For your final class project, you will be completing a still life over the course of three class periods that will demonstrate your cumulative knowledge of compositional space, proportion, perspective and value.
Primarily, the project deals with the problem of transparency-- how light passes through glass forms, and casts not only shadows, but reflections as well. Therefore, your understanding of value, and your understanding of the medium of charcoal will be put to the test.
For two class periods, you will draw from a still life model, comprised of glass bottles, and vases, filled with varying amounts of water. The water will be present to affect how the light passes through the glassware-- sometimes distorting or magnifying information. Pay close attention to these phenomena, and how the light that passes through a vessel is determined by the very shape of that vessel. Take note that rather than shadows of solid shape, the shadows may be distorted with reflections within them. Additionally, paying close attention to the highlights will be crucial-- since the surfaces of your objects will be highly reflective.
This drawing will be treated as a final exam-- in which case I will be paying very close attention to how well you are measuring your subject to achieve accurate proportion, how much time you are investing in correcting your perspective along the way, and how complete your drawing is. Manage your time and focus. Incomplete drawings will be downgraded. Roughly six hours total of class time, is more than enough time to complete this project.
Here are a few examples of this project, as completed by prior students:
