Blog Post #2 Final Shoe Drawing

Blog Post #2- Final Shoe Drawing

       I chose to go out of my comfort zone and use charcoal, a medium I had never used before. I have seen many videos and drawings in charcoal that made me curious and when I heard we could use different materials, charcoal was the first thing that popped into my mind. I love how charcoal blends and the different values of the charcoal can effect the drawing so dramatically. Since I heard so many wonderful things about charcoal, it intrigued me. One of the very first aspects of my final shoe project was watching videos to help me better understand how to use charcoal. In the videos I learned all the different aspects including two new ones for me which are reflected light and how cast shadows work. When looking carefully at any object, I noticed the shadow was darker as it got closer to the object. The videos also helped to teach me how to use certain materials including a blending stub. The blending stub was an important factor in my final shoe project because it helped me blend with control. Fingers are also a great blending tool when the area being blended does not need to be a small area or straight line. I tried out all the shades of charcoal on a piece or paper before starting. This helped me get a feel for the charcoal. Once I did this i could start the process of drawing my final shoe.

     One problem that I struggled with was creating different values throughout my drawing.  When I first started adding details I noticed that my shoe felt monotonous in color. The peer critiquing helped me the most with this problem because I could easily add in darker and lighter charcoal however, when we did the critiquing I was able to hear new perspectives on how I could use the different charcoals to tie in my project.

  I challenged myself by using charcoal. This was a new material for me. Using charcoal was a great experience for me because when I look back at the art I have done, I notice a similarity with the art. The art I did was usually tempera or acrylic paint. By using charcoal I opened up a new pathway for my art. I will now be able to use it on my own and practice to get better.

In my final shoe project, I can identify areas that need improvement and also areas that I am happy with. One thing I would do differently next time would be to spend more time sighting before I started to add details. I would do this because when I hung up my drawing on the wall and took a step back, I realized that the proportions were off. An aspect that I was proud of was the very front of the shoe. I am happy with that part because I captured shadow and light in it. That made the shoe look more realistic like it was curving.

One thing I wish I could change would be the angle. I am happy with the original angle that I chose but as I moved onto the laces, I noticed that I slightly changed the angle. The angle I started with was a side view but as i did the laces it looked more like a top view.

       One major aspect that I learned that will help me in the future is the sighting technique. I have struggled with proportions even at the beginning of art ex. when we worked on looking at a drawing and recreating it. After looking back at my final drawing I saw that I rushed the sighting. This mistake helped me learn to take time on this step. This technique is probably going to be the most useful in my art career.