Part 2 Project 1 Ex 1a

After all my messing about with this exercise I've finally managed some compositions I'm OK with.

Composition 1

Breakfast 1

In Breakfast 1 I am looking straight on; at eye level.
The light source is natural light from the left.
The focal point is the bowl.
The vectors are the spoon, the jug handle and spout.  Both point towards the cereal.
Power centres are either side of the middle.
There is negative space in the middle that highlights the bowl.

Breakfast 2

In Breakfast 2 I am again looking straight on; at eye level.
The light source is natural light from the left but it is cloudy.
The focal point is the bowl.
The vectors are the jug handle and spout.  It points towards the cereal.  The spoon is vertical so no longer works with the jug vectors.  The spoon cuts the picture in two; it is a distraction.
Power centres are either side of the middle.
There is negative space in the middle that highlights the bowl.

Breakfast 3

In Breakfast 3 I am looking down on the items.
The light source is natural light from the right but it is cloudy.
The focal point is the bowl.
The vectors are the spoon, the jug handle and spout and the cup handle.  They all  point the same way.  It shows my very right handed tendencies.
Power centres are either side of the middle.
There is negative space in the middle that highlights the bowl.

Composition 2

I couldn't bear to be indoors on such a lovely September day so I took my sketchbook outdoors.  I knooe I should be arranging and re-arranging my items but these stones are too heavy for that so I contented myself by changing my position.

Stones 1

Stones 1.

I am sitting in a chair looking at the stones which are on the ground.
The light source is natural light from above.
The focal point is the large stone.
The vectors are difficult to ascertain but I think the diagonal line from the lower left upwards to the right might be called a vector because it leads the eye.
If this was to be drawn on a square piece of paper the power centre would be in the middle just where the heavy shading is.
There is negative space between the stones that is really dark.

Stones 2

In my second sketch I have changed my position slightly.

I am sitting in a chair looking at the stones which are on the ground.
The light source is natural light from above.
The focal point is the large stone.
The vectors are not easy to see but I think the places the stones meet give directional indications because they lead the eye around the image.
If this was to be drawn on a square piece of paper the power centre would be in the middle just where the heavy shading is.
There is negative space between the stones that is really dark.
The stone with the heavy outline looks inappropriate but generally this looks more solid than the first image.

Stones 3

Stones 3 is my final attempt
I am sitting in a chair looking at the stones which are on the ground.
The light source is natural light from above.
The focal point is the large stone.
The vectors are different this time and the diagonal goes the other way.
If this was to be drawn on a square piece of paper the power centre would be in the middle just where the heavy shading is.
There is negative space between the stones that is really dark.


The textures were hard to create and the focal point of the large stone defeated me.  It is a very textured stone and I simply didn't know how to capture it.
As I practiced the planes of the stones became more believable and began to look solid but it was difficult.

Subsequently......

I did a rubbing of the large stone for the next exercise to try to understand its texture.  I printed the rubbing and stuck a piece of it to my drawing:

How successful it is is a matter of conjecture but the idea is one that might have some mileage.