Continuous Line Drawing

I still cannot hold a paint brush up higher than my waist so I have been experimenting with art exercises.  Continuous line is a  bit like contour line with the exception that you do not lift your pen from the paper until you decide it is complete.  You may do more than the outside contour line, but it must be all done from one unbroken line.  I remember doing this eye/hand exercise in lessons with Barbara Bassett, Orlando, FL, back when I was in junior high!

Here is the first one I attempted from a magazine adv,

 I added the decoration in background with a separate line after finishing- it needed something!

Next I did some "glamorous" faces from the magazine, trying to plan out how to get from one side of the face to the other with only one line...

And finally I did a face where I was able to start and stop at the exact same point:

Feeling that I was getting (a little) better I bravely pulled out a Gauguin book and attempted to copy one of his paintings titled "The Noble Woman."  Shrinking it to a 5 x 7 size was only one of the problems a full painting presented.

The book copy of "The Noble Woman"

I made two attempts at this, the first is the lower one.

 Trust me, the second one (with the paint) was not any easier to plan out or to execute, but at least her chin does not come to a point.

I think I will be doing some more of these continuous line drawings; I like the way the figures end up looking rather Picasso-esque and a bit distorted.  If one chose, one could intentionally draw important things in bigger proportion (which is what I think our subconscious does anyway).  However, I think the point of the exercise is not to distort but to continuously check back and forth from the model to the paper to see if you are lining things up correctly in proportion to one another. If the artist can draw imaginary plumb lines from what he has drawn to what is next he can learn intuitively how to compose the subject properly.  

Since I rather liked my 'modern version' of a noble woman I added some paint to her along with a mat which makes her look important.  Now back to my physical therapy so I can soon be at the easel!

ARTfully yours,

Cindy

Less is More: Colorful, Creative Contour

Day #21   LESS IS MORE

I sat down to do penance for missing a couple days in the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge and thus bit off a very complex Japanese stone temple I had spotted at the Morikami Gardens.  After erasing most of it several times I decided that my brain just wasn't ready to get around geometrically proper lines and scale. I looked up and there was my buddy and fellow painter, Carmen, sitting at an angle to me...suddenly she seemed like a good subject.

I decided to tackle a "contour line drawing" which is, in essence, just drawing the outside lines of the shapes before you.  There is no need to go into detail any more than is needed for the viewer to get the idea of what is being drawn.  Had I done her face there would have been no shadows so it basically would have been flat and not very face-like at all.  So I stuck to a side view and had fun seeing how close I could come to a likeness by drawing only along the edges of what was in front of me.

I was actually pleased with the simplicity of this piece and remembered that old adage: "less is more." However I could not resist adding some color here and there to make it all a bit more interesting.  This would be a good little piece to hang near any artist who needs to remember that more (work, line, color, detail...) is not necessarily better!

"Less is More"

6" x 6" watercolor and ink on paper

contour line drawing matted to standard size of 12 x 9

special purchase via my etsy.com shop or

contact me: $30.00

you may visit some of the other work being done by participants in the challenge at: www.lesliesaeta.blogspot.com

Exercising Discipline

Still at it and, frankly, some nights I am just not in the mood for such a regimented, prescribed exercise.  The evenings I spent drawing ears about did me in...an eerie experience (old, unfunny teacher-pun).  However, when I thumb back through my sketch book I am seeing progress.  My estimation of measurements is getting more accurate and my eye is getting better at seeing what is incorrect.

Drawing my nose is literally up against the paper and I am absolutely certain that the marks I make are accurate.  Then I step back, or in this case look at a photo, and I can see the mistakes clearly.  You do see the funny "bobbles" along the edge of the foot, no?  Regardless of the piece I am copying I am fairly certain that a real foot would never "read" this way, right?

I can see now why we gaze so longingly at works of the old masters...this is how they were trained.  And today we take a few painting classes or get an "MFA" and expect to make money off our results.  Back in the day most apprentices spent years with these exercises before ever touching a brush or mixing paint.  Whew.

Occassionally we are "allowed" to digress and given something off the grid to draw.  So I present Virginia Wolfe, the author.  Today I can see the errors loud and clear while, maybe a year ago, I might have been satisfied with the current results.  During class I also observed that our esteemed teacher, while commenting on our work, casually mentioned how many other photos of Ms Wolfe he had looked at before starting on his rendition of the piece.  He didn't realize it but he was teaching me to do further research on any subject before tackling it....

The difficulty here also was to enlarge the drawing and keep the proportions accurate...this involves math so it gives me a little hyper-ventilation just thinking about!  I won't list the errors but you can see my notes got covered as her hair got larger....

Is there anything currently that you are intentionally disciplined about learning?  Whether it's tennis, music, drawing or cookie baking, I think the take-away lesson is that the age old phrase we hated as kids: practice makes perfect has merit.

Like Doing Sit Ups

When I was "in" to exercise I was told that the dread routine of doing numerous sit ups would not only make my stomach flatter but my back stronger.  I gritted my teeth and did them...religiously.  I suppose it paid off...who can tell today? But I do know that the discipline was good for me in many areas.  So it is with that same belief that I recently signed up for a rigorous drawing course...knowing that without pain there is rarely gain.

Jon Houghton, a local artist of some reknown, is proficient in pastels, watercolor and oils...but to watch him draw is like watching magic.  He is methodical, intense, detailed but most of all: natural.  He is also a gentleman.  Jon is a believer in discipline and is living proof of how it pays off.  So when he offered to guide students through the rigorous drawing course developed by Charles Barque  and Jean Leon Gerome in the mid-1800's, well, I knew I should jump at the opportunity.  The book (reprinted by Ackerman) " aims to teach the drawing skills of classical realism, accurate, sculptural, and beautiful without being decorative."

OK, I've been for one three hour session and here is the sum total of my efforts:

 

Can you tell that these are angles of the human eye?  The course has the student copy pages and pages of plates....why?  Well, you are to first estimate the distance from the center axis that the eye crosses...and before you mark it, you tediously measure it to the original drawing, remeasure onto your paper and then mark it:  point by point (one eye may have many, many points.) Then you draw it in.  Then you trace the original version with tracing paper and lay it over your replication to see how well you copied it.

 

And then you moan and groan and go on to number two.

 

(As one student says: "This is a 13 year course!!")

 

In 3 hours I only got 8 eyes replicated!  And this is just the beginning....According to Jon my ability to estimate the points, and line them up will improve each time...pretty soon (that's relative of course) I should be able to see and then copy almost spot on.  Really?  And all the while we are training the eye to see every little nuance of whatever it is we are drawing.

 

OK...but "why" you ask?  Well, Jon did take a little time to show us the early drawings of such masters as Picasso and Monet....neither of whom made their mark on the world with realistic art.  Believe it or not, both could draw the human figure (or anything else for that matter) as accurately as a photograph.  They just chose not to...and then developed their own style which was greatly informed by the fact that they knew the basics inside and out.

 

Such a loftly goal.

 

Don't know if I will live to make it through the noses and ears (rumor has it ears are horrible to do) but I am going to give it at least as much attention as I gave the sit ups.  Somehow owning up to this endeavor publically means I have to make it at least to the end of the year.

 

Stay tuned.

 



Feeling Sketchy

Hopefully while you are reading this I am pausing on a mountain trail high above Zion National Park, sketchpad in hand, recording important details for a future painting.  Hopefully....but no guarantees.
Why am I so sketchy about sketching?  Lots of reasons I'm sure but a few include the embarrassment of someone peeking over my shoulder at a less than perfect drawing, the pressure to execute a finished piece regardless of time, and the fear that without the help of paint I cannot achieve the depth I desire.  Excuses all....and all to my own detriment.

Sketching is the foundation for good art work, sketching is what helps you record impressions and fleeting moments, sketching is what gives you artistic license over the composition.  And yet many of us find it difficult and challenging to do. 

To conquer that fear I have really tried to use my sketchbook more often.  To take away the fear, I have pushed the results bar very low...so low that if all I do is get a few lines down then I have met my goal.  I took the pad hiking, I took it picnicing and I took it to the winery.  Things are getting better:  I am losing the fear of drawing in public and I am happy that marks are on the page...

very simple line drawing of some things I saw on a waterfall hike

 

these are quick drawings of a couple of scenes I might later want to paint

and a written reminder about the wonderful smell of pine

 

finally, some easy renderings of faces in a Modigliani-esque fashion

for an idea I am squirreling away for a future series...

 

 

Now that I have stated this fear/goal (and put it in black and white!) I do feel an obligation to give it even more emphasis in my continuing study.  So, cross your fingers that my fingers will grip a pen or pencil for some of next week and make sketches, no matter how simplistic, of the western canyons we are about to visit.  oh my......

Sketchy...but in a Good Way!

Maybe I'm maturing...maybe I'm actually starting to listen to those whose workshops I take, whatever the reason the fact is that I find myself using my sketch book more and more these days.  Teachers preach the wisdom of doing mintature value studies before diving in with the paints.  World-savvy artists swear by the notes they keep in their sketchbooks and the very best at drawing claim to always have their s'book close at hand.

I won't tell you how long this stubborn student resisted their advice.

Lately however I have seen the light!

Remember those quilt pieces all over my studio floor?  I had a little time to burn and my s'book handy and I think I now have a plan!  You can't read the details but here it is, forever, I'll never forget one creative detail whether I start in 5 days or 5 years.  And I know where to find it.

Here's some photos I took (the g'hopper is with permission of the photographer) and I am playing with ideas on how to proceed.  Not ready to select the paper or the media yet I settled in with my pencils, s'book (and a glass of wine?) and proceeded to play.

A few thumbnails later I realize the back lit trees will need to be horizontal, not vertical, to accomplish what I want, and I found a few (many) details on the head of the hopper that I might have missed if I had just dived in with the paint.  Drawing is seeing, they say in the art world.

And I have learned to agree.

Mr. and Mrs.

I love cardinals!  Not as arrogant as the blue jay but full of color and personality.  I did not know that they got their name from the red robes worn by the Roman Catholic Cardinals; and I have heard that they are faithful to their mates (no proof of this).  Unlike some of our feathered friends the cardinals sing all year long and I like that too.  Another motivation for painting this winsome pair is that the logo for our little village is the red cardinal.  Oops, and I confess: I had to paint another pair because the first rendition went flying out to a new home....sold in a flash.  Hopefully I will have to launch a third version soon!  Purchase here...sorry, SOLD

This piece is 10 x 8, mixed media on board.  That means that on a cradeled piece of birch (framed with a painted edge about 3/4" deep) I put many layers of gesso sanding between each one.  As I got the surface closer and closer to glass I added some acrylic to the gesso and put several layers of mossy green on the surface.  I then draw the birds on with graphite and tease out a bit of color, go back in with additional graphite and voila!  it's done.  Wish it were that fast.  Hope you find some cardinals where ever you go today.