Subject Matter.

There are many factors that come into play when you are evaluating a drawing.

Today I want to chat about subject matter this is very personal and each artist will have their own preferences of what they enjoy drawing.

The truly great drawings involve the viewer they tell a story or evoke an emotion. The subject matter is fairly unimportant.It is how the drawing is crafted that matters.So if you love drawing landscapes, buildings, people or still life, tell a story involve the viewer. If you are doing a still life, placing an apple on the table with a bowl of flowers is not going to create much interest if it is not exciting.

The treatment of the drawing can be very interesting if you use light, texture, contrast etc.

Have a look at Van Gochs landscape drawing.

The subject matter is just another landscape nothing too interesting, but note how he captures your attention.

Contrast the dark land on the left the lighter land on the right.

Perspective the lines in the earth in the center of the drawing that leads you through the page

The trees on the left are heavy the ones on the right are light and wispy.

The flat horizontal lines heavily underlined in the background stop you from moving off the page he takes you so far and no further.

The figures on the right are interacting with each other, can you imagine what they are saying?

Notice the land in the front of the drawing it is the exact opposite of the land in the middle of the drawing i.e. dark on the right and light on the left.

A perfect balance to the entire drawing.

 

There is a story here and he takes you through the drawing like a grand master.