Week 4: Landscape - Skies

A 30 minute drawing using charcoal. It is instantly obvious to the viewer what they are looking at when looking at this picture. This is because the chimneys and rooftops have been roughly sketched in, which helps give definition to a drawing which could otherwise be unclear. However these have not had much time spent on them as they have just been left as sketch lines, leaving more time to be spent on what is being studied in the picture, which is the sky.

There are a large variety of marks used in this image, from the very small and detailed ups and downs on the left to the very energetic marks on the right, this helps to show the viewer that clouds are not uniform and that there is a great variety of them in this picture. This feeling of differentiation is further aided by the range of tonal values which have been used.

The variation in tonal values and the layers which they show and create also make areas of interest, especially with the contrast between the very dark tones and the white on the left of the image. This, and the area just above the large chimney, are the main focal point of the image, balanced by areas of interest on the bottom left and the right, where there is contrast again. The somewhat central focal point is saved from making it a boring composition by the chimney being offset to the right, and the clouds to the left leading the eye away from the centre.