Candid shots from Bed and Bag Assignment

Week Three: Line Drawings

Week Two: Value Drawings of the Bags

Week Two Critique: Value Drawings of The Bed

Another great week of drawing from almost everyone in this class. This was a difficult week of drawing because of the still life and the style of drawing (value) and each one of you created work that was visually exciting and unique to one another. Bravo! 

Here are the images from the critique at the end of the second week.
 We begin Week Three which is focused on Line Art and all it's explorations. 

More to come.

Art Critique Freak Out: Real or Fake

This is so not the way to handle yourself (or your work) at a critique. Here is the actual video and then followed by an interview with the artist. Please note: This is clip is rated "M" for Mature Audiences. The Interview:

5 minute drawing

Value Drawings: Revisited

When creating a value drawing, you need to shift out of line-drawing mode, and the best way to do this is to forbid yourself to draw a line, and focus on areas of value. You might use the lightest of lines to get down the basic shapes. From there, build up the shading. Often the 'outline' will be at the join between two different values, and is created by the contrast between the light and dark area. Use the background to define foreground objects.Pay attention to drawing the shadows and background. Use them to provide contrast. A 'halo' of shading, like a vignette around the subject, is rarely successful. Leaving the background blank can work, but remember its okay to let an edge fade into the background - don't outline.

Don't use outlines.
The aim of realist value drawing is to show the light and shadow and surface tones, creating a three-dimensional illusion. Outlines only define visible edges and don't tell us anything about light and dark. Linear drawing and value drawing are two different 'systems' of representation. Mixing up the two can be confusing, if realistic drawing is your aim.

Value drawing is done best with pencil or charcoal. Soft or medium hardness charcoals work well for this. You will have to try different brands as I found early on that not all charcoals are equal. So, be choosy about your tools!
A line drawing is usually done on white paper with dark pencil or charcoal. A value drawing,on the other hand, often begins as a line drawing on toned paper with charcoal and white charcoal.
Some artists prefer to use white paper, which they then cover with powdered charcoal. You can then add lines and use a kneaded eraser to wipe out areas for light spots and highlights. Either way works.

Vija Clemins

American-born artist Vija Clemins is quite amazing at capturing the essence of his chosen subjects in art. He works from photographs and you can see why. As we study about value, line, texture and composition, his work always comes to mind.
Take a look at afterall.org for more information on his work.

http://www.afterall.org/onlinearchive.html?online_id=18

Jim Dine: Line/Value/Texture

If you have never heard of Jim Dine I'm certain you are familiar with some of his most more famous prints. I contend that his drawings are some of the best in the world. He is a living legend in art. Take time and research his work and life.
You won't be disappointed you did.