Throwback Thursday: Tonal studies, light and shade, and florals

Assignment 3 – Illustration and Drawing Made Easy (20876A/03):  A Composition or Study in Tone

By Colleen Sedgwick (31105712)

I get the impression that I was asked do something like a flower, and whether I should do it in colour or in black and white.  Flowers (as subjects for drawing) lend themselves well to the use of hue as well as tone and composition.

Black and white is something I am better at, though it’s probably not a bad idea to use colour occasionally.   Since Part 3 of this book instructs on basic floral shapes[1], I have decided to include a few flower drawings (copying from the photographs below). 

This is the same drawing of the flower below in greyscale.

Here are the steps as shown below for the second flower (I used watercolour pastels for these illustrations):

The picture below is the same drawing in greyscale.

I have done a few tonal studies back in the day (during my time at Julian Ashton) to get a feel for things like light and shade.  Most of these are done in black and white, and I have used either charcoal or a lead pencil to achieve these results.  The subject matter is simple but effective.

However, since I have already uploaded most of the pics from my Julian Ashton days, I had decided not to include them.  The subjects lend themselves well to tone and composition, and make good use of both dark and light shading.

Well, seeing I am feeling generous, I will give you an example (this still life, for instance).  You get my drift.  However, since most people like flowers and like to see them in full colour (whether photographed or illustrated), presenting them in black and white or grey scale breaks these 'rules' because it doesn't quite fit the 'norm'.

Well, basically, I did it mostly to challenge myself, to show that 'nice things' don't have to be in full colour.

cheers,

Colleen 💮🎕

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[1] Warren, Tracey (2007 ): ‘Chapter 3 – An Introduction to Common Floral Shapes’ in Section 3 of 20876A – Illustration and Drawing Made Easy; Willow Productions; reprinted by Cengage Education, Lv1/1 Waltham Street, Artarmon, NSW, 2064; pages 47-8