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Feb 7, 2010 Special Bulletins
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Recent Entries
Feb 4, 2010 Drawing
From time to time I get e-mails from viewers asking for help or advice on certain topics. It occurred to me that other people might be wondering about these things as well. The folowing letter came from someone torn about whether or not to use a grid:
Hi. I was just wondering about using a grid.
What do you think about it?
I mean, for me I think it’s kinda cheating. I’ts a great way to help yourself so you can see were you should put everything but it feels like cheating.
Do you think it’s okay to use grids everytime you are doing a portrait?
And here was my response:
This is a great question, and one that I have also struggled with. You will always find people with different opinions when it comes to using a grid. Some people feel that it’s “cheating” and that it’s not art. Then again, some people believe that simply recreatinga photo (realism) is not art. Everyone has a different idea and at the end of the day, you will have to decide what you’re comfortable with.
Personally, I don’t have a problem with using a grid. I see it as another tool available to the artist, and why shouldn’t we use all the tools at our disposal?
One of the reasons I use it is time. I could draw a portrait without a grid, but it would take more time. When I’m doing commissions, I have to consider the amount of time it’s going to take versus the amount a person will be willing to pay. Anything that can help cut down on time is good!
Another reason why I don’t have a problem with a grid is that it still requires an “artistic eye.” Making a grid doesn’t guarantee a successful, or even a realistic drawing. The artist still needs to edit, make changes and measure relationships. When we draw, we look at how the different parts of the subject relate to eachother. When we use a grid, we are simply adding another element to measure those relationships.
You’re right, a grid can really help you to see where things should go. It’s a great tool for learning, but as you say, it may not be the best method every time. It’s really up to you whether or not you want to use it. Personally, if a recognizable likeness is your main goal, then I would not shy at using a grid!
What are your thoughts on using a grid? Cheating? Tool? Something else?
Feb 2, 2010 Art General
I love a groovy dance tune as much as the next girl, but I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve never been a huge fan of techno music.
Last night I was doing some painting. Vince was watching wrestling in the next room, so I plugged into my iPod to drown on the angry sounds of men yelling at eachother. By chance, Daft Punk’s Harder Better Faster Stronger came on. I don’t even know how it got on there; to be honest, it’s usually a song I skip past.
But for some reason, the heavy beat resonated with me and I listened to it all the way through. Then again. And again.
I never put songs on repeat!
As I listened, I started to pay attention to the lyrics, and realized how relevant they are to the life of the artist. Consider this:
Work It Harder Make It Better
Do It Faster, Makes Us stronger
More Than Ever Hour After
Our Work Is Never Over
Sound familiar?
As artists, we’re constantly pushing ourselves to the next level.
I’m slowly beginning to realize that success as an artist doesn’t just happen. It’s the result of tireless work both inside and outside the studio. We need to be disciplined and structured in our approach to our art and business.
Go download this song and let me know what you think! The rhythm is awesome to paint to and the repetetive words are like a mantra every artist should live by!
Jan 31, 2010 Drawing, Tutorials
Everyone knows that the eyes are what can make or break the likeness of a portrait. What you may not realize is that teeth are almost as important! Like the eyes, everyone’s teeth are unique. It’s not enough to slap a few big chiclets into someone’s mouth and call them teeth, you need to study your reference to get just the right shape and size! This tutorial will show you how I approach drawing teeth and give you some general pointers.
Here is our reference photo, set up and gridded in Corel Draw.
First, start with your 2H pencil and draw your grid lines. Then, following your reference, draw the shapes that you see. Draw the contours of the lips and the teeth, but also draw the major shadows and highlights that you can see.
When drawing the teeth, pay close attention to the corners and edges. How flat are they at the bottom? How rounded are the corners? How much gum do we see? Notice how we see all of the front teeth, and as we get to the corners of the mouth we see less and less of each tooth. It might seem stupid, but make sure you get the right number of teeth!
Also, remember that the center of the lips may not necessarily line up with the center of the top teeth, and the center of the top teeth may not line up with the center of the bottoms.
Erase your grid lines then, still with your 2H, shade in the values that you see. Shade in everything but the highlights, layering the graphite to get the shadows. Don’t press hard or you will indent the paper! Blend with your tortillon.
Now grab your 2B and begin shading in the midtones. Here I’ve shaded the lips, the creases beside the mouth and the shadows on the teeth. Careful to avoid your highlights! Notice how the only definition of the lips is a slight difference in value at the edges. In the center of the upper lip, there is almost no definition because of a sort-of diffused highlight. We’ll add that later. Be careful that you don’t shade too heavliy between the teeth. This line is often not as dark or as regular as you think it is. Keep it soft. Blend.
With your 2B, shade in the darkest shadows. These include the corners of the mouth, the shadows under the teeth, and the shadow cast by the upper lip.Remember that the edge of the upper lip isn’t a solid, heavy line. Look at the reference and notice how it is darker in some areas than others. Blend out your shading.
Lastly, you can use your kneaded eraser to pick out the highlights. Because the teeth are wet, the highlights will have a sharper edge. I used my tortillon to draw a very light line around the highlights on the teeth to create that edge. Don’t forget the highlights that you can see on the gums, as well as the faint one on the upper lip.
Be sure to check out my other portrait drawing tutorials!
Jan 28, 2010 Art General, Creativity
A common misconception about artists is that they can see things in their minds. They can envision colour combinations and imagine the way different patterns and textures go together. While this is true to some extent, we shouldn’t always make creative decisions based on these visions. As artists, we are visual and it’s essential for us to see.
As a teenager, I did a lot of sewing. The most difficult part of that process for me was choosing the fabrics. I would be overwhelmed by the choices and, to my poor mother’s frustration, would have no idea about what colours and patterns would work with each other. I relied mostly on her judgement for this, and it wasn’t until my garment was finished that I was able to see that she had been right.
People seem to think it’s really strange that an artist can’t tell what colours and patterns should go together, but without actually seeing them in a composition, it’s impossible to know how they will relate to each other.
This is the reason that many artists do thumbnail studies. It allows them to see several different compositions before choosing the one that is right. Some artists even do colour studies before starting on a painting to work out the best colour combinations. How many times have you gotten deep into an artwork and realized, “that yellow is the wrong yellow.”
And that’s not a bad thing! A big part of the artistic process is identifying and fixing problems, which is where today’s advice comes in: if you think it, do it
Sometimes, as the artist, we become so attached to a piece that we are afraid to change it. The artwork becomes precious to us and this limits our creativity to the point where we avoid anything that we think might “ruin” it.
Have you ever finished a piece and had a niggling thought in the back of your mind that something should be different? That an area needs to be darker or lighter, that there should be a splodge of blue somewhere? A thought that just won’t go away no matter how many times you tell yourself the piece is done?
I think we all have! The question is: do you act on these persistent urges?
If you don’t, you could be missing out on something new and exciting.
When you have a thought that just won’t leave you alone, when you get that urge to do something dramatically different, act on it. Don’t worry about ruining your piece. You need to have the confidence that if you’ve done something once, you can do it again. If whatever change you make detract from your work, you need to know that you will be able to fix it.
Don’t rely on your imagination to make aesthetic decisions. You need to do it, see it, and evaluate it.
If you’re really and truly concerned about making any permanent changes to something, consider using an alternative method. With the painting above, it started out as all reds and pinks. I had this thought that it might look more interesting with some bits of blue peeking through. Instead painting over my piece, I painted blue on some paper, then glued it in different places on the painting. This allowed me to find the places where the blue would be most effective.
Also consider using digital means. With a program like Photoshop, or Corel Draw, or Gimp, you can edit and make changes on the computer without affecting your finished piece. This lets you change colours, change composition, change whatever.
The bottom line is this: don’t ignore those persistent ideas in the back of your mind. Run with it and see what happens because it could be the thing that sparks a whole new series of work. If you always do the same old, you’ll always do the same old! Art is about change and growth, so don’t hold yourself back. If you think it, do it!
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