The bread in our house started growing a little mold. Unsure as to when I would be able to buy groceries again I cut the moldy bits off and put the rest in the fridge to prevent further growth. It’s kind of like what the world feels like right now; isolating the “contaminated bits” while trying to save the rest, but also the physical reality of waiting to buy groceries until necessary. I struggled with deciding what details on the food to include, but it was nice to experiment with the line intensity and thickness in those moments. The perspective on the photo I took for reference was a bit wonky so I had to keep refocusing myself to draw what I was seeing. I think I did a fairly good job of capturing the photo but I would have liked to add more detail to the cutting board and bread. Some value might have also made the mold/decay stand out more and to draw attention to that portion.
Hi Amanda. First, I really love the thought behind this drawing. It is a more metaphorical view of the situation, but I like that the image is more mundane and has a deeper meaning. I think that the detail on the basket to the left of the cutting board is really amazing and brings a lot of life to the scene. Other than that, the knife, banana peel, and bread pop out to me since the cutting board has such a light value. I do think that if the cutting board had a darker line, it would anchor the things on it more. They are floating a little right now. Overall, I think the drawing has a nice flow, since the knife’s handle extends to the bottom right corner and the basket is in the top left corner.
Hey Amanda. Like Hannah, I also found the thought behind the drawing very interesting and relevant during this time. I think you did an amazing job with line weight and intensity. All of the lines are so crisp and I think it creates a really nice contrast with the blank spaces on your piece. I think this is especially prevalent with the wicker basket and the knife. If I had one criticism it would be the perspective, like you said, is a little bit confusing and I’m not sure if the basket angle matches the perspective of the cutting board. I also think some shading could make the objects appear to have some more depth, but that being said, I really like the clean and precise nature of it as is, and shading could potentially detract from that.
With apologies for the late reply, this is a tremendous drawing–love the movement, balance, and structure you get out of the succession of diagonals moving left to right and back again (terrific composition), and your observation and line work are textbook examples. Everything is observed and recorded in its own way (wood looks like wood, banana looks like banana) but also in a very unified graphic language.
The foreshortening woven basket at the top left directs the eye to the center of attention but also introduces depth–without it the tableau would be fairly flat. Wonderfully done.
I must say the mold got by me completely–it just felt like a cozy lunch time prep (and I’ve spent more time than usual looking at cutting boards myself). I assumed those marks were simply texture. To get your point across, you’re right–adding a bit of value to those spots only would be the way to go, and the “alien” quality of a few spots of value in a contour drawing would be a great metaphor for the mold on the bread (and then to the larger metaphor you mention). When I read your comment I started wishing this was a painting in order to make that clearer.
But short of that, there’s nothing at all disappointing about the drawing as is. Fine work.
The bread in our house started growing a little mold. Unsure as to when I would be able to buy groceries again I cut the moldy bits off and put the rest in the fridge to prevent further growth. It’s kind of like what the world feels like right now; isolating the “contaminated bits” while trying to save the rest, but also the physical reality of waiting to buy groceries until necessary. I struggled with deciding what details on the food to include, but it was nice to experiment with the line intensity and thickness in those moments. The perspective on the photo I took for reference was a bit wonky so I had to keep refocusing myself to draw what I was seeing. I think I did a fairly good job of capturing the photo but I would have liked to add more detail to the cutting board and bread. Some value might have also made the mold/decay stand out more and to draw attention to that portion.
Hi Amanda. First, I really love the thought behind this drawing. It is a more metaphorical view of the situation, but I like that the image is more mundane and has a deeper meaning. I think that the detail on the basket to the left of the cutting board is really amazing and brings a lot of life to the scene. Other than that, the knife, banana peel, and bread pop out to me since the cutting board has such a light value. I do think that if the cutting board had a darker line, it would anchor the things on it more. They are floating a little right now. Overall, I think the drawing has a nice flow, since the knife’s handle extends to the bottom right corner and the basket is in the top left corner.
Hey Amanda. Like Hannah, I also found the thought behind the drawing very interesting and relevant during this time. I think you did an amazing job with line weight and intensity. All of the lines are so crisp and I think it creates a really nice contrast with the blank spaces on your piece. I think this is especially prevalent with the wicker basket and the knife. If I had one criticism it would be the perspective, like you said, is a little bit confusing and I’m not sure if the basket angle matches the perspective of the cutting board. I also think some shading could make the objects appear to have some more depth, but that being said, I really like the clean and precise nature of it as is, and shading could potentially detract from that.
Hi Amanda,
With apologies for the late reply, this is a tremendous drawing–love the movement, balance, and structure you get out of the succession of diagonals moving left to right and back again (terrific composition), and your observation and line work are textbook examples. Everything is observed and recorded in its own way (wood looks like wood, banana looks like banana) but also in a very unified graphic language.
The foreshortening woven basket at the top left directs the eye to the center of attention but also introduces depth–without it the tableau would be fairly flat. Wonderfully done.
I must say the mold got by me completely–it just felt like a cozy lunch time prep (and I’ve spent more time than usual looking at cutting boards myself). I assumed those marks were simply texture. To get your point across, you’re right–adding a bit of value to those spots only would be the way to go, and the “alien” quality of a few spots of value in a contour drawing would be a great metaphor for the mold on the bread (and then to the larger metaphor you mention). When I read your comment I started wishing this was a painting in order to make that clearer.
But short of that, there’s nothing at all disappointing about the drawing as is. Fine work.