Wednesday 7 December 2011

PART 5: OBSERVATION IN NATURE: Exercise: Tonal Study


For this study I chose to use pencils as I thought they would be the most appropriate medium for a tonal drawing. I used a hatching technique throughout but once I was happy that the drawing was complete I used a finger to rub areas of hatching so that those areas became less graduated and more shaded. In my earlier studies of natural objects I had drawn a pine cone held in my hand and I thought it was quite a nice touch, so I tried that again. Something about the skull being held like that gives the drawing a certain power that without the hand and outstretched arm, I'm not sure it would have... A personal opinion anyway, I don't know if anyone else would necessarily agree! Drawing on such a large scale (A2 paper) was excellent for really looking hard for those differing tonal values and noticing every little nook, cranny and blemish on my skull. It was quite a leap to do this drawing from the simple line drip-drawings I'd been doing previously, but it was a welcome change as it made me revisit the skull in a way I might have been overlooking for a wee while, caught up in the fun of making a mess (...or experimenting rather...)!

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