Drawing Face and Figure Workshop

 

Last Sunday I took a drawing face and figure workshop as I have always wanted to be able to draw the human form. The workshop was put on by Tony O’Regan at The Shadbolt Centre for the Arts in Burnaby.

The class was fantastic! Easy to follow with a lot of information on proportions and formula for drawing the face. Muscle structure plays so much of a role in the details of the face that we went over all the major structures and muscles for a better understanding of what we were drawing.

The figures were a blast as well. Emphasis was on body gesture more than full detailed antomy. It made it so much easier to understand the human form doing it this way. Once I am more comfortable drawing gestures I’ll move on to more of the human form.

Here are some of the results from the class.

 

 

 

SIMON SCHAMA’S POWER OF ART

Over the last few weeks (as of June 18th) I have been watching Simon Schama’s Power of Art on PBS HD.

The BBC website has a more informative site on the series. Catch it here.

The series covers eight artists in total.

• Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) and Wheatfield With Crows,
• Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) and Guernica,
• Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610) and David With the Head of Goliath,
• Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) and The Ecstasy of St. Theresa,
• Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) and The Conspiracy of the Batavians Under Claudius Civilis,
• Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825) and The Death of Marat,
• J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851) and Slave Ship (Slavers Throwing Overboard the Dead and Dying, Typhoon Coming On),
• Mark Rothko (1903-1970) and the Seagram murals.*

Instead of me going on about the series it is best you read it directly from the BBC site. I cannot explain it any better.

However, my review of the series is all positive. Somehow Simon gets into the soul of each artist and puts it on the screen for you to see and feel. It is as if Simon had interviewed each artist at a defining moment in their lives. At times, though, it made me question how much of what was being portrayed was actual fact and what was just an educated opinion.

Either way, if you have not seen this series, it is one to catch!

Now, if you have missed this fantastic series, no worries, PBS is offering it for sale in their store.

*List taken from PBS site

Transcribing - Van Gogh’s Cornfield and Cypress Trees

 

I am working my way through Jackie Simmond’s ‘Pastel Workbook’ and one of the exercises is to copy Van Gogh’s Cornfield and Cypress Trees. It looked like it was easy enough, but I had a few challenges. One was trying to keep the strokes from touching too much. Another was that I used a paper with a strong ochre tint to it whereas I should have really used a blue/grey paper. Overall, once I got into the aspect of paisley strokes it is quite a fun style to paint with. Please leave your comments on areas of improvement! On a side note, I painted this outside (to enjoy the beautiful day) on my Plein Air Easel to test it out. I put the easel on my SLIK Able 300DX tripod and was impressed at the stability. I had the painting on a 12×12" hardboard and never had a problem with anything moving when applying the pastel. Below is Van Gogh’s painting to compare mine with. 

 

YouTube

I have to say I was surprised by the amount of art related instructional videos on You Tube. Specifically pastels.

So far the best demonstrations are completed by EclecticAsylum. Here is a sample of his work.

Under Padding

While walking through London Drugs I came across a product called Easy Liner Solid, which is a solid non-slip closed cell foam shelf liner. It is about 1/16 thick and spongy but firm.

I picked a roll up and am using it behind my paintings now. Being beneath the paper it gives a very good cushion when painting, it holds masking tape well and doesn’t seem to tear when tape is removed.

I did use contact cement to glue it down to my backing board so there is no way it will slip.

If you see it you may want to pick a roll up and try it.