Eyes of the Leopard

This graphite drawing of a leopard seems alive despite merely being a drawing of taxidermy. The lines capture the ferocious energy of both the animal's face, and its body, getting into position. The perspective of the drawing combined with these lines, as well as careful shading, make the drawing look fully alive and three-dimensional. While the viewer's eyes are clearly drawn to the leopard's face, the rest of the body gives that face the realism it needs to capture the viewer's attention. The viewer could easily be taken out of the realism of the drawing if the anatomy wasn't accurate, but there is no cause to worry about that with this drawing.

Falling into Desperation

This image depicts a man's unfortunately downward spiral into his negative emotions. First, simply sitting, then sulking into his hand, followed by moving into the fetal position. Despite the lack of facial details, the movements in this graphite drawing perfectly encapsulate the emotions at hand. Clear care has been made to make sure these detailed outlines represent pain and sorrow. There is, however, plenty of small detail giving the figures an anatomically correct feel. Marks have been placed to represent muscles and allow the motion of the drawing to depict real human motion to go along with the real human emotion.

A Sweeping Sorrow

Here we have a graphite drawing of a man holding some sort of pole. The man is seemingly trying to cover his face out of some sort of sorrow or shame. The negative space adds to the picture's sadness. Not only do these emotions shine through in the drawing, but the anatomical details of the man do as well. His skinny muscles are very visible in his legs, arms, and chest. His legs are positioned a bit awkwardly in an attempt to capture the left leg's movement upward. This has given the right foot a bit of a flat look, however, the rest of the drawing clearly has dimension.

Building the Future

This graphite drawing is of a building on the University of Bradford campus. The building has particular looking shutters that make for an interesting drawing. Fine lines were needed to depict these shutters in the drawing at hand. The building's peculiar shape required a careful look at the vanishing point to make sure the proportions would be captured correctly. The perspective showcases this peculiar look very well, as the eyes are drawn to the doors in the middle, they can gauge the odd shape. The drawing could use a bit more detail and a showcase of surrounding elements to build contrast.

A Rude Awakening

The three figures in this graphite drawing depict a man in three different motions. The first shows this man napping, with clear attention paid to the man's face to give him the proper expression of relaxation. The second shows the man abruptly standing, seemingly very cross. This pose seems to showcase an abrupt awakening at someone else's hand. The last figure has a clear look of disappointment from both the face and the crossed position of the arms. In all three figures, the lines have carefully been drawn to capture an accurate human form. The eyes are drawn to the changing faces and arms in each one, to great effect. The legs, however, could use the same attention to detail as the rest of the bodies.

Lean into a Smile

At first glance, the anatomy of this drawing looks slightly off, however, upon further inspection the woman posing in the image is lifting a leg and leaning on a chair. The graphite drawing captures this motion despite being an entirely still frame. The eye is drawn to both the chair area, noticing the woman's interaction with it, and her raised shoulders. The lines do an effective job of capturing the woman's general silhouette and details. A smile can be seen almost creaking out of her face. The use of space gives off the illusion that she's looking at something in the distance, adding to the aforementioned smile.

Grounded

This graphite drawing is of a lone feather on the forest ground. The feather, serving as the focal point, lies atop of crumpled leaves. The picture has a sort of abstract quality to it due to its lack of color and blending of the objects. The minimal shadow leads the eye to believe they are looking at this feather from directly overhead. This viewpoint lends to the idea of this feather being "grounded". There's an unfortunate imbalance to this image that could have been cleared up my depicting it from a different angle or by using color. The frilly end of the feather came out looking like a blank space separate from the feather that it is meant to be a part of. While the lines of the feather give it a distinct shade, the rest of the image is lacking in that element of individualism.

A Twisted Creature, in the Forrest Lies

While this graphite drawing is of a tree, likely twisted and contorted by lightning, it seemingly depicts a creature of sorts. The face of this creature serves as this main focal point of the image. Immediately, there's a look of otherness to be seen in this drawing. This tree not only looks like some sort of animal, but it has been drawn in isolation, showing it as purely alone. The shading and clear lines in this piece capture the detail of the contrasting colors and broken branches of the different parts of the tree. Unfortunately, the space left to create a sense of loneliness, also gives the drawing a bit of emptiness.

Black Leaf

This drawing depicts striking black leaves, contrasting with lush, green grass. Light green shading does a good job of creating the idea of grass while keeping the necessary negative space to make the image visually appealing. The blades of grass that have been drawn individually truly feel individual, as if they are breathing entities in their own right. The composition of the leaves and grass create a powerful bit of harmony, not only within the colored pencil drawing itself, but as a screenshot of nature. The largest leaf to the right, the bottom most leaf, and the top most leaf, serve as the focal points of the piece and take advantage of the rule of thirds. There's a certain flow to each line that sells this depiction of beauty.

Fenced In

Each board is shaded differently to capture the difference in the real life boards' textures. Little details in the boards help capture this sense of realism. The moss at the bottom of the fence's boards bring about a certain look of light. There's a clear look of morning in this piece. The leaves, which serve as the main focal point, have been individually drawn and depicted with a different color pencil than the brunt of the moss. The framing of this picture makes the leaves look like a bright hand reaching for escape, a still of an unseen life. The biggest downside to the piece is that it feels a bit flat, despite the plant seeming on a different layer than the boards.

Garbage Day

The contrast between the bright colors of the garbage bins and the grays create a popping display. There's a certain subversion regarding the trash being the vibrant part of this picture that's very appealing. The perspective also gives this drawing a dynamic imbalance. The simple method of capturing the brick walls in the background is an effect means of communicating the material of the building. The shading is a bit rough and uneven, as are the lines. While this makes the colored pencil drawing less than ideal, it also evokes a certain sense of freedom being brought to the piece. Most interesting about this piece is how it attempts to show beauty with nothing more than the day's trash.

Entrance to Media

The futuristic doors of the National Media Museum are put to graphite in this minimalist depiction of architecture. The lines, while rough, have captured a three-dimensional look for the cylinders that make up the museum's entrance. A small lack of perfect symmetry prevents the image from seeming too sterile or uncanny. The symmetry that is there, however, draws the viewer's eyes in. This symmetry is created by the two revolving doors, depicted here as glass cylinders, which serve as the drawing's focal points. A more interesting background could've provided contrast with these doors, and better gave off the illusion of glass.