Detailed observation of natural objects: Detail and tone

The exercise was to choose a single colour and build up tones with a variety of soft pencil marks by hatching and cross-hatching, using smooth A3 paper as the support.

I chose a large dry leaf from my garden as my object, and set it up on white paper on my sofa so I could look down on it, which gave good shadow, emphasised by yellow light from a lamp placed on my left had side.

My first challenge was the complexity of the shape and texture of the leaf, and I found it very difficult to capture all the details of the leaf, especially the texture.

My second challenge was the use of cross-hatching; a technique I have not been very comfortable with as my lines tend to be irregular, and every time I have tried cross-hatching in the past my work has looked untidy and I have not liked the result. However as I progressed with the exercise I became more relaxed, drawing and building up light and shade on my work.

Things that went well -

I think I achieved a good representation of the object, the texture and the shadows, and gained confidence in cross-hatching technique. I also gained experience with a variety of soft pencils and found that I got better results when the cross-hatching lines followed the shape of the object.

Things that went badly -

I wish I had used a heavier paper for my support, probably above 150gsm. The paper I used was very smooth but too thin and light, less than 80gsm, and because of that the result is not as good as it might have been.

I also need more practice with cross-hatching technique.