Drawing

What is drawing? Is it the movement of a pencil? I s it wet media or dry media? Is it right now in this time? Is it all things to every artist? When did it start? why? where?Why do we still practice it? When a baby is born they just mark. The cruel and unknowing call it scribbling. It is not. It is a way of controlling space. It is away of saying I am. It is a way of inter-acting with the world around it, the immediate world. It is communicating. Everything is new. Each mark, each line, each shape and if color is used, Whoa!!!!!

Drawing Vocabulary Chiaroscuro: An Italian word designating the relative contrast of dark and light in a drawing, painting or print. Artists use chiaroscuro to create spatial depth and volumetric forms through slight gradations in the intensity of light and shadow. Contour lines: The lines that define the edge between two shapes, whether negative or positive. Contrast: The difference between to unlike things, such as a dark color and a light color. Form: A three-dimensional object or, in an artwork, the representation of a three-dimensional object, defined by contour, height, depth, and width. Line: A mark on a surface, usually created by a pen, pencil, or brush. Lines vary in width, length, direction, color, and degree of curve, and can be two-dimensional or implied. Negative space: The empty space that surrounds and defines a form or shape in an artwork. Positive space: The space that a form or shape occupies in an artwork. Shading: A way of showing gradual changes in lightness or darkness in a drawing or painting. Shading helps make a picture look more threedimensional. Techniques include blending, stippling, hatching, and cross-hatching. Shape: A two-dimensional figure created by connecting actual or implied lines that enclose an area of space. A shape can be geometric (such as a circle or square) or organic (having an irregular outline). Value: The relative lightness or darkness of something. Value scale: A series of blocks showing the gradual increase of shading

Steps to making a GOOD drawing There are many ways to construct a good drawing. Composition is but one. Some just start. Some thumbnail and do studieswhile others carefully construct grids and use projectors. Basically it is a personal preference. The only person to answer to in the end is yourself.

Here is a step-by-step

1) Study what you are going to draw. Do thumbnails, establish light, a point of view or perspective. Then plan roughly your style of composition and do a modified contour drawing to get you started. Some thumbnail and do studies while others carefully construct grids and use projectors.  2) Add value in a loose ly hatched manner to establish the light and dark and tonal character of the drawing. 3) Now start drawing. Here you will establish your drawing style, expressive, loose, tight, controlling or super realistic abstract whatever suits your style.

4) The drawing is almost finished. Here you will add details or sharpen things up depending on your style or look.

5) Mount or matte the finished piece and hang it on the wall.

The Drawing Process Drawing Process a) study b) obtain an interesting point of view c) compose d) contour e) modified contour f) map values g) draw it


 * __ Drawing __ – line and shape **

Key concept – line and shape

Objective: SW a) learn to identify lines, characters and qualities  b) learn definiton of … c) formal and informal ways to draw lines through drawing exercises. d) ditto for shape e) learn that line defines shape.

Procedure: a) intro to line, intro to shape ,see web site Line, see web site shape b) descriptive words to describe lines c) see doodle project - organic and geometric doodles from the book "Drawing with Imagination"

*Project-Pen depth doodle drawing

**Key Concept: exploring line quality and character

Objective: Students will a) Doodle b) Show quality and characteristics of line d) Illustrate different levels shape by line tone (a quality)

Procedure: a) explore the concept of doodling – conscious and subconscious c) Pencil or pen first to start. b) Lines should overlap, interlock, move and suggest movement. c) they should exhibit tonal qualities, and characteristics from descriptive list. d) There is no starting over. Student must meet changes and flow with them. e) Fluidity is important to the drawing.

Materials; 9x12 paper white, black ink, pens w/ drawing nibs Artists: my examples, paul Klee. Mark Tobey, Pollock, other surrealist painters.

Assessment: a) tie into objectives b) use of line to determine space and depth (loose /open, tight/ close) c) use of pen