Author: Joan Vienot

Posted on 04/17/201004/03/2024 by Joan Vienot — Leave a comment

The Figure’s Weight and Center of Gravity

This week Heather reviewed what to look for in the model’s pose, how the angles of the hips, knees, and shoulders help indicate the model’s balance and center of gravity. She pointed out how the knee and hip of the weight-bearing leg will be higher in the picture plane than the knee and hip of the other leg, in ordinary perspective. And usually the shoulders are contrapposto to the hips. We had an excellent model for this exercise.

The drawing at the right is an extreme example, with the angle of the hips and knees contrapposto to the angle of the shoulders, helping to indicate the vertical center of gravity on the inside of the weight-bearing left leg.

And at left, the model’s right knee is higher in the picture plane than the left, and her right breast is lower than the left, indicating the weight is on the model’s right leg, with the vertical center of gravity toward her right leg.

Heather Clements is the regular instructor for our figure drawing sessions at Collen Duffley’s Studio b. in Alys Beach, Florida.

Posted on 04/08/201004/03/2024 by Joan Vienot — Leave a comment

Blind Contour Figure Drawing

Multiple Blind Contour Female — Multiple Blind Contours, Same Pose

A common mistake made by accomplished figure artists as well as novices, is thinking they know how a line or shape should go and failing to look at the subject to see that indeed it might not go that way at all. Heather Clements, the instructor for Studio b’s figure drawing sessions, is always saying, “Draw what you see, not what you know!” The artist may know that an arm is a fairly long part of the human anatomy, but when the arm is receding away or coming towards the viewer, it has to be drawn much shorter, because that is how we see it.

Blind Contour Female Reclining on Elbows — Female Reclining on Elbows

Blind Contour Underlay, Female Facing Left

Blind Contour Underlay, Female Gesture Reclining — Female Gesture Reclining

This week we practiced drawing the contours of the model without looking at our paper, an exercise called blind contour drawing. The purpose is to improve hand-eye coordination and also to help us become better at really seeing the subject, instead of just looking at our paper and drawing how we think the subject looks. Blind contour drawings usually turn out pretty weird. Because there is so much detail in hands, feet, and the face, those parts of the drawing often become huge and distorted, like the face I drew in Female Reclining on Elbows.

Later in the session we first drew a blind contour, and then drew another line drawing over it, the second drawing not “blind”. We repeated the angles and shapes from the blind contour that worked well, and corrected the ones that didn’t. I drew with a different color in the overlay, so I could see the two different drawings. It was fun.

040710 Blind Contour Underlay, Female Seated 1824 — Female Seated

Foreshortening forces me to draw what I see, and not what I know. In Female Seated, the model’s elbow came straight towards me so I had to draw the arm almost straight even though I knew it was bent. Similarly, in Female Gesture Reclining, the model’s right knee came directly towards me, foreshortened — the thigh could not be drawn the length that I knew it actually was. Blind contour drawing helped me to see how I needed to draw it, unhampered by “what I knew.” Female Gesture Reclining was probably my favorite piece for the session.

Posted on 04/02/201004/03/2024 by Joan Vienot — Leave a comment

Figure Drawing: Here-And-Now

Click for Detail of Face — CLICK FOR DETAIL OF FACE

Figure drawing with a live model requires me to be in the moment. There is an immediacy, an urgency, a compulsion. Nothing else exists but the model, my paper, and expression. Time stops. I lose awareness of tired feet or hunger. Sometimes feelings remain, but it goes better if I empty my mind. That is when I am most likely to turn out a piece that interests me, one that I might even be surprised by. The final result may not be beautiful in the classic sense, it may not be polished, it may not follow the rules, whatever the rules are, but I will have a joy afterward. And if I show the piece to others, then my hope is that it will at least be interesting to them.

It is such a luxury to work from a live model. I enjoy drawing, and a live model forces me to draw quickly, trusting my judgment. Poses are usually short, and the model, even the best of models, might move during the pose, adding to the challenge and the sense of urgency. Sometimes it takes most of the length of the pose just to get the angles and proportions drawn, and the last few minutes are spent rushing to develop the drawing. Hurried shading is coarse and textured.

Usually Studio b’s instructor, Heather Clements, directs us toward a particular emphasis, but this week we just drew. We drew very quickly — our longest poses were only 15 minutes.

Posted on 03/25/201004/03/2024 by Joan Vienot — 1 Comment

Studio b. Is Showing Our Drawings!

Way before I ever imagined it happening, some of my figure drawings are hanging in a gallery. Colleen Duffley has covered one of the walls in Studio b with drawings by the participants in the weekly figure drawing sessions. The fact that our drawings are being shown at all is pretty exciting, not to mention the good fortune to be shown at Studio b, the premier fine art gallery and venue for creativity. Italian artist Sergio Poddighe will be showing his work in the main gallery starting with his opening reception on Saturday, 3/27/2010, from 6 to 8 PM. Our figure work will be in the back gallery. Our prices will be nominal, because our drawings are not matted or framed.

This week instructor Heather Clements had us draw the folds and gathers of fabric partially covering the model. A plain light-colored sheet gave us plenty to work with. The drawing sessions have been well-attended the last few weeks, with 10 or 12 artists there. As always, the energy was very high this week.

Each session becomes an experience: the scratching sound of chalk and charcoal on paper, the instructor’s soft encouragement and tutoring of the individual artists; one of the artists singing a parody of a mournful selection in the background music, with everyone laughing afterwards. And spoken aloud, the questions all artists struggle with (but usually don’t verbalize)… “How do you make a foot look like a foot? Why does mine look like a flipper?” And the groans of protest when the timer goes off, ending a particularly good pose. And then the hurried removal of drawings from drawing boards and the setting up for a new drawing, quick, hurry, we’re starting another 8-minute pose…

None of my drawings were “keepers”, but I’m posting a few anyway. I experimented, even using some color. I rarely use color for color’s sake, preferring instead to draw monotone value studies using only one color or a neutral. I may not turn out any masterpieces when I experiment, but I learn a lot, so I never count the effort a waste.

Posted on 03/19/201004/03/2024 by Joan Vienot — 2 Comments

Drawing at the Visual Art Center in Panama City, Florida

It’s a long haul to downtown Panama City from my home in Santa Rosa Beach, and it’s even longer during spring break, with all the vacationers on the road. But I was determined to make it to the Visual Arts Center of Northwest Florida. Heather Clements teaches a figure drawing session there on the third Thursday of every month, from 5:00 to 8:00 PM. I got there about 20 minutes late because I forgot to plan for the heavier traffic.

So I missed the usual series of 30-second and 1-minute and 2-minute warm-up drawings. The other artists were already well into the 4-minute poses by the time I got set up. I was a little tense from all the traffic. I’m sure that contributed to some struggles I had with proportions. On one pose, I tried for a long time to draw hands that were way too small for the size of the face, and somehow missed seeing what was wrong with my picture the whole way through. Heather pointed it out to me, and then it was a Duh-moment, of course, then I could easily see it.

The model worked hard for us. She wasn’t feeling 100%, but she held her poses for as long as she could. It means a lot to the artists when the model is so professional. Our poses increased to 15, 30, and 45 minutes.

The trip home went much more quickly, but I was tired. I work during the day — I own and manage a swimming pool service business, which gets busier whenever tourism increases, so it was a pretty long day. My bonus on the drive home was that I saw the Air Force’s flares for about 15 minutes over the Choctawhatchee Bay, the ones that look like a UFO. (Maybe it was!)

Posted on 03/18/201004/03/2024 by Joan Vienot — Leave a comment

Guest Artist at Studio b: David Orme-Johnson

David Orme-Johnson has been regularly attending the weekly figure drawing sessions at Studio b. Colleen invited him to be our guest artist this week. David showed us a number of drawings in which he had done most of the drawing using both hands simultaneously. In the later stages of each drawing, he executes the details just using one hand. His website contains other examples along with galleries of his other work. He talked about the process and the fun he has had since discovering that although he is right-handed, he can draw ambidextrously, and can even write script backwards.

Our model was unable to make it, so the artists took turns sitting as model for 5 or 10 minute poses (clothed). I think all artists who work from models should be made to model now and then, to maintain their appreciation. Modeling can be excruciating if you are not balanced well or if you are holding a slightly unusual position. For my first seated pose, I looked up towards the ceiling. My neck was starting to spasm after only 2½ minutes. (I see why our experienced models never look at the ceiling.)

I tried drawing with both hands like David, but I confused myself before I even started. I wanted to draw the model and draw the mirror image at the same time, which would have created a symmetrical drawing of two women seated, facing away from each other. The model was facing left. If I had been watching my left hand, and making my right hand just do the same thing but backwards, I think I might have had some success. Instead, I was trying to translate the model’s pose into its reverse in my mind, and draw that reverse pose with my right hand, while my left hand tried to copy my right hand. Pretty soon I didn’t know which direction either hand should go. I wasn’t very happy with my drawing, but I think I could practice and become better at it. (Click on picture at right for larger view.)

Ellen the Artist For the remainder of the class I enjoyed quickly sketching each artist as they took their turn posing. Weekly figure drawing has helped me to be able to get the basic body position drawn in a hurry. The problem is that some artists don’t just wear T-shirts and shorts like normal people. Instead they wear funky clothes and accessories that are a visual feast, so each pose ended way too soon, before I could start playing with the fabrics and textures. Following are a couple of my sketches from that session. I worked with either graphite or tinted graphite on 18″ x 24″ manilla. I sketched the gesture with white conte first.

Posted on 03/11/201004/03/2024 by Joan Vienot — 1 Comment

Figure Drawing: Focus on Light and Shadow

This week at the Wednesday night figure drawing session at Studio b, instructor Heather Clements gave a demonstration. I love watching the magic of an artist working. The transformation of the blank surface is mesmerizing.

Tonight Heather was continuing with last week’s focus on light and shadow, to define shape. She showed examples of high-contrast lighting (Andy Warhol’s self-portrait), where only two or three values with very distinct edges are mapped out, as opposed to tonal development with a full range of values (self-portraits by Edward Hopper and Chuck Close). She talked about local values, such as dark hair vs. light face, and then she reminded us about various effects to look for: the lit side of the subject, the unlit side, the midtones, the highlight, reflected light, and the cast shadow, including how a cast shadow is sharply focused close to the object, but less focused further away.

Heather also gave a demonstration on the reverse process, toning the paper overall and then erasing the lighted areas, and perhaps adding some darks at the end. I was happy with the results of my effort towards this reverse process (at right).

Posted on 03/04/201004/03/2024 by Joan Vienot — Leave a comment

Drawing Through the Fog of Cold Meds

Nude Female Reclining Away — Value Study

Before last November, it had been a long time since I had a cold. I know the last time I had the flu was New Years Day of the year 2000. I’m pretty sure I had gone at least 7 years without a cold. I have an immune system made of steel. And then came this winter. This week in March of 2010 was Round 4 of allergies or colds dragging on and on. I went to the doctor yesterday and got some antibiotics and other medications to kill the germ and relieve the symptoms. The most noticeable side effect was a distinct lack of patience and the karma of drawing to myself a number of taxing situations testing what little patience I had. Tonight’s figure drawing session extended my torture. I kept losing track of time, getting very little done with each pose before it was over. It was taking me nearly the whole allotted time for the pose, just to lay it out on the paper, which left no time for development of tonal values. On the last pose I moved around the room to see if there were any other more interesting viewpoints, and discovered that just about anywhere else in the room was a better place to be than where I had been. Instructor Heather Clements’ suggestion at the beginning of the session was to focus on light and shadow, with development of a full range of values, from the darkest dark to the lightest light. I had been drawing in the one location in the room that had very diffuse light, so that the form was almost all one value except for some very dark cast shadows underneath — no wonder I had been having such a time! I moved to another part of the room, and found a lot more variation of values for the last pose. Even so, it was a struggle — I think my cold meds made me stupid. But the other artists there at Studio b were encouraging. It’s nice to be in the company of other supportive artists.

Posted on 02/27/201004/03/2024 by Joan Vienot — 1 Comment

Airport Sketching

Last week I flew to Denver to celebrate my Dad’s 90th Birthday. People in airports are captive, so I sketched a few. I quit if they noticed — I didn’t want to make them feel creepy. It’s pretty amazing how you can be sketching the back of someone’s head and they will turn around and look right at you. I’ve been attending the figure drawing sessions at Studio b since last August, and I can sketch more quickly now, a handy skill for this exercise, because people move so much even when they are sitting still. It really makes me appreciate models who can hold a pose. The following sketches are just moments in time, bored and waiting to board.

Posted on 02/26/201004/03/2024 by Joan Vienot — Leave a comment

Guest Artist at Studio b: Wm. Coleman Mills

Wm. Coleman Mills was our guest artist at the Wednesday night figure drawing session at Studio b this week. He showed us how to use a vignette to more accurately set up the subject on our paper. The exercise began by looking at the model through an 8½”x11″ piece of plexiglas, tracing the outline of the model onto the plexiglas, and finally, drawing lines from various “landmarks” across to the edge of the plexiglas, to begin to chart the landmarks. Drawing lines on the paper that corresponded with the lines on the plexiglas, and then transfering our drawing, enabled us to proportion the figure and account for foreshortening.

Coleman talked about his approach to art, which is to express his memory of an event or a scene, a sort of vignette of a moment in time and space. He brought some examples of his work and talked about the encaustic process that he uses to create his works which might be considered abstract expressionism. He showed us a couple of paintings from his Estuary Series. He painted them in oils, which he coated with bees wax, and then scratched into the wax and rubbed acrylic paint into the scratches to create a highly tactile presentation. He also showed us a couple of paintings from his Summer Storm series, which have very strong texture. His paintings on his website are impressive, but seeing them in person is so much more of an experience.

As always, the energy in the room was very high, and I think Coleman’s energy doubled it. I liked him and I liked his style. But I found vignetting to be difficult. When I draw the figure, I almost always start with some sort of gesture drawing, to lay down an initial “feel” for the movement and weight of the model. The use of the sheet of plexiglas, and the process of transferring, made me tense. It didn’t feel “artistic” to me – it felt more like drafting instead of expression. And yet I know that I am constantly comparing landmarks in relation to each other when I draw…. where the eye is in relation to the nose, in relation to the ear, and how far down the elbow is from the line of the shoulder, the angle of the upper leg to the lower leg, etc. With a live model, you can’t be too much of a stickler for exact position or proportion, because there will be some movement during the pose — just because the shoulder was lined up over the right toe when you started the drawing doesn’t mean it will be there when you finish.

I don’t normally drink and draw, but on this night, I was glad when the owner of Studio b, Colleen Duffley, came around offering the artists wine or beer, or water. I chose beer.