Author: Rachel Witherspoon

Contour Drawing of a Still-Life

A still-life of many objects, including (from left to right) a gourd, a vase, a ball, a smaller gourd in the background, and a large pumpkin that is partially visible on the side of the image.

This drawing highlights the complexity of objects through the use of contour lines, marks, and shadows. The use of contour lines and values is important to differentiate the objects from one another, despite similar coloring on a few of the objects (including the pumpkin and gourd). To create this drawing, I outlined the basic shapes of the still-life with vine charcoal and then proceeded to add some dimension and form to create a 3-D effect. After the object were all correctly placed and shaped, I continued using vine charcoal to add details in the form of contour marks and shadows on and around the objects. The drawing uses elements of basic shapes and forms, as well as contour and value.

Negative Space Still-Life

A collection of white shapes against a solid black background. The shapes include a book, a small round fan with a cord, and a pineapple. The small round fan and pineapple are stacked on top of the book, so the shapes blend together to create one larger shape.

This drawing was done of a still-life of a pineapple, small round fan (with a cord hanging off of the side), and a water bottle sitting on top of a book. Because all of the objects are placed near each other, the negative space style of the drawing makes them appear to be one large object. To create this drawing, I set up the still-life and did a rough sketch of the objects before carefully outlining the existing exterior lines of the objects. I then filled in the negative space with compressed charcoal to “black-out” the negative space of the scene. The most prominent concept in this drawing is negative and positive space, but aspects of basic shapes were also used to create the final product.

Reductive Value Still-Life

A black and white charcoal reductive value drawing of a still life containing a funnel, milk carton, book, and ball.

The drawing shows a funnel, milk carton, book, and small ball resting in front of a draped curtain. To create this drawing, I covered the paper with vine charcoal. Then, I selectively erased to create the forms of the still life and used compressed charcoal and a white conte crayon to emphasize the lights and darks of the still-life. While this project mostly covers value, aspects basic forms and shapes are also present, as well as negative shapes.

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