Unit 6. Practice as a Laboratory Part 1: Still Life Drawing

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STILL LIFE DRAWING

by Adam Paloczy


    We started our second year with a still life drawing week at Wimbledon. 

    I believe that the skill of drawing can give us a kind of freedom. Freedom to be able to draw up anything on paper, what can be a massive help when we need to plan out something. Plan a new sculpture, a mechanism, storyboards etc. A good friend of mine kept saying to me, 'if you want to sculpt great portraits, you need to draw. Sculpting and drawing is the same thing!'

    One day I was at the sculpture studio and I had a short chat with Martin while the second year students where drawing. He told me that we should develop our drawing and sculpting skills together. Well, I was scared of drawing when I started my first year, not because I  did not practice it a long time, simply I just did not have the basic knowledge. Well, I knew what is the expectation in this university and after the conversation with Martin, I had to realise that, If I want to make realistic sculptures I have to learn how to draw ASAP. It was like a wake-up moment. If this is what I need to do to get closer to my goals, fine, I will do it. I remember when I was watching the second year drawings near the door of the studio, and I  was really impressed with them. Especially with the drawings of Mask of the Moses of Michelangelo. It became a goal to me. A year later I need to be able to drow it!  I started to visit the life drawing sessions at the uni and I started to buy drawing books, DVDs and online courses. I bought every single book from Jake Spicer at the National Gallery. From June, I started to draw every single day.


 The first book what I learnt from was "You will be able to draw faces by the end of this book". What a promising title!


Since that, my small drawing book and pencil case is always in my bag, no matter where I go. I will keep this habit.

The current book what I am practising from these days.


    So we started this year with a drawing week. I thought that we will learn some drawing technics, but instead, we had some simple instructions and expectations from Geraldine than we started straight ahead. Ok!

    She highlighted some focus points:

-Think about how you are going to arrange them, the sizes of the different items, the spacing, and their relationships to each other. 

-Think about the texture and how the light hits the surfaces. Look at the negative spaces between these items.

-Once you have arranged your items, think about how you are going to place them on your page. Imagine your page as your picture frame and frame your composition within that, making sure you have enough space so that you don't run off the edge of space. 

We were drawing at the studio and home as well. At the studio, I chose to draw a skull with a hand and  Mask of the Moses of Michelangelo. Both took approximately 9 working hours. At home I drew some fruits, each drawing took a 5-7 hours to make.


Drawing the hand and skull


The final drawing







Drawing progress



I wanted to catch all of the details what I can see.


I changed the background to be lighter.




I wanted to do the very best what I can and make it 3d looking.




I started to established the basic shapes, then focus on the negative space.



Observation is everything. 


I chose to draw the skull from profile because when I start to sculpt a head, I like to start with the profile. Moreover drawing a skull helps to understand anatomy better, which is beneficial for sculptors.





Drawing fruits


I wanted to make out the best what I can from a banana, and make it as 3d looking as possible. I have learnt over the summer that, I can do some magic with shadows.




The final drawing



Apples and bananas


The final drawing








Drawing progress









Drawing the Moses Mask


I left the biggest challenge for the end. I was waiting for him for over a year. I prepared myself to face him. 
I saw him at the studio many times, I went to V and A to see him twice. I was loaded with a strong coffee and lots of ambition, so I've started to draw him on paper.



Drawing progress











The final piece






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