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Drawing
I was very
weak in my drawing when I went to study Art at East Sydney
Technical College (the main Australian Art School of the time). But
I was fortunate in having an extremely innovative teacher who not
only got me to see drawing as something really special, interesting
and exciting (instead of something I dreaded) but took me from poor
skills to topping the class at the end of the year (with one weekly
two hour lesson over a period of 35 weeks).
Rules
& Restrictions
She achieved
this by setting up the following rules for me during life study
lessons (with the nude model)
1* I had to draw
with the opposite hand than what I wrote with - for at least half
the lesson!
2* I had to draw
with a continuous line – I was not to lift the pen until
finished!
3* I was not to draw
one pose for more than 5 minutes – I had to keep moving, as the
model didn’t!
1*
Learn to Look
What this
does is reactivate a part of the brain that is seldom used. We tend
to draw a computerised image of what we think the object should
look like – so we seldom take the time to really ‘look’ and explore
the shapes (both positive and negative). Once we commence drawing
with a hand that we know we have little control over, we no longer
expect it to look like anything (except maybe mess) – and we
begin to really ‘look’.
2*
Smooth Transition from Eye to Pen
The
continuous line assists our brain to smoothly flow from one shape
to another – in other words instead of looking at the eye then the
nose then the mouth….we tend to look at the face and how the nose,
mouth and eyes relate to its shape and to each other.
3*
Economy of Time and Line
By not
spending much time on any one pose – we learn to look for and find
the essence of the pose quickly and then we can capture what we see
with an economy of line and a true impression of what is in front
of us.
Can
you Achieve This?
I have used
this technique to teach drawing to my students (plus I have added a
few more ‘tricks’ – like drawing simultaneously with a pen in
both hands). I encourage students to use a black liquid pen with a
rolling tip – so that the line is strong, bold (rather than
tentative) and continuous. The results of my students (regardless
of their age) never ceased to astound me and amaze them.
Do You
Need to be Able to Draw?
I cannot
stress more strongly the importance of being able to draw
competently if you want your painting (or indeed any other craft
e.g. ceramics) to excel.
Remember
what drawing is teaching you:–
* to
observe;
* to be able
to capture an impression;
* to feel
confident;
* to have a
choice (do you want to include a drawn image in your finished work
of art – or not)
Drawing
Gallery
Painting
Gallery
Book
into an Online Drawing Clinic (available
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