Assignment 1 - A personal still life

I wanted objects that are reasonably big as the drawing is to be A2 or A3. I chose footwear, not because I'm particularly into shoes but because these ones were piled together and represented different aspects of my life. Also I like drawing shoes, they have interesting shapes, retain some of the character of their wearer and although it sounds a bit crazy I think they are a bit like drawing people. The wellies are mainly for dog walking, my dog is my best mate, child replacement now my kids have grown up, bodyguard and co-explorer. The ice boots for skating which has crept up to become a bit of an obsession and the trainers are because I've started running to keep fit while my local ice rink is closed for refurbishment.

To sort out a layout I did some rough sketches

 In this first attempt a pair of ankle boots crept in too but I think that's too many boots

Then a more considered drawing on a sheet of A2 paper using charcoal, graphite stick and compressed charcoal

 It was a mistake to add the compressed charcoal as it was too dark against the lighter graphite and plain charcoal so I had to rub some of it off. I also used the putty rubber to pull out some highlights. Part of me likes the dark outlines in this and part of me thinks they're too cartoon like and lazy. I found it hard to use more than one material for my drawing, I'm used to resolving the image just using one sort of medium.

To give the exercise a proper go I did another drawing with a dip pen and ink but this time I used A3 paper which I'm much more comfortable with

then added tone with the graphite stick

Is it better or just different? The shadows aren't as good as in the first drawing

Assessment criteria points

Demonstration of technical and visual skills – materials, techniques, observational

skills, visual awareness, design and compositional skills (35%). I believe I can do the technical bit of drawing, never as well as I would like but as I get better at it I find I'm never good enough. I'm not sure about my techniques, that's why I'm here, I find it fairly easy to observe and be visually aware but design and composition is hard, sometime its reasonably successful sometimes its rubbish

Quality of outcome – content, application of knowledge, presentation of work in a

coherent manner, discernment, conceptualisation of thoughts, communication of

ideas (20%). I use this blog to try and present my ideas in a coherent manner, if it doesn't succeed it is because my thought processes are a bit erratic

Demonstration of creativity – imagination, experimentation, invention, development

of a personal voice (25%). I try to experiment but I tend to fall back on obvious solutions when I relax. Do I have a personal voice? Probably not a very original one

Context reflection – research, critical thinking (learning logs and, at second and

third level, critical reviews and essays) (20%). I do a lot of research online which I either forget to document as I go along or I don't spend enough time reflecting on and re writing for my blog. I'm trying to rectify this.