(Fogra 29) Job:11-41057 Title:Drawing club Handbook
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001-144_C70789.indd 51 5/13/14 10:42 AM50 The Drawing Club(Text)
What are you bringing to
the drawing?
As I walk around a drawing room absorbing things through
my teacher filter, one of the things I notice is intent. What are
you trying to do? In my classroom at Art Center, there’s often a
simple, straightforward answer. The students are trying to draw
according to the lesson I laid out for them that day. They all
might be working on gesture or proportions, for example.
At The Drawing Club, it is totally different. There are no
lessons. You can draw any way you want to. The variety of dif-
ferent approaches to drawing never ceases to amaze me. I watch
newcomers walk around and ask me questions like, “How do all
these artists know what to do?”
The Drawing Club has been like a magnet, attracting artists
of all kinds, self-taught or educated at schools from all over the
world, bringing with them years of daily hands-on experience.
Sometimes it literally feels like the United Nations of drawing.
There is a lot of variety because everyone has his or her own
idea of what to do. Since there is no specifically laid-out path,
any perceivable goals are your own, which raises the question:
What are you bringing to the drawing?The variety of different approaches to
drawing never ceases to amaze me.
Once the model starts posing and everyone gets settled in, I
like to look around and check out what everyone is doing. After
about thirty minutes or so, you can start to see the artists make
their decisions.
Quite often, I find myself intrigued by the storyboard artists.
These are the artists who work in the film and animation indus-
tries writing and developing the stories we eventually see as
television shows and feature films. The whole point of their job
is to visually interpret the story and make things more interest-
ing. They need to be flexible because changes are part of the
job. Outside of the meetings they attend, no one ever really sees
their drawings. Their artwork exists purely based on their con-
tent and the effectiveness of their problem solving. All day long,
they collaborate at work on whatever show or film they happen
to be working on. By the time they get to our workshop, they just
want to explore their own ideas and have some fun. I always try
to leave them alone so they can concentrate.So what reads so strongly in their drawings? Media? Tech-
nique? Safe to say, most of these artists draw hundreds of
drawings every week at work, so these issues aren’t usually a
concern. What reads the strongest is their point of view. What-
ever media or technique they are using is secondary.
Consequently, you will notice that they really don’t copy what
they see. In fact, they really see the model only as the inspira-
tional starting point. They often change the pose, the details, the
facial expression, and whatever else they feel like changing to
express their point of view about the character. Often, they even
add additional characters and new environments. This level of
bravado is both impressive and inspiring.The Samurai, marker on paper, Paul Briggs(Fogra 29) Job:11-41057 Title:Drawing club Handbook
#175 Dtp:204 Page:50001-144_41057 2.indd 50 24/4/14 7:28 pm
51(Text)
Chapter 3: Concept and StoryThe variety of different approaches to
drawing never ceases to amaze me.
Once the model starts posing and everyone gets settled in, I
like to look around and check out what everyone is doing. After
about thirty minutes or so, you can start to see the artists make
their decisions.
Quite often, I find myself intrigued by the storyboard artists.
These are the artists who work in the film and animation indus-
tries writing and developing the stories we eventually see as
television shows and feature films. The whole point of their job
is to visually interpret the story and make things more interest-
ing. They need to be flexible because changes are part of the
job. Outside of the meetings they attend, no one ever really sees
their drawings. Their artwork exists purely based on their con-
tent and the effectiveness of their problem solving. All day long,
they collaborate at work on whatever show or film they happen
to be working on. By the time they get to our workshop, they just
want to explore their own ideas and have some fun. I always try
to leave them alone so they can concentrate.So what reads so strongly in their drawings? Media? Tech-
nique? Safe to say, most of these artists draw hundreds of
drawings every week at work, so these issues aren’t usually a
concern. What reads the strongest is their point of view. What-
ever media or technique they are using is secondary.
Consequently, you will notice that they really don’t copy what
they see. In fact, they really see the model only as the inspira-
tional starting point. They often change the pose, the details, the
facial expression, and whatever else they feel like changing to
express their point of view about the character. Often, they even
add additional characters and new environments. This level of
bravado is both impressive and inspiring.The Samurai, marker on paper, Paul Briggs(Fogra 29) Job:11-41057 Title:Drawing club Handbook
#175 Dtp:204 Page:51001-144_41057 2.indd 51 24/4/14 7:30 pm