View Point and Depth

View Point and Depth

I devised, planned and developed a piece of artwork that features three figures with a sense of depth and a consideration of a view point. I looked into retro swimming scenes and outfits and found a photograph of some swimmers sat down scattered on a beach which I thought had a really strange mystery to it and I thought it would be a great image to use as a reference image as I could pick out three figures from it. They are all dressed similar so they have a relationship and link to each other, however they are not actually interacting physically. I arranged the figures and scenery so they overlapped in order to create depth. I also used a foreground, mid-ground and background - each with a figure in and a 'hill/slope' of land (which was meant to suggest sand dunes as they are wearing bathing suits). The view point and point of perspective is from behind the first figure lower down the hill looking up, this allows me to draw the figure larger which means it can overlap more of the other parts of the image conveying depth further. I tried to keep the image balanced by placing the three figures in a triangle shape, triangles are a themes throughout the image; in the patterned land which is also in the form of a triangle and the bodies with the head as one point and the knees as the others. I think this creates balance and consistency to the image but also composing the figures with their backs to the audience and having them scattered in very ordered placing adds some mystery and strangeness to the image; this makes the audience engage emotionally with it in the way of feeling somehow peaceful yet uneasy at the same time.

I produced a more refined resolution during my dry point workshop in which I focused on line quality and mark making. We were informed about how important it is to have some space between lines and that if we cut out a large area the ink would only stick to the edges and it would not print out as ink but instead a blank space as the ink would not stick there. They suggested that instead we should draw lines close together to suggest shadow. I did this in my piece for the shadows on the bodies and hat, and then drew lines slightly further apart but close enough to suggest shadow in the background patterns. The scenery also helped to create depth as the patterns made a distinction between the different levels of scenery which meant they can overlap and help to develop depth.

If I were to do it again I would add some more interest within some different poses for different figures, and I would also add some objects or noticable points in scenery just to create a more interesting visual scene.