Week 1- Line and Weight

For my first weeks task there was a prominent focus on line and weight and how these can be used to create a sense of depth within a still life piece of work. After refreshing my knowledge of the general rules for using line and line weight to express not only shadow and light but also the position of objects I started a new still life piece. This piece was done using objects in front of me including a vase which had a complicated pattern design on it and filled with flowers along with a wicker basket and some peppers. These varying  textures created an interesting yet challenging composition which I would go on to attempt to express through line and weight. 

My process for this weeks task was to create some thumbnail sketches before I moved on to drawing my final sketch so that I could get a nice and interesting composition which would allow me to represent the placement of the objects in an appealing manner. Leading the viewers eye. I only ended up doing 1 thumbnail sketch as I was immediately happy with my composition as i ensured that the objects were being drawn for a range of distances and heights so that I could represent this weeks theme of line and weight in the most appealing and confident way. Please see below my thumbnail sketch for this weeks task. 

After I had finalised my thumbnail composition I drew a grid over the top as this would allow me to correctly reflect my composition onto a final study. Looking back at this however next time I might have moved the pepper on the right slightly up so that it wasn’t on the same level as the wicker basket. This would have created more of an expression of depth as it is not as appealing when multiple objects sit on the same line. The piece ends up looking more linear, flat and overall not natural. The thumbnail helped me develop my skills on how I was viewing objects and how I can alter a scene to make a more visually appealing piece. I also ensured to offset some items slightly as having central objects creates a sense of stiffness and is not visually appealing. I then began sketching out my final piece using the still life set up I front of me and also my thumbnail so that I could start adding the line and weight to express the items position and other important factors. 

Through this grid method I was able to convey the ideas from my thumbnail set up back onto my final piece. After receiving some feedback I made some changes to the sizing of some of the objects such as the pepper. I had got the sizes slightly wrong which was throwing the dynamic of the piece off and was making it look less convincing. One of my main goals from this task was to create a convincing piece with minimum details. After I was happy with the main sketch and placement of objects and correcting my mistakes from the feedback given I began rendering the peppers. However from the image below you will see that I misunderstood the task at first and was using the cross hatching and hatching technique.I was supposed to be representing the objects through line and pattern only to create a sense of 3D. 

After I realised this was incorrect I continued with the rest of the piece using the correct technique that we were supposed to use for this weeks task. Next time I will not make the same mistake. Also I started hatching the peppers quite dark and if I was to do the whole piece with this method I would have run out of tones. 

The flowers were definitely one of the most challenging aspects of this task as it was hard to try and create a sense of depth with such a complicated and layered asset. It was challengenging to convey that some of the flowers were behind others  whilst also keeping some of the key shapes and shadows. This was the most time consuming part of thr process of this piece. I wanted to add lots of detail to this part as I think it was a crucial aspect of the setup which would allow me to challenge my skills  of using line and weight to portray things being closer to the viewer. 

I was quite happy with I was able to portray the floral aspect of the piece as I really focused on observing the depth of this part and how I could create a convincing and 3D outcome. 

This is my final piece from this weeks study on the theme of line and weight to prefect depth of objects. I was really aiming to create an appealing and convincing set up. I’m happy with how I was able to portray the more natural forms however I think I need to work more on being able to show direction of light through this method as it will help me when I come to make fully rendered still life compositions. It was easy to just start using heavier lines for those far away so I needed to really focus on which objects were in front of what and therefor would the viewers eye would hit first. 

Contextual task

(Image shared by Square Enix for the announcement of Final Fantasy XV)

For my contextual analysis for this week I will be looking at one of my favourite pieces for the game Final Fantasy XV. This piece was posted on Square Enixs twitter to announce the release of XV. It received a high amount of praise because of its beautiful atmosphere and explosive dynamics.