Seated Boy Drawing

The drawing above, shows a side view of a boy with a hat on his head sitting down, arms rested on his knees. Done on a 24 x18 sheet of paper, the drawing has a two inch blank margin to the left. Crosshatching with various grades of graphite pencils were used to create the changes on value, thus the color is left on a grayscale. The objects on the paper are not to actual scale of the real thing it portrays. Seeing as the drawing is done with crosshatching, the image is essentially made up of lines. The lines all vary in thickness, length, and value. The drawing contains both sudden and gradual changes in value.

A very light sketch done with a 4H pencil was initially drawn with the use of a grid. With the use of various lines of different character, changes of values were created in the image. These sudden changes in values, which can be seen between the background and the foreground, give the impression of contour lines, especially on the boy’s back. The body in the drawing is given form and depth, making the composition much more realistic. By employing both dark lines and light lines tightly together, a smoother transition in value is made. Solid areas were done with the application of more pressure and darker lines. Highlights on the top of the boy’s arms and legs gives the view an idea from what direction does the light shine from. Changes in value done on the background creates a subdued and thoughtful tone to the drawing.

The drawing, which was done from another drawing by George Seurat, was a great study of the application of crosshatching. Seeing as the original drawing was done with charcoal, figuring out how to create changes in value with just lines did pose some difficulty at first, especially round areas in the image. Just like in any drawing, it was simply a matter of observation and patience in getting the desired outcome. I can’t really interpret too deeply on the content of the image, but I think that the purpose of this project had more to deal with the importance and possibilities of lines than anything else.  

Overall, I thought that my drawing came out fairly well. The biggest challenge that I had faced during this assignment was probably finding the patience to create the solid, dark areas of the boy’s shadow and parts of the foreground because of its size. Crosshatching the bare skin of the back was also interesting, seeing as I was trying for a smooth as possible transition in value. This resulted in the grainy texture of the skin and hat, but I think that it had worked out well against the background. While I am somewhat bothered by the slight inaccuracies and errors in the shapes of the shadows, I am overall satisfied by the final project.