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Marjorie Forgues' figure drawing, day 1. Marjorie Forgues' figure drawing, day 2. Taking a painting or drawing class is always a learning experience, but often I find I learn a great deal from other artists in the class as well. This is especially true if I am able to see the other student's...
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Unknown Woman by Thomas Wilmer Dewing, 1890, pastel painting on paper. I love the effects and colors you can get with pastel paintings . . . at least I do now. It wasn't too long ago that I felt like I had some kind of weird complex where I could appreciate the work but I couldn't really see...
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I combined not just artist and model (self-portraiture), but artist-model-athlete in my Life Drawing Gymnastics series. In my Life Drawing Gymnastics series, I attempted to do more than simply draw from life , but rather allowed life to be a large part of the drawing process. I combined not just artist...
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This is a long pose drawing that made it into my "evaluate" pile. Part of the artistic learning process for me is learning how to evaluate my work, not on a piece by piece basis, but collectively. This summer I am looking at my drawing art works for progress— looking for plateaus in how...
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For this brush and ink drawing, I applied what I learned from da Vinci, but moved in my own direction. Sad is the disciple who does not advance his master. --Leonardo da Vinci Maybe you remember--in my earlier post when I recommended that you choose a master --I remarked that it was generally a good...
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Left: Kem , detail, 2004, 48 x 24, oil on canvas. Right: Hands #1 , 2011, 24 x 24, oil on canvas. I am not claiming either painting is better, but without my figure drawing practice between 2004 and 2011 I couldn't have painted the newer painting . Few match, and I'd argue that none surpass,...
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Julie Seated with Hands Clasped by Steven Assael, 2007, drawing, 22 x 15.5. We all know that drawing the nude figure is a, if not the, classical way of depicting the human body. But breaking the mold and adding clothing to your figure drawing art can lead to quite a few benefits. You are able to add...
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Ethel Smyth by John Singer Sargent, chalk drawing, 1901. Adapted from an article by Dan Gheno Facial features can be used and contorted to tell us all kinds of things in a drawing . But you don't always have to think up dramatic scenarios for a drawing. Ideas can be subtle, too. Like using the mere...
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Plate VIII, Study for a Picture , chalk and pastel drawing. From The Practice and Science of Drawing by Harold Speed. I was just telling a friend of mine that artists love books. That surprises some people, but it is totally true, especially if you love flipping through great books for drawing ideas...
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Woman on a Treadmill by Kate Sikorski, figure drawing, 2009. I am a firm believer in starting a life drawing with the envelope—the shape you first draw before anything else. I've come to think of it as one of my drawing basics. This envelope maps out the highest, lowest, most left, and most...
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Head of 12-year-old Christ by Albrecht Dürer, drawing, 1506. Adapted from an article by Dan Gheno. As you know from my previous blog about needing a GPS to draw heads --because I get more lost in the eyes, ears, mouth, and nose than you'd think would ever be possible--I am on the lookout for...
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Sketch of a Man by John Singer Sargent, charcoal drawing. Adapted from an article by Mark G. Mitchell. Looking at a John Singer Sargent's drawings, I really can't mistake them for anything but the work of his hand. His line work is so thin, firm, and consistent, even in figure drawings full of...
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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...
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Peter Kelsey's cast drawing of the male torso. Hey fellow artists! Drawing anatomy seems overwhelming to me sometimes, but if I focus on strategies for HOW to learn it, it starts to seem doable. Here are a few tips I learned from a recent article written by Dan Gheno in Drawing magazine: Peter Kelsey's...
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Drawing anatomy allowed Leonardo to understand how the human body works in relation to its appearance. Back when I was struggling to pull my drawing abilities together, I realized that it didn't matter how good my line got if I couldn't tell what I was looking at. This came to a head when I was...