Sculpture Drawing Workshop
Course Dates: Three Friday Sessions, 6:00-9:00 PM including Dec. 7th, 14th, and January 4th
Three Sunday Sessions, 4:00-7:00 PM including December 9th, 16th, and January 6th
Instructor: Thomas
Shelford
(917) 514-3105
Course Description:
Working in the sculpture showroom of the Grenning Gallery, students will create finished charcoal drawings on 11 x 14 inch paper, by making drawings inspired by the sculptures that are displayed in the gallery. Selected drawings will be framed and displayed for sale in a special exhibit in the gallery on January 19, 2008, providing students with the opportunity to show their work at one of a highly prestigious contemporary realist gallery.
There will be six instructed sessions, but the gallery space can be made available upon request to students who wish to come in on their own in order to work on their drawings.
Method:
Students will be instructed in techniques which have been derived from the 19th century French academic drawing methods. Early stages of the drawing will be constructed using simple lines that are refined through various methods including observing tilts, angles, center lines and the concept of non-parallelism. Later stages of the drawing will take a more “painterly” approach, with students laying in larger masses of tone, assessing relative value relationships by comparing one to the other through direct observation of the model.
Students will select a sculpture in the gallery and draw under the same lighting conditions for consecutive sessions. Each class will begin with a brief demonstration and students will draw under supervision with critiques every twenty minutes. The instructor will perform demonstrations, show artwork samples, and provide printed handout explaining this drawing process in detail.
Students will learn life drawing techniques for measuring proportions, achieving accuracy, and using subtle value changes that strive to represent the nuances of light on form in our seen environment. The drawing process will be broken down into several distinct phases, including the block-in, massing in average values, modeling conceptualized form and finish. Emphasis will be placed on accuracy of observation, subtlety of modeling, and a classical aesthetic that places a high value on harmony, balance and organic wholeness in the finished drawing.
Materials:
§ 11 x 14 inch white Ingres, Strathmore, or Canson Mi-Tientes charcoal paper.
§ Drawing Board 18 x 24 inch
§ Vine charcoal, recommended Sennellier Fusain #66 HB or medium vine charcoal
§ Charcoal Pencils, recommended General’s, 2B, HB and 2H hardness
§ Charcoal holder
§ Knitting needles or skewers for measuring
§ Kneaded eraser
§ Chamois
§ Single edge razor blades for sharpening charcoal
§ Fine grade sandpaper (300 or 400 grade) for sharpening charcoal
§ Viva paper towels
Recommended reading:
§
Ackerman, Gerald.
"Charles Bargue Et
Jean-Leon Gerome: Drawing Course" Publisher: Art Creation Realisation (November 2003) ISBN-10: 286770166X.
§
Aristides, Juliette.
"Classical Drawing Atelier: A Contemporary Guide to Traditional
Studio Practice" Publisher: Watson-Guptill
(October 13, 2006) ISBN-10: 0823006573.
§
Ryder, Anthony.
"The Artist's Complete Guide to Figure Drawing: A Contemporary
Perspective on the Classical Tradition". Publisher: Watson-Guptill; 1st edition (June 1, 1999) ISBN-10: 0823003035.
§
Speed, Harold.
"The Practice and Science of Drawing." Publisher:
CLASS AGENDA:
Day 1:
Introduction / overview.
Handouts
Review
of the stages of the drawing process and example artwork
Contour
Block-in demo by instructor (30 min)
Contour
Block-in exercise
Critique
Final
block-ins
Day 2:
Review
of measuring techniques by instructor
Value
Block-In demo by instructor
Contour
Block-In
Day 3:
Value Poster
Study
Value
Block-In
Days 4 & 5:
Modeling
Day 6
Modeling
& Finishing
CLASS NOTES:
Overview:
This approach to drawing figurative sculpture is an amalgamation of approaches currently taught in a variety of Classical Realist ateliers based on late 19th Century French academic techniques, which I learned from my drawing teachers Travis Schlaht, Edward Minoff, Robert Armetta, Brian Schumacher and Jon DeMartin.
In the
Jean-Leon Gerome
Charles Bargue
William Adolphe Bouguereau
Alexandre Cabanel
- to their students:
William McGregror Paxton
George Brigeman
Kenyon Cox
JJ Benjamin Constant
– to their students:
H. Ives Gammel
Frank Vincent Dumond
Arthur Lee
- and finally to contemporary draftsmen:
Ted Seth Jacobs
Richard Lack
Franck Reilly
Michael Aviano
Advantages of this approach:
§ Accuracy. Potential for a high degree of accuracy and the ability to capture a likeness in any pose regardless of difficulties like foreshortening, without any knowledge of anatomy required.
§ Classicism. The drawing will have a classical aesthetic that comes from an underlying geometry / harmonious proportions / interrelationships between underlying gestural lines and geometric shapes.
§ Painterly Quality. The approach is very right-brained in that involves seeing abstract masses of light & dark instead of imposing a false geometry by drawing squares and ovals and circles.
§ Subtlety: This approach encourages keeping values very close together in the shadows and “saving” your value range for the lights and mid-tones. This stylistic device draws the viewer’s attention to the mid-tones where all the subtle modeling resides, and it allows for incredible subtlety in the lights and reflected lights, giving the drawing a feeling of skillfulness, sophistication and intense poetry.
§
Compartmentalization: The human figure is the most difficult
subject to draw. Breaking the drawing
tasks into stages reduces this incredibly complex process into simpler building
blocks that can be mastered individually.
This allows you to focus on a
specific problem and resolve it before moving on to the next stage,
building the drawing on a firm foundation.
Isolating drawing problems in this way prevents you from getting too far
along, to the point where problems become unfixable.
Limitations of this approach:
§ Better suited for longer drawings > 3 hours.
§ The drawing has a geometric / flat “posterized” appearance in its early stages.
§ The organic / fluid / expressive qualities enter into the drawing in later stages of contour and modeling.
Preparation
Toning the Paper:
§
Tone the paper with a wash of vine charcoal, spread evenly over the
paper with a Viva paper towel or tissue.
This will allow you to suggest the general key of the drawing, and
provide a base of tone from which you can pull out highlights and push down the
darks.
§
The base tone should be slightly lighter in value than your average mid-tones.
This will limit your future erasing to pulling out the light areas and
highlights.
Charcoal:
§
Keep your charcoal sharpened to a long tapered point. Charcoal is
sharpened by holding the stick flat against a sandpaper sharpening board and
pulling it back and forth while rotating your fingers.
§
You should use charcoal of increasing hardness as you proceed with the
drawing, so that by the finishing stage you are using charcoal that is extra
hard.
§
The charcoal stick should be held almost flat against the paper,
forming about a 15 degree angle where the point meets that paper. You should then pull the charcoal across the
paper in line with the contour being drawn (i.e., the length of the charcoal
stick should follow the same direction as the section of contour you are
drawing.) This allows you to keep a light touch, and to make a flowing and
expressive line.
Easel:
§
Set the easel to a 100% vertical level (use a plumb line to check if
necessary) and at eye level.
§
Set the paper at the edge of the drawing board, so that it always
vertical, with several sheets below it.
Use the smoother side of the charcoal paper.
Stance:
§
Hold the charcoal between thumb and first 2 fingers, with pinkie
extended and used as a “pivot”. Keep the
arm fairly straight and make long sweeping gestures, allowing it to graze the
surface at an oblique angle. Use an
extender or a long piece of charcoal. Do
not hold the charcoal as you do when writing.
§
Look over your non-drawing shoulder at the subject so that you can hold
up measuring needle with your non-drawing hand.
Phases of the Drawing:
Drawing errors compound themselves as the work
progresses, since everything is interrelated like a delicate spider web. Moving
a major strand of the web later in the process can be disastrous. For example,
it is very discouraging to realize, 10 hours into the drawing,
that a beautiful fully-modeled nose is in the wrong place and must be
obliterated and re-drawn along with the rest of the head to get a convincing
likeness.
Therefore we break the drawing up into several
compartmentalized phases, isolating the drawing problems in each Phase.
In practice, as the student gains more experience
the “stages” of the drawing will start to merge together into a seamless flow,
but the mental progression will always follow the same sequence: moving from
large to small shapes, moving from block-in to contour, seeing abstract shapes
before modeling form.
Phase
1: Contour Block-In
Phase
2: Value Block-In
Phase
3: Modeling
Phase
4: Finish
An
important principle of good draftsmanship is that you should keep your drawing
as simple as possible while you work out the basic shapes. By reducing all the complex variations in
contour to simpler, straighter lines, it is easy to work to rearrange them
until their relative shapes and proportions are correct. You then have a superstructure from which can
be brought any number of degrees and manners of finish.
Copy of a Bargue
plate showing the reduction of a complex form into simple geometric shapes,
based on a division of light and shadow:
PHASE 1: CONTOUR BLOCK-IN
Step 1: Capture the Line of
Action
Using
soft HB vine charcoal, locate your composition by very lightly indicating the
principal line of action (for the human figure this is usually the spine or the
vertical tilt of the head) on the paper in loose, light, sweeping stroke.
Once
you have located the general position and orientation of your composition (“mise en page”), Set a top and bottom which
will remain fixed throughout the drawing.
You
now have a starting point. You should
only have a few lines on the paper at this point.
Step 2: The Envelope
The
goal of this stage is to lay down a scaffolding of larger shapes, which will provide
the structure upon which the drawing “hangs.” The objective is to make sure
that these large shapes are in harmonious proportion before moving on to later stages.
This
shape will provide the container inside of which all other shapes will take
form. Through this enveloper, both the line of action and the gesture should be
understood and expressed. Simplicity of
conception allows for easy corrections and adjustments, and it gives the
drawing strength and structure, avoiding a “wobbly” look.
§
Draw an “envelope” around the figure using the fewest lines possible,
indicating the major tilts and breaks / high points / points of inflection. The lines should be fairly straight, because it is virtually impossible to establish
accuracy by visual comparison if you are dealing with curved shapes.
§
Use the knitting needle to compare the ratio of height to width and
correct the envelope. To get an exact
height-to-width ratio, take two needles and cross them. Mark the height with one needle and the width
with the other, then transfer the ratio to the drawing by lining up with your
top and bottom marks as follows:
§
With the charcoal grazing the paper at an oblique angle, develop the
envelope using a back-and-forth brushing stroke leaving very light, loose,
exploratory lines. These lines express
the uncertainty of the drawing at this stage, and should leave plenty of room
for shaping and carving out the final contour lines with your eraser. These exploratory lines should be fairly wide
and will be gradually pared down as information is added to the drawing.
§
Make sure that the proportions of the large shapes are correct before
proceeding to carve into the envelope with smaller shapes. Check by following
this process:
1.)
First try to get as accurate as you can by eye (do not use measuring as a crutch!). Do this by comparing the envelope shape to
the subject by flashing your eye back and forth.
2.)
When it looks correct “by eye”, then step back into a sight-size vantage point to check it
again. Sight size means that you position yourself in a vantage point such that
the top and bottom of your image on your paper line up exactly with the top and
bottom of your subject. Walk back from
your paper until the image on your paper gets into this perspective. Move the
paper up or down or stand on your toes as necessary to get the two images to
line up. Then flash your eye and compare
and correct. Of course, if your entire
drawing is of the subject’s eyeball this won’t work because you’d have to move
the drawing 20 feet behind the subject to get it into sight-size, but assuming
a commonly used scale you should be able to step a few paces back and be in
sight-size.
Example of how the subject should look at
sight-size:
3.)
When the envelope looks correct at sight-size, then measure the
relative proportions of each line segment in the envelope with your needle.
§
At a fairly early stage, establish the halfway point of your drawing
and identify some major corresponding landmarks. Use your needle to guess the height of the
halfway make then double it to see if you are correct. If 2x the length you have set with your
needle gets you from the bottom of your drawing to the
top, then you have your half. As long as
you never change your top and bottom
marks, you can quickly build your drawing off the halfway and quarter marks
since their positions are known. If the drawing shrinks and grows you will have
to re-adjust all of your marks which gets increasingly
difficult as the drawing progresses.
§
Start carving into the envelope by defining smaller shapes. Sub-divide
the larger shapes by boxing them out with straight lines. Start by drawing the largest shapes first
then moving to smaller shapes. Make sure that the relationships between
the larger shapes are correct before moving on to draw the sub-shapes. Keep
the drawing in this stage as long as necessary to get the larger relationships
correct before mobbing on. No amount of
tweaking in the modeling stage will save the drawing if it is off at this
stage!
§
Determine the angles or “tilts” of lines by holding up a knitting
needle, keeping your arm and torso stationary while you swivel at the
hips. Compare angles to the vertical.
§
As you carve out the smaller shapes, look for major anatomical
landmarks. Further divide your halfway
mark into quarters.
§
Triangulate the landmarks by visually linking them up in a triangle
shape and comparing the triangle shape on your paper to the triangle shape you
see in the model. Compare the shapes of the
“constellation” of points.
§
As you notice that landmarks are out of place, do not grow or shrink
the drawing, but adjust the position of the landmarks.
§
Build your drawing off of landmarks that you
KNOW are correct, starting with the halfway mark. Do not use unverified landmarks as a
reference for establishing the position of new landmarks, or you will compound
your errors.
§
During the early stages of the drawing, erase construction lines by
blending them back into the base tone with a viva paper towel, since your
chamois will remove the tone all the way to the light of the paper.
Example of a drawing in the
early contour block-in stage:
Step 3: Grouping Light and
Shadow
The
goal of this stage is to create a two-dimensional ‘poster” drawing of flat
shapes, divided into only two values: light and dark.
§
Squint your eye and divide the subject into light and shadow. Group everything you see into only two
values. The mid-tones should all be
grouped in the lights. Everything beyond
the terminator or shadow lines should be grouped as shadow.
§
If there is doubt about whether an area is in light or shadow, hold
your needle over it. If the needle casts
a shadow over the area, the area is actually a mid-tone and should be grouped
in with the lights. If the needle’s
shadow is not visible because it falls within a preexisting shadow, then the
area is shadow.
§
Draw the border between light and shadow shapes in sweeping non-parrallel lines.
§
Draw “through” the form, looking for connections between shapes. For example,
a line drawn down from the edge of the shadow that falls across the model’s
neck may “connect” further down in space with the line of the arm, or the line
of the back may sweep down and connect to the line of a leg. Seek out these connections and the drawing
will take on a feeling of harmony and organic wholeness.
The activity
of creating harmonious visual relationships is what differentiates artistic
drawing from “copying” reality. The
artist is not copying the subject, but rather making a beautiful, harmonious
image using the subject as a reference.
§
When you are reasonably happy with your border between the shadow and
light areas, fill in the dark areas with a very light “false” value using a
light scrubbing stroke, graining across the form in the direction of the “cut
of light”, not with the form. When you
have established this flat “poster” version of the drawing, it will be much
easier to see the light and dark shapes and make corrections.
§
Compare the dark and light shapes with the subject using the same
measuring methods above. Look at the
light and dark shapes as abstractions, not as an “arm” or a “leg”: instead see
them as “a squarish rabbit head shape” etc. Compare the character of that shape to what
you see when you squint. Avoid thinking
in symbolic terms like “hand, foot” and look at the shapes abstractly. Use a mirror or turn the canvas upside down
if you must in order to see the shapes “naively” without symbolic labels.
The danger of
symbolic thinking is that you will never draw your authentic visual
experience. For example, the tendency to
“frontalize” anatomical features, like drawing an eye
as an almond shape, because intellectually you “know” that an eye is shaped
like an almond. Symbolic thinking will prevent you from rendering your true
optical experience.
§
Check the negative shapes that you are creating by comparing / flashing
your eye back and forth and measuring.
§
Use your measuring techniques to block in the general areas of the
background that you wish to include in the drawing, and group them into either
the light or shadow area.
§
Shadow shapes should grained in at an even
tone, no darker than the reflected lights. Start with a slightly lighter value
than life so that you can push the values darker as you progress and avoid
erasing. It is easier to darken gradually rather than lighten. Initially you
should, as in the shadow areas with a single, even value. This way the
reflected lights will emerge naturally by contrast as the area around the
terminator is darkened.
Notes on Blocking In a
Portrait:
§
The process of capturing a likeness in
the face is no different from the rest of the block-in process. Treat the head exactly as you treated other
areas of the body during the block in, by drawing abstract shapes of light and
dark and comparing the character (shape / size / location) to the shapes you
see on the model when you squint.
§
Resist the temptation to draw individual
features like eyes and nostrils – draw the abstract shapes around them, in
their correct positions, and the features will fall into place automatically.
Facial features will be drawn during the later stages of modeling and
finishing.
A likeness is created by establishing large patterns of
light and dark, not by drawing the small features. We don’t actually “see” an
eye: that is a label for an anatomical construct. We see light illuminating from in an area
that we refer to as an “eye”.
§
Follow your usual block-in process by
establishing a half-way mark on the head, drawing lines to mark tilts and
angles of major facial landmarks, grouping the light and dark areas, comparing
the shapes for accuracy, etc.
§
Proceed to add details only when you have
captured a convincing likeness using blocky abstract shapes. Otherwise, once you have invested time in
drawing “the perfect nose” you will be reluctant to erase it when you realize
that it needs to move because it is in the wrong place! Forget that you are
drawing a head and look at it as a collection of two-dimensional abstract
shapes.
§
Do not follow arbitrary anatomical or
proportional formulas, because if you do, the portrait will look generic,
“illustrated” and “frontalized:” it will lack the
complex foreshortening effects that represent your true optical
experience.
§
Build the drawing outward from core areas that you know are
accurate. Do not grow or shrink the
drawing – keep the top, bottom, half, and quarter-marks intact and adjust the
landmarks and shapes within these parameters. Do not build the drawing from
peripheral areas like arms, which may shift and move as the model settles into
the pose. Build from the core outward.
§
When the core shapes are correct, make a decision to capture the
position of peripheral areas.
§
When you are satisfied with the accuracy of the larger shapes and the
relative values that have been massed in, proceed to the smaller ones and
gradually start “homing in” on your final lines by carving into the thick,
sketchy construction lines with your kneaded eraser.
PHASE 2: VALUE BLOCK-IN
The
purpose of this phase of the drawing is to lay down the large areas of tone,
with the values in their correct relative proportion to each other. Use medium vine charcoal for this stage.
Step 1: Value Scale
§
In order to help you organize the value structure, it may be helpful to
create a 9-step value scale along the side of the paper, with 1 being the white
of the paper and 9 being the darkest value you can produce with your
pencil. Create the scale by splitting
the differences between the 2 ends, starting by making value 9, then making
value step 5 and insuring that step 5 is half-way in tone between 1 and 9, then
by making values 3 and 7 and making sure they are half-way, etc. Compare every 3 steps to make sure that value
in the middle is exactly in between the adjacent 2.
§
Observe the 9-step hierarchy of values in the subject. Try to group the values you see into these
general categories and it will be easier to understand what is happening on the
form when you are modeling:
Lights:
1. Highlight
2. Light Light
3. Middle Light
4. Dark Light
Mid-Tones:
5. Light Half-Tone
6. Dark Half-Tone
Shadows:
7. Reflected Light
8. Terminator or Form Shadow
9. Cast Shadow
Step 2: Poster Study
§
Squint your eyes and group all the values that you see into 3 general
values (shadow, mid-tones, lights).
§
Create a small 5-inch poster
study of the subject by observing the larger turning of form This should be
a rough block-in (drawing accuracy does not matter) showing the major plane
changes (< 10 planes) and an accurate representation of the value
relationships among the planes. Group the values that you see in to as small
number of values. Reduce the drawing to less than 10 planes with different
values. This study will provide a
“value map” or reference that will allow you to keep the values of the
sub-forms within their proper range on the value scale. Use the value scale you just created to
evaluate the range or “neighborhood” of each major plane.
For example, the torso top plane mid-tones may only
range between values 2-4. Set the ”key”
of your drawing and keep the major planes within their neighborhood, or else
you will end up ”over-modeling” the form by ranging from, say, values 2-6 in an
area that should only range between 3-4.
Compare the relationship between the values and get
them in the correct relationship. This
will help you keep the global values in the correct relationship later on and
prevent you from “over-modeling” the form.
Step 3: Massing In the Darks
§
After completing the poster study, go back to the drawing and identify
the darkest dark areas such as cast shadows.
§
Mass in the darks first, with an average value that will set the key of
your drawing. Use a value just slightly lighter than the value you will
eventually use for your reflected light so that you still have room to push the
tone darker at the later stages.
§
Keep the shadow tones flat and undifferentiated. Do not add any variety
to the darks such as reflected lights.
By keeping the shadows at a quiet even tone you will direct the viewer
from the modeling on the mid-tones.
Step 4: Rubbing Out the
Lights
§
Next, use a chamois to pull out the lightest light areas. Do not pick
out highlights but group them with the lights.
§
Use the same geometric angled strokes used during the contour block-in,
keeping the light shapes distinct so you can discern problems with their size /
shape / proportion / orientation.
§
Constantly measure and compare the shape of the light areas and keep
the border between light planes and mid-tones distinct at this stage.
§
Stand back from the paper to check the global relationships. Resist the
temptation to start modeling and maintain the division between major planes
just as you did in the poster study.
§
At this point you should have three major values indicated on your
paper: the darks beyond the terminator (grouping cast shadows and form shadows)
the mid-tones, and the lights (grouping all the lights together).
§
The borders between the major planes should still be visible just as
they were in your poster study.
Step 4: Adjusting the Value Relationships
§
Stand back from your paper, squint and evaluate the relationships
between the major value masses on your paper. Look at the relationships between
the major planes and the background.
§
Simplify the value gradations and make sure that you are using an average
value for the tone of each area.
§
Use a light loose hatching stroke that gives some indication of the
direction and topology of the form underneath. Do not smear the charcoal, but
create an even tone through careful, light, loose hatching.
§
When the average value relationships ate correct proceed to modeling.
At this stage your drawing
should look like a larger version of your poster study, in the desired key,
with average values that are in the correct tonal relationship to each other
relative to your subject.
PHASE 3: MODELING
The goal of modeling is to create value
relationships on your paper that are analogous to what you observe. You cannot directly “copy” the exact values
you see, because charcoal only permits a value range that is a tiny subset of
what exists in nature. Due to this
limitation you must be constantly vigilant against “over-modeling”, which means
using a range of value that is too broad.
Keep your charcoal extremely sharp during this
stage with your blade and sandpaper, and transition to an HB charcoal pencil.
§
Look at the subject from another side angle to determine which planes are top, side and bottom. Make a mental note of the location
of the lightest lights so that you can model up towards them.
§
Note the double curvature of each major form as it turns towards and
then away from the light.
§
Pick a shadow area nearest the lightest light, and start modeling out
from the terminator line into the dark mid-tones. Crawl out slowly and deliberately,
mapping the contour of the form with gentle hatching strokes, visualizing a
topographical map of the form and “sculpting” the light.
§
Begin modeling from dark to light, moving across the form from the
terminator towards the lightest lights.
Do not jump around or the drawing will become patchy. Work gradually across the form one area at a
time in layered veils of light tone, gradually darkening in value with each
layer.
§
Hatching should generally be done at perpendicular or oblique angles to
the light source. In order to make a
gradation of value, increase the separation between each hatch mark as you move
towards the light. Begin your pencil strokes in the dark area, using harder
pressure, and as you progress into the lighter area use softer pressure. Lay down a fishnet of criss-crossing
veils or washes of value.
§
Correct the shadow shapes as you go. Turn the form into the dark light
just before the terminator.
§
Redraw shapes as you move through the dark half-tones so as not to lose
the drawing.
§
Use a graining stroke, and use a stump to even out the tone as you go.
(Cross hatching is best for shorter poses to convey direction and energy.)
§
For the first modeling passes, cover only the range of values through
the light half-tones. Leave the dark
lights and above burned out.
§
Develop other areas so that the entire drawing progresses at roughly
the same rate and you don't lose momentum by getting bogged down. Use harder pencils to lightly draw in the
lighter shapes and fill in the lighter tones.
§
Reflected lights are rarely darker than the darkest lights.
§
When you encounter form shadows, sketch in their outlines lightly and
loosely hatch them in.
§
Map out the half-tone areas very lightly using the same 2 dimensional
shape-drawing, measuring and comparison methods you used during the block-in.
§
It is easier to push the shadow areas darker, rather than bringing them
up by erasing them. Erasing stresses the paper and creates smeared/ spotty
effects. Gradually push the overall key of the drawing lower and lower by
applying light veils or washes of tone.
§
Imagine that you are a tiny ant crawling across the form. Each tiny
step of the ant in any direction requires a miniscule value change. Given the double-curvature of form in relation to
the light source (left-to-right as well as top-to-bottom) no two steps the ant
makes should have the same value.
§
Make sure you represent the rate
of curvature by imaging the contour lines of a topographical map laid over
the surface of the form. Compress or
expand the number of small value steps per unit area to reflect these contour
lines.
§
Walk around the subject to observe the way the form turns towards and
away from the light, looking for top, side and bottom planes. Imagine a “disco ball” painted gray, with
each facet of the disco ball facing slightly more towards or away from the
light.
§
As lumps and gaps develop on the paper, smooth them out by picking out
lumps of graphite with the shaped point of the kneaded eraser, and filling in
the holes with a very sharp charcoal pencil.
§
Stand back frequently from your easel and observe the larger value
relationships, squinting and comparing against the model and your value map
poster study, flashing your eye back and forth.
Foreshortening
of Light: The “Wash of Light”
Observe the “wash” of
light down the entire subject from the area closest to the light source. Note that the greatest degree of variation in
values will be concentrated at the areas closest to the light source. As the light washes further down the form,
there is less range across the larger area.
Contrast
Effects:
During the modeling process, as you evaluate the
value relationships your vision will be subject to optical illusions called contrast effects or field effects.
The most commonly encountered contrast effect is simultaneous contrast, wherein light
objects displayed on a dark background will appear lighter than they actually
are, and conversely, dark objects on a light background will appear to be
darker than they actually are. For example, reflected lights in the shadows may
appear to be as brighter than they actually are.
This effect can be observed by cutting a small hole
in a piece of paper, and then comparing the values in isolation from their
backgrounds.
For example, in the image below, the two inner
squares are exactly the same value, but they appear to be different shades due
to the background contrast provided by the outer squares: The middle squares are of the same value!
Optical Adjustment:
Another optical effect is caused by the
physiological dilation of the pupil, called optical adjustment. When
staring at the dark areas for an extended period of time, you begin to notice
tremendous variations in the darks and the lights will look “burned out.” Conversely, when staring at the lights you
will begin to see tremendous variations in the mid-tones and the darks will
group together into a very dark mass.
The temptation will be to over-model, using up the entire value range
available to you when describing a small area that should live within a very
narrow value range.
The remedy for this is to look at the subject with
peripheral vision, or put your eye out of focus to get an overall sense of the
global value relationships.
Handling Contrast Effects:
The goal in handling these visual distortions is not
to directly replicate them by copying them onto your paper, but to cause the
effects to happen “organically” by creating analogous conditions on paper to
what exists in nature. This is done by setting
aside the optical illusion before your eyes and relying upon your conceptual
understanding of what is happening on the form: the location of the light
source, the progressive turning of planes on the form towards or away from the
light source, and the position of the viewer.
If you try to mimic field effects by exaggerating
values, for example by making reflected lights too bright, or the area around
highlights too dark, the drawing will look “over-modeled”, garish and
amateurish (i.e., not well-seen, nor living, nor true to life).
The remedy for contrast effects is to bring the
value transitions closer together, such that the value difference between two
adjacent areas is imperceptible when you are standing up close to the paper but
emerges when you stand back from the easel.
Remember, the value range available to you is only a tiny subset of the
values observed in nature. By keeping
adjacent values very close together you will give the drawing a subtlety and
luminosity that rings true to life.
With a relatively
smooth luminous subject such as a sculpture, this will only be possible if you
have created careful, even gradations, picking out graphite lumps with the
kneaded eraser and filling in the gaps or holes with a very sharply pointed
pencil.
Highlights:
The highlight is the
only light effect that moves with the changing position of the viewer. There
can be only one lightest light on your drawing where the white of the paper
shows. Everything else besides the
highlight must have some value no matter how slight.
The position of the
highlight describes the shape of the form and appears on the form relative to
the viewer such that the angle of incidence equals the angle of
reflection. The light behaves like a
basketball – where it strikes the ground is the position of the highlight, and
the angle of the bounce is the angle of incidence and reflection.
In the diagram below,
the angles F
will remain equal, growing or shrinking as the position of the viewer changes
relative to the light source.
PHASE 4: FINISHING
- Stand back from the
easel to evaluate the global value changes and ensure they are consistent
with the overall “wash of light”.
Make adjustments to ensure that the values are within the range
limits for each “neighborhood”.
- Grain over the shadow
areas with a harder charcoal pencil (2H) to bring the values closer
together. Create reflected lights
and other features within the shadow areas by slightly darkening the areas
around them. Keep the values in the
darks extremely close together,
saving your range for the mid-tones.
- Rub out the highlights.
- Add very subtle
modeling in the lightest lights using a harder pencil weight (2H).
- Draw detailed features
like pupils, fingernails, and veins but stay within the value
“neighborhood” and do not over-model.
Do not draw features like toes or fingernails because you “know
that they are there”. Group them
together if they are visually indistinguishable in nature, keeping in mind
that your limited value range in graphite means that many barely
perceptible features, like adjacent toes in a dark area, may not even
register on paper.
- Value modifications in
the finishing stage should be so small as to be imperceptible up close,
but visible when you stand a few steps back from the paper.
- Consider softening the
edges of forms that are further away or behind other forms.
- Consider increasing
value contrast / sharpen edges that lie closer to the viewer and /or
around the centre of interest.
- Look at the drawing
upside down or in a mirror to make sure that it “reads” convincingly, with
closer features coming forward in space and features that are behind
others receding.
- As a matter of personal
preference / taste, you might avoid the use of strong outlines along the
border of your drawing since this will nullify the feeling of form turning
in space. Lines destroy form. It
may be better to create a background tone and subtly blend the edges into
the background wash. This will cause the form to emerge out of the light,
create air around the figure, and help to put the figure “in the
room”. If you do decide to use
outlines they should be very subtle.
- Stumping is not
recommended as it creates a “smeared” effect and is hard to control. Stumping graphite obliterates the subtle
value gradations that you are working hard to create, and is more suitable
for charcoal applications.
- Stop when the drawing
says what you want it to say; when you have a powerful center of interest
and a convincing “read” on all the information that you want to
convey. Don’t apply the same level
of finish / detail to all areas of the drawing or it will look
photographic and clinical, lacking poetry and an artistic feeling. You are
not striving for medical illustration, a catalog of details, or
encyclopedic journalism.
A fully modeled graphite figure
drawing created using this method:
Drawing by Thomas Shelford, 2007