For my Perspective Project, I drew the library at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA using various graphite pencils. I have included my reference photo, my final project, and an in-progress photo.
I took risks with this project because I felt wary about using just pencil instead of adding pen or color. I was afraid that my final project would look boring or not very realistic. I also thought the picture I chose might be too difficult for me to draw because of the intricate details and strange perspective. Even though I knew it would be a challenging piece, I still chose to proceed with my project.
With this project, I also solved problems. During the drawing process, I kept finding myself struggling with finding the vanishing point and getting the perspective angle correct. I also found it difficult to achieve the necessary values and blending necessary in some parts of the drawing. I solved this by darkening different parts of the drawing and using new materials and techniques, like learning how to lift darker shades with kneaded erasers and how to achieve darker or lighter values with different types of pencils.
I think a big part of this project was collaboration. During class, I would get tips from Ms. Rossi and ask my peers' opinions on my work. It was helpful to hear what my classmates thought of my work and any tips they may have had to improve the piece. I also asked my family members that have a particular interest in art for tips about the drawing.
I feel like I struggled with this project because I did not love the photo I drew and I really struggled to get the values and things right in my drawing. Although I feel like I could have done more with the photo I chose, I am fairly happy with the way it turned out. I particularly like the windows to the far left of the drawing and the way the lights turned out. I think the angles are wrong on the arches and some of the values are off. Next time, I would take more time on it and work harder on blending my values.
I also included photos of the shapes and value charts I drew to practice different shading techniques using pen and pencil.