Thursday 19 December 2013

Man-made forms


This image shows a study of a high detail First World War canon. It was done in around 2 hours using graphite, and the technique chosen was impressionistic due to the complexity of the main object.

Visible construction lines helped with maintaining the perspective right, though certain straight lines should have been worked on more, for a better representation of the canon. The perspective is interesting and dynamic and the foreshortening effect is evident. This creates strong diagonals which lead the viewer's eye across the entire image. The shading plays a significant role in this drawing. Firstly, it gives form to the many details of the machine, suggesting their shape and location. Good evidence of this is found on the wheels, which gain volume because of the shading. The details however seem incomplete, and certain areas are hard to distinguish, and for this reason the canon's forms should have been studied more carefully. Secondly, shading helps in implying the material of the different parts. In this way some areas seem to be made of a shiny metallic material, while others are matte.

Even though the aim of the drawing session was to study the details of the object, this image has a nicely balanced composition, the symmetry of it drawing attention to the middle part of the cannon. Adding subtle hints of the background and pavement are also nice additions to the atmosphere of the scene.

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