Assignment 1

Drawing 1, Assignment 1

When I read the brief for this assignment I knew straight away what I wanted to draw.  My son Jack who is 22, has been away for a year in Japan and has just left to spend two years in Canada.  The sight of his shoes by the door was too much for me, I couldn’t bare to move them, but seeing them everyday just reminded me of how much I miss him. The emotional response that they trigger is so hard to portray, but I hoped that because the response was so strong it might help with the Assignment.  I decided to include one of his favourite toys, left behind in his room, representing his movement from childhood to adulthood. His ski goggles, (as he has gone to Canada to work as a snowboard instructor) and his door key, no longer required, which all have an emotional pull for me. His door key has his wrist bands from festivals he visited tied to them.  

Whilst drawing his shoes I noticed all the marks on the suede where his feet have moulded them, I imagined his feet making these marks and the anatomy of the feet in the shoes.  

Own Photograph (accessed 22/02/2019)

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I did this preliminary sketch using just a pencil, found that it looked flat and didn’t convey the emotion like I wanted.

Own Photograph (accessed 23/02/2019)

In this preliminary sketch I used charcoal and found that I liked this better. I think that it conveys some emotion, but I may try another idea that I have had about using a blue wash.

Own Photograph (accessed 24/02/2019)

This was my first attempt using the blue wash and I thought it was maybe too dark although I did like the effect, so I decided to try a some other shades. I would also prefer to have the paper portrait rather than landscape.  

Own Photograph (accessed 24/02/2019)

I like the lighter shades that I have worked on here, and I think this may work, to show some of the emotional attachment that I have to the items.

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Having looked at the items I chose, I felt that there were better things I could choose that would convey the message better. So I swapped the flask for the robot, which definitely has more emotional impact on me. I put the robot at the back and made the shoes look like they are walking away from the robot, walking away from childhood. The keys look like they have been dropped on the floor, just discarded.

Assignment One Final Piece

Own Photograph (accessed 24/02/2019)