Composition

 

This weeks task focused heavily on the appealing composition of items and commonly used still-life setups used by a number of artists over time. I learnt a lot whilst doing this task as I had to set up a range of still life compositions in order to experiment with what kinds of overall shapes worked best with my objects and task. I watched the video looking at how different compositions can drastically affect the mood and overall appeal of a piece and then proceeded to draw five of my own set ups using various items. For each one, I considered  what positions I could put the items in in order to showcase a dynamic and aesthetic setup. I wanted to showcase the forms of the items and how they reacted with light and with each other. This is why I chose to include a piece of fabric for this task. I thought it would lend itself to the composition of objects as it lies very flat onto a surface and could add an extra layer of dimension. I tried to choose items which were all of different heights. I also chose to lean the banana on top of the bowl and to have the apple on a slant as I felt this could create some interesting angles. I did not want to have my tallest object completely centred as this would make the piece look too static and unnatural. Therefore, I decided to offset it to the side to create a more natural and flowing composition.

I think my shading and composition were relatively successful in this task as I decided to use cross hatching and hatching following on from the previous exercise which I really enjoyed. I wanted to experiment further with this. I found the material was a particular challenge as there were a number of different folds to consider when crosshatching, along with the complicated print on it. I do think that the fabric grounds the overall composition however, so I am happy with the results. As you can see from my thumbnail sketches I decided to offset certain items each time and made sure that some were in front of others as this presents an element of depth within the piece. I think next time, I would like to shade in the background some more in order to give my composition more depth and context.

I learnt a lot in terms of making an appealing composition when doing this task and therefore I will be bringing my acquired knowledge into upcoming weeks.