Art in Physiology-Final composition
Previous classes
Hurrah!
You’ve made it this far.
Hopefully through your continued hard work and exercises you have now completed parts 1-4 and at each stage you will have started to see an improvement, not only in your in your drawing skills, but also cardiac knowledge.
For each session you have been given tasks to improve three elements of your critical thinking;
- Accuracy
- Draughtsmanship
- Knowledge of cardiac anatomy
Here are some examples of your work so far….
ANTERIOR STRUCTURE- Final assignment
1. Accuracy
Accuracy/draughtmanship
- Find an image that you would like to create as a composition with impact. The aim is to stick this image on your wall. This can be 1 image or can be a collation of images – such as can be done with botanical dissections (see previous pages in sketch books) .
- Identify as much of what you see in the drawing as possible as you go along.
Shading techniques....
I like this video- so Ill keep it here to remind you.
Cross hatching, continuous shading and pointilism. Pointilism takes ages but looks lovely.
My drawing this time I have used continuous shading
Getting your best angle...
Lighting
Is your image lit enough to get some good contrast or “Chiaroscuro”? Good resolution or blurry images can be affected by lighting
Perspective
Getting the 3D image can make it pop out at you and that can sometimes add a bit of life to your image. Awareness of an overall perspective- can really make a difference
Postioning
This can apply to both how the object is positioned for you to draw- is it a good angle? and also there is always a question of where it fits on the page. In the middle- to one side (Se below for comments on that).
A good composition should.....
- Fill the space is an aesthetically pleasing way – it should be a well-balanced natural looking arrangement
- Show various aspects of the heart, e.g. different views of the heart and valves, muscles, teendinae or specific detail to create interest and tell as much of the story of the heart as possible
- Create interest by using subjects with a range of textures and tonal values
So I chose a heart dissection- fiddled with the images to see if I could get something that appealed to me – then I drew that. I have also shared with you other images that you may enjoy drawing.
Remember as a final showpiece- put together all of the skills you’ve learned til now for this one.
My choice of a composition....
I chose this simply because I thougth it would look good. Not every image you look at is its best angle- we all know we have a best side when taking selfies etc. Images to look at are no different. 
Stage 1 6H-
Get a base layer down in the lightest shade. This will help place major srtuctures
4H pencil- beginning to find darker areas- and this can outline things that are further below the surface.
2H – Keep going, making small adjustments to structures. Errors simply fade into the distance.
HB pencil- things should start darkening down now. Emphasise your darkest areas and try and spot which areas need to be bought into focus and darkened down.
The darkest tones are in- 2B-6B. Go over with lighter shades, spot any items that need filling in.
2.What makes a good composition
Part of making an image that has not only impact but something that has that ‘je ne sais quoi’ that makes you want to look at it again and again relies on the rules of composition.
Composition and what makes something beautiful is actually based in maths- I have blogged about this and have embedded the blog below.
That said- you could also look at the rule of thirds, Fibonnaci’s sequence and symmetry for starters (Maybe I should blog it..?).
The image next to us here demonstrates how an image looks like something out of the Renaissance- because it fulfills the golden ratio.
The image below by Botticelli shows us how maths has been used to apply perspective, structure and impact. You can literally see where he has scratched angles onto the canvas before painting.
Previous blogs........
I hope this is useful for your piece. Please find other images you might like to try if you have difficulty finding them yourself. Play with the lighting once you have downloaded the image.
3. Draughtmanship
You should now have a complete page, tracings, and annotations with notes. Do remember to date it. When you have done so, upload a PDF or photo of your work into the forum AND email to me
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