Week 11 - Landscapes - Colour

This is my drawing for week 11 on the topic of basic colours in drawing. The drawing took just over an hour and a half and it was done at late morning (around 8-9 am). Weather was dull (as usual), so there are no strong highlights or shadows. Since the sun wasn't visible at all, there are hardly any shadows visible.
In terms of compositing, this time I decided to experiment and try putting the drawing in a implied frame. This is the reason for the curtain on the far right to be present in the frame. The table being cut in the bottom left corner was also supposed to be a framing element along with the tree at the left edge of the image.
Rule of thirds has been used to position the mid-ground ground level and the deepest point of the image (on the right of the yellow-ish building).
In terms of colour usage - I didn't get a lot of opportunities to mix colours apart from the trees, the grass and the grey-ish path in the foreground. The grey path also shows a subtle shadow from the brown building on the right, speaking for a light that's coming from the right and in front of the viewing point.  The table on the far-left shows the reflected sky in the horizontal flat areas.
The image also seems to lack enough shading - the curtain and the small grey building in the bottom-right rule-of-thirds point need to be darker.

Complete detailed Still Life drawing

This is my detailed Still Life drawing. It took around two and a half hours in total. Around an hour for planning and outline drawing and another hour and a half for shading.
The scene was setup in a dark room with three lights: A bright, point-like one inside the bowl, a soft, point-like light straight above the scene to brighten everything up enough so it is possible to draw. And another soft, but tall and narrow light on the far left of the scene - to add in a bit of light to the otherwise very dark back of the toy.
Not much about perspective in this drawing, the longer edge of the book shows very subtle perspective, so do the edges of the sheet under the objects.
The focal point of the image is supposed to be the donkey toy's nose, being brightly lit by the bowl light and being in strong contrast with the rest of the toy's body and the hole scene. There seem to be two implied lines, one at the toy's back and another one at the bottom edge of the book (actual lines really) that don't lead exactly to the focal point but manage to do a good job in keeping the eyes from going too far to the left and behind the toy's back. The donkey's nose also isn't in any of the rule-of-thirds points, but instead the detail in dents in the toy's leg and arm are put in a rule-of-thirds point making them a secondary focal point and spreading the interest around the drawing.
In terms of shading, the image has had its overall brightness reduced and contrast increased digitally.
There is a very nice, strong contrast of light and shadow with most of the top-left and bottom-right parts of the image being generally darker than the top-right. The area right above the bowl shows an interesting range of shades with parts directly lit by the bowl light and parts in deep shadow, but also an area illuminated by the reflected from the inside of the bowl light. There is a very soft shadow on the right of the bowl being cast by the tall light on the far left and softened by the direct light from above and the reflected light from the bowl.
Shading in the book successfully shows the tendency in old books where pages closer to the middle are pulled further inside the book. There is also a good representation of the cover's thickness and the offset the pages have from the edge of the cover.
The toy features some really nice, deep shadows in between its arms and legs, where any of the three lights can hardly reach. It also has some nice rim lights on its back and ear from the far-left light.

Week 10 - Landscapes - Classical Architecture

These are my fairly quick sketches of classical interiors in the top image and classical exteriors in the bottom image. Perspective is visible mostly in the two interior drawings - the subtle foreshortening in the balconies in the top-left and in the horizontal segment in the middle of the top image.
There is also a fairly good fore-mid-back-ground separation in the top-left sketch. On the very left, there is a balcony part that seems to stand out as foreground and then the two balconies beginning at mid-ground and blending to background in the furthest parts in the top-right parts of the sketch.
It can be noticed that interiors seem to feature a lot more detailed ornaments, filling almost all the surfaces visible, while in exteriors, ornaments seem to be focused mainly on ending points of bigger, simpler shapes : The bottom-right exterior sketch shows detail has been aded only to the very edge of the rooftop. As for the window frames and the chimney behind, there is only a small change in the shape. In the meantime, in the interiors there is a far more detailed column and a lot of flat walls with ornaments onto them - the horizontal segment in the 2nd interior and the outsides of the balcony walls in the 1st interior.

Week 9 - Landscapes - Modern Architecture

This is completed drawing of modern architecture interior. The drawing took about two and a half hours in total.
It successfully shows perspective, both in the panel elements on the wall on the right, and in the sizes of the buildings beyond the window. It also showcases the usage of curved lines in modern architecture in the ceiling. Most of the drawing is taken by windows - another thing very typical for modern architecture.
The shading looks nice, as it shows some good contrast in light and shadow on the window poles and on the wall on the right.
As for composition - the first thing that is noticeable is that there are two lines going very close through the middle of the image (the edge of the wall on the right and the tube in the foreground). There are also overlapping edges with the tube and the close building on the outside. Apart from these issues, the horizon is set on the rule-of-thirds line, there is a sense of order due to the pattern formed by the window poles and there is good fore-mid-background separation. All of these make for an interesting and calm image.

Week8 - Life Drawing - Non human anatomy

This drawing/sketch of a chimpanzee took around 30mins. It shows some of the musculature of the animal, along with other anatomical characteristics. It is visible, that as being related to humans, the chimpanzee has similar musculature along its arms. The body also is wider at the top part than it is at the bottom part.
The shoulders/neck area, however, is very different from a human one. It is visible that a chimpanzees head and neck are completely in front of its shoulders, unlike humans, where the neck and head go up. In the drawing, the animal's neck is also very undefined, unlike the clear definition of a human neck.
The legs are also very different from human's, allowing the chimpanzee to hold his feet very high while still being(seeming) comfortable. The structure of the feet is also different, they are formed more like additional wrists, allowing the chimpanzee to grab onto things and climb. There isn't such a huge difference in the wrists between chimpanzees and humans.

Week 7 - Life Drawing - Dynamic poses

This is my directed study on dynamic poses. There are 10 sketches of little children playing in shallow water (seemed the only way to get an action different from walking or running). N1 is a completely open pose, with both arms and legs spread apart, while walking and waving. N2 and N3 are very similar, both closed in the legs, but N2 is also closed in the upper body part, unlike N3. This also makes N3 more dynamic, as the arm pointing back suggests that there is already movement upwards. N5 also shows a dynamic pose, mostly because of the uncomfortable angle of the legs (kept almost straight, while bended forward). N7 is a completely open and dynamic pose. With one leg far ahead, both arms spread out and at different angles, it is clear that this is not a position held for long. N9 seems like a closed, dynamic pose, when instead it was very static in real life (it is a study of the "being carried around by an elderly" action).

Week 6 - Life Drawing - Movement

This is my directed study on the topic of human movement. I picked this set of sketches because there is a good difference of the poses. Top-left one is a person stretching his back and his legs, this can be noticed by the   slight bend at the lower part of the back and also the foot placed in front of the other. Also, the foot in front is touching the ground only with the heel which suggests that there is movement in that foot.
Second from left on the top row is a person in a static position. With his hands in his pockets and his right foot slightly in front of the other and on top of a small obstacle.
Third one is a person moving something towards his face. The relaxed pose of the body and the second hand at the level of the belly suggest that he is eating while standing up.
Rightmost on the top - the hand further back, pointing up suggests that the person is jumping. Also, the foot further back appears to be higher than the other one, which also is a sign of jumping. However, this difference could easily be mistaken for perspective because most of the foot on the back is obscured and unclear, hiding the angle of its knee.
First on the bottom is again a static pose with a person leaning at a wall. The dominating action in this case was the person working with the object in his hands, but it is in to small scale to be shown in a sketch like the one used.
Middle on the bottom seems like a person that is either pretending to ride a bike, or actually riding a bike. This is can be assumed by the fact the hands are on the same level and the feet are both bended at the knees, but are not next to each other. Still, the pose could be mistaken to be of a person standing firmly on the ground with his knees bended(this is why the sketch goes a bit towards the "pretending to ride a bike" pose).
At the bottom right is a sketch of a person obviously sitting on something. He can't be leaning only on his back and still have his legs so far in front because this would be a very uncomfortable pose. Again, a mostly static pose with the main movement being the hand going towards the face. With the second hand at the level of the belly, the pose suggests that the person is eating. This is most likely not on a chair, but on something higher, shows the steep angle of the hips.