For this exercise I set up another Still life group.  This time I used a selection of plastic and drink bottles. I wanted to go for something completely different. I also really like the reflections the plastic bottles make and hope it will make an interesting drawing. 

I started by setting up a few different compositions and taking photos of them. I also tried taking photos from different viewpoints and angles. 

I found it helpful to then review my photos to see which ones worked best.

As I was still unsure of my favourite layout and viewpoint  I experimented with some quick rough thumbnail drawings to try to work out the best set up. 

I started my drawing by drawing it’s rough outline using pencil. 

I decided to use oil paint on cardboard. I decided to use oil paint as it is quite permanent and I didn’t want to spend my time hung up on or worrying about accuracy and mistakes. 
I started my drawings by using blue tones. I tried to really focus on the lightest and darkest areas first then as my work progressed I tried to add in more tones of colour. 

I found this exercise quite difficult as I naturally wanted to use the colours I saw rather than using colour to show tone. For example I wanted to paint the red bottle red and the green bottle green. 

I tried to work quickly to keep my drawing energetic but I think this in turn made it look a bit messy. However I did really enjoy creating this painting. 

I didn’t feel I’d made the best use of line, tone and colour on my first drawing so I decided to create another drawing this time I decided to use red tones as I didn’t want my work to be too similar. 

I again really enjoyed creating this drawing, I felt like I was being expressive and free. Again my final result is quite messy, and lacking in small detail but I am still pleased with my final result. 

Overall I really enjoyed this exercise, it made me think about using colour differently. I am so used to using colour as I see it that I have never considered it as a tool to show tone or depth before.