Today's lesson was about elliptical drawing such as circles. I learnt that drawing bottles as example helped me shape the objective a lot quicker and easier. Even the hidden objects are important to be able to get the entire structure. Depending on the perspective it can change the whole shape, a vertical- or horizontal ellipse. The images below, I tried to draw different shapes of bottles with horizontal ellipses. My weakest point was to get the ellipses correct and the proportions, so I did some practice at home.
Ellipse Perspective, by richardvkirk.com [4]
How to Draw an Ellipse, by Drawing & Painting - The Virtual Instructor [5]
I researched and looked at a few guides and tips how to draw an ellipse. Rachel Shirley says "Ellipses are always visible oval shapes and should always be rounded" [1], which is true. I did a deeper research and did some practice at home. I used the freehand, one-point perspective, and geometric drawing to draw the ellipses, I followed the two clips above to get a better understanding. When doing the elliptical drawings of the bottles I was struggling understanding perspective which ruined the proportions. I found each exercise useful in different ways, the elliptical drawings are very useful for objects in different angles. Elliptical drawing is useful for designers, engineers and architects, this can be used for furnitures, arches etc.
Common errors when drawing an ellipse by Rachel Shirley [1]
Elliptical perspective, One point perspective [2]
Geometric bottle drawing [3]
I decided to take photos of my water bottle and thermos so I could place the ellipses, and this was quite difficult. Since I couldn't see the hidden objects it made it difficult, this made me analyze the bottle and thermos a bit more. I also realised one ellipse will be a bit narrower than the other ellipse, this is because one of the ellipses is closer to the eye level.
One point perspective
One point perspective
When doing the exercises, I found the one-point perspective more useful for mugs as example with simple shapes, but it gave me a better understanding of the top ellipse angle. Even though I would prefer to use the one-point perspective method for buildings, cubes etc. Although I find the geometrical bottle drawing quite useful for objects with basic shapes, to keep all the ellipse shapes in the the size and proportions. I would consider using the geometric bottle drawing and freehand method together, this helped me get the correct proportions. I did find both one-point perspective and geometric bottle drawing difficult when it came to curvier bottles because it would end up with too many lines which made it very confusing. I really enjoyed doing these exercises, it gave me a better understanding of the perspectives which helped me with the proportions and ellipses.
Freehand
Geometric bottle drawing
[1] Gale, A, (2018), HOW TO CREATE AN EXCELLENT OBSERVATIONAL DRAWING: 11 TIPS FOR HIGH SCHOOL ART STUDENTS, Available at: https://www.studentartguide.com/articles/realistic-observational-drawings
[2] AYGUN, Elliptical perspective, Available at: https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/407786941251248164/ [Accessed 11 December 2018]
[3] Henda Ben Tanfous, Geometric bottle drawing, Available at: https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/395050198550571409/, [Accessed 11 December 2018]
[4] richardvkirk.com, (2016), Ellipse Perspective, Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHF_Wr1L4c8, [Accessed 11 December 2018]
[5] Drawing & Painting - The Virtual Instructor, (2014), How to Draw an Ellipse, Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pthybf4RAeE, [Accessed 11 December 2018]