Here’s my second painting for Block 2 of Evolve Artist – not an exciting subject, but a slight step up in complexity from the last one.
I actually had to redraw the cube and sphere, because I got my measuring wrong but couldn’t tell until I actually saw the objects drawn out on the canvas. It occurred to me later that I could have just repositioned the objects in the still life box so they matched what I’d drawn 😃 But that would be cheating!
Evolve Artist Block 2, #12 – Ball, Cube and Cone. Oil on canvas.
I do find doing these drawings on canvas quite tricky. Because the weave of the canvas is so coarse it’s hard to draw details or refine the lines like you can on paper, and they don’t rub out well either. I could do the drawing on paper and transfer it to the canvas, as we did in Block 1, but I want to get better at doing it this way. I know that the drawings underlying paintings are just guidelines and don’t need to be super detailed, but I’m used to being really nitpicky with my drawings until every little line is ‘just right’. That works for my colouring books, but it’s a habit I have to move past here.
I’m fairly pleased with this painting. It has some issues with the gradients, but I’m more concerned with getting the proportions right at the moment. My gradients in general aren’t too bad and I usually (but not always – as with this one!) get positive feedback on them from the instructors. But they definitely have room for improvement. At this point I feel like I’m doing the best I can, and even though I can see the areas to improve, if I keep going I just end up pushing the paint around and making it worse. So it’s a case of putting in more practice until my skills catch up with my eye, and I’ll get plenty of that with these exercises!
See all my Evolve Artist paintings here.
