PORTRAITS : The Andrew Loomis Method

Diana

Jill

For our second attempt at portrait drawing, we employed the methods of illustrator Andrew Loomis. Starting with a sphere, locating the length between brow and nose and then establishing the remaining two-thirds of the proportions before addressing the contours and features. Both drawings exhibit a large scale portrait well proportioned to the dimensions of the paper. The planes of the face have been well addressed and value has aided in locating their placement. Diana's drawing skillfully illustrates how the hair sets over the head like a hat. Jill has created a very soft drawing emphasizing the the eyes, gently balanced with the shadow under the chin wrapping around behind the ear.

PORTRAITS: Head Construction

Ryan

Brendan

Last night the class finished addressing the individual features with studies of mouths before moving on to drawing the whole head. We discussed dividing the face into thirds as well as addressing the topography of the face through advancing and receding planes.

PORTRAITS: The Features

Dylan

Rio

Last night the class began working on Portraits. Before trying to draw the whole head, we focused on the individual features of the face. Students drew eyes and then noses before we ran out of time. Tomorrow night we will draw mouths and then discuss the proportions of the head.

TWO-POINT LINEAR PERSPECTIVE: Imaginary Space

Archway demo

This week the class continued working on the Imaginary Space project. We will critique these drawings first thing Monday before moving on to Portraits. Pix to follow.

TWO-POINT LINEAR PERSPECTIVE: Imaginary Space

This week students have been working on creating an imaginary space in two-point linear perspective. We will continue working on these drawings all next week. Below are examples from previous classes.

COLOR: Individual Still Life Arrangements

Last night the students made their own still life arrangements of three to five objects.
Kate took a limited amount of objects and repeated them throughout the composition creating rhythms of similar colors and shapes. The colors are electric and luminous like a video game. The objects and placement is also reminiscent of a game where the player wanders through a landscape of prizes and pitfalls.
Rachel's drawing has a very dramatic almost narrative quality. The light creeps across the floor pooling around the objects as if escaping from a cracked door. Notice how she has swapped the colors on the objects to unify the arrangement.

NEXT WEEK: LINEAR PERSPECTIVE (BRING RULERS AND YARD STICKS, PENCILS AND ERASERS)

COLOR: Dice and Balls

Christian

David

Veroncia

Last night the class made colored pencil drawings on black paper. When working on toned paper, it is beneficial to take advantage of the local value of the paper. In the case of black paper, the shadows are already present. Therefore, the approach is to work from dark to light as opposed to white paper where one works from light to dark. First the light areas are sketched in with white pencil working around the shadows. Then the colors are applied.
Christian's drawing at the top has a lot of character with a complementary color scheme of tertiary colors (yellow-green and red-violet or magenta). The quirky shapes are complemented by expressive rendering of the values and simple, stylized marks in the background.
David's drawing too exhibits lively mark-making and bold highlights. His drawing illustrates the power and importance in using the white pencil.
Veronica's drawing exhibits very acidic and electrified complementary colors. Again the mark-making supports the colors in a very active way. In addition, notice how she has placed proportional amounts of each color across the composition to reinforce unity.