Diebenkorn-inspired drawing with Procreate, Ruthie V.
Today my art buddy Lendy and I took some photos to practice for our “Draw like Diebenkorn” workshop this weekend. We set up some still lifes, and I took some selfies. I don’t have a camera with a tripod in my apartment so I used my laptop’s Photo Booth feature. For anyone who has used this before, you know that you have exactly 2.9 seconds after you press the button to sprint to the other side of the room, hit a pose, and attempt to look relaxed. I took 32 photos, and most of them are of me trying to rapidly adjust myself. I finally got a couple Diebenkorn-similar poses that were good enough for practice. This was a relief. My legs couldn’t have done another sprint across the room.
Now with some images, I realized I hadn’t prepared myself with standard drawing supplies, so I decided to see what I could do with my new Procreate digital painting tools.
With the figurative drawing, I experimented with a couple different pens and pencils on the digital tool. Luckily, scribbling came easy. My rushed pose had an awkwardly high leg, but the digital tool made it easy for me to move it down. With Diebenkorn style, I decided to leave the marks from the previously drawn leg, which helped I think.
Diebenkorn-inspired drawing with Procreate, Ruthie V.
The still life was more difficult. I tried watercolor brush, and that was good, but what really gave me a fun texture was the fresco brush. I altered sizes and opacities as I went. Adding layers made it easy to make changes, and erase parts but not entire areas. I admit I used the undo button quite a bit, but not for the aim of perfection (clearly). I used it more to work with a more relaxed impulsive rhythm, and once I saw my mark was too dark, too big, or in the wrong place I just tapped it out. What a luxury!!! I didn’t have to worry. I just played.
Diebenkorn-inspired drawing with Procreate, Ruthie V.
Poor Lendy. She had to use an eraser for her “real paper” drawing.
Diebenkorn-inspired drawing, charcoal on paper, Lendy Hensley
You can see a very, very large collection of Diebenkorn sketches here and here. Putting together these collections of over 100 sketches, I learned a lot about Diebenkorn’s composition preferences. I’ll talk about those during the workshops.
[vc_row type=”in_container” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ width=”1/1″][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/kIDKcktUewI”][vc_column_text]PROCESS UPDATE: It has been a delight to have our official “Artist Not In Residence” Patty Haller around the studios. She has been at the studio almost every day, and openly sharing her process with students and guests. Today, NPR news is playing from a …
[vc_row type=”in_container” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]From the Latin (via Italian) fumare (“to smoke”), sfumato describes a painting technique with no harsh outlines. Areas blend into one another through tiny brushstrokes, which makes a hazy, atmospheric depiction of light and color. An early example of sfumato can be seen in Leonardo’s Mona Lisa. A more modern example is in Y.Z. Kami’s …
Vitreography is a new form of printmaking in which the artist works their image into a glass plate, instead of wood, metal, linoleum, or plastic. Invented in the 1970’s by a glass artist named Harvey Littleton, printing on glass is a non-toxic process that offers sophisticated effects. Since it’s such a young form of …
I’ve been talking about the the idea that shapes in a composition can be activated to hold each other in place. In this way, there is no background and no object, there is only the interaction of shapes on the surface of the canvas. Everything in the picture holds everything else in place. Intervals I’d …
Draw like Diebenkorn …with Procreate
Today my art buddy Lendy and I took some photos to practice for our “Draw like Diebenkorn” workshop this weekend. We set up some still lifes, and I took some selfies. I don’t have a camera with a tripod in my apartment so I used my laptop’s Photo Booth feature. For anyone who has used this before, you know that you have exactly 2.9 seconds after you press the button to sprint to the other side of the room, hit a pose, and attempt to look relaxed. I took 32 photos, and most of them are of me trying to rapidly adjust myself. I finally got a couple Diebenkorn-similar poses that were good enough for practice. This was a relief. My legs couldn’t have done another sprint across the room.
Now with some images, I realized I hadn’t prepared myself with standard drawing supplies, so I decided to see what I could do with my new Procreate digital painting tools.
With the figurative drawing, I experimented with a couple different pens and pencils on the digital tool. Luckily, scribbling came easy. My rushed pose had an awkwardly high leg, but the digital tool made it easy for me to move it down. With Diebenkorn style, I decided to leave the marks from the previously drawn leg, which helped I think.
The still life was more difficult. I tried watercolor brush, and that was good, but what really gave me a fun texture was the fresco brush. I altered sizes and opacities as I went. Adding layers made it easy to make changes, and erase parts but not entire areas. I admit I used the undo button quite a bit, but not for the aim of perfection (clearly). I used it more to work with a more relaxed impulsive rhythm, and once I saw my mark was too dark, too big, or in the wrong place I just tapped it out. What a luxury!!! I didn’t have to worry. I just played.
Poor Lendy. She had to use an eraser for her “real paper” drawing.
You can see a very, very large collection of Diebenkorn sketches here and here. Putting together these collections of over 100 sketches, I learned a lot about Diebenkorn’s composition preferences. I’ll talk about those during the workshops.
Draw like Diebenkorn Workshop, April 11
Paint like Diebenkorn Workshop, May 9/16
Spring classes start this week!
Digital Painting with Procreate, Wednesday Morning (Shortie) $95
Digital Painting with Procreate, Saturday Morning (Shortie) $95
Landscape Painting with Procreate, Wednesday Morning (Shortie) $95
Portrait Painting with Procreate, Saturday Morning (Shortie) $95
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