Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Taking My Own Art Advice




After my little pep talk on Monday, I thought I'd show you that I was listening.

My art always thrives on learning something new. So, I checked out those library books and here's something I've learned.

From Working Out a Painting - Techniques for Transforming Your Oils:
It's by Colleen Browning. There's a nice chapter on "Drawing for Painting." Most of the tips in the section are things you've probably heard before, but she presents them in a clear, memorable way. I guess I got the impression that the more you seek to remember these things, the more the common errors will disappear from your work.

Folds in clothing:
  • "folds widen as they fall, eventually forking into two folds"
  • she draws this idea out as inverted an "Y" - this isn't original with her, but it is something I always forget about when tying my mind up in knots doing clothing
  • I think trying to simplify the shape of a draped cloth with "Y"s first, and then drawing it, I might be more successful.
Section on the Face and Head:
  • this section is just full of examples of common errors and how to fix them.
  • connections between the neck and shoulders and the curve of the spine are very important to the believability of a drawing
  • she talks about the difference between line and form and how confusing them can age a person in a drawing

1 comment:

Valerie Jones said...

Rose, thanks for sharing. I like what the author has to say about the Y in cloth. I'll have to remember that.