beginning to draw cd-r

7/27/2019 Beginning to Draw CD-R

1/74


2/74Page 1 2007. All rights reserved.

Beginning to Draw: The Foundation of Art

2007. For individual and classroom use only. Duplication or any

form of electronic or digital copying is expressly forbidden under

the laws of the United States of America, Canada, Europe and all

other countries bound by International Agreement.



TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction 4

About Perception 5

The Arabesque Proportion 9

Shape 19

Modelling Form 31

Constructing your Black Box 36

The Egg 37

The Singular Bottle 40

The Still Life 51

The Cast: Introduction to Portrait Drawing 60

Perspective An Introduction 46



Paper: Fabriano or Canson Ingres, Ivory or Buff colored (10 sheets)

1 pad of newsprint (50 or 100 sheets) 14x18

Drawing Board: 14x18 or 16x20

2 Clips and Masking Tape

Pencils: Mars Lumograph 8B (6 minimum)

3 sticks Vine charcoal medium thickness & grade

4 sticks Black conte and 1 holder

Kneaded Eraser

Knitting needle

Plumb bob (available at any hardware store. A shing sinker or large washer or bolt will

sufce) and 16 length of string or heavy black thread

8x10 plexiglass or glass

1 watersoluble black marker (China marker)

1 small jar of Gesso (student grade) and a 1 brush

Safety razor blades and medium grade sandpaper with a sanding block (piece of wood or

small, at object that can be held in your hand)

Mahl Stick (optional)

Easel (Many different types of easels are available. Choose one that is sturdy and easy to

use. I do not recommend using table top easels)

1 small clip on light (10 watts or thereabouts)

Blackbox (you need to build this yourself using inexpensive wood, glue and black construction

paper. You can also use a heavy cardboard box lined with the black construction paper).

SUPPLY LIST



Drawing is the most direct conduit of visual

expression and intention. A drawing

can be either a work of art in itself or a prelimi-

nary structure to a more ambitious medium -

such as painting, sculpture, lm, or any other

endeavor.

As an artist and teacher I rmly believe that a

solid tri-partite foundation of craft is essential

to art-making. Drawing, composition and color

form this foundation. Of course, craft is only

one of the components in the practice of art. The other two are

expression and the construct - which is the syntax, or language,

of visual art making.

The primary agenda of the Beginning to Draw DVD workshop is

to train you in the principles of drawing and to sufciently develop

your eye and hand so that you acquire the skill sets to pursue

your own expression and the development of your unique voice

unencumbered by faulty technique and perception.

My name is Michael Britton and I will be your guide to your initial

development as an artist.



When we look at a photograph we experience its

immediate fact - its frozen moment. Looking at aphotograph engages the limbic, or emotional right-side, of

our hemispheric brain. However, when we look at a real-

ist drawing we rst quickly analyze it with our brains left

hemisphere to assure ourselves that it meets a standard

of plausibility before becoming emotionally engaged.

The problem of drawing for the artist is the conict

between the concrete fact of the object we are looking at

and our emotional disengagement and analysis of it whenwe attempt to draw it. The result of this conict is a drawn

symbolic preconception.

Symbolic preconceptions are a subconscious visual lan-

guage - a cuneiform syntax that assigns generic symbols

to known objects. This language of symbols evolved as

a defense mechanism

to ensure early human-

itys survival - namely,the recognition of food

sources and avoidance

of predators.



When we look at an unfamiliar, unknown object our subconscious mind struggles to form

a symbol. Quite often the beginning artist will draw an unfamiliar object more accurately

than they would a familiar object. However, when the same beginning artist attempts to

draw this previously unfamiliar object again - it is more likely than not that a symbol of

the object will be drawn. This is the nature of language - an object is discovered and

given a name. The named object is then assigned a symbol by our subconscious thus

establishing an association between a name and an object. Consider, for example, the

word RED. Immediately an image which is the color red comes to mind which is a

symbol for the word RED.

But if I say YELLOW and show you a blue image what you see now conicts with the

expected image. We are momentarily disoriented until our mind reassociates the blue

image with the word BLUE. For example, This is blue.

This visual language process works at a higher level too. Consider these two similar

illustrations:

On the left is a drawn cube in space. We know that all of these lines are on the same at

2-dimensional plane but we perceive it as 3-dimensional. Placing the letters a on the

perceived front corners of the cube reinforces our perception of this cube.

However, place these letters a onto the other, unexpected, corners of the cube and

we experience visual conict - the expected back panel of this cube struggles to come

forward. Our preconceived symbol of a cube is disrupted until our analytical left-brain

determines that a now represents the back panel.

It is this visual conict that artists constantly struggle with. The resolution of this conict

of what we see and what we perceive requires training, skill set of tools.



One overview of the historical development of draw-

ing is an appreciation of the discoveries and rene-

ments of perception.

The art of Classical Greece remains the touch-

stone of Western Civilization. What is generally not

known is that by the late 13th Century very few

original Classical Greek statues remained intact.Even fragments of the original sculptures are rare.

All that was left to be re-discovered by the 13th

Century, the early beginnings of the Renaissance,

were Roman copies of copies of the original Classi-

cal Greek statues.

From the 5th Century AD to the fall of Constanti-

nople in 1453 the humanist ethic of Greek Art was

superceded by the Byzantine whose ethic ideal wasthe glorication of God and Jesus. Replacing the

nude, humanist gures of Greek art were the Virgin

Mary and the Saints. Perhaps the lowest point

of Western Civilization was the Iconoclastic Period

beginning in 730AD when the Emperor Leo III, also

known as the Syrian, banned all Christian Images

and ordered them destroyed.

For 112 years all depictions of the human form were

decreed blasphemous, sought out and destroyed as

an act in the service of God. This was a time of eco-

nomic decline and political upheaval in the Mediterra-

nean world.

For almost one thousand years the Classical Ideals of

art languished and were nearly extinguished. Except

for a small number of about 50 Monks pushed to theedge of Europe onto the Isle of Man around 550 AD the

Classical Ideals would have been irrevocably lost. In

sum, Western Civilization survived only by the skin of its

teeth.



Although the origins of the Italian Renaissance are

vague, it is believed to have taken its rst form in the late

14th Century. The rst major artist of the Renaissance

was Giotto di Bondone (1267 - 1337). The achievements

of Giotto are stunning. Although to our contemporary

eye his work can look crude and amateurish it should

be remembered that after almost 1,000 years of Byzan-

tine stylism the knowledge and skills required for realist

drawing were lost and had to be re-invented.

The early Renaissance artists struggled with the same

issues as the beginning artist today - except that they

had very little guidance. Only the ruins and fragments of

the earlier Greek and Roman empires were their refer-

ences.

It took almost 200 years of struggle and re-inventionbefore drawing, and the expression of the human gure,

attained its apotheosis in the High Renaissance at the

turn of the 16th Century with Raphael, Da Vinci and

Michelangelo.

Realist drawing is an invention whose practice requires

a skill-set - a skill-set that you are now about to acquire.

Giotto de Bondone

Raphael


10/74



We begin with the Square (which is the litmus

test to assure us that we are proceeding cor-

rectly).

First, look at the square from your station point

and then draw it on your paper as accurately as

you are able (as demonstrated in the DVD) with

your black marker.

Next, we use the square to ascertain that we are

sighting correctly. Hold your knitting needle at

arms length, keep you elbox locked, and place

the point of the knitting needle on one side of

the square and adjust your thumb on the knitting

needle so that it corresponds with the square

that is taped onto the wall.

Now turn the knitting needle perpendicular so

that your xed thumb is now at the base of the

square. If you are sighting correctly the tip of

the knitting needle will be touching the top of the

square.

Now correlate those proportions to your draw-

ing of the square on the plexiglass. The width

of your square should equal the height. If idoesnt, that will tell you what your genera

weakness is.

Repeat this exercise until you can strike the

square with a reasonable accuracy.

Finally, hold your plexiglass drawing up to the

square that is afxed to the wall and adjust your

plexiglass (like a camera lens) until the squarets. This is how we ascertain correct shape.

Correct as necessary.



Next is the Double Square.

Again, draw the double square on the plexiglass

taking your best guess.

Now sight the width and as you turn your knitting

needle perpendicularly you need to take note of

where the tip is on the double square. This is

called a check point. (You are allowed to make

a little mark on the exercise sheet if you nd that

it helps you. Training wheels are allowed. For

now.)

Move your xed thumb up to the checkpoint and

note the placement of the knitting needles tip.

As you may have guessed, the height of thedouble square is twice that of the width. Your

drawing on the plexiglass should correlate this.

If not, correct as necessary. But do not pre-

measure the correction, do it free-hand. This is

how we train our eye.

Finally, hold up your plexiglass drawing to

the exercise to check its shape. Correct as

needed.

checkpoint



Exercise 3, The Root 2 Rectangle, introduces a

new element.

Draw the Root 2 Rectangle on the plexiglass

taking your best guess. (If you are making your

own rectangle exercises the dimensions of this

Root 2 Rectangle are 9 x 6 3/8.

Now sight the width and as you turn your knitting

needle perpendicularly note the checkpoint.

Move your xed thumb up to the checkpoint and

note the placement of the knitting needles tip.

The tip of the knitting needle now establishes

the second checkpoint which is above the Root

2 Rectangle.

A critical moment has now presented itself. We

need to learn to accurately judge distances. And

a small distance is more accurately adjudged

than is a larger distance. Hence, we now need

to take our best guess and make a mark on

our plexiglass where we best feel this second

checkpoint is. As you gain experience, your

ability to accurately place this checkpoint wilimprove signicantly.

Now check the proportions of your drawing. The

width should equal twice the measure from the

base of the Root 2 Rectangle to the uppermost

checkpoint.

If necessary, correct your drawing to correspond

to the uppermost checkpoint.

Finally, hold up your plexiglass drawing to the

exercise to check its proportion and shape. Cor-

rect as needed. However, be aware that your

checkpoint may be off. You will get better at

this.

Checkpoint 1

Checkpoint 2

Adjudge the

smallest distance.

The Root 2 Rectangle is one of the

dynamic rectangles that correspond

to natural design law. The other

dynamic rectangles are the Golden

rectangle, Root 3, the square, the

double square, Root 5, and the

square root of the Golden Rectangle.

This is fully explained and taught

in my Symphonic Composition DVD

Workshop.



Exercise 1: The Square



Exercise 2: The Double Square



Exercise 3: The Root 2 Rectangle




Three checkpoints will

be required for thisexercise.



Exercise 6: The Golden Rectangle



ShapeIn addition to acquiring the skill of adjudging proportion we also need to adjudge shape

Striking the arabesque, which is the outside shape of an object, encapsulates both pro-

portion and shape simultaneously.

We now know how to use the plexiglass to verify the accuracy of our drawings propor-

tion. Now we shall put the plexiglass to much greater use.

Again, enact the exercises in the order that they are presented. We are still working with

the black marker on plexiglass. Three of the exercises are demonstrated on the DVD

beginning with Exercise 1: The Peach.

If helpful, you can draw a rectangle on the Exercise page to t the peach. That way you

can rst establish the proportion and then the shape. Soon, though, you will need toestablish proportion and shape in one approach.



Shape: Exercise 1: The Peach



Shape: Exercise 2: The Foreshortened Cucumber



Shape: Exercise 3: Watermelon Slice



Shape: Exercise 4: The Lemon



Shape: Exercise 5: The Pepper



Shape: Exercise 6: The Egg in a Cup



Shape: Exercise 7: The Flower Pot



Shape: Exercise 8: Bananas

Ban

ana

Bunchs

hap

e



Shape: Exercise 9: The Roman Vase



Shape: Exercise 10: The Strawberry



Shape: Exercise 11: The Apple Core



Form is the 3-dimensional shape of an object. A more accurate term, though, isplastic form. Plasticity is the illusion of 3-dimensionality rendered on a at plane(the 2-dimensional pictorial surface, i.e., your paper).

There are numerous approaches to rendering plastic form: Value (the relative light-

ness and darkness of one area to another); color; line (perspective, for example);and tone (or shading) are some of these.

At present tone shall be the considered approach. Tone can be applied by direct

application of drawing material (such as charcoal) and then smeared, or stumped, to

describe the form of an object or by manipulation of the sharpened pencil.

The historical approach to rendering plastic form with the sharpened pencil is by

cross-hatching. Cross-hatching is the marking of a series of parallel lines within a

given area. To further darken, or tone down, that area another series of parallel linesare laid down over the previous series. And so on and so on.

Cross-hatching is a learned skill. It looks easy to do until you actually attempt it.

Quite often, uncontrolled cross-hatching reads as at and unconvincing. The follow-

ing four exercises will develop your cross-hatching skills to a competent level. But

you do have to diligently practice.



Cross-Hatching: Exercise 1

Using a small piece of Ingres ivory or

buff colored paper sketch out a square

that is approximately 4 x 4 inches.

Within this square using super sharp

8B pencils (any type of pencil will suf-ce. In fact, you should gain experi-

ence with many different types) tone

the square evenly with cross-hatching

as demonstrated on DVD 1.

The objective is to develop your skill so

that you can lay down an even tone.

Be prepared to do this exercise about

six or eight times before you really getthe hang of it.

Cross-Hatching: Exercise 2:

The 9-Tone Bar

Utilizing the cross-hatching skills you have just acquired it is now time to push those skills

further by developing controlled gradations of tone.

Dont be impatient or cheat by using different hardness of pencils, the objective here is to

begin developing the touch. This touch cannot be explained or demonstrated, really, it

is a somatic epiphany that you will know you have when you nally get it it is a feeling

Diligently practice your cross-hatching and enjoy the meditative process.

Using a 13 x 3 piece of Ingres ivory or buff colored paper sketch out a rectangle measur-

ing 11 x 2. Divide the length into 9 smaller rectangles of 1 wide.



The objective here is to apply an even tone to each small rectangle, beginning with thedarkest possible tone you can achieve on the right-most rectangle, so that each rect-

angle is part of an even tonal progression from dark to light.

The fth (middle) rectangle is now toned so that it is precisely half-way between the dark-est tone and the rst (lightest) rectangle. This is a judgment call and as you struggle

with it your capacity to adjudge tonal values will increase dramatically. Do the best you

can keeping in mind that you will most likely have to return to this rectangle several times

before its proper value is achieved.

The seventh bar is toned so that it is precisely halfway between the darkest bar and the

middle tone (the fth bar).

The third bar is toned so that it is precisely halfway between the middle tone (the fth bar)

and the rst bar (the lightest tone). What we are doing here is dividing tone by two. This

is much more controllable method of constructing plastic from than by gradating step by

step. We are toning from the general to the specic.



The eighth bar is toned so that it is precisely halfway between the darkest tone and the

seventh tone.

The sixth bar is toned so that it is precisely halfway between the seventh and middle

(fth) tone.

The fourth bar is toned so that it is precisely halfway between the middle (fth) and third

tone.

To conclude the 9-tone bar the second tone is precisely halfway between the lightest light

and the third tone.

As your eye scans the 9 tones you will see that the dark tones are closer together than

the light tones. As objects recede into dark they present signicantly less information

than what is seen in the lighter tones. Except in the lightest tones where the information

is actually bleached out by the light.

The bulk of an objects information (i.e., detail and such) is found in the middle light

tones.



Cross-Hatching: Exercise 3

Using a small piece of Ingres ivory or

buff colored paper sketch out a square

that is approximately 4 x 4 inches.

The objective here is to develop the skill

of gradated tone using cross-hatching.

This skill is essential for rendering plas-

tic form.

The example shown here is a grada-

tion from dark to light radiating from

the upper right corner. Once you have

gained a competency with this, try a

variety of patterns, such as dark to

light radiating from the center and vice-versa.



Constructing your

Black Box

The purpose of the black box (also called a

shadow box) is to isolate a single light source

upon an object so that its form can be studied

without contamination from myriad other ligh

sources.

To construct the black box you will need 6 pieces

of wood, black cartridge paper, glue and

some screws and small corner brackets. Good

workable dimensions are:

Wood

2 pieces 18 x 22

2 pieces 17 x 14

1 piece 14 x 21 (if your wood is thick o

21 if your wood is thick)

14 small corner brackes and wood screws

Black cartridge paper trimmed to t inside.

Paper glue.

You can also use a sturdy cardboard box lined

with black cartridge paper.



the egg

A white egg provides the ideal conditions for understanding plastic form. Set up your egg in

your black box so that it is at your eye level. Very likely you will have to use books or cans

to build up the platform on which your egg will set. Cover this platform with a piece of black

cartridge paper and beneath the egg place a sheet of white paper.

Using a 5 x 7 piece of ivory or buff Ingres paper for

the drawing set up your station so that you can see

the egg and your drawing with minimal movement of

your head.

We will be drawing the egg life-size and to that endindicate either the height or the length (your choice)

of the egg.

Let your eyes fall into soft focus and strike the ara-

besque of the egg as best you can using a sharp 8B

pencil and then sight and check its height/width pro-

portions. Correct if necessary. You can also trace

your arabesque onto your plexiglass to check the

shape.



Squint down so that your eyes see just one

big dark and one big light on the egg and

block in that light/dark pattern by cross-

hatching with your 8B pencil.

Do not get caught up in details. We alwayswork from general to specic.

Stumping down with your nger

observing the plastic form of the egg

will unify the drawing.

In painting practice this is would be

considered the underpainting.

Cross-hatching with a sharp 8B penc

begin developing the plastic form by carefully observing the internal proportion and

shape of the larger darks. Everything

should relate to the egg as a whole.



Stumping down at intervals will help main-

tain a unied look to your drawing.

Drawing is an additive/subtractive process.You add something, you take something

away, all the while proceeding toward a nal

resolution. Using a kneaded eraserpaint

out the lights.

I have also indicated the reected light at

the base of the egg. Reected light is light

that bounces off of the surface that an object

is sitting on and reects (weakly) into the

object. In this case, the egg.

Keeping your 8B pencils sharp carefully

observe the form and develop the egg as fa

as you can by cross-hatching, stumping and

painting out as you feel necessary.

Dont think of this as a step-by-step process

Instead thing of this as a procedure of play

Have fun with it.



the

singular

bottle

This exercise will present a radically different approach to

drawing than what has been presented so far. Instead of

rst striking the linear arabesque and then blocking it in

we will be developing the drawing with tone only. Thepurpose is to train you to draw in a uid, more painterly

manner.

First, you need to prepare a selection of bottles, 3 minimum, whose shapes and proportion

differ signicantly from each other. Second, to continue our studies of plastic form and ligh

each bottle needs to be painted with white gesso. A small jar of student grade gesso can b

purchased from any art store. Alternatively, you can also use white latex (non-gloss) hous

paint.

As with the egg exercise the bottle needs to be set-up in the black box and lit in a pleasing lighdark pattern. In this exercise you will draw your bottles a little less than life-size. This is so tha

your nal drawing can be checked with the plexiglass.

The pictorial surface of your drawing will be the Golden

Rectangle. The construction of the Golden Rectangle

is quite easy. We begin with a square whose dimen-

sions are to be equal to the width of your drawings pic-

torial surface. Six inches will, in most cases, sufce.

Draw and locate the center point on the side of thesquare. From that center point draw a diagonal to the

upper left corner of your square.



That diagonal is now the radius of a circle. Using a

compass draw an arc as illustrated here.

Extend the right side of the square upwards

until it intersects with the arc and then com

plete the rectangle. This is the Golden Rect

angle whose proportions are 1.618. The

proportion is also known as Phi, which is

the 21st letter of the Greek alphabet. Plato

referred to Phias the number of the worlds

soul.



6 inches

9.7

1

inche

s

This classical, dynamic pictorial surface

was a favorite of Picasso, amongst others.

Assuming that your pictorial width is 6 wide

the height then will be 9.71 or slightly lessthan 9.

Using a small, approximately 1, piece

medium grade and size vine charcoa

have marked the top and bottom of

bottle within the Golden Rectangle.

You are not going to strike the arabesq

proper as we have been doing. Inste

the bottle is going to be developed prim

ily with tone constructing the gure/grou

relationship as one unied whole. T

gure is the object (i.e., the bottle), t

ground is the background. The gure a

ground must relate to each other. To w

the whole must be greater than the sum

its parts.

To that end squint down your eyes until y

see only the big light and big dark. Us

the broad side of the vine charcoal a

holding it in your nger tips strike the a

besque of the light shape of the bottle.



Vine charcoal is a uid drawing medium. By that

mean it is messy and malleable.

I have blocked in the dark of my entire composition

with the broad side of the vine charcoal this is both

the ground (background) and dark pattern of the objec(the bottle). The light area is the light shape on the

bottle.

The thinking process here is quite different than that o

drawing the egg.

Stump down the vine charcoal with your nger

while considering the basic plastic form of the

bottle.

You will need a clean tissue at the ready to wipe

the excess charcoal off of our ngers. Otherwise

it will smear uncontrollably.

Using a kneaded eraser pull out the primary

light. You can also take your best guess at indi

cating the reected light on the dark side of the

bottle. If your best guess is signicantly off, as

Ive shown in the following illustration, no need

to fret. It is easily corrected.


45/74



You can choose to work up your drawing using only

the vine charcoal which I would recommend for a

least one of your bottle drawings.

For this demonstration I have further developed the

forms by cross-hatching with my 8B pencil.

The red stick, partially shown in the upper righcorner, is a Mahl stick. Mahl sticks are particularly

useful for steadying your hand and keeping it off o

your drawing so that you do not smear it.

There is no particular method to using the Mah

stick. It depends on what you nd comfortable.

Mahl sticks can be found at most art stores or you

can make one yourself using a dowel obtainable

from any hardware store.

When you have taken your bottle as

far as you can verify its shape with

the plexiglass.

Place the plexiglass over your draw-

ing and trace the shape of your

bottle onto the plexiglass with your

black marker.

Now hold it up to your gessoed

bottle and adjust as youve been

trained to previously.

My bottle does not t. This is due

in part to distortion by the camera

lens and by me having to drawwhile seated to the far left of the

drawing so that you can have an

unobstructed view of the drawings

development



PERSPECTIVE an introduction

The understanding of perspec-tive is actually quite recentgiven the long, convoluted history of

Western Art. The idea of illusional

3-dimensional space on a at wall

or canvas was an alien concept for

most of our history.

An example is Egyptian mural painting. Their idea of spatial illusion was to simply put on

object in front of another. For a millennia every gure, human and animal, was rendered i

prole, except for the all-seeing eye that was always looking out frontally. Although every ag

invents its own forms and art, the illusion of space was not one of them.

Perspective-wise, things didnt improve much in Medieval Europe. Although a few artist

attempted the illusion of spatial depth with some very curious results.

A question one might ask is Why couldnt at least someone see or recognize basic perspective? Well, there is a very interesting historical example of why we do not see what is obviousl

there.

When Columbus ships arrived in the New World at the island of Hispaniola his ships wer

clearly visible on the horizon. Columbus could see the New World with his own eyes.

However, the indigenous people of Hispaniola could not see the ships. The ships were invisib

to them even though they were sitting there in plain view on the horizon. What the natives coul

see, though, was a change in the pattern of the oceans current and from that they suspecte

something was out there. But still, they could not see it.

The patterns of waves and currents were well understood. Generations of experience an

dependence upon shing taught them to read the water. Large, sailing ships were complete

alien to them and, apparently, we do not see what we are not taught to see.



It was not until the early Italian Renaissance

that perspective as we know it was discovered

and subsequently developed. The perspective

in della Franciscas Baptism of Christ is fairly

simple. Later, as the science of perspective was

developed, artists such as Raphael really went to

town with works such as School of Athens.

In this brief preamble I will discuss 1 and 2 point

perspective. Lets begin with 1 point perspec-

tive.

1-Point Perspective

First, we require a horizon line which is at our

eye-level looking straight ahead. Consider a

road in a desert, the two sides of the road will

gradually join together on the horizon at a pointthat is called the Vanishing Point. As a xed

rule: All parallel lines converge at the same Van-

ishing Point.

The most commonly used example of 1-point

perspective is Leonardo Da Vincis fresco The

Last Supper. Note that the primary Vanishing

Point is at Christs head.



2-Point Perspective

Two point perspective creates an illusion of concrete 3-dimensionality and weight.

Two point perspective requires two vanishing points. Remember, all corresponding paralle

lines converge at the same vanishing point. Hence one side of our box will meet at one vanish

ing point, the other at the 2nd vanishing point. The box is now a 3-dimensional cube.

This is a good time to mention an important thing about objects and perspective. When a

object is below the horizon line you will see its top plane. Conversely, when an object is abov

the horizon line, suspended in space for example, you will see its bottom plane.

Placing the vanishing points takes practice. Put these vanishing points too close together an

your object becomes distorted and squashed. The best way to place your vanishing points i

by eye. And that is by rst accurately striking the shape of your arabesque. And youve alread

been trained in that!

Depth of eld problemsarise when the vanishing

points are placed too

close together and also

when placed too far

apart.



When it comes to perspective, it is generally best to visually objects as simple cubes. Eac

cube, unless all of your cubes are lined up like little soldiers, will be situated differently than a

of the other cubes. Therefore, each cube will have its very own set of vanishing points.

The grey cube has its own set of vanishing points. One vanishing point is off the page! Thicould be a tragedy, except that horizon lines go on forever. Your paper does not. In this cas

we need to visually extend our constructing lines and take a reasonable guess. Also, note tha

the bottom of the grey cube is below the horizon line and the top of the grey cube is above th

horizon.

There are methods to accurately ascertain the far vanishing point. One could run out length

of black thread or even calculate it mathematically if you are so inclined. But for our purpose

assessing the angles of the arabesque will sufce.

The violet cube also has its own set of vanishing points that, incidentally, t onto the page. An

since the violet cube is below the horizon line we see its top plane.



The oblong blue cube is a curious fellow. One vanishing point comes pretty close to being

one-point perspective situation, but not quite. Again, the other vanishing point is way off th

page. This is an example of how you would tackle a foreshortening problem - that is, when a

object is coming straight out at you.

To sum up, then, perspective is a science and art all on its own. What I have intended here

to give you the basics so that when you are drawing and nding an object a bit tricky then jus

knowing these basics of perspective will help you get out of a jam.

Well, now were ready to start putting all these things together -- Proportion, shape, tone an

perspective. Lets proceed to our rst still life.



the still lifeThe genre of still-life drawing and paint

ing has been the primary focus of many

generations of artists. The possibilities

are innite.

For your rst still life choose three objects

that are matte white, relatively simple inshape and that address each other in

some manner of correspondence.

Antique, oral, even dollar stores, offe

many interesting objects that can be

quite challenging to draw. Half the fun is discovering the objects for your still life collection. M

chosen objects are two plaster-cast sea-shells and a pint-size creamer.

Set-up and light your objects in your black box in a manner that you nd pleasing and interes

ing. You will discover that there are innumerable possibilities with even this limited number o

objects.

Using a viewnder, which is two

pieces of stiff card stock cut at

right-angles, is an excellent tool of

determining your pictorial surface.

Again, play with the possibilities

and choose a pictorial surface that

you nd interesting and pleasing.

The pictorial surface that I have

chosen is a 2/3 ratio which inci-

dentally is a classic octoval rect-

angle known as Diapente (and

also as Sesquialtera). Therefore,

I decided upon a pictorial surface

that is 12 x 8.



It is, however, extremely poor prac

tice to draw while looking through

the viewnder. Use it only to

decide upon your pictorial eld

(the terms pictorial eld and sur

face are interchangeable) and to

gain a general idea of your pro

posed composition.

To place, or compose, the grouped

objects of your still-life within you

pictorial surface envision the group

An exquisite drawing medium is black cont which is what we will now use for the still-life

Experiencing a range of drawing mediums is part and parcel of discovering art.

To sharpen your cont place and hold the stick vertically on a rm surface such as a table to

and with a safety-razor blade carve out a rough point using downward strokes. Be careful no

to break it. The cont can then be further sharpened with sandpaper.

Cont sticks are quite small and a holder is quite useful. They can be readily purchased in anart store. The one that I use is a French antique from the 19th Century.

As you have been trained deter-

mine the top and base and width

of the grouped objects. You need

to consider your group as being

one singular object. Do not

draw one object, then another,

then another.

Strike the arabesque of the singu-

lar group and then lightly sketch

in the objects as individual enti-

ties.



When you are striking the arabesque of a group of objects it is of immense benet to als

gauge what is called the negative space (or better still, the interspace). The interspace are th

shapes outside of the positive shapes of the objects. I have highlighted the interspace shapein Yellow.

There is no set rule as to what constitutes the shape of a negative space. It is only a tool tha

is useful for determining accuracy by working one against the other.



For this still-life sight the heigh

of the singular grouping, i.e., from

the base of the larger sea-shell to

the top of the creamer, and use

that measure to gauge the width

of the singular objects.

The rst measure reaches fromthe left side of the smaller, trian

gular sea-shell to a point on the

larger sea-shell that is to be con

sidered the rst landmark. Fix this

landmark into your memory.

The second measure reaches

from the rst landmark to the

second landmark (a checkpoint

on the tail of the larger sea-shellFix this checkpoint to memory and

assess that small distance to the

end of the larger sea-shells tail.

As you now know these measures

must correlate to your arabesque



Using a small piece of medium

grade, medium thickness vine

charcoal held broad-side in my

nger tips I squint down my eyesand block in the primary overall

pattern of light and dark.

The roughed in vine charcoal is

then stumped down using my n-

gers while constantly wiping off

the excess charcoal onto a piece

of tissue.

With a kneaded eraser Ipaintoutthe primary lights.



Using the sharpened cont the

arabesques of the objects are

rened. It is good practice to

begin constructing the plastic

form of the furthest object (the

creamer). The plastic forms of

the creamer are modelled by

cross-hatching, stumping and

painting out with the kneaded

eraser.

Do not render the creamer

to full plastic resolution before

proceeding to the next object.

Instead, develop the creamer to

about 50% completion.

The smaller, triangular sea-shell

followed by the larger sea-shell

are modelled to about 50%

completion.

The rule of thumb is:

Always leave yourself room

to manoeuvre.



The ground (background) need

to be developed in conjunctio

with the gure (objects). Th

gure/ground relationship mu

have a harmonious correspo

dence.

Using the broad side of a smaish piece of cont I blocked in th

ground.

Feeling the need to darken an

push down the ground I stumpe

in the cont pressing hard wit

my ngers.

Working up the stumped con

ground with a kneaded eraseis quite similar to painting

you are manipulating the mate

rial (the stumped cont ) by push

ing, pulling, lifting out. As I hav

mentioned before drawing (an

painting) is an additive/subtractiv

process. The emphasis is on th

word process.



Feeling that I have exhausted

the limits of cont regarding this

drawing I decided to switch to

my 8B pencil which will give

me greater denition in resolv-

ing the forms.

First, the arabesques is renedfurther rened. Curiously, as

a drawing progresses toward

resolution one becomes more

aware of little, troublesome

issues.

Signicantly deepening the

ground by cross-hatching with

the 8B pencil increases the

value range of the composition.

The objects now appearwhiter.

Working up the cast shadows

in the ground, still by cross-

hatching with the 8B pencil and

stumping down, creates a stron-

ger illusion of 3-dimensional

space.



It is also good practice to step

back from your drawing and gauge

its overall effect. Stepping back

from my drawing I noticed that the

base of the creamer is too low.

Such an error is very easy to

correct, even at this late stageSimply re-draw it, erase the offenc

ing marks as best you can and

remodel the corrected form.

The push towards the nal resolu

tion of your drawing is the strivingof pushing down the darks and

pulling out the lights to effect the

full value stretch of tones.

The decision where to conclude

the drawing depends upon the

individual artist. Some prefer an

unnished look, others a highly

polished effect.

The difference in appearance o

the nished drawing to the pre

vious developmental drawings is

the difference between video light

ing and still-camera lighting. It is

a technical issue only.

There are also the differences

between what the video camera

sees and what my eye sees to beconsidered when I compare the

drawing to the camera image.

Bear in mind that I am, like you

drawing from life not from a pho

tograph.



the cast: an introduction toportrait drawing

Portrait drawing has historically been considered amongst the highest endeavors of reaist artists. The very real problem of portrait drawing is the psychological and perceptua

blocks of symbolic preconceptions. The human face is a powerful metaphor and, a

such, is easily given over to symbolic signiers and codications. For the realist artist whos

ambition is to render a true likeness these symbols must be overcome.

Drawing from the cast is an excellent, historically proven, vehicle for understanding the form

and surface structures of the head. Considering the cast head as a still life object, rather tha

as a human being, in large part obviates the insidious creeping in of symbolic preconceptions

It is not as easy as it once was to nd good plaster casts. Unfortunately most art schools ancolleges discarded their once ne collections of casts in the 1950s and 60s. Some schools a

early as the 1920s.

Plaster casts suitable for study can be found in oral and garden shops, antique stores an

even found in ea markets and garage sales. There are also companies that sell plaster cast

on the internet. These companies can be found by using this search parameter: Roman Gree

plaster statues busts casts. There is a wide range of casts available for all budgets.



Set up your cast in your black box at eye level. Shown

here is the classic portrait lighting where light forms

a triangular shape on the far cheek. There are manylighting possibilities and this is a good one to begin

with. It is highly unadvisable to vertically light the cast

50/50.

Use your viewnder to determine a satisfying

pictorial surface. Ideally, for study purposes, the

drawing of your cast head should be life-size

approximately 12 to 14 from the top of the head

to the base of the neck.

In portrait drawing the measure from the baseof the chin to the top of the head is the begin

ning measure. With your black cont lightly indi

cate the top of the head and the base of the chi

where the esh meets the neck proper.

With your eyes in soft-focus strike the arabesque

to the best of your ability. Strive to keep these

initial lines as light as possible. Ideally only you

should be able to see your initial arabesque.

Once again, do not pre-measure; that will defea

your acquiring the necessary skills. Also, avoid

extraneous detail.

The primary objective is to establish the propor

tion and shape of the cast.



Sight the width of the head at

about the level of the brow-ridge(where the eyebrows are located).

This is the primary measure.

The primary measure (width of the head)

turned perpendicularly measures from

the base of the chin to just slightly below

the hair line.

Sketch in the hair taking your best, trained

guess. If you can strike the arabesque

with reasonable accuracy the placement

of the hairline is no great feat. I have also

very lightly indicated the jaw line.

The distance from the hairline to the top

of the head is a small distance, therefore

there is no need to add a further check-point.

Correct your arabesque as needed.



At this juncture, the untrained beginner will attempt

to place the eyes. This is a fundamental error.

Instead, the brow-ridge needs to be xed. The

brow-ridge is the heavy, bony protuberance upon

which the eyebrows are located.

With your eyes in soft-focus take your best guess

at where you think the brow-ridge is. Beware, how-ever, that our symbolic preconceptions give signi-

cantly greater weight to the face. Hence, we tend

to think of the face as being larger than it actually is

and consequently we tend to place the brow-ridge

too high.

Ascertain the accuracy of the brow-ridges place-

ment by sighting on the cast the measure from the

chin to the brow-ridge. Move up that measure to

the brow-ridge and accurately gauge the distancefrom the top of the head to the point of your knitting

needle this is a critical checkpoint. Mark where

that checkpoint is on your drawing.

This measure, if your brow-ridge and checkpoint

are placed correctly, should directly correspond to

your drawing as shown.



Quite often, but not always, the measure from the

chin to the brow-ridge equals the width of the facefrom cheek-bone to cheek-bone. This is another

reason why the brow-ridge is xed rst and not the

eyes.

As with the brow-ridge, place the base of the nose

with your best guess and then sight and check it.

Generally, the base of the nose is half-way between

the chin and the brow-ridge. But consider that

some people have long noses and others short

noses. Always sight and verify.

I have also indicated the facial angle. This is the

imaginary vertical line running through the center

of the features of the face. The head of my cast is

at a slight tilt and my facial angle corresponds to

that.

To accurately gauge the tilt of the head hold your

knitting needle up to your cast as if you were sight-

ing and angle your knitting needle.

Keeping your elbow locked directly transpose your

knitting needle to your drawing and check the tilt of

your facial angle. Be careful not to alter the angle

of the knitting needle.



Using a small piece of medium grade and size vine

charcoal held broadside in your ngertips block in

the primary dark. Remember to squint your eyes

down to simplify the form.

Using your ngers (not a paper stump as

it will deaden the vine charcoal) stump

in the vine charcoal while simultaneously

considering the plastic form.

The form can be further resolved using a

kneaded eraser to carve out the lights.

With much more information known about

the cast the arabesque is now further

rened and corrected using sharp black

cont.

The width of the nose is now established

and the primary forms of the hair have

also been indicated.



The width of the nose cannot be accurately measured. One can compare the noses width (th

wings) to the width of the face, but the incidence of error is quite high. But at this point ther

is enough information to accurately x the wings of the nose. The base of the nose has beeestablished earlier.

The eyes can now be placed. A plumb bob is an essential tool for checking vertical alignments

Plumb bobs can be purchased from any hardware store or can also be home-made using any

thing that has some weight, i.e., shing sinkers, bolts, heavy washers, etc. attached to a strin

or heavy black thread.

First to be placed is the inside corner of the eye. Holding your plumb bob up to your cast alig

it with the inside corner of an eye and see how it relates to the wing of the nose. In this cas

they are both aligned.

I now place my plumb bob to my drawing, align it with the wing of the nose and place a sma

mark to indicate the vertical placement of the eyes inside corner.



The same procedure is enacted for placing the inside corner of the other eye. However, th

alignment is not to the corresponding wing of the nose, but to the inside of it.



To ascertain the width of the eye, compare it to the width of the nose. You will also have to tak

note of the angle of the eye here the outside corner is a little lower than the inner corner.

The horizontal depth of the eye cannot be measured, it must be felt. From the brow-ridge mode

the form of the eye socket until you come to the crease of the upper eyelid. Strike its arabesqu

and follow suit with the upper opening of the eye. All of your training to date now comes to fru

tion.

With one eye established, the other eye can be horizontally placed using your plumb bob like

carpenters level. With my cast the left eye is signicantly higher than the right eye. Symboli

preconceptions will insist that the eyes are level ignore those symbolic pleadings.



The left eye is now sketched in with consideration to the other eye and also the overall tilt of th

head.

Now, and only now, should the mouth be placed. At this point I have roughly indicated th

mouth with tone.

Using my plumb bob I determine the alignment of the left corner of the mouth vis-a-vis the ey

and the nose. I place a small mark where the left corner of the mouth should be.


71/74



As was done with placing the

horizontal alignment of the eye,

with feeling the modelled form,

the same is done with place

the opening of the mouth (the

Interstice).

Carefully observe the form and

strike the arabesque of the

Interstice of the mouth. The

upper lip is comprised of three

forms: the middle portion of the

lip which is fatter and the long,

narrow outer portions.

My rendering of the upper por-

tion of the lower lip incorpo-

rates the cast shadow, hence

its seemingly odd appearance.



Once the features are placed and propor-

tioned within the facial arena the plastic

forms of the entire head can now be devel-

oped. Cross-hatching with sharp black cont

the forms are developed with a sculptural

sensibility: Extra-mileage can be achieved by

cross-hatching with the planes of the form.

Constructing plastic form is an additive/

subtractive process cross-hatching, stump-

ing, and painting out with the kneaded eraser.

If you nd that you need to atten down the

form you can pull down the darks with a at-

tened kneaded eraser. Pulling down is just

that, you pull down the cont work with thekneaded eraser is straight vertical strokes across the entire drawing. If you desire a ner reso

lution than the black cont can render switch to an 8B pencil.

Deciding at what point to conclude your drawing is a matter of personal timbre. Some artist

prefer an unnished look while others will spend up to a year on a single drawing. It was commo

practice for art students in the 19th and early 20th Centuries to spend up to 6 months, and more

on their cast drawings. The pedagogical efcacy of a student spending this amount of time o


74/74

This concludes the Beginning to Draw-

ing DVD Workshop. A great distance

has been traveled; from your initial training

with the rectangles in gauging proportion

and shape and accurately striking the ara

besque to the understanding of contructing

plastic form.

This critical matrix of drawing skills can be

applied to all genres of realist drawing sti

life, landscape, portraiture, etc.

For those who desire to work in the realis

portrait genre the successive workshop to

Beginning to Draw is my Mastering Por-trait Drawing 1 DVD Workshop which

focuses on the frontal portrait.

What is now required for serious portrai

drawing is an understanding and knowl

edge of the underlying discourse of ana

tomical form.

My Portrait Drawing Mastery Collection

is a comprehensive education in portraidrawing.

beginning to draw cd-r

Documents