a art skills 07

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ABC of Art Skillswww.abcyoucandraw.com

Jenny Gibson

Copyright Jenny Gibson 2004www.abcyoucandraw.com




Jenny Gibson


The ABC of Art SkillsFor budding young artists, teachers and adults who’d love to be artists butthink they can’t do it.

Complete with photocopy-able worksheets, black line masters andassessment guidelines.

A - ART SKILLS

The power of the lineFun ways to get a gripWrist and arm control exercises with pen in handIt’s good to learn early that the eraser might be your enemyObservation exercisesPutting it all togetherDiscovering and expressing your creative self

Dedication: This e-book is dedicated to Trev, for believing in me,and to my gorgeous children, for being the reason I’ve stayed on track.




Jenny Gibson


Contents

Introduction 4

ConfidenceThe Power of the Line

7

PatienceCrosshatching, a Cast of Thousands

11

FocusDeclutter focus, squint and observe

21

Observation and DetailObservation exercises

30

AssemblyPutting it all together

35

Release the Artist WithinSleep on it

37

Assessment Notes for Teachers 38

Appendix 39




Jenny Gibson


Introduction:I’ve always wanted to move away from the commonly held concept thatputting your ideas down visually on paper is some kind of unachievablemystery.

In the course of my workshops, I’ve been fortunate to see the light dawn onpeoples’ faces when they realize they are able to draw something.Consequently, there was usually an extra teacher or two sitting in on classeswith the intention of learning these techniques for themselves.

And so, I’ve created this series using the concept that, just as we learn ourABC skills, we can learn art skills; when we take a measured approach thatstarts right from the beginning.




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RULERA simple plastic ruler with a beveled edge to prevent ink overflow is the

best choice. I usually keep a set square on hand as well but it is notvital for these projects.

Whatever your level of talent, time spent mastering useful drawing skills willimprove your results dramatically.

Artwork is often revered as though it has emanated from a magical, etherealplace and at times, the work of a truly gifted artist, say, MichelangeloBuonarroti*, is of this calibre; but all of us can learn certain skills that willimbue us with the confidence to tackle a project with knowledge that has been

learned and can be applied.

After half a lifetime of illustrating, designing, painting, drawing, writing andteaching, I’m going to share with you some secret recipes for success, so thatyou can cook up a masterpiece or two of your own.

This workbook is the first in a series that will shine a light on the ephemeraltreasure chest of skills that allow for results that many would-be artists are tooafraid to attempt. Whether you desire to work in oils, inks, watercolours orsketch pencils, confident drawing skills will dramatically improve the endresult.

These exercises improve hand, arm and wrist control. They are also thebuilding blocks of the artwork you’ll create in the final project, so take yourtime and enjoy the process.

If you have ever said, “I wish I could draw.” Your time to achieve this goalbegins now…

* see Appendix for inspiration




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Secret 1.

CONFIDENCE – The Power of The Line

It’s good to learn early that the eraser might be your enemy.

I learned to draw, as a child, by putting PEN to paper for hours on end, dayafter day, year after year.

Take ALL your erasers and put them in a paper bag at the back of yourcupboard and DON’T let them see the light of day until you can confidentlydraw a satisfactory piece of artwork with a pen.

How is your focus now?

When you know that every line and dot you put on your paper is there forkeeps, your focus will skyrocket.

Imagine you have drawn all the basic lines of your project and have carefullycross-hatched all the shadows and spent an hour or two working on thecurrent piece.

You are about to begin the next element of this drawing. The knowledge thatone wrong line can ruin the whole piece will ensure that you take a trulyfocused observation of this new element and put the next linePRECISELY where your recreated scene wants it to go.

Multiply this experience by every pen stroke and your drawing skills willgrow exponentially.

Let’s begin.




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There are two of some worksheets. Use the 2nd page to experiment withdifferent pens. Also, photocopy some for extra practice. Feel free to

photocopy more worksheets so you can practice every day. You will only getbetter and better.

To complete the exercises, carefully finish each pattern. Keep the lines at thesame angle. Be aware of the spaces so you can keep them uniform.

First of all draw over the lines that are already there to give your hand theblueprint in advance.

When you’ve finished the row of circles at the end of the first exercise, trysome smiley faces. It helps to make you understand the power of a line.

This is all hand work, not computer generated lines. There is beauty in theimperfection of hand drawn shapes.




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There are two of these pages to make sure this starter exercise is done twice!




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Secret 2

PATIENCE – Crosshatching, a Cast of Thousands.

These following exercises give you practice in the basic techniques for penand ink work. Crosshatching a large pen and ink drawing demandsconsiderable patience.




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Complete each exercise by copying the lines of pattern on the lines nearby.Once again there are two pages of this exercise. Try using a different pen onthe second sheet.

Crosshatching is basically drawing lines at different angles to give the

impression of shadows.

Dark areas are made up of horizontal lines, vertical lines and diagonal linesdrawn on top of each other.

The second line of crosshatching can be drawn quite quickly to give a sketchylook. Fill it in like the fourth line of crosshatching. It takes patience, evenwhen you work quickly. Notice the extra line under the crosshatched circles.This suggests a shadow on the ground.




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Jenny Gibson


Once you have completed this exercise arrange a few boxes and roundobjects in front of you. Place a bright table lamp at an angle nearby andrecreate the scene.




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This is a funny looking collection of shapes. They will all be used for your nextbig drawing. It is much easier to recreate a simple section of a scene whenyou’re beginning. Sometimes, when faced with a full project, you just don’tknow where to start.

For the brick pattern I’ve numbered the order of drawing the lines to give youa head start.

The brick wall is simple a combination of the brick pattern and the cubesyou’ve drawn already.




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Now all those funny shapes from the last exercise will be put to good use.Draw the clown, puppy and toy bear in the space below each one.




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- PROJECT -

Once you’ve drawn the circus toys at the bottom of the facing page, redraw

them on good paper. Add crosshatching, colour and a little imagination.

On your good paper you may pencil in the outlines first.

This is my example. Use your own imagination to add patterns and colours ofyour own choice.




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Secret 3

FOCUS – Declutter focus, squint and observe.

Why is it that an artist seems to see the world differently? Quite often it isbecause they look at it differently. One thing that is common among artists isthe way we half-close our eyes to better define the lines, shadows and shapesof our subject. I do this all the time without thinking. Try it for yourself.

The photo below is fuzzy from high compression. Notice when you squint upyour eyes, how the features become clearer? It is as if your eyes fill in thegaps when you look at it this way.

Now notice how the contract of light and shadow is more marked; how the

dark parts seem darker and the light parts become more prominent. Nownotice how clear the lines and angles of this picture become when you look atit through half closed eyes.

Practice using this way of “looking” at your subject. It takes the clutter out ofwhat you see and helps you pick the main strengths of the image. Take noteof distances between points, angles of line and the relationship of each part ofthe image to the other elements.




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Here is another clown for you to try your hand at. Pay attention to thedistance and angles of each line.

Helper lines have been drawn in as a guide.If you draw the lines as they are numbered you may find it helps.




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Following this page is a selection of exercises where half the drawing hasalready been created.

First of all, take a good look at what you see. Now half close your eyes andimagine you see the rest of the drawing there. It is to be a complete mirrorimage. This practice helps you to “know” where to put the next line.

Now finish the illustration by recreating the right side of the cartoon as a mirrorimage of the left side.




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We will look at more of this style of drawing in the third book of the series“Cartooning”.




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Now, in the same way, complete the right side of this stylized drawing of ayoung man’s face.




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This time there is a little more detail for you to work with in this stylizeddrawing of a young woman.

Many people find the human figure to be the most difficult thing to draw.

The great painters of past centuries learned their skills by copying the worksof the masters of the time. They would recreate the great works on display,and as they did this time and again, they came to understand how to achievethe same results.

If this simple technique was good enough for the most brilliant artists inhistory, it is certainly worth exploring today.

This is why a lot of the exercises in this book are about building on the groundwork that I’ve put there to start you off. I’d strongly recommend you copydrawings from illustrated books.

Have a go at recreating the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. It will certainlyimprove your drawing skills.




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Jenny Gibson


This picture will start to make you aware of how fabric falls.




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When you’ve completed the drawing, take a large piece of cloth and drape itover a chair. Put a bright light to shine on the still life and draw the folds of thefabric.

Next find a photo of a painting in an art book and recreate the fabric folds of

the picture. “Fabric folds” feature in many of the great artworks from pastcenturies. They add a magical quality to your work once you’ve got the gist ofhow to recreate them on paper.




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Secret 4

OBSERVATION & DETAIL

Observation exercises.

Now we are practiced at reducing what we see to the main lines andcontrasts, we will swing to the other extreme and look deeply into our subjectand exaggerate every line, dot, imperfection and defining feature.

The next exercise is to help you bridge the gap between simplicity andcomplexity. This seems to be the dividing point of art styles.

Some artists veer towards contemporary minimalist paintings, while others gofor super-realism. In this style, you’ll see a giant sized portrait with everyfreckle and whisker pronounced in such a way that our imagination is

captured by the details that normal vision does not pick up. This stunning artstyle has quite a “wow!” factor.

Ultimately, it is up to you to decide what suits you best. This series isdesigned to give you the beginnings of proficiency in a number of areas, inorder for you to make choices based on your preferences rather than skilllimitations.




Jenny Gibson





Jenny Gibson


On the next page are two starter projects to help you begin the process ofnoticing things in fine detail.

First of all draw the simple butterfly shape, then complete the detailed butterflyon the right.

Next complete the simple sprig of leaf and flower, then complete the detailedpicture on the right. Both of these are to be mirror images, as we havealready been working with.

For this leaf picture, I simple strolled out into the garden and looked for asuitable subject to enlarge. The smaller drawing is about actual size of theleaves.

Once you have completed this exercise, take a full page of good paper. A4

size is good, unless your confidence has grown enough for you to upgrade toA3 or even A2 with your drawings. Now recreate your choice of either subjector combine the two of them. This butterfly, in reality, is bright green and black;a very simple but stunning colour combination.

If you decide to go with the leaves, and you decide to recreate your drawing infull colour, grab a sprig of leaves from a similar flowering tree and pay fullattention to the variations in colour. Basically, the original subject has glossy,mid green leaves and white flowers. The tiny dots protruding from the centreof the flower are pale yellow.




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Jenny Gibson


Once you have completed your project, find another miniature subject that isof particular interest to you, and give it the same treatment. Use a magnifyingglass if necessary to extract the finer details. This picture can be black andwhite, pencil and wash or full, enriched colour.

Do you love bicycles? Try re-creating the badge in supersize.

Do you love animals? Try re-creating a cat’s ear in supersize.

Do you love gardens? Try re-creating the tip of a fern frond in prehistoricgrandeur.

Do you love photography? Try re-creating the lens of your favourite cameraas a novel twist on the idea of the zoom lens.

Do you love the beach? Try re-creating a tiny seahorse like a tribute toclassic Roman fountains.




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Secret 5

ASSEMBLY – Putting it all together.

A jigsaw creation of garden elements, circus elements and a couple ofyour own favourites.

This next exercise is a recreation of all the bits and pieces we have done sofar.

Study the example here and work out a design layout for yourself. You maycertainly recreate the scene exactly as is, if you like, as a warm up exercise.Then write a list of subject matter you’d like to group together.

Choose one or two items to feature in the foreground, where I’ve place thebutterfly and leaves. Then choose your favourite subjects from all that we

have drawn so far. You can include the circus toys, the cartoon character or awinged figure wrapped in glorious drapery. Choose from the things thatcapture your imagination and inspire you to get to the task at hand.

Draw small rough sketches of each item on your list. Cut them into separatepieces and shuffle them around on a sheet of paper until you are satisfied withthe layout. You may find you need to add an extra element, or discard one ortwo subjects.

Here’s a tip. Repetition pleases the eye. A group of similar flowers oftenlooks better than one on its own. A row of plants with similar leaves oftenlooks better than a plant on its own.

Here’s another tip. Contrast pleases the eye. You may find a pattern ofcontrasting black and white butterflies mixed with black and white flowers ismore appealing to you than a natural arrangement of single elements. Thecontrast of large scale detail in the foreground, mixed with small elements inthe background, adds interest to the scene.

Here’s yet another tip. Alignment of major elements is pleasing to the eye.Notice how the plants at the left of my drawing and the flowers in the leftcorner are aligned with the points of the large leaves and the edge of thebutterfly. Think about this and apply this idea to your layout papers.

Here’s the final tip. Group the subject matter relevant to the position of majorfeatures. For example, the large rocks in the background are grouped withthe banana plant in such a way as to provide balance for the butterfly in theforeground. The foreground is roughly one third of the layout. Thebackground is roughly two thirds. Divide your layout into thirds, vertically,horizontally or diagonally and see how it affects the design. Once you’resatisfied redraw the whole scene on good paper.




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Jenny Gibson


Secret 6

RELEASE THE ARTIST WITHINSleep on it.

If you have really immersed yourself in the projects we’ve already done, youmay find that as you close your eyes to sleep, your mind begins to createlines, groups and imagery beginning from where we left off.

Like a trainee pilot you’ve been going through a pre-determined simulator andnow your creative right brain is taxiing down the runway, preparing to take offand cover new ground; the territory of your inner artist.

Now it is time to experiment with subjects and styles that appeal to you. Findyour passion. Discover and express your creative self. You now haveenough basic drawing skills to try out different ideas.

There are certainly more skills to learn but you have already come a long way.Soon you will want to understand how to represent other elements, such asperspective, in your artwork. Book B in the series will shine the light on howto achieve this next level of skill.




Jenny Gibson


Assessment Notes for Teachers:

Have each student draw a scene BEFORE beginning with the workbook.

Give them subjects matching the final pieces.

For example:

A circus A garden

• A clown

• A dog

• A drum

• A tree

• A rock pile

• Flowers

On completion of the workbook you will have a clear comparison of how muchthey’ve improved.

Assessing exercises:

Look for uniformity and balance.

For example:

Look for even spaces between lines. Even pen weight from beginning to end.

Top and bottom uniformity.

A really good marker is to take note of the last four or five strokes. Someonewho is really focused will work steadily to the last line. If the quality fizzles outon the last few strokes, the student is not applying the discipline required toattain the best result later on.

Wild creativity, such as that displayed by Jackson Pollack and Pro Hart willnot be repressed by pronounced drawing skills; but rather, if your young artist




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wants to paint by throwing things at a canvas, they’ll have surer aim and moreconfidence with a few extra skills up their sleeve.

Appendix:So who is the greatest artist of all time?

Answers to this question are many and varied. Leonardo da Vinci is a popularchoice, as is John William Waterhouse, Rembrant, Renoir and Turner to namebut a few of many wonderful artists. There are also modern artists withamazing talent, like Australia’s Robert Ingpen, who prefers to be consideredan illustrator, rather than an artist.

One outstanding artist worth considering is Michelangelo Buonarroti.

Michelangelo was born in 1475 on March 6, at Caprese, in Tuscany. He wasthe second of five boys.

His father, Ludovico di Leonardo di Buonarotto Simoni , realized thatMichelangelo was highly intelligent and sent him to learn his letters from aLatin master in the hopes that Michelangelo would become a successfulmerchant, thereby preserving the Buonarotti fortunes.

During his studies, Michelangelo became friends with a student of the painterGhirlandaio and at the age of thirteen decided to follow a creative path, ratherthan become a businessman. When Michelangelo told his father that he

wished to be an artist, his father flew into a rage and declared “artists arelaborers, no better than shoemakers”.

By the time he was 16 years old, Michelangelo had produced two reliefsculptures which demonstrate his potential and talent. The “Battle of theCentaurs” and “The Madonna of the Stairs” are serious works of art in theirown right.

Before he was 25 years old he had produced The Pietà, which many regardas the greatest work of sculpture ever created. One of the most famousworks of art, the Pieta is still in its original place in Saint Peter’s Basilica.

When this magnificent sculpture was first placed there, Michelangelooverheard an admirer remark that the piece was done by Christoforo Solari, aprominent artist of the time.

That night, enraged, Michelangelo took a hammer and chisel and inscribedthe letters “MICHEL ANGELUS BONAROTUS FLORENT FACIBAT”(Michelangelo Buonarroti, Florentine, made this) across the sash worn byMary.




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Later he regretted his rash behaviour and determined to never again sign hiswork. The Pieta is the only piece that Michelangelo ever signed.

The following is a quote from the book “Lives of the Artists”, first published in1550.

"It would be impossible for any craftsman or sculptor no matter how brilliant ever to surpass the grace or design of this work, or try to cut andpolish the marble with the skill that Michelangelo displayed. For the Pieta

was a revelation of all the potentialities and force of the art of sculpture. Among the many beautiful features (including the inspired draperies) this isnotably demonstrated by the body of Christ itself. It would be impossible tofind a body showing greater mastery of art and possessing more beautifulmembers, or a nude with more detail in the muscles, veins, and nervesstretched over their framework of bones, or a more deathly corpse. Thelovely expression of the head, the harmony in the joints and attachments of the arms, legs, and trunk, and the fine tracery of the veins are all so

wonderful that it is hard to believe that the hand of an artist could haveexecuted this inspired and admirable work so perfectly and in so short atime. It is certainly a miracle that a formless block of stone could ever have

been reduced to a perfection that nature is scarcely able to create in theflesh."

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