Along with my research on the topic [found here] these are the three exercise for this topic on composition.
Exercise 3.8: Thumbnail drawings. An exercise for learning how to test out compositional ideas, to enable considered decision making for larger projects. It was something I have done in the past but I had fun putting into practice the theories I had researched and seeing so many options side by side. It was especially interesting once I started adding light and shadow.
Exercise 3.9: Short Studies.
I really enjoyed this exercise, I chose two different ornamental objects to explore and play with on the page, to look at how I could use short studies to get to grips with a new subject to draw. Each drawing took between 5 and 10 minutes, some very loose as a test of forms and tone; some more detailed with carefully sketching surface patterns. I annotated my sketches with why I chose to draw them the way I did, and what I thought might be useful about those choices.
Exercise 3.10: Still Life Drawing. For this final still life drawing to put all the theories I’d explored into practice I made thumbnails and some quick studies before deciding on the final piece. I also decided to use a mix of full tonal drawing and some more stylised choices- leaving bright areas as largely untouched page, as well as letting some of the line-work show by not fully shading every part. This was partly to have fun playing with what I could do and partly to show what I have learned through this section of the course. I am very happy with the finished piece, although I can see discrepancies between it and the subject matter (especially as I forgot to photograph the objects before moving them, and they weren’t arranged for the photo in the exact same set-up) I think it works well in its own right.
The main things to take away from this series of exercises are the many ways to think about how to arrange what you want to draw, and how to find the best angles for the details and subject matter. In noticing how the compositions affected the feel of the scene I was reminded of experimenting with emotional and charactful lines, of how what and how you put on the page can convey expressive things and change the overall look.
The quick studies were a good exercise in exploration too, and it might be interesting to combine quick studies with continuous line drawings and find new ways to quickly but accurately depict what’s in front of me.
Rebekah's OCA Learning Log 