I'd used an Ipad to draw with once before when I attended the college's Ipad day and I'd quite liked using them as it was a different way to draw, but one that still relied on drawing techniques.
In this session the focus was on experimenting and trying the Ipads out. I wanted to get used to using the Ipad, so I started by just sketching.
But by duplicating the image we could then experiment with different techniques, like layers, opacities and colours without the worry of ruining the first image.
On this image I tried adding a light peach background to form a sort of basic skin tone, before adding some shading on top. I thought that this was a great aspect of using the Ipad, that you could instantly use any colour, set backgrounds and move layers around to get different effects. The tool that I used the most though was the opacity tool, as you didn't have to commit to full, bold colour, you could apply it in shades and layers.
I did the same for the next image - of sketching the figure out first and then adding colour.
In this image and the later ones I always had trouble with the hair. I think this was because with hair if it doesn't have a lot of tone and detail, it can look quite flat. If I had more time I would have worked more on the hair to try and rectify this.
For this image I tried a different way of working, starting with no outline or drawing lines, just working immediately with blocks of colour and building it up with these. This was a harder way of working and it required a lot of corrections along the way, but it built up colour really quickly.
After trying that way of working, I tried another way, of sketching first in a flesh colour and then using a variety of brush strokes to add various textures. I liked being able to experiment with the brushes really quickly, having the option to instantly use another tool if I didn't like the effect.
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| I started to add sketch lines and darker tones on this duplicate |
I like the lined brush as by dotting them around the figure they help to lead your eyes around the figure. The darker shades gave more definition, as did the sketch lines, which stand out a bit too much for me here, but by working on it more I think they would merge better while emphasising the form of the figure.
I quite liked working with the Ipads as it allowed me to make quick sketches and use different colours and textures easily - it's easy to see the benefits of them and why artists are using them. But because I'm not very confident with them yet my drawing style reverted back to sketchy lines, instead of clean ones and I missed being able to use my whole arm to draw with. However, it was great to learn how artists are exploiting this technology.
For the second half of the day we focused on graphite drawings, except using the graphite loosely, on it's side or pushing it vertically up the page, not using it precisely like a pencil. The aim was to create quick drawings that included shading by any methods really - there wasn't a wrong way to use the graphite (except like a pencil for the first two).
For this one I used the graphite mainly on it's side pushing it vertically across the page. I think this was just because it was my first try and so I wanted to practice getting the figure down first before focusing on shading, which this method allowed me to do. It seems quite accurate structurally, but I think that if I had more time on it I would have exploited the graphite and it's shades more.
As the light source changed I was able to get some nice definition on the arms just by using the white space and the surrounding shades to suggest form and consequently I like how this turned out. I was worried about over working areas and of losing this definition, but for the most part I think being quite conservative in areas has worked well as did using more of the whole stick of graphite to create blocks of shape and shade. The hands are just markers at the moment and the background, although providing good context for the figure, was done in the last few seconds so both could have been developed more, had I had more time, to create more defined shapes. I think using some darker shades on the background to emphasise the folds in the material would have made it look great as well as pushed the figure forward.
As the technique worked well before I did a similar type of process on this final drawing, except that I used the whole stick of graphite more this time, pushing it all across the page. I liked that this picked up the marks on the board behind the paper, as it made the image seem more personal to the artist rather than a depiction of the model. I found this pose interesting as we'd never done one where the model holds an object so it was quite strange to have to plot where it would go and to try and line it up, but it could also be used as another reference point, which was helpful. I like on this image how the form of the model is emphasised again by the use of blocks of shade and light, it seems to add weight to the pose.
I enjoyed working with graphite as it could be controlled and manipulated quite easily but in various ways to get different interesting effects. It felt quite loose as you could use the whole stick of graphite to commit shapes down quickly and roughly, but still achieve definition.
This was our final life drawing session and while it was often tiring, I think I'm going to miss the sessions as they made me concentrate fully and made me think about the marks I was making and what I was seeing. The sessions have really improved my use of line, making it more clean and defined and my technical ability in drawing a figure as well. I've enjoyed seeing my work develop each week and learning new drawing techniques, plus it's given me a lot of skills that I can use in almost all areas of my future work.
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