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