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Notes from Tuesday, September 22



-Need vine charcoal (soft), charcoal and drawing pencils, white pencil, kneaded eraser, sketch paper, spray fixative, good quality largish photo- preferably black and white

1. Review & Homework:
a. Last week we discussed expressive drawing and experimented with ink and brush... What do you think creates expression in your drawings?

b. Still life drawing: You were asked to express a feeling of order and simplicity with these drawings. How successful do you think you were?
1) How did you decide on the shapes to emphasize and how to do it?
2) How did you think about what kind of lines to make?

2. Review Gesture:
a. In the Beginning class you learned that one basic skill of drawing is to see the form of things. Form in drawing refers to the 3-dimensional bulk of what you are drawing- the height, width, and depth. In drawing we translate the 3-dimentional form into 2-dimentional shapes.

b. Gesture drawing is a loose kind of sketching or scribbling that attempts to quickly capture the subject's basic form. Artists often use it to study figures, but it can also be used for nature or still-life. (Show samples)

c. A gesture drawing describes the form or bulk of something, not the exact edges. You start the lines on the inside core of the object, and work outward, quickly scribbling in the shapes and showing a sense of the overall form, with no details. (Some people describe it as the movement or the essential feeling...)



3. Gesture warm up: Last time we did gesture with pencil and pen; this time we will use a soft vine charcoal. Draw gesture drawings of animal photos:
  • These will be a very quick sketches- 1-minute each. 
  • Frame the drawing with a rectangle, about 8x5.
  • Take a moment to look at the blank space of the rectangle and see the animal sitting in that space. How close to the edges does it come? (You can draw with your fingers.)
  • DO NOT draw an outline; instead use light strokes with charcoal to rough in the angles, curves, and shapes of the animal very quickly- no details. 
  • Draw in layers: Use light pressure for a first layer. 
  • Just as with blind contour, keep your charcoal on the paper and your eyes on the photo, and move the charcoal along with your eyes, drawing whatever part you are looking at.
  • Follow the roundness or flatness of the form, and show the "directional energy".
  • No erasing- just draw heavier and darker for the 2nd layer, drawing corrections right over the 1st layer and ignoring the preliminary 1st layer marks (When you look at drawings by masters, you can often still see the incorrect preliminary lines.)
4. Introduce Animal Portrait: We will begin a drawing of an animal, using a photo; I asked you to find a good quality largish photo of any animal, one which you resonate with.
a. Start with gesture using charcoal, thumbnails to decide on the composition. We will focus on variety and harmony this time:

1) Variety: Using different shapes, lines, colors, and textures to create interest.
2) Harmony: Using similar shapes, lines, colors, and textures to help the design hold together.
3) You will need to decide if you want to lean towards one or the other, to express the character of the animal you are drawing, or your own feelings.


b. Choose one composition and do largish gesture with charcoal on sketch paper: Notice that the shadows and highlights on an animal are created by the muscle and bone contours. Leave the lightest areas white paper, and build up background areas by blending charcoal to the correct tone.




c. Go back in and add texture of the (fur or feathers) with a charcoal and / or white pencil. (demonstrate)

5. Homework: Do your thumbnails and start a first draft for this drawing- experiment with texture.

 

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