Drawings: OCA Project - Detailed Observation

Line Drawing Detail

Fine Liner - A4

 

I thought a sliced through lettuce was ideal for this exercise, the swirling lines are almost like a labyrinth and it was an interesting process capturing them as they narrowed and broadened themselves all over the place.



Getting Tone and Depth in Detail
Pencil - A3

I chose a piece of firewood from our woodpile for this exercise, it’s a sawn off bit of a Cyprus tree with the seeds still attached. I used a range of pencils to hatch at different angles, it was hard picking out the different tonal values but I think I did alright.

Stipples and Dots

Ballpoint - A4

 

I found this poor thing clinging on to the end of its stem in the garden and thought it had some quite interesting and different textures to draw; I used a biro to try and capture them all. Though I can’t honestly say that I’m happy with the result it was still a good drawing experience.

 

Which drawing media did you find most effective to use, for which effects?

A fine liner is really useful for doing a strong clear line and it results in a very tidy drawing but a pencil is definitely more subtle. I like both and in the future I shall think a bit more about which to use before I start a drawing.

What sort of marks work well to create tone, pattern and texture?

I find I like hatching provided I have enough tonal differences in the subject that I’m drawing. Stippling gives an interesting texture but I don’t think that I chose the best object to try it on.

Did you enjoy capturing details or are you more at home creating big broad brusg strokes?

I like capturing different aspects of a subject and detail in certain parts can really lift it. I definitely like doing the broader sketches but I think if I can combine the two, then they might play off each other quite nicely.

Look at the composition of the drawings you hav done in this project. Make some sketches and notes about how you could improve your composition.

I drew the dead flower head in situ so I didn’t really put much thought into the composition but I could have played around with that a bit more. On the piece of wood I zoomed right in to get a close look but I could have added some more interest to the background and provide some sort of context for it.

Did doing a line drawing get you to look at space more effectively?

Definitely, it made me think twice before putting a line down to check that everything would fit where I wanted it too.