kencrocker

Ipad Gesture Drawing

All of these drawings are done on my Ipad using Procreate. The first two drawings are five-minute quick sketches. The third one is a 25-minute heightened drawing. Using an Ipad forces me to not draw “cute.” That is, it forces me to concentrate on the gesture of a pose and avoid getting caught up in… Continue reading Ipad Gesture Drawing

The Plan

Here’s a plan for the typical three-hour quick sketch session: First half-hour—One- and three-minute poses. Follow the example of Michael Hampton’s Figure Drawing: Design and Invention, p. 38, and focus on the placement of landmarks. Second half-hour—Five-minute poses. Start with the same landmarks, but add more volume and contour. … Continue reading The Plan

Return to Watercolor

I'm working in my sketchbook a lot these days—almost no charcoal drawing at all. My dream is to have one place to put everything. All of my quick sketches, practices, study drawings, and paintings in one book. This is a watercolor 1/2-hour pose at Friday's open studio. I brought the scan of the original into… Continue reading Return to Watercolor

Three Teachers, One Drawing

I owe this 25-minute quick sketch at last night P&C open studio to lessons taught to me by three teachers: for being able to set up a overall layout on a page, Max Ranft; for how to use Prismacolor pencil, Bob Schultz; and for how to construct a convincing human form in space, Michael… Continue reading Three Teachers, One Drawing

A Good Start and a Dump Truck

This is the fifteen-minute start of a 25 minute drawing. The model had trouble with her leg (half sitting on a metal stool cut off her circulation), so I couldn't go any further. But I liked how “raw” it looks, with lots of rhythm lines and basic shapes. To be honest, many times from here… Continue reading A Good Start and a Dump Truck

Gesture and Structure

I guess you could say this 25-minute drawing from last night's open studio is neither a gesture or structure drawing. But it is the result of thinking a lot about these two aspects of figure drawing. I'm trying to use gesture to draw the whole connected figure instead of doing it part-by-part, and I'm trying… Continue reading Gesture and Structure

Constructive Figure Drawing

This 25-minute drawing was done with the specific intent of practicing figure construction. Since I love quick-sketching the figure, I look for any way to improve my technique (I'd also like to better understand why an artist draws the figure, but that's a whole other topic). One significant way to improve I've found, is to,… Continue reading Constructive Figure Drawing

Vitality

I thought I had done a pretty good job on this 25-minute pose… until I got home and found that I had drawn the model with a sunken chest. So I made a few changes in Procreate. I tilted her head back a little and brought her back in under her shoulder blades, but most… Continue reading Vitality

Figure Drawing… What’s It All About?

Thirty-minute quick sketch last night at the P&C. I've been spending a lot of time lately trying to figure out what figure drawing is all about (no pun intended). A lot of the “theory” of figure drawing seems to go back to Leonardo DaVinci, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, and the other “old masters.” But they all drew… Continue reading Figure Drawing… What’s It All About?

Figure Sketching (Again)

This is a 10-minute charcoal sketch on newsprint (18 x 24 inches) at last Friday night's open studio at the Palette and Chisel. I love figure sketching and I love back views. Thanks to working at least half-time since last fall, I've had a chance to read almost all of Robert Beverly Hale's books on… Continue reading Figure Sketching (Again)