Traditional Art

Week 1

Introduction to the Brief & Refresher on Portraiture:

For our first lesson of traditional art, we received a refresher on drawing portraits. We went over the process of mapping out the proportions by marking the general area of the portrait, then measuring the major three sections of the face, finding the brow bone and placing the eye closest to us as it's not obstructed by foreshortening. We find everything through measuring in relation to this first eye, and then can jump into rendering. This time, we were introduced to a new rendering technique to complete this portrait - I'd actually attempted it in block 2 with the bear drawing in the museum in which you don't rely on lines, but place value immediately and gradually shade around your starting area. This method is beneficial as relying on previously drawn lines and shading within them can cause the form to warp and change the resemblance of your study, whereas you're identifying and rendering the form simultaneously here, along with completing the piece quicker.

Significant Dates:

Start Date: 13th February (Week 20)
Formative Feedback 1: 6th March (Week 23)
Formative Feedback 2: 27th March (Week 26)
Submission Date for both blocks: 5th June (Week 36)

Project Deliverables:

3 studio practice tasks.
A final piece portrait focusing on warm and cool tones, using colour pencil.
A submission piece focused on human anatomy, proportion and muscle tone is necessary but the detail is our choice.
A minimum of two rendered studies of figure drawings.

Beginning the study, I created a thumbnail drawing to gain an idea of the proportions and composition. Along with this, I developed the piece enough to where I could identify the major shadows which are seen in the eye area and under the nose. With this thumbnail complete, I had the confidence to start the full drawing.

I marked where to place the head and began the process of blocking out the major shapes, measuring to gain the right proportions and blocked in the first eye in a very primitive way - literally just an oval. At this point, Teo advised that I start rendering using the recently taught method. Since the eyes are the darkest area, I made sure to place a decent amount of tone with the deepest tones in the upper eyelid, pupil, and the shadowed plane of the nose/brow area.

Next, I'd branched out to the other eye, the sides and underneath the nose, and cheeks. Before the break, I received some feedback to shorten the nose as it was too long and thin, along with fixing its position using plumb lines, align vertically with the eyes to grasp its placement.

After the break, I adjusted the nose to its correct position and continued rendering around the lips and chin area. The shading around the cheek's smile lines was becoming too linear and like that of a line, so I softened its transition to integrate it properly with the face. Teo also pointed out how areas with the most heigh variation have the highest contrast thanks to their protruding faces in the light and concave areas obscured from the light, along with using the terminator to build that impression of form.

Dev Log Evaluation:

At the end of the session, I reached this outcome of most of the face rendered which proves the efficiency of this new method. I had rendered more of the left cheek around the smile line and chin, along with the right cheek, and forehead which gave me almost the whole face. I believe I still need to develop the tone around the right cheek and forehead so they're a little darker and redefine some shadows like in the wrinkles.

From here, I'll need to find references online with similar lighting, neck/shoulder areas, ears, and hair to properly complete this piece accurately. I think it helped to have previous familiarity with this rendering technique as it felt natural and enjoyable to do. This portrait already feels much more volumetric and plausible than my previous drawings which had a felt and 2D feel with a lot of line usage and linear rendering, where I tried to build up the rendering gradually throughout the page here and shade with dynamic shapes.

Ultimately, I believe I've already learnt a great deal and have improved my portraiture skills which were weak before due to rendering, so I'll aim to finish this piece to truly compare and reflect on my skills.

Finishing the Portrait:

In my self-directed time, I chose to complete this pencil drawing seeing as the primary areas of detail and effort were complete, meaning there was less pressure in working on it, and it would likely take less time given the pre-established value range.

To begin, I searched up references of ears in a 3/4 angle given I wasn't referencing the model anymore. This helped me to place and render the ear accurately despite the circumstances.

Next, I branched out to the neck and scalp, adding in tone in areas such as the back of the hair where shadows collected, along with the neck where the head casts a shadow.

Finally, I blocked in the ponytail, deepened the high contrast values and added a background to round off the piece. I believe I still need to add in this toned background to the other side to fully complete the piece though.

Week 2

Practice with Coloured Portraits:

Starting this session, we would be adding coloured pencils to our roster of traditional materials, learning to utilise them to create portraits in warm and/or cold to depict a model accurately. Our specific goal today was to just test colour palettes and experiment, getting used to this medium to prepare for the submission piece.

To begin, I sketched out a variety of thumbnails across my page at different angles so that I could allocate proper time to experimenting with colour; having these sketches within the first 20 minutes of the session would allow me to take my time getting used to colour; as much as I have used them before, it's never been to an academic standard, or even for human portraits - I needed all the practice I could get.

This warm product was intended to be just my swatching area marked on a separate piece of paper, so I wouldn't go in with the wrong colour on the actual page, but this essentially became a fully coloured little portrait. It lacks clarity and detail, but it communicates the warm palette, although very strongly. I would likely add in some neutral tones like peach within the light yellow to create more of a natural skin tone, along with some browns in the deep blood orange, so that the overall appearance is more realistic and plausible.

For the next piece, I went with the cool-toned option. I started with a wash of teal, followed up by a sky blue to deepen the values - this is due to values still being necessary, the prettiest range of colours won't look good if the values aren't efficiently-readable.

Next, I brought in some purple to deepen it further - at which point, Teo came over to advise me on using a subtle mix of warm colours that border on cool, such as pink, to communicate the local tone of the skin, and other generally warm areas, which strengthened the plausibility and recognition as a realistic portrait, where it previously appeared like that of a monochromatic gradient.

Finally, I finished it off by adding touches of yellow due to their slight complementary nature with blue, along with a subtle background of yellow to make it feel unified with the piece. I believe this one could've been much stronger if it was larger, and I therefore had more space and resolution to work with.

Dev Log Evaluation:

I didn't have long left of the session, but I wanted to work on another warm portrait actually on the sketchbook page this time, so I went in with a peach tone as it isn't as strong as the mango yellow I used before to establish the drawing, blocking in the general values before I introduce other colours. Before I knew it though, the session was over.

Overall, I feel that this was a valuable session to me as I learned how I can still utilise colours of one category in a potrait of the latter to attain a desired look, such as using warm tones within a cool range to achieve areas of life such as skin which need a degree of warmth to read this way. I also found that it's okay to use linear colours in some spaces, I tend to build up tones with multiple colours to achieve the one I'm looking at, but my first few portraits appeared almost like a Photoshop gradient map, whereas I approached my last one with a peach tone akin to skin and it already feels plausible with less effort. Either method seems to work, but I was glad to give this one a go.

I would like to fill out the page I sketched on with the warm portrait and the final one, which I could mix both warm and cold for, all for practice.

Week 3

Warm and Cool Portrait - Submission Piece:

Our previous session experimenting with warm and cool on their own, getting used to colour pencils as a medium, was prep for this session as we work towards the combination of warm and cool tones in a portrait to create our first submission piece.

I started this session with the usual process, using a thumbnail to grasp the subject's proportions and distinct features, while also creating a draft of the warm/cold portrait. I utilised peach tones for the skin, deepened with red to increase the values, followed by purple for the transitional areas into cool such as the chin with stubble, and sideburns going from cheeks to scalp with a full material transition.

As we've learnt to do in previous sessions, I focused on rendering the eye first. This is especially since I have a habit of layering up tone overall, when it sometimes helps to establish detail in major areas like the eyes first - this applies well to coloured portraits. I used my colour scheme from the thumbnail, using peaches and building it up with red to establish the deeper skin tones, followed by blue/purple on the eyelids and iris. These are the same cool tones I'll be using in the larger areas of cool tones later on.

I eventually spread out to the cheek and jaw, using the given warm tones for the skin, at which point I received feedback from Kras. He said that my approach to rendering skin was good, but the likeness was lost; since I was feeling stinky from illness this day, I stepped back to receive some stronger guidance from Kras in pulling the resemblance back in.

Dev Log Evaluation:

After this session, I did feel quite defeated. I believe the full day had gotten me quite tired, compounding with the illness I had at the time which had me horribly sniffly and such. Regardless, I'm glad I pushed through to attend the session as I gained valuable knowledge in creating a larger portrait with the use of cool and warm tones. It wasn't my best work, but I believe I'm improving in terms of creating portraits in colour. I'm understanding how to pick the right colours and palettes to establish a piece, and rendering areas seems to be going well. It's just a case of bringing any of these pieces to fruition to be able to reflect properly!

Week 3 Blog Task - (Post) Impressionism Art Analysis:

For this post, I'll be taking a look at artwork from that of an impressionist or post impressionist artist and analysing its defining features, such as colour consideration, lighting, and technique. Before I pick a piece to speculate upon, I'll attempt to distinguish the two movements in art where I interpret their characteristics and goals. Both movements occurred within quick succession of one another, in France's late 19th century where impressionism sprouted from the rebellion against highly political and symbolic artwork reflecting the country's political state. Turning away from themes like war and religion, artists chose to interpret scenes in front of their eyes in a casual light, feeling like a candid photograph with distinct and expressive brushstrokes, and accurate showcases of lighting with colour usage. While it is a distinct movement, post impressionism occurred as a reaction to impressionism, acting more as an evolved form; it adapted upon it by reintroducing symbolic theming with inclusions of intense emotional depictions of people, creating a piece with multiple combined subjects or just imagination rather than a linear reference, rooted in sentimentality. To advocate for its emphasis on symbolism, artists exaggerated their colour usage with more vivid hues, reflective of emotional states.

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I elected to analyse Claude Monet's Woman with a Parasol - Madame Monet and Her Son, created in 1875 using oil on canvas. Monet is vastly known for his artistic feats as a founder of the Impressionist movement and collection of other works such as "Impression, Sunrise", "The Magpie", and the renowned "Waterlilies" series.

The characteristics of Impressionist art are immediately evident here, for its very delicate portrayal of a scenario involving a family outing with Monet's family, envisioning his wife and son amongst a grassy plane, clothes swaying in the wind, a parasol equipped to mitigate its gust. This feels like that of a photo taken to capture a familial memory, with the subjects not expressing extreme happiness or any negativity, showcasing simple contentment.

I edited the photo numerous times to ascertain certain details; for example, on the far left I showcased the major contrast within the piece which separates the subjects in the grass from the sunlit sky behind which helps to further emphasise these two as important players in the passing moment, stood against the breeze. While Impressionism doesn't focus on fundamentals like composition so heavily, the steelyard setting is seen in the large imbalance between the subjects as the wife stands in front, much taller than the son who lays in the back balancing the piece and leaving space to focus on the clouds behind.

I also hexagonised the piece with extra saturation to grasp the colours used, which showcase a predominately cool scene as the blue sky influences the warmer areas of sunlit grass and cream-clad relatives, giving the warm and cozy scene a wash of refreshing blue. Finally, I drew over the distinct brush work I spotted as a major feature in impressionist art, which shows how this piece doesn't have much intricate detail, but communicates form through flow and direction, as seen in the skirt flowing, the grass blades' direction and the clouds curving inwards at the edges, communicating the strong gusts of winds and their subtle manifestation within the art. A gorgeous piece!

Week 4

Xenabobeena:

Today's session was formative feedback, although quite early on it's due to the combination of deliverables throughout block 3 and 4. This means we have more regular feedback sessions to stay on track, but everyone was at a decent place with work, so we decided to spend the time drawing each other! I chose to draw Xena, as she drew me, so we had a fun time practicing our colour portrait skills once more!

A little thumbnail, mainly made to grasp the distinct characteristics of Xena, I planned to use a similar colour palette as last time as I wanted to develop my skills with coloured portraiture rather than experimenting vastly.

This session felt pretty laid back, and I tried to take my time and pace myself with the journey of developing the piece, seeing as I felt last week's session was rough. I built up much of the same colours as previously, peaches, reds, and oranges to depict her skintone, while mixing in purple and magentas to areas like the glasses' cast shadows and underside of the nose to capture that transition into cool colours. Teo also gave feedback and implemented blockier areas of linear colour to give the piece a more expressionist vibe with painterly strokes that add visual appeal without taking away from the realistic perspective.

Dev Log Evaluation:

While this blog post is short, and my work isn't that developed, I do feel my confidence growing in using colours to create a portrait. It certainly feels like an improvement compared to the prior session where I just felt iffy all round. Using the same colour palette helped me to take the same approach and feel familiar in the process, while Teo's advice helped to show me how to create more visual appeal and a better impression of volumetric depth using strong blocks of colour. Overall, I feel more proud of this piece and would love to continue it and bring it to fruition.

Week 5

Gesture Drawing & Figure Studies:

This session was a break from colour pencils and portraiture as we delved back into drawing bodies for the first time since the rear end of first year. Since it had been a while, we started with a collection of warmup drawings to get back into the practice, keeping in mind the general proportions of the body being 7.5 to 8 heads tall, the upper arm being 1, the thigh being 2, and the lower leg also being 2. These measurements and the metric of heads will help us to accurately mark out proportion, while using plumb lines or verticals/horizontals to place other features.

These were our initial 10 minute poses, we were given this amount of time to ease back into the practice without the pressure of time. We were also encouraged to block in major shadows if we had the time.

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These were the next set of poses, which we were allotted slightly more time as we were encouraged to shade more to achieve more detailed form. I was able to start blocking in full poses with better accuracy and with more effective spacing since I had a problem with overscaling previously, as a few got cutoff, evident on the far left. However, by the final pose, I had fixed the scaling issue and had time to render some areas of the body!

Finally, we finished off with poses studied for about 40 minutes. Something from 35 to 50.. I can't remember. A note to improve for myself is to mark down what duration we studied the pose for! It'll ease my blog posting, given this one is so primitive... However, for these large ones with more time, we were given the choice of sketching thumbnails to capture the gesture, followed by proper measuring using the heads metric. The last pose had a lot of foreshortening due to the angle I was viewing at, which meant measuring wouldn't always cut it; for these parts, I relied on using my pencil to capture the correct angle of the limbs, followed by plumb lines using other features and horizontal/vertical lines to determine the position of this new feature. Ultimately, it took a bit of work but I was able to improve my linework and Teo suggested rubbing out slightly where the light hits, and adding more pressure where contrast deepened and shadows occurred.

Dev Log Evaluation:

Gesture drawing is always enjoyable for me, the format of creating multiple drawings with a variety of poses is great fun to experience and capturing the unique forms of human anatomy as it always feels so expressive. I look forward to doing more of this, as I feel I can capture general form realtively well, although I need to improve my instinct to measure as I had times where I overscaled or the figure exponentially grew in one direction. Measuring will help keep it consistent overall.

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