Saturday 31 July 2010




Course work: Four 45-second gestures. As I did yesterday, I then selected the pose of the worst gesture for a contour study. Today I tried to do this more rapidly and fluidly, and spent just over 2 ½ minutes on it. At one point I did look back at the paper and reposition my pen point. I think I will try some more of these.

A line drawing of a semi-seated, semi-kneeling figure…a difficult pose for the model, and one I had to complete from a digital photograph. This one didn’t flow along as smoothly as did yesterday’s, but I am reasonably pleased with the result.

Reading:



Leonard Shlain Art and Physics: Parallel Visions in Space, Time and Light

William Morrow, New York 1991

Pp. 324-362



Personal sketchbook work: A few small heads (one of these was done in a restaurant, and then glued into the sketchbook).

Total time: Two hours 29 minutes (42h10m)

Friday 30 July 2010




Course work: Four 30-second gestures. We then returned to the pose of the worst gesture for an eleven-minute blind contour, almost equally bad.

A very bright sunny window gave me the idea of doing an experiment in which I drew only the boundaries of major tonal changes. My first efforts on scrap paper yielded a series of black lines of only moderate interest, resembling a combined gesture and contour, but I decided to reproduce them in my sketchbook with marker over acrylic, which I think yielded a somewhat more interesting outcome (and planted a seed for some future experiments as well). Today’s line drawing went better…I measured very carefully, started from the center instead of the head, and got it all on the paper…and with generous use of the eraser was fairly pleased overall. My model’s socks gave the opportunity to add a few extra interesting

lines.

Reading:



Clem Robins The Art of Figure Drawing

North Light Books, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, 2003

Pp. 26-39



Personal sketchbook work: Another visit to hanging drapery (the first in a while) this time using a red chalk pencil.

Total time: 2 hours 12 minutes

Thursday 29 July 2010




Course work: Four one-minute gesture sketches. These seem, on the whole, to be worse than the 30-second ones.

A seven-minute interrupted-line contour sketch, pretty awful.







Started work on the line drawing, using a 3 B pencil on 30 x 46 cm paper. Despite having (I thought) measured carefully to be sure I’d have enough paper, I ran out of room. I’ll try another pose tomorrow, and will be sure to leave more space for errors in measurement.









Reading:



Richard Osborne & Dan Sturgis Art Theory for Beginners

For Beginners LLC, Danbury, CT, USA, 2006

Pp. 75-110





Personal sketchbook work: A few Ranier cherries, done in colored pencil.

Total time: 1hour 50 minutes

Wednesday 28 July 2010




Course work: Four 45-second gesture sketches.

Four blind contour sketches; I seemed to be having trouble concentrating on the process today. After running repeatedly off the paper on one, I did restart my line at a different location. Having now done ten of these, I shall assume that I have done the “…several…” or “…a few…” that the text mandates, but I think that, as with the gesture sketches, there is enough value in them to continue doing them in parallel with the ongoing work, perhaps doing some interrupted line blind contours. (Parenthetically, I must note that the illustration in the text appears more the gesture of a skilled hand than a single-line contour.)









Reading:



Michael Mattesi Force: The Key to Capturing Life Through Drawing

iUniverse Star, New York, 2004

Pp. 147-173



Personal sketchbook work: Three butternut squash, typically a winter vegetable here, but grown by a gardener friend in summer’s heat.

Continuous line check and log: This was indeed a frustrating exercise. I found that I often tend to overemphasize the size of heads, hands, and feet, while making the anteroposterior dimension of the head too small (a frequent flaw with my drawing, even when I can see what I am doing). Surprisingly, the temptation to look at the paper and see how the drawing was progressing was fairly easy to resist, although I found it difficult to imagine that my pen-point was at the point on the model that I was drawing at the time. What have I gained from this exercise? The knowledge that I can draw fairly short lines and angles with reasonable accuracy while concentrating on the model, and the knowledge that sometimes a less-than-perfect drawing conveys more feeling than a perfect one.



Thinking about artists who used line fluidly, one should certainly add Egon Schiele to the list: many of his drawings look as if they were done “blind.” However, I prefer the great swooping lines that the later Matisse drawings often exhibit: these also appear to have been done with more attention to the model than to the paper.



Total time: 1 hour 11 minutes

Tuesday 27 July 2010




Course work: Four 30-second gesture sketches.

Three single-line blind contour drawings, in about 11, 11, and 12 minutes. On two I ran off the page and had to take a quick look to relocate.

Reading:



Leonard Shlain Art and Physics: Parallel Visions in Space, Time and Light

William Morrow, New York 1991

Pp. 290-323



Other activity: My painting group met today. I was again the only attendee, as has been the case three of the past four times. I fear for the group’s future.



Total time: 1 hour 7 minutes

Monday 26 July 2010




Course work: Four one-minute gesture sketches: these seem to be becoming worse instead of better.

Three single-line blind contour drawings, done in about seven, nine, and ten minutes. These are surprisingly improved over most of my earlier efforts, and I have no idea why. I did have to look briefly at the second one, when I ran off the page.

Reading:



Clem Robins The Art of Figure Drawing

North Light Books, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, 2003

Pp. 7-25



Kenneth Clark The Nude: A Study in Ideal Form

Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, USA, 1972

Pp. 348-370

(The classic work on the history and philosophy of figure drawing and painting, as relevant and readable now as when first published in 1956.)



Personal sketchbook work: A rather robust skull, seen from below, done with colored pencil.

Total time: 1 hour 19 minutes

Sunday 25 July 2010




Course work: Started with four 45-second gesture sketches: today’s effort was particularly abysmal.

I followed these with three five-minute sketches; there were a few good lines, but little more.

Reading:



Reading: Leonard Shlain Art and Physics: Parallel Visions in Space, Time and Light

William Morrow, New York 1991

Pp. 258-289



Personal sketchbook work: An enlarged view of a well-used kneaded eraser.

Quick studies check and log: The major challenge with these studies was time pressure, as I have previously noted. Working “against the clock” seems to drop my competence several levels. Foreshortening still produces some difficulty, but less than in the past.



In comparison to my Assignment Two studies, I think the overall quality is somewhat better, although the gesture sketches have shown only modest improvement.



My current biggest challenges are accuracy of depiction (especially of faces and hands) and overcoming my problem with timed exercises.



Weekly reflections on learning experience: Overall, a good week’s work, although I am less than fully satisfied with its quality. I continue to work on the concept and practice of gesture, and will continue to do so. I think that I have met the objectives of the “Quick Studies “exercise, although I found the instructions somewhat nebulous. Despite my incessant complaints, I am still enjoying the work.



Total time: 53 minutes (32h2m)

Saturday 24 July 2010




Course work: Four 30-second gestures.

I found the instructions under “Quick Studies” to be somewhat unclear, and elected to do one series of five ten-minute sketches (now completed), then do a second series using a shorter time.

Two five-minute sketches were done: the standing sketch was no worse than I had expected, but while doing the sitting sketch I was overtaken by time pressure and did rather poorly.

Reading:



Michael Mattesi Force: The Key to Capturing Life Through Drawing

iUniverse Star, New York, 2004

Pp. 125-146



Personal sketchbook work: A hasty colored pencil sketch of a late-evening sky clearing after a thunderstorm. This would be sufficient to design a painting, although as it stands its identity would be unclear without a label.

Total time: 32 minutes (31h9m)

Friday 23 July 2010




Course work: Four one-minute gestures.

A ten-minute recumbent sketch with a sanguine Conté pencil. This seemed to go particularly poorly…the time almost seemed like a one-minute gesture, and so did the result. I then had a try at a squatting pose, which I had to finish from a digital photograph…this pose is hard on my model’s knees, as is the kneeling pose I did next.

Reading:



Richard Osborne & Dan Sturgis Art Theory for Beginners

For Beginners LLC, Danbury, CT, USA, 2006

Pp. 37-74



Personal sketchbook work: Another page of small faces, from reference material. These small ones are harder for me than larger ones.

Total time: 1 hour 31 minutes

Thursday 22 July 2010




Course work: Four 45-second gesture drawings.

A ten-minute sketch of a seated figure. I surmised long ago that I do not work well under pressure of time, and my work in this section seems to confirm that observation.

Reading:



Richard Osborne & Dan Sturgis Art Theory for Beginners

For Beginners LLC, Danbury, CT, USA, 2006

Pp 1-36



Personal sketchbook work: A continuous-line blind contour drawing of a reproduction of the Willendorf Venus (a frequent because convenient subject) accompanied by a conventional sketch of the same.

Total time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Wednesday 21 July 2010




Course work: Continued work on the torn-paper collage. I found some of my paper too thick to tear evenly, and had to use scissors. I also had to paint some paper to produce my background. Although some of the colors I used are pretty startling, the tones are about right (see mono-chrome version below.)

If I were to do a similar process in the future, I would (1) work on a larger scale (finished size is only about 23 x 35 cm), (2) collect a larger supply of materials before starting, (3) plan my background early and put it on first…I converted this from an indoor pose only near the end of the process. I think that this was a worthwhile experience, although it is quite a time-consuming one.



Did four thirty-second gestures. (I wonder how many thousand it would take to achieve competency?)

Started work on Assignment 5, Option Two, with the first of the “quick studies,” a ten-minute standing pose.

Reading:



Kenneth Clark The Nude: A Study in Ideal Form

Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, USA, 1972

Pp. 308-347



Personal sketchbook work: A hasty sketch of an unpleasant dream that seemed to involve falling into a gigantic jejunum.