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It's strange how one can draw and never think about how they draw. This has always been the case for me. But, I'm learning that as a teacher I must first begin to analyze my steps before I'll ever be able to help anyone else. So here's what I was thinking as I constructed this drawing.
This morning we asked the students to practice drawing people in space. My personal goal was to focus on getting proportions right. I began this drawing by roughly sketching in the front two chairs. I knew if I could get these right, the position of everything else would be easier to calculate. Plus, I find it helpful to begin with a static element rather than a person as people move quite often, preventing me from accurately gauging scale late in the drawing. Overall I am pleased with how it turned out, though I wish I had varied my line weight a little more so that the people in the foreground could be more easily distinguished from those in the back.
7 comments:
Suzanne- how funny. I just frustrated the heck out of my mom when she asked how I drew something. I told her "I draw what I see." She replied that she sees the same thing and can't draw it.
As artists, I think we just look at things differently. My mom sees a flower and I see colors, shadows and textures that make up shapes in the flower. Drawing the little shapes is a lot easier than drawing the flower.
I still don't think I'd have the patience to teach though, so my hat's off to you.
This is a really interesting point. I had never considered my drawing process until starting the blog and people began asking about that process. I still find it really difficult to say how I do it - I just draw. When I went back home recently my niece started questioning me about drawing - she was fascinated by cross-hatching and how you make drawings out of lines. I love that; how something seems so natural to some of us and yet alien to others. GREAT drawing by the way.
That was really interesting to read about your process. Also to find metacognitive thinking (thinking about thinking) on an art blog since it's a central part of the work I'm involved with in my day job at a literacy organization.
I find it hard to describe even when I try to think of the words in my head as I'm doing it!! There are a million tiny decisions at every step, someone would think I'm mad if I said it out loud!
I had the same idea, to draw the furniture first, recently, for drawing the family. Makes it easier to see the figures as shapes. I think this is a lovely sketch, in fact I really like how the people are drawn. It looks very sociable!
Suzanne, thank you. Not just for the wonderful quick line sketch which I love, but for the ideas behind it, that are so very thought provoking and helpful ... I'm going to have to keep them in mind next time I do a 'live' sketch.
This is just the kind of unfussy, spontaneous-looking sketch I would LOVE to be able to produce!
Thanks to all of you for such thoughtful comments. I found "thinking about process" to be quite "thought provoking" as well. This is something I hope to become more dedicated to doing.
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