ASSIGNMENT TWO: ANIMAL STUDY IN INTERIOR SCENE

ANIMAL STUDY IN INTERIOR SCENE

For this assessment I decided to draw a calf in the calving yard. This is a continuation of the animal study exercise. For this work I used my sketchbook and took some photos. I chose to use soft pastel for this drawing. I chose this medium after doing a small sketch of the calf stall gate and straw.

I wasn’t one hundred percent sure with this medium but I realised that the medium would be good to show the texture of straw and natural fur of the calf.  I started to draw on A1 green sugar paper the first calve hidden in the stall, I tried to see the composition and how it would work and describe the difference between the calve and straw.

Then I explored on another piece of A1 sugar paper drawing a calf head peering out of the stall gate, I wanted to show the different texture of the calve and the steel gate and see if the pastel would work, I also experimented with the background.

Next I did a third drawing on grey sugar paper which is a continuation of the drawing but this time I concentrated more on the colour of the calve trying to show it in different colours and see how the colour communicate together. I used tonal and line drawing for this piece and managed to get a difference between all textures including the background but I think the calf is too pale.

So I tired another one in different colour so I drew a fourth drawing on black A1 sugar paper in which I wanted to use a different range of colours and also show the calve in a wider space which I found attractive. I still used the same technique to create the straw and I used more aggressive line making to create the body of the calf and at the same time I took more notice of background. For a while I thought this would be my final drawing but I was not completely happy and decided to try something different

THE FINAL PIECE

The final piece I tried to use every technique from the previous drawings, while doing the drawing I learned how the colours go together and started to feel confident with the medium. In the composition the calve is standing on the straw in the barn and my first criteria was to show the difference between the calve, straw and wall using different mark making, mixing block of colour with line while creating a contrast between the colours but at the same time tying the drawing together. I was more experimental using lines in this piece. I think I managed to describe the form of the calf and place him in a space. I tried to use lines expressively and show the form of the calf at the same time. I tried to create an atmospheric impression of the calf. The calve was originally white with some black marks and covered in some dirt which was hard to show using colour and I think I only did this partially as I wanted to show shadow and colour of the calve but it wasn’t always possible as the lightest parts aren’t always the whitest. I think that in this piece I showed different types of mark making, expressively used lines and I think this work is quite experimental. Generally soft pastel was the right medium to use. While doing this work I wasn’t looking at works of other artists but I think I was influenced by works of Egon Schiele who inspired me with colours and lines in his magnificent work.

A1 cartage paper.