Still Life Sketches with Natural Objects

In the first sketch I used a charcoal pencil over a HB pencil  and I used conte crayon on the stems of the grapes.  I like the depth of colour you can achieve with the charcoal.

The second sketch has been enhanced by the computor to make it a little darker.  I think just using HB pencil for me is not enough to give me a build up of darker colours.  I am not very good a cross hatching to make an area darker, and I tend to start colouring in.  I like both compositions with the roundness of the grapes and the checked cloth.

Still Life Sketches of Man Made Objects

The first sketch I did took my a few hours, I found it very difficult to get the perspectives correct.  But the second I did quite fast and was quite happy with the results... shows me that the more I do the better I get as with everything else in life!!

I do not think it is any easier to suggest three dimensions on man-made or natural objects, they are both equal and difficult to sketch in relationship to each other.  I do think that having a combination of both man made and natural objects in a drawing or painting is much more interesting than just on or the other.  I tried to create a sense of solidity in all the compositions by placing the items close to each other and by using the checked cloth in the natural objects.  I think by using something similar in sketches of the man made objects that it could have enhanced the drawing somewhat.  I do not think that by changing the arrangement of the composition makes a difference to the approach and the way I create a sense of form.  I try to measure and draw with my pencil taking careful measurements to try to get everything in the correct place.  This takes practice and I do not see that anything is easier to draw than anything else and for me the composition makes no difference.   I can only draw sitting and looking directly at the object.  I think personally for me I prefer a medium such as charcoal to make darker marks on the paper as I am not happy with the light mark a HB pencil even with a build up of cross hatching.  I do feel however during these exercises that I have gained more pencil confidence.