Values and Reflected Light

In order to imply form accurately, you need to draw the values you see instead of drawing what you think should be there. Place an egg on your kitchen counter and set up a light source. What are the darkest shadows? What is the lightest highlight? You should notice that in the center of the eggs shadow it seems lighter (much like the illustration below) this is called “reflected light”. This is caused by light shining on your counter and bouncing back into the shadow area. Although reflected light might seem very bright, it only appears so because of the contrast of the dark shadow surrounding it. Reflected light will never be as light as the light part! Paying attention to all these subtle details you see in the value changes is what will bring realism to your drawing. Try drawing the egg on your counter; use pencil and go nice and slow to avoid a scribbled look. Do not ever smudge to fade values- only the gradual lifting of your pencil.

Contour Assignment

Contour is a line drawing that uses only line to describe form. In a contour drawing there is no chicken scratch or value, only line. For this assignment I would like to take this a step further. If you look at the artwork created by Irene Maria Jacobs you will notice that she has lots of nice line detail in the artwork. She has also moved past a traditional contour drawing and has created two focal points of color. Notice how realistically rendered the face and the apple are compared to the flat line drawing - this makes a nice juxtaposition. If colored pencil is not your thing check out one of my colored pencil books to practice ahead of time- please use a felt tip pen to create the contour. when you set up your drawing for this project please keep in mind that you must use an original subject and work from observation (Jacobs made up the hair but no doubt worked from observation for the face).

Gesture Drawing

Gesture drawing is a great way to start drawing the figure from observation. With gesture drawing there is no pressure to make a masterpiece so mistakes are okay! If you are someone who tries to make things too perfect I recommend practicing on note cards- somehow creating your drawing on a scrap of paper that will be thrown away helps take the pressure off and allow you to loosen up. I have embedded a youtube video that demonstrates gesture drawing. When you work there is really no substitute for drawing from a live person; however, if there is no one available try the website http://www.posemaniacs.com/ where you can choose from many different anatomical models in a variety of poses. Keep in mind the more you practice the better you will get at capturing a likeness from observation.

Welcome

Hi Future AP'ers! Next year is going to be a lot of hard work so this blog is intended to get you ready. Here I will post possible assignments you can work on ahead of time (which will make for more time to create quality work next year), as well as tutorials, pointers and more to be sure that everyone is on equal footing when we start the class your senior year.