Research point; Odilon Redon

Odilon Redon, photo taken from Bridgeman Education

Wow! What an artist. I really enjoyed this research project (it is in my sketchbook). I had never heard of the man before but am so impressed, especially because you can see so clearly through his artwork how his life progressed and changed. He was a quiet man, and it may seem a silly thing to say but I think you can tell through his work that he was so. There's something thoughtful and tranquil about his style. The colours he eventually began to use in his later life are not garish or showy, they are soft and almost serene. His strange and at times slightly disturbing earlier works have a mystical thing going on - they aren't so much scary as they are fantastical and just peculiar. He had some smart things to say about art too. I especially like this quote; "The value of art lies in its power to increase our moral force or establish its heightening influence." It seems that despite his otherwordly, and one could say underground and alternative art work, he felt that art itself was a unifying force. Something for everyone and something that will make the world a better place.

Tone and form

I chose two simple objects - a pear and a roll of toilet paper - and used a pencil to cross hatch the light and shadow. It was quite difficult to get all the tones on the toilet roll, the middle tones especially. I think maybe it was harder than the pear because it is white in colour, so even it's darkest areas are not very dark at all - yet now looking at my drawing, I have definitely made it too dark. However the white of the toilet roll actually turned out to be quite beneficial in terms of being able to distinguish between the primary and secondary light sources, because you could see quite clearly light on the left side of the pear being reflected off the white paper.

In the tonal study of four objects, again you can see the secondary light being reflected off the white book cover onto the mug. I have to admit, it is not something I was very aware of while doing the drawing but you can clearly see it. In hindsight, I need to make sure I am thinking about these sorts of things while drawing, and not just drawing away!


Focusing on the light and shade basically defines the forms themselves, it gives the objects solidity and realism. I've started to notice the outlines of the objects disappearing (it's difficult to explain but bear with me!). Obviously you begin a drawing outlining your subject, but as you focus on the light and shadow those outlines become either a lighter area or a darker area and not an outline at all.