Detour

Due to various issues at home, my project and drawing began to suffer heavily. After a several weeks hiatus I returned, without much enthusiasm. These studies were more a means to divert my focus away from the issue, rather than thinking how this fits in with the project, but non the less these were studies in light and shadow.


To create these I used various shades of pastels, ranging from white to black. I used many techniques to create the many layers,even using masking tape and then smearing the pastel along to get at the tough areas. Above the smudging effect is most prominent and really makes the whole thing appear very smooth and multi-layered, whereas the picture below was more the use of linework again. This reminded me of its merits and why, even with tone, you don't have to abandon that kind of mark making entirely.

Here I tried a different tact. I used water colour this time and used the natural colour of the pinecone to give it some depth. I also went a step further and even made a slight pop up element to the image, where the pinecone literally springs out from the page. This casts a natural shadow over the flat paper, and enhances the forced tonal shading.