Photoshop | Mixer Brush and Layering

Today, just like every monday morning I had my professional practice digital skills class which is such a good way to start off a Monday morning.

Todays lesson was about learning the mixer brush and creating layers. As I am still quite shy with the wacom as today was only the second day using it, The first task was to do a simple 15min drawing to get used to the wacom again. This was pretty simple and this was my outcome...

I decided to use my sketches of leaves from my sketchbook to inspire my drawings in photoshop. I used multiple brushes and also used different sizes. I used different tones of green to create a bit of depth and dimension. To improve on this I would work faster as I ran out of time and did not get to finish off during this task.

The second task was to use the mixer brush, We was given about 20-30 mins to experiment with the mixer brush, using different brushes and sizes to create different textures. Here is my outcome...

I am really happy with the outcome of this task, As it is now Autumn the leaves at the trip to Yorkshire Sculpture Park were getting more crunchy and brown, So I tried to incorporate that into my drawing although I didn't want to ruin it as I had not learnt that many skills yet and did not know what the best way to make it look crunchy was. The brown I added and smudged with the mixer brush creates the effect of the leaves blowing in the wind. I also used the mixer brush to soften up the edges. 

The final task was to work with layer's... Which seemed scary at first as it's coping with more than one thing at a time. At first I did get a little confused and end up drawing the wrong things on the wrong layers accidentally however I got the hang of it in the end and this was my outcome...

I am so please with this as my first attempt at layers. I tried to do a different texture on each leaf by using different brushes and mark making techniques. To improve on this I would spend a little more time on each leaf to make it more blended and not as harsh, I would also create more leafs so their isn't so much white, I would also add more browns and oranges to the colour pallet too. But I am happy with my first attempt.

In conclusion I am really please with todays digital skills lesson and am learning new things every lesson which is great. These skills are transferable through the textiles industry and are also good skills for myself to learn for the future for designing prints and such. 

Thank you for reading!

Becca

Yorkshire Sculpture Park - Sketches

In my last blog post I talked about my trip to Yorkshire Sculpture Park and how I produced some quick sketches in my sketchbook during my time to explore the park. Using different techniques and a mixture of dry and wet media I created 6 sheets of sketches including annotations. 

This is the first page I did in my sketchbook. I did this as a line drawing as I wanted it to look sketchy and a little bit messy. I then added watercolour, a soft mixture of browns and greens to bring it to life and look a little more like wood/tree bark. This is one of my favourite pages in my sketchbook so far, its simple but I like the black lines of the pen I used and the messy watercolour over the top. I also added a couple of little twigs that I found to my page.

I did this page in side one of the galleries where there was two big rotating fans on the ceiling, They would go really fast and then slow down a little bit. It made the atmosphere in the room a little bit tense as the fans were so loud and big. I used a mixture of media for this page including graphite pencils, pen, ink and little bit of watercolour. I would say this is my least favourite page in my sketchbook as it doesn't really look like my normal 'messy' working style however I am glad I tried to make this page look more observational as it shows me trying to use a different style of working. I also added a rubbing of a tree bark in the corner which I did with a graphite stick.

This is the third page in my sketchbook and I really like it, It looks very tactile even though it is all flat. I like to use masking tape before and during my work to give my page a little bit of texture and to also make the big white page look less blank. I did a few blind and sketchy drawings in the background and layered it up with a drawing of a sculpture I saw, I used pastel for this. If I was to improve this page I would annotate more and maybe make a note of my surroundings to help me relive that memory when I open that page.

Although leaves are not sculptures, They did inspire me. Autumn is nearly here and it's really showing... There was so many crunchy leaves laying underneath the tree's at the sculpture park, I decided to a few quick watercolour and pastel drawings of them for future inspiration as I think they would look so nice as a print.

If I was to improve this page I would fill it up more and maybe stick a leaf in too.

A few more observational drawings now, These are drawings of my favourite sculptures I saw at the sculpture park. Using only dry media to create this page I decided to make it quick and sketchy then if I was ever to develop it I could always add my own style to it and just use the shapes for inspiration.

If I were to improve this page I would have made the background more colourful, However time was short at the sculpture park by this time and I was concentrating on doing a few good drawings rather than making my background look amazing.

This is the last page I did in my sketchbook at the sculpture park. I saw a piece of work in one of the galleries and it was thread all intermingled and it looks so amazing and delicate I thought it would look amazing as a layered up print in different colours of even to inspire some sort of embellishment. I would not improve on this page I think they simpleness makes it look good.

That is all my sketches from the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

If I were to do another exercise on a trip like this again I would spend more time preparing my backgrounds before hand and I would also like to spend a little more time sat down drawing and try to improve on my observational drawing skills.

Thank you for reading.

Yorkshire Sculpture Park

This long week has been my induction week at university. It sounds so so strange saying 'University' as it seems like 2 seconds ago when I was at primary school. Nevertheless I am a university student now! This week has been filled with lot's of boring inductions for health and safety and what not, So when I was told I was going to yorkshire sculpture park I was really happy to be finally getting some practical work done.

After the 30 min coach ride, We got of the coach and was free to explore the park our self's doing sketches in our sketchbooks as we go, However the long walks, awkward sitting positions and the wind really did not agree with me and I did not get as much done in my sketchbook as I wanted to. 

The park is really beautiful and such a nice walk (if you like that kind of thing) So here are a few pictures from the galleries and the sculptures we found on our way around.

I hope you like the picture's I have taken, I really enjoyed my day out at the sculpture park. In the next blog post I will show you my sketches inspired by the sculptures and thing's I saw at the sculpture park. 

Thank you for reading!