Gallery #3

 Working from life is a difficult stage in developing drawing skill and this week's lesson was geared to help with that transition. With the aid of viewing windows John and Lian worked in the studio to complete a negative space drawing of a stool (there is no stool!) and to do their first composit still life.  



The stool negative space drawing was a real challenge for them both but they managed to make the stool appear by real concentration and effort, focusing on the negative spaces within the format of the frame.

The still life images were really excellent and done in just 45 minutes.
So then we spent the afternoon outside drawing nooks and crannies of the environment of our quinta.

 

 All in all a good day.

Drawings from the first week of home practice.

John

Household chores – still life of 3 objects: I have always admired the pure lines of the white porcelain loo brush holder, and I found the contrast with the softer edges of the plastic bottle and the soft bristles of the brush interesting. I decided to use a ruler for the loo brush holder and handle because the straight lines are so important.
 'Bad boy!!! No rulers in your drawings, you need to practise the art of drawing straight lines as much as the curved ones. The composition is good though and even with slightly wobbly straight lines this would still have had character'

Chair with hat: I had looked across the room at this chair the previous evening, and thought it would make a good subject. But could I do it? First tried to carefully do the negative spaces to form the outline of the chair, and then worked on from there, doing each major space. Thought I had set out the main outer points (legs, sides, top) OK, but in fact it is a bit narrow at the front and too deep at the side. I found the hat v difficult – many attempts to get the circles.

'Did you have your book tilted on your drawing board John? It seems to me that the perspective was affected by the difference of angle between  your viewpoint and your diary. With more practise of working on the board and perspective you will discover how to correctly 'see' the angles and widths before you put them down on paper'

Chestnut tree, seat & stool: What a lovely way to pass an hour and a half on a spring morning! The base of the old chestnut tree has really interesting gnarls and lines – hard to represent. And those curves of the tree seat …. 

'You have chosen quite a difficult perspective view again John but managed to cope with the differing viewpoints well. Trees are notoriously difficult to reproduce but your attention to negative spaces really helped with the overall composition. Well done' 

 Lian

Garry was visiting us, during his visit I drew his hat. I tried to make more long lines, because I saw on the scanned drawings that I
draw with very short lines. It needs a little bit of courage to do so. 

 
'Working with confident lines will become easier with your increased confidence in the construction of your drawing Lian. You captured the perspective of the objects and the spaces well and I particularly liked the business under the table in your garden corner drawing. The hat perched on the corner of the chair was a nice touch.'