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.