Observational Drawings

Essential Questions: How do artists create a dynamic observational drawing that also demonstrates individual style?

Portfolio Objectives: 

1. Reinforce observational drawing skills

2. Explore and/or Identify a personal style

3. Create high-quality work 

Reflection on work: 

• I believe that artists can create dynamic observational drawings while also showing their own personal style. For me, I tried to show my love for realism and line work through the technique I used on the pipe. I used cross-hatching and lots of tiny lines to create value and definition. I think this created a dynamic piece that could also fit into the work I love to do. I also think that I showed my own style through my log drawing. I love drawing nature, and especially trees and I used that previous knowledge I have to help me create a realistic drawing of a log. 

• My first piece was a pipe using a graphite pencil. I used a black piece of fabric for the background and that can be seen in the folds of darker value behind the pipe. I added an element of imagination when creating 5 flowers sprouting out of the pipe mouth. I think what makes this piece dynamic is the brightness of the pipe itself and how most of the central value is actually in the background itself, showing that the pipe was completely white and had lots of light shining on it. I think what would have made this better was if I darkened the values a bit to really make the pipe stand out and create darker values. My second piece was my favorite. I created a log using sketch-and-wash pencils and drew butterflies emerging from the log using charcoal pencils. This didn’t take as long as I expected it to but I'm very proud of the outcome and the shadow I was able to create using the “watercolor”. I’m also very proud of the butterflies I was able to draw, and the way they appear to be almost hatching from a cocoon in the wood. If I had time I would’ve added more detail into the log itself by showing more value in the wood. My last observational piece was a small piece of popcorn that I created using repeated stamping. I used an “h” stamp and a series of dots. This took a lot of thinking to understand how to create value while creating dynamic work. The part I’m most proud of is the shadow that seems to be radiating out of the popcorn and the dimension it creates. Something that could be improved on is adding a hint of an imagination aspect to the piece, but I’m still not sure what that would’ve been.

• If I could try one more drawing for this unit, I would want to draw a shoe using sketch-and-wash. I really enjoyed the sketch-and-wash because it’s great for making shadows and darker values in a shorter amount of time. I would want to draw a shoe because I think I would have a fun time with the details and creating shadows with all the small details of a shoe. I think it would be a challenge for me but I still would like to try it.