Artist Daily : pencil drawing

They Can Be Moody, Too

Courtney Jordan — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 04:12:00 GMT

I'll admit that in the past I have been guilty of thinking of colored pencil art as colorful and bright and not necessarily able to be coupled with serious subjects or moody narratives. But that was my own bias. As I've spent time looking at sketchbooks of draftsmen creating colored pencil art and figure drawings made using colored pencils, I've discovered that the medium is as diverse as any other.


	Seeds Of Memory by David Suff, colored pencil drawing, 20 x 28.

My blind spot with colored pencil drawings largely has to do with the way I've seen the implements used. I've seen drawings where the paper is literally covered with dense layers of color, which can make the surface waxy, unusable, and uninteresting.

But recently I've seen life-drawing sketches of figures made with colored pencils that show how much depth and subtlety the medium is capable of when light hatchmarks are used. Colors are built up in controlled layers of line, and the lightness of the paper underneath is allowed to shine through and illuminate the marks.


Colored pencil sketch by James Jean, detail.

In figure drawings, this is an exciting prospect. I can apply what I already know about drawing but add color into the mix, all while making the motions and marks that I love. So you can draw a dusky, moody figure with colored pencils of orange and blue and red, applying line over line to create passages that are unexpectedly complex and show a lot of depth. And, when used on paper with a lot of tooth, colored pencil art can have a truly interesting surface that dispels all of my past biases completely.

To gain more insight on colored pencil techniques--from the basics and beyond-consider Janie Gildow's newest DVDs, TK and TK. Gildow is a colored pencil drawing expert and really shows how to make the medium shine. Enjoy!

And Don't You Ever Forget It

Courtney Jordan — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 04:08:00 GMT

I'm an artistic omnivore to be sure, but there is really nothing I love more and respond to more than pencil drawings. I know, the humble pencil and paper seems so simple, so basic. But what some forego and forget as too elementary, I see as essential.

Yes, starting with beginner pencil drawing lessons is pretty standard when learning art, but just because we begin with pencil drawing doesn't mean we should leave it behind as our art practice evolves and changes.

Untitled by Kent Miller, 2008, graphite pencil drawing, 30 x 40.

Of late I've seen so many artists who are making incredible pencil portraits and pencil sketches that have reinforced how lively and relevant the practice is and how varied the marks are that you can make with pencils.

Kent Miller presents the material world in his pencil drawings as a place of moody light and shadow with narratives that seem commonplace and complicated at the same time. In Untitled, a young man foregoes a place at the table to sit on the floor, staring off as if a troubling or thought-provoking event just took place-possibly linked to the two wineglasses at the table. Miller focuses the viewer's eye on the figure: His white shirt, the white highlights on the right side of his body and face, and the wall he leans against (the lightest area of the painting) draw our eyes first. The drawing suggests that the figure's emotional reaction to whatever just occurred is more important than the event itself, indicated by the darker shadows and gradations in the area on the right.

Family Vacation by Rex Stevens, 2007,
graphite pencil drawing, 26 x 20.

Rex Stevens makes use of a drawing pencil in ways I've never really seen before. In Family Vacation, all I could first perceive were the whiplash marks that make up the three "figures" and the tree they are gathered around. The level of gradation is impressive considering how quick the motion of the artist's hand would have been to produce those strokes, and there's also an incredible lightness and airiness to the work that presumably resulted from the artist going back into the work with an eraser with that same quick, vigorous stroke.

The "basic" pencil in the right hands is anything but that, and right now you can see exactly what I mean in so many of the drawing digital resources that are on sale at the Artist Daily Shop. The sale is going on for 24 hours, so if you see a digital art guide that inspires you, treat yourself! You and your art deserve it!

Don’t Be Camera Shy! Here’s Your Free eBook on Using a Photo Reference in Your Art

Courtney Jordan — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 03:56:00 GMT

Almost every artist I know who depicts people or creates portraits has spent time painting from photographs or drawing from them. It may not be how they develop a work foremost, but it is a useful method, especially when you want to capture a likeness and don't have the luxury of having your model available at all times.

But using the camera to create a photo reference doesn't magically translate a photo to a painting. There is a lot to assess in the process of painting from photographs, and plenty of pitfalls. That's why it can often make sense to start drawing from photos first, so you get a handle on how to use photos without the time commitment of a major painting. The Artist Daily Guide to Using a Photo Reference: Art Tips for Drawing from Photographs and Turning Photos to Paintings gives you the lay of the land in a really accessible way.

Artist and instructor Sandra Angelo discusses how she uses a photo reference in her own work, often beginning by taking many photos of a sitter and then creating a contour drawing pencil sketch of the major shapes she sees. This allows Angelo to use a photo reference as a stepping-off point, interpreting the image early on in the process so that she establishes her own vision and is not constantly referring back to the photo reference as her be-all guide.

Before completing an artwork, Angelo often creates a contour drawing from the photo references she takes of her model.

Angelo also recommends working from a large photo reference and even using a grid kit when starting out. By far the section I found most informative in The Artist Daily Guide to Using a Photo Reference: Art Tips for Drawing from Photographs and Turning Photos to Paintings was the section in which Angelo discusses the three common mistakes that often arise when working from a photo reference and how to avoid them, plus the portrait photography tips she includes so that you know how to get a good photo to work from in the first place. Download The Artist Daily Guide to Using a Photo Reference: Art Tips for Drawing from Photographs and Turning Photos to Paintings now and enjoy!

This Sci-Fi Guru Can Draw

Courtney Jordan — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 04:25:00 GMT

I'm totally a sci-fi junkie and H.R. Giger is truly a master artist in the genre of fantastic realism. I first came across his work through his designs for Alien. Lately, with the release of Prometheus, his art came up on my radar again.

Now, his work is...out there. His style is so unique that it has its own term: biomechanical, where human bodies and machines enmesh. And yes, there is a bit of a "yig" factor to some of his work, but in terms of execution? He's amazing.

H.R. Giger has an amazing way of manipulating a very limited
color palette into an extraordinary range of color.

I always assumed that his artworks were predominately pencil drawings. The monochromatic gradation he's known for seemed like it could only be made with a drawing pencil. But I was off. In fact, Giger often used an airbrush to create his grisaille paintings and now draws mostly in pastel or ink.


Galerie Carré Blanc by H.R. Giger, (drawing from the 700 Years of Waiting series), 1991, ink drawing on transcop.

What's most intriguing about Giger's career is that he started out as a "regular" two-dimensional artist, working on paper, but that was just the beginning. He took the objects and visions of his imagination, probably made pencil drawing or a pen and ink drawing of them, and then his artistic world kind of exploded around him. He did album covers, architectural designs, a museum, and movie after movie. But it all started with drawing pencil sketches in a notebook just like the rest of us work.

Giger's artistic trajectory shows how drawing can be such a catalyst for artists--a starting point for amazing work and growth if we really commit to it. Our latest Drawing 2011 CD gives you all of Drawing magazine's issues for an entire year in one disc. As I was browsing through it I realized, yet again, just how wild drawing is--how many unusual and curious as well as skillful works are being done with pencil drawings, charcoal, and more. Enjoy discovering that wider world for yourself--and putting your own mark on it!

Soft Lines and No Tension

Courtney Jordan — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 03:57:00 GMT

I'm not a napping kind of person. When I'm up, I'm up and I want to be doing something or on the go. That's usually the kind of body drawing that I'm pulled to as well--muscles torqued, body indicating action, and an underlying sense of movement. That being said, I do recognize and advocate for drawings that show the body at rest.

Doppelganger by Michael Grimaldi, 14 x 18, pencil drawing, 2005.

There's something beautiful and quietly sensual about the human form lying prone or supine--a landscape of soft lines and no tension in the body. But in order to truly represent this kind of lassitude and ease when drawing human body sketches or studies, I need to be better equipped when it comes to anatomy drawing.


		Nude Study by Edward Minoff, 16 x 12, charcoal drawing, 1999.

I realize now that the body at rest is just as complicated as the body in action. Understanding how to draw a human body in both ways does an artist a good turn because you witness and take note of the body's muscles and bones in its widest spectrum of motion. That is always a good thing so that no matter what a model does or how they are positioned, I can "unpack" the form through anatomy so to speak.

If you want to really sink into knowing how to draw the anatomy of the body in all of its softness and sensuality as well as its power and movement, Anatomy for Artists: Man in Motion is a DVD that we at Artist Daily can't recommend highly enough. It is a guide to drawing human anatomy from head to toe, showing the body in various stages of activity and position. Plus Anatomy for Artists: The Human Form Revealed is a DVD that approaches anatomy drawing from an artist's perspective--giving you knowledge of the visual landmarks on the body and a sense of proportions that you'll want whenever you draw the figure. Enjoy!

You Could Use Some Color: New Free eBook on Colored Pencil Techniques

Courtney Jordan — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 04:36:00 GMT

I don't care what anyone says, color is king. It makes everything better--more appealing and lively. Oftentimes in an artist's drawing practice, a sense of color takes a backseat to the black, white, and gray of charcoal or graphite. But that doesn't necessarily have to be the way it is.


Distortion(s) by Janie Gildow, colored pencil and acrylic, 11 x 10.

Colored pencil art is on the rise. Many artists want the lushness of color and the precision of a drawing implement, and the ability to mix the two with their painting practices as well. Using colored pencils is a way to have all of this. In our new free eBook, Colored Pencil Techniques from Artist Daily: Create Faster, Richer Effects in Your Colored Pencil Drawings, artist Janie Gildow gives a colored pencil tutorial based on her own artistic practices that shows just how adaptable colored pencils can be.

Gildow typically starts with a colored pencil drawing layered over watercolor washes. This allows the artist to have the all-over color effects she wants without the time investment that going over every inch of one's paper requires. She'll sometimes do the same thing with a ground layer of pastel. Gildow has also explored working on black surfaces with wax-based pencils to achieve an intense sense of color, which is ideal for when she wants to draw reflective surfaces like droplets of water or refracted light on crystal.

In Colored Pencil Techniques from Artist Daily: Create Faster, Richer Effects in Your Colored Pencil Drawings you will also find Gildow's "color predictor"--a color wheel she created to help students produce tints, tones, shades, and color complements. This helps save a lot of time when trying to figure out what happens when you combine colors in specific ways.

All in all, if you are looking to explore color and drawing with a forgiving, adaptable, and portable medium, colored pencil art might be what you are searching for. And Colored Pencil Techniques from Artist Daily: Create Faster, Richer Effects in Your Colored Pencil Drawings allows you to see what colored pencil art is capable of, so you can discover if it is right for you. Download your copy now!

The Agony and the Ecstasy

Courtney Jordan — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 03:18:00 GMT

A few weeks ago an artist friend of mine rotated his wrist and made a wincing face after he had finished working on a quick pencil drawing, and it made me realize that drawing isn't just fun and games. It can cause strain in the hand, wrist, elbow, shoulder, neck, and back for many artists who work predominately with a drawing pencil. But hope is not lost. There are a few preventative measures I wanted to share with you to keep you in good shape to draw!


Detail of The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel ceiling, 1611.

Make sure you set up your workspace so that if you are sitting, your feet rest flat on the floor with your hips higher than your knees so you keep the natural curve in your spine. Keep your drawing arm supported from elbow to fingertip, and that your arm can move freely without bumping along the edge of your desk. Working on an elevated surface can also help avoid neck strain.

Stretch--and often! That means before you start a drawing and several times during a drawing session if necessary. Take breaks when you feel fatigued--don't push it. The drawing will always be there waiting for you, right? So there's no hurry. And if drawing one way causes you pain, look for another way to execute the same stroke. Changing technique isn't the end of the world and I've found purposefully doing that has been rewarding for me. Not necessarily because of joint discomfort, but because it allows me to realize how open-ended my pencil strokes can be.

Hopefully these tips will help stave off any discomfort you have when drawing, allowing you to have enjoyable and productive studio and workshop experiences. And American Artist wants to help with that. Right now a digital download of The Best of Drawing is being offered to all of our members for only 10 cents! It includes great pencil drawing lessons and info on how to keep your passion for graphite on the right track. Enjoy!

P.S. If you have any ways of reducing strain in your drawing hand, share them with us by leaving a comment.

Will This Work Even If I Hate Geometry?

Courtney Jordan — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 04:47:00 GMT


Cube figures allow me to focus on the basic shapes of the body. This can lead to a better understanding of the body's form and the creation of works that are incredibly natural, such as Lea Colie Wight's drawing, Kate, conte on paper, 17 x 23.

I was always the kid who was great at multiplication tables and terrible at thinking spatially, hence my dread of geometry in high school. (Sorry, Ms. Newsome, you did your best!) But the one situation that has proven the exception to my loathing is when using pencil drawings of cubes to help me figure out drawing the head and the body.

In fact, going a little cube happy is one of the best exercises I've ever used to explore figure drawing because, first of all, it abstracts the body for me so I'm not so worried about how weird looking the shape of an arm is, or how off a torso is. Instead, I can focus on how discovering how a head sits on a body and how a body, well, actually sits.


	Figure Study by Luca Cambiaso, 1527-85.

Putting the head and body in cube when doing a first round pencil drawing unites the forms and allows an artist to use perspective of a "simple" shape to understand how the forms work together. For example, when the head is tilting upward, both the front and back of the head are affected by this movement and lean up on the same tilt. And, if you think back to the cube, the bottom and top of the head are positioned along the same angle as well. Then you can mentally add and extend the perspective lines on the cube to further comprehend how the forms recede into space. Once you've got this foundation in place, you can begin to draw an actual pencil portrait or figure drawing with confidence.

Drawing methods like this are where an artist can always find equilibrium and balance, because you know that if you have these, you are starting from a strong place to begin any artwork. For additional pencil drawing lessons and approaches that will give you the balance you may want, you can now have an entire year's worth of Drawing magazine in one place with our latest annual Drawing CD Collection. Enjoy!

Can You Outgrow Your Art?

Courtney Jordan — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 04:21:00 GMT

Train Tracks by Valerio D'Ospina, 2011, oil on melamined MDF, 30 x 24.

Some artists such as Jackson Pollock discover and use their own visual language to communicate with the world, and this singular voice takes them through an entire career of putting oil on canvas. Others—Picasso for instance—pass through several stages of change in their work, whether by theme, technique, or style.

Artist Valerio D'Ospina believes that his own artistic growth is in direct correlation with how he grows as a human being. "My personality, my character, and even my taste and style have been constantly changing throughout my entire life. Inevitably, my artistic needs are involved in this flow of changing," he says.

I identify with D'Ospina's point of view because I think—or hope—that I am constantly growing as a person, gaining wisdom and new abilities. And how can that not impact the art we make?

Just a few years ago, D'Ospina was a graduate student in Florence using a more traditional-classical approach to oil painting. The oil painting techniques that he used are for the indirect way of painting and included priming his linen with rabbit skin glue and gesso, toning his surface to a mid-tone value, making preparatory drawings and underpaintings, and using layers and glazes.


The artist's early work: F. Galano in His Studio by Valerio D'Ospina, oil on canvas.		An early portrait: Ragazza con Tre Oecchini by Valerio D'Ospina, oil on canvas.

The approach dates back to the Renaissance but D'Ospina found that painting this way was driving him to photorealism because of its emphasis on refining technique and virtuosity. He knew it was time for a change when he realized that his first sketch of a painting rather than the end result with successive layers and rendering brought him more satisfaction. "The first sketch was faster, gestural, and more fresh. I thought it was a shame to cover all that with the heaviness of the defining layers," he says.

For D'Ospina, realizing he wasn't satisfied with the way he was working meant that he needed to disrupt the habits of his previous comfortable techniques by trying different surfaces, materials, and, most of all, by changing subject matter and experimenting with dramatically different themes. He also started painting alla prima, applying paint straight on the surface without using a pencil drawing sketch beforehand.

Now D'Ospina works on bringing a three-dimensional quality to the surface of his oil paintings and a sketchy rendering aspect to his compositions that still delivers a lot of meticulous detail. He also transitioned from painting more academic subjects to industrial scenes. All of this was uncomfortable for the artist at first, but it was exactly this challenge that led him to embrace a more expressionistic attitude and gave him the growth he needed to find continued satisfaction in his painting.


Naval Field (study) by Valerio D'Ospina, 2010, oil on melamined MDF, 31 x 24.		Via Roma by Valerio D'Ospina, 2011, oil on melamined MDF, 18 x 12.

I'm incredibly inspired by D'Ospina's openness and his commitment to change his painting approach from what he first learned to what felt right to him as an artist. He was honest with himself about what he needed as an artist, and went after it. And that is what we should all do more of! If you want to explore the techniques that allowed D'Ospina to grow and refine his work, check out Sorolla's expressionistic brushwork, 25+ tips on mixing art materials and techniques, and how to strengthen your compositions—all from American Artist and Drawing magazines. Enjoy!

Can a Caricature Help My Portrait Painting? Plus Our Self-Portrait Contest!

Courtney Jordan — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 03:17:00 GMT


The Grimaces by Louis-Leopold Boilly, 1823, lithograph, 13 1/8 x 10.

A few weeks ago I was in the Met and saw "Infinite Jest," an exhibition of drawings and prints that explore satire and caricature from the Italian Renaissance to the present. I enjoyed the show, walking around and chuckling at several of the drawings, but nothing really spoke to me, and yet weeks later the images from the show are popping into my head as if I had seen them just this morning.

I've been puzzling over why that could be and came to the conclusion that even though caricature is a completely different category of portraiture, it uses the same strategies that can make fine art portrait painting and portrait drawings memorable.

At its most essential, a caricature is an exaggeration or distortion of a person's physical characteristics, but it is still a study of a person's physicality. We've all seen the boardwalk artists at the beach who draw quick caricature sketches in a handful of minutes. The artist gets the shape of the face and accentuates two or three physical features of the sitter and voila, a caricature.


Caricature of a Woman in a Large Hat by Enrico Caruso, 1920, 14 x 20, pencil drawing.	Senator Dolph of Oregon by Thomas Nast, 1894, pencil drawing with ink, 13 1/2 x 10 1/4.	The Clown: M. Joret by Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, 1885, pen and ink drawing.

Although fine art portraiture takes longer to create, an oil portrait painter still uses the same approach. First, it is essential to get the shape of the head right. This is a crucial step because it determines how the head sits on the neck and leads into the torso, and how the features sit on the face. Think of how you are able to recognize a friend or acquaintance from across the street. The same rule applies for a portrait; the sitter will be recognized first from their big ol' noggin.

With a caricature, the artist will usually exaggerate a person's features—eyes, lips, chin, ears, or hair, even freckles or big eyelashes. It always varies, but usually the artist doesn't emphasize everything and only select one or two features for the biggest impact. Fine art portrait artists should work in the same way. Not in terms of exaggerating the size or proportion of a person's features, but drawing attention to certain aspects of a person with color, light and shadow, and brushstrokes.

For me, looking at a model and first thinking of how I'd draw their caricature can really open up my mind to what I'd showcase in their portrait. And, just like the caricatures that stood out in my mind weeks after I'd seen them, a portrait that visually "heightens" certain aspects of a person's looks will certainly stand out from the crowd. For more on what goes into painting an excellent portrait and how to capture a person's likeness, our Master Teachers Highlights magazine is a great all-in-one resource. And today you can download Master Teachers Highlights for just a dime. Yep, only ten cents. Enjoy!

And in the spirit of appreciation for portraiture, American Artist is sponsoring a self-portrait contest that I would love for you to be a part of! Enter now!

From Me to You: Free Drawing eBook on Pencil Shading Techniques

Courtney Jordan — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 03:38:00 GMT


Drawing after the sculpture The Cylinder Man by Eliot Goldfinger by Jon deMartin, 2009, pencil drawing.		Drawing for Epiphany by Michael Aviano, 2009, charcoal drawing, 39 x 32.

Going from "the cylinder man" to a fully-realized figure is a matter of many things,
but one is definitely an ability to turn the form with shading and gradation.

Using a pencil feels so simple, doesn't it? I mean, it's the first thing we learn to write with when we are kids, so what could be more familiar and comforting than that? But I've found again and again that using a pencil or graphite for certain types of shading can get pretty complicated. For example, with cross-hatching you don't need to be as particular about pressure and gesture, but it can be a real challenge when you go beyond that to subtler shading effects. I needed some help when it came to shading techniques that didn't appear heavy-handed or inconsistent, and that's where Shading Techniques Beyond Cross-Hatching: Artist Daily Pencil Shading Tutorial on Modeling Gradations comes in.

I had been missing a part of the puzzle until reading this eBook because I didn't realize that the best way to conquer gradation was to practice shading shapes like cylinders. Artist and instructor Jon deMartin points out that drawing convincing forms and figures means becoming a master of gradation. And you do that first by starting with a form that curves in one direction, like a cylinder. From there, you can go onto more complicated forms and the figure.

DeMartin discusses how to make smooth gradations, how surfaces relate to a light source, and how to breakdown an object or figure's planes in order to identify how to model it. What I found most interesting was learning that to really make a cylinder look round, I don't just smooth away edges, but instead truly gradate the values appearing on the form.

All that and more is in Shading Techniques Beyond Cross-Hatching: Artist Daily Pencil Shading Tutorial on Modeling Gradations. It is a crucial chapter in the book of drawing fundamentals, and it is one I know I'm going to revisit again and again. The information is too valuable not to. Download your copy of Shading Techniques Beyond Cross-Hatching: Artist Daily Pencil Shading Tutorial on Modeling Gradations now and rediscover the methods that separate good artwork from great. Enjoy!

And if you have anyone who might be interested in the drawing methods in Shading Techniques Beyond Cross-Hatching, feel free to send this link to them so they can learn pencil-shading tips, too. They are sure to thank you!

I Want to Sculpt My Drawings

Courtney Jordan — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 03:34:00 GMT

Minerva by Auguste Rodin simultaneously shows the centered
grounding of the human body's core and the fluidity of its limbs.

Painting is closer to three-dimensionality than drawing simply by way of the medium. You can build up sculpted areas and thick passages of paint, which is much harder to do in ink, charcoal, or pencil. That's why I like to think of drawing with a sculptor's sensibility, so that from the get-go I am in the mindset of trying to solidify and turn forms on the page.

Remembering my angles. Sometimes I forget how effective layers of hatching and crosshatching can be in a pencil drawing to create the illusion of volumes in space. Building up line for highlight, midtone, and deep shadow means that all of a sudden I have a sharply turned form.

The striding temple. Auguste Rodin likened the human body to a striding temple that has a center of gravity and volumes distributed and ordered around it. By looking at his drawings, I've come to appreciate the idea of contour and movement. Modeling the form is key but so is understanding what you are looking at as a whole. Rodin would establish this by drawing without taking his eyes off his model or subject, and that is a practice that I find worth imitating.


Henry Moore's Shelter Scene gave me a lot of food for thought in terms of using hatching and crosshatching to good effect, and how random mark-making can lead to a breakthrough.

Weigh it down. Sometimes I forget the solidity and mass of objects when I'm drawing. I get distracted with fluid line and gesture. But Henry Moore's drawings have taught me a great deal about using substantial outlines and intense shadowing to give objects gravity and a sense that they have almost been carved into being. Moore would often start by doing a series of automatic drawings, making lines, tones, and shapes with no conscious purpose in mind. He'd continue on like this until an idea crystallized in his mind. Only then would he start to shift his mark-making from random to controlled and ordered.

I probably would never have looked at Moore and Rodin's drawings with this kind of attentiveness if it wasn't for the drawing demos and instruction I get from our magazines, including the sketch studies in Plein Air Painting and the drawing exercises in Step-by-Step Highlights. The insightful articles and inspiring artwork that fills their pages have done me a world of good. And now these two are available in digital format, so you don't have to go all the way to the bookstore or wait for the mail to have these resource right now. Enjoy!

Make It Come Alive, But Not Like Frankenstein

Courtney Jordan — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 03:33:00 GMT


Stacy in Chalk by Rob Liberace, chalk pencil drawing, 14 x 22.

I wholeheartedly believe that a drawing of a human figure should look like it has the potential for physical movement and action. Not a creepy, unnatural animation, but more of a direct relation to the actual human form. Our bodies are always on the verge of moving and repositioning. Sometimes it is a faint movement like taking a deep breath, and sometimes it's more of an overt action like breaking into a run.

There's underlying power and torque to the form that will enliven the drawing visually and fight its inherently static nature. Finding visual ways to indicate those possibilities is what makes a successful figure drawing.

One way to make a life drawing lively (har har) is to keep a 'sketch' aspect to it. Think about loose lines in addition to light and dark masses to turn the form. For example, when I try to draw a bent leg, I focus more on getting the gesture of the limb in a few quick lines rather than laboring over its anatomical correctness.


		Seated Male by Rob Liberace, chalk pencil drawing, 36 x 48.

Position is everything. Our bodies can move in so many different ways, so when it comes to drawing the figure, really think about how to position it to get the most implied movement. And this doesn't have to hit you over the head. Our bodies are subtle machines. Cocking the head, tilting the hips, or putting a slight bend in the knee-all of these do the job.

I know and believe that the core of our bodies-the torso, back, shoulder girdle, and pelvis-are where the most potential for movement rests. But don't forget the hands and feet. Attention to these parts can really articulate what you want your figure drawing to say. A hand drawing of a clenched fist gives off quite a different meaning than one where the fingers are held loosely and slightly curled.

An artist who is especially skilled at infusing his figure drawings with dynamism and movement is Rob Liberace. His work strikes a perfect balance between beauty and power, and as an instructor I've learned a lot from him. Rob's latest DVD Drawing the Figure in Motion continues in-depth with the ideas and approaches I've touched upon. He takes you on a drawing tutorial that starts with positioning the model and ends with a drawing that successfully captures the power of the human body. Truly inspiring! Enjoy!

Sketch Away: Our Newest Free eBook of Pencil Drawing Lessons

Courtney Jordan — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 03:30:00 GMT


The drama of this charcoal and pencil drawing by Lilian Wescott Hale is in the bold contrast of value of the figure's skin, dress, and hair.

I love all kinds of art: super complicated installations, amazing marble sculptures, and virtuosic canvases filled with color and form. But when it comes down to it, I’m a simple woman at heart, and the art that moves me the most is a pure and simple pencil drawing on paper.

Maybe it sounds strange, but I think pencil drawings are the closest art form to real life. A pencil portrait that a person draws of loved ones is a memento that is kept and cherished forever. I still have some of my earliest clumsy beginner pencil sketches that I did all the way back in sixth grade. I look at them and trace the lines with my fingers and it is like being transported back in time. And the artists whom I respect so much? I’ve never understood their work as deeply as when I look at their drawings.


	Tiepolo made dramatic use of the core shadow, where light borders dark, and made sure that the reflected light was nowhere near as bright as any of the halftones on the figure.

But pencil drawing, as we all know, can be deceptively simple. Pencil drawing—for beginners, right? That isn’t true at all. Drawing pencil portraits or figure sketches means really understanding and utilizing lights and darks in and around your subject matter, and contending with light and shadow, planes and values, halftones, and so much more.

It is a lot to cover, which is why I’m thrilled with our latest free eBook: Pencil Drawing Lessons: 27 Ways to Use Values to Create Dramatic Pencil Drawings. It cuts to the heart of what makes a pencil drawing great, and it helped me learn the essential strategies that underline all advanced pencil drawing instruction. I couldn’t ask for more.

Artist and instructor Dan Gheno reaches for examples of amazing drawings, past and present, to illustrate what every draftsman should know—how to turn a ho-hum drawing into something memorable. So I wish you good luck and many great drawings in your future with our free pencil drawing lessons. Download 27 Ways to Use Values to Create Dramatic Pencil Drawings now. Enjoy!

P.S. If you have a friend or loved one who is getting back into art this summer and might love to share in the fun, send them this link so they can download their own copy of Pencil Drawing Lessons.

I Need a GPS for Drawing Faces

Courtney Jordan — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 03:26:00 GMT


In Janvier Rollande's drawing, Sage (detail; pencil drawing, 2006, 17 1/4 x 12 3/4), the area from the child's eyebrows to the base of her nose is the smallest of the three "segments" of the face.

Drawing a face is a little like reading a map. And no, not the cool Indiana Jones map where the red line draws itself to the destination and ‘X’ marks the spot. I wish! It is more that when learning how to draw people, there are a few “signposts” on the face and rules of thumb about facial feature measurements that can steer you in the right direction so you don’t get lost when drawing faces, as I often have. Here are a few that I learned from artist and writer Dan Gheno that I wanted to share with you.

Rule of 3
The Greeks came up with a simple way to start a drawing of a face, which is to divide the face into three parts: from the hairline to the eyebrows, from the eyebrow to the base of the nose, and from the base of the nose to the tip of the chin.

Not everyone will have the same measurements of these three parts, but if you start by mapping your drawing with these regions in mind, you don’t have to feel overwhelmed by all the visual information you are trying to capture.

From there, ask yourself which of these segments is the biggest or the smallest. This way you can begin to add more specificity in your drawing.

Divine Distances
Okay, they aren’t really divine, but there are a few measurements on the face that have made the light bulb flick on for me when I’ve been struggling with a drawing and can’t figure out what is wrong. One is that the horizontal span between the outside of the eye and the front of the ear is usually similar in length to the vertical distance between the outside of the eye and the outside corner of the mouth.


	In Andrea by Dan Gheno (colored pencil drawing, 2007, 16 x 18) the model's eyes are slightly closer set over the nose, not parallel with the edges of it.

Leonardo showed us that the overall width of the eye is pretty close to that of the nose, and that the edges of the nose line up with the insides of the eye.

The tip of the ear is usually in line with that of the eyebrow; the base of the ear usually coincides with the base of the nose.


Notice how the top of the ear and the model's eyebrow are roughly in line.

Maps Can Only Take You So Far
These measurements are more about making visual connections within the landscape of the face than being an actual map to a person’s appearance. I have to remind myself not to get too caught up in finding them at the cost of spending time observing what is in front of me. But I can vouch that these measurements are definitely worth knowing. They’ve helped me get over obstacles in many drawings.

It is insightful instruction like this that really makes the difference when you are trying to start a drawing and have so much information to take in. Creating a sound drawing or having the technical savvy to match the drawing ideas you have swimming around in your head is what I’m constantly striving to do. Our new special issue publication—Drawing: The Complete Course—is a fountain of wisdom when it comes to helpful drawing methods and insightful instruction. I don’t think it will be leaving my desk anytime soon—it is sort of like the drawing GPS I was looking for. Enjoy!