Henry Moore’s ‘A Shelter Sketchbook’

At the weekend I did a bit more research about artists’ sketchbooks. Below are extracts from Henry Moore’s ‘A Shelter Sketchbook’ (Henry Moore - A Shelter Sketchbook - With a commentary by Frances Carey, 1988, British Museum Publications, London). I was interested in particular how more used curved lines to build the tone and form … Continue reading Henry Moore’s ‘A Shelter Sketchbook’ →

Sketch from the library

While I was at the library at the weekend, I did a couple of sketches through the windows there. The library has several floors and provides good views of the city. The following sketch was from the second floor looking down on a van selling doughnuts in the plaza at the front of the library. … Continue reading Sketch from the library →

Working in reverse 2

Here are photos of a second attempt at the working in reverse exercise. I have included a sequence of photos to show the process of how the drawing progressed. Really struggled and wrestled with this. I wouldn’t say I love the technique, but it did force me to look at tone. Again the drawing was … Continue reading Working in reverse 2 →

Working in reverse

Here is my first attempt at the working in reverse exercise. Teapot and apple (working in reverse) - 6B, A3 paper This was challenging but quite interesting, working just with the eraser and applying tone made it feel a bit like painting. I liked the picture best in fact in the earlier stages, not as … Continue reading Working in reverse →

Tone applied to a figure drawing

With the following sketches I built up the form of the face just with tone. The further attempts on the right didn’t work very well, but that’s all part of practising. Tonal portrait studies - 6B, A4 sketchpad There was daylight coming in from a window on the right, though this light was quite subdued … Continue reading Tone applied to a figure drawing →

Observing light and shadow again

Here is another example. This time I did not draw any initial lines, which I think, on rereading the exercise instructions, was the way I was supposed to approach this task. I did rub out a bit, so later stages of what I have done below anticipate the next exercise of working in reverse. Here … Continue reading Observing light and shadow again →

A Cézanne Sketchbook

I have found it difficult to find print versions of artists’ sketchbooks. But, I came across Henry Moore’s Sheep Sketchbook at the library in the small university where I work, and I was able to take that out. There are also two sketchbooks held in stock at the local public library here. I felt very … Continue reading A Cézanne Sketchbook →

Mug and onion

Here is another sketch focusing on varying tone. This time I used A3 paper and natural light rather than a lamp. It was completed over two evenings and a further half hour this morning. I think it’s a bit better than the last drawing (the vase and apple) in terms of bringing out the form, … Continue reading Mug and onion →

Observing light and shadow

Here is my attempt for this exercise: Apple and vase (2B and 6B, desk lamp light source I found this quite challenging. As the exercise notes suggested, light bounces off each objects onto the other. The shape of the vase means that the lower half is more in shadow than the top half. Irregularities in … Continue reading Observing light and shadow →

Exercise – Circle to ball, shape to form

I completed the following drawings for this exercise: Left: smooth grading of tone just varying pressure (2B pencil)Right: rough hatching (6B pencil) Left: stippling (6B pencil)Right: more regular hatching (2B pencil) The first two examples were reasonably successful. The rough use of hatching in the second sphere worked okay I think because I was fairly … Continue reading Exercise – Circle to ball, shape to form →