Artists & Illustrators - UK (2020-05)

STRAYS

The texture of

head hair is

most readily

expressed at

its boundaries

SHEEN

Paper can be

left light to

suggest

refl ections in

the hair

DENSITY

For pubic or

armpit hair, draw

dense masses

of characterful

curling shapes

DISTRIBUTION

The character

of individual

hair comes to

the fore in

sparser areas

DIRECTION

With dashed

hairs, start the

mark at the skin

and fl ick out

towards the tip

Secondtothe skin, hair covers

a signifi cant portion of the body,

creating a surface with a more varied

texture and direction. Aside from

being anchored to the scalp, head

hair is not restricted by the underlying

anatomy that defi nes the skin’s

surface – the textural characters of

the hairs themselves, combined with

the styling choices of the model that

shape the overall form and fl ow of

the hair; its tone and refl ectiveness

defi ne how we see it.

Over the rest of the fi gure, the

texture of body hair interrupts the

surface of the fi gure, creating a tonal

intervention in the surface of the skin.

Here, the shape of individual hairs

can inform the gesture of the mark

that you use and you can suggest the

hair’s overall mass – look carefully at

the direction and shape of individual

strands and practice a swift,

repeating mark that mimics its

character to build up a mass of

texture and tone.

Too often lazy observation inclines

us to scribble an indistinct mass for

the hair – suggesting hairiness yet

failing to properly convey the

particular type of hair that we are

trying to observe.

HAIR

IN CONTEXT:
STANLEY SPENCER
Stanley Spencer’s
1912 Self-Portrait in
red chalk is a sensitive
record of surface
texture and direction.
It is the combination
of directional marks
thatmakethisportrait
engaging,withcross
contoursindicatingthe
directionofskinand
hair,sculptingthe
paperintoa formthat
wecanalmostreach
outandtouch.
WILLIAMSON ART GALLERY AND MUSEUM

Artists & Illustrators 63