Drawing 1 - whiteboard notes

We are nearing the end of our drawing 1 course at ACAD this summer. It is sad, however I have witnessed the students improvements by leaps and bounds during the duration of study. They have been given their final assignment for next week and we covered some points that were missed from previous perspective class and some stuff to help them work on their final self portraits.

We covered ellipses and circles in perspective as well as how to construct cartoon hands based on the Preston Blair method as a gateway to more easily construct realistic ones. We also looked briefly at difficulties drawing the feet as well as a bit on foreshortening as these tend to be difficult when drawing from life.

To accompany the note packets I handed out, I gave a lecture on constructing the head in profile and facing forward and some of the rules to know and pitfalls to avoid.  Most people put the eyes too far up and don't give enough space for the skull and brain. Really the eyes sit halfway down the head, though it is the tendency when starting out to have them too high, which makes the face look neanderthal.

I think it was the hair, that caused me to add the moustache while keeping the mood of the class on the humorous side, after all, Hitler was an artist, right?!

I also did a demo on how to draw and eye properly and all the little tricks to move them away from drawing almonds or ovals and what to look for in shadows and how to create sparkle and depth in this most important but inset part of the face. The eyes are the window to the soul so it is very practical to focus on representing the eye effectively.

I did a quick demo before introducing the exercise of how to plan out and tackle a portrait.  I am really starting to notice how the traditional techniques are prevalent in all forms of drawing. Establish the limits of the page and plan the composition. Find a strong vertical, whether it is for perspective, life drawing or anything else, we are prisoners of gravity after all. Then find some horizontals then work with proportions, the second most important lesson for drawing realistically. The first rule is: draw, draw, draw or practice, practice practice. The students tackled the assignment extremely well in the time given and I am very happy with their progress and look forward to next weeks critiques.

Erase me. White board notes from my Teen cartooning class.

I may hate drawing with white board/ dry erase markers but I sure do love teaching, so if thats what it takes then I'll battle the materials.  Here are some of this weeks white board notes from my Teen cartooning Camp at the Alberta College of Art and Design. In the past few days we have covered a lot. Tomorrow they will be finishing and presenting their final pieces for critique and I can't wait to see what the final products look like.

Here is a simple revolver in 1 point perspective and below showing how to construct a car using boxes in perspective. The board gets so dirty that the markers erase the layers as they write, time for a good wipe down.

We did a whole day where our goal is to describe form that appears 3D but is drawn on a two dimensional surface, our sketchbook paper.  Drawing creates an illusion after all.

We covered all the types and methods for drawing forms in space, including isometric projection and perspective drawing. Above is my kitchen interior in one point perspective.

We did some 3-point perspective afterward (worms eye and birds eye view) It is a little bit more difficult but it is incredibly useful for cartoon and comic artists. We also went over foreshortening and  how to draw ellipses,  and circles in perspective using only straight edges.

We also focused on the figure and superhero poses using a 5 step development process. The notes didn't get complete as I was going around and working at each and every students station based on their individual needs and then the day just seemed to evaporate in to the class ending.

1. Sketch a skeleton in the position you want with the desired proportions
2. Flush out the forms using simple shapes like cylinders
3. Refine the details, clothing etc.
4. Ink and erase the pencil lines
5. Shade and create form on the figure

We also drew a variety of hands using a few methods, including the Preston Blair method of simple circles which is really quick and effective to learn. I've drawn tens of thousands of hands this way. We then went into the anatomy of the skull and how to draw and create faces.

We spent a the better part of class figuring out layout and panel designs. This was by far my most fun set of teaching notes of the week. Not only that it is packed with useful information!

 This is a sketch one of the students did that was just so simple, elegant and beautiful I asked permission to take a picture to share with you here. Isn't it awesome?! I love it, it communicates everything it needs to with so few lines.

Teen Cartooning - exquisite corpse drawings

I have a new course running all this week, Teen cartooning.

We started off with getting the creative juices flowing with an elaborate array of different warm up exercises. I gave a lecture on the history of Sequential art and how characters and styles have transformed throughout time. I gave the assignment early so they can allow their creative juices to percolate over the next few days. We quickly moved into character design and played a fun surrealist drawing game at the end of the class. This is the one I created throughout the timed exercise as an example of how to fold etc. Next to it is my trusty kitchen timer.

Here are some of the exquisite corpses that they made as a group:

Qu' est-ce vous pensez?

Drawing 1 class - still life - perspective

We continue to have an awesome Drawing 1 class. Previously we were working with proportions and using our drawing tools to describe textures and shading on still life objects brought in and arranged by the students.

Each student drew a minimum of 3 items arranged into a pleasant composition. Who know a shoe could be so beautiful :D

If you get the drawing done right, with proper proportions, adding shading and texture, and in future painting, should fall right into place. If not, even globs of paint won't help you repair it.

This past week, we began our technical exploration of all things dimensional. We start with basic shapes, square, circle triangle and learn how the use of line and shading can transform them into dimensional objects like a cube, pyramid, cone and cylinder. We expand to the 5 platonic solids, which are all congruent, regular polygons, I add the 4th dimensional Tesseract and try to draw it graphically, for fun.

I demonstrate how orthographic drawings are used by engineers etc. to turn information into isometric projections. We see isometric images everyday from ikea instructions, to video games and lego instructions.  Even though this type of drawing is not entirely realistic it begins us on the pursuit of drawing 3 dimensional looking forms on a 2 dimensional surface. Next we move into perspective.

I get the students to draw a landscape and an interior using one point perspective.  A great use of one point perspective in film is Stanley Kubrick's 2001 A Space Odyssey. Example below.

Food for Thought. Art school or not?

Check out this You tube video. It raises a number of good points challenging the status quo of the institutional art education system. Share your opinion in the comments section below.

here is something else I found interesting: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/f-scott-hess/is-deskilling-killing-you_b_5631214.html

Big Rock Cock

Big Rock invited me to work on a mural of their distressed cock logo for a spot in their main space. They want a big round mural to the right of the skylight above the doors. This is the view front he second floor landing a the top of their stairs.

I created a variety of samples for them to choose from.

Each one has different aspects I thought they may like.

The first two are conservative, using their logo with their brown and red pantone colours.

The next are black with gold and red over the brown with a release technique to distress it further.

Here is the one on the right once some of the red paint is peeled away to reveal the brown underneath.

On the next two I decided to try something a bit different, the first, on the right is inspired by the old traditional label and the one on the right is the base layer to create a bottle cap design.

Here is is with a variety of washes and layers to achieve various looks.

On the right you can see how the black layer is removed to reveal the silver and red underpainting.

The Calgary Stampede and exhibition has arrived so my city and this project is on hold until the debauchery ends and the town sobers up. I look forward to hearing from Big Rock what they are interested in.

Black and White

With so much going on since my return of my most recent residency, I still managed to creature some new work for the Black and white show at Studio Phi. 

I didn't get a lot of process shots but this is a  derivative from the work I re-introduced during my residency and continued experimentation with the flower of life motif. I treated myself to an art supply purchase. Regular followers will be well aware of my art supply addiction. I went to a new store in Manchester which sells drafting supplies specifically, though I really wonder how valid that claim is when there were only 3 compasses to choose from. I picked up a Staedtler Mars 522 and am thoroughly happy with the purchase, it was the only option that can hold a variety of drawing devices.

I washed and wiped the surface to remove some of the patin in order to give it an aged aesthetic. Then revisited each panel, though I haven't photographed that stage.

I did however get caught up in the auction and I managed to win Dustin Pools piece for $800. Its gorgeous and will be going over my bed, plus it was his first venture into watercolour and I think its phenomenal. It was such an amazing show and I did get to catch up with so many amazing art friends and colleagues, even though I was bagged and wanted nothing more than to get home to catch up on some Z's. It was a great experience…...Returning from that tangent, these two pieces do fit together and I will continue to work on them since I usually want more time and layering, it seems my pieces are never done quickly and they require not only time but layering, it is after all a labour of love. I will post in the future the finished pieces, but there is two murals and numerous commissions and classes to report on in the interim, stay tooned :P

Values, light and Dark

I began teaching my Drawing 1 course at ACAD again . This post is for the students who missed last class in order to help them catch up on anything they may have missed out on and for any followers and readers who find this stuff as fascinating as I do!   =:D

Last week we began in the realm of imagination and using line. Line is very powerful, as you draw it is like you are cutting through light. A drawing can be made with a line which separates dark and light.  But line only describes a form but does not give mass and body to it. We need to learn to describe three dimensionality with shading. In order to accomplish this we need to develop our value scale.

Using the tools of drawing each student completed a value scale by utilizing the variety of pencils H - HB - B - F, charcoal or pen and crosshatching. In this way we have a base line to compare the values in  the drawing.  In the above image of the value scale the lower strip has the middle grey value added as a comparison. This is incredibly useful information especially if you are using a neutral ground as your starting point.

The next step is understanding how to see how these things play out in reality on any given object. For this I brought out SHAPES!!!! Some people dread the shapes, I remember the groans at art school for spending days at this. I think they are a valuable tool for understanding drawing. It is such a powerful way to understand what you see and I still practice it from time to time.

We used white painted plaster and wooden shapes under a single light source to create very defined shadows. If you are working from home, find white stuff around the house, you can make shaped out of white paper, paint stuff yourself, use what you have, or buy these at art supply stores. The goal is to use the value chart as a comparison in order to  create drawings of the simple shapes defined in space by lights and darks. Below is an example as to how the values relate on the drawing surface.

At this point it isn't as important to me that you have the proportions absolutely correct, as we will be working on that tons later, what we are really after is the ability to blend the values to create smooth transitions of shadow. Hard edged shapes tend to not have blended shadows. This exercise is to draw what we see! To understand the core and cast shadows and to have the relationship between the light and the dark on these shapes relate properly to create a realistic drawing.  Remember: Draw what you see!

I have included some snap shots taken on my iPhone so they are not "superfantastique" by any means but they were from the class set up for those who missed and would like an idea what we worked on.  It is helpful to work with white painted shapes as they are less confusing to break down. It is also better to try this from life rather than photo as the camera does change the way we look.

There was no homework as we used the 3 hr class for demos and exercises and finished off by looking at what we created in the class. Next class we add to this by working on still life using what we learned with values and we will begin our pursuit of proportions. Ciao for now. Have a great week-end and CANADA DAY!