PROPORTION: Sighting Diagonals

Corbin

Christian

Last night we continued addressing proportion and sighting techniques. The still life consisted of large and small blocks placed at various angles. The objective was to draw the blocks maintaining a consistent eye level. In addition to rendering the still life, Corbin has fully explored the materials and their application with additive and reductive techniques. The boxes illustrate light, texture and volume sometimes in a solid dimensional manner and others  ambiguously and transparently. Christian's objectivity is in stark contrast to Corbin's more subjective approach. Where Corbin has been expressive and inventive, Christian has observed the still life with a critical "eye" illustrating the blocks with clean, sharp contours and soft values.

PROPORTION: Sighting

Dylan

Emily

Rachel

Ryan

Last night we discussed Proportion and the measuring technique called "sighting."First the class made drawings by trying to identify the ideal solids within each object. For example, a wine bottle has a large cylinder for the body, a cone for the shoulders and another cylinder for the neck. The objective was to establish a three-dimensional armature of the objects. Important things to note in the drawings above are 1. The use of central axis lines for symmetrical objects. 2. Identify the parts (i.e. ideal solids). 3. Draw the forms transparently (see Rachel's drawing). 4. Pay attention to the negative space and relate the proportions of one object to another (see Ryan's drawing). Once the objects were drawn, students then used the "sighting" technique to check proportions and make corrections.

IDEAL SOLIDS and PROPORTION

Edison Xiong

Friday morning began with a series of the Ideal Solids. Edison's drawing above combines contour lines and tone. The line work is very complementary to the tonalities. There is a gentle balance between breaking the line to accentuate highlights while darkening areas to complement the highlights and light areas. Furthermore, observe how his use additive and reductive mark-making follows the cross-contours of the forms.

Siobhan Williams

In the afternoon, students made proportional studies of single objects and later groupings. Siobhan has clearly illustrated the locations of ellipses and the various ideal solids. Also note how she has used a bolder, darker line quality to advance the forms in the foreground.

PROPORTION: Identifying the Ideal Solids within Complex Forms

Luis Rodriguez Chombo

Lauren Tokunaga

Last night began with a series of gesture "warm-ups". Luis' drawing above is an example of the Mass technique. Notice his attention to the negative space and the use of dark tonalities to establish depth. The rhythm of the dark areas moves from the lower right to the lower left and then diagonally up to the right.
After the "warm-ups", we moved onto a discussion of Proportion. When dealing with proportions it is always important to consider the artist's intent. Remember, realism is not a requirement for "good" art. Cartoon proportions are very different that realistic proportions and there are many gray areas between these two extremes. The most important thing about Proportion is that there is continuity amongst the shapes and forms and that the space rendered is believable.
Lauren's drawing above clearly identifies the combination of stacked "ideal solids" as well as all relevant ellipses. An area of special interest is how she used the negative space to squeeze the base of the urn. Notice how the long curving lines sweep down and push in on the form.