PORTRAITS and PORTFOLIOS ARE DUE (THURS., DEC. 8)

Andrew Wong

Yesterday the class continued with portraits. Again, the objective was to avoid caricature and create solid, three dimensional images exhibiting mass and volume. Andrew has very skillfully addressed the features as well as the subtle transitions in value. The portrait fills the page adding to the pensive expression.

SPECIAL NOTE PORTFOLIOS ARE DUE NEXT THURS., DEC. 8. This list is posted above.

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.

PORTRAIT DRAWING: The Features

Joy Montague

Elijah Schwarz

Andrameda Martinez

Last night the class began Portrait studies. Before drawing the whole face the class made a series of studies addressing the individual features. When drawing eyes it is important to remember that you are drawing a spherical form. The eyelids should have a top and frontal plane. In addition, they should arc across the eyeball. Shadows should be placed in the corners of the eye as well as below the upper eyelid.
Noses should also exhibit top, side and possibly bottom planes. The ball of the nose should overlap the nostrils and should not only be shaded on the lower half but should project a cast shadow as well.
And lastly, the mouth should be drawn with a subtle arc across the dental sphere. The upper lip is generally darker than the lower lip. In addition, the mouth will have more volume if the lower lip is rendered with tone and limited line rather than totally outlining the shape.

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: continued

Last Wednesday the class had another round of drawing each other. Kayla's drawing above is a strong example appropriate scale to dimensions of the paper, rendering the categories of light, mood and expression as well as additive and reductive drawing techniques. Observe the volumes around the eyes, forehead, nose and chin. In addition, she has effectively rendered the hair without overdoing it. The facial expression is complementary to the way the head is framed on the page. The model appears almost lost in the confinement of the limited space.

PORTRAITS

Justin Horgan

Students continued drawing portraits last night. Justin's drawing above exhibits a very strong and bold sense of weight and volume. The additive and reductive drawing techniques skillfully capture the advancing and receding planes of the face. Justin's handling of the materials has effectively created  an almost carved or sculptural appearance.

PORTRAITS: Proportions and the Rule of Thirds

Grantt Miksis "Morgan Caricchio"

Last night students began work on Portraiture. We discussed "The Rule of Thirds", which is a guide to the proportions of the face. In a frontal view, the face may be divided into equal thirds. Starting with the hair line to the brow then to the bottom of the nose and lastly to the chin. Everyone more or less fits into these proportions. We began with a couple of planar studies and then to the skull. The drawing above was superimposed over the top of a skull drawing. This not only lays the foundation for the structure of the face but helps get the portrait going by adding some dimension and volume.

WED. 5/1 Self Portraits

Steven Freebairn

Students completed work on their self-portraits last night. First, we did warmed up with two skeletons drawing them from different angles every couple of minutes.
Steven's drawing above exhibits a good sense of the underlying bone structure illustrated in the subtle shifts of value across the face. The hair is typically a problem area; usually getting "over-drawn". Steven has done a great job with his hair by laying down tonal areas and then working reductively as well as additively to rendering groupings of the hairs and highlights.

MON. 4/29 Self-Portraits continued

Colton Davis

Students began work on self-portraits in the method and medium of their choice. In the drawing above, Colton has decided to work with colored pencils. His method utilizes long parallel hatch lines that follow the cross-contours of the face. The icy-blue color of his eyes is set of by the warm, reddish-orange accents in the flesh tones.

THURS. 11/17 Portraits

Ashley Hurd

Saroeuth Chhoeung

Students made portrait drawings of each other. We discussed the proportions of the head and made studies from skulls to start. Ashley has drawn a dynamic and exciting image by using fluid lines and rich values.  Note the volume achieved by addressing the skull structure under the skin.  Saroeuth's drawing is equally powerful in mood and emotion.  His use of additive and reductive techniques captures of the volumes of the face while adding textural variety.

TUES. APR. 26, PORTRAITS

Last night students made portrait drawings of each other.  First, everyone drew a skull that was projected on the screen.  Then they paired up.  The skull drawing had to be manipulated and redrawn the fit the proportions of the sitter. Charlie Sisemore's (top) drawing above illustrates how the attention to anatomy adds dimensionality and volume to the portrait.  Alissa Griffin's drawing (bottom) also reveals her attention to anatomy while also paying close attention to the proportional relationships of the features of the face.  Both drawings exhibit strong mark-making and captivating expressions.

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.