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.

PORTRAITS: The Rule of Thirds

Darryl

Yesterday the class made portraits of each other. First students drew a skull which was projected on a screen. The skull drawings were then reworked with a classmate's portrait over the top. The objective was to avoid caricature and to create a solid, dimensional portrait exploring a combination of mark-making techniques. Darryl's drawing above exhibits additive and reductive techniques as well as a wide range of values. This is a very powerful and visceral image. The portrait is heavy visually as well as emotionally.

PORTRAITS: The Features

Last Tuesday, the class began addressing the individual facial features before starting full portraits. The discussion focused on the volumes and curvature of the features. Eyes should illustrate the spherical nature of the eyeball as well as capturing the planes of the eyelids. The nose should illustrate the planes as well as focusing attention to the ball and underside of the tip of the nose and the cast shadow. The mouth should follow an arc across the face. The upper lip is typically darker than the lower lip and the lower lip casts a shadow. These are just a few of the key areas that need to be addressed.

SELF PORTRAITS

Ben Farren

Joy Montague

Last night the class made self portraits. Again the drawings were started by copying a skull projected on the screen. The skull drawing was then reworked with the portrait drawn over the top. Ben's drawing is a stylized illustration complete with reverse quote on his t-shirt. The real beauty of the drawing is the manner in which he has drawn the hair. It appears as a solid mass with overlapping light and dark accents.
Joy's drawing is very well proportioned to the page. The advancing and receding planes are very well defined. In addition, the features address all the key elements discussed in class; curvature of eyes and mouth, darkness of upper lip, etc.

PORTRAITS: Features and the Whole Face

Jim Paschal

 Friday morning began with a series of drawings addressing the individual features of the face. Jim's drawing above has skillfully identified light patterns around the eye. Notice how the eyeball is present behind the lower eyelid. The eyelid arches across the eyeball. In addition, he has clearly illustrated the top portion of the eyelid and the recessed edges of the eyeball.

Linda Fleming

 Linda's drawing of a mouth has illustrated the dark and light patterns beginning with the upper lip (dark), lower lip (light), shadow under lower lip (dark), etc. In addition she has captured the highlight over the upper lip and the dimples in the corners of the mouth.

Devon Ste. Marie-Rubin

 Devon's drawing of a nose illustrates the top, side and bottom planes. Notice how the ball of the nose is shaded similarly to the way values are applied to a sphere. Furthermore, this is a great study for the mouth as well. The curvature and projection of the mouth is particularly well rendered.

Apollonio Fontanilla

 In the afternoon, the class made full portrait studies of each other. Apo's drawing of Linda is very muted in tone yet is expressively powerful. This drawing is surprisingly textural.

Devon Ste. Marie-Rubin

Devon has drawn a very striking image of Lyric with a strong gaze and exaggerated volumes. The features and structure of the head are bold and strong. The mark-making is rich and varied with smeared, textured and reductive applications.

PORTRAITS

Crysta Maguire

Jorge Tuluxan

Joy Montague

Last night the class drew portraits from each other. The previous evening students made drawings of a skull. The skull drawing was reworked last night with the portrait drawn over the top. The benefit of the skull is to provide a loose structure as well as to get the paper a little dirty. Each of the drawings above address the underlying structure of the face. In addition, they illustrate the dark and light pattern within the eyes, under the nose, lower lip and chin. Without this rhythm portraits may appear too flat.

PORTRAITS continued

Last Wednesday and yesterday the class continued making portraits of each other. Although both  drawings below exhibit figures locked into a strong gaze the moods and characteristics are very different. Ashley's drawing has very soft lighting. The focus is soft as well. The gaze is slightly downward and pensive. Drew's drawing is very dramatic. The values are rich and bold and the figure gazes upward into the distance.

*Special note portfolios are due tomorrow Wed., Dec. 2 The list is above.

PORTRAITS: Head Construction

Drew Horton

Megan Svendsen

Last night we began drawing portraits. Everyone drew a skull and then superimposed a portrait of a classmate on top. The two drawings above exhibit very solid and "fleshed out " faces. Notice the attention to the key "peaks and valleys"of the face. These areas are the eye sockets and brow, under the nose, under the lip, and under the chin. In addition, take note of how the mark-making follows the cross-contours of the planes of the face as well.

PORTRAITS

Celindrea Debuck

Ezra Barbour

Last Friday the class continued working with portraits. Celindrea's drawing at the top exhibits strong handling of the materials addressing both the volumes of the face as well as the light patterns. The hair in particular is well rendered. The shape of the hair is dense and volumetric. Ezra's drawings below exhibit a more a "unfinished" quality yet are equally resolved as the drawing by Celindrea. Ezra has employed a line and tone method of drawing the portrait. The images are less about light and volume and more concerned with the essence and intensity of the expressions of the two models.

PORTRAITS: In Ink

John Burgess

Tatiana Guberman

Last night the class continued with portrait studies. Some students worked from observation with mirrors others used photographs or their phones as source material. The drawings were expressive, illustrative as well as cartoonish. John's drawing above is explosive and dynamic. The intense dark values and expressive handling of the materials are perfectly suited to the imagery. In contrast to John's drawing, Tatiana's is quiet and introspective . The values are light evoking a feeling of calm.

PORTRAITS

Dylan Murdoch

Last Wednesday, Friday and Monday the classes have been working with portraiture. Dylan's drawing exhibits a strong sense of structure and light employing both tonal and hatching techniques.

Eduardo Gonzales

Eduardo has skillfully rendered the forms and features of the face as well as capturing a strong sense of mood, light and atmosphere.

Jack Ryan

Jack's drawing has a strong sense of character rich with texture and personality.

Sandy Brown

Sandy's drawing is also rich in personality and texture. In addition, she has effectively used the materials and mark-making to accentuate the forms of the face.

Tatiana Guberman

Tatiana's drawing exhibits strong volumes and textures as well as capturing the models expression albeit slightly exaggerated.

PORTRAITS

Joe Mulcaire

Last night the class made portraits of each other. We discussed the Andrew Loomis method and looked at examples of portrait drawings from Jim Dine, Diego Rivera and Gregory Gillespie to name a few. The drawing above was initiated by drawing a skull first and then superimposing the portrait over the top. The drawing clearly illustrates the advancing and receding planes of the head, the most important being the eye sockets, under the nose and lower lip, the cheeks and the neck. Furthermore, Joe has utilized additive and reductive techniques to capture the light as well as addressing texture. Adding to the solitary gaze of the model is Joe's rendering of the cold, empty room in the background.

PORTRAITS

Nelson Le

Class began Friday morning with a discussion on the proportions of the head and the "Rule of Thirds." You can clearly see in the planar study above how Nelson was comparing the locations of the features to one another.

Allison Brooke

After making some planar studies and reviewing slides, students drew from a projected skull and then superimposed a classmates portrait on top. Allison's drawing above still reveals the skull structure underneath the portrait of Dante. In addition to this structure provided by the skull, her mark-making and handling of the charcoal materials and eraser are very complementary to the volumes of the face.

FRI. 5/3 Self-Portraits

Marina Avila

Students drew self-portraits yesterday. Marina's drawing above is a good example of how bone structure and planes influence value and gradations. Depth is achieved by establishing a strong core shadow on the left side of the face. More importantly, there are alternating dark and light areas moving vertically down the face starting with the forehead to the eye sockets then the nose, under the nose leading to the mouth and under the lip and lastly the chin and the neck. It is crucial to address these "peaks and valleys" within the topography of the face in order to create a three-dimensional, volumetric portrait. There are no flat areas on the face; the surface is constantly changing.

THURS. 4/26 Portraits continued

Keely Killeen

Students in the T/Th night class had another round of portrait drawing of their classmates. In the drawing above, value has been used very effectively to illustrate the planes of the face. The light to gray transitions across the forehead and brow as well as the cheeks identify the volume and depth of the bone structure. The tilted gesture adds to the emotion portrayed in the model's eyes. Light smudging in the background suggests a hint of depth and atmosphere.

WED. 4/25 Portraits continued

Anna De Torres

Students continued making portrait drawings of classmates. The primary objective in these drawings is to capture the proportions of the head and not likeness. Cartoons and caricatures can capture likeness without being proportional. Anna's drawing above holds the page well by rendering in large scale utilizing much of the image area. The portrait exhibits good attention to the proportions and structure of the "head",
I also gave the tentative list of drawings due in the final portfolio. The list is only partial/ up-to-date. DHR and homework will be due the final week of classes. The list is above in the menu bar.

11/10 Portraits

Wednesday night the class starting working on portraits.  Students made drawings of a skull and then drew classmates portraits over the skull. Chantel Carter's drawing has captured the gaze of Jeremy's eyes.  Although there are some distortions and exaggerations, this only adds to the character and presence of the sitter.  Furthermore, some of the underlying proportional and structural lines are still present revealing the thought process of the artist.

4/20 Class Portraits

Drawings from T/Th class.  By filling the page and using high contrasting and bold values, Jonathan Florence has created a very striking and confrontational portrait.  Andres Fernandez has used distortion and broad sweeping values to create a very dynamic portrait. Robin Noelle has employed a slight exaggeration of forms hinging on caricature to capture the essence and character of Mary's gaze.  And lastly, Rashaun Parlett has used bold features complemented by bold marks and values to create a very dimensional and volumetric portrait. The mark-making in the hair and on the right side cheek and chin are particularly well drawn.