Shakespearean it up in here!

After observing an art lesson, it inspired me to spontaneously buy charcoal pencils, a sketchpad and a mouldable rubber. The charcoal pencils arrived but were in fact NOT charcoal so whilst I wait for some actual charcoal to arrive in the post,  I decided to go back to basics with ye trusty ol' pencil et voila!

His Humble Abode, The Globe and Him. 

Getting to "Et Voila!"

I was feeling particularly Shakespearean,

so opted to first start off his his humble abode. I found this photo below online and as it's been somewhat over 5 years since I've actually drawn something, I thought that a house that was so geometrically pleasing to the eye would be a good start.

I then was left with a massive space in the bottom right corner of my page and what better to fill it with, but The Globe itself. I love how this photo displays the Globes circular nature with it's open top, thatched roof.

 

And finally, how could I draw a tribute to Shakespeare without including the Bard of Avon himself! The longer I stared at this portrait whilst drawing him, the more his eyes in the portrait felt alive staring right at me. Quite freaky but with a Mona Lisa-esque stare - his eyes will follow you whichever angle you make look at it! 

And there you have it!

Although initially I was going to leave it at that, I wanted to add a little colour into my drawing. I knew I definitely didn't want to colour in my drawing as such so I had the idea to write in and around my drawings in coloured pens. I thought it would be a nice little extra to have my scrawly scribbles surrounding Shakespeare as we all know him for his own scribbles in the form of his poems and plays.

Outside the Globe (the pink and green writing) reads who Shakespeare was - William Shakespeare, the playwright, the poet, the Bard. Inside the Globe (the blue and orange) are a selection of his plays - Macbeth, Midsummer night's Dream, Richard III, Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing, Henry VIII, Romeo and Juliet, Tempest, King John, Anthony and Cleopatra, Twelfth Night, Julius Caesar and Othello. 

Alas! Poor yorick! What would you improve?

I think with whatever you produce, it is always important to reassess and evaluate your work so that you can better yourself and go that one step further in refining your skill. So though I do like the outcome of this piece, there are a few things that I would like to work on.

One of the things I'd like to work on is bringing the 2D to life into 3D. I did try and attempt a bit of shading in this drawing which is a start. To help with this, I also need to look at perspective and how different elements of a drawing relates to other elements.

Out of the whole piece, I struggled the most with Shakespeare's nose. People and their features were always something I could never get right; noses, ears, lips, hands. But with practice, I hope these will become more comfortable to draw.

I've started to work on my second piece of a little girl and her reading book. I will be trying to work on my shading and drawing features and we shall see what the outcome is once I finish!

Thanks for reading!

Take care, keep it Shakespearean and keep smiling xx