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No matter what your still life may consist of, you must first draw the construction of its elements correctly. In this project you'll render a still life in charcoal. You'll be able to try it in other media as well, in the projects to come. Before proceeding, I'd like to emphasize once more that any drawing begins with the careful delineation of the underlying structure of it's objects.
I stress this point because I know many students begin by finishing a drawing (concentrating on detail) rather than laying down a solid foundation for it. Just as a builder doesn't worry about a roof until he has a framework to support it, an artist must establish the big shapes, proper proportions, and relationships before he can begin carefully adding detail to his drawing. A true artist doesn't hang shading, local color, and textures on an ill-conceived drawing. FOUR DRAWING PRINCIPLES In drawing a still life, or any subject, there are four vitally important points to consider: the overall silhouette of the grouping, the tonal scheme (the balance of lights and darks), the textures and the edges. In previous projects I discussed the importance of establishing a well balanced tonal scheme, rendering textures, and providing an overall, pleasing silhouette. In this exercise, I'll stress the value of these principles once more, while graphically illustrating each one. Before I talk about actually rendering a still life in charcoal, I'd like to discuss edges and the role they play in a drawing. |
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HARD AND SOFT EDGES
The edge of an object describes the character and texture of its entire surface. An edge is usually hard or soft, depending on its compositional makeup. Of course, you can alter edges a bit to suit you own artistic purposes. By sharpening up the edges of objects you can make them seem nearer, closer to the viewer. You can make objects recede into the background by giving them soft, smudgy edges. you must render your edges to suit both the character of the object and your own compositional requirements. WORKING FROM "ROUGHS" There are times when an artist approaches his drawing board with a clearly conceived image of the picture to be done. But these lucky flashes seldom occur - to me, at least. As a rule, the artist must develop and refine his drawing through many "rough" sketches. Since his concept of his drawing is tenuous, he must solve the problems of his picture through these visual "roughs". Often what appears perfect in his mind's eye needs modification when set down on paper. |
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Take a well-shaped bottle, a stemmed wine glass, a loaf of bread, a bread knife and a napkin, as I've done in the illustrations. Arrange them in as many variations as possible. Do at least a dozen of these rough sketches, concentrating on the big shapes and overall silhouette, rather than on finicky detail.
Charcoal is admirably suited for this kind of exploration, because it is so easy to manipulate. You can quickly darken and strengthen a good line or lift out a bad one with a kneaded eraser. The best way to work broadly (and avoid nagging detail) is to use a blunt charcoal pencil or a thick charcoal stick. COMPOSING A STILL LIFE You have noticed, I'm sure, that I took the last rough (#7) as a basis for my still life. It doesn't necessarily follow that the last sketch is usually the best. There are times when the first rough is far superior to the ones that follow. But you owe it to yourself to explore all the possibilities of any subject. In this particular case, although I liked the one chosen, I knew it had certain flaws that had to be corrected. Mainly the objects were too "lined up", and the diagonal folds on the napkin weren't strong enough to counteract the alignment. In addition, the placement of the dark tones was "heavy" on the lower right corner. Mind you, these are things you notice after the rough is set down in "black and white". I think this, more than anything I can say, proves that these first visual attempts are invaluable. As you do them yourself, you too will find that it would be rash to begin any drawing without their aid. |
Up to this point I've emphasized the "why' of a procedure, because you must know the reason for following any prescribed sequence of action. It's important to know the fundamentals of drawing first, even if your rendering is awkward. Facility in handling charcoal, or any medium, comes to everyone through constant practice. Eventually a particular drawing technique takes so little thought that if you asked an artist "how" he did a certain passage, he probably wouldn't remember. But if you asked him "why", he'd eagerly and most vociferously tell you. In fact, you might be sorry you asked! I'll continue to explain the "why's" as the need arises, but I'd like you to concentrate now on "how" to draw. Until next time.
PRACTICE VERSUS THEORY