This project has been a real challenge for me - the composition of still life not being an area of particular interest or experience for me.
I have found it easier to suggest 3 dimensions on man made objects rather than natural objects as they generally have more defined lines and form from which to identify reference points and tonal variation. Using straight line hatching is easier on man made objects for the same reason. However I find it easier to draw the 'outline' of the form rather than the structure of the natural objects and I think this is because I find natural objects more interesting but also that is more room for 'mistake' as natural still life objects do not have a necessarily uniform form and therefore a failure of absolute precision can be more easily forgiven on the eye. Man made objects have an expected and universally understood form that needs to be precise as viewers have universal expectation. My own expectation also increases. Man made forms also have more solid edges and hence shadow and can be more easily represented in tonal depiction.
I created a sense of solidity in my compositions through shadow and strengthened shadow under the objects to illustrate where they sat on the platform - thrown shadow also helped. I was not always successful with this and the 'busier' compositions undermined this approach with the man made objects particularly looking like they floated rather than 'sat'. The positioning of the light source proved to be essential in creating the shadow and tone to convey this solidity. Again, this has not always been successful - for example the pen picture of the sunflower looks effective as an 'illustration' but does not necessarily appear 'positioned' or sat on something.
Changing the arrangement of my composition made a huge difference to my approach to both man made and natural objects still life - staring with both using many objects and poorly lit compositions led to the reduction of objects and improved lighting. Complicated images did not allow for the capture of shadow (underneath the objects and cast against others) which undermined the solidity of the objects and also the representation of themselves - it all became a messy blur! Simplified compositions allowed observation of the shadows and tones and cast shadow helped illustrated the respective items in a more convincing way creating depth, perspective and crucially form. I continue to really struggle with hatching and having a simpler composition with stronger illustration of shadow and tone helped me practice more in consideration of how to use this approach. The shift in composition also freed me up to use different approaches such as 'squiggles' with pen to capture the image.
I changed the position of myself in drawing the still life several times - up, down, below and around - in trying to change the way I saw the tone and shadow whilst also trying to be reasonably comfortable whilst drawing. I think I was initially quite lazy in my initial sketch, sitting in my usual drawing chair and just cracking on - however recognising the picture was then so flat (Man made no 1) I changed my position, the lighting and the content of the composition. I had not previously fully appreciated the importance of my positioning and has been a key learning point.
So, key learning points:
1. My positioning is vital
2. A simpler composition works better to capture shadow and tone
3. The sketching approach (ie. hatching/shading/squiggles) is really important to the final image and sometimes intuition is not always right!!
4. Lighting is vital to create the necessary shadow and tone
5. The subject matter is important - I need to be interested otherwise the picture is not interesting!
6. Need to practice hatching more
7. Small is good (big is not necessarily better!).
Really fantastic learning!
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