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Critique
James has sent me a variety of images mapping the progression in his drawing and also included a couple of his source photos which give us some excellent material for a discussion on suitable photography for portrait drawing.
The Still Life Series
The three Still Life drawings with shells and a bucket dated June, July and August 2008 respectively, show both James’s progressive improvement in terms of drawing and technique but also wonderfully illustrate how simple everyday objects can be used for drawing from life. James’s admirable persistence pays off in tackling the same subject multiple times while playing with composition, and lighting.
(See my full demonstration and lecture of how to draw single and multiple still life objects plus how to make your own Black box and light still life objects in my Beginning to Draw DVD workshop.
Despite drawing the same three objects three times, James has also given thought to the concept and composition in all three drawings. He has chosen three common objects that relate to each other to tell a story and have different size shape and texture. The bucket and shells conjure up images and memories for almost every one of children building sandcastles, collecting shells and memories of long summer days at the beach. So it’s an excellent subject matter that an artist could explore in an infinite variety of ways in terms of narration.
While we are on the subject – there are many examples in history of artists who draw or paint the same subject in a series of paintings. A series can be any number of paintings that explore a motif (a similar theme). Many gallery shows today are in fact a series of paintings by a single artist or group of artists based around a concept or idea exploring a specific idea or object.
Quite often a series of drawings, paintings or sculpture by one artist using the same object/s are exploratory; other times it is a fascination/obsession with the subject, or an attempt to capture, perfect the artist’s realization of what they are trying to express; to master the subject or just the sheer enjoyment of the theme or subject. In terms of marketing your work, a good series can also encourage multiple sales. Gallery owners often like to see a series as a body of work in a portfolio when considering representing an artist. If it's good work, you'll be helping galleries imagine a solo show and that you can come up with a cohesive body of work if they give you one.
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