Week 20- Nude figure on black paper

 

This was definitely one of the most challenging tasks I have done this year and I had to redo do it a few times to get it to a standard that I was happy with. I found it very difficult to visualise the light and shadows of the model when drawing from life and them relay them in black and white values. My first attempt at this weeks task was in the lesson and I really was not happy with it. I really overworked it and then it became really monochromatic with the chalk as I kept adding too much white to it instead of focusing on the areas of tonal variation and how I could portray those using less white value.

Since the task had  primary focus on human anatomy I paid careful attention to how the light was reacting to the muscular definition in the female figure and how this could be represented on the black paper with the white medium. I actually ended up focusing a lot on line and weight was well particularly on the fabric of the shirt draped around the model as the fabric itself was white and I wanted to emphasise it being a separate part to the figure as I was worried all the details and fold would get lost. The light portrayed on the fabric is a lot more static and sharp than that of the skin which I have done with more gradual soft tones other than any harsh shadows cast by bone or harsh lighting. 

My first attempt looked very flat and static in comparison to this one which I did with a much more artistically appealing mindset. I also found that the task is easiest when the lighting set up is harsher as it does add more clear definition to the muscle forms allowing me to recreate them with the white coloured medium. Overall I am actually really pleased with how this has turned out and it was a vast improvement to my first attempt where I learn the importance of using tonal range to show muscle definition and how not overworking a piece will give better results. I think it is far more refined in this instance. I think it would be interesting to try this task but with coloured pencils on a black background as well.