WIRE PORTRAITS (SKETCHBOOK #3)

Looking at and gaining inspiration from the wire portraits of Alexander Calder (pictured below), experiment with the way wire moves, bends and twists.

SKETCHBOOK #3: Wire Self-Portrait

Working with wire will be similar to drawing with CONTINUOUS LINES, so to get back into that mindset, draw yourself in your sketchbook as if you were drawing a BLIND-CONTINUOUS-LINE portrait (looking at yourself in a mirror, and drawing what you see WITHOUT lifting your pencil off the paper), only this time you can look. 

Once your drawing is complete, you may get a piece of wire and a set of pliers. Manipulate the wire piece so that it forms your portrait, experimenting with the tools, and how twisting or wrapping the wire helps secure the wire in place.

Answer the following questions once your wire portrait is complete:

1. Explain how you approached working with wire (what did you do first, or how did you get started?).
2. What challenges did you face and what did you do to work through them?
3. Did the tools help? Why or why not?

PERSPECTIVE & PROPORTION (SKETCHBOOK #2)

As in other content areas, words in art might be similar to those you've heard outside the art room. SOMETIMES they mean just about the same thing, but other times, they relate to art-specific concepts or technique. PERSPECTIVE is one of the words that is similar, but definitely has it's own art-specific definition:

Perspective: Art technique allowing for 3-dimensional space to be depicted on a 2-dimensional surface (Having to do with the angle from which an object or space is viewed and depicted).

From Below

From Straight On

From Above

PROPORTION as a word is a little more universal across contents:

 

Proportion: The comparative relationship between pieces and parts of a whole.

IN PROPORTION:

 Proper relation between the pieces and parts - "his nose is just the right size compared to the rest of his facial features."

OUT OF PROPORTION:

Improper relation between the pieces and parts - "his nose is BIG compared to the rest of hie facial features."

Leonardo Da Vinci
Vitruvian Man
1490

BASIC Proportion RULES (things to consider when beginning to draw/paint a person ... there are ALWAYS exceptions and slight variances)

FULL BODY

• Hieght = 8 heads stacked top to bottom
• Height = Arm Span
• Shoulder Width = 3 Head Widths
• Forearm = Foot Length

FACE

• Eyes are located, horizontally, in the center of the head
• Eye Width = space between the eyes
• Eye Width = Nose Width
• Top of ears align with the outer edge of the eyebrows
• Bottom of earlobes align with the corners of the mouth

SKETCHBOOK #2: Sketching Perspective 

Find an object to sketch, position it on a flat surface - DO NOT move the object after placed - and then sketch it from the three perspectives pictured above (From Below, From Straight On and From Above).

Specifically THINK about and NOTICE how the lines, shapes and values change as you change your perspective ... do you see something from one perspective that you couldn't from another?

SKETCHING: the process (SKETCHBOOK #1)

SEEING (with your eyes)  +  THINKING (with your brain)  +  DOING (with your hands)

This process requires you to use many different muscles that need exercising in order to work as one. Consistently practicing and using these muscles together will strengthen their connection, and therefore improve your ability to draw/paint the things you see and imagine.

BLIND-CONTINUOUS-LINE DRAWINGS: A drawing exercise that works to strengthen the connection between the eyes, brain and hands.

• Requires your full attention to be on the object you're drawing/painting
• NO peaking at the paper you're drawing on
• Your drawing/painting utensil does not leave the paper

Miranda
Self
2010
Sharpie, Watercolor

The goal here is to draw WHAT you see WHEN you see it.

1. Choose an object.
2. Choose a starting point on the object and position your drawing utensil on your paper/surface.
3. SLOWLY begin tracing your eyes along the contours of your object, making sure to see the details as you go - at the same time, draw how your eyes are moving and what they're seeing.
4. IF you loose focus or get overwhelmed, pause, re-position your drawing/painting utensil if necessary, and slowly begin again.

Your expected outcome should not be that you have perfectly drawn your chosen object when you finally look at your paper! What you will have will likely be a disjointed, skewed, abstract version of the object you were drawing/painting.

Amy Berlin
Self-Portrait
2011
Sharpie

Paul Klee
The Mocker Mocked
1930
Oil on Canvas

SKETCHBOOK #1: Blind-Continuous-Line Drawings

In your sketchbook, complete a BCL Drawing of each of the following  

(spend at least 5 minutes on each):

• Crumpled paper
• 1hand
• One OTHER person
• YOURSELF