Chocolate Progression

Here is my progression project.  I used a piece of chocolate candy and slowly unwrapped it and then ate a bite at the end.  Value in this project is what gives it its shape and make it look like a wrapper.  I think I did a pretty good job with the wrapper and showing the little bends in it that make it look like one.  That's why it was important to have clean crisp edges in my wrapper. I had trouble in the beginning figuring out where the dark values needed to be because I had to imagine where they would be instead of seeing it since the chocolate is so dark as it is.  While I was doing the project I couldn't really see the progression but now looking back at it, I can see the different phases it went through and I think it looks really cool. The way that I saw the texture is important because it's how I ended up drawing the piece. If I didn't see the different values and edges it wouldn't look the same as the piece of chocolate I was drawing.  If I did this project again I would try and slow down when it comes to shading the chocolate because like I said before it caused me the most trouble so I caught myself kind of rushing through that part of it. I'd also try harder in the last part of it and making the piece of chocolate look the same size as the other progression shots. 

Smarties

This drawing was done with pastel chalk. This piece shows opacity and how you can make something look see-through.  With chalk I always find myself going fast instead of taking my time.  If I did this project again, I'd probably try going a little slower.  The twisty things at the ends were the most troublesome because I didn't know how to incorporate the red color and make it look realistic.  I think I did a pretty good job with it though.  As a whole I enjoy this piece a lot.

Value In Eggs

This drawing was done with pastel chalk.  We were instructed to take a picture of two or more eggs with dramatic lighting and then told to draw the values with color.  This was an introduction to the chalk medium but also a way to figure out how to blend and show value using color instead of just black and white.  It launched us into the next project we were to do.

Colored Pencil Candy

The lollipop I chose to draw was the Fruit Punch flavored.  This was done with colored pencil.  Instead of making the wrapper white like how it was and how everyone else did it, I chose to challenge myself and made it a blue color using a darker blue and purple to show the value.  It took me a while to finish because it was really hard for me to figure out what color to put where and how to make it actually look like a wrapper.  It was difficult but the end result isn't half as bad as I had expected.

Still Life

The bottom picture is my final still life drawing. I think my drawing is less clear and defined and more blended with smudges.  I used a kneaded eraser to help blend my charcoal.  My values and shadows are realistic and I used all the ranges of value in my piece.  The values are what make this look more realistic and define what the objects are and how they are positioned. There is not a clear source of lighting that I see.  The compositional sketches we did in class before hand really helped in choosing, obviously, the composition of the piece but it showed how well it would look on the final paper and how much of the objects you could get in. I think my still life was all around more successful then I thought it was going to be.  I think the proportions are a little bit off like the vase should have been a bit bigger but the structures and perspective are correct.  I think the composition is very pleasing.  I don't think there is one thing that you look at for too long because your eyes kindof go in a circular motion and you see everything that is drawn.  I think I managed my time well in creating this drawing however I do think if I could do it again I would try and go bigger and fit more objects that were in the still life into it.  The flowers were somewhat of a challenge but I just took a little more time on them than on anything else and they ended up looking pretty great.  After drawing this still life, I've learned not to be so picky about small details but try and draw the shapes first when doing an outline and then when you go back in, you can add the details that you see.  Also drawing from life I think is much better than drawing from a photograph.  It might be more challenging but you definitely see different things in real life than you would if you looked at a picture.  It would have been a whole different drawing if I had done it from a photograph but that's just my opinion.