Pumpkin Charcoal Drawing

Pumpkin Charcoal Drawing Artist Statement 

My goal for the project was to draw a pumpkins and the shadows they cast. I accomplished this goal by putting charcoal on the paper and then erased it to bring the pumpkins out of the dark. I looked for the very bring whites to make the pumpkin pop out of the dark. I made the shadows very dark and mysterious. It was very hard to make the pumpkins bright enough to stand out of the shadows. I used white chalk to make a very bright white. My charcoal drawing really works in the "ombre" of the shadows... making the pumpkins look like they are coming out of the shadows. I learned that drawing the black background first makes it easier to brighten the rest of the drawing. Andrew Wyeth's artwork inspired me. He portrayed very dark and light colors in his artwork that assisted each other, making the bright colors come out of the dark. I watched Heather work on her drawings and was amazed at how she portrayed the very bright whites in the stem of her pumpkin. If I had a do-over, I would do the black background first before trying to approach the pumpkins. I feel that the bright's and dark's really work in my charcoal drawing and that makes it realistic.