Assignment 2

I hate oil pastel. Every time I draw with oil pastel it ends up looking like a child has drawn it. So I decided to give myself a challenge with this assignment and use the material I feel least confident working with. I thought about using coloured pencil or charcoal, but I wanted to portray the vivid colours of the objects and I think oil pastel does this well. I am actually pleased with this drawing, although looking at it now, I feel there are a few things I could change - the bottles don't quite look right and the wall and table needs blending a little more. I think I captured the vegetables really well though, particularly the leek and the tomatoes, I managed to get the texture looking just right. Looking at this piece makes me realise how far I have come since starting this course. I have improved ten fold I think.

I practiced with the oil pastel in my sketchbook, which made me even more worried as the drawings I was doing did not look very good at all (check out the leek!) I then had a go at blending dark areas and decided that graphite pencil worked well.

Composition is something I always struggle with so I wanted to get it right this time. I did a few sketches in my sketchbook, and gradually added more objects. I looked at a few books on still life and this really helped me build up a nice composition. I think I filled the space nicely, and there is a good variety of shapes, sizes and textures.

Next I experimented with different papers. I chose four different ones, all with different grades of smoothness, graduating from super smooth to rough. I found that on the super smooth paper it was hard to blend the colours without the pastel lifting off the paper too much. The rougher papers I found were a little too rough, and too much of the paper underneath showed. This created a nice textured effect - however as some of the objects were smooth, I didn't think this would work well. I opted for paper number 2, which was slightly smooth, but still had a little bit of texture. I then practiced drawing some of my objects to get the correct colour palate and tones.

Summary

I've enjoyed this unit, and think I have improved my drawing skills greatly. While some of the exercises have been challenging, I feel I actually found this unit slightly easier than the previous. Perhaps because I understand the principles of drawing better now. I have definitely made some mistakes along the way, but I must be doing alright because of how my drawing is improving. How I see light and shadow has definitely improved, and I feel more confident with different materials. During this unit I have learnt how to use line and marks, how to hatch with colour - this is the one I am most pleased about I think as I have struggled with hatching. I have learnt how to use oil pastel correctly, and my compositions have improved a little. Overall I am pleased with my progress and can't wait to move onto the next assignment.