Process Post: Still-Life Arrangement/Thumbnails/Underdrawing

To be honest, I've never been the kind of person who seriously implemented principles of composition in my work. I've always had some vague sense of space and shape, but I have also always been more eager to begin the actual process of drawing.

In this way, the process of arranging a still-life for this project has been quite different. Simultaneously, it was necessary for my development as an artist. There are elements in composition that I had disregarded before; I now recognize these elements as paramount to the overall quality of artwork.

Arranging the still-life took nearly two days of studio time. I wasn't exactly counting, but I must've taken at least two or three dozen unique photographs in an effort to find a composition that could effectively communicate my theme of identity. This is the one I ended up choosing:

Thumbnails came easier, as it was a matter of rotating the blackbox and objects and capturing the image I saw. The underdrawing was also quite simple. I've somewhat familiarized myself with the art of still-life drawing in the many years that I have been drawing (though, there is still room for improvement, of course).