Part 2: Project 4: Drawing and Painting Interiors

Research Point 2.4.0: Dutch Realist Genre Painters / Interiors, Illusions of Space and Rules of Composition

Please click here to view the findings of my research.

Exercise One: Quick Sketches around the House

For this exercise, I was instructed to choose an area in my home with which I am rather familiar. I don’t think this exercise could have come at a better time (during the COVID-19 lockdown) as I am spending a very lot of time here at the moment! I considered this well and settled upon my living room as this is the room I am in the most besides my bedroom, however, I am usually asleep and shrouded in darkness here, so this was not suitable as I do not feel I know it quite as well. My living room, however, is the meeting ground for my whole family and the central part of all our lives. There was no better option in my opinion.

Initial Sketches of Four Different Directions

For this part of the exercise, I sat myself in my favourite spot on the settee and drew three different views from this spot. For the fourth, I moved to the smaller settee (as seen in the image labelled ‘Direction Three’) as there was not much else of interest from the original position. I chose these spots as they are the ones I am most familiar with.

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The first thing I noticed from creating these pieces is how much I have improved from the similar exercise in my first course. I think my perspective and technical skills still need work and improvement, however, they have improved dramatically since the other exercise, as has my handling of the medium.

Four Sketches from Different Angles of Chosen View

I settled upon my fireplace as I feel this is a great symbol of home and family, which is integral to life at the moment and will resonate with a lot of people across the world who are faced with a similar situation each day.

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When I finished this part of the exercise, I considered other parts of what I have learned so far and the other directions I had drawn initially. I decided that, having looked at the fireplace previously when working, perhaps I should attempt something different so as not to limit myself to just the same things over and over again. I also considered the research I had done recently and how I had wanted to create a piece with depth, such as that seen in Harris’s work. I pondered long and hard as to what to do and finally settled on Direction Four for use in the next exercise. I felt this direction would allow for a fresh approach, as well as a chance to experiment further with vanishing points and to brush up on my technical and perspective skills.

Research Point 2.4.1.1: Basics of Linear Perspective

Please click here to view the findings of my research.

Exercise Two: Simple Perspective in Interior Studies

For this exercise, I had to try to use perspective to assist in creating depth within a piece based around an area in my home. As stated in the previous exercise, I was tempted to work with my fireplace, and still feel this would have been an interesting idea, however, I feel this view is much more appealing and appropriate for this exercise.

I began by drawing the frame of the doorway leading into the dining room and then the back door. I then drew some lines to try and find the vanishing point and, when I had, I then proceeded to draw in the remaining objects. There were several other objects in my view (i.e. a coat draped over a chair, the dog’s water bowl and the fish tank to the lower right of the space in the front room), however, I chose to disregard these objects so as to simplify the piece and the work required.

I then began applying my paint, working from darkest to lightest as now appears to have become somewhat of a tradition for me now, working from thinner layers to thicker – especially within the darker colours so as to be able to hide any flaws with the lighter colours later on. I decided to stay quite true to the colour scheme within my house, which is predominantly black and white, however, I applied a layer of grey for the dining room to help with the illusion of depth too. The cushions on the chairs are actually dark blue in real life, however, I felt the yellow would work better due to being closer to the brown in the spectrum.

During the creation process, I came across several stumbling blocks, some of which I think are more apparent than others. The flooring is irregularly spaced. This is the main thing which stands out to me but, hopefully, won’t stand out too much to the viewer immediately due to the darkened colouring. This occurred as a result of trying to space the boards out too much and with no measurement. I then went over them again as they looked too unrealistically wide, and it became apparent that some were thicker than others due to no measurements in the first place. The feet of the chairs and table did not stand out enough from merging with the flooring. When I tried to correct it, I accidentally lengthened some of them, making them unrealistic. One more thing which stands out to me most is the wonkiness of the walls leading to the living room. I think this has been created purely by a lack of total control with my paint brush, however I do find perfectly straight lines – the type usually found in house walls – rather hard to accomplish due to my tremor, hence I then tend to overwork the area in an effort to create the straight line whereas, really, I think I should actually just leave it be and own the natural flaw.

Regardless of these issues, I actually think I have succeeded in creating a rather believable perspective within the piece and an overall good balance of scale and depth. Whilst the piece is still far from perfect and I still do not think it is my strongest area, I do feel I have improved drastically from my previous attempts at similar exercises and so am pleasantly reassured that my artistic eye is continuously developing even though I may not immediately see it. I still have a long way to go in perfecting this skill, however, I am pleased that I am on the right track!