Charcoal Still Life

Composition used: The composition used in this piece was Variety in Unity.

How it is displayed: Variety in Unity is shown in this piece through the placement and sizes of the objects. They are all placed near each other, but there is also a separation in the placement. The heights of the object all vary as well, which creates variety in the piece.

Successes with the value scale: I believe that I was overall successful developing a full range of value. Shadow tones, mid tones, and highlights are all visible within the picture. Shadow tones can be seen in th shadow cast by the onion, the outer parts of the apple, and the background of the piece. Mittens can be seen in a majority of the picture, suck as on the paper back, the onion, and the board that the objects are sitting on. Highlights are also achieved, most notably on the apple and the onion, but there is also one on the cup.

Medium used: The medium that was used to create this piece was charcoal. It was difficult to get used to due to the fact that it was easy to smear and had a powdery texture, but once I got the hand of it it was somewhat pleasant to use. I personally found that it made shading easier because it helped to achieve the darker tones of the value scale easier. 

Challenges: I had the most difficulty with detail work to achieve the more realistic style of the piece. The places in the drawing that I struggled with this the most was the folds in the paper bag to make it look like an actual paper bag. 

Successes: I was successful at making the piece accurately portray the general look of the objects because it's easy to tell what they are rather than  just blobs, so it has a look of realism about it. I was also able to successfully shade the piece accurately, as shown with the highlights and shadows in the piece.