Project: Reflected Light

Exercise: Study of light reflected from one object to another

Check and Blog Three

How difficult did you find it to distinguish between light from the primary light source and the secondary reflected light?




How has awareness of light and shade affected your depiction of form?

Research Point

Odilon Redon

Born: 20th April 1840

Early Life: Originally his was called Bertrand-Jean Redon, but was nicknamed 'Odilon' by his mother as a way of showing her fondness for him. He was interested in art from a very young age, and as many websites and books will tell you that when he was ten, he was awarded a prize at school for a drawing. Later on his love for drawing grew and he wished to study it, but his father did not see how a living could be earnt this way, and so he insist that Odilon pursue the study of architecture. 

Later on he would attempt the entrance exam to Paris' Ecole des Beaux-Arts and would fail, so his career as an architect could not be pursued.

His work:






The piece on the left is simply called 'reflection' and I enjoy it because the female figure looks almost Pre-Raphaelite, which part of me wonders if it is a nod towards the famous trio who founded the 'brotherhood' which began in 1848, two years before he won his first prize in art.











The sketch above is of Rodolphe Bresdin, Odilon Redon's tutor. I find this drawing interesting as it reminds me of Leonardo di Vinci's work, which shows that Odilon clearly studied all the great artists of his time and tried out all their techniques before embarking on his own style.

Tonal Studies

Project: Tone and Form

Exercise: Observing Shadow and Light Formations on a Surface

Check and Blog Two

Are the objects in your drawings the correct size and shape in relation to each other?


Mostly yes, but looking back at them I can see that the glasses case in my curved objects drawing does look a little out of proportion. I don't believe I drew an accurate perspective of the curves.




Do the shapes between the objects look correct?


I believe so. The main flaw that I would with sketching what I see in front of me is that as soon as I look away from the objects to my sketchbook, a little bit of knowledge get lost in translation, and so I don't feel I have yet the skill to show the correct dimensions of the shapes between the objects in my drawings.


Do the objects in your drawings look solid?


The supermarket shop and boxes pieces definitely do in my opinion, but I have a lot to learn about drawing the angles of curves correctly in order to give them a 3D look, and therefore make them seem solid.


Have you managed to create the feeling of depth in your drawings?


The supermarket shop drawing shows this the best I feel as the colour adds depth to the drawing through shading. As the other two objects have a transparent composure, you have to see depth in the image through the angles of the objects alone, and that only works if I got the angles correct in the first place.

Supermarket Shop

Jars and Jugs

These pictures contain a sports drink bottle, a cotton wheel, a glasses case, a watch and a plate.

Project: Basic Shapes and Fundamental Form

Boxes and Books

Check and Blog One

How did holding your pen or pencil in a different way affect your drawing?




Gripping the pen/pencil firmly meant that I bore down on the paper a lot more than when i held it wih my finger tips. Due to a nervous condition I must hold my pen/pencil more firmly when i write so that I have more control over my work, so barely holding the pen/pencil at all gave me very little contol over the direction or the strength of the line. The same can be said for when I clasped the pen in my left hand as I am right handed.


Which drawing tools suited the different mark-making techniques you used?
Thick medias like wax crayon and charcoal meant that it was harder to define details in my work, but charcoal and pastels were great for adding tone to an image and giving it dimentions. Pencil was the best all-rounder as it presented multiple grades of softness so it could add detail and form to an object. Stippling I feel is best achieved with an ink tool like a pen or felt tip, where as hatching works best with a soft tool like a pencil, or a thinner media like a fine liner.




Did you find that any marks or tools you used matched particular emotions or feelings?


Calm = soft light blue pastel               Frenzy = dark red thick felt tip




How did the introduction of colour (soft pastels, Conte crayons) affect your mark-making?


In some pieces it made my work come to life and added more depth to it, whilst in others it just didn't seem appropriate. I enjoy using colour and would like to use it in my assignment where possibly, but I know if I choose a somber item to draw, or if I just wish to focus on its shadow and tone, rather than its impact I will stick to pencils and charcoal. 


Which of these experiments have you found most interesting and rewarding?


Probably the hatching experiment as it allowed me to practice it with many different media, so I could learn which medias I prefer to use as well as showing me which medias do not work well with hatching, like thick tools like charcoal; that is unless you are making quite a large drawing.

Eric Ravilious

Eric Ravilious Born:                           22 July 1903 in Acton, London. Brief History:           He began his studies at Eastbourne School of Art and then moved on to the Royal College of Art where he met his tutor Paul Nash. It is from Nash that Eric Ravilious was most likely inspired to become a war artist when he eventually joined the Royal Marines, where he held the rank of Captain. He left college and embraced the art world as a muralist, but it wasn’t long before his work got noticed by such high-renown names as Wedgewood whom he supplied some ceramic designs. He also dabbled in wood-engraving, where people saw him as the “leading light”, however it is for his watercolour paintings of the South Downs that he is most well-known. Death:                        At the age of 39, Ravilious was taking part in a rescue mission off the coast of Iceland with his allies in the Royal Air Force when the aircraft he was in failed to return to base and Ravilious was pronounced a casualty of War in 1942. Below:             Left: “Downs in Winter” (1934) Right: “Vase of Flowers in a Garden” (Date unknown).   I assumed at first that because this painting appeared unfinished when compared to his other vibrant watercolours that maybe he had died before its completion, but after delving into the artist’s history I found that he had created the “Garden series” in the late 1930’s which it is quite possible this was a part of. Therefore I have gathered that it is more likely that this picture was the artist’s attempt at experimenting with his own techniques, which he then abandoned. The vase of flowers appears fully coloured in another piece of his called, “Flowers on Cottage Table”. I like how the scratch marks give the impression that he has made a rubbing of a plank of wood, making the piece look a lot less controlled, almost chaotic when compared to his other work.

Research Point

Vincent van Gogh

     Vincent Van Gogh, Cottage Garden, reed pen, quill, and ink over graphite on wove paper, 1888 

In the picture above, van Gogh captures the different textures of the scenery by using many different types of media in one picture. He uses hatching to show the texture of the fence panels, and stippling in the bottom right to give the impression of a small stream or possible an overgrown path. His use of stippling in the sky makes it appear as though it is overcast, or possibly that the sun is setting. I like how van Gogh has used the unpredictable nature of ink and graphite to make the garden appear wild and out of control. 

Trying New Media

All of these were done on a piece of cardboard

Line and other Marks

Using Charcoal

Using Charcoal

*Need to make notes

Mark-Making Techniques

Hatching