Learning to See

What is Drawing?  Drawing is the processes of communicating an image through marks on a two- dimensional surface.  Drawings can be created through a variety of medias. How many can you name?  Drawings can be create on a variety of medias. Again, how many can you name?

The History of Drawing  Drawing dates back to prehistoric time periods as seen on cave walls in Lascaux, France. What media do you think the artist used to create this drawing?

History Con’t.  During the Medieval period, Monks were inscribing manuscripts with Illuminations, or Illustrations. These “Illumiated Manuscripts” were often very elaborate. Book of hours, Valencia, 1450s The monks did not draw on paper. What popular surface do you think they used?

History Con’t  Paper became more widely available from the 14 th Century onwards. One (of many) popular draftsmen was Leonardo DaVinci. DaVinci kept numerous sketches, including those of human anatomy. What purpose do you think his sketches served?

Drawing Today  Artist today use a variety of methods to draw, some traditional, some not. Picasso, Drawing with light Fumi Mini Nakamura, The Youth of Mydterious Conversations, Graphite and Colored pencil

Line  Almost all drawings start with Line.  A line is long thin continuous mark. Or as artist Paul Klee put it “A line is a dot that took a walk.”  There are several different types of line: Implied, Descriptive, and Expressive Paul Klee, Blue Coat, 1940

Learning to see  Ok, so how does an artist get from the 3D real-life object he’s looking at, to the 2D drawing of lines on his paper?  Artists have to learn to see lines created in the world around us. These lines are called Implied lines because they’re not actually drawn.  Implied lines are seen because of changes in color, texture, or value.

Where are the implied lines?

 Here is the previous image with outlines everywhere there is an implied line.  Outlines are descriptive lines that DO NOT vary in thickness.  Outlines simply communicate the idea or image the artist has intended for the viewer.

Contour Lines  Now, here is the same image in Contour Lines.  What is the difference between these lines and outlines?

Original OutlinesContour lines What do the Contour Lines do for the interest of the drawing?

Contour Line Drawing  Your first assignment is going to be to create an accurate, pencil, Contour Line, drawing of the still life.  You should be looking at the still life about 85% of the time (and conversely, your paper about 15%)  When you look at your paper, your pencil should stop moving. All the information you need for your drawing is in front of you!  Think about COMPOSITION – How does your work fill the paper?

Examples of Contour line drawings Chris Jagers

So what do you need to do?  Draw lightly to start – Plan your composition first !  Work from the general to the specific.  NO SHADING! Just contour line, as clean as you can.  Focus on what’s in front of you; don’t rely on the idea/symbols of objects in your head.