In Friday’s post I bragged about the drawings created in my recent Painterly Figures with Tone class. The earlier post shared how beautiful a drawing can be when the figure is sketched with no more or less attention than the wall behind it, with no outlines or delineations of form, only scribbles of tone. Today’s drawings go even further into abstraction.
These drawings were created by making short, distributed marks as they float in space, sometimes connected by a trail that an ant might take across the surface. There are no outlines, no delineated forms. This is incredibly engaging and concentrated work, and requires leaps of faith because there is no solidity at all to hang on to while they draw, and unlike our typical 20 minute studies, these take hours. The artist’s challenge is to keep making marks where they see them, without any of the typical efficient methods of sketching things out before time is invested, or connecting and affirming the correct positions before they have naturally emerged. Over time, the scene sort of coalesces out of mess. I’m including some of the first stages so you can see how the drawings emerge. I think they’re deep and exciting works. See what you think.
Again, please kindly overlook any flaws in the photography. The images were taken on the fly, past sunset.
Lyall
Karen
Karen
Morgan
Kathy
I love these Sunday figure drawing classes. No class is ever the same. Every class introduces a different approach to drawing. Next series is based on composition. “Composition” tends to sound like a great way to take the spontaneity out of a drawing, but I assure you, this is one of the most spontaneous and interesting methods of drawing I’ve ever experienced! Want to give it a try? I’m offering classes for beginner and intermediate artists.
[image_with_animation image_url=”9675″ alignment=”center” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] Topophilia (From Greek topos “place” and -philia, “love of”) is a strong sense of place, which often becomes mixed with the sense of cultural identity among certain people and a love of certain aspects of such a place. Today is the first of a series of Topophilia Creative Exercises, this …
We started the challenge with a self portrait, and we ended by drawing the place where you make art. I enjoyed getting to glimpse into everyone’s spaces, especially after getting to know you a little in your posts. Seeing your spaces, I felt that we were all a bit closer, even though we may not …
Henry Darger’s “Vivian Girls” (…) look like the angelic young girls of the magazines and media from Darger’s day, except he often rendered them with penises. Today, from our more gender-fluid point of view, they might be considered the earliest transgender superheroes. – Artsy You can see more artworks, and read about the personal story …
Have you ever gone shopping for easels and found the options of fall-apart folding easels vs. expensive hardwood calliopes, and thought “what the heck do artists buy?” The answer might surprise you. Many painters don’t use easels at all. For my biggest paintings, two 4x4x16” pieces of wood service nicely. They lift a painting off …
Painterly Figures with Tone: Part 2
In Friday’s post I bragged about the drawings created in my recent Painterly Figures with Tone class. The earlier post shared how beautiful a drawing can be when the figure is sketched with no more or less attention than the wall behind it, with no outlines or delineations of form, only scribbles of tone. Today’s drawings go even further into abstraction.
These drawings were created by making short, distributed marks as they float in space, sometimes connected by a trail that an ant might take across the surface. There are no outlines, no delineated forms. This is incredibly engaging and concentrated work, and requires leaps of faith because there is no solidity at all to hang on to while they draw, and unlike our typical 20 minute studies, these take hours. The artist’s challenge is to keep making marks where they see them, without any of the typical efficient methods of sketching things out before time is invested, or connecting and affirming the correct positions before they have naturally emerged. Over time, the scene sort of coalesces out of mess. I’m including some of the first stages so you can see how the drawings emerge. I think they’re deep and exciting works. See what you think.
Again, please kindly overlook any flaws in the photography. The images were taken on the fly, past sunset.
I love these Sunday figure drawing classes. No class is ever the same. Every class introduces a different approach to drawing. Next series is based on composition. “Composition” tends to sound like a great way to take the spontaneity out of a drawing, but I assure you, this is one of the most spontaneous and interesting methods of drawing I’ve ever experienced! Want to give it a try? I’m offering classes for beginner and intermediate artists.
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