In my tutorial my tutor made a comment that if I brought the flower forward by making the petals hang over the window ledge it would increase the sense of depth, and I considered starting again with another arrangement to bring the rose forward.
Before doing so however I experimented with the original piece to see if I could achieve the effect I wanted by cutting a piece of paper to the right size and shape, painting it yellow, and sticking it lightly onto the rose - to check that it worked as hoped – which it did.
The challenge then was to see if I could successfully alter the original piece – which was in watercolour - without spoiling it, by applying a thick layer of gouache to the base of the rose and the area of window ledge, and re-drawing the lower petal so that it appeared to be hanging over the window ledge. Whilst it is not perfect I think the change is successful, and it has indeed improved the sense of depth of the piece.
Updated: 08.04.2018
Original
The exercise was to set up a still life group that either connected naturally or contrasted and clashed.
The relationship between the objects I chose is that they are all plants. They are however very different; a Pothos, a decorative non-flowering indoor plant growing vigorously in a vase of water; a Lime, a tree fruit; an Onion, a vegetable which grows at ground level; and a cut Rose, the most ephemeral of all of them. I choose these particular plants because of the harmony of colour between them, which I thought would make a nice composition.
I placed my objects on a window ledge to the right of my front door at the bottom of a staircase, so I could sit on the steps in line with the composition. The natural light coming through the closed window-blinds during the day gave an illuminated background to the composition, and I switched on the outside front light when the daylight faded which produced similar light and shadow, allowing me to continue after dark.
I started the process by making blind contour drawings to get used to the shapes and to improve my observation, as Kaupelis’ book suggested. I found this very useful though I wasn’t brave enough to start drawing with the pen straight away, and faintly outlined the composition with an HB pencil initially, going over that in pen afterwards.
The most difficult thing was drawing the Pothos, and deciding which of the leaves could be left out without compromising the composition’s balance, especially at the top of the vase where the majority of the leaves were, trying to focus on the ones to be retained. This was against my tendency of trying to draw and paint every single detail in front of me, which often ended up in frustration and an unsuccessful piece of work.
Another challenge was that as suspected, the position of the leaves subtly changed from morning to afternoon and evening, and was even more noticeable the following day, which changed the light reflections. I had to try to recall how the light was reflected on some of the leaves the day before.
I had similar problems with the Rose, as even though I kept it in water when I wasn’t actually drawing it, putting it back in the composition only when I needed to, the petals did change.
I researched Paul Cezanne and others on the use of colour to show tone and light in line drawing, which I applied to this exercise using waterproof ink and watercolour paint on watercolour paper, and for some of the highlights on the Pothos leaves and the Lime I used white gouache.
I have very little experience of watercolour and don’t think I did a very good job applying the research to give shade and light to my drawing. To depict the light coming through the blinds I used masking fluid and wet-on-wet using a very light grey.
What aspects of each drawing were successful and what did you have problem with?
Researching the genre of still life has given me confidence in what to look for in a composition, and helped free me from the idea that I have to draw every detail. I tried to focus on the important parts of the composition and not overwork.
I think my line drawing skill is improving very rapidly through practise, my observational skills are much better and I’m starting to simplify subjects, getting less confused with the detail I am working on and becoming more focussed on the areas that work best in the composition. I think my composition looks good.
Problematic aspects were however that the lines under the window ledge are too thick -possibly the worse part of the work, and in drawing the vertical line of the window my hand slipped leaving an ugly mark.
My depiction of the blind could also have been better. I was exploring the point made in the course notes: that a drawing is usually more interesting if you get a sense of where the objects are in the space - which I found in this case.
Did you manage to get a sense of depth in your drawings? What elements of the drawing and still life grouping help to create that sense?
I think I did manage to get a sense of depth - mainly created by the shadows around the windows, and underneath the Rose, Vase and Onion.
What difficulties were created by being restricted to line and tone?
Having researched Cezanne still life and his use of watercolour to create light and shadows, I used watercolour to give tone and make my drawing more interesting. With only lines it looks somehow incomplete to me, and looking back at the question it looks like I should not have done so.
