Kayleigh's Canvas. Life Drawing.: Week 4 Homework: Drawing Your Hand Holding Different Household Objects

22.10.16

This exercise has been my favourite so far. I planned to use a mix of mediums: Some I was comfortable with, and some that I was less familiar with. In doing this I learned how to use ink and watercolour pencil properly meaning in the future I can use these techniques. It was difficult using what I wasn't comfortable with, as it created the possibility of a drawing/ painting that I might not be proud of, but in challenging myself I made pieces I felt good about.

In using myself as a model, I had to keep my left hand quite still. I had moments where I had to get up and get more water, and times where I focused on drawing/painting the piece so much I was unintentionally letting my hand relax. This meant I had to try and recreate the position and so that was a challenge throughout.

I''m very proud of (1). It looks accurate and I think my use of shading and light creates a good 3D effect. Pencil is a medium I am very comfortable with, so this was not so much challenging but a good way to ease myself into the exercise.

I am not a fan of (2). I don't generally like using soft pastels. I'm not sure whether I just don't have the knack for it, or I haven't learned to utilize they're potential yet. In future when I use this medium I will do a bit of research into how other artists achieve detail using it as I struggled with that. I feel the piece lacks character and is not as accurate as the other drawings/paintings. This could be because half way through the piece I lost confidence (It wasn't turning out how I wanted) and so inside possibly gave up a little and wanted to scrap it.

I decided to sit outside for (3) as I wanted to hold something from nature, contrasting with the objects I'd done so far (found in my kitchen). The dead leaf gave opportunity for good texture so I think I used the wrong medium in this case. It would have made more sense to do this pose using pencil and maybe used the watercolour palette for the pose depicted in (1). I don't dislike this image as I'm happy with the tones and colours of the hand, but I feel like It could be better.

(4) is my favourite. I have never actually used watercolour pencils and added water. I've used them as they are but never dared to paint over in water in case I ruin a piece. I decided to do some research into technique first and found a Youtube tutorial about watercolour pencils (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZocEZEYDdc). It was helpful in understanding the basics and different techniques. I decided to use the technique in which you do a drawing then add water afterward. The only mistake I made was using the pencils to draw the text in the crisp packet I was holding. In hindsight, I would sketch, paint with water, let it dry, then use the pencils again to create text. Overall I think it has a good 3D effect and I really enjoyed the whole process.

(5) was the most challenging. I've never used ink or a dipping pen. Again I took to Youtube to see how other people approached using this technique so that I could create a good Image. I found a video that described how to use ink and how to look after dipping pens and used that as a guide (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqriVBVNLnk). It was helpful to establish a base technique. I went for black only because I am not as experienced yet and I wanted to create a graphic look. This was out of my comfort zone in style and medium so I'm please that it came out so well. It has a kind of comic book style which looks interesting.