11-28-2019, 08:59 AM
Some general advice when blocking things in.
You don't necessarily need to draw corners everywhere. If you have two flat areas of contour that work well with straight lines but they intersect with a subtle curve, you don't have to put a corner there. You can essentially leave that space open and our brain fills it in as a rounded corner without you having to draw it. This lets you get the rounded feeling without either having an awkward corner that extends beyond the contour, or having to add smaller segments of lines. You generally don't want a jagged block in because the thing you're drawing isn't jagged, you want it to be as close to the visual impression as possible. This approach also lets you be more direct with the straight lines because you don't have to worry about getting awkward corners, and you can instead just go for the most important flat area you can find. There are of course those who prefer to make the corners connect but I think it can cause "visual miscommunications" to yourself when comparing things.
Another thing worth thinking about is how you deal with subtlety. With these block ins, there are areas where things get very soft and vague but you've blocked them in as hard lines. Not to say it's wrong but I personally believe that we should be open to vagueness in our work and not draw something we can't see. Like, if something is soft and vague, it makes little sense to draw it as solid and strongly defined. So sometimes it works really well to represent vague things as vague by doing things like having soft lines in a drawing or block in or adjust the value of the lines. It can really let you be more truthful to what things actually look like.
I wrote a bit about this in Lizardman's sketchbook, about different ways drawing has been approached historically and how to deal with contradictions inherent to drawings. I think understanding how to represent things visually will be the thing that will really push you forward. You seem to sometimes be forcing every drawing into a kind of box like "it has to be this way", but if we can maybe expand how you represent things, it will look more like the thing you're drawing and then you will easily be able to tell if it looks like the subject or not.
When I mentioned different approaches, it's more to do with how you think. Like what does a line represent? form, contrast or light? should you include tone? if so, why? This kind of stuff. Developing a coherent theoretical understructure to support the drawing you make. I mention some stuff like this in the post on Lizard's sb.
About painting.
The books I'd recommend for painting would be Speed's book on oil painting as the best one I've read. I always have it nearby when I work just so I can read in it during breaks. Solomon and Collier's books are also good. There are books on materials I really like but they're a bit overkill and are probably best left alone for now unless you have a particular interest in it.
Lately my favourite resource has been some stuff I've had translated for me about late 19th and early 20th century russian painting. From what I can tell it hasn't been translated or published in english anywhere and it's really a shame because it's very good advice. I'm currently working on a document that is an in-depth look at this stuff, primarily focusing on Repin and his students. There's tons written about him from friends and students, a lot in people's personal memoirs but I'm still going through all of it. Maybe I can send you the thing once I've edited it a bit to be more presentable.
Most learning is done by experimenting. Look into different ways of painting, learn as much about it as possible and then try it. One thing I did and still do is to look up some artists and study their work, just by looking at it and thinking, or if I can find information, reading about it. Then approach a painting as if I were them, trying to make the same choices in materials and technique as they would have. During these periods, I look at their paintings every day and just think about them, trying to to follow their trains of thought and how I can emulate what they do. Personally I've found it very effective, at least when I want to learn how to approach things in different ways.
Oh and don't worry about sending questions. I'm always looking for an excuse to talk about art stuff I find interesting.
You don't necessarily need to draw corners everywhere. If you have two flat areas of contour that work well with straight lines but they intersect with a subtle curve, you don't have to put a corner there. You can essentially leave that space open and our brain fills it in as a rounded corner without you having to draw it. This lets you get the rounded feeling without either having an awkward corner that extends beyond the contour, or having to add smaller segments of lines. You generally don't want a jagged block in because the thing you're drawing isn't jagged, you want it to be as close to the visual impression as possible. This approach also lets you be more direct with the straight lines because you don't have to worry about getting awkward corners, and you can instead just go for the most important flat area you can find. There are of course those who prefer to make the corners connect but I think it can cause "visual miscommunications" to yourself when comparing things.
Another thing worth thinking about is how you deal with subtlety. With these block ins, there are areas where things get very soft and vague but you've blocked them in as hard lines. Not to say it's wrong but I personally believe that we should be open to vagueness in our work and not draw something we can't see. Like, if something is soft and vague, it makes little sense to draw it as solid and strongly defined. So sometimes it works really well to represent vague things as vague by doing things like having soft lines in a drawing or block in or adjust the value of the lines. It can really let you be more truthful to what things actually look like.
I wrote a bit about this in Lizardman's sketchbook, about different ways drawing has been approached historically and how to deal with contradictions inherent to drawings. I think understanding how to represent things visually will be the thing that will really push you forward. You seem to sometimes be forcing every drawing into a kind of box like "it has to be this way", but if we can maybe expand how you represent things, it will look more like the thing you're drawing and then you will easily be able to tell if it looks like the subject or not.
When I mentioned different approaches, it's more to do with how you think. Like what does a line represent? form, contrast or light? should you include tone? if so, why? This kind of stuff. Developing a coherent theoretical understructure to support the drawing you make. I mention some stuff like this in the post on Lizard's sb.
About painting.
The books I'd recommend for painting would be Speed's book on oil painting as the best one I've read. I always have it nearby when I work just so I can read in it during breaks. Solomon and Collier's books are also good. There are books on materials I really like but they're a bit overkill and are probably best left alone for now unless you have a particular interest in it.
Lately my favourite resource has been some stuff I've had translated for me about late 19th and early 20th century russian painting. From what I can tell it hasn't been translated or published in english anywhere and it's really a shame because it's very good advice. I'm currently working on a document that is an in-depth look at this stuff, primarily focusing on Repin and his students. There's tons written about him from friends and students, a lot in people's personal memoirs but I'm still going through all of it. Maybe I can send you the thing once I've edited it a bit to be more presentable.
Most learning is done by experimenting. Look into different ways of painting, learn as much about it as possible and then try it. One thing I did and still do is to look up some artists and study their work, just by looking at it and thinking, or if I can find information, reading about it. Then approach a painting as if I were them, trying to make the same choices in materials and technique as they would have. During these periods, I look at their paintings every day and just think about them, trying to to follow their trains of thought and how I can emulate what they do. Personally I've found it very effective, at least when I want to learn how to approach things in different ways.
Oh and don't worry about sending questions. I'm always looking for an excuse to talk about art stuff I find interesting.
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