MAKING YOUR MARK: The Searching Line

Lauren Tokunaga

 Last week we discussed building "Eye-Hand" coordination by means of Contour Line drawing. Last night we expanded our study to include Gesture drawing. But before that the class made a series of drawings addressing the "cross-contours" of a form. Cross-contours address the volumes on the frontal planes of an object as opposed to drawing the outside edge. In Lauren's drawing above, notice the absence of vertically located lines on the left and right sides of the gourd. The lines move across the surface horizontally. Most importantly, notice the curvature of the lines. Straight lines on a round object will flatten the volumes.

Riley Crandall

 Riley's drawing above is an example of "Scribble" Gesture. Like all line drawings, these are very personal, exhibiting one's individual signature. Notice the twisting, turning, wandering and searching nature of the line. The objective is to start in the center or core of the subject (instead of an outside edge) moving towards and searching for the outside contours. The object should appear solid with mass as well as a sense of light.

Leah Lehr

And just for fun, we ended the night with portraits employing the "Mass" Gesture technique. The Mass technique is similar to the Scribble yet it is tonal rather than linear. The artist draws with the side of the charcoal, making broad, sweeping strokes, instead of the tip which would make lines. Although Leah's drawing is more advanced addressing the identity of the model, the objective was really to capture the transitions between light and dark areas. For instance, the receding values in the eye sockets, the shadow under the nose and chin and a softening of the volumes around the forehead and cheeks. Remember dark values recede, whereas light values advance (look at the nose and the cheeks).