For this project, I will be self-critiquing the following sketch I drew in October for drawtober. The theme for the day was "rotting," so I chose to draw from reference a stranded and decaying ship. I was drawn to this class to consider ways I can more constructively give myself feedback in the artistic process; it sounded akin to what I do with my own writing/composition students in asking them to consider strengths and needs for improvement in all forms of writing as there is rarely a piece without either (though the balance always varies). Below is the sketch. After, I will critique per the different principles and elements of art described in the course:

 

Principles of Art

Pattern: I see several patterns, mostly in the shading. I look at the wood grain on the boat and love some of it and... not so much all of it. The sky is consistent, though a bit chaotic in its pattern. The hatching for the land texture could be more consistent, but I see a good attempt at using patterns as ways to mark different materials.

Unity/Harmony: The structure is there; the unity of themes, object, style, and so on needs improvement. I look at the individual components: the ship is decent; the moon is great for what it is here; the landscape is muddled. I need to focus more on coherence and slow down (this was ultimately a rushed project sketch).

Repetition: The consistency of the texture of the sky is a good repetition. The momentum of this repetition is not carried into the style of the bottom half of the composition. This is an area where I could more deeply refine my consistency of technique.

Emphasis: The moon pops out well in the sky; the ship, not so much. I pushed myself to try a new technique. I don't consider this a full failure. Rather, I need to retool how I outline objects in darkness and light.

Balance: As the sketch is from a reference photo, the balance in placement is mostly credited to the photographer. In terms of the sketch, I do think I did decently in offering a balance of light and dark in the sky, though the work needs some refinement (more than some) in the overall sense of the balance of foreground and background.

Rhythm/Movement: The rhythm is a bit too chaotic and inconsistent in terms of line texture and movement. The sky/background and ground/foreground are almost two different styles of sketch. However, there is undeniably a sense of movement that I find compelling that would be better if refined.

Contrast: While the constrast of foreground and background is marked by the levels of shading, the overcrowding of lines somewhat muddles the dilineation between forms. I do think the lighting of the moon implied is a nice contrast overall.

 

Elements of Art

Shape/Form: The main item is recognizable as a ship. Success! The hills are rough. The water? I'd be curious to hear if anyone else was able to recognize the river/sea between the background and the foreground shores. Slowing down could help this; textural practice could help further as well.

Tone/Value/Color: I have combined all these due to the fact that this image is purely in black pen on white paper. Tonal differences are somewhat muddied between extreme darks and extreme lights; I need to focus on refining the edges and transitions between the two.

Texture: Pattern and Texture more or less represent the similar issue here. I see good ideas in representing texture, and I see rushed ones. On the front of the ship, the hatching works well in representing decay. Look at the shadow in front or the hills behind, and the hatching is rushed and inconsistent. The textures are present; they need consistency.

Line: I give myself that my line weight is consistent on the ship. However, variation could help draw focus to this if I used lighter weights for distant objects.

 

Ultimately, this was a practice piece, and it advanced several techniques I hadn't used before. At first, I was very displeased. The more I look at it now, the more I recognize that I'm pushing myself in a medium that I know is difficult for me (I thrive better in pencil or digital). Articulating the strengths and needs for improvement (I try to avoid the work "weakness" to reframe that it's not a problem but a moment of opportunity for development) helps me better understand my own goals and where to focus.