Here it is: Make better art by learning from better artists.
Duh, right? But I don't think that way often enough. I'm all about looking at
artwork—more and more and more artwork—but sometimes I don't really put my
thinking cap on when it comes to gleaning what artists are saying with their
work. Here are a few tips that came to me directly from the artist—no puzzling
it out required.
Bird Me!
Painting or drawing birds is a definite challenge but Dutch
artist Jacob de Gheyn was a master
at varying his drawing techniques and marks to account for all the textures in any fair fowl—from
wispy strokes for feathers to scaly marks for feet to dimples and dots to
account for skin that looks plucked.
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Plucked Chickens Hanging from Nails by Jacob de Gheyn,
1598, pen and ink drawing, 6 1/2 x 6. |
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Sneaky Sketching
"I would often get caught drawing because the sound of the
pencil scratching, the sound of sharpening, or pulling out the blade to sharpen
would attract too much attention. I began doing the sketches in pen-and-ink
because it's better suited for sneaking up on people."-Neil McMillan
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'A' Train, no. 4 by Neil McMillan, 2008
pen and ink drawing, 5 1/2 x 3 1/2. |
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'A' Train, no. 5 by Neil McMillan, 2008
pen and ink drawing, 5 1/2 x 3 1/2. |
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'A' Train, no. 3 by Neil McMillan, 2008
pen and ink drawing, 5 1/2 x 3 1/2. |
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Don't Break Down On the Curves
Curves are a tricky beast and really hard to accurately
draw. But there is one approach that many artists used, including no less than Peter Paul Rubens. The trick is to use
only straight lines for edges, softening them into curves where appropriate and
needed later in the process.
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| Two Satyrs by Peter Paul Rubens, 1618-19. |
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Give Your Drawing Patina
Anthony Mitri
drags fine sandpaper vertically and horizontally across his drawing surface. It
creates a linen-like texture, a kind of cross-hatching that lends the work a
sense of roughness and history, similar to an old filmstrip.
He also steers away from fixative until the very end of the process because it
makes the paper grainy.
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115 Bales and One Silver Ring, Normandy, France by Anthony Mitri,
charcoal drawing, 22 1/2 x 30, 2002. |
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All of these tips and the artists they come from are
featured in the 2008 CD of Drawing
magazine. Yep, you read that right. All of this info plus more in-depth methods
and techniques are here for the taking in one lil' package—Drawing 2008 CD. Enjoy!
P.S. What is your 'duh' moment when it comes to drawing and painting? Leave a comment and let me know! Thanks!