Vanitas 2 Day 6

I have nearly finished the lower half of the figure. The large smooth areas like these legs are a little tricky to render, especially when you are working from photographs. If you didn't carefully look at the subtle value shifts, you could end up with the surface that is not too convincing about its 3-dimensionality. Observing subtle value shifts on the surface of the human body and trying to make sense of them is an intellectual game like solving a puzzle. It gives me a chance to recall what I learned about how all the bones and muscles are connected, and to imagine what they are doing under the skin in this particular situation I am drawing.

I think this drawing is compositionally complex and interesting. It has a semi-bird's eye view of the model. The surface she is lying on is basically a flat tabletop, and yet there is an illusion of exaggerated spatial depth created by the conversing edges of the fabric. Then the perception of the space is optically further distorted by the use of a wide angle lens in shooting. The back edge of the table neatly cuts the picture plane at the 1/3 from the top, creating a flat space in the background that doesn't seem to belong to the rest of the picture and stops our expected spatial perception of the typical one-point perspective. There is a nuanced interplay between flatness and three dimensionality, which, come to think of it, is a recurring visual game I have played many times throughout my work in various mediums.

Vanitas drawing 2 started

Here is the under drawing of "Vanitas 2" I started 2 days ago. This is slightly smaller (20" x 26") than the last one. This time the subjects are a female figure and a pomegranate that is cut open. I am planning to do this also all in graphite. A couple of days ago, I showed my Vanitas 1 drawing and chicken blood salt prints to my gallery. The gallery owner really liked the direction my work was heading. I hope I can accumulate a collection of work and hopefully will have my next show fairly soon...

Vanitas drawing finished

I finished my first Vanitas drawing. The time I spent on this piece was approximately 150 hours just for drawing alone and I think it shows in the piece. It is not perfect and there is still room for improvement but I feel I did my best with my current ability and did not cut the corners. I like how the zig-zag pattern created by the torso, the arm and the stem of the flower guides your eyes through the composition from the top to the bottom. I am pleased with the overall look and the feel of the piece. I am ready to move onto the next one.

Vanitas drawing day 23

It took me about 4 days to finish the flower. This was another part, as well as the background, that I decided not to use watercolor for and I am glad I continued on with graphite. All and all I am pleased with what I got so far. Now the only part that hasn't been worked on is the fabric directly behind the flower. This will take a few more hours. Then I am going to refine the whole piece making minor adjustments. I have been working at a steady pace of approximately 6 hours a day. I am keeping a log so that this information will come in handy when I estimate the time I will need to work on other pieces.

Vanitas drawing day 18

Rendering of the fabric and the background took me a little over a week, and it's pretty much done. I am ready to work on the flower next. When I started working on this piece, I was thinking about mixing graphite and watercolor, but have changed my mind not to do so. I was not too happy about the way the transition from one medium to the other looked and couldn't figure out how to make it smoother and more seamless. So this piece is going to be all in graphite, I think. I might revisit the mixed media idea later.