Life Drawing

Why do we do it?

Jeff Sauber jeff@jeffsauberdesign.com Online gallery: www.jeffsauberdesign.com

For the artistHuman figures are commonly the subject of paintings, drawings, and sculptures, so its important for an artist to have familiarity with the drawing the human form. the artist needs to see how the figure relates to light, gravity, and motion, & needs to know about human proportions, foreshortening, lighting and musculature. For everybody elseLife drawing still offers very unique & valuable things: it develops hand-eye coordination, strengthens powers of observation, increases mental focus, calmness, and its fun!

Materials
Today were using newsprint paper, and charcoal or drawing chalks. Newsprint is commonly used because its cheap, light & easy to get. Theres plenty of it in a pad, so you have a lot to experiment with, and you dont have to worry about paper anxiety. The downside is that it doesnt age very well. As you improve, you will want to move onto better paper. Different papers have different surfaces, and some drawing media work better with some papers than others. Things like charcoal and pastels work very agreeably on rough papers that hold the particles well. Graphite pencils and ink work well on smoother papers. Size is also a consideration. You might not want to use a fine pen to do a six foot tall drawing. Charcoal comes in different sizes & varieties. Vine charcoal is simply burned vines. It produces a very light line & is often used for drawing the rough guidelines that painters first put on their canvases. Compressed charcoal comes in many shapes & sizes, and hardnesses, and typically produces a strong, dense line line. Drawing chalks are usually made of pigment & clay. they come in many different hardnesses & colors. Pencils limit you to drawing with the point, and are great for tight accurate drawing, and small drawings, while chalks & charcoals allow you to use both the point or the edge.

Check Out These Artists

Vermeer, Paul Pierre Prudhon, Picasso, Rembrandt, Hokusai, Mucha, Rubens.

Some drawing techniques

Contour drawing (outline) uses the point to draw around the edges of a figure. This is often used in illustration. Volume drawing fills in the masses of the figure, and often the light & shadow. Shading is a way to fill in the volumes and shadows, and can be done with the edge or with the point (cross hatching). Some artists have very distinctive styles of shading (Ie: Alphonse Mucha)

Basic shapes
Two Dimensions: Circle, triangle, squareLook for these shapes in the structure of the figure (positive space), as well as in the spaces between the limbs, and the way the figure relates to the background (negative space). Three Dimensions: Sphere, cube, cylinder Where do you see these shapes in the figure? In order to show three dimensions (to give the illusion of 3D) you have to be able to depict light & shade. TIP: Direction of the light Pay attention to where the light is coming from. Is there a single source? Multiple sources? Where are the highlights on the figure? The shadows? Hotspots? How does the figure cast its shadow? Note that the areas closest to the light is brightest, and it gradually fades to the rear. (Illusion of three dimensions). Generally depth is indicated by darkness, but this isnt universal. In Chinese painting, its not unusual for deeper planes to be lighter than foreground images.

Anatomy
Even though many artists study anatomy for years, & some devote their entire lives to it, you dont have to know where all the bones & muscles are. Youll get a feel for what looks right pretty quickly, and a little study will help you to identify what you see.

Human Proportions
Sculptors & painters generally measure the body in heads (the height of the head). The traditional measure of a human figure is 6 1/2 heads high, but it varies from person to person, and large sculptures are often 7 or 8 heads high, to look more solid and massive. TIP: To help get the proportions, look for the bony landmarks where the bones come close to the skin. This occurs especially at the joints, like the wrists, elbows, knees, ankles, neck, and hips. The head is full of these bony landmarks. Artists generally fall into two schools of thought regarding anatomy: the Muscle guys, who view the figure in terms of muscle placement, and the Bones guys, who look at the positions of the bones.

The Model
Artists models are very hardworking & underpaid, and they are one of the pillars of the world of art. Without them, wed only have flowers and fruit to pose for us. Its not a sexual job. Always treat the models with the greatest respect. At most school, a model can have anyone ejected who makes them feel uncomfortable.

Meditation
There are many different schools of meditation, generally all kinds of meditation share a few elements: stilling the mind and the body by focussing on a single thing (even if the focus is on not focussing), and, usually, achieving a relaxed state with lower metabolic & brainwave activity. Zen meditation generally seeks to quiet the mind of internal dialog, Kundalini meditation & Chi Gung meditation focuses on energy centers and energy movement in the body. Religious meditations utilize visualizing religious scenes, or repeating religious themes like mantras. Shamanistic meditations often focus on an image of an animal or element of nature.

Where do I go next? All of the below offer walk-in classes for around $10. a pop, or less
The Art Students League www.theartstudentsleague.org/ 215 West 57th Street (between 7th Avenue and Broadway) New York, NY 10019 212.247.4510 M-F 5:006:30, Fridays from 6:459:30 Salmagundi Club www.salmagundi.org/ Forty-Seven Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10003 212-255-7740 Monday, 7:009:30, Thursday 6:3010:20 Society of Illustrators www.societyillustrators.org 128 East 63rd Street NYC 10021 Phone: 212-838-2560 Email: si1901@aol.com www.societyillustrators.org/exhibition_competition/sketch04.html Monday & Thursday Spring Street Studio www.newyorkartworld.com/things/things-springstudio.html 64 Spring Street (by the 6 train) 7 days a week 212-226-7240 springstudio@earthlink.net National Academy School of Fine Arts http://www.nationalacademy.org/ 1083 Fifth avenue New York City, NY 10128 Tel: (212) 996-1908 SVA Drawing Workshop www.schoolofvisualarts.edu 310 East 22nd Street, Room 202B New York City, NY 10003 Tel: (212) 592-2000 Fax: (212) 725-3587 Director: Peter Heinemann New York figurative Expressive Work lists classes & related info: http://www.nyfew.com/information/ateliers-figure-drawing/new-york-art-schools.html new york art world list alot of art related happenings and classes: http://www.newyorkartworld.com

Bibliography:
Look at any book that appeals to you. If you dont use open it, it wont do much good, no matter how good they say it is. How to Draw the Human Figure by Jos M. Parramn Watson Guptill The Human Figure by John Vanderpoel Dover Books The Human Machine by George Bridgeman Dover Books Art Students Anatomy by Edmond J. Farris Dover Books A Handbook of Anatomy for Art Students by Arthur Thompson Dover Books Drawing Human Anatomy by Giovanni Civardi Studio Vista Dynamic Figure Drawing by Burne Hogatrth Watson Guptill Albinus on Anatomy Dover Books The Artists Complete Guide to Figure Drawing by Anthony Ryder Watson Guptill Figure Drawing and Anatomy for the artist by John Raynes Bonanza Books

Shopping:
You can get books and art supplies at the following places Pearl Paints (Also on 23 st. by SVA) 308 Canal Street btwn Church St and Broadway Tel: 212-431-7932 or (800) 221-6845 Utrecht Art Supply (Various other locations) 111 4th Avenue btwn 11th and 12th St Tel: 212-777-5353 New York Central 62 3rd Ave, New York, 10003 Tel: 212-473-7705 Lee's Art Shop 220 W. 57th St. btwn 7th Ave and Broadway 247-0110 Sam Flax (Various other locations) 12 West 20th Street Tel: 212-620-3068 Empire Artists Materials 851 Lexington Avenue btwn 64th and 65th St Tel: 212-737-5002 Arthur Brown & Bro., Inc. 2 W. 46th St Tel: 212-575-5555 Blick Art Materials 1-5 Bond Street Phone: (212) 533-2444 Soho Art Materials 127 Grand St. (212) 431-3938 Colliseum Books (an excellent bookstore) 11 West 42nd Street Tel: 212-803-5892 Kremer Pigments Inc. (only raw pigments for the painter, but amazing to see!) 228 Elizabeth St. Tel: (800) 995-5501

exercises: 10 minutes posing for each other Scribbling Drawing basic shapes Contours & volumes/using different line qualities short poses. Looking for 2d shapes in the figure. Short loosening poses. 10s & 20s. Finding the light & shadow. 5 minute meditation