Week 6: Continued Brief
Watercolour Observational Sketch (Class work)
This week we were given a picture by our tutor to draw by using the grid method and then render it using water colour. Instead of one original picture we were able to edit it using Adobe Capture to help us focus on drawing the outline and then focusing on rendering our sketch with colour.
To start with sketching we folded the printed photograph to form a grid then outlined the same grid onto our paper (The grid was 4x4). After that we copied each box from the edited picture onto the grid. The edited picture helped me a lot for the basic sketch as it was easier to follow.
Since I used an H-pencil to draw I had to rub out the darker lines to make it light so that the lead doesn't bleed. This was a little difficult as the lead started to smudge around creating darker shades on the paper. But as I started rendering, it became better.
To know the colour palette we again used Adobe capture as shown in the picture on the left side. It choose colour that covered major part of the photo. The colours shown in this palette are cool tones and were easy to work with since these are the basic colours you get in any paint box.
I was able to use this palette as a reference. First, I started rendering with the lighter tones. As the colour dried, I started adding darker tones to areas were the shadow fell.
I liked how my final painting turned out. The grid method was a lot easier to follow than drawing on assumption (without a grid). It will help me a lot when I do my primary research.
Although, there are 2 things I could improve in my painting. First, I could've used more pigment to make my colours look brighter and darker which could have covered the grid lines. Secondly, use a lighter shade pencil to draw so that the lead does not bleed.
Applying this skill (Homework)
I chose a picture from my own collection and applied the grid method to it. This time the grid was 7x4. I used adobe capture edit the photo.
It was hard to draw the basic sketch due the amount of windows in this structure. There were many straight lines that hindered the proportion of the sketch.
The palette of this photo as well was cool. Although some of the shades in the palette were not common. This time, instead of adding lighter tones first, I started with darker and brighter tones due to each window having a different shade of blue.
As I had two things to improve from the previous sketch I was able to apply them in this one. The initial stages were hard as I had to see which shade of blue went better and after a while it became easier.
Some of the windows had same colour so, I choose a shade and painted those particular windows first (as shown in the picture below).
As I continued to paint I noticed that the sky was a lot lighter than the photo so I started adding more pigment to the sky. For some of the lines I used fine-liner pens.
I was able to learn a lot more about proportion and composition by choosing this photo. The grid made it simpler to draw but at some point it got confusing. I took a lot of breaks during the process of sketching but the painting part went by smoothly.
I could have drawn much sturdy lines for the windows and focused more on the outline of the main building.
Reflection
I was able to learn a lot through the method of using grid. Scale and proportion of my drawings has significantly improved. this skillset will be useful as a part of my primary research. I will be able to use this skill to deconstruct certain elements and add them into other structures.
I had used watercolours before but not for observational drawings. I was able to draw and render landscapes, bookmarks, etc. Since this was my first time I was nervous but the introduction to grid method was very interesting. I had seen a lot of people use grid but it never crossed my mind of how we could print a photo fold it and create a grid. This skill will help my sketching part improve a lot, since I am quite familiar with rendering.
Further into the course I would like to draw different structures and choose my own colour palette to render. I would like to apply this skill into my concertina sketchbook as well. These skills can be applied differently to my concertina sketchbook as I would rather use the mark-making technique to support my drawings than a grid.
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