Drawing Skills

In our practical with Kat, we focused on our drawing skills. Drawing develops your analytical skills, and your understanding on form, colour, texture etc. We started with the basics, holding the pencil towards the end, and drawing straight lines and shapes. You have to move your arm to create a straight line, if you move more with the wrist than the line will curve.

We began to experiment with the shades of each pencil we had, creating a shading scale. Each pencil can create a range of tones, the B's creating darker whilst the H's create lighter shades. The B's are better for drawing and sketching, the HB, F, B are better for everyday use, whilst the H's are better for Graphics, as they produce a very clean line. After experimenting with each pencil, and seeing the shades it could make, we began looking at form. We started shading different shapes to create the three-dimensional effect that is needed for accurate drawings. 

I prefer portraiture to any other drawing, as I like to convey the sitter's personality through my work. The sitter for this piece was a 1 year old boy, drawn on A3.

I have completed another piece of a monkey, an image I found on the internet.

In both pieces I used a full range of tones, using not only pencils but rubbers to create highlights. The B pencils were used for the shading and creating that much-needed depth, whilst I used H's in particularly 4H to create the definition, which makes the pieces more realistic.