More About Drawing as a Skill

I teach people how to draw, working from photographs. Because it is a skill, not a talent, we need a still photograph, on paper, so that we can measure, rotate the photo and the drawing to view it from other angles, and work as slowly as necessary.When I began drawing, I was a slave to the photographs that I worked from. I learned how to draw from real life, but nothing would hold still long enough so that I could measure. I didn’t have the skill, the instruction, the freedom and confidence to just loosen up and let my pencil fly around, getting close enough. 

It has taken me many years to be able to draw without reference photos. I can only do this on a few subjects, and I have to check with at least one of three things before I am convinced that it is a decent piece of work: 1. a reference photo, 2. the scene in real life, 3. after a bit of time, just study it to see if it is truly believable.

I am still learning. You too can learn.

Here are links to previous blog posts about drawing lessons:

Lighthearted Lessons

(More) Lighthearted Lessons

Drawing Lessons — Fast or Good

P.S. Today’s drawings are from my drawing students.

Drawing is a Skill

Drawing is a skill, not a talent. It is like typing: anyone can learn to type. Some will type 25 words per minute, some will type 60, and some whizkids will type 90 wpm. All of them are typing. Those who get the great speed and accuracy probably have some innate talent, or perhaps they work more at it because they enjoy it more. Maybe they enjoy it more because they work harder at it.

The skill of drawing is a mechanical ability to put on paper exactly what you see, or exactly what you mean to put on paper. It is not artistic at that point—it is mechanical, methodical, painstaking, and systematic.

Once you know how to evaluate what you are seeing, break it down into its foundational parts, divide up the visual parts in a manageable way, and most importantly, see accurately, then the artistic parts come into play.

 

The only people who don’t learn are the ones who quit too soon. If you don’t enjoy the process, don’t truly want the product, and don’t push through the difficulties, then you won’t learn.

No blame, no judgement. Drawing isn’t for everyone, just as sports are not for me, and knitting, gardening, or baking bread may not be for you.

But you won’t know unless you try.

Here are some links to previous posts about lessons:

Drawing Lessons are for Learning to Draw

More on Drawing Lessons

Drawing Lessons

Drawing Lessons Begin

P.S All of today’s drawings are by my drawing students.

Sisters in the Orange Grove

There has been a request for a print of this drawing. I will order 2, unless other people tell me that they would like them too. I don’t know the price, but it should be lin the neighborhood of $35-50 apiece. After I hear how many people are interested, I will ask the printer for a price. The original is 11×14″, but I could get them printed as 8×10″ instead. 

Interested?

Wednesday, March 23, 1:30 p.m. I have now ordered 5 prints; 3 are spoken for.

Poppies Won’t Put Them to Sleep

Why won’t poppies put them to sleep, and who exactly is “them”? 

It is a reference to The Wizard of Oz, a joke that won’t matter if it needs to be explained.

My poppies won’t put anyone to sleep because they are very bright. Here are the latest oil paintings in progress:

These two are finished (the clue is the signature).

These two aren’t finished (the clue is the messiness).

This one is finished (once again, the signature is your clue).

This one is less messy, but clearly unfinished.

Daylight was waning*, so I moved it inside to dry and will put the finishing touches on it another day.

*You can manipulate the clock all you want, but it will NOT create more daylight. 

Paint While the Poppies are Hot

Poppies aren’t literally hot; this is my version of “Strike while the iron is hot”. What does that actually mean? I think it has something to do with blacksmithery—taking action in a timely manner.

These four oil paintings of California poppies sold immediately.

The poppies are out in abundance, and interest in them is high. Gotta paint poppies now! These will have to be done quickly and possibly delivered while still slightly wet if I am to tap into the season of interest. Let’s get those canvases ready NOW.

 

These two (6×6″ and 4×6″) are now available at Kaweah Arts in Three Rivers (unless they sold over the weekend).

This 8×8″ needs some more touching up and a signature.

Chop-chop, Central California artist!

And here is a thought: I do not remember poppies in abundance like this when I was kid. Is it because: a. they just didn’t bloom this way; b. my family wasn’t “into” poppies and wildflowers; c. I was oblivious? 

Probably c.

 

Poppy Peeping

The poppies and other wildflowers were at at their peak on March 11. Three friends and I took the afternoon off to go fill our eyes.

First, we had to empty our wallets to fill the gas tank. Welcome to Three Rivers.

Then we headed down around the lake, and up Dry Creek Road, all within eastern Tulare County.

This last photo shows Terminus Dam in the distance, which creates Kaweah Lake. The flowers weren’t fabulous right there at the Dry Creek Preserve, but it was clear and green, which is pretty fabulous on its own. 

We never did get out amidst the flowers but stayed on the shoulder of the road, and actually did no trespassing whatsoever.

I must be finally growing up.

Pencil Oranges, Aiming for Perfection

It is time for me to really study this pencil commission. The pencil drawing needs to be perfect, because the next step is to spray it with a fixative, to prevent smearing when I add colored pencil to a few areas. 

Mr. Customer asked for clouds, so I decided some wispy types would add texture, variety, and interest without becoming too busy. Everything else is highly detailed, so the sky needs to be somewhat visually restful. 

All this remains to be inspected:

  1. The trees must look believable as they recede into the distance. 
  2. The ground needs to have texture, but not so much that it competes with the leaves.
  3. The closest branches need to have the largest leaves and fruit.
  4. The sky needs to be dark enough to show off the clouds, snow on Sawtooth, and the windmachine.
  5. The little girls have to be perfect. 

After I addressed all those items, I scanned the drawing, cleaned up the scanner messes (it ALWAYS leaves spots, and the paper color scans as gray), and emailed it to Mr. and Mrs. Customer for their final approval.

More will be revealed in the fullness of time, or as my dad used to say, “Time will tell”. Meanwhile, I will continue to. . .

. . . use pencils, oil paint, and murals to make art that you can understand, of places and things you love, for prices that won’t scare you.

Oranges in Pencil, The Point

What’s my point? Not the point of my pencil. The point of all this careful drawing and explaining is to make everything in this custom pencil drawing believable.
I have added a ladder to the wind machine, smoothed the sky, and begun the lower leaves and oranges on the bottom left. Have a look at the 2 little girls, the way I see them under the giant lighted magnifying glass. They truly are almost impossible to draw and hardly show up. But they will have color on them at the end, so they will be more visually significant.

Building up the foliage is tedious; some might say “restful”; others might call it “zen”. The tedium is alleviated by the continual need to check the sizes of the leaves and fruit, thinking about where they are landing on the rows of diminishing sizes. 

I also worked on the ground a bit. I want it to look real and as always, believable. Usually within an orchard, there are many dead leaves, broken sticks, and dropped fruit. So, I will put some of this in but be careful to not have it too noticeable, because it isn’t the point. What is the point??

Believability!

Inching Forward With Pencils

The custom pencil drawing of 2 little girls in an orange grove is going to take awhile. I can quickly scribble in the distant orange trees and have them be believable, but everything up close needs to be carefully drawn.

In order for the snow-covered mountains and the wind machine to show up, it needs sky. This is because you cannot draw white; you have to put shading around a white thing for it to appear.

You can see that the leaves on the trees are getting added to, and the distant hills and mountains are too. One side of the wind machine is darker than the other; this will require some attention. 

I think this drawing will have quite a bit of “put some on, take some off, put some on, take some off”. Sounds like a middle-aged woman trying to get comfortable, but I am talking about pencil here. I keep adjusting darks and lights in the distance, looking for the best way to make it look the most believable.