Seeing Better – Drawing Better

We will explore:

–Negative Space & Positive Space
–Gesture
-Line Weight
–Light and Shadow (the lock in)
–Starting from a Mid-tone
–Ellipses and Center Lines
–Speed and Dry Media
-Figure Notations if Time

Post Course Resources

• Presentation on Negative Shapes and Positive Shapes and Pencil Scales
• Presentation on Line Types
• Light as it Applies to Geometric Forms and Natural Objects (Creative Commons Video)
• Basic Geometric Forms: Light and Shadow

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Exercises to Gain Speed!

Exercise 1:

Pencil Control

Purchase a lined notebook and practice making lines and “0s” (circular shapes with a pencil).  Put the lines close together and far apart. Then try it with a pen.

Exercise 2:

Value Patterns in Black

Set up a still life and light it from one side. Do a contour line drawing with a pen – make that commitment.  Then divide it into light and shadow – white of the paper and dark black paint or even India Ink!.

Exercise 3:

Quick Draw

Set up a still life and light it from one side. Draw your still life in pencil (no shading) and apply light and dark washes to the paper creating light and dark value patterns. GIve yourself 15 minutes, then do it again giving yourself 10 minutes then one last time at 5 minutes.

Exercise 4:

Thumbnail Studies

Create a set of thumbnail grids.  Focus on overlap and how negative space plays into the drawing.

• On Facebook I have been posting hyperlapse demos in my Isolation sketchbook (a drawing a day during Covid) as sketching is very important to me even if from photographs.
  • Hyperlapse Demo from Photograph: Three Figures Sitting on a Beach in Florida
  • Hyperlapse Demo from Two Photographs: Two Figures From Two Photos in One Sketchbook Spread
    
    RECOMMENDED BOOKS:
• The Sketching and Drawing Bible by Marilyn Scott
• Conversations in Paint by Charles Dunn
• Simon Jennings: The Complete Artist’s Manual

In a nutshell:
“Drawing begins with small steps that compound themselves into more formalized drawings. Start small and you will be surprised how quickly a line and space become a defined form!”