Full Version: First attempt with pastels
Inspired by some photos of Voodoo ceremonial masks I was looking at last night. No very 3 dimensional; and I regret making the eyes red. They seem a bit lost. I had fun though!
You have created a bold statement with this and that's great. Having fun is a large part of drawing or painting. Knowing what you want from your art and matching it to what is in your head is another thing.
You do mention that is isn't 3 dimensional (or 2 in drawing) and that you wish the eyes weren't red. That to me, means perhaps you wanted more realism from it?
Without using other colours, you achieve solid blocks of one value that appear flat. Pastels like any other medium need some practice to get the hang of. Like watercolours, they are built up in layers, sometimes blending, something simple strokes of colour applied one on the other to obtain optical blending.
To draw this mask or anything else, you need to carefully observe what is in front of you. The shape, how one area intersects with another, what the colours are, what the values are.
To provide a critique I need to know what you are trying to achieve with this. Realism, abstract, impressionist?
You do mention that is isn't 3 dimensional (or 2 in drawing) and that you wish the eyes weren't red. That to me, means perhaps you wanted more realism from it?
Without using other colours, you achieve solid blocks of one value that appear flat. Pastels like any other medium need some practice to get the hang of. Like watercolours, they are built up in layers, sometimes blending, something simple strokes of colour applied one on the other to obtain optical blending.
To draw this mask or anything else, you need to carefully observe what is in front of you. The shape, how one area intersects with another, what the colours are, what the values are.
To provide a critique I need to know what you are trying to achieve with this. Realism, abstract, impressionist?
QUOTE (IslanderNL @ Jan 28 2010, 07:45 PM) 
You have created a bold statement with this and that's great. Having fun is a large part of drawing or painting. Knowing what you want from your art and matching it to what is in your head is another thing.
You do mention that is isn't 3 dimensional (or 2 in drawing) and that you wish the eyes weren't red. That to me, means perhaps you wanted more realism from it?
Without using other colours, you achieve solid blocks of one value that appear flat. Pastels like any other medium need some practice to get the hang of. Like watercolours, they are built up in layers, sometimes blending, something simple strokes of colour applied one on the other to obtain optical blending.
To draw this mask or anything else, you need to carefully observe what is in front of you. The shape, how one area intersects with another, what the colours are, what the values are.
To provide a critique I need to know what you are trying to achieve with this. Realism, abstract, impressionist?
You do mention that is isn't 3 dimensional (or 2 in drawing) and that you wish the eyes weren't red. That to me, means perhaps you wanted more realism from it?
Without using other colours, you achieve solid blocks of one value that appear flat. Pastels like any other medium need some practice to get the hang of. Like watercolours, they are built up in layers, sometimes blending, something simple strokes of colour applied one on the other to obtain optical blending.
To draw this mask or anything else, you need to carefully observe what is in front of you. The shape, how one area intersects with another, what the colours are, what the values are.
To provide a critique I need to know what you are trying to achieve with this. Realism, abstract, impressionist?
Truthfully, I'm not all that certain i started out with an achievement in mind. I was looking at some masks, and thought it would be fun to try and create one. I was hoping for it to be more real looking, but soon discovered I'd need a bit more experience with using pastels. So I decided to just make it as bold as possible.
Have you ever just created basic shapes with pastels (i.e: sphere, box, cylinder)?
QUOTE (Jonathon87 @ Jan 28 2010, 11:39 PM)
Have you ever just created basic shapes with pastels (i.e: sphere, box, cylinder)?
Nope that was the first time I ever picked them up.
By drawing the basic shapes you can learn how to make an object more 3d looking plus one imporant skill you need to learn about is perspective. It's quite easy to learn.
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