Fish Head still life,
charcoal medium
Inspiration and Reasoning
With this project I used Edgar Degas as my inspiration. Edgar Degas is famous for his late 1800s early 1900s charcoal and pastel drawings. It is common for him to draw ballet dancers and jockeys at practice, studying the behaviors and movements of the people he draws outside of the more normal artworks. I enjoyed the way Degas incorporated shadow and pastel into the charcoal drawings he created, thus my choosing him as my inspiration. Although I was drawing a fish head instead of a human dancer, I was still able to use Degas’ use of color and form in the charcoal drawing.
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Planning
As this project was completed with charcoal and pastel, it was very difficult to try and erase any marks that were created, meaning the only planning I could do on paper was a light outlining sketch on the paper before continuing with darker marks. I have minor experience with using the materials in previous art projects, and was luckily able to use that information when conducting this drawing.
Process
Luckily, I have experience with charcoal pencils from multiple projects in the past and had some familiarity with how it works using different methods. I am not as used to doing realistic projects however, especially ones that are difficult and near impossible to erase. Being unable to erase forced me to ensure each line and mark was made correctly, with no room for mistakes. starting with a base of light pressure charcoal, I covered the entire paper rubbing the side of a thick charcoal pencil. Continuing, I started to lightly sketch out the outlines and prominent features of the preserved fish head. |
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I would add pressure to the charcoal pencil when i wanted to darken my lines, and would rub my finger when i wanted to try and erase a mark i had already made. The total drawing process took about one hour to complete. Finishing the drawing, I went over the already existing shadowed area with a dark green charcoal pencil. Added white charcoal pencil for highlighting, and any additional red, lighter greens, and yellows onto it based on the original inspired fish head. I added the shadow cast by the Fish head on the side of the paper to add additional realism to the drawing. The most difficult action of the process was the inability to completely erase any line created by the charcoal sticks, or the attempt to replicate the object onto paper as realistically as possible without using any kind of tracing or grid method to help get proportions of the object into their correct spots.
Reflection & comparison
ACT questions
1) Clearly explain and describe how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
2) What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
2) What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
5) What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
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