Set, Series, Sequence: Practice of Depth with Charcoal

"Fear of Broccoli"

Sometimes, the absence of colors portrays so much about the essence of a drawing. No colors, no life, no hope, darkness, or so I see it. I attempted at creating several drawings by using pure charcoal, without the pencil outlining of the drawing. What I found most intriguing about charcoal was its dry residue on the paper, which could be purposefully smudged to create effective gradients which depict perspective and depth. This is exactly what I was aiming for while drawing and sketching with charcoal, and unexpectedly, they turned out quite effective. For example, in "Fear of Broccoli" (one of my drawings), the gradient that protrudes from the background serves as a shadow and effectively portrays depth - darkness insinuates depth. Furthermore, I created the smudges on the floor to simulate roots of a tree (due to broccoli's similarity to oak trees), as if they were creeping upon the 6-eyed being who is suffering from a severe case of fear. Nevertheless, this part of this project helped me in drawing practice and the correct portrayal of depth. As I go on I can notice a distinct development of my drawing skills, something that will help me in fully embracing 2D animation - something that I have not YET had enough experience with.