Project 1 Fabric and Form.
Exercise 1. Drawing fabric using line and tone.
Throw a piece of clothing or length of plain fabric (so you don’t get distracted by pattern) across a chair to make folded and soft layers of fabric and then, using an appropriate medium for each, make two 15-minute sketches, one using line only and the other concentrating on tone.
Exercise 2 Emphasising form with cloth
Here you’ll sketch a seated figure wearing a plain and pale coloured shawl, baggy jumper or soft dressing gown.
Using very light marks, sketch the overall shape of the seated figure, remembering to fit it interestingly within the borders of the support. Then, disregarding details, concentrate on drawing the body and the fabric as though it were a single form, considering the cloth as much a part of the body as the skin, flesh and bones.
Project 2. Proportion
Exercise 1. Quick studies
In this exercise you’ll draw your model in a comfortable position. Having something in the background helps identify the space and will help you place the figure so that it doesn’t appear to be floating in space. Position yourself so that you’re facing the mode; with an interesting viewpoint, and use paper on a board or a large card-backed sketchbook.
Here I was lucky enough to stumble upon a life drawing class and managed to join in. we couldn’t choose our positions to draw from, it was the luck of the draw as it was a full class. Great fun and challenging at the same time.
Exercise 2 A longer study
Find a pose that your model is comfortable with and that they can hold for an hour. (Again having to use pixelovely due to drawing at very anti-social hours). This was a five minute pose.
Project 3 Form
Exercise 1 Basic shapes
(again, see pixelovely studies in charcoal, this is the method I use to start before adding detail).
Exercise 2 Essential elements
This time draw a sequence of six different poses lasting ten minutes each.
The above page was a series of 30 second studies.
This page and the one below were two minute figure studies.
Exercise 3 Stance
Look for line of balance or the centre of gravity. – see above sketches.
Project 4 Structure
Exercise 1 The structure of the human body
Loosely sketch some structures that make up the human body. – see above sketches.
Exercise 2 Three figure drawings
Using different tools, materials and supports, work on three drawings of your model:
1.Standing Medium – Hard Pastel.
2. Seated Medium – Block of dark Graphite.
3.Lounging Medium – Marker Pens.
Project 5 The moving figure
Keep drawing moving figures in your sketchbooks…..How well have you managed to create the sense of a moving figure rather than a static pose?
Exercise 1 Single moving figure.
This study of a footballer gives a feeling of movement by the angle of the body, the lines that are off-balance gives a dynamic feel. Head and body are probably too large.
The above image is a woman leaving the front door drawn with a hard pastel block. I had to draw quickly to capture the moment and I feel that the success of the image is partly down to the inclusion of the door behind her which gives a better understanding of her position and it adds to her movement. The door was added after the figure had left!!
The Marilyn Munro sketch was taken from an article in a newspaper which included this iconic image and I was fascinated by the movement in the dress and her hair and quickly sketched this with a 2H pencil during my fifteen minute break at work. The squiggly lines help to convey the movement
I like the simplicity of the above sketch and am reminded that a few quick lines and marks can quickly convey a sense of movement and atmosphere.
The image below is of a Slam-Dunk where I tried using marker pens as they provided long fluid, sweeping strokes – which I felt would reflect the idea of the graceful and athletic leap. The inclusion of the basket and backboard (which is ten feet off the ground) provides a sense of perspective.
I felt that by developing the image onto a dark background, and adding a few fidgety lines in the sketch made it both more dramatic and added movement. The use of chalk pastel which lends itself to blending works pretty well I think.
Exercise 2 Groups of figures
For the dancers, the energy comes from the pose, the woman is spent, hanging limply on to the man who is supporting her strongly in one arm with his feet planted shoulder width apart. At the same time he is hunched over her, gazing down upon her. This may seem complicated, but it was very simple to break it all down into basic lines and angles.
Project 6 The Head
Important note :Although the head is the focus of attention in everyday life, for a drawing to look convincing you need to consider the whole head, and particularly the underlying skull (temples, jaw and eye sockets). This will give you the structure and form to locate eyes, nose and mouth.
I have found “Drawing the Human Head” by Burne Hogarth Dynamic Drawing Series to be a most valuable reference book for proportion studies.
(Paperback edition 2002 pages 29 through 55 in chapter 1 Basic Structures and Forms).
Exercise 1 Facial features.
Exercise 2 Your own head
Used Graphite to quickly cover the paper and blend and smudge rapidly for this self portrait. Gives a gloomy, dark atmosphere.
Exercise 3 Portrait from memory or the imagination
Neil Cramond
Student 515702
Drawing 1
Assignment 4
Project 6 Exercise 3 – Portrait from memory or the imagination.
For this exercise, you’ll use your imagination and the skills you’ve learned to draw someone you’ve seen momentarily – or not at all. Perhaps someone you’ve seen on the bus or in a shop? Or you might create a portrait of a fictional character based on a description in a book.
This exercise should prompt the question, “what is a portrait”? Should it show something more about the person than mere physical characteristics and, if so, what? How difficult is it to create a portrait of someone from a chance meeting or completely from the imagination? Make notes in your learning log.
For this exercise I decided that I would use a description of a character from a poem, and would call upon my local heritage. When you grow up in Ayrshire you are constantly reminded of Robert Burns’ both with places he visited/worked at or wrote about in his many poems. He is probably best remembered for creating works such as “Aye Fond Kiss” or “My Love is Like a Red Red Rose” which are fantastic love poems and Burns did have a reputation for being fond of the ladies, but here we see another side to his extraordinary writing prowess in the Ayrshire dialect where he describes the less than beautiful appearance of Willie Wastle’s wife, which apparently the poet “wouldn’t give a button for such a lady” as this is how he ends each verse.
The reason I chose this” image” to work from is that there wasn’t any chance that I could source this from anywhere other than my own imagination. And that was a particular challenge for me as I am always more confident when I can copy from an image or real life in order to check how close to the original I can get.
To give a loose translation of her appearance, she has one eye, and it’s the same colour as the cats – (greenish yellow?). She has five discoloured stumpy teeth, whiskers on her chin and a hook nose that points down the way and a pointy chin that curves upwards. So those were the features that I had to incorporate into my portrait, and they were also the key anchor points for the image in order for it to work. As long as I incorporated those key elements it would be a successful portrait from the description. As the poem was written around 1792 I thought the headgear and shawl would have been the fashion of the period, so I did have a bit of artistic license in this work.
“Willie Wastle”
Willie Wastle dwalt on Tweed,
The spot they ca’d it Linkumdoddie.
Willie was a wabster guid
Could stown a clue wi onie body.
He had a wife was dour and din,
O, Tinkler Maidgie was her mither!
Sic a wife as Willie had,
I wad na gie a button for her.
She has an e’e (she has but ane),
The cat has twa the very colour,
Five rusty teeth, forbye a stump,
A clapper-toungue wad deave a miller;
A whiskin beard about her mou,
Her nose and chin they threaten ither:
Sic a wife as Willie had,
I wad na gie a button for her.
She’s bow-hough’d, she’s hem-shin’d,
Ae limpin leg a hand-breed shorter;
She’s twisted right, she’s twisted left,
To balance fair in ilka quarter;
She has a hump upon her breast,
The twin o that upon her shouther:
Sic a wife as Willie had,
I wad na gie a button for her.
Auld baudrans by the ingle sits,
An wi her loof her face a-washin;
But Willie’s wife is nae sae trig,
She dights her frunzie wi a hushion;
Her walie nieves like midden-creels,
Her face wad fyle the Logan Water:
Sic a wife as Willie had,
I wad na gie a button for her.
Again, I chose to work in chalk pastel, you can build up layers very quickly and set down guidelines for detail to build on. I did begin to enjoy the freedom of not being bound to try and copy something exactly as there was nothing to say this bit is wrong or this bit is right!. I obviously worked within the general rules of facial proportions as laid out in the Hogarth text of Dynamic Drawing series – Drawing The Human Head (Paperback edition 2002) in order to make it look believable, but I really was out of my comfort zone with this exercise. I struggled with imagining what a face would look like with only one eye – perhaps an internet search would have yielded some results, but I chose to use my imagination and not be tempted to resort to copying in any degree.
Again, a key element from the pastel is that I got to work quickly. I laid out the basic human head shape with the angle the face would sit at and drew in rough proportions for eye sockets (the missing eye is probably drawn a bit too high up), bottom of nose, mouth etc – the mouth had to be open to show the five stumpy teeth so this would elongate the jaw line from the skull – jaw hinges from the skull rather like a horseshoe so a closed mouth would give a jaw line closer to the skull. Despite this I do feel that I have created a believable portrait – obviously not exactly lifelike, but certainly illustrative from the description given by Robert Burns, and in that respect I feel that it is a success. Is it more than just a set of physical characteristics? In this instance – probably not! The limited characteristics which the poet provides have to be the main focus, possibly to the point of doing a caricature, so to take away from that by focussing on other areas would diminish the effect of the portrait. Burns describes her countenance as being “dour and din” as well as her lovely physical appearance, so I opted to use a cool colour pastel paper which would help to set the mood of the picture, red or yellow or even blue might have been too bold a colour to use, so there are some techniques and methods the artist can use in portrait painting to make a portrait more than just a set of physical features, the mood can come into it by using toned down colours or bold or gentle strokes. I wanted to make this portrait kind of believable as a real person and not an obvious joke that nobody could look like this character.
Taking these points, I did find it difficult to make the decisions about how I was going to go about the portrait, but having secured the knowledge of basic head shapes and proportions, I was able to make an attempt at a portrait from my imagination. This is something that if I was asked to do six months ago I would have said no way!! The advantage of this of course is that nobody can really say for sure if an element is exactly right or wrong when it comes from your imagination, you are the only one that knows for definite. I will need to work harder at this in order to be more fluent and believable, and who knows where it could lead to. I know one thing for sure is that I do enjoy portraits and want to develop this to a much higher level.
ASSIGNMENT FOUR
For this assignment, you should complete two large figure studies (A1 size) and a portrait or self-portrait (any size) – three drawings in total, together with supporting studies, experiments, etc.
For each drawing, consult your preliminary studies and make notes on what you plan to do. Think about composition, medium and approach. Write a few notes on the artist(s) that have inspired you to work in a particular way. Be inventive in your approach and in the materials you use. You’re not restricted to working with black on white. Try reversing this to white on black, or consider monochrome, perhaps dark blue on pale blue paper, or ink and charcoal on newspaper – the list is endless, so be inventive. Allow around two hours for each drawing.
1.Figure study using line (A1) – Seated model in an upright chair.
This study is about drawing three-dimensional form using line. Take particular note of the proportions of the figure and the chair in relation to the whole scene, gradually describing details such as the hands and facial features as well as the folds of clothing using a single line or combinations of lines: narrow and thick, curved and straight, fractured, expressive, gestural, dynamic, dramatic (and so on).
Look back at your notes and studies from previous assignments to rediscover ways to work with line. Try different media and supports; do a few tests with textured and found paper, unusual formats, etc.
Do a few exploratory sketches before starting work on the larger sheet. Try to be as expressive and experimental with the large drawing as you were with the previous studies. Try not to tighten up or lose the fluidity and spontaneity that should have evolved since the beginning of the course.
2. Figure study using tone (A1) Reclining model
Plan the setting carefully. Your model should be dressed in reasonably fitted clothes; it’s a good idea if the clothes contrast in tone (e.g. dark trousers, light top).
Use strong light from one major light source. If you’re using artificial light rather than natural light from a window, experiment by moving the light around to allow the shadows to fall across the figure and the room in an interesting way. Use tone only to create a real sense of form and atmosphere. Remember to use positive and negative spaces, including the small spaces in the hair, between the fingers, and so on.
Taking inspiration from previous work in Assignment 1 where we started using tone, I was keen to re-create the mood from using either charcoal or graphite blocks, and at the same time keep the energy from my figure gesture studies.
3. A portrait or self-portrait combining line and tone (any size)
Create a portrait a self-portrait where the features are believable and in proportion to the rest of the face, head, shoulders and chest. Try to find an interesting position rather than looking straight ahead. Use mirrors to view from different angles. In your sketchbook, experiment with some of the ideas you’ve uncovered during your research into other contemporary artists’ work.
Work with variations of tone and expressive line to create an interesting and atmospheric image. For your main light source, you might try using a candle, small lamp or torch in a semi-darkened room to exaggerate the contrasting lights and darks, for example. You might also work very close up with the features filling the sheet. Be experimental and ambitious in this drawing.
The Mel Gibson “Braveheart” drawing above shows my normal attention to detail and style when using charcoal, but having examined some contemporary portrait artists I found myself attracted to Mia Bergeron’s work as her style has a unique quality in that it appears to be almost dream like, as if you are looking at the subject through a veil, there is a slight fuzziness to her work and yet an undeniable attention to detail at the same time. Here’s a link to some of her work.
This style inspired me to do a self portrait in chalk pastel. This was rather a bold step for me and is right outside my comfort zone, but strangely enough I really enjoyed doing this and might want to develop this style further:-
artbyneil 