Assignment 4: Stage 1 – research (reclining figure)

All websites mentioned in this post were accessed on 16 November 2015.

16 November, 2015. I am immensely happy to have finished the first two drawings for this assignment. It is funny how I know that my imagination will run wild at times, but I have never so far experienced such strong emotion triggered by a subject I had not been aware of before. I am also very happy that I did not chicken out and so I can turn to the third part of the assignment, a peaceful study of my son reading on the sofa. In order to get all the horrible pictures out of my head (including those of the new Islamist attacks in Paris – against which I am planning to draw a fierce caricature), I started this part with some research on other artists drawing and painting reading children and found 99% chubby-cheeked girls framed by blossoms or boys and girls together – the girl reading to the boy, as if boys were not interested in reading. Strange. Have a look at this for example: https://www.pinterest.com/ladyjo2/children-reading/ or this http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/houghton-mother-and-children-reading-n04151, this http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/potter-a-girl-reading-n04621 and this http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/mcevoy-interior-girl-reading-n04362. When I find reading boys, they are hidden under their blankets, equipped with a torch. Try entering “reading child” into your browser and see what happens. It seems that reading has not yet become fashionable for boys, except when there is an adventure associated and the book is not too long. So I will try and change this by drawing my boy lying on the sofa, absorbed in reading. It is his favourite pastime and this is by no means natural.
When we did not know he was deaf, we noticed how he could not make any sense of books except for having a great time trying to turn the pages as quickly as possible. It took us an incredible five years of intense training both sign language and spoken language, before we could read toddlers’ books to him and even then his attention span was minimal. It was only when he was correctly diagnosed with and started receiving treatment for ESES/CSWS epilepsy in August, that he has started enjoying reading and he has not stopped since. We can only hope that he will overcome his epilepsy, so that this joy may never be taken away from him. This drawing is for him.

Since the drawing has to be tonal (re-checked the instructions, again, just to make sure ;o) ), I browsed the internet for examples and came up, among many others, with https://notartomatic.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/male-figure-study-small.jpg. I very much like the choice and use of colour here and will try something like that with pastel crayons and a soft, warm light.

Assignment 4: Stage 1 – initial planning

5 November, 2015. I am not yet through with the face exercises in Part 4, but needed to start thinking about Assignment 4 in order to meet the deadline at the beginning of December. I am still fascinated by the subject of how the past influences the present and for two of the required three drawings I have a plan:

1. Sitting upright: Almost immediately an image of a condemned man (or woman, of course) on an electric chair, alone in the last moments of his or her life, sprang to my mind. The posture these people have to assume – sitting bolt upright with hands and feet bound to the chair, unable to protect the body from whatever is to come – is totally unnatural and emphasizes the person’s terminal vulnerability. I ask myself what these people think during that final stage. Do they concentrate on the beautiful memories they may have or do they want to spend that fleeting moment in regret of what brought them here (including the agonizing idea of being innocent of the crime for which they have been charged)? If possible I want to try and capture a glimpse of such thoughts in the convict’s face, since this is all they have left free to express themselves with.

2. Portrait: While looking for photographic material of famous persons in preparation for Project 6 I found several incredibly strong black and white photos. Two of these people I admire endlessly: Albert Einstein and Meryl Streep. Einstein for having been a totally free mind able to wander beyond all the artificial intellectual boundaries limiting the advance of science and Meryl Streep for, besides being incredibly clever and versatile, never betraying her personality and standards to fit the expectations of the film industry. Both lateral thinkers, I suspect. One of these images I want to use as a basis for an imaginary and disturbing transformation into the face of an Alzheimer’s patient.

3. Lounging: Since the first two drawings may prove to be quite demanding, I decided that the third one will be of my little son (who is much better, since at least for the moment his medication appears to work wonderfully) lying under his blanket, absorbed in reading, in very bad light, and only the head and book sticking out.

Back soon with some reseach!

Part 4, project 5, exercise 2: The moving figure – groups of figures

3 November, 2015. Here come several sketches I made over the last few days, and two earlier ones from August (already published in another post) and September, which I did with this exercise in mind. For the life drawing of people moving outdoors I still find that my beloved ink pens suit me best, all other media I have come across so far offer too much resistance on the paper, making the drawing slower than required and/or make less dynamic marks (for these I guess I would need more practice and large size paper). I am not sure whether my choice of groups corresponds to what is expected for this exercise in all instances: Persons who happen to use a public space simultaneously do need to coordinate their individual movements to a certain degree in order to avoid collisions, but they do not move as a single group as e.g. dancers would or fencers or even physiotherapists and their patients. On the other hand, the queue of patients waiting to register at the casualty department (where my husband had to get treated today for stepping on a giant rusty screw) does have its own rules for people to constantly adjust their position between wanting to push forward and keeping the correct distance to the people in front and behind, so I guess that this does count. Also, the second group I observed there, a growing number of patients sitting impatiently in their chairs in the waiting area, all staring at a certain screen and hoping for their names to finally show up kept bending forward together every time the screen changed. If however I get the opportunity to observe truly concerted actions (team sports, orchestra etc.), I will add to this post.

Part 4, project 5, exercise 1: The moving figure – single moving figure

All websites mentioned in this post were accessed on 3 November 2015.

03 November, 2015. I spent a very beautiful golden autumn hour at our local golf course, drawing the aspiring golfers with a range of drawing tools (conté pencil, charcoal, blue ink pen, pencil). Instantly I noticed that, first, it takes a while to take in the typical postures assumed, second, that I will need shorthand marks to translate them into drawing language and, third, that it is immensely important to get the balance right the first time. Still, no matter how hard I looked, I had to make some highly uninformed guesses to complete my figures and I can see how it is necessary to get thoroughly acquainted with any type of movement in order to build a believable, energetic figure.

I decided that it was time to do some research regarding the moving figure, but so far I have not been able to find the type of works of art I had had in mind when starting to look. I had been hoping to find techniques helping me to create believable areas and lines of energy, but I mostly found gestural drawings setting the whole figure in “motion” without creating force at the sites of action, as e.g. in http://www.drawing-research-network.org.uk/sally-mckay-at-no-format-gallery-in-london/ or http://i1.wp.com/fredhatt.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/fredhatt-2008-modern-dance.jpg or even http://reinah.deviantart.com/art/Panoramic-Gesture-Drawings-251111194, where the alternating fine and bold lines suggest a connection with energy, but feel wrong somehow. Maybe the thing I have in mind does not exist at all, but will keep looking.

Part 4, project 3, exercise 1: Form – basic shapes

All websites mentioned in this post were accessed on 24 – 25 September 2015. All images shown are in the public domain.

24 September, 2015. In order to make sure I understand the instructions correctly I first needed to clarify the term “central axis”.

The “central axis” is a line running through the figure (according to p. 125 of the study guide), splitting the body in half and serving to balance the pose, the latter according to p. 74 of the book “Art of Drawing the Human Body” (available in part on https://books.google.at/books?id=UgC_BWSphx0C&pg=PA74&lpg=PA74&dq=human+body+drawing+central+axis&source=bl&ots=0BsUsekj8j&sig=v0wedRq3174V_7qPaO5RvLQvb1g&hl=de&sa=X&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAGoVChMIxOLn9t6OyAIVBLsUCh3IPAgQ#v=onepage&q=human%20body%20drawing%20central%20axis&f=false). It is also important to know that the landmarks of the body not just follow changes of the central axis, but exaggerate it (see e.g.  https://vilppustore.com/vilppublog/2011/04/drawing-anatomy-human-landmarks/). In the same context the author introduces the conept of “contra posto”, in which opposites are used to clarify each others’ characteristics.

25 September, 2015. Considering definitions I suddenly had the impression that I was not even completely sure what “blocking in” means in technical terms. On http://georgetownatelier.com/tutorials/color-temperaturefigure-drawing-part-3/ I found a comprehensive introduction and a good description of the basis for blocking in: “Think of your drawing or painting not in photographic terms (as a snapshot) but as a construction of a temple where the block-in functions as the foundation and scaffolding.” I had thought that there was more to it than outlines :o).

With this basic information in mind I selected some poses fitting the instructions from the Croquis café. The only problem with drawing from this source is that I cannot change the viewing angle, so I will have to come back and look for different models assuming a similar pose, if possible.

Here comes the attempt at Croquis cafe no. 75 in my A3 sketchbook using a sanguine conté pencil.
First I marked the distances on and the curvature of the central axis:

Then I found a reference distance to measure and blocked in the basic shapes, taking care to return to my reference at all times.

Finally I tried to correct the mistakes (something seems still wrong with the left shoulder) and added volume to the shapes.

I am not so happy about the results I get when I keep interrupting the drawing in order to measure. Compared to drawing by eye and instinct, which I normally do, the sketch appears relatively static and lifeless. I know that I learn a lot this way, but I will need to combine the two approaches in order to transfer the newly gained knowledge to my own particular way of drawing.

Here comes another attempt with a similar pose, but a different model and from a different angle. To be honest I find it immensely difficult to see the body in terms of 3D forms, but will have another go as soon as possible.

Research point: Foreshortening

All websites mentioned in this post were accessed between 17 and 20 September 2015. All images shown are in the public domain.

17 September, 2015. The only mirror in our house not permanently fixed to a wall is large, heavy and antique. So before removing the mirror I tried to use my facetime camera, but no matter how I placed the computer screen it would not fit in the feet. It was to be the mirror then.

20 September, 2015. Before starting the exercise I consulted my “bible” on drawing the human figure, “Menschen zeichnen” by Gottfried Bammes. The style of the drawings in this book is not inspirational, because its intention is to provide a thorough grounding of human anatomy, but by looking at them again and again familiarizes with proportions and supports my own more intuitive approach. I also had a look on youtube and found some very interesting techniques helping with solving the problem of foreshortening on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJWLaDSNBAIL. It was especially helpful to see the socalled coil technique applied, as well as the use of an ellipse to describe accurately the movement of arms and legs towards and away from an observer and the role of the underground in increasing the effect of foreshortening.

Here comes the result of my own attempt. Because of the peculiarities of my mirror I had to sit on the floor of my workshop with the sketchbook to one side of me, and bend forward while drawing. It hurt, but the result seems OK. What is interesting, though, is that on the sketch my left foot looks small compared to the size of my head, but I measured it on the finished sketch and in fact it is one and a half times the size of the head.

Foreshortening mirror image
Conté pencil

There are many famous examples of foreshortening. Most drawings and paintings of the human figure will not work without it. A particular effect created by an intended use of this technique is always an increased intensity or presence, e.g. movement towards or away from the spectator or placing the spectator in a special position. This is particularly visible in the arguably most famous piece using foreshortening, “The Lamentation of Christ” by Andrea Mantegna. By forcing the spectator into a low viewpoint near the feet the spectator assumes a  position comparable to the mourners on the left.

Lamentation of Christ Andrea Mantegna (c. 1431 – 1506) c. 1480 Tempera painting

Foreshortening is such a dramatic tool that I think it tends to be overused especially in creating aggressive or peculiar-looking images, e.g. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/41236152814817803/. This painting feels so out of proportion that it is interesting to look at. I could not, however, find a working message associated with using the technique. Most likely it may have been an attempt at making the lady look inaccessible or mysterious, but I feel that the giant feet spoil the effect. Maybe it is only me, but I would not want that to happen in my pictures. I therefore think that, when planning my own drawings, it is essential to know exactly what kind of message I want to get across when using this tool as a central element. It may be necessary to limit its effect in order for a drawing to work in the intended way. For example, in the drawing on https://www.pinterest.com/pin/343399540312445936/ there appears to be a message associated, I feel oppressed by the figure arching above me and I can feel either exhaustion after or concentration before a sports event. Also, foreshortening is somewhat softened by the body curving both away from and then back towards the ground and observer.

Part 4, project 2, exercise 1: Proportion – quick studies (part 2)

16 September, 2015. After having had another look on the internet for figure drawing resources I finally came across the “Croquis Cafe” on youtube. This is a collection of female and male nude models presented as if in a life class, including a clock against which to complete drawings (1, 2 and 5 minute studies). For me some of the poses were quite a challenge to complete in one minute. Of course in theory it would be possible to stop the videos and have another look, but I would not recommend it. The best drawings I got in my first attempt at the croquis cafe were the 1 minute studies.

All the sketches below were done in my A3 sketchbook, the first series with a dip pen and turquoise ink, the second with a golden ochre conté pencil. I found the dip pen very awkward to use, it would not fly across the paper with the ease I needed for quick drawing, but I include some of the results anyway for comparison. The soft and thick marks made by the pencil on the other hand were great and I was quite happy with some of the results.

I have to apologize for the quality of the thumbnail images below. Sometimes I find that my scanner struggles with certain types of paper and somehow this effect becomes reinforced by the downscaling process. The larger images are OK, though.

Here are the dip pen and ink sketches:

And here come the conté pencil ones: