Tone and form project – final thoughts (Check and log)

How difficult did you find it to distinguish between light from the primary source and secondary reflected light?

This was quite difficult, particularly as both my objects in the first exercise were reflective in nature. I used a black plastic flask cup and a smooth, highly polished stone egg. I found there was light reflecting everywhere, even in places that one could think it should not be appearing (i.e, amongst the dark shadows). It takes careful examination to determine which shadows and highlights come from where when drawing reflective surfaces.

How has awareness of light and shade affected your depiction of form?

Light and shade are the keys to depicting form and I feel that as I have become more observant of these, my drawn objects are looking more realistic. I was unaware of secondary reflections before this project and although I used to represent them in my drawings by careful copying, I had not thought why light could be in strange places. This has been a useful exercise and will help me simplify my drawings by being able to pick out important areas of light and shade.

Tone and form project – Tonal studies

This exercise involved drawing 4 objects, indicating the tonal shadow patterns using hatching techniques. I practised some hatching in my research sketch book using pencils and pen and ink. Then I completed the first part of the exercise seen below. The result was four different tones produced by hatching using pencil, ball point pen, drawing pen and a dipping pen. I was happy with the result and feel I achieved four different tones

Tonal studies - hatching exercise using pencil and ball point pen

Tonal studies exercise - hatching using drawing pen and dipping pen and ink

The main part of the exercise involved drawing four objects. I picked a plant pot, a flask, a saucer and a knife. The tonal shadows were to be drawn using hatching. I have mixed feelings about the result. I am pleased with the look of the flask and the plant pot but not so happy with the saucer and knife. I had problems with the line drawing for the saucer as it was a difficult shape to get correct with the ellipse. I also think I overcomplicated the drawing, making it too cluttered. The other two objects worked better as they were kept simple with a few areas indicating the tonal variations. Keeping it simple was a challenge for me but I am pleased I was able to do it with half of the picture. I found myself slipping into old habits with the saucer as I lost my concentration. Once dark tones were applied it is difficult to remove them. I need to start working in a lighter pencil to start with I think.

Drawing of a flask, plant pot, knife and saucer in pencil

Tone and form project – Observing shadow and light formations on a surface

In this exercise we had to draw two objects, first a quick sketch of them indicating areas of light and dark and second, a more detailed drawing of the same objects showing all the light reflections. I was trying to achieve smooth tonal changes.

In preparation for this exercise I read pages 63-67 of Experimental Drawing by Robert Kaupelis. This contained some useful tips on how to achieve good pencil tones and an exercise on drawing a value scale. The main points from the book about achieving beautiful pencil tones can be summarised as follows:

• use very sharp pencils – sharpen with razor and sandpaper block
• do not exert excessive pressure – too hard will emboss paper
• when darkening a tone select darker pencil and allow tone to develop gradually
• do not smudge or blend as lose sharp tone and becomes muddy
• when using eraser try to pick up graphite rather than rub

I also had a go at the exercise which was hard but taught me a lot about handling the pencils, which ones to use and how to achieve smooth tones. It is difficult not to press too hard and the eraser has to be used sparingly as can destroy the paper surface. It was also difficult to get clear differences between the squares. I was unable to complete the second to last square as I do not currently have the proper range of pencils suggested for the exercise (6B to 6H). I am lacking the hard pencils. I intend to rectify this and continue to practise drawing value scales as suggested in the book.

Value Scale without the second box drawn with 6B to 2H pencils

It is worth noting that the scans for both drawings have come out lighter than the actual drawings.

I found the above exercise and reading to be very useful when I did the exercise set be the OCA. It made me think more about tone and where each one sits in relation to others. It was useful starting with the middle tone and working lighter and darker from there. My finished drawing may be a little dark for some but it does reflect how my drawings tend to turn out. I do like the dramatic style of darker tones. I would be interested to see what others think about it so I will post it onto the OCA website for comments.

Quick sketch and more detailed drawing of a flask cup and an egg ornament