I have been doing a mass declutter. I have thrown out a huge selection of pictures, drawings, papers, bills, and things I don't use. I am not even finished yet but there is now more room for us to live in our house.
How often is it that you think you know something about something and then when asked about it, well, you can't really define how it works. With drawing and painting for that matter, you will often need to return to the object of interest and re-look at it. Learning techniques to portray the surface of that object will help. If you were drawing a smooth sphere, you would not want to cross hatch unless the spaces between the hatch is very tight and gives an impression of smooth. Otherwise, a selection of shades, using the side of the charcoal may create the impression of smooth.
I guess what I am saying is that we all come with pre-conceived ideas about how some thing looks and is, when we haven't carefully observed it.
Also learning from others and reading about techniques and styles can give you new ideas for your own style of drawing.
Learn proportions of objects and don't be afraid to let your art appreciators imagine that there is an arm or leg beyond the border of the page edge, don't try to fit the whole image on the page, especially if working on a smaller scale.
I recently recieved an email from American Artist who run a site called Artist Daily, I get little clues on creating from them. I recently saw an artist's work that uses simple strokes to create the most amazing short sketches. This just reminds me to keep it simple, to draw in solid shapes to capture the essence of the figure.
Now all I have to do, is actually get it right myself. I have had lots of experience drawing, but I am still learning. It is just a journey.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Hands
Drawing hands can be extremely challenging and there is a reason for it. As one of the most complex bone and muscle structures in the body (and the other is the foot), this particular body part has many shapes and many positions it can fall into.
By learning more about the structure of the hand, we can gain insight into how to represent the outer layer, which is the skin. Every thing you are seeing is based on the structures underneath the surface (This is a universal truth for any body part.
Search for images of hands online to see the muscle structure that exists underneath the skin on the hand, that should give you clues where the bumps and indents need to go.
By learning more about the structure of the hand, we can gain insight into how to represent the outer layer, which is the skin. Every thing you are seeing is based on the structures underneath the surface (This is a universal truth for any body part.
Search for images of hands online to see the muscle structure that exists underneath the skin on the hand, that should give you clues where the bumps and indents need to go.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Gestalt
So, I attended my first belly dance class on Saturday.
It was hard. And it was only three things that we learnt and did. I was not mind blowing, it was just challenging and I have to go back again because I have a little hope that things will get more complex and less simplified. What am I getting at?
Well, in the big scheme of things, it's all about expectations and abilities. I have seen the dancers, I know what I am aiming for, I have tried one lesson, now I want to be amazing too. What am I doing learning three moves? It is clear that before one can run, one has to walk. Learn the fundamentals about how to do something and expand, build and construct something beautiful.
So in terms of drawing and art, I would like to suggest a bit of reading. I would love for you to google articles on Gestalt. Wikipedia suggests that the german meaning which is where the origin lies for this word is "wholeness." Looking at a variety things in their completeness will answer a few things. There are a few fundamental elements that art is made up of and this in not purely visual arts:
Composition.
How you choose to place the objects on the page.
There are many different types of compostions. There is the rule of thirds which in essence is that if you were to divide your canvas/page into threes diagonally and/or horizontally, you can place objects on those lines especially at junction points where 2 lines cross over.
Compositions can be symmetrical and assymetrical. Symmetrical means that objects on either side of the page mirror each other in weight and space. Assymetrical is due to a heavier object placed on the one side which is counterpointed by a smaller strategically placed object that acts like a scale on the brink of tipping.
Shape:
As all my drawing friends hear, I preach about shape finding. Simply put, there are only 3 shapes that feature in drawing and then from those shapes you can mould the object you are drawing. The shapes that you should always look for in everything are cones, rectangles/cubes and spheres. Once you have those you can fill in the details.
Line
The types of line you use can express a mood, or could also emphasise new or focal elements. Also remember to lead the eye through the picture and ensure that all lines return to the focal point.
Colour:
While drawing with charcoal or pencil, you won't need to use colour, but it's really good to look into colour theory for later when you expand to other types of drawing. Learn more about colour theory on this site: http://www.artyfactory.com
They have basic stuff like the three primary colouts - red. blue and yellow (pigment only, not screen colours as this works on a different system using light )
And how to mix them to get the other colours. Directly across from the one colour is a colour that compliments each other: Purple and Yellow, Orange and Blue and Green and Red. Notice that there is always 1 primary and 1 secondary colour.
Primary colour: Red, Blue, Yellow (cannot be mixed as they are the starting colours)
Secondary colours are the combinations of the primaries: Orange (Yellow and Red), Green (Blue and Yellow) and Purple (Red and Blue).
Tertiary colours are mostly brown in colour: can be achieved through mixing either a secondary and a primary together, or 3 primaries.
Weight/Mass
Sometimes an object is light and sometimes an object is heavy. How do we show this? A heavy object will be very solidly drawn on the surface. A feather will be light and whispy in mark-making. Think about how one might portray each items unique attributes.
Have a great week.
It was hard. And it was only three things that we learnt and did. I was not mind blowing, it was just challenging and I have to go back again because I have a little hope that things will get more complex and less simplified. What am I getting at?
Well, in the big scheme of things, it's all about expectations and abilities. I have seen the dancers, I know what I am aiming for, I have tried one lesson, now I want to be amazing too. What am I doing learning three moves? It is clear that before one can run, one has to walk. Learn the fundamentals about how to do something and expand, build and construct something beautiful.
So in terms of drawing and art, I would like to suggest a bit of reading. I would love for you to google articles on Gestalt. Wikipedia suggests that the german meaning which is where the origin lies for this word is "wholeness." Looking at a variety things in their completeness will answer a few things. There are a few fundamental elements that art is made up of and this in not purely visual arts:
Composition.
How you choose to place the objects on the page.
There are many different types of compostions. There is the rule of thirds which in essence is that if you were to divide your canvas/page into threes diagonally and/or horizontally, you can place objects on those lines especially at junction points where 2 lines cross over.
Compositions can be symmetrical and assymetrical. Symmetrical means that objects on either side of the page mirror each other in weight and space. Assymetrical is due to a heavier object placed on the one side which is counterpointed by a smaller strategically placed object that acts like a scale on the brink of tipping.
Shape:
As all my drawing friends hear, I preach about shape finding. Simply put, there are only 3 shapes that feature in drawing and then from those shapes you can mould the object you are drawing. The shapes that you should always look for in everything are cones, rectangles/cubes and spheres. Once you have those you can fill in the details.
Line
The types of line you use can express a mood, or could also emphasise new or focal elements. Also remember to lead the eye through the picture and ensure that all lines return to the focal point.
Colour:
While drawing with charcoal or pencil, you won't need to use colour, but it's really good to look into colour theory for later when you expand to other types of drawing. Learn more about colour theory on this site: http://www.artyfactory.com
They have basic stuff like the three primary colouts - red. blue and yellow (pigment only, not screen colours as this works on a different system using light )
And how to mix them to get the other colours. Directly across from the one colour is a colour that compliments each other: Purple and Yellow, Orange and Blue and Green and Red. Notice that there is always 1 primary and 1 secondary colour.
Primary colour: Red, Blue, Yellow (cannot be mixed as they are the starting colours)
Secondary colours are the combinations of the primaries: Orange (Yellow and Red), Green (Blue and Yellow) and Purple (Red and Blue).
Tertiary colours are mostly brown in colour: can be achieved through mixing either a secondary and a primary together, or 3 primaries.
Weight/Mass
Sometimes an object is light and sometimes an object is heavy. How do we show this? A heavy object will be very solidly drawn on the surface. A feather will be light and whispy in mark-making. Think about how one might portray each items unique attributes.
Have a great week.
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