HA1 Task 1 - Mark-making Portfolio

Anatomy

Exercise Number 1 - Direct Observation Portraits in Pairs

In this exercise I need to draw portraits while also following rules like drawing with my non-dominant hand or being under a time limit. This helps me develop my creativity and out-of-the-box thinking as I'm required to work under pressure. I found this task unsatisfying as I enjoy taking my time and using appropriate tools to create artwork, I extremely dislike this work due to the bad proportions, rushed lines and complete lack of shading and depth.

A full face drawing.

Portrait

Pencil

4 Minute time limit

Non-dominant hand

A loose and sketchy drawing of the entire face fitting in the paper.

Smile close up.

Landscape

Pencil

4 Minute time limit

Dominant hand

A smile and the surrounding details.

Don't lift pen off paper

Portrait

Coloured marker

5 Minute time limit

Dominant hand

Instruction:

A hard and distressed drawing of the entire face fitting in the paper without lifting the pen from the paper.

Memory

Portrait

Coloured marker

Dominant hand

A hard and distressed drawing of the entire face fitting in the paper without looking at the person you're drawing more than once.

Exercise Number 2 - Secondary Observation (Selfie) Self-portraits

In this task I've taken a collection of 6 pictures of over exaggerated expressions, I've took an A3 sheet of paper and divided it into 6 identical panels. Then I've proceeded to draw the 6 pictures trying my best to keep the proportions and body language similar. They were drawn in pencil and took about 20 minutes each, the process I used to draw them went like this, sketch out the head and neck, add eyes, nose and mouth then finally add glasses and hair.

Exercise Number 3 - Manga Facial Expressions

I've used a YouTube tutorial by Mark Crilley to learn how to draw the expressions of joy and embarrassment . I followed the steps on an A3 sheet divided into two parts, the left part for joy and the right for embarrassment. I did this so I know of several art styles that I can use to make my work stand out and look better.

The video can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZq9-jdM4aQ

Exercise Number 4 - Gridded and Scaled Parcour Drawing

Parcour App Character

In this exercise I tried to recreate an advertisement of a parkour app, I used a gridding technique to help me get the character and details in the correct place and to get the proportions to look realistic. The paper I drew on was actually 2 A3 papers put together while my reference picture was printed on A4 paper meaning I couldn't trace over the picture. I used the squares as a guide for the proportions and basic anatomy, then I added details by eye and coloured it in with colour pencils.

Exercise Number 5 - Template Mythical Creature Drawing

Animal Amalgamate

In this task I was tasked with creating an amalgamate of 6 different creatures, the head of a peacock, the wings of a bat, the torso of a man, the claws of a crab, the legs of a cheetah and the feet of an eagle. By using a combination of a template of the human body and several reference pictures I've sketched out the creature, coloured it in with colour pencils and then used a fine liner to give certain parts of the drawing a sharp edge, almost making it look water-coloured.

Exercise Number 6 - Expressive Hands Drawing

Primary Observation

In this exercise I've tackled one of the most infamous parts of the human body when it comes to being drawn. I used my non-dominant hand as a model and drew from it, I tried to capture the shape, details and shadows I could observe. In the Top left I've drawn a peaceful hand, the top right is a hand telling someone to stop, the bottom left is an OK sign and finally the bottom right is a hand presenting anger.

Anger (Bottom Right)

Stop (Top Right)

OK (Bottom Left)

Peace (Top Left)

Exercise Number 7 - Figure Movement Sequence Drawing

Secondary Observation Tracing

For this task I took a shield and sword prop and had a bunch of multi-shot pictures took of me, I selected 4 that best represented every step of my motion (blocking an attack then launching myself at the enemy) and traced them on thin rice-paper while taking into account the proportions and movement. This really helped with my study of proportion and movement, I plan on putting this knowledge to use when I need to animate the movements of characters.

Exercise Number 8 - Silhouette Figures Drawing

Primary Observation - Negative Space

In this task I used felt pens to draw 8 figure drawings observed from real life, the main reason for this task is to study negative space around a model and how silhouettes can give the illusion of details. The work is loose and sketchy, I used 2 A3 pieces of paper and 4 sketches each. The silhouettes are drawn from real life, I walked around the college building and sketched out different people.

Perspective

Exercise Number 1 - Isometric, One, Two and Three Point Perspective Introduction

I've used templates to study and learn basic perspective, I practised making Isometric, One-Point, Two-Point and Three-Point drawings, then i put all the knowledge I've acquired into one final drawing, the space base. Personally something about the clean, sharp lines and the mathematically correct perspectives looks very satisfactory and pristine to me, I enjoyed this work and would include the techniques I've learned in the task to improve my future work. 

Isometric

One-point

Two-point

Three-point

Exercise Number 2 - 2-point Perspective Background - Space station Video

Exercise Number 3 - Crating Exercises

I've used a number of supplied templates and guides to create accurate and pristine three dimensional shapes. The torus drawing was the most challenging as it required several very exact measurements and a steady hand, that is why it turned out so lopsided in my drawing.

Pyramid

Sphere

Cylinder

Cone

Torus

Exercise Number 4 - Crating Application

In this task I have used my knowledge of the two point perspective to create a futuristic taser gun, I used basic perspective and crafting fundamentals to sketch in a basic box for the gun, then I slowly broke the box down into a more detailed electronic, with a battery pack that acts as ammunition, a large 'FIRE' button that fires bolts of electricity and two electric barrels at the front. After finalising the lines I added a light coat of colour to the drawing.

Colour

Exercise Number 1 - Colour Introduction

1. Colour Wheel

I've used primary coloured pencils along with a light cross-hatching technique to fill in the colour wheel seen below, I've blended them in so the secondary and tertiary colours are visible. While the end result turned out overall fine the amount of time and effort put into this was not worth, the coloured pencils used took forever to blend and gave me several hand cramps. 

2. Colour Schemes

In this work I've used a full set of colour markers I've coloured the three supplied templates below in this order. Analogous; I've used a colour and the colours next to it on a colour wheel. Complementary; I've used a colour and the colour directly opposite it on a colour wheel. Triadic; I've used a colour and two other colours, all equally apart from each other.

Ideas Generation

Exercise Number 1 - Alternative Uses for Clothes Pegs

I've used creativity and ingenuity to come up with 20+ varied and unique designs and uses for clothes pegs, these range from clothing accessories to makeshift Christmas trees. I've focused on both looks and the utility when brainstorming for ideas. Due to the time limit i wasn't able to come up with any good ideas (in my eyes), none of the ideas were very interesting or practical, I prefer to sit down and give ideas their time to develop and grow into something revolutionary rather than pump them out half thought.

Visual Communication

Exercise Number 1 - How To Guide

For this activity I needed to create a guide to help someone prepare and serve a pot of tea mad from loose leaf tea without using any words at all, meaning anyone from any place in the world should be able to figure it out. I divided my A3 sheet into 6 slots where I sketched out then fixed up the objects signifying instructions. I added arrows to show the order, a clock to signify 'wait' and a gun firing and a finish line to signify where the person should start reading and finish reading the instructions. I've learned more about showing a person information instead of using words and plan to put this knowledge to use on future projects.

Objects

Exercise Number 1 - Paper Tonal Studies

For this task I took an A3 piece of paper, divided it into four separate boxes and sketched out the overall shape of strips of paper folded in different ways In the top left corner the paper is tied, in the top right corner its folded, bottom left is twisted and bottom right is curled. The still life drawing took several hours to fully render, shade and detail so they seem as realistic and accurate to life as possible. I had to keep in mind the way light reflected of an object and how shadows give the illusion of depth. This helped me improve my attention to detail and skill of shading, abilities I plan on incorporating into my future work.

Textures

Exercise Number 1 - Willow Charcoal, Soft and Oil Pastels

For this task I've divided my page into 9 panels, all being drawn with different materials and drawing of different items from around the building. Every row has its own materials, top row is drawn with soft pastels, the middle with oil pastels and the bottom with willow charcoal. I disliked he feel and use of these materials, they got all over the paper, my clothes and especially hands, I will avoid using these in my future work as they are extremely difficult to use.

Manhole Cover - Bricks - Speedbump (soft pastels)

Leaves - Fie extinguisher - Grass (oil pastels)

Limestone shingle - Shutters Metal floor plate (willow charcoal)