Observational drawings are what the majority of artists use to base the rest of their work off of. I find the process of them very boring and painfully long, but working off of them can be a lot better and rewarding!
The only down side with observational drawings is that it (obviously) Has to be from an object/item in front of you... since my theme was supposed to be based on Burial Rituals, it`s very hard to find a primary source to work from.
Even though we were told to find something or bring something in to draw from for our first lesson, it was clearly impossible for me to find anything to actually draw from. I asked if i could draw from photos that i had taken in graveyards and churches but my tutors refused to let me do that... Which in turn made it even more awkward for me to draw or come up with some ideas on what to draw. 
After looking around Sixth form for a while i found a plain head, some flowers and some other natural looking things... but i can`t think off of the names off of the top of my head. But i took them back to my table and laid them down on my table. After drawing it for three days with small interruptions from other teachers and their workshops i got it finished! With the items it was a bit difficult to come up with a reason to us them; The head represents the fallen dead, the flowers represent someone being respectful towards them and the natural and earthy looking objects link to burials... So even if i was intending on using certain items, it`s still easy to link them back to your work.
Obviously it`s gone through a lot of changes. I used a range of B pencils, 4B, 5B, etc, etc... I used a rubber to add multiple highlights when i had finished all of the shading. The shading requires many layers of the dark tones and darker details when compared to everything else. I personally find it a lot easier to create many different dark tones and then use rubbers to add the lighter highlights on the tips of the objects. I haven`t gone into much detail with the drawing as i prefer a simplistic looking image to a rather complicated one.
Obviously it`s gone through a lot of changes. I used a range of B pencils, 4B, 5B, etc, etc... I used a rubber to add multiple highlights when i had finished all of the shading. The shading requires many layers of the dark tones and darker details when compared to everything else. I personally find it a lot easier to create many different dark tones and then use rubbers to add the lighter highlights on the tips of the objects. I haven`t gone into much detail with the drawing as i prefer a simplistic looking image to a rather complicated one.
In this final image of the finished drawing, you can tell that i`ve gone back over and added more darker layers and left out some rubbered highlights. I also went back and changed the nose and mouth on the head so they looked a lot more 3D and realistic than before. Also, the areas at the bottom image have had darker tones added so it looks like they are actually underneath the other items.
if i was to go back and change it i think i would of changed the shading on the head as it seems to be the main item on the image. I would probably add lighter highlights and darker tones to the flowers so they seem more 3D too. I don`t think i would of added any other objects to the composition as i would rather and keep it simplistic for my first observational drawing in sixth form.
if i was to go back and change it i think i would of changed the shading on the head as it seems to be the main item on the image. I would probably add lighter highlights and darker tones to the flowers so they seem more 3D too. I don`t think i would of added any other objects to the composition as i would rather and keep it simplistic for my first observational drawing in sixth form.
This is my first and my only observational drawing for this project, i think for the next one i`m going to do more than 2... but for now i`m quite proud of this one since i had such a long break from drawing and presenting art work.
I would love to hear other people`s tips on drawing and how to use all of your drawing materials to the best of their ability. Get in touch if you have any advice or criticism for me!
~Thank You!
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