Tracy produced a drawing with some nice touches of light and dark.

We discussed turning the page to be able to rest the arm whilst moving the hand in a comfortable direction, i.e. a right-handed person may feel more comfortable drawing a line from left to right, so if the line to be drawn goes off to the left, it's sometimes easier to turn the paper to enable a left to right direction. This can produce a smoother and less stunted line. Tracy used this technique in the drawing below, on the left branch of the candle holder.






Rebecca's first drawing is quite fine in its light areas and the angle of view provides a surprise when it produces the full shadow from the projected light source.






Lorraine accomplished a nice feel of light around her candle holders, but I think she felt that some parts of the drawing had been challenging to capture in just the way she would have liked.






Observations

Everyone seemed to manage well with their light and shadows, but many found it difficult to get the perspective right - particularly with the circular shapes when they were angled or coming into the foreground of the drawing - although perhaps from the photos on this page, you wouldn't realise that.

Some people commented on the difficulty of producing a clear sharp and fine line with charcoal. It is possible, but requires practice. Using a modelling knife to create a finer point can also help. Charcoal lends itself well to fast working and sometimes you just have to take a chance with a line or two.


Techniques Suggested

Sometimes, with circular or oval shapes, it is easier to first sketch them as squares or rectangles. It is often easier for the eye to then place a circle in its correct perspective. This technique is often used in life drawing, to work out proportions and directions: