Traditional Blog Topic 8 - Formative improvements

I took notes of the improvements that my tutor and classmates said I could do for my work and implemented the improvements. The overall results showed how I could push my work to an even better standard.

The first piece that I improved was the skull with drapes. I ensured that I added more contrast to shadowed areas of the skull, such as the back and underneath, as well as the hollow areas. I also lightened the flower petals to make them stand out more, and to fit the tone of the real flowers that were far lighter in value.

Skull with Drapes

The next pieces that I improved were the line weight drawings of figures. I started by getting rid of the preliminary drawing that was unfinished, as it did not need to be there and took away from the rest of the figures on the page. I applied more shade to the large final figure, such as under the thigh where there was a lot more shadowing, and I also applied more shadows to indicate the muscle shapes, particularly in the upper back.

Line figure drawing

For the torso and leg drawings, I varied the lighting a lot more which resulted in a more interesting and dramatic drawing, as previously the light was the same all over for a lot of the torso and leg drawings. I added lighter values by erasing areas that needed to be hit by light.

Leg Sketches

Torso Studies

For the charcoal portrait, I reduced the bounce light under the chin as it was too prominent and altered the shape of the face too much. Once I did this I could see a much better impression of the true shape of the face.

Charcoal Drawing

The cool pastel portrait was improved by adding lighter tones to the face, such as light pinks and white. This immediately made the drawing a lot more effective and three dimensional rather than just flat with he same contrast all over. I used a neutral black for the clothing.

Cool pastel portrait

The warm  toned pastel portrait needed more contrast around the eyes and ears. For this I used a black and brown pastel to darken these areas. I also used black for the clothes in this piece.

Warm pastel portrait

For the warm and cool pencil portrait, I adjusted the highlights and added a stronger impression of directional lighting. I added highlights in the glasses frames and reduced the brightness of the whites of the eyes.

Warm and Cool Portrait

Traditional Blog Topic 7

The Death of Marat is a 1793 painting of a murdered French Revolutionary Leader, Jean-Paul Marat. The painting is by Jacques-Louis David, a famous Neoclassical artist who reacted against the elaborate and aristocratic style of rococo art during the French Revolution. He also served as the Revolutionary art director, emphasising the power of the people over the aristocracy by painting famous martyrs like Marat. Unlike Rococo, Neoclassical art like the Death of Marat uses much more sombre and realistic colours and tones, as well as the use of intense and dramatic chiaroscuro, similar to artists like Caravaggio and Poussin.

The Death of Marat shows the stabbed revolutionary leader lying in a bathtub. the positioning and lighting of the body no doubt signifies his role as a martyr - a respected and saint-like figurehead of the Revolution. The pose of his body resemble's classical art of Jesus on the cross, which is visible in the drape of the arm. Marat had a skin condition in real life, but David has presented him with smooth and unblemished skin to amplify his appearance as a saint. The setting itself is a reflection of the distaste for aristocracy, using simple linen cloths and austere inexpensive colours.

In his hand, Marat holds a letter of assassination. it reads "July 13, 1793. Marieanne Charlotte Cordray to Citizen Marat, Because I am unhappy I have the right to call on your goodwill." This is another propaganda device use in the painting, suggesting that Marat was open to receiving grievances and complaints, painting him as a tolerant and fair leader.

The composition is made up of horizontal and vertical lines, visible in the line of the bathtub and the folds of the cloth underneath his arm. The space above is neutral and does not give much information as to the shape of the room, thus indicating that David solely intended to concentrate on the silhouette of Marat. In addition, the bathtub that Marat has been murdered in represents a stone grave. We are once again reminded of the Classical paintings of Christ, who is depicted as a divine being.

The colours are quite saturated, despite being austere and somber in nature. The pop of red from the blood in the bath alludes to Caravaggio's use of reds, creating an eye-catching area of interest in his works during the classical period. The use of tone is consistent, with smoothly blended areas of paint. This enables us to liken Marat's skin to that of marble, like heroic classical Greek statues.

'The Death of Marat', 1793

Traditional - Blog topic 6

Edgar Degas' 'Bust of a Woman' is an example of cool and warm toned Impressionist art. Degas uses coloured pencils on warm toned paper. 

The model is lit from the right hand side, which is indicated by the lighter warmer tones used, particularly in the hair and face. He has also used the warm tones of the paper under a loose light blue pencil, to accentuate the light hitting the clothing. In the darker shadowed areas of high contrast, Degas has used a solid fill cool tone to send these areas into more depth and further away from the eye. This can best be seen with the shirt on the left hand side of the sketch, and at the back of the head. These dark contrasts add an element of depth and 3Dimension. 

The face features smooth transitions between tones, such as around the chin and under the eyes, which demonstrates the original soft texture of the skin well in this sketch. However, in contrast to this the hair is textured using more streaked mark making. In addition, the shirt is sketched using rougher and broader pencil strokes, defining the roughness of the fabric and breaking up the texture quality between the skin and the clothing. Similarly, the background is loosely textured albeit with a coarse shading method and the use of horizontal lines, which allows the model to stand out well but lets the background become part of the sketch as well.

Degas uses occasional strokes of bright red to accentuate tone in the face and the background. For example, his gentle use of red in the face creates a realistic colouring which is brought out better with the surrounding use of cooler grey and light blue tones. There is a slight curvature to the red markings, which creates a sense of rounded form of the cheeks. The light tones highlight the brightest planes of the face, along the right temple and cheek, as well as along the bridge of the nose. 

The blues and browns in this sketch are well balanced, and there is a general feeling of warmth and gesture to the piece. This can be seen well in the arm and the background blue around the face, indicating movement. 

I really like how well Degas has represented the youth and personality of the subject, through expression and surface quality of the face. the sketch is overall aesthetically appealing and interesting to look at as the eyes are drawn to the many different textures and tones of the piece.

'Bust of a Woman', c. 1880- c.1885, by Edgar Degas

Traditional - Blog topic 5

Leonardo Da Vinci's 'Lady With an Ermine', painted 1489-1490 is an example of a High Renaissance painting that follows both typical and atypical rules of Renaissance portraiture. The portrait depicts Cecilia Gallerani, the mistress of the Duke of Milan holding an ermine. 

From an initial glance, there is a lot of contrast from the background against the paler colours and tones of the skin and the bright red and blue clothing. The shape of the ermine sweeps downwards towards the bottom left hand corner of the composition, which brings the eye towards the hand and along the detail of the dress. There is an even balance of saturated and less saturated colours, such as with the clothing against the skin, and the darker more neutral tones of the beaded necklace and backdrop. 

The use of light shine in the eyes adds a sense of life to the model, and catches the attention of the eye. It also draws our eyes to the right hand side of the painting, leading off of the canvas. It creates a sense of open space surrounding the subject, and gives a clue to the setting, e.g. a near-by window or a candle light. The colours of her clothes are reminiscent of many religious paintings of Mary in the renaissance, who is often depicted wearing lapis lazuli blue, reds and golds. There could be a subtle comparison that Da Vinci made between both Mary and the sitter of the portrait.

In this painting, Da Vinci uses a technique that he developed during the Renaissance period known as 'Sfumato', or 'Smokiness' - the tones in the painting are blended softly to form a soft gradient form one to another, and this can be seen primarily in the face and neck area. It emphasises the youthfulness of the portrait subject, who was only 15 years old, and adds a softness to help exaggerate this. It was also painted using a more modern medium, Oil paints, which were introduced from the Netherlands in the 1470s. This was a big change for many Italian Renaissance masters, who had previously used powdered pigments and egg whites for oil painting. 

The use of the ermine as a symbol was prevalent in many renaissance era paintings, such as for monarchs who wanted to symbolise wealth and status, and for expectant women. Perhaps the ermine in this painting is a symbol of both Cecilia's familial wealth and status, and her relationship with the Duke of Milan. 

'Lady With an Ermine', 1489-1490, Leonardo Da Vinci. 

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_with_an_Ermine

Traditional Reflection 4

I completed my second test piece from class. This time I took a different approach - using darker and more even tones for the cloth instead of lighter tones, and then lightening them with a putty rubber where necessary. This resulted in a lot more attention being brought to the objects rather than the drapery. I also refrained from shading the background as I thought it would be too dark alongside the fabric if I did this.


I was very pleased with the way that I shaded the skull. I was more liberal with contrasts than the last attempt at a shaded skull, especially with delicate details and line weight such as cracks and hollow areas. I think that the glasses are a bit too small, but they manage to stand out amongst the other objects due to the use of highlights and line weight which was difficult to achieve.


Overall I was very pleased with the outcome of this piece.

Test Piece 2

Traditional - blog topic 4

Using clay to make a bust of a life model was challenging but I learnt a lot during the process. Firstly, I found that using a small scale was difficult as it was tougher to create the smaller and finer details, e.g. the eyelids, and the nostrils. However, I think that my overall form of the human head was accurate to an extent. I measured the eyes to ensure that five lengths of the eye would fit across the width of the head, signalling good proportions in this area. I learnt that it was easier to add gradual volume to the form of the head rather than reduce it, as I could be more precise and accurate. Using the clay tools made the detailing a lot more successful, such as around the eyes and creating the shape of the lips. Initially I was only using my fingers to make details, which resulted in a rougher and less defined appearance, but as my sculpt progressed I learnt that it would benefit from the use of tools.

I applied all I had learnt about the proportions of the head from three different dimensions. Doing the skull drawings from the week before helped me to recognise the forms of the skull whilst sculpting, and therefore allowed me to more accurately represent the life model. I think that as a result, I achieved quite a strong sense of likeness to the model.

In the future, I would like to improve my methods of crafting extremities such as the ears. I found them difficult to define, particularly the shapes inside the ear. I will need to spend more time on this area of sculpting next. I could also improve the consistency of the round areas of the head. Parts like the forehead were round in some areas, yet flattened in others, when in reality this needed to be remedied to fit the true shape of the life model's head.

Using clay as a material allowed me to make many changes easily during the process, but after a while I found it would dry out or some parts would fall off such as the ears. Therefore I would like to implement the use of scoring and wetting the clay whilst adding on parts. Despite this, clay has shown to be a versatile material.

Final clay bust from different angles:

 

Traditional - blog topic 3

Using the feedback from our peer crit session, I carried out a series of improvements on my pieces so far. The first piece that I improved was the class drapery drawing. I needed to make the background drapery considerably darker compared to the other drapes in the scene. I did this by slowly layering up darker tones. I also wanted to make the shading darker in some areas and lighter in others to add more inconsistency and interest.

Improved first drapery drawing

The next piece that I improved was the test piece from class. There was a lot I had to adjust on this piece, mostly related to the drapery once again. I initially went over with new tones to flatten out some of the creases as there were too many and they were too distracting. They also had the exact same levels of shading and so I needed to adjust this to make them more realistic and visually appealing. I also improved the shadows on the shells and around the objects in the scene to create more of a contrast.

Improved drapery still life setting drawing

Next I made some very minor improvements to one of my line drawings. I defined the shape of the apple a lot better, particularly the centre which helped to better represent the object.

Improved section of my first line drawing

I then spent a long time finishing and improving my final piece from the Pumping Station. I created a background of lightly shaded machinery from the pumping station, as well as adding in ceiling beams that were present, and I used line weight to better present distance of objects. I might continue to improve this piece as I progress through the module.

Improved pumping station drawing

The next piece that needed improvement was the detailed skull drawing from class. I took into consideration what my peers said about lack of contrast on some areas of the skull, and the areas that needed to be less contrasted such as the flatter surface on the side of the skull. I spent a while improving these elements, as well as using more line weight to bring out details and surfaces closest to the viewer.

Improved detailed skull drawing

Traditional - blog topic 2

I completed the task of drawing a detailed human skull, as well as three quick sketches of the skull from different angles. I was happy with two of my sketches, but I feel that I could improve the sketch of the skull from above as the shape is distorted and the lines could be cleaner. I like the use of line-weight for these sketches, however, as it implies certain levels of depth and distance in the object.
Overall however, I think that my knowledge of the construction of the human skull, its forms, and proportions is quite sufficient. I could certainly improve my methods of shading, such as adding subtle contrasts underneath of the skull where the texture changes from smooth bone to a rougher bloomed texture.

Detailed skull drawing from in class - side view

Skull sketches 1 & 2 - 3/4 view and front view

Skull sketch 3 -viewed from top

Traditional reflection 3

I went to the Abbey Road Pumping Station Museum to study complex machinery and other objects. I did four initial sketches to prepare for a final piece. At first I focused on bigger objects, such as pipes and gears used for steam machinery. However, I decided to explore smaller and more intricate objects, such as parts of a knitting machine that I saw and a clothing mangle handle and wheel. I  worked on elements of depth when drawing objects behind each other, and used the putty rubber to disturb lines that were too harsh to bring objects further into the background.
I decided to draw the first piece of machinery that I studied for my final piece as I liked the different textures such as the rust, the shiny reflective paint and the streaks of oil that layered up on the surface. I also favoured this perspective as it was challenging to draw and would make for a good final composition.

Traditional reflection 2

In the third week we focused on using line weight and different forms of line mark making to draw a still life scene. I found this piece particularly challenging as there were times that I overdrew my lines to the point where the objects looked like they had been shaded, and I had quite heavily used crosshatching which was too dense in some areas. However, the part of the drawing that I liked most was the basket with the grapes. I felt that I had used line weight particularly well here and where it was most appropriate, such as to imply shadows and depth. For the next line drawing I will try to limit my use of crosshatching and use simpler lines.

First line drawing from class

EDIT 16/10/19: I completed the second line drawing, using slightly different line making techniques from the first drawing. There were aspects of this drawing that I liked far better, such as the delicate and organic petal shapes captured better with thinner lines, but I still preferred the bold crosshatching that I used specifically for the basket in the first drawing. Overall, I am pleased with the results of my experimentation with line weight and style.

Line drawing self directed

Traditional reflection 1

In the first two traditional lessons, we focused on drawing detailed and tonally accurate drapery. I found it difficult to maintain the correct levels of contrast between different tones of materials, but I felt that the overall texture of the drapery was well achieved. I used the putty eraser and light pencil strokes to make the appearance of wrinkles and creases which added to the textural variety. I practised what I had learnt by doing the optional drawing task, which required that I set up my own drapery setting with fruit. I really liked the contrasts of the objects in this piece.

First task

Self-directed task

For the test piece, I had to draw a drapery backdrop with a foreground composed of: sea shells, a glass flowerpot and flowers, and walnuts. This was a highly challenging piece as it took an extensive amount of time to complete, and I often had to go back and rework parts of the drawing such as the highlights on the creases, and the crevices of the shells. However, I was quite happy with my final piece as I feel that the contrasts were well achieved and the different textures can be clearly seen in my drawing.

Detailed class drapery piece

Traditional - blog topic 1

I chose a digital painting by game concept artist Sergey Kolesov, who worked on Dishonored 2. The piece is called 'Jewel of the South at the Edge of the World'. I chose this piece as it evokes a serene and yet a mysterious atmosphere, presented by the warm sunlight on the right hand side, juxtaposed against the colder appearance of storm clouds overcasting the bay from the left hand side. The combination of softer organic shapes such as the rolling white clouds and vegetation and jagged hard pointed shapes of the man-made structures creates a dissonance in form and mood. All of these elements can be used as symbolism for the game narrative, such as an approaching looming threat, or to emphasise the hard mechanical and boxy appearance and negative effects of human settlement in a natural environment. What I find the most interesting is that both man-made and natural elements make way for more supernatural events which take place in the game, of which there is a definite sense of in this piece.


The colour palette uses mainly blues, greens and yellows, and these are used against each other to create contrasting cool and warm tones which create a depth in the piece. For example, on the left hand side of the composition, there is a strong use of blue grey tones which set the hills further into the background. This greatly contrasts against the foreground area of cliffs and wind mills which have been brought to the forefront not only through composition, but also through the use of yellows and warm greens.


The composition itself uses the rule of thirds, as it is split into three main focal points - the first is the town on the lower left hand side, and the eye is led from the town by the red pylons up to the sharp mountain face in the upper half of the composition, and brought across to the clouds, and finally down to the right hand side of the piece which focuses on the foreground rocks and manmade structures.

'Jewel of the South at the Edge of the World', by Sergey Kolesov.