RazzleDazzleArt

Drawing Class Part One of Three 

The first class consists of a five to ten minute drawing of an object to see how well the student can draw. Some people can already draw fairly well, some can draw very well, and some can not draw at all. But the purpose of the class is to help everyone draw better. After everyone has drawn their first picture, taking at least five minutes to draw their very best and as much as 10 minutes if need be, I can look at each drawing and determine what needs to be addressed with each student to help them improve their drawing skills.

The next step is to teach the basic concepts of right side brain drawing. Everyone interested in drawing or art in general will do themselves a favor by reading Drawing On The Right Side Of The Brain by Dr. Betty Edwards.  Here is a link to the wiki for Dr. Betty Edwards.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Edwards

Turning the object or image to be drawn upside drawn will sometimes do the trick as far as forcing the brain to switch to the right side. For at least 10 minutes, I try to make everyone understand how important this concept of right and left brain function is. Some people rebel at the thought of drawing with a part of their brain. They want to just draw.

Next step is the Alberto Giacometti techniques for arriving at good reference points. here is a link to the wiki on Alberto Giacometti.

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Giacometti

These exercises will help an artist immensely with getting the image placed where they want it on the paper, it's size, dimensions and composition. I generally spend up to fifteen minutes on the reference points exercise. If the students are not freaking out, I will let it go on until they are tired. It's actually pretty cool when it dawns on you what and why the Giacometti technique can do for your drawing. For those that depend on a grid to draw, it's a revelation.

The next step is to simply draw the object without looking at the paper. No rendering or shading, just the general outline really helps to focus attention on the subject and not on the drawing. At least 10 minutes are spent doing this as many people hate drawing without looking at the paper.  This is generally known as blind contour drawing. I review each students work and help them as we go along. Sometimes it is very hard for a person to draw blindly. I've seen some people that absolutely refuse to do it. They just lock down and kind of stare blindly ahead as if going to their doom. It really helps a person loosen up though and is well worth the initial discomfort.

This is generally the end of the first class. I tell the student the difference between someone who can draw and someone who can not is that the artist sees things as they really are. It's more in seeing than skill of the hand. Then I tell them to practice contour drawing, drawing objects upside down and the Giacometti techniques until the next class which will cover more advanced principles such as perspective, shading, and light sources. The serious student will go home and practice.

Drawing Class Part Two of Three

The second class consists of first talking about problems or questions with the first class.  Review the importance of Giacometti technique for finding the reference lines. Review the importance of the left brain to right brain shift and getting good at it. Talk about why it's important to do exercises and not worry about using a lot of paper. Don't be stingy with paper. If you have to, get some cheap newsprint to draw on. The texture of newsprint paper is great for pencil or charcoal. Explain why the camera can lie due to its single point of reference and the human eyes are using two points of reference. Discuss the importance of practice. Without practice, you will never master drawing. Some people have a natural ability to draw and don't require as much practice. Then some people can draw pretty well, but have developed some bad habits and tendencies that can only be fixed by practicing the correct way to draw. Of course, there are some that will not learn anything new and will not take much from the class.

Now we will draw an object using line only. Discuss the importance of overlaps and demonstrate how overlaps work. Demonstrate how a darker line comes forward and a lighter line recedes. We then do a picture with one object in front of another and make the second object recede from the first object by drawing the second object with thinner lines, followed by placing another object behind the first two and drawing it very faintly to show how to get the effect of perspective and depth.

Explain the concept of grid lines in reproducing a picture. Explain and demonstrate negative space. Use a chair. Demonstrate the concept of volume. "Everything in nature can be reduced to a cylinder, cone, or cube," said Paul Cezanne. It's true. Drawing cylinders, cones, spheres and boxes can really help improve your drawing skills. Imagine that.

Discuss the importance of composition, the rule of thirds. Rules of composition as far as horizon lines, why it is bad for tangent lines to be too close together and why it is bad for tangent lines to come together at the edge of drawing. I've seen some beautifully rendered drawings that were ruined by the artist worrying too much about the act of drawing and not enough about making a pleasant and interesting composition. Composition is an art unto itself. Poor drawings that have imaginative composition are elevated to a better image just because they are interesting and have a pleasing composition.

Discuss and demonstrate the importance of emphasis at junctions. Some artists do it without thinking. I used to. But now when finishing a drawing, I make an effort to go back and make my junctions clearer and slightly darker, sometimes much darker.

Aerial perspective and general linear perspective are concepts that need to be understood and not taken for granted. The importance of thumbnails and planning ahead can not be over stressed. Show how crosshatching is done properly and why it is more pleasing to the eye than blending as far as graphite (pencil) goes. Blended graphite has a tendency to smear and get very slick and shiny. There will always be those that think that blending of graphite looks good. In some cases, it does. Demonstrate the use of paper as a shield to prevent smearing and to use it as a mask for hatching and the use of an eraser in hatching.

Discuss final part of drawing class, pen and ink and/ or charcoal and materials needed for class. If you have not drawn with different types and grades of charcoal, then you have missed out on a very fun and rewarding medium.

Drawing Art Class Final............

The first 10 minutes we will discuss the previous two classes, answer questions and briefly review. Most students will relate the parts of the previous class  that they liked or hated with a passion. I have several different techniques I teach, that at one time or another, I hated. Really hated. But after being forced to practice those hated techniques enough, I understood the ideas behind them and when the light bulb goes off in your brain about why a technique you hate is important to learn, it's a great thing.

Pen and ink, is my favorite medium. It has been since I was a child. We will go over the various instruments to be used in pen and ink drawings including ball point pens, crow quill, split nib, sharpies, magic markers, airbrush, technical (refillable) pens, technical disposable, and brush. Discuss the drawing out first in graphite, inking, then erasing as my favorite way, or direct inking of the paper. 

Discuss good paper, smearing, ink washes, the way a thicker ink line looks closer than a thinner or grayed out ink line. Discuss colored inks and the difference between india ink and watercolor (water soluble) inks.

After sketching an object, we will attempt to ink it, tracing the lines. Then we will apply some hatching to give it body. Then we will apply cross-hatching.

We will then discuss hatching versus blending and briefly explore charcoal and proper blending of charcoal. This class is over now. I generally let the class draw until every one is ready to go.

Now if you have questions or would like to schedule a drawing class, please contact me. I am also happy to critique your work.  

* my email address

rickyniell@gmail.com