drawing checklist

remember how i'm teaching figure drawing for animation at byu this semester? i'm so glad i am, because man...it's a blast.

the main reason for this post is because it's sort of an appendage to the post that i wrote a while back. and honestly, i just don't feel like making a powerpoint for my students (powerpoints...gross). so all of you get to peek at what we're learning about today. it's basically pulling together what we've talked about in the class so far. yeah, process! 

construction // 

i start every drawing the same way, whether it be a 30 second drawing or a 3-hour drawing. literally. it goes sort of like this --

some famous artist said it first and more elegantly, but i let the pose determine how i begin drawing. sometimes it's an amazing gesture. sometimes it's the midline. sometimes it's a sweet shape. sometimes it's the emotion. whatever it is, i find that and start there. then this is a reeeeeally rough process of what comes next:

1 -"ghost in" the figure -- lightly compose it on the paper with broad, general marks (usually the widest side of the conté or drawing medium)
2 -gesture first: exaggerate the pose and essence of the model in its entirety. meaning, at least imply the main parts of everything: torso, head, arms, legs, hands, feet. you can loosly incorporate the shadows if you'd like, to help explain the shapes. or, you might want to put in lines for proportion, ie where the feet, knees, pelvis and shoulders are if it's a standing pose, getting the dynamic angles in there. 

3 -build on top of the gesture with basic shapes (often, i start with the torso, because that explains the rest of the pose as everything else is an appendage to that. but again, let the pose decide the way to begin)
4 -commit a few areas, meaning, make some areas clear with firm, decided marks to say "this is where this line is", and then let all the other marks you put down subsequently relate to that area.

hmm, these numbers don't exactly match up with the list but you get the idea, yeah?

now i'll let you in on a secret -- this is what constantly goes through my head as i continue into a more extended pose, whether it be 10 minutes or 3 hours.  

mental checklist //

-keep the gesture alive

-construction: is the structure still there? 

-constantly draw through the figure (or at least think through it, literally)

-establish darks and lights

-light is for detail, dark is for form

-establish a focal point

-SIMPLIFY: choose to see less

-keep eye and hand moving

-think in terms of explaining and interpreting

-merge dark shapes

-pay attention to negative space

-always think: big to small, general to specific. from the tool in hand to the shapes on the page 

-when applicable, grid and relate points to each other

-commit lines and points

-strengthen and clarify. always! 

-when time permits, walk away and come back with a fresh view

SO. if i start to "lose" my drawing (meaning it's going well then something happens and it starts to look weak or not as good), go back to the top of my mental check list and figure out where i "lost" it.

i have the top 5 of these (the ones that are most important to me, or the ones i forget most often) written on my drawing board, to help me remember. construction is always on there, because you just can't really move on from a poorly constructed form. that has to be in place first. before value, before cool swooshy energy lines, before anything else. another famous artist said this: "you must build the house before decorating it." 

sooo...capisce?

drawing principles // 

keep these things in mind as you draw as well, after you get a good grasp on structure and construction and the essentials. 

-general to specific

-make sure to get the whole figure on the page. don't sacrifice this! 

-straight vs. curve 

-push the design: our mind always tends to straighten things out when they're on paper. we have to compensate for this in our designs. if the model looks slightly bent, draw them more than slightly bent and our brain will interpret it correctly when it sees it on paper. 

* * *

thoughts on value //  value refers to the lightness vs the darkness in a drawing. this is often where students get excited, but ironically where their drawings go downhill.

as far as value goes, this is one of the best tips i can think of. i'll even let go of my stylistic writing choices and capitalize my letters for you like a big kid just for clarification's sake:

Light is for modeling (it’s where the information and rendering should be) and shadows should be flat. Thus, leave detail out of the dark. Instead, make the dark shapes pretty flat. This will also help you to think in shapes and planes. Again: Light = texture, detail, rendering, modeling, color (if applicable). Dark = shape-making, flat, low hues (color). Now, some artists have reversed the two. This is just the approach I've found to be most successful. Either way, pick one to have the most information: light or dark, and go with that.

The next part is super helpful, so tighten your thinking caps one just one time:

The separation of light and dark is important. The lightest areas of the shadow still shouldn’t be lighter than the darkest areas of the light. I know...it sounds confusing, but it’s honestly one of the best concepts to grasp with value. If it’s not like this, it’ll look over-modeled, which is no good.

a quiver of tools // 

now let me be clear: the implementation of value does NOT make a good figure drawing. there are absolutely gorgeous figure drawings made solely of line! however, if you can learn to use value properly, it's another tool to add to your toolbox and you can pull it out when needed. there are times you might not even want to use value.

think about it: if your model is 90% in shadow (you likely came late to class and got the shadow side of the room), you might opt to just do a really great line drawing. but it will need excellent construction and a knowledge of anatomy. but to make it look superb, that's where the line quality tool comes in. that's why everything is built on top of everything else. you need to know the basics to understand what you're doing (and no artist can skip these, no matter how good he is), but the quality of the drawing is shown by incorporating the awesomes.

b a s i c s :

gesture

proportion

construction

shape making

a w e s o m e s :

line quality

value

force

exaggeration

composition

Our drawing surface will likely remain our best and most objective teacher.

~Ted Seth Jacobs

until next time, young padawans.....also, questions? leave a comment!