Drawing the face and head

We are getting to the end of the semester and Drawing I! So now we are working on putting together all the steps we have learned - in drawing portraits. Remember the steps we talked about from Betty Edward's book- DotRSotB First we start by perceiving and learning to draw: 1)edges- contour 2)spaces- ie negative spaces and shapes 3)relationships- proportions, sighting and measuring 4)light and shadow- anatomy or shadow:highlights,cast, etc 5)Gestalt- putting it all together by focusing intently on the first four skills

Use all these concepts in observing your subject!

Also remember everything we've learned about the elements of art:

Line, Shape, Value, and Texture

People and faces are a major subject of art and faces are effective for training beginners in SEEing and drawing because it requires requires fine perception skills. Also because we can all see immediately the correctness of our proportions. Beginners think people are a difficult subject but actually as with any subject all the visual information is there and accessible. ***Drawing is always the same task- all require the same basic perceptual skills. Aside from complexity, one subject is not harder or easier than another- though some seem harder because we have more strongly embedded symbols to break!*** Work on bypassing those symbols, and drawing what you really see! Our brain is trying to show us what we expect but measuring proves and helps us believe what we see.

The Head:

Always begin by outlining your structure (having more information on the page helps you to see and use relationships).

Start with the gesture drawing of the oval and put a central axis line in dividing the right and left.

The Eye line ½ way in the center of the head.

The base of the Nose is ½ way between the eyes and the chin

The Mouth is 1/3 between the nose and the chin (not 1/2)

Also remember the eyes have 1 eye space between them and overall the distance across the face should be about 5 eyes wide.

The same measurements follow through into profiles but don't forget to make the back of the skull large enough! And check the distance of the ears. Also, don't forget that the head works in perspective! If you do not have a straight on view of your model (such as a 3/4 view as above) you need to adjust for perspective. And if your model's head is tilted- tilt your measurements to line up with the overall angel of the face.

Self-Portraits

Two example of student self portraits Fall 2010

Process

Many beginners don't understand the importance of gesture/ under drawing and/or
they are under the mistaken idea that accomplished artists don't need to do this step at all.
He is a lovely example of artist Kaoru Mori working up a piece. Note how she doesn't just start at the top and work her way down with her final line work but builds up structure on which the finished lines will be laid down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfENoePp36o&feature=player_embedded

What is Talent?

Mr. Square and the Curse of Talent
Posted by Sean Michael Robinson

Well worth reading!

http://hoodedutilitarian.com/2010/12/mr-square-and-the-curse-of-talent/

(For Isa)

I love the design, drawing, and ink on this poster. The idea of having a simple flat color with a gray-scale for the background characters could also work really well but I found that the color was causing some of the elements to merge rather than helping them to stand apart.
Because of the gray-scale it was easier than normal to see what was causing this to happen. It boils down to needing more variety of value. It's funny but until I got to grad school no one had really impressed on me the importance of value. Then suddenly it was one of the most important issues all my teachers pushed.
What it boils down to is paying extra special attention to contrasting the lights and darks (no matter the color). By planning ahead with a value study you want to try to set light areas against dark areas anywhere you want to create contrast, distinction, or more interest. This is just the 2 cent explanation but I did a quick little mock up where I tried to alternate the darks and lights on the characters to help set them apart and help them stand out. This isn't a perfect example but I hope it helps show what I'm trying to explain a little?

Example of the Recomposition Project

A student example of the recomposition assignment from Fall 2010.
Source images from Da Vinci, Sargent, and Hokusai.

Example of Pinecone Still life

Student example from Fall 2010

Example of Assignment 2

A student example of the negative space assignment:

Assignment 1 Contour

Here is a student example of the first assignment on contour drawing.


Roger Amos, Fall 2010

All contour drawing using pencil and two primacolor pencils.