Visual Language: Ah, Push It!

This part of the task was different to the first two parts that we did. During this task we had to draw one single pose that demonstrated the action of pushing or pulling. I found this task really frustrating, as I couldn't get into the zone of drawing at all for the first half of the day. This did make me feel less confident in my drawing skills and brought me down a lot, which in turn made me feel less motivated to continue with this task at all, but I stuck to it and I am pleased with some of the outcomes I managed to get from sticking to it.

Poop photos again, sorry. First drawing - James

For the first image I decided to use coloured pencil, as this material had worked so well for me before in other parts of the task and I thought that it would be a good idea to use the material I was most comfortable with for the first few images. However, it didn't make drawing the image any easier. I found it really difficult to get the proportions of the body right no matter how much I re-drew the image or started over. Reflecting upon the task and how I was drawing, I feel that felt constrained to the size of the paper and I wasn't drawing to a scale that matched the scale of the paper, which made my overall image seem distorted and out of proportion. However, I didn't realise this during the actual task so it was a problem I encountered more than once. 

Second drawing - Matt

Trying not to let the frustration I gained from the first image effect me too much, I attempted to create another pencil drawing. This image started off really well and I was feeling a lot more confident in my own drawing abilities by this point. However, it isn't my strongest drawing and I know that I can achieve much better in 10 minutes time. I wasn't happy with the arms or the shoulders of this image and I felt that the overall image didn't reflect my ability to draw the human form. Despite the fact that this image was a lot more in proportion than the last, I was ready to give up at this point and I felt really low and my confidence in my own work had slipped majorly. 

Third drawing - Callum

After calming down and putting the last two drawings to the back of my mind I decided to change the material I was using, as I felt that this would give me a fresh start. I also wanted to experiment with using materials that I wasn't comfortable with or hadn't necessarily used to draw before. So I decided to use white chalk on black paper (I'd seen it being used earlier that day and I really liked the contrast between the materials and the colours). This went a lot better than the other drawings I had done earlier and I feel that it is the strongest drawing I have done throughout the whole task so far. Although the proportions aren't perfect (his left arm is just a bit too big) but it isn't obvious and I'm not that bothered about it. I really like the overall aesthetic of the material and I feel that I was able to create much more confident lines with the chalk than I was with the pencil making my image a lot clearer and neater. 

Fourth drawing - Lauren

Because the chalk was proving to be a really good material for me, I continued to use it as I moved on to my fourth drawing. I am actually really pleased with myself for drawing this and I feel that it is my strongest drawing out of the four I have done. I also feel that this is the strongest drawing I have done throughout the whole task so far. I was able to draw very confident lines first time round and be happy enough with them to leave them, which is something I usually don't do as I tend to obsess over getting every line perfect. I feel that I have managed to capture the strain on the back leg really well and I feel that it clearly depicts Lauren pushing against something. 

Overall, I am really pleased with the final outcome of this part of the task and it has boosted my confidence of my own drawing abilities. I feel that I have managed to move past a wall (mentally speaking here) that was making me doubt myself in order to create work that I am really proud of. I will take what I have learned from this part of the task and transfer it to other ares of my work.