Welcome to the 6th day of my challenge:
SUCCEEDING IN CREATING A HYPERREALISTIC PORTRAIT IN 21 DAYS WITH MY RIGHT HAND!!!
Yesterday, I tackled volume by drawing a sphere with shadows and contrasts.
In 15 minutes, it was already a first challenge for me, I admit!
I was faced with every possible and unimaginable frustration! I struggled to draw the cast shadow of my sphere, I struggled to sketch my gradient and master the pressure of the pencil on the paper, I struggled to accentuate my contrasts, etc.
Discouraged???
YES!
Yesterday I was! Today is a new day with a new mini challenge to take on: the drawing of an EGG in perspective and volume!!!
What didn't work yesterday with my sphere has a high chance of happening again today with this exercise, but it is through repetition that the skill is acquired!
"Practice makes perfect"
Ah! Proverbs!!! Well then, let's draw to become an artist!!!
Go get 'em, little Daniel! Listen to your Miyagi!!!
(read the Day 2 Challenge article to understand the reference to the movie Karate Kid!)
Here is my egg:
I observe it carefully for a few minutes:
* an egg is not round, it is ovoid, its shape is slightly stretched towards the top,
* like my sphere from yesterday, the light source comes from the top left and must be quite far away, as shown by the blurred outline of the cast shadow (if the light were close, the shadow would have a very sharp outline),
* still like my example from yesterday, the edges of my egg are darker and its surface includes:
. a very bright highlight at the top left,
. a first gradient that goes from the highlight towards the terminator, becoming more intense,
. a terminator, that curved line starting from the edges of the egg, the demarcation zone between light and shadow, darker at its poles than in its middle, which gives us the information about volume,
. a lighter area to the right of the terminator which corresponds to the light reflected by the surface,
. a cast shadow with blurred edges, darker in immediate contact with the egg and on the outline.
Step 1: the initial sketch
I am drawing freehand this time; I apply myself to tracing an oval shape as regular as possible, then I mark its cast shadow on the right, as well as the demarcation line of the terminator.
Step 2: the gradients
Like yesterday, I start my gradients by trying to be more regular; this time I hold my pencil further back and tilt it more relative to my sheet, and I alternate hatching and small spirals to obtain a more regular gray gradient!
Step 3: Blending and contrasts
I perform this finishing work with a cotton swab to blend the lines and unify my gray tones, and I try to better define my contrasts by increasing the pencil pressure on the areas to be darkened.
Conclusion:
I finished my egg, and I did so in a shorter timeframe (20 minutes anyway!!!) and with less difficulty than during the previous exercise!
The result does not entirely satisfy me, to be perfectly honest, and I was tempted several times to take my pencil in my left hand to improve the result! The only advantage I have over a true beginner seems to be the mental representation of what I must draw because, despite an unskilled hand, I perfectly visualize my volumes and the spatial representation of the object!
Nevertheless, the challenge remains enormous for now, and 15 days will not be too much to manage to draw a face in the most realistic way possible!
Hang in there! See you tomorrow!