This exercise asked us to select objects that were either similar or deliberately contrasting each other. I initially picked up a whole load of twigs and set them up in a still life, however after a little bit of sketching practice I decided there wasn’t enough interesting variety and the sheer volume of sticks I had in front of me was very confusing to draw on paper. I eventually settled a small selection of natural objects and set them up in what I think is an aesthetically pleasing diagonal composition.
To create this drawing, I lightly sketched the outline of the objects in pencil on a sheet of A3 paper, and then using ink, a barbecue skewer stick, and a dip pen, went over all the faint lines and added detail. I really tried to use line in an interesting way to create unique patterns and differentiate between the objects, such as the spikes on the conkers and the smooth reflective glass of the bottle. I focused on looking at the negative space between these objects and their placement within each other.
One of my favourite, and what I feel is the most successful, parts of the drawing are all the individual lines within the transparent glass bottle. I think it really shows the shiny reflections within the surface and objects within and definitely wouldn’t have been something I would’ve considered doing before this exercise!
I created a very subtle hint of of depth. For example, where the leaf overlaps the bottle, which I think is another successful part of this drawing. To create an ever more dramatic use of depth however I could have used even more objects, not spread them out quite so much and start to use colour and tone. Another benefit of having more objects closer together would have meant that I had more reference points to create a technically accurate drawing. For example I could see in my composition that the leaf overlapped about half way down the glass jar, so I knew exactly where to draw it. Because the conkers had nothing behind or around them and were practically suspended, I had nothing to go off and had to guess blindly without any help to work out where to draw them. This was one of the biggest things I learnt from this exercise!
The background also could have been a lot more defined, as I couldn’t quite figure out how to depict the fabric draped behind. I ended up with very light hints of cross hatched fabric marks but it didn’t quite give the effect I hoped for. I could have indicated the fabric more and used a light splodging of ink around the entire backdrop. I also didn’t do very many preliminary practice drawings, or experiment with the composition at all. I wish I had spent more time experimenting in my sketchbook and trying out different ways of getting ink on the page. I struggled quite a bit with controlling the ink, I found it had a mind of its own and would go where it wanted to go. This medium does make for a very polished piece of art when used skillfully, which I hope I am heading towards.
I occasionally tried to indicate hints of tone, some of which worked, some didn’t. I definitely regret trying to add the small cross hatched area of shadow behind the conkers, as both the shading and spikes have exactly the same brush marks and merge into one another. The thickness of lines vary across the whole drawing as well, with no real definition or reason, just another reason to keep practicing and gain some control over the medium.
Being restricted to line was very difficult as I have really learnt over the past few exercises to take notice of the shadows, and so to ignore that went completely against my instincts. It really helped to simplify what I was looking at and not get too overwhelmed, I know now that I can start with just drawing lines on a page to begin a piece of art. Not adding shading or a complete background has made my drawing look ever so slightly unfinished, as if this were a simple sketch for a more finished piece of art later, but it really forced me to look at the image completely differently and take notice of all the details, especially within a reflected object, things like that I would usually ignore as I believed it to be too complex! I would love to try this exercise again, continuing practicing with permanent mediums like ink and pen, perhaps using small but intricate objects like the inside of a halved cabbage. I would also really like to start doing sketches in a more permanent ink. I am very ‘safe’ and often rely on erasable pencil, so by forcing myself to commit to ink I will be more careful with putting down a single clear line as opposed to sketching loads of pencil lines which will need rubbing out and neatening up (unless of course that is the style I wish to achieve). It will make more confident and my skills should improve vastly with practice.
Meg Cubitt - Drawing 1: Drawing Skills 