I was pleased with the left hand corner of the drawing, where the hessian fabric folds around the table edge. There is heavier crosshatching to hint at where the shadow of the teapot hits. My working wasn’t too heavy here. I smudged the charcoal and left areas almost empty, except for crisscrosses to suggest weave and light passing though. There were small marks to give the impression of texture. I pulled an eraser though the shading to hint at light falling on the edges of folds. I like where I’ve pulled the eraser though on the front of the mirror to hint that it is a flat, shiny plain that follows its own direction. The shading and empty space on the teapot hints that it is a pale colour and a shiny, curved ceramic surface. The pen lines in dipping ink on the mirror frame suggest that it is grained wood. The lines and marks of light in the dark wine hint that the liquid has form and reflections. I was pleased that fine pen gave delicate outlines to the petals of the flowers and black blobs of dipping ink gave texture to the flower centres. The charcoal smudged in the centre of the flowers hinted at the petals’ darker-coloured middles.
I was less pleased with the coaster underneath the glass – it doesn’t quite work and looks like its floating. The mapping of the teapot in the mirror isn’t quite right. The dipping ink marks on the mirror frame are too lumpy and the vertical part of the frame isn’t quite the right thickness. The far side of the picture under the crate isn’t quite right and hasn’t been studied enough to give the right effect. Overall I think I need to lighten my touch and not labour it so much. The piece took me over 8 hours to complete – which means I dug into it too much. Its a bit basic and a bit lumpy. I think I can only improve this by practicing drawing at every free moment I have. I need to work on basics – crosshatching, perspective, mapping and drawing shapes. I think it lacks some of the feeling I was trying to convey as my technical skills need development.
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