gesture and contour

Our first assignment was focused on portraying negative space with only line. We had a few different assignments and still lifes, most of which were set up in class, and one which was underneath each of our kitchen sinks. The aim of negative space drawing is to focus on drawing the spaces in between objects, instead of the objects themselves, which usually leads to less detail and more focus on shape and linework. 

Working with the charcoal pencil was fairly difficult and annoying at first. I got used to it, but I still wouldn’t say it’s anywhere near my preferred medium. I used a combination of sighting and just eyeballing it, which sometimes worked and sometimes didn’t. I had to go back and erase and redraw whole sections a lot because it was hard to get the sizing right on the first try. A lot of the feedback on my work pointed out the graphic quality of my linework, which I feel is a good thing and something I like about my art in my usual style. I think I’ll start considering the advantages of leaving my original gestures in my work instead of going over them, because those lines tend to have a more interesting energy to them. I think the assignment definitely worked in the sense that I feel like I’m better at considering negative space now, and I was able to use that experience with the next assignment.