Winter 2013 Demos

We had the terrific Mark Snyder as a model for our first pose of the term, always a pleasure to draw! 

Long pose comprehensive class demo, 3 week pose(detail). 19x25". 

Gesture and 2D shape block-in demo, with some additional conceptual diagrams thrown in.

Long Pose Drawing Demos

The Winter 2013 term is starting soon! I'll be teaching Long Pose Figure, Figure/Costume Quick Sketch and Figure Construction. For more info you can check out my class sidebar to the right, or visit LAAFA's registration page (I teach Thursdays and Sundays). 

Here are some demos from my Long Pose Figure Drawing class this term. Once again, we've had some really excellent models and a dedicated, hardworking group of students.

This is the most recent demo done over the course of a 4-week pose. As with previous classes, I really encourage students to be thorough in their explorations of the model and tackle complex areas head on, always striving for an analytical understanding of the form. 

Below is the demo drawing for our first 3-week pose, along with its corresponding muscular and skeletal breakdown.    

Quick Sketch Rendering and Construction Demos

Here are some demos from this term, I'll try to keep posting more of these and add some explanations along the way. These are from my Quick Sketch and Construction 1 classes for LAAFA's full-time program.

Quick Sketch Rendering

This is a basic rendering diagram, demonstrating a full range of values to produce form on a sphere. During the lecture, we discussed which parts of the value scale are most critical in communicating form, and which can be left out when doing a quick sketch drawing.

The diagrams on the right show how the transition between values is more or less abrupt, depending on the form they're describing. Lastly, we discussed how core shadows not only follow the axis along the form they describe, but also show movement across the form. These small movements across the form add movement, energy and greater naturalism, as they mimic the infinitesimal changes that show up on the living model.

Here we see the same principles applied to a drawing from the model, roughly 20 minutes. I'm showing different strategies for producing a fairly rendered figure within a short span of time. Quick sketch drawing depends on developing priorities. In a rendering like this, we're leaving the shadow mass flat and ignoring the highest value steps. Our attention is focused on the core and half tones to produce an impression of solid forms as efficiently as possible.

In this second demo, we're focusing on how to show forms wrapping and twisting around the figure tonally. The triangle like markings on the right of the figure are what I call "tonal connections": little patches of value that emanate from a point and fan out. These connections help to roll forms over, while also showing a twist, suggesting that forms are wedging into each other and continuing to the unseen back of the figure, not ending at the contour.

Gesture, Proportion and Rhythm

Basic proportions, using heads and hands to measure.

Simple armature and basic proportions, using heads and hands to measure.

Practical application of the armature and proportions, drawn from the model

Demo addressing rhythm. It's useful to think of movement flowing through the figure like water in a river.

Quick Sketch Composition

Here's some work from this week. When I do quick sketch nowadays, I try to arrange the figures into a coherent composition. In this case, I opted for pyramidal structure with a circular rhythm to guide the eye through. 

Once you get comfortable drawing figures in a 5 or 7 minute interval, it's fun to up the ante and begin composing them. It's an extremely fun way to work, since you are drawing in a timed setting and never know what the model's next pose will be. This is a also a great way to practice staging for multi-figure scenes. 

LAAFA Class Demos

We have only one more session in my long pose figure drawing class at LAAFA, so I wanted to share some demos from the past few weeks. It's been a great quarter, my students have been doing some very impressive renditions of our wonderful models.

Below is my main class demonstration, drawn directly from life over 3 sessions. Using this drawing, we discussed how to take a drawing from the initial gestural stages, all the way through delicate tonal modeling.

During the week, I worked on the subsequent anatomical breakdowns, showing students how bone and muscle interact in order to create the complex network of forms that we observe in the body.

Earlier in the term, I did this foot rendering demo, in order to show students how to manage different materials for various tasks, from gesture to modeling. In this case, the materials included 2B charcoal, Lyra Color Giant and finally Colerase pencils for the details. 

Lastly, this is my demo for LAAFA's Open House event. We had a great crowd and a phenomenal model, it was a lot of fun! 

Mark Demo

Hi everyone! 

Here's a detail of a demo in progress for my Monday class at LAAFA. The drawing on the right is a direct study of our wonderful model, Mark Snyder. The drawing on the right is an anatomical breakdown of the pose, to show students how the skeleton affects the surface forms we see on the model. 

This is from day 2 of a 4-day pose, next week we'll work some more on the drawing of Mark and study how the muscles interact with the skeleton. 

Three Studies of Jason

I went to the short pose workshop at LAAFA last night, it was a lot of fun! Great model, great environment. These are all 20 minute studies. 

Quick Sketches

Here are some fun quick sketches: 5s, 10s and the occasional 20 minute pose. I've been working with a waxy colored pencil for most of the drawing and trying a smeared conte for the shadows. It's been great to get back into LA's drawing workshops, we have some great models here! 

Figure Drawing Demo

 

Hi everyone, here's a taste of what I'll be teaching in my long pose figure drawing class at LAAFA this summer. If you're in LA and want to improve your figure drawing, come join us! To sign up, visit http://www.laafa.org/laafa-classes or click one of the class links on the sidebar.

In the beginning, my main concern is to find the gesture of the figure, feeling how the main masses move and oppose each other. At the same time, I work to establish major proportions, relating one part to another.

Once I'm happy with the gesture and major proportions, I map out the main shadow shapes and fill them in with a flat value. On the light side, I look for major landmarks and map them out accordingly.

 After my basic framework is established, I can begin adding intermediate values to turn the forms in a general way. I increase the contrast between the shadows and the lights, so I can maintain a clear separation as I work in the halftones.

At this point, I start thinking of the drawing as if it were a sculpture. My aim is to carve in the forms and make sure that I capture the anatomical complexity of each part, while keeping the unity of the figure.

Working on one section at a time, I continue to think of how the light affects the forms in space. I address every edge and make sure that it has a sense of movement and expresses as much information as it can.

In the final stages, I reassess the drawing as a whole, add dark accents and introduce the brightest highlights. For me, the finish is not about polishing, it's about making sure that the information in the drawing works together as a whole. 

I'll be posting more demos like this in the future, so stay tuned! 

Long Pose Figure Drawing class at LAAFA

Hi everyone, I'm happy to announce that I'll be teaching a Long Pose Figure Drawing class at the Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art on Mondays this summer.

We'll be working with 9-15 hour poses, creating finished drawings that are highly refined but also dynamic and full of energy.

I'm really excited to teach this class and share what I've learned from my studies with Vilppu, Weston, Gottlieb and Liberace. 

Class starts July 16th, and it's offered as a 3 and 5 hour option. To sign up, you can click the class links on the right of this blog, or visit LAAFA's website. Hope to see you there! 

Modeling form part 2

This week I finished the head in my study of Zeki. I began by re-establishing the middle tone in the lights and the umber in the shadows, so I would have wet paint to work with. From there, I worked extensively on the light side, adding higher lights and darker halftones to modify the middle tone and define the forms of the head. I then moved on to smaller sable brushes and began working the edges in order to add complexity and movement to the form, taking careful note of the variations between hard and soft forms. 

Next week, onto the lower arm and legs!

Modeling form

This week was the start of a new 12 hour pose in Rob's class. 

I spent most of the session working out the drawing in umber, first establishing the proportions loosely, then gradually refining my gesture into an accurate map of the lights and dark shapes, while trying to retain the initial energy. After that, I chose the area that interested me most (the torso and upper arm in this case) and began working on that section, trying to finish as far as possible while the paint was wet. It was really fun to concentrate on achieving volume, noting the overlaps and wedging of the various anatomical structures. 

When working like this, it's important to keep the paint fairly thin, so it can be manipulated easily. Thicker paint is reserved for the high-point of each form. 

Next week I'm going to focus on the head, lower arm and hand, taking those to a fairly high finish. 

New study from the model

Here's another study from the uninstructed model workshop at the Art League. Iano, our model, was excellent; he didn't think twice about choosing a difficult pose and held it admirably. I've been working on 8x12 inch boards so I can get more done within the limited 4 hour time frame. A lot of my favorite artists worked at this small scale, Fortuny and Meissonier in particular did some amazing little figures. 

The Stacey Scholarship and more paintings

I'm happy to announce that I'm one of this year's recipients of the Stacey Scholarship, offered through the John F. and Anna Lee Stacey Scholarship Fund and the National Cowboy Museum. I'm extremely honored to receive this award, the people at the Stacey Fund are doing a tremendous service to art by offering their help to young people committed to a career in representational art. I am forever grateful to the the selection committee, the memory of the Staceys, my friends, family and mentors. I am especially indebted to Kristin Calabrese, Will Weston, Adrian Gottlieb, Graydon Parrish, Jamie Sweetman, Robert Liberace and Lamb Chamberlin for their help. 

With that, I put together an image file with my entries for the Stacey; hopefully it'll be of some use to future applicants. 

Also, here are some figure paintings from the Art League's open sessions and from Rob Liberace's class. 

4 hours into what will be a 12 hour study

Study of Esther

Wayne as a Union soldier