During the day, I set up the celery root on my drawing table and spent some time finding a good positioning and lighting. I wanted the light to bring out the irregular surface texture of the root. I decided that this idea would work better when using artificial light and postponed the task until the evening.
Getting back to it later, I found a position that included some of the root branches as well as the body surface and the little fold at the bottom of the root. I placed strong directional light from top down at a slight angle.
I drew for several hours and I think this is so far the most worked out drawing I have made for the drawing course so far. I think there is would be still more to do, but I stopped because I was too afraid to spoil what I had done until then.
There are several successes with this drawing
– There is an overall tonality for the object, with the lightest area on top and dark contours to the left and right. The lower part is darker but still lighter than the shade it casts on the surface.
– There is sufficient detail in the root pattern area and some of the larger branches
– There is some surface texture, both within the lighter top and in the darker lower areas
– The tonal range goes from very light to very dark tones
So this might be the first drawing since I started with Part 5 which actually resembles a celery root! I’m still not satisfied with the surface texture and think I need some more practice with this. Maybe detail studies of just a section would be helpful for learning how to depict the dented surface.
Next day, I made a second tonal study in my sketchbook. Initially I only wanted to draw a section, but then decided to expand because the tiny dents on the surface didn’t seem to work out and I wasn’t able to judge whether my marks worked or not. So this developed into another complete tonal study. I found it an improvement that I was a bit more generous to work over larger area, but from the differences to the first drawing it becomes visible that I drew more or less blindly.
Contrasts on the lower smooth side of the root are too intense in both drawings, letting the indentations appear too deep. Reducing them and getting them right in the overall tonal context is something I still have to practice.
What I like in both drawings is how the background changes from darker to lighter in tone and how the darker and lighter outer areas of the root are set off against the background.