Something about form

[MatterFold]

This is a free for all class where the primary goal is the study of FORM.
This class is for anyone interested in studying form, from very beginner to skilled artisans.
The idea is to post weekly challenged for everyone to join in on, I will ask all of you to post and discuss the results here.
I will post the task results here myself also, will critique and give advice as much as I can.

Good luck!

Reading Material

Erik Gist - Figure Drawing
The Practice and Science of Drawing
Loomis - Figure drawing for all it's worth

Reference links

Light cheat sheet
Form Study Pack - Primitives
Form Study Pack - Heads
Pinterest - Plaster casts
Russian academy art google search
Zbrush Asaro head model

[MatterFold]

First special Christmas challenge!!

A knowledge test, but mainly a study..

The Subject


Task List

) Make 1 study of the piece copying what you see.
 Define where you think the main light source is coming from
 Define where you think the planes in light and the planes in shadow are
 Focus on defining 3 main values, the light, the mid-tone, and the shadow.

ENDS 1rst of January

[MatterFold]

So here is my half hour version to give you an idea what I'm looking for.
Take them as far as you want to, but keep in mind, the goal here is understanding and depicting the form, try not to just copy values without understanding them.

[MatterFold]

January 2/9

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you, let's make 2016 a year where we will all master FORM!


TASK
The next task will be a simple one , a study of a barque plate.
Make a precise copy of the plate using the material of your choice.
Try to copy it as fully as possible, and use your head, try to understand why values dark or light, is it in light? Are the planes rotating away from the light source?

Think light and shadow planes.
Try to feel the angle of the planes, like you are an ant walking across the surface.
Think form, think 3d objects in space!

And please show us the results here!

THE SUBJECT

[AlfonsoX]

I did 2 exercises.

The standard copy with time lapse video.




and the 3d grid, changing light to top cenital.
the render its shame. (will have to redo it at some point)

[MatterFold]

Alfonsox

Great work!
Here a quick overpaint that might help you a little, I feel in the first study you copied too much like a camera, in the sense that you copy what you see but don't understand it.
This often happens and in time this should go away, it's why were are here after all :) so take this as a reminder of that fact!

Try and think more like that second study did, think planes and wireframes, think space and turning form, and think about how light affects it, feel the forms turning and the value changing relative to it.

What can help here is to feel and follow the form with your strokes like in example 1
This will enhance the form illusion in the final drawing, but more importantly in my view, helps you to force your mind into thinking about space/planes.
p.s. note also in this example drawing on the right the tiny sketches of the noses, how he constructs the planes etc. try to think like that, always

example 1


The overpaint on the right side

[MatterFold]

Here is my attempt at this study

[MatterFold]

January 9/16

TASK
This week the task is a plaster cast study.
First do a construction drawing, then do a value study using your structure drawing as a guide.
I want to see both the construction drawing and the value study.

Some extra information on the topic
Proko | structure
Proko | Nose

Think light and shadow planes.
Try to feel the angle of the planes, imagine yourself an ant walking across the surface.
Think form, think objects in space/perspective.

Please post your results here for us to review.

THE SUBJECT

[neopatogen]

I made the structure with a pencil, but it isn't easy to make a good photo with my smartphone, so I think I'll make the values study digitally. I watched Proko videos about 2 months ago so I just used my sketches to refresh nose structure in my memory. Though, I didn't stick only to the planes from Proko's video, I drew what I saw.
I'll try to post the value study this week, too!

[MatterFold]

Here is mine, left stopped early to better show my thoughts

[MatterFold]

neopatogen
Great work!
This being a construction drawing, it is exactly what I want to see.
In time try to simplify things more and more, simplify first, then add complexity after.
You will get better at this the more you do these things.

I see you added a little rendering to the drawing as well already, here I have some advice, which is very similar in someways.
Try to simplify more, make all shadows the same value (if they come from the same light, and are projected on the same material)
Make all midtones the same value.. etc..  keep things simple and consistent, after this you can try to add the small gradations and bumps.
I did this in the quick paintover, as you can see it immediately adds more form to the piece.

Great work and can't wait to see the value study, and as always, copy form/light, not value.
Use value as a tool to paint the light interacting with the surface.

[neopatogen]

I made another structure sketch digitally and then painted over it, though I changed the forms a bit several times at this stage.
@Matterfold thank you for the paintover and for posting your thoughts - I didn't notice the second source of light.
I tried my best to think about form/lighting, but in the very end I couldn't help painting some details without fully understanding their origin... I'll try to do more excercises and create a habit of right thinking :)

[AlfonsoX]

I was feeling the form at some points once I had it block out but at the beginning I was more on the copy shape side.

A good exercise could be to take one form but change the lighting direction so we are really forced to think about light-form. For example a mouth cast lighted from top and then we have to render it with light from below.

[neopatogen]

@Alfonsox great idea! I'm sure I'd make tons of mistakes though! And it's obviously harder to check such assignments.
Btw I found a free 3D  Asaro Head , so if you have Zbrush you can use this head as a reference, rotate it, light different ways and so on! Or shade your sketch from imagination and then have at least something to check yourself.

[MatterFold]

Great stuff guys, and a good idea AlfonsoX, def will do tasks like that in the future!

[MatterFold]

neopatogen, great work! But don't forget about perspective.




Alfonsox

Also great work here! The reflected light on the nose wing is too bright though, reflected light is often much darker than you'd think.
3d cage looks great!

[MatterFold]

January 16/23

TASK
Back to basics!


This week the task is a series of primitive shapes from my Form Study Pack
After studying those, draw one of each primitive from your imagination and light them with a single source just like in the ref, as a bonus try to paint the deconstruction view to really solidify your thoughts.


Some extra information on the topic
Light Cheat Sheet - free cheat sheet that explains basic behaviour of light
Read this for more info on that red and blue in the images.

Think light and shadow planes.
Try to feel the angle of the planes, imagine yourself an ant walking across the surface.
Think form, think objects in space/perspective.

Please post your results here for us to review.

THE SUBJECT

[Ulteriorvision]

Late to the party did the haddon study, I know there was a deadline but I'm hoping to get everything done in a very quick period so I can move onto the latest tasks. I will go to sleep now, then continue working on all the tasks later today. 

Brilliant work everyone, very inspiring.

[Ulteriorvision]

Plate complete, going to post deconstruction soon too.

[Ulteriorvision]

Very difficult to create an accurate value assessment when there is no ref material to look from.