Exercise: Still life group in tone

In this drawing I used soft pastels and a range of vegetables, varying in texture and colour. As well as curves and interesting lines, colour also creates energy in a drawing, so I chose a lot of bold tones; the purples and reds of the onion, greens of the cauliflower and leeks, and red and orange from the carrot and onions. 

This drawing took me a long time with all the layering of the soft pastels and smudging, and then trying to achieve some detail! So I found it quite hard in knowing when to stop working on this piece. 

As before, the outside line may be a little too prominent, though at the time it felt essential in clarifying each vegetable. 

Form
The cauliflower looks a little flat, but I am pleased with the detailing of the florets and lines for the stalks as this gives it its overall depth. I think the light and darks of the carrot have worked really well to create its form, as with the onions. The onions took a long time but seem to be worth the effort of the soft pastels, with their shiny surface with lots of lines and blends of colour. 

Background
I chose yellow as the background as the chopping board is already a natural colour blending in with the vegetables, and my thinking was that the lights would stand out more with a yellow background. Now I look at it finished, I don't think yellow was the best colour, as it makes the carrots and cauliflower look yellow rather than cream and orange! I think blue may have been the best colour to choose as it is the complementary colour of orange and would have helped the carrot, onions and red onion to really stand out. 

Composition
The angle could have been lowered a bit more for a more interesting composition with more overlap, perspective and depth. But otherwise, I'm quite pleased with the placing of the vegetables and the knife pointing towards them. Without the knife, there would have been too much negative space, so I added the knife to guide the eye to the vegetables! The carrot may have been better positioned away from the other orange tones of the onions. 

Vegetables using soft pastels