Artist's Drawing & Inspiration - USA (2019-09)

ArtistDrawingandInspiration 27

demonstration

Chooseyourreferencephoto
Whenyouarebeginninga drawing
youneedtochoosea subjectwhich
excitesyourinterestandpreferably
onewhichchallengesyou.I especially
enjoydrawingkidsinaction,or
totallyinvolvedinanactivity,orjust
beingstillandwondering.Therange
ofexpressionsofferedbychildren
at playis infinite.It’sa wholeworld
waitingforartisticexploration!
So,takeplentyofphotos,because
kidswon’tsitstillforhourswith
excitingexpressionsontheirfaces
waitingforyoutopuddleaboutwith
a pencil!Riflethroughyourshotsand
choosea photowhichis suitablefor
a drawing.Thisisn’talwayseasy.
Forthisproject,I foundmyself

choosinga photoofSamlooking

sweetlyat thecamera.I sketchedit

upandtooka transfersketchofthe

line-workincaseI wantedtopaintthe

portraitlater;andthendecidedthat

thepicturedidnotworkasa drawing.

Tocreatea drawingofa child,I find

I needtoworkwitha subjectthat

appearstobecapturedfromlife,as

if I hadsatandsketchedthesubject

whilsttheactionweretakingplace:

inotherwords,thepictureneedsto

tella story.Havinga portraitofSam

staringdemurelyat theviewerworks

asa photo,butnotasa drawing.

Fortunatelythephoto-shootwith

thebird-bathscenehappenedalong

andI tooka video.Takingstills

fromthevideoI cameacrossa

numberofpossibilitiesfora good

drawingandchosefromthese.

takeyourmeasure

Thesizeandproportionofa picture

is important.Somesceneslook

impressiveif theyarehuge,others

arebestrealisedat a smallersize.

I makethisportraitofSamabout

halflife-size,345mmx 515mm,

sotheviewercanappreciatethe

scenewitha senseofdistance.

Chooseyourequipment

I amusinga sheetofA2Arches

Smooth300gsmWatercolourpaper

forthiscomposition.Mygraphite

pencilsincludea fullrangeof

Derwent,from4Hto6B(I onlyuse

halfofthese),alongwitha Progresso

8B.I alsousesharpenedwillow

charcoalstickswitha boarbristle

brush,toobtainthedeepestshadows.

Blendingstumpshelptodefineareas

ofshadowandsoftenlines.Tissues

arebestforthesoftershadows.Add

a kneadableeraser,a maulstickanda

drawingboardandwe’resettogo!

stepOne

settingupthecomposition

I drawa borderaroundthepage,

sothatI don’tstraytoocloseto

theedge,rememberingthepicture

willbeframed.I thensetmyguide

marks,dividingthepageinto

lateralandhorizontalthirds.This

willallowmetosetSamandthe

birdbathsuitablyinthepage.

Themainformsofthescenecreate

two‘T’shapes:thebird-bathis one

‘T’andSamformsa ‘T’onitsside,

withhisoutstretchedarm.These

blocksofformwillconsumethe

leftsideandlowerhalfofthepage,

leavinga portionofthepageforthe

backdropofshadowyfoliage.The

tumbling‘T’effectshouldleadthe

viewer’seyethroughthescene.

Usingmyreferencephotosandan

A4printofthemainfigure(Sam),I

plotthebasiclineswitha 4Hpencil,

measuringtheheightandwidthof

thefiguresfirstanddroppinga faint

straightreferencelineverticallythrough

theircentres.UsingstraightlinesI

createthemanyanglesandgeometric

shapeshiddenwithintheforms.This

MateR ials

• A2 Arches300gsmSmooth
  WatercolourPaper


• Derwentgraphitepencils
  
  
  • 4H,HB,2B,5B
  
  
  
  


• Progresso8B graphitepencil


• Willowcharcoal


• Old boar-bristlebrush


• Blendingstumps


• Tissue paper


• Kneadableeraser


• Maulstick


• Tracingpaper


• Felt-tippen


• Knife and garnet paper

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