REFLECTION
“First World Items” comes from the feeling of seeing each of the items and realizing how all three are objects that only come from a place of privilege. A durable metal water bottle that keeps its contents cold, an expensive artisan mug, and a wooden glasses holder. At a technical level the final still-life really reflects what I learned with proportions and space. The outlines of the major shapes aren’t overly defined, but the contrast is still there. There’s a sense of oneness between the objects, but each one is clearly defined. They seem to morph with one another because of the sort of mono-gradient first layer of shading on their surfaces. In this regard, the glasses holder shows a lot of perspective because of the level of detail in the wood stains that wind around its surface. The definition in that detail adds a lot of realism and showcases some really well done perspective work in that item. Where this detail work shines, the mug to the right of it fails. The intricacy in the mug’s patterns is really well done, but the depth is lost because of the lack of gradient around the item’s circumference. The designs on the mug’s outside is reflected really well on the drawing, but the definition and perspective is a little less prominent in this one. Finally, the water bottle towers over the other two items, and shows a fair amount of highlights. This is the one object with a lot of metallic shine, which quickly became difficult to imitate. It turned out to be far more angular than the mug or the glasses holder because of it’s sharper highlights and use of the lower end of the gradient scale. This isn’t necessarily accurate of the real life references, as the glasses holder is far sharper than the water bottle, though the emphasis on stain-work and detail on the glasses holder gave it a more rounded appearance. The water bottle was outlined and had more planning for where the gradients would be used. Overall, the piece succeeded in more areas than it failed, though it seems to sacrifice true realism for aesthetic. The drawing style completely changed from that of the sketches to have more short strokes of hatching than flowy realistic levels of pencil movement. There’s more detail than there is perspective, but there is more movement and space than there is exaggeration. The piece seems to balance these elements and techniques out relatively well. |
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As I began the project, there was first a little McGuyver-ing to figure out. My easel disappeared about a year ago, and I wanted to work on this piece vertically. I figured something out pretty quickly: I grabbed a chairjack from my attic, and leaned a large wooden board up against it. I taped my practice newsprint to this. I set up my references directly next to the "easel" and after perfecting their angles, I had my lamp shine on them for consistent lighting. The last thing I want is to start drawing some shadows only for them to have moved several minutes later.
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For all three of my practice sketches, I used a small empty candle holder, a brick covered in spray paint, and my metal water bottle. I chose each of them based on their size, and how they reflected light. The water bottle would be a challenge because of it's shine, with many seemingly random lines of shadow and reflection as the light curls around its surface. I chose the brick because of its mass and its interesting stains and cracks, which give it a lot of character. It also had absolutely no shiny texture to it, which gave me variety in what I would be drawing. Finally, I chose the candle holder because it seemed like a happy medium. The material had a very matte finish, meaning it had some shine, but very easy-to-comprehend shadows. |
This photo was taken partway through my second sketch. I limited myself to 15 minutes for this sketch, which gave me a solid challenge. In this photo, I had finished the outline of each object, along with most of the extra shapes and lines that defined where different gradients of shadows and highlights would go. This was my process for all of my sketches. I would draw up an outline, and divide my gradients. I then begin actually shading both the brick and the candle with the vine charcoal. On the side of the candle, I started to blend the gradients to make the still-life seem a little more naturally lit. I had not used any of the brick charcoal yet.
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This photo was taken about halfway into the THIRD practice sketch. There was a lot of development in my skills between the previous sketch and this one. I have more detailed outlines that really helped me get through the sketch, though this involved the sacrifice of more realistic proportions. There's a little more contrast, but it doesn't quite sacrifice realism for it. The finished candle showcases a great representation of its texture, with the aforementioned matte coating on it. The water bottle is a little darker than it should be, which emphasizes how one of the main things that holds this back is the lack of realism in the reflections and highlights.
Included above the sketch are some general notes on how well the vine and brick charcoals are working for me. This gave me a better idea of how to create realistic yet interesting contrast.
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This completed third sketch showcases the power of taking time with shading, and the contrast is much better represented here than in any of my previous sketches. The highlights are slightly more pronounced, though arguably not quite pronounced enough. Unfortunately, the darker portions of the piece are largely hyperbolized. The shadows themselves are done relatively well, but the overall variations in color are slightly exaggerated. The way space and connection between objects is something that seems to be showcased really well here, whether it be shadows crossing over one another or overlapping of the objects themselves, the way the items interact is really satisfying in this sketch. However, the proportions do come off as rather cartoonish, but makes for an interesting effect on the perspective within the piece. |