The challenge this session has been DRAWING - things bunched or stacked; making radishes appear fore shortened as they radiate from a center bunch, or working with ellipses that go in several different directions. Like the bowl and cups shown here- which are so slightly OFF.Painters tend to focus on broader subjects such as over-all composition, or value, which are important but as a landscape painter, I get a little drawing lazy. The demand of doing a class demo twice a week is one of the best ways to stay sharp - or even improve.
Ellipses are what drive me crazy. It's a love-hate thing and I am always looking for ways to include them in a still life.
An ellipse is a only circle in perspective, but like a circle the eye of the viewer can always tell if it's off.
I strain after accurate ellipses and it seems like problems only appear after the painting is finished.
If ellipse drawing is a struggle for you, practice, practice, practice.
Two good things to know as you draw:
1. an ellipse is made up of arcs and has NO flat edges - just like a circle;
2. if divided into quarters, each quarter will be exactly like the others - just like a circle.
2 comments:
Good write-up about drawing. When we went to Creede we visited the Quiller Gallery and studio. In his studio he had a stack of his drawings. He developed paintings from these drawings. One painting in particular that I remember, he was skiing and came upon a scene that impressed him, so he did a sketch of it. (I normally would have taken a picture of it.) He took it home and worked up a beautiful painting from it. I was very impressed by that and since then I have been more careful about my drawings even though it does take a little time away from painting. It is well worth the time. So I wholeheartedly back up what you say about drawing.
Stephen Quiller is a great example of a painter who uses drawing to good advantage. His drawings are so beautiful - I am always inspired by them.
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