I’m learning with this drawing of Sheldon that conservation of values is harder than having a larger range of values at hand. With limitation comes subtlety.
The difference in value from Sheldon’s hair and his face is large and easy to see but when I begin to analyze his face and all it subtle changes in value I become confused easily. Also, due to the subtle differences in these limited values any stray stroke of the pencil shows up like a scar on his face.
The more I look at Franklin Booth and all the works of great artists using pen and ink I marvel at their focus and planning of a piece. Luckily I can erase this crosshatching easily.
The normal 15 minute warm-up in graphite.
The challenges continue with the 250 box challenge. I’m taking much more care with these drawings. Working hard to get the lines angled as best I can.
At this point my learning has changed from building my mental representation of form in space to judging lines and their angle to the most minute degree.
Structure before features, large masses before details, the big before the small. I must remember to use these words as a mantra while I draw portraits. But the lure of details and rendering seem to always pull me away from the foundations, which in this drawing are poorly represented and all my time spent on details is spoiled.
A quick sketch of my chair in my office / studio. Then a quick composition of my memory a man walking towards the grocery store in the rain.
Not only have I spent a lot of time on art today but I’ve also had many breaks between projects and my energy has been strong all day. Just like learning conservation of values, conservation of energy is even more important.
Structure before features, large masses before details, the big before the small.
Judging angles and placing lines exactly based on those judgements is possible the best skill to know when drawing boxes that have exact perspective.
