Observational Studies - Apple investigation

In my first sketch I did a continuous line drawing using pencil under timed conditions (1 minute). I feel this was successful as it captures the tones and character of the apple. However due to the limit in time I didn't get to add much detail which would have improved the outcome.


 



 I tried to break the boundaries of clear figurative drawing, therefore I drew the apple without looking so there was an abstract twist to my observational drawings.
I think it was successful as, although it is less obvious, you can clearly see the shape and shading of the apple. This allowed me to look at object in a different way as I wasn't concentrating on how the piece turned out but rather the structure and tones from the apple.

 After this I sketched a timed drawing limited to 2 minutes. This was in response to my first timed drawing, I added an extra minute compared to the original drawing in order to add some of the detail I had lost in the original due to the short time limit. However, I do not like this outcome as much my other pencil drawings as ,although it is more realistic, it hasn't got the interesting marks that my others have or the same character.

I did a few pencil sketches focusing on specific areas of the apple, so I could get a better sense of what all aspects and parts were like to draw.

Again I don't think these are my best sketches however they do show the variety of texture and tones across the apple and therefore I do think it was successful.

I began biro sketches to compare this media with pencil, but I wanted them to not follow strict figurative style. Therefore, in my first sketch I only used curved lines to create the shape and various tones of the apple.

I feel this was really successful as it brings character from the apple, also because I only used curved lines it gives it a more interesting view compared to my previous, realistic pieces, which I would like to create again.

In my second biro sketch I tried to use a combination of black and red, as up until this point there were no colours used in my observations

I like how it captures the red of the apple but uses black as the main source of  tone, as the apple I was drawing from was red and green. However I do prefer the other piece as it is much more interesting with its use of lines to capture tones rather than a range of colours.

 Here I did a sketch of the apple using a biro, and then sprayed a thick layer of hairspray close to the paper to make the ink run down the paper.

I really like how the colour changes from black to a light shade of purple as well as the use of curved lines to create the shape.

However I don't like how the top of the apple turned out as it is rather large and dark so to improve I would make this less obvious and therefore have more of the actual apple stand out.

I originally attempted to do another version of the biro-hairspray piece with this study but it didn't go as planned. The colours didn't blend and it looked very scruffy and broke the flow of the drawings.

To improve it without completely getting rid of it I glued brown sugar paper on top of if with it partially showing. I then created tone using wavy lines or black and red biro.

I think this piece was relatively successful as it covered the other piece without completely getting rid of it, while also bringing in a different medium to draw on. However I don't particularly like how the lines look and it doesn't capture the apple as well as my previous pieces.

Following on from my first hairspray and biro drawing, the piece transferred through to the other side of the paper. I didn't want to leave it without adding to it so I experimented with pointillism along the ghost lines from the previous drawing.

I really liked the outcome of this piece as it was very subtle with lines, while also delicately capturing the tones of the apple. I especially liked it as it is unlike my normal work due to the pointillism style.

I tried to experiment with different colours and textures with this piece. I created a collage with purple tissue paper and then used red and blue sharpies to create the apple, as well as using dots in a pointillist style in respnse to my previous piece. I chose these colours as they both complimented the purple background.

In addition, other than the red colour the blue and purple were not in the apple and therefore brought a different view of the apple. However I do prefer my first attempt at this style, as a composition it is much more balanced and captures more character from the apple in comparison to my second attempt.

I wanted to do more experiment using colour so I changed media and began using chalk pastels.

Here is a timed chalk drawing limited to 2 minutes. I feel that this was a successful first try as it captures the range of colours that were in the apple, however due to it being a relatively small drawing there is little room to add detail using chalk.

As an improvement I will create a larger piece that can capture more specific details.

 

In this piece I wanted to draw figuratively but have a more exciting composition, therefore I thought I would try drawing on black sugar paper create a contrast to my previous piece.

I feel this was successful as it subtly uses colour but clearly depicts an apple with red and green tones.

As a small conclusion to my previous pieces using chalk I created a slightly larger composition of the apple. This is an improvement to my first chalk drawing due to, as previously stated, I wasn't able to capture as much detail as I would have hoped due to the small scale.

I feel this is a successful outcome as it uses a range of colour to create the apple as well as capturing small details such as the small dots of red on the skin and the darker red tones mixed among the lighter red.

After my chalk drawings I wanted to go back to a black and white media and try and capture tone in this way instead of using bright pigments. 

In this piece I used compressed charcoal, I didn't like working with it as it didn't blend as well as chalk and therefore left dark lines behind which I couldn't work into each other to create lighter tones.

To try and improve on my previous piece I used stick charcoal instead as this creates lighter shades and blends much better than compressed charcoal.

I feel this is more successful than my previous piece as it doesn't have an harsh lines compared to my previous piece. However compared to my compositions using colour these are much less interesting and therefore I will experiment with colour theory.