Long Pose Tiffany

I went to Glen's double Tuesday night class last night at California Art Institute. It's a good class. I would go all the time if I wasn't working. I felt a little lost with the Long Pose. Here is Glen's overlay on my long pose.
Here is my long pose. Not much gesture. Too dark. No rhythm.

Head Drawing

Went to Glen's Class last night at California Art Institute. Here is his overlay of my drawing of Tiffany.
Here is my drawing. Not as good as the ones I have been doing in Mark's Class. Still very wooden. Having problems making expressive marks.

Think as if you were both Bernini and Sargeant - Head Drawing - Class 9 and 10

Week 9

Glen talked about drawing the pretty girl tonight. He said in drawing the prtty girl you need to suggest construction but leave things out. Leyendecker and Cornwell stress the masculine but when you are drawing a pretty girl you can put too much in. You can't render everything if you are going to make a successful pretty girl.

I liked a book he brought in called "Faces and Features" by Fritz Willis. He also suggested the 1954 - Famous Artist Course hat has a section on drawing the pretty girl.

- Don't make too many bumps
- Design the shape tht shows off the sculpture
- Pull out a mirror and look at your drawing backwards
- Stand back and look at your drawing from a distance
- Think decorative everything is a design challenge
- Make everything in the light too light and everything in the dark too dark.
- Don't overplay it, sneak up on things you are trying t suggest,
- Push 2D shapes to suggest 3D sculpture
- Keep shadows less rendered in the interior
- Group things and then look at the secondary pattern inside
- Don't try to render each area try to design each area
- Render shapes so they are not too broken
- Look for ideal form

This is Glen's correction of my drawing of Malo.


I see here on my drawing how the bottom of the face doesn't really line up with the top of the face on the model's left face. There is some integrity missing.

Glenn liked this quick sketch a lot but I couldn't bring back what I found in this in put it in any of the other quick sketches.

Week 1o
Glen's notes:

- Organize lights and darks

- practice Loomis heads and planes of the head

- think of what the model would look like if they were carved out of stone

- Construction is first calligraphy is second

- Keep drawing inside the shadow to a minimum

- Form Shadow is not the same as Cast Shadow

- Think as if you were Bernini and Sargeant

- Ask yourself if the form is 3d enough

- Ask yourself if your calligraphy needs more attention

- Look for variety so you don't have the same line weight everywhere

This is my drawing of Kwante. Glenn said I had too many curves and not enough straights. I tried to correct it. This semester I haven't done very well in Head Drawing I feel like I need a break. I am disappointed in my lack of progress. But I guess the semester was pretty weird. I missed 2 classes early on. Glen missed 2 classes with all the illness in his family and getting better is not linear. I just have to keep working on it.


This is Glen's correction of my drawing.

Head Drawing - "You are all trying to get better but what does better mean?"

This is my week's head drawing. Glen says I need to work on making the eyes 3d.


Here's Glen's overlay.

Glen's Lecture:

Leyendecker used models but he made his paintings from his sketches. It took him a decade of drawing and painting to come up with the style he is known for. Rockwell was trying to be Leyendecker. Glenn thinks you need a hero that you can practice from so you can get the pieces under control.

Remember spacing and placing.

Squint and Edit the shape

Try Spacing and Placing as if you were sculpting.

Adjusting to make sculpture clear.

Don't overdescribe things in the shadows.

Get the pieces under control.

If it is too messy or confusing fix it.

You should be able to fix it. You are not trying to get this drawing right you are trying to get your abilities right.

If the dark shapes are hard to figure out go into the light shapes.

Try to make nice brushwork, boxwork and tiles.

Get a god underpainting and then try to make each area a gem.

Mileage lets us get ther in three stokes instead of 5. Squeeze a little more sculpture out of each shape. If you are not really sure of an area really squint at it.

Re-establish the poster.

What does a camera see vs. what we know is there.

Incidental shapes have to be second.

Try to do enough construction so you can work on design.

What does eye, nose, mouth look loke and how ti make it cool and idealized.

Lean on sculpture in the student phases.

SHAPE - VALUE

Goal is the craft of your draftsmanshhip/

Try to manipulate the light and dark.

It's o.k. to draw from photographs. Fred Fixler was always pushing Bernin. How to contrl the shapes so we don't mak a mess. Sargeant is about how the paint looks.

The trick is you are all trying to get better but what does better mean

Head Drawing - "Your job is to satisfy the illusion of touch"

This is my Saturday Night Head Drawing. I am frustrated because I can't find the time to practice. My Communication Sketch class seems to take all my time.

This is Glen's correction on my drawing.

Glenn's Lecture:

- look for places to check your math

- hone the design and hone the design and then it's done

- there is the half one going to the dark and the half tone going to the light

- think about light gray and dark gray

- Fill in darks so light puzzles are the star

- Get the big poster established to see what's working and give attention

- Look for rhythms and parrallels to help you design it

- Get your tone under control so you can see where you want to spend your time

- Get your paint (the charcoal) under control

- Watch out for getting to black

- If you are not sure about an area - knock it down

- Look for the crappy xerox

- Think about construction and paint

- Think 1) Sculptural 2) Paint - 2D/Light Dark

- Figure out your weaknesses and work on them

- Watch your drawing and figure out what's going on

- Copy Loomis

- Figure out what it looks like

- 1st figure out where to put everything

- Do a great underpainting by filling in your light and darks and keep it simple

- Don't punch black in nostrils

Recommended Books

- The Figure: An Artist's approach to Drawing and Construction

- An Approach to Figure painting for the Beginner (Howard K. Fosters)

Harold Speed said - "Your job is to satisfy the illusion of touch"

SPACING AND PLACING

Head Drawing

Glen came back to teach this week.
This is his rework of my drawing.

This is my drawing.

Glen's Notes:

- Look for the crappy xerox when drawing

- Think about both construction and paint

- Think 3d (sculptural) and 2d (paint and light and dark)

- Figure out what your weakness is and work on it

- Watch your drawing and figure out what's going on

- copy Loomis

- Figure out what it looks like

- Figure out where to put everything

- Fill in your darks, Fill in your lights

- Keep it simple

- When drawing an attractive girl be minimal with the shapes

- Don't punch blacks in the nostrils

Recommended Books

The Figure: An Artist's Approach to Drawing and Construction

An Approach to Figure Painting for the Beginner: Howard K. Forbers

Class 5 - Head Drawing

Glen missed the last 2 classes and I missed the two classes before that so I haven't seen him in awhile. Mark has been substituting. I realize I need to work on my style of mark. My mark making is really boring - mainly straights. I have such hard time sharpening my charcoal to the way Glen and a lot of the west coast teachers waant you to. I have got to figure that out. I also am mad at myself that I haven't practice my heads. I am going to go to uninstructed once a week for the rest of head drawing class and practice. I am also promising myself to practice with the Vanderpoel book and the head book by Loomis. I am sick of not progressing and not putting the time in that I need to.

Head Drawing - Saturday

Glen wasn't at class this week. I had missed the last 2 weeks because of working on the MTV job. Surprisingly enough I felt my gestures turned out ok. I worked on copying from Loomis this week.
I wasn't too happy with this long pose. The shadow doesn't seem to be working on her neck and I had a lot of trouble with the features.

Head Drawing

This is Glen Orbik's correction of my head drawing.
This is my head drawing.

This is my head drawing from the long pose workshop at the drawing club.

Last Head Drawings

These are the drawings I did the last two weeks in Glen's Class. I have signed up to take it again. I think I will take it four times and then make an assessment about what else I want to do. Glen is so positive and is filled with so much information that I feel like I could learn so much from him. My main problem is I don't practice enough and that I am so tired in the class. The first five weeks of the class I felt like I couldn't even hold my arm up to the paper because I was working right up to class time on Saturday and then after class was over on Saturday night. But in the end I know it was worth it because I keep drawing.

I went out grocery shopping today and it was misty and gray and so beautiful. I felt like I wish i could capture this. I wish I could paint this or draw this. So I will continue in my journey and I hope in the new year I wont be quite so tired,

This is Glenn's correction of my drawing.


This is my drawing with out corrections.


This is my last drawing which I am really pleased with. I can't believe that it came out of me.

Head Drawing

Felt good about this head drawing I did last night. I fell asleep right before I was supposed to leave for class so I missed the five 5 minute poses and the lesson but I got there in time for the demo and the long pose.

Head Drawing

Glen was sick and Mark Schwartz was our head drawing teacher. I liked him a lot. Here are his corrections of my drawing. Here is my drawing.

Head Drawing

I keep chugging a long with Glenn even though I've been super tired. Here's last Saturday night's work. I think I am getting better.

Head Drawing - Glen Orbik

I haven't posted for a long time. I have been out of my mind busy. I have been trying to go to head drawing though. I got there 2 weeks in a row. Here is some of what I did.

(5) 5 minute poses

Long Pose (Glen's version on top of my drawing)

My drawing before Glen's corrections

Last week's long pose. Glenn didn't get a chance to make his corrections.

Class 9 and 10 - Head Drawing

This is my week 10 Head Drawing the last one of a great class I wish I was able to do more homework. I will take it again and do all the suggested homework.

This is my week 9 head drawing:

This is Glen's correction on my head drawing

Head Drawing w/ Glen Orbik

This is the last 2 weeks of head drawing class.
I often get profiles because I don't get there earlier enough for the best seat. But I'm getting use to it now. Glen didn't get a chance to correct this drawing.

This is Glen's correction of my head drawing. Another profile.

Here is my drawing. I feel pretty good about it. I don't have as elegant line work as Glen but I feel like I am getting somewhere. I will take the class again and do more homework.

Head Drawing

Glen Orbik's trace overlay on my drawing:

My head drawing from last night. I think I'm getting better.

Head Drawing - Class 4

Here's my long pose from Glen Orbik's Saturday Evening head drawing class. I started off badly but Glen helped me. I don't seem to know where to place the features. I tend to want to flatten everything out and not position the eye rught on the lips.

Here's Glen's correction when I had been drawing about 10 minutes.

I love Glen's class I need to spend time practicing. He wants us to copy from Loomis, the Gibson girl book and Vanderpoel. He also wants us to do planes of the head exercises. I'm going to do something this week!! I've been so busy with my million classes.

Glen Orbik - Class 3

I feel like this drawing got a little better than last week.

Head Drawing

Went to head drawing last night 5 to 8pm at 3 Kicks Studio with Glen Orbik. This was my second class. I realize I really need to work on this a lot. I don't remember my proportions on anything very well even though over the years I have taken head drawing at Otis, with Mark Westermoe and also at the union with Karl Gnass but it was been over a 10 year span and not that consistent. I think I will have to take this class three or 4 times to figure out what I am doing.

This is the long pose I worked on. The nose is weird and also the mouth. I feel like I may have too much forehead too but I am not sure right now. I need to go through the Loomis book and copy drawings. I am going to look at the Glenn Villpu dvds I have on the head as will as the Bob Kato ones from Gnomon.
This is the tracing paper overlay that Glen Orbik did over my drawing. You can see how good he is. Mark Westermoe used to put the tracing paper overlays over our drawings and fix them too. I think it is a method that they must have learned from Fred Fixler who the both studied under at the California Art Institute.

This is a basic lay in the Glen helped me with. He is great in the class he gives you lots of attention.

This is a 5 minute drawing I did. I tend to be really heavy handed with the charcoal. I need to do some pressure exercises.

This is another 5 minute drawing. I need to work on these and go somewhere and draw this week but I also have Cathy's class so maybe when her class is over and I will just concentrate on watching the dvds and copying from Loomis and doing the head mapping

This is a quick sketch will the model was on break.

Class Notes:

Keep everything light.

First get the big shape, brow, center line, base of the nose. deep eye set, shape of the nose and then keep it light.

Map out the planes of the head. Put in relationships.

1st phase - Figure out where everything goes

2nd phase - Figure out dark and light shapes (think of it as a crappy xerox)

The drawing is supposed to be what you see when you squint.

Get rid of construction lines

The eye lashes and eyes are part of the same dark shape/

Relate everything.

Posterize light and dark in the hair. And use a big stroke in the hair as a suggestion of texture. The last thing is the extreme darks (or Glen says dipping into the black paint).

Either you are blocking in or honing in. Don't outline features outline the light.

Squint your eyes until you see a shape or a puzzle piece.