Drawing & Imaging: Still Life

First Drawing Exercises: 

As our first topic in drawing and imaging we started looking at general drawing concepts, such as ODFSSS to create the illusion of space and volume, as well as negative space, contours, and the way geometric shapes are shaded to create volume. Personally, I found the shading concepts for basic geometric shapes the most interesting and useful part of this lesson, as it is applicable for nearly every drawing, as geometric shapes can be found in all forms, from objects to human bodies. The effect of the 4 color scale (reflected light, shadow, highlight, umbra) creates a very realistic sense of volume. We then tried to apply exactly this concept to a bottle, which could be split into cylinders and cones. Another exercise I found particularly interesting was drawing the chair while only focusing on the negative space. Looking at the outcome, I was surprised at how accurate the positive space actually is, and how clearly recognizable the two chairs are.

Three Objects from the MET:

On our first field trip to the MET, we were asked to pick three objects that we like, one having to be a piece of furniture, one vase/ceramic and one piece we like because it represents us. I chose the dress from the Manus x Machina exhibition to represent me, because I am extremely interested in geometry, as well as fashion. It was created using new, innovative technologies, which is also a field that really does interest me. I chose the vase because of its very calming and natural look, reminding me of subtle waves. The chair caught my attention because I love the  name Tete-a-Tete for a chair two people can sit on and look at each other. I also really liked how detailed the ornaments are.

Drawing the 3 Objects:

Of these three objects, we then had to do one contour and one shadow drawing from observation. As there was nowhere to sit down close to any of my objects, and people were constantly walking by, it was very hard to get an accurate representation of the objects, especially for the piece of furniture, as it has such a complex form.Using the three objects, we were later asked to create thumbnail sketches for a composition of all three objects. From those thumbnail sketches, I chose one and tried to create a figure ground composition. I first started by doing figure ground drawings of two separate objects, and then tried to incorporate that into my final composition. I drew one version of the composition in Sharpie, and one in pencil.

Personal Objects:

Next, we chose four more objects, from our home, that we think represent us. I decided to choose my glasses, without which I can’t see, my favorite cactus from my little cactus collection, my family heirloom ring, and my boxing glove, because I’ve been boxing for the past 5 years and it has helped me with many personal things. I then drew the four objects from observation.

Digital Drawings of Objects:

Using our pencil drawings, we started digitalizing our objects on Illustrator. This was my first ever experience with illustrator, so it was rather challenging in the beginning. Especially for the more complex shapes, I made the mistake of not outlining certain sectors with the en tool, but just drawing random lines, which made it really hard in the end to fill the whole chair black. Similarly, I really struggled to draw the dress.

Figure Ground Compositions:

We then used these objects to create a figure ground relationship using various Illustrator tools. Because I made some mistakes when drawing my chair and my dress, this was harder than I expected, but I am still very happy with the outcomes.

Digitalizing a Still Life:

Using the skills we had learnt from our drawing classes on the shading concept and negative space, we then drew our first still life. After setting up a grayscale on Illustrator, we digitalized the still life on Illustrator.

What I liked most about this project was working with Illustrator, and achieving a successful outcome. I had never worked with Illustrator before, so the project was definitely rather challenging for me. However, I am very happy with all of my Illustrator drawings, and think the time and effort I spent on them was worth it. Something I feel like I could still improve is to simplify my Illustrator still life, by using less values of gray, as well as less stripes and more organic shapes. I decided to use stripes to copy the effect of the 4-value scale used to create volume, but looking at the outcome, I am curious to see, what it would look like using more organic shapes.