Emily Carr University of Art and Design – Page 3

EMILY CARR – LIFE DRAWING

I will be attaching more videos to this Category as the Emily Carr University course progresses. You can also view the vids in category: FACE AND FIGURE, or use the search box at the top of the main page.

A FEW WORDS OF ADVICE IN STUDYING FACE & FIGURE from Tony O’Regan

We are all “Students”. We all learn from those who have been on the road a bit longer than us. Here is a little advice from someone who has been on the road for a very long time- Drawing from live models is of great benefit (observational). But, learning to draw from your “internal model” is equally beneficial (constructive) and will make your drawing from life easier and work better. Ask yourself this: “Do I want to always need a model or photo when I want to draw OR do I want to be able to draw skilfully from my imagination, just me and a sheet of paper?” Thankfully, they are not mutually exclusive skills. They are of course complementary, but they are DIFFERENT skills. Try re-drawing the life sketches made in class with greater care and analysis and make the poses a part of your own mental library. This will improve your ‘visual memory’, greatly. Drawing the face and figure may seem challenging, but it is enormously interesting and engrossing. I am easily bored, but after years, this is the least boring thing I ever undertook. Relax, commit to doing it every time you have coffee in the morning for one year. Make study-sheets and carry them in your pocket. Sketch on 8 x 11 simple printer paper folded in your pocket. Date and save some. Take it step by step, memorize, and you will succeed. “The proper study of Mankind is Man”. This is what I did and I suggest it as a way to begin your own study of the face and figure:

FACE

1 – learn to draw and manipulate the generalized manikin ‘head-form”

2 – learn to draw the 4 feature groups, eye, ear, nose, mouth.

3 – learn to proportionately place the feature groups on the head-form.

4 – Study light and shadow patterns on the head-form.

FIGURE

1 – learn to proportionately draw and manipulate the generalized manikin ‘figure-form”

2 – learn to map the anatomy on the figure-form

3 – learn to draw the 3 detail areas: head (as above), hands, and feet.

4 – Study light and shadow patterns on the figure-form.

Along the way you will also want to gradually learn more about the following:

Gesture – lines of force and direction – the “sculptors armature “ for a drawing

Contour – sense of touch, blind contour exercises – the language of line quality

Silhouette – A FUNDAMENTAL ASPECT OF FORM – pos/neg shapes – like shadow puppets

Figure-ground –lighter, darker, transitional relation of figure to background

Mass – wireframe scribble-sculpture – deeper is lighter

Space – underwater metaphor drawing – deeper is darker

Tonality – 3-4 steps plus detail, sparkle-subtlety-impact, importance of the lights

Modeling – Light, shade and shadow

Perspective as applied to figure and context

Composition – What you do with all the above

Major Parts of the body – head, torso, legs, arms,

Major Subcomponents of the Parts – head, neck, yoke/ chest, midriff, pelvis/ deltoids, upper/lower arms/buttocks thigh, lower leg

Three Detail areas of body– head/neck, hands, feet

Four Letters of the Facial Alphabet -eye, nose, mouth, ear

“CONSTRUCTION TRICKS” Sequences, procedures, and visual concepts, such as– the yoke, butt-erfly, shortbows, longbows, pentagon hand, triangle foot, ‘party balloon, fountain pen’ arm/leg, ‘cookie’ hand , plumb-lines etc.

Proportion systems, such as 8-head figure, etc.

Caricature and altered proportions – head and body

Views and ‘turn-arounds’ – Front, side, back, three-quarter

Muscular anatomy, Head and Figure

Skeletal anatomy

Major planes and volumes

Analyzing typical poses: “X-T-C-S”, stand, walk, sit, recline, multiple/movement

Reference- Framing the pose using rectangle and crosshair centerlines

Correcting the pose using plumb lines, triangles and parallelism

Context, floor plane, furniture, containment, background

Composition using context, props, other figures, perspective, cropping and trace paper

Depth – Perspective, overlap, diminution, convergence, atmospherics, lineweight

Twisting and bending the torso

Try various Mediums – Ink wash, Chinese brush, white and sepia chalk, dip-pens, transparent and opaque colour

LINEWEIGHTS (2016)

I worked as a draftsman long ago. One of the techniques draftsmen learn is to apply a systematic ‘hierarchy of lineweights’ to enhance and clarify their drawings. Every draftsman learns to do this. It is important because it adds clarity and a kind of richness to drawings. You can also see it at work in comic books and skilled illustration of all kinds. There are probably several different systems for deciding on lineweights. Here is mine. I am showing it in a very simple way, but like a lot of seemingly simple things, it adds more than you would think.

Effects of Different Distances between Vanishing Points

Drawing a’Curvy’ modern car form

I have put up a few videos on drawing vehicles. Some very curvy, organic body-types favor using ‘sandbox-section’ method, some work better by constructing simple geometric shapes in an ‘additive’ manner, like the Model-A. It is always useful to analyze the designer’s intent, usually by clearly seeing gestures and alignments in side and frontal views (elevations).

Drawing a ‘Boxy’ car – like a Model A

CEDR 162: Perspective Drawing at Emily Carr Continuing Studies, Weekends

CEDR 162: Perspective Drawing

This course is essential for artists, designers, illustrators and animators who wish to create convincing images of form, depth and space. Regardless of the form you work in, you will improve the impact of your work with an understanding of this powerful drawing technique. You will be guided through step-by-step exercises, moving from rough layout sketches to more carefully proportioned images of world architecture, vehicles and the human form.

https://www.connect.ecuad.ca/programs/courses/CEDR/162

SKETCH ORTHOS AND AXONOMETRIC

These freehand sketches are typical orthographics and axonometrics one might do during design.

July 16 2016, Arch Basics – In class discussion focused on the following:

July 16 2016, Arch Basics In class discussion focused on the following:

1 – CONCEPT – Restate your concept and check that it has influence on the ‘plan’, not just the exterior ‘look’ or style.

2 –EXTERIOR SPACES – Identify the potential for courtyards, entry points, outdoor seating and walkways resulting from the plan form, the hard and soft landscape.

3 – CIRCULATION – Trace over your block diagram and then draw the plan to scale 1:200. Identify the circulation patterns/elements within the building.

Each person should have their plan drawn up for next class to keep the schedule. If you can also work on the section it would be valuable. We need to develop these and try to draw a 3d view in the next class.