Assignment One - man made objects

I settled upon using wine glasses and a wine bottle as the subject matter for my man made still life - enjoying the reflections and shapes that these objects create... in undertaking a series of sketches my "Evening Pleasure" turned into "Night in". My final drawing ("Night in...") being an uncomplicated composition suggesting the intimacy of a shared bottle of wine, including a woman wearing lip stick.

I worked hard on creating the right composition including the correct shade and reflection but then really struggled with the correct medium. I was sorely tempted to use ink and line to simply draw the shapes and lines of reflection BUT (and this may be a mistake in hind sight) I decided against that as I had used ink in my natural object still life. I decided instead to use charcoal so as to convey the reflective form and smooth texture of the objects. I balanced the light to shine from behind so as to ensure strong shadow and 'light burst' through the glass.

I am not as pleased as I would like to be with the finished drawing - the glasses and bottle are not symmetrical but I was fearful of over working the picture as I do like the 'rawness' (even though it took ages to do it looks quite fresh) and I keep reminding myself that it is just not possible for my drawings to be perfect - I am learning.