Every week in figure drawing I teach a different drawing approach. Today was straight line measures; which always feels to beginners like they’re getting tangled up in bicycle spokes, but it’s invaluable and even relaxing for returning students. The basic idea of straight line measures is that you use straight lines to measure out the form – even a curved form. I realize how insane it sounds to draw a curved object with straight lines, but straight lines help you get the proportional sizes and angles of a subject with more accuracy than squishy swirvy curved lines. Take a look at this demo gif by Keith Pfieffer, sent to me after class:
Keith Pfeiffer
Keith took four straight lines, subdivided each of those four lines into smaller lines to hone in on the angles, and was able to quickly and accurately describe a curved form. Straight line measures are not the only way to draw, but I tend to use this method when I want to get the angles and proportions right, or make sure I can size the thing properly on the page.
Lendy’s homework sketches; playing with shape, motif, and value
Now that you know how to draw a pear, you can play with tone. Last week I had lessons that showed how value contrast changes the way a viewer looks at a scene. One of the homework challenges was to draw the same composition several times, changing the tones in each. Lendy did a high key, mid key, and low key version of a pear. Quite lovely. The high key pear suffered some bumps and bruises as she tried to figure out how to draw the surface. It looked much better after the eraser turned the once-dark areas into a smokey silvery texture, leaving small remnants of dark here and there.
Pear sketch by Lendy Hensley, High KeyPear sketch by Lendy Hensley, Mid KeyPear sketch by Lendy Hensley, Low Key
There you have it. That’s how to draw a pear. Tune in tomorrow for the banana demo!
[image_with_animation image_url=”7812″ alignment=”center” animation=”Fade In” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] Fleur Cowles In dreams, what is supposed to be big is small, and what is supposed to be small is big. Forms shift and change, colors float. There may be symbols, narratives, things that don’t make sense. Or maybe everything makes perfect sense. You’re the one who knows. …
I found this video of an adult professional abstract painter playing like a kid. Not with wild abandon. This isn’t that kid. This is the really quiet thoughtful kid who didn’t hear the lunch bell because he’s finger-painting a masterpiece. He’s into it. Did you ever get all into making textures and shapes and all kinds …
“The Colorist” Casey Klahn is an American pastel artist born in 1958 in Hoquiam, Washington, now living in Davenport. His pastel landscapes are abstracted shapes where color gets to play.
“No one did more to reanimate the tired old genre of still life painting in the last half century than did Mr Thiebaud with his paintings of industrially regimented food products.” (NYT, 2004) In 2000, Thiebaud told PBS’ NewsHour with Jim Lehrer that the subject of food was “fun and humorous, and that’s dangerous in …
How to Draw a Pear
Every week in figure drawing I teach a different drawing approach. Today was straight line measures; which always feels to beginners like they’re getting tangled up in bicycle spokes, but it’s invaluable and even relaxing for returning students. The basic idea of straight line measures is that you use straight lines to measure out the form – even a curved form. I realize how insane it sounds to draw a curved object with straight lines, but straight lines help you get the proportional sizes and angles of a subject with more accuracy than squishy swirvy curved lines. Take a look at this demo gif by Keith Pfieffer, sent to me after class:
Keith took four straight lines, subdivided each of those four lines into smaller lines to hone in on the angles, and was able to quickly and accurately describe a curved form. Straight line measures are not the only way to draw, but I tend to use this method when I want to get the angles and proportions right, or make sure I can size the thing properly on the page.
Now that you know how to draw a pear, you can play with tone. Last week I had lessons that showed how value contrast changes the way a viewer looks at a scene. One of the homework challenges was to draw the same composition several times, changing the tones in each. Lendy did a high key, mid key, and low key version of a pear. Quite lovely. The high key pear suffered some bumps and bruises as she tried to figure out how to draw the surface. It looked much better after the eraser turned the once-dark areas into a smokey silvery texture, leaving small remnants of dark here and there.
There you have it. That’s how to draw a pear. Tune in tomorrow for the banana demo!
Pearable:
Why did the pear go out with a prune?
Because he couldn’t find a date.
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