This exercise shifts our focus to organic shapes rather than the man made shapes of exercise 1.
I decided to raid my fridge to see if I had any fresh fruit or veggies that had yet to turn to mush, and found some lovely tomatoes that were still on the vine, and a few strawberries.
Thinking about it now, maybe drawing some fruit or veg that is on the turn would be quite an interesting extension to this task, and one I may look into trying at a later date. For now though, I wanted to try my hand at drawing the organic shapes whilst they were still (mostly) in their prime.
Tomatoes and strawberries
I decided to place them on a sheet of white paper as I thought this would be the best way of being able to see the shadows that the objects cast, and will therefore make it slightly easier for me to represent those tones onto my 2D representation of these shapes.
Non white paper
For my first sketch I decided to use non white paper in the hope I could play around with light and shade using different mediums rather than relying on the white of the paper to be the brightest highlights.
I started with off white paper and used a fat 2B graphite crayon as I wanted to play around with bold marks and a limited number of materials.
I started by identifying the main shapes and drawing them out as line work to form the structure to which I would apply the bold marks.
It became clear through observation of these shapes that organic forms are never quite symmetrical or "perfect" in their lines and curves. I had to pay meticulous attention whilst observing the shapes and laying down the structure, to ensure I drew what I could see, rather than what I expected to see. I paid close attention to how lines and angles played and interacted with other parts of the shape, checking the negative shapes created between the organic forms, as well as those of the fruit themselves, to try and ensure I created an accurate framework of lines to be the basis of my work.
Here are some progress shots of the first sketch:
I deliberately chose to use limited materials to see how I could best represent 3D form with the one graphite stick. I made big emotive marks using the sides of the stick and put in the details using the pointed end. However I still found the image quite "flat" so I incorporated the white chalk to emphasise the highlights, and decided to use the blending tool to try and make the marks more indicative of the smooth surface of the tomato.
Grey paper
In this sketch I tried to vary the weight of the marks to be more indicative of the perspective. The darker marks seemed much closer than the lighter ones which seemed to be further away and fade to the background.
I included more focus on using the two tone of the charcoal and the chalk, utilising the grey paper as a mid tone, with this sketch to try make the resulting image feel less flat than my first attempt.
Strawberries
In honesty, I was more taken with the tomatoes, but decided to do some sketches of the strawberries to mix up the organic forms I was observing. For this I used water colour pencils and, to play with the depiction of the fruit and to attempt a more interesting image, I deliberately chose incorrect colours in order to focus on the form to narrate the image rather than relying on the obviousness of the correct colours to tell the story.
I had to correct some of the angles I'd mapped out as I'd noticed that I hadn't quite got the right perspective on the back right strawberry. I originally had the bottom of that strawberry almost in line with the horizon, but realised on closer inspection that it was actually angled slightly away (corrected in the final example)
Blind drawing
After I had finished with the coloured pencils on the strawberry, I thought it might be fun to play with the blind drawing technique I practiced in an earlier task.
I focused purely on the still life set up in front of me, and drew the outlines of the strawberries without looking down to my sketchbook or taking the pen off the paper. I initially did this with an orange alcohol marker and then moved on to use a black sketching pen. I like how the black pen attempt has ended up inside the original pencil sketch, making for quite an interesting final image.
I then decided to do the same technique with the tomatoes, using 3 different pens, both to represent the colours within the tomatoes as well as 3 being the dimensions I had been hoping to elude to. I quite like the finished work as it reminds me of the 3D printed images you used to have to wear corresponding coloured glasses to be able to see.
This technique helped me to be a bit more free with my mark making and prevents me from overworking or overthinking the piece I'm creating.
Greyscale Realism drawing on white paper
I wanted to try and draw a realistic representation of the tomatoes. I decided to use graphite pencils for this task as I have had good results making a variety of tones using these previously, which is essential in creating a realistic tomato drawing.
I once again started by mapping out the shapes by playing close attention to the negative spaces and how each shape connects and lines up with the others.
I also spent a lot of time trying to accurately shade the shadows that were being cast by the tomatoes onto the white paper.
The second image below shows the drawing I started with. I wasn't happy with it, but I couldn't work out why. I decided I would sleep on it and look at it the next day.
Looking at it the following day, I realised there were a few issues. Firstly, I realised the tones weren't quite right. There wasn't enough distinction between the stalks and the tomatoes. To assist me with getting a more realistic tone, I took the photograph of the tomatoes I took the day before and I converted it into black and white. This meant I had a much easier time trying to work out which parts of the drawing needed to be darker.
The second issue I noticed was that I had shaded the long shadow at the back of the tomatoes (being cast by the light from the window on the right) much too dark. I took an eraser and lightened the shadow to a much more realistic shade.
I also noticed the shape on the right hand tomato wasn't quite right. I had over exaggerated the size of the right hand tomato and made it too wide. I was able to use the eraser to the side of the tomato to make the shape much more in keeping with the tomato in the photograph.
This is the finished sketch after I had made the amendments to correct some of the mistakes I had identified in the original sketch.
The tone and the shadows of the tomato on the paper and the shadowing cast by the stalk and the leaves across the surface of the tomatoes make this the most realistic 3D representation of the sketches in this task.
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