Work in progress: Cubism

I thought I’d have a stab at something challenging but fun, but a learning experience nonetheless. The above is my attempt at a Cubist-inspired still life. Having visited the University of Hertfordshire Learning Resource Centre and looked at books on the Fauves, I then turned my attention to Picasso and Georges Braque. Their Cubist masterpieces caught my eye. I find them attractively menacing, as I cannot work out how they began such complex images. Sure, they started by drawing the image from life. But then what?

I learned a lot from this, as yet unfinished, exercise. Bearing in mind the importance of light and shade, and therefore contrast. I tried to produce an interesting composition. I think what I came up with, based on an earlier conventional still life, (see below) could have benefitted from a more careful approach to initial line work. I must confess that I had very low self-belief in this particular project. Perhaps it would have been a more satisfactory outcome had I been more confident in approach and applied myself more to the basic draughtmanship. But, having said that, I’ve been having a lot of fun this afternoon!