I was recently asked:

I have been drawing portraits for a couple months but am still having a hard time with proportions. I’ve gone through websites, books and watched tons of tutorials, but I’m finding angled faces hard to draw. I always end up distorting them into looking straight ahead and it looks wrong. I was wondering if you have any tips to help me.

I think “looking straight ahead” might give me a clue to the problem. You haven’t yet taught yourself to see what is really there and you are drawing what you think is there. That’s a very common problem and one that you have to work at to overcome.

First, I suggest you try using the grid method to produce an accurate set of guidelines. I’m not suggesting that as a permanent answer but because it’s an excellent way of teaching your brain to stop interfering and to accept that what you see is actually correct. Take a look at my tutorial, which takes gridding a stage further: www.SibleyFineArt.com/tutorial–gridding-art.htm

This is a very involved subject so briefly: your brain is wired to store quickly-recognised features as a part of its defence mechanism. If you see a large face with huge teeth and a woolly mane, you need to recognise it instantly and get out of the way of the lion! All detail is discarded, only salient features are stored, and only those with hard edges, such as eyes and mouth. That’s why children usually omit the nose from drawings of people – it has no hard edges or clearly defined boundaries. Also everything is stored as a “straight on” image – when speed of recognition is paramount, simple is best.

Here’s an illustration from my book (discovered behind wallpaper in our bedroom):

A child's interpretation of an airplane

The propeller is round and at the front. The wings are wing-shaped and correctly placed at each side. The pilot is inside the fuselage but can see out above it… it’s all logically correct but each element is seen straight on because that best describes its shape.

Try gridding first, because that removes three-dimensional form, textures, lighting, and detail and it reduces your subject to pure line. And by concentrating on just one square at a time, it divides each feature into unrecognisable shapes – shapes that the brain cannot recognise. Recognised shapes invoke the “I know all about that” response and the naming of parts. “That’s a ‘mouth’ and I know a mouth looks like this…” But that’s a generic stored-image mouth and not THIS mouth. It’s that naming and recognition you have to overcome and when you have, you’ll finally be able to see and draw what you are looking at – and not what you think you can see.

We fancied doing something SPECIAL as a workshop in 2011. Jacksons Hole was mentioned but the cost was prohibitive and then the idea slowly dawned… let’s go back to YELLOWSTONE! But this time, instead of a 5-day workshop, let’s make it six days, make it affordable, and include everything in the price – that’s:

• Illustrated talk by a Park Ranger so we know what to expect and look out for during our visit to…
• A full day in the Park with assistance on photography, taking that unusual but useful shot, and looking for elements that can be combined into a useful setting. And we provide transport and lunch.
• Improve your photography – late afternoon sessions by talented Artist and Photographer Rich Adams beginning with the basic uses of compact cameras.
• Visits to the nearby Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center to get those photographs that eluded you in the Park.
• Five days of uninterrupted drawing covering drawing from the basics up to advanced.
• AND all tools and paper will be provided. Just bring yourself.

YELLOWSTONE USA 6-day SPECIAL WORKSHOP

Dates     : 12th -17th June 2011
Duration : 6 days, 10 am to 5 pm
Location : Holiday Inn, West Yellowstone, Montana

Our busy 2008 Yellowstone 5-day workshop

Novice or advanced, you’ll travel from the basics right through to a final drawing, covering a variety of techniques along the way, including the use of references and how to use them for composition, how to use Negative Drawing effectively, and the benefits of seeing and using Negative Space. And no lectures! I prefer to work with you individually so you can learn and explore by drawing.

And I’ll show you how you can break down any drawing, however complex, into easily manageable parts, and apply simple step-by-step techniques to draw them believably.

You’ll learn both the “HOW” and the more important “WHY” – the one that adds understanding to the other. Whatever your present ability, you will leave with a new-found knowledge of how to draw effectively, and how to remove stress from your drawing projects.

WORKSHOP DETAILS

We’re doing everything we can to make this special workshop affordable – including reserving rooms in two hotels to give you a cheaper option. And we scouted for local RV and campsites as well as B&Bs. They’re all listed on my website.

For full details of the workshop, including local accommodation, maps, travel and Things To Do, visit:

www.SibleyFineArt.com/Yellowstone

Let’s make this a workshop to remember! Or, as Rich said, something to tell your grandchildren about  

This workshop is limited to just 25 artists to ensure individual attention, so head over now to the workshop page and fill in the “Keep Me Informed” details to make certain of receiving the newsletters.

Kevin emailed me to ask:

I read in your book (Line to Life) yesterday that you use colour shapers sometimes for blending. I would like to buy a set but I was not aware that they came in different sizes. Could you please advise me as to which size to buy. The ones I have seen are size 0, 2 and 6. Many thanks and I love the book.

Colour Shaper varieties

Colour Shapers are intended for painters but I find then ideal for blending in tight spots. Unlike tortillons or stumps, they don’t absorb much graphite, so they lighten less. And they’re easily cleaned by screwing the business end into a lump of Blu-Tack.

They come in different sizes and profiles, as you mentioned, and in two types – stiff and flexible. I know a couple of artists who prefer the stiff variety but I find the flexible more appealing.

I have three:

Flat chisel – size 6 (rarely used)
Taper point – size 1 (I think – it’s rubbed off!)
Taper point – size 2

Of the three I mainly use the size 1 Taper Point. I find it’s ideal for blending when I’m drawing remarques. Because I remarque on the coated surface of the (offset-litho) printing paper, I’m restricted to using 2B and 2H, and I achieve the half tones by establishing the line element of each area with the 2B and then dragging the graphite over the lighter areas.

If you don’t have one you won’t miss it. But if you do, you’ll find unique uses for it. In my case, I very rarely blend anything, apart from skies and dirt floors, so blenders are not my most popular tool. But the Colour Shapers certainly fulfil a need at times.

Following a successful workshop tour of the USA this year it’s time to begin planning for next year. Nothing beats local knowledge, so I’m always grateful to receive assistance from my local co-organisers and in return I offer a free workshop.

I’m planning to visit the US twice in 2010 – in May/June and October. I hope the first trip will include Canada, where I have had two tentative invitations, but more are welcome.

The second trip will probably include California (Solvang) and possibly a north California venue.

If you have suggestions for a venue in any state or province I’ll be happy to consider including it.

As well as running workshops locally in North Yorkshire I also try to run at least one elsewhere in the country each year – in 2009 it was Glastonbury and the year before I was in Hampshire. I’m looking for a co-organiser and a suitable venue in any other part of the country (or even near a past venue). Could you, or your local Art Society, help?

I am currently considering a trip to Australia in 2011, visiting as many locations to hold workshops as I can. More than one workshop may be held in the Melbourne area but I’m looking for suitable venues in other locations and states too. See below for details.

The requirements are quite simple: a suitable venue, about 20 attendees, and a base to which I can ship supplies (workshop packs, pre-prepared line drawing etc — you could fit the whole lot into a suitcase!).

The venue need not be any art-related place. I use a village hall here in the North Yorkshire that has good light, a kitchen, plentiful parking, disabled access and toilets, and sufficient tables and chairs. A church hall or community hall would do too, or a hotel with a conference room (although they can be expensive).

Workshops would be either 2-day or 3-day, probably 10am – 5pm.

I need about 20 (maximum 25) attendees to make the workshop viable. Maybe you belong to a local art group and know of other groups you can approach? Would your local newspaper be interested in running an editorial piece on the event? This local knowledge is invaluable – you know things I cannot possibly find out from the UK.

I’m not expecting anyone to have to spend money – if, for example, posters or flyers are required for display in local art stores, I’ll arrange that from here or pay for you to do it locally. I’ll give all the support you need, such as circulating the workshop through my mailing lists, advertising on my websites and blog, paying venue deposits and so on. I will also advertise the workshop on other websites, such as the SAA website where I’m a Professional Associate, which has quite a few American and other foreign members, and on my own Starving-Artists site and at ArtPapa.com (both of which have an international membership). In brief, I’ll do everything I can to attract attendees and help in all other respects too.

If you’re interested, please email me to let me know.

To find out more visit my website’s Workshop Central.

NEGATIVE DRAWING
Negative drawing enables you to perform tasks easily. We previously saw:

• How we can control separation of background, midground and foreground elements.
• How we can isolate those areas we don’t yet understand.
• How Negative Drawing protect our virgin whites.

Negative drawing involves the creation (or isolation) of an element within your drawing by simply drawing around it. To return to our dog example, by completing the background first, you have an established setting in which your dog can exist. Because you are drawing this dog as a part of its world, the two will become unified and possess an enhanced feeling of reality.

RECESSION
Up until now I’ve been referring to background and foreground. But in reality our dog is more likely to be situated in the midground. So by “background” I’m really referring to the major part of the setting – that area BEHIND the dog, and not the foreground, which is on a level with and below the dog.

We will have created enough of the dog’s world to give us an understanding on the environment – a ‘feeling’ for that world. Because we cannot avoid taking that world into account as we draw, the dog will inevitably become a part of it.

In practice, you might choose to partially draw the background to get a feel for it, then to begin drawing the dog, establishing the tones required for the background around its outline. That’s OK if that appears to be the logical way to work.

LOGIC
Logic, as I explained earlier, plays a major role in this way of working. Logic in this case is mainly dictated by understanding. You draw what you understand then, when that understanding wanes, you logically move to another area of understanding. This is difficult to describe but easy to understand in practice.

Let’s take one small area again – the junction of the dog’s coat along its back with the background. If you want that topline to be obvious to the viewer you cannot draw the dog first. Without a background, you have nothing to balance your tones to. So we draw that section of the background first, right down to the dog’s back. There we have two choices – if we fully understand the outline of the dog, we can draw around the hairs along its back, leaving them pristine white. Or we can stop short of the dog and make the junction a job in its own right. This gives you all the control you need. Finally you can concentrate on the dog, engineering the tones used within the coat to make it stand out from the background – to whatever extent you wish. It’s a logical progression that puts you in control.

Below you will see that I drew the brickwork down to but short of the dog’s back. Why? Because I was immersed in brick, not hair. Now I can concentrate on defining the dog’s outline while blending new drawing back up into the brickwork – I’m thinking “hair”, not “brick”.

Brickwork stopped short of dog. Now I can concentrate on defining the dog’s outline while blending new drawing back up into the brickwork. I was thinking “brick”, now I’m thinking “hair”.

Note that I didn’t attempt to draw the dog while defining its outline. My concentration was purely on the creation of the hairs around its extremity.

CONCENTRATION
A drawing, any drawing, can be broken down and simplified in this way. If you’re drawing the wooden side of a barn, just draw wood. If grass overlaps it at the base, draw around it. You’re drawing wood – your concentration is on wood – you’re living wood! And, as a bonus, when you begin to draw grass, you’ll have full control over those negatively drawn stalks that overlap the barn door, so you can highlight them, push them into shade, or make them as dominant or subtle as you wish.

WHICH IS DOMINANT?
Where any two textures meet, ask yourself which is dominant. Which will logically control the tones of the other. If we draw the grass first, the tones used within the blades will control and limit the tones available for our barn door. If we draw the barn door first, its tonal values will control those available for the grass. Which is logically dominant from the point of view of physically drawing them? Which is easier to engineer to overcome the limitation imposed by the other? No contest, in my mind, the barn door wins on all counts. It’s so much easier to engineer the blades of grass to stand out from, or blend into, the barn door.

As a bonus, Negative Drawing prevents you from polluting the virgin white within your drawing. Erasing graphite from a spot that should be a pristine white highlight will rarely achieve a good result.