Exercise (2) Still Life In Tone Using Colour. Project (4) Sill Life.

I worked on a light brown support, with pastels.

I had four different sizes of books, 

I thought that books would be good and simple objects for displaying a use of  tone and colour, especially if well lit from one side.

The picture, although having good elements, (like the background and the shadows cast by the stack of books) 

I think it is a poor piece of work on the whole, this was due to unfortunately not having enough colours of pastel required and lack of knowledge and experience with the usage of pastel.

So I tried again on the same paper but with coloured pencils and a slightly different composition.

Like the one above, some parts of this drawing were all right (like the red book under the blue one) but most of the think was fairly frightful. 

I didn't like the way the brown support came through the pencil, and I just think I could have done better.

This one was even worse then the one before.

After such dislike of the outcome of coloured pencil, 

I returned to pastel, which, although I have great room to improve in the way I handle the material, I enjoy using a lot, (perhaps it is because I have so much to learn, that I enjoy using it, I learn something new every time I put pastel to paper.) 

I (rather unprofessionally) chose my still life to suit my medium, 

(I think it should be the other way round.) 

but I was low on some tones of colours and not others and didn't have time to get some more.

(I have ordered some more pastels because I like them very much.)

So on a white support this time.

I do think this is the best of the three drawings I did, I like the faded background and the shadow that the ring that the keys are on cast, some of the areas that worked best are the ones that I worked on less, the bits like the brass handle on the jug, just a few colours and lines. 

The parts I don't like are the wonky-ness of the shapes (should have worked longer on them) and the lack of shadows under the keys.