Studio Blog | Stéphan Angoulvant

Viscom 2 - Part 1

Continuing my midterm recap, these are some of the results from Viscom 2. The aim of this class is to learn how to properly shade objects from simple geometric forms to complex curved surfaces. We also learn how to use various media such as pencil, markers and chalk. The principles we learned in Viscom 1 are the basis for our constructions but instead of using lines to describe form we use value.

Our instructors have created a great online resource called SketchWiki which is growing each week and describes the techniques for shadow construction and value assignments that form the basis of this course and of Viscom 1.

I’ve mentioned Scott Robertson’s DVD series as an excellent place to start for perspective drawing but he also has a set that describes shading and rendering. The series How to Render Matte Surfaces is broken down into Planar Surfaces, Geometric Surfaces and Complex Curved Surfaces, and are essentially a condensed version of our lectures this term. They’re an excellent resource which I’m still using every week to aid in me with these assignments.

As you’ll see from this sampling we have gone through the basic shapes and will be starting to create more complex objects as the term goes on. Unfortunately the scanner isn’t particularly flattering on some media and the subjects remain basic but I hope that by the end of the term I’ll have some cool stuff to show.

We started with simple boxes in this case drawn with black Prismacolor Verithin pencil.

Increasing the complexity of the construction, here is a drawing made with Polychromos and Verithin. These pencils are preferred over graphite because they can create a darker black.

We then started to tackle shapes with more facets, and new materials such as chalk (Prismacolor Nupastel) and marker (in this case toner-gray Copic).

Over the past few weeks I’ve been working mostly with chalk. Though it is easy to mess up, it is also a fast and fun medium to work with.

Each week we are asked to try a number of lighting scenarios, varying the angle, the softness of the light and whether the source is the sun or a local light.