Basic Drawing Skills - live, in class demos

I have become captivated by this image of Audrey Hepburn. Her class, and humanity seem to shine through. I'm also very interested in the fact that these two drawings I did, very quickly, live in class on the overhead, both seem to capture her personality whereas, the official version I did in the studio (in the next post) has completely missed her personality. I think there is a bit of a message in that.

Basic Drawing Skills

This image of actress Helen Menken was done for my drawing class. Because the students in the class are progressing so quickly we now take accuracy for granted and are working on expressing the feeling of the portrait. This particular image speaks to me of quiet contemplation. I'm also experimenting more with a cross hatching approach rather than my normal method of smudging the graphite for shading. I started trying this in order to speed up the process and am finding now that I really enjoy the more direct nature of cross hatching.

For information on the Basic Drawing Skills class contact me.

To see the students' work visit the Basic Drawing Skills Blog.

Elbow River Colours

The same bold colour approach applied to a scene we came upon while hiking along the Elbow River.

Watercolour 9" X 12"

Let There Be Colour

Lately, I've been spending a lot of time looking at Eleanor Lowden Pidgeon's DVD and her bold use of colour. The sun hitting the hedge in our front yard seemed tailor made for a bold use of colour as the sun sparkled in the yellows and reds of the hedge. I like the feel as if someone has just been sitting in the chair and has briefly left the frame.

Watercolour 20" x 13.5"

Basic Drawing Skills

This image was a true pleasure to do. I wanted to try drawing on a toned background and letting the toned background be the mid values so I only needed to add the dark values and then the white highlights. It was done on a pastel paper with a pronounced circular texture. The entire drawing tool only about 45 minutes 30 of which were for the drawing. The shading was fast and easy and when I added the white charcoal it just came to life. I was literally blown away by this process and will definitely be trying this again.

I've started a new blog dedicated to my drawing class, Basic Drawing Skills. Check out the students work at this link.

Basic Drawing Skills

Our second portrait was of Don Knots from his days on the Andy Griffiths show. I was very surprised that some of the younger people even knew him, though he also was on some more modern shows like Three's Company. Anyway, for this portrait I enjoyed the surface used which was matt board. There is a very definite texture which allows some of the white board to show through. I used a different shading style just because I didn't have the time to do my usual smoother smudging technique. I've used a cross hatching style which was much faster to do. It's a little more muscular than smudging. These two approaches to shading with graphite are very different but each is equally effective, it's all about finding which approach you enjoy more or perhaps it's best to know both so you can use the most appropriate one for the particular drawing you are doing.

Basic Drawing Skills

I'm posting this portrait of King Tut again because I've added a new layer of shading and I think that it has a greater depth. For artists who are beginning in their study of value (shading) it's useful to see it as a process. I did the initial layer of shading based on my first impression. A few days later when I came back to it I was able to see a greater and more subtle range of values in the shading. This drawing is the result of that process. I can continue to come back to it and add even more layers of depth. It's useful to keep in mind, however, that more and more doesn't necessarily make it a better drawing. It's all about what you want to say. For example quick, spontaneous drawings often carry more feeling and spontaneity even if they are not as 'finished'. In this class it's about discovering how you want to interpret your subjects, no one way is always right.

Just for those who are interested, in total to date, I've put in about 40 minutes to draw the picture and about 90 minutes for the shading.

Neighbourhoods_Calgary

Those of us who originate from eastern Canada often lament the lack of bright reds in Alberta's fall colours. There are actually quite a few red accents in the fall colours here but they are mainly in hedges, bushes and minor characters. I've become increasingly aware of them this year. This is a view from our front yard.

I did a colour study, en plein air, and then came right in and did a studio version. I like the freshness and rhythm of the image. I love plein air painting. I particularly enjoy it when it's right at my door step like in this case.

Basic Drawing Skills

This portrait of King Tut was done in graphite on watercolour paper. The texture of this paper allows a lot of light speckles to shine through creating a pleasing effect. I made a conscious effort to direct the eye of the viewer to Tut's eyes. So I have down played the darks of the head dress at the bottom and the false beard in order to direct attention to the eyes. I have also made the darks of the head dress that are above the eye, darker as they move into the picture. Again I'm trying to direct the viewer's eye.

I created the darks by adding more layers of lightly applied graphite rather than by pressing harder with the pencil. I find that creating darks this way gives them much more subtlety and life. Pressing too hard will damage the surface of the paper and gives a very flat dark. This particular portrait with it's wonderful design elements and strong value contrast would make a lovely painting. I certainly plan to try this at some point.

P.S. I would love to have some comments. Just click on the 'comments' link below this post. Another window will open and chose 'Comment as > anonymous', write your comment, then click 'post comment' and that's all there is to it.

Understanding Acrylic with Brent Laycock

My wife and I have a video production company, WhitePine Productions. We are very proud to produce the finest art instruction videos in Western Canada. Our latest video is Understanding Acrylics with Brent Laycock. Brent is one of Canada's most original landscape painters. His vibrant and deeply personal work is instantly recognizable and he has received the highest possible national recognition . Contact us for more information or to order copies of Brent's DVD.

Collaboration With Jean Pederson

I've just completed collaborating with Jean Pederson on her excellent Farm Fragments Installation at the Red Deer Museum and Art Gallery. I was there for the opening on Sunday, Sept 19. The exhibition includes paintings, collages, installations and objects illustrating life on the farm going back over 100 years. I created a video that complemented Jean's vision. It was an enjoyable challenge to combine images of abandoned farms with interviews of people who grew up on these farms. The audio track also included many nature sounds that I recorded. It was a very creative project that allowed me to stretch out videographically, so to speak.

The exhibition continues at the Red Deer Museum and will, hopefully, be travelling to other locations in Canada. If you are in the area definitely stop by to view it.

Plein Air Lake Of The Woods

I just got back from an incredible time at our cabin on Lake of the Woods. I had just a couple of days to do some plein air painting. This was one of the pieces I finished, a view just beside our cabin. I enjoyed the interplay of the dark rocks and reflections with the very subdued water. I also tried to paint the rocks with out resorting to my usual habit of mixing ultramarine blue and burnt sienna to make the grays that were every where in the rocks. Instead I mixed quinacridone rose and thalo green to get what I thought was a very attractive gray. This mix was further modified in places with some yellow and in other places with some blue. I was very pleased with the value range and the composition and as always plein air paintings just seem to acquire a greater feeling of spontaneity and directness.

Time For A Break

I'm posting this older image because I'm coming to appreciate it more and more. With watercolour, the first wash is the best opportunity to get luminance and freshness into a painting. I enjoy the fresh feeling that I get from this image.

I'm also using this image to give me a chance to pause. I will be away from any computer for a few weeks.

Until I get back

may the force be with you.

Dealing With Darks

What I enjoyed about this studio version of a plein air sketch of the Vermillion Lakes at Banff is the richness and variety of values and colours in the dark shape of the distant trees. There was a freedom in the application of paint in this area. I also enjoy the sense of light entering from the right especially in the grassy area between the water and the darker green trees. The darks in a painting really make the lights stand out. Paintings start to find their voice when there is a full range of values.

Converging On Banff

This is the studio version of the previous plein air study. It's tidier than the plein air study but that doesn't necessarily mean it's better. Having said that I feel that it works very well both compositionally and in terms of the colour. As a friend said, "(It) is nice and fresh."