Learning to Draw By Barbara Smith June 9, 2001

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Learning to DrawBy Barbara SmithJune 9, 2001

• The Acquisition of Perceptual Skills for Drawing
  

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Basic Perceptual Skills Requiredfor Drawing With
Accuracy

• the perception of edges
• the perception of spaces
• the perception of relationships
• the perception of lights and shadows
• the perception of the whole, or gestalt

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Learning how to see edges and contours

• Pure Contour Drawing
• Using senses of sight and touch
• Focus on drawing only what you see (right brain
  mode) NOT what you THINK you see (left brain
  mode)
• Resist the urge to look at drawing until finished

• Modified Contour Drawing
• As the eyes move slowly along the contour, your
  pencil draws the contour on the paper at the same
  slow speed
• You are allowed to only glance at intervals to
  monitor line direction, proportion, etc.

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Contour Drawing Examples

• STUDENT EXAMPLES
• Pure Contour Drawing of Shoe
• Modified Contour Drawing of a Shoe

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Perceiving the Shape of a Space

• Key components of a composition are positive
  shapes (the objects),negative spaces (empty
  areas), and the format (the area the artist is
  working on)

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The Perception of Sighting Relationships

• Perceiving relationships is a two-part skill
• Sighting the relationships of angles to vertical
  and horizontal
• Sighting the size relationships (proportions) of
  things relative to each other

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The Perception of Lights and Shadows (Light Logic)

• Light falls on objects and (logically) results in
  the four aspects of light/shadow
• Highlight the brightest light, where light from
  the source falls most directly on the object.
• Cast shadow the darkest shadow, caused by the
  objects blocking of light from the source.
• Reflected light a dim light, bounced back onto
  the object by light falling on surfaces around
  the object.
• Crest shadow a shadow that lies on the crest of
  a rounded form, between the highlight and the
  reflected light.

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Light falling on forms creates lights and shadows
in a logical way

• Four aspects of Light Logic
• Highlights Cheeks,forehead, etc.
• Cast Shadows Cast by the nose, lips, hands.
• Reflected lights Side of the nose, side of the
  cheek.
• Crest Shadows Crest of the nose, crest of the
  cheek, temple.

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The Perception of the Whole, or Gestalt

• Gestalt is the putting together of separate
  components acquired in the skill of seeing
• Proof of acquired skills is verified in final
  drawing

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Drawing Tips

• Use the bypassing technique for things hard to
  draw shift to the next adjacent shape or space
  and draw that next
• Use a view-finder to bound the composition into
  the formatyou will be able to see the negative
  spaces as shapes
• Always check to see where the area you are
  drawing is in relation to the top or bottom of
  your paper.

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Credits for information and illustrations used in
this presentation

• Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, by Betty
  Edwards
• Slide 4, p.94 Student art by Wei Lin and Nghia
  Ngo
• Slide 5, p. 104 Fig.7-11, 7-12
• Slide 6, Edgar Degas,
• Slide 8, p. 183- Fig. 10-2, Henry Fuseli,
  Portrait of the Artist
• Slide 9, p.189-Fig. 10-5,Alphonse Legros, Head
  of a Man
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