Shadow and Tonal Values

To introduce the topic of today's observational drawing session you will find that it is based on shadow & tonal values. It is evident from looking at this graphite study of the artist himself that he was able took a number of values into consideration during the process.The artist has tried his best to make these elements obvious in the self portraits within a number of areas .

If one were to discuss what stood out to them when they first saw this sketch they may mention the most omnipotent element created in this self portrait is the self created shadows.The highlights created by the putty rubber provide the perfect balance of lightness/darkness in order to have a well composed self portrait.

Taking these points into consideration the artists may want to focus more on his observations when creating a self portrait by looking into the mirror. This proved to be very difficult as it was his first time recreating himself in a sketch form using a mirror. This proved to be a ver difficult task as he had to make sure that he was getting the crucial parts down first then implying the smaller areas afterwards .It is the artist's belief that this can only be improved with more observations of the subject & more practise which makes perfect self portraits. 

Perspective of curves .

This sketch was a reconstruction of the artist's living room which was mainly focused on the archway as a primary point. The artist himself attempted to recreate the interior of his living room with the use of foreshortening in order to obtain the correct dimensions for all of the pillars , doorways , windows etc. 

The succeful part of the sketch was much later on as the artist went from creating impression lines to  definite lines. This method has proven to make the live this artist easier as they figured out what elements of the drawing would work & could be improved . However there are areas of the sketch that could be improved to really match it to reality. 

The main area of concern is the fact that the circumference of the floor is wider in reality. This may be down to lack of accurate measurements from the rm chair to the door. The artist tried to improved this with the use of self shading to create a larger space for the floor .

The other areas of concern may be the direction of the fireplace which appears to be out of flow with the arm chair. The form of the sofas could be defined better by incorporating highlights to make them stand out from the background. This is the reason why the artist started off by using the graphite stick gently gradually increasing the weight to make a solid drawing.Other than that the drawing has been successful overall. 

Classical interiors

This is a charcoal willow study of the artist's television room which the artist believes could be considered as classical / contemporary. architecture. In order to bring out the depth of particular areas within the sketch the artist has tried to go heavy on the charcoal to show the tonal values of the television room as well as the hallway. 

There are certain elements of the sketch that you might be able to notice immediately that do not work as they seem orthodox. In this case the first place that is out of alignment is the doorway which appears to be leaning towards the left side which may have been down to the artist maybe losing focus as they were to busy trying to measure the distance from the poster to the sofa , as well as the stand from the poster. The main attraction for the artist is the sofa which has been well defined by the tonal values. 

The artist has tried to rescue this drawing by incorporating the light which dominated the room. But the artist struggled to define which areas were mainly shaded or redefined by the highlights. The artist felt that maybe this was one of the main elements that did not let this sketch reach it's full potential.The artist also felt that they may have got carried away with the smudging technique that the  television room lost it's importance . Where as the hallway seems to be more potent due to the fact that there is minimum highlights. 

Overall the artist is fairly happy with their drawing but they wish that they could have done more to bring the reality to the paper.