Still Life Construction

September 20th, 2011. Exercise.

After a series of box construction exercises and a demonstration of how horizon lines and perspective works, my Intro to Drawing class and I set out to draw a rather ugly still life set out in the center of the classroom. We were supposed to show reference lines, verticals, horizontals and diagonals as well as axis lines and ellipses. We used skewer sticks to measure angles.  Seeing as this is a an exercise and not a finished drawing I have not titled it.

I am not very pleased with this drawing because many of the lines are crooked and at bad angles. At least, I see a slight improvement on my spheres as far as it's shape (and not shading) goes. For this assignment I received a "check" for a grade.

After the beginning exercise we were told to draw a finished drawing of another, different (and simpler) still life set up on a small box and lit with a spot light. We had to use the same techniques to create an accurate drawing. The teacher went around the room assisting students, but I received no instruction. The drawing was not graded.

Personally I can see there is much room for improvement. I am not very good at drawing straight lines or working with large paper. (The drawing pads we work with are usually around 18"x24") If I turn the paper at an angle (and I usually have to, so I can see) the drawing usually gets distorted because of perspective. Other than that, I find the drawing's simplicity charming.

September 20th, 2011. Finished Drawing.

(c) Maranda L. Scott