Final Still Life
Frog In Formaldehyde
91cm x 61cm
Compressed and vine charcoal on newsprint
This piece consists of a frog submerged in formaldehyde. There were multiple frogs in the jar but I wanted to focus on this one in particular because I felt that it had a good representation of depth and detail. To create the illusion of depth within the frog, I darked the underside of areas that had shadows. Then I would erase areas on the highest points on the frog ever so slightly to create a highlight. For future reference, I would definitely spend more time on the piece and focus more on the blending and details.
91cm x 61cm
Compressed and vine charcoal on newsprint
This piece consists of a frog submerged in formaldehyde. There were multiple frogs in the jar but I wanted to focus on this one in particular because I felt that it had a good representation of depth and detail. To create the illusion of depth within the frog, I darked the underside of areas that had shadows. Then I would erase areas on the highest points on the frog ever so slightly to create a highlight. For future reference, I would definitely spend more time on the piece and focus more on the blending and details.
Still Life Process
I started with a 91cm x 61 cm piece of newsprint paper. I rubbed the vine charcoal all over the newsprint paper and spread it out with my hands. From there, I closely examined the features on my reference. Then, I made a brief outline of frog, blocking in its shapes. I took a step back from the paper and analysed what was missing and then added more detail with the vine charcoal.
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From there, I went in with my compressed charcoal and deepened up the lines eventually filling in the rest of the background as shown in my final piece.
Reflection
This drawing was made in about two art blocks. I spent a lot of time analyzing my frog reference to complete this piece. Although, I wish i had more patience with it. I think that then it would be even more cohesive and neat. I really liked using charcoal as my medium. I liked that I could achieve the darkest darks and the lightest lights by using just one material. The charcoal was easier to use than I had expected. If made a mistake while using my vine charcoal I could easily remove it with just the swipe of my hand. That could also be a bad thing. I could be spending time on a section of the piece and if I wasn't careful with my hand placement I could have accidentally swiped away my whole drawing. From this process, I have learned that patience can go a long way and that less is more. A lot of time in art, I find myself adding and adding more and more detail to try and get something perfect. But when I do that, my artwork tends to get sloppy and muddy and that is what I had happen with this piece. So next time, I just have to learn to take a step back.