Exercise: Viewpoint

I chose the theme of festival: christmas and made a set of objects accordingly.

I documented them with pictures, trying to experiment with different viewpoints:

The next step was to make thumbnail drawings, again exploring different angles and 'zooming in and out'. I also used different drawing materials, as I still need to decide which ones are my favourite.

 black conte squares

biro

rolling ball point pen

markers and coloured pencils

For the drawings, I made view finders out of cardboard.  Although I did find it easier as I went along, I couldn't get a variety of angles as I did with the camera.

I had placed all the objects on a table, so I could easily view them from below. 

I am glad that I used different drawing mediums. When I scanned them, I had to adjust the picture, and even then the image drawn in pencil (7b) doesn't reproduce very well. I was happily surprised by the overall effect given by the conte drawing. Its size was the longest of all these, and being condensed as viewed here, it looks better. These are some things I also have to think about!

I can't draw very fast and it would have been a strain on my back to attempt to draw from above more than I did, so I am pleased that I have these views available through pictures - they are some of my favourites. 

Here are the viewpoints that I like best for this theme:

 I like the diagonals created by the arms that seem to point towards the robin and xmas bobbles -  there is too much happening for a simple image, and the robin is at an angle that may make sense in a photograph, but may not in an art work.

I like this close-up on the robin, the other christmas creatures seem to cheer him. Colours are 'christmassy' , there is a clear focus. I have decided to work from this one. 

This drawing is proportionate to the photograph, I saw it as a visual for a Christmas card, which explains why I have added bobbles and the outline of a second tree in the background.  I fancy adding colours now.

Of the different formats used, I found that the circular and the photo formats seemed to work best. Changing viewpoints made me realise that there are always more options that I first though of. 

Views from above didn't particularly work this time, but I will not exclude trying it for other projects.Here I wanted the focus to be on soft toys, and because of their nature, they were not readily identifiable in views from the top or others like close ups. Should I have picked different objects, like another student did (Rob picked bottles)  in his learning blog, it could have worked. I must keep an open mind.

Above is the Christmas card I made from the line drawing. I posted it on About.com Painting, and here is the comment I received:

Marion Boddy-Evans, Painting Guide, says:

I think if every object had a black outline, the overall feel would change, perhaps becoming more rigid. I like the mixture, of the main characters having an outline and their props not. It helps pull the eye into the focal point.

The composition works well for me to, with parts cropped off so the scene continues in the viewer's mind. Rich, layered colors that keep you looking, with the white of the polar bear giving an area for the eye to rest as well as increasing the glow of the colors by contrast.