Light & Dark

After the previous drawing project it occurred to me that I needed to explore light and dark within my drawings further. As oppose to drawing directly from life, to start off I began drawing from photos to enable me to look in more detail at the shading.

I drew from photographs that I'd taken previously with high contrasts of highlights and shadows. The top left image was particularly a challenge as it consisted of facial features - also it's a male, which I rarely draw - and very strong shadows across the face creating irregular shapes. However I am relatively pleased with this as my first drawing looking directly at shading as I think I captured a lot of the detail created through the shadows, particularly around the lip and lower nose area. I also think it's effective in capturing the slightly amazed expression on his face, without the use of detail in the eyes.

The second photograph I used as a reference was slightly more simplistic, looking at light and dark across the female form. The photograph was taken using studio lighting and is lit from the right of the figure in an attempt to create a Bill Brandt esque photograph.

This was easier as I was able to look at the specific shapes the shadows created in relation to the curves of the body - which I found more difficult previously due the amount of detail in the face - and because of the large amount of really dark shadows. I think the proportions are slightly incorrect however, the torso looks slightly too long and the hand slightly too small. I think it's also necessary to look at blending the shadows to create smoother shadows and a less grainy appearance.