouldn't be put into how I move the pencil to make confident lines, but to subtly add shade to the paper. I rolled up a rubber shaving and rolled it on the paper to achieve the thin highlights following the curve of the lid.

Beginning the jar, I outlined the general highlights and lighter sections of it, along with the darkest parts.

Using a 3B pencil, I applied a base value - I made sure to follow the curvature and round my lines out when they neared the edges to imply the 3D nature I intend to attain.

After this, I began to mark out the reflections in the jar which depicted the room we were in. I had to carefully consider how I'd execute this by imagining how each dark shadow was generally a person and that these reflections follow the contour of the jar itself.

I started applying details to the reflections at the forefront, those being the teapot and die. I built up the value with a 4B pencil but I used my 2H pencil to ensure the light value of the teapot was still captured even on this dark surface.

Following this, I added the rest of the details of the room around me. Some details were unintelligible so I had to improvise and assume what each reflection was, like the door by the wall or a person at their donkey. I used a 6B pencil to complete the darkest areas of this piece and really advocate for the intensity of this object in contrast to the other three.

Next, I tackled the garlic. The outer layer was shredded so I wanted to convey its choppy nature through sketchy, straight lines rather than softer ones I employ for smooth textures like glass. I started by marking out the general areas of the garlic such as the cloves inside, the dark stem, the hole exposing the core and the outer skin. I then built up the texture with just a HB pencil, going over the darker areas with 4B to ensure the values aren't completely different to the rest of the scene.

For the die, I applied the "1-2-3" technique to show the 3 distinguished values found on each exposed face of the cube each positioned differently to the light source causing this tonal distinction; I used a 2H pencil at first and went over the darkest face with 2B to emphasize its value. Next, I applied a soft gradient to the edges for some extra depth, and finally employed a loose, sketchy shading style to darken the cube with long, streaky lines that resemble the texture of wood. I then repeated this process with the other faces, only slighty lighter each time.

For the dots, I used a 6B pencil and outlined them and the area with the highlight.

I then shaded it all in with a dark base value.

I followed that up by adding to the darkness and blending out the highlight carefully, repeating this process for each dot on the die.

With the final additions of some cast shadows with a 2B pencil and the shadows lining the shapes with a 6B pencil, the last submission piece was done. Yay!

Dev Log Evaluation:

With this final submission piece done for traditional art, that marks the end of this component and I can say my confidence has improved drastically in such a short amount of time; I always found realism in traditional art to be a strength of mine and my initial struggle was just with getting back into the flow of drawing regularly, which I aim to keep up to continue improving. I'm super happy with how this piece turned out and my tutor acknowledged its efficacy too, appreciating the intricate details of the room's reflection in the jar. Overall I find myself feeling confident about traditional work and will continue to work hard on it.

I believe my cast shadows are still relatively minimal and would like to expand upon them; our drawing room has multiple lights built into the ceiling which causes multiple directional shadows, darkening as they overlap, and I'd like to tackle them in the next block. I also have a goal to add a subtle tone to the background as this places more emphasis on the objects in the scene, having some light shading around these pieces give it alleviated definition which I'd like to achieve and will strive for in the next block.

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