Exercise: An objective drawing

For this exercise, we are asked to pick an item from a short list and explore it visually to become aware of its textures, physical qualities and function and then reflect this in an objective pencil/fine liner drawing. This means achieving a drawing that has a high degree of visual accuracy and is technically controlled.

Well I picked my old tango shoes as they have different materials and floppy straps so I thought it would be an interesting drawing. Rather than ink, I decide to stick with pencil since I have done a lot of ink drawings lately. I have always known a little about soft or hard pencils but have never really tried to use different ones to help convey different textures and tones. So I experimented first and tried to pick the best ones to convey leather, suede and a kind of mini leopard print. (FYI the shoes are a gorgeous colour of jade green!)

So I used a light and hard 4H to do the original sketch outline. Then I filled in by using a softer and darker 6B which gave a more grainy look that helped convey suede texture more. I then used a lighter F for a smoother leather. For the dotty pattern I filled the background with 4H and then a 9B to make soft, imperfect little dark prints.

Final reflections

I enjoyed experimenting and I think it was worth trying out the different pencils and different ways of pushing hard into the paper or not to get texture based on the cartridge paper I was using. This would have been more difficult using smoother paper. I also made a much more conscious effort to really try to keep my eyes on the shoes and not fill in lines from my imagination which I think really helped me keep realistic shapes and proportions.