LINE: Gesture and Volume Techniques

Ryan

Last night class began with a discussion on Gesture Drawing. Where Contour drawings are single, slow, incisive lines, Gesture drawings are quick, spontaneous and group lines together. Before addressing gestural techniques we made Cross-Contour drawings addressing volume. Cross-contours flow across the typography of a form. The left and right side contours are implied through the repetition of horizontal lines arcing across the form.

Diana

Next, we made Continuous Line Drawings. This technique is a bridge between Contour and Gesture. Like Contour, the line addresses the edges of the form but like Gesture the lines are repeated, the largest parts are addressed first moving towards the smaller parts and lastly, the form is rendered transparently. The objective is to avoid "outlining", which is flat and two-dimensional. The gourd above is constructed like a "snowman"; first you make the bottom, then the middle and lastly, the head.

Emily

The drawing above is an example of the Scribble Gesture technique. This approach addresses the mass of the form while also illustrating the light. Notice when lines are grouped together they act more like values. Dark lines tend to advance in space where dark values recede.

The Mass technique, like Scribble, addresses the mass and light. The object should appear like a solid, smokey, mass. There should be a sense of weight as well as the light patterns.

We ended the evening with Gesture drawings combining the techniques of Mass and Line. The Line portion captures the structure or armature of the form where the Mass addresses the weight, solidity and light.

LINE: GESTURAL TECHNIQUES

Mariah Green

After the slide lecture, the class made drawings in the cross-contour technique (ex. above). Notice that the contours arc across the front of the form and the outer contours or outline is implied.

Bonnie Lin

Next the class made drawings exploring the continuous line technique. The line technique addresses the structure of the form. Notice the "accents" in Bonnie's drawing and specifically their placement. She has placed them in a zig-zag orientation addressing key areas where the contour lines turn in space around the form. This is important because it introduces diagonals into the composition which are more dynamic that vertical and horizontals.

Luke Mello

Luke's drawing employs the scribble technique. The drawing above exhibits mass and light as well as texture.

Gabriel Rodriguez

Gabriel's drawing illustrates the mass technique. Mass captures the weight and volume of a form as well as the light. Notice the variations in tonality and the placement of similar values in the darker patches.

David Covarrubias

David's drawing illustrates the mass and line technique combined. Again, the line brings structure where mass adds form and light. Notice how he has balanced the dark and light areas diagonally across the composition.

LINE: Gestural Method

Last night class began with a slide lecture on Gesture Drawing: the act of quick, spontaneous and all encompassing rendering of an artist's subject. To begin, the class made cross-contour studies.

Graham Metcalfe

Graham has established a slightly downward view of the gourd. Notice how the lines move across the front of the form, bending at the ends to address the way the edges recede. In addition, he has "accented" the ends to suggest the way light is striking the form.

Andrameda Martinez

Next we made Continuous-line drawings. The idea is to use one unbroken line that wraps around the form addressing the exterior edge as well as the cross-contours. Notice in Andrameda's drawing that the cross-contours move vertically as well as horizontally. The thing to remember is how Line illustrates the "structure" of the form.

Joanna Alvarez

Joanna's drawing is an example of the Mass technique. These drawings address the volume and solidity of the form while also illustrating light patterns. Notice how Joanna has used dark values on the shadow side of the form to establish a light source. In addition, the dark values push receding planes back. The examples being the neck and the base of the gourd.

Crysta Maguire

We ended the evening with a drawing emphasizing the negative space: the areas around and within the objects. The drawing above is a group of gourds. The objective of this drawing was to "suggest the objects". In other words, to draw just enough without drawing too much. Take note of the variations in tonalities as well as the lighter and darker marks employed.
Note: Not shown from last night is an example of the Scribble technique and the combined techniques of Line and Mass together.

LINE: Gesture

Last night we picked up the pace and started working with Gesture techniques. First we discussed Cross-contour drawing then Continuous line drawing and finally Gesture.

Amelia Ketzer Dean

Amelia's drawing is an example of the Cross-contour technique. There are no outside contours rendered. Instead the edge is implied by the ends of the horizontal, arcing lines. Notice the tension in the neck of the gourd where the lines are closer together. This is evident at the base of the gourd as well adding a sense of weight.

Techi Brant

Techi's drawing illustrates the Cross-contour technique (bottom) as well as the Continuous line technique. Notice how the line searches for the contour edges. As the charcoal makes a second or even third pass around the gourd the edge is slightly redirected, correcting the form. This creates a bird cage-like effect adding volume.

Techi Brant

The Scribble and Mass techniques were also discussed (see tabs above for more info). We ended the class by drawing bones with the technique that seemed most appropriate for addressing the form or which best suited the student's sensibility. Techi's drawing above is a combination of line technique (for structure) and mass technique (for mass and light). Notice the variations in line quality moving from dark to light and thick to thin. These "accents" in line are more suggestive and volumetric than if she had used one type of line. In addition, her use of tone adds weight, light and a sense of atmosphere. The bone appears to sit or integrate with the paper rather than merely float on the page.

LINE: Gesture

Last night we continued exploring Line through a series of drawings addressing cross-contours, continuous line, scribble, mass and negative space. The important distinctions to remember are 1. line drawings address the structure of form and 2. scribble and mass techniques address mass and volume. In addition, the latter address value changes in light because they are essentially tonal drawings.

Dylan Freitas

 Cross-contours address the contours moving across and around a form rather than the outside edges. "Accents" in the line quality may suggest a change in the structure as planes advance and recede as well as addressing the way light falls on the form.

Suzie Larsen

 Continuous Lines address the structure and volume of a form by creating an armature or skeleton with vertical and horizontal cross-contours.

Joe Mulcaire

 Scribble Gesture addresses the mass and weight of a form as well as the location of a light source.

Erin Deacon

 Mass Gesture like Scribble addresses the mass and volume of an object. Because it is a tonal technique, the categories of light are illustrated as well.

Joe Mulcaire

Negative Space and/or shapes are the areas around and within the forms. In the case of the arrangement above, the objective is to "suggest" the gourds by drawing the shadows, receding planes and passages between the objects.

LINE: Contour vs. Gesture

Kate Donovan

Friday morning began with blind contour studies of small maple leaves. The page was completed with slow contour studies of organic forms and tools. The objective was to build "eye-hand" coordination and fluid, confident line quality. Notice how the layering of objects creates a sense of depth in the composition. At the same time, negative areas are strengthened by closing them in when  the edges of objects are allowed to touch.

Gianna Davy

Friday afternoon began with cross-contour studies of gourds.Notice the character of the line as it moves across the surface  addressing the topography of the gourd. As the planes recede or turn away from us the lines get closer together creating a darker value.

Susan Lazzareschi

Next, we made continuous-line drawings addressing structure. Notice how the gourd has been divided forming a cage-like rendering of the volumes. The accenting on the right under the "chin" of the gourd and at the base add tension and a greater sense of weight.

Christian Curtis

Then we made scribble gesture drawings. Each drawing has its own sense of texture depending on the rhythm and movement of the lines. Scribble gesture drawings should have a sense of mass as well as light.

Isabella Miranda

We finished the day with a series of mass gesture drawings, starting with one gourd and then small groups. The mass technique captures the "mass" of the object and the light through broad, tonal sweeps. Notice the way the volumes advance and recede with the placement of darker or lighter values. In general, dark values will add weight to a form and cause "planes" to recede. The neck of the gourd is pinched and further away than the belly of the gourd so it makes sense to darker this area. The head and belly are advancing areas so lighter tones are applied.

LINE:Contour vs. Gesture

Allison Brooke

Friday morning began with a discussion on Contour Line Drawings. The main points to reflect on are 1. Contour is a slow, single, incisive line that defines interior as well as exterior volumes 2. Dark lines advance, light lines recede 3. "Accents" in line quality add volume and may identify changes in structure, weight, value, texture and color. The hammer head in Allison's drawing above is especially well drawn. Observe the subtleties in line quality addressing the hard and soft contours.
Katherine's drawing below is a Cross-Contour study. Notice how she has accented the right side, bottom and neck area of the gourd establishing weight, shadow and negative areas. Cross-Contour drawings emphasize the contours across a form and imply the exterior contours.

Katherine Brown

After the lunch break, we discussed Gesture Drawings. Now Gesture (being quick and spontaneous) and Contour Drawings (slow and methodical) are opposites in technique but they both build "eye-hand" coordination and are therefore equally important and should be practiced often.

Kyle Sullivan

Kyle's drawing above is an example of the Scribble Gesture technique. The tangled and layered accumulation of lines captures the mass and volume of an object as well as value. Notice how the line quality also exhibits a textural quality like a "prickly" cactus or thistle.

Emily Sanfilippo

Emily's drawing employs both Line Gesture and Mass Gesture techniques. Line provides structure and the Mass technique adds mass and volume as well as value. Notice how she has also addressed the negative areas around the gourd creating a background and establishing depth within the whole composition.

Ian Cook

We ended class on Friday with drawings emphasizing the negative areas. The goal in these drawings is to "suggest" the presence of the gourd rather than "spoon-feeding" the viewer. By focusing on the negative areas, planes slide into one another bridging the gap between positive and negative areas. Notice how the similarity in value and accenting establishes a rhythm that moves the "eye" around the composition.

LINE: Gesture

Class began with a lecture on mark-making and Gesture Drawing. Due to time constraints we didn't get through all the combinations of Gesture but they are listed above in the LINE tab.

Mersadee Herrin

First we made drawings addressing Cross-Contours. No one has trouble seeing the left and right and top and bottom edges of forms but many have difficulty visualizing the front and back of a form. Cross-contours illustrate the volumes of a form across and/or around a form. Notice in the drawing above how the line quality transitions from dark to light and thick to thin. This suggests a shadow side to the form but also provides a sense of weight.

Daniela Abed

Class ended with a still life arrangement of gourds rendered with the Mass Gesture technique. The Mass technique captures mass and volume of forms but also suggests a sense of light because  the drawing medium is applied tonally in broad, sweeping motions.

Thursday 1/20 LINE: GESTURE

Thursday night began with a lecture concerning the various styles and approaches to gesture.  We viewed works from John Singer Sargent, Alberto Giacometti and Kathe Kollwitz as well as examples from past students. The primary approaches to Gesture Drawing are: Line, Mass, Line/ Mass combined, and Scribble. 

We started with Cross-Contour Drawings to establish an understanding of addressing volumes across the gourd forms.  The natural tendency is to focus on the outside edges.  Instead, Cross-Contours focuses one's attention across the volumes.

Next, we made Continuous Line Drawings to establish a sense of volume all the way around the form; an all encompassing approach.  Note how the edges are rephrased multiple times - not just once around the form.  Furthermore, the lines have a quality of weight and light by pushing harder in areas of more weight and shadow while using less pressure in areas of light and receding volumes - turning away from the viewer.

Next, came Scribble Gestures.  This approach uses line to capture a sense of Mass and Volume as well as Light.  Notice in this student drawing, by spreading the lines apart creates lighter tones whereas grouping the lines closer together creates darker values establishing shades and weight.

Michelle Phillips' drawing has done a great job of capturing the character of the gourd while addressing the volumes through Cross-Contour and the light source and weight of the form through Mass techniques.

Mike Geare's drawing beautifully captures the mass of the forms.  The area of special note is the right side of the gourd where the line breaks merging the positive form with the negative space.

Leslie Gonzalez has done very well at emphasizing the negative areas over the positive forms.  The objective in this drawing is to be suggestive of the gourds without giving away too much - make the viewer work at it. The area of special note in Leslie's drawing is her rendering of the squash in the lower left by the way she has captured the shadows of the indentations and subtly drawing the top.

9/29 Value Patterns: Four Divisions of Value (cont.)

Wednesday night was a repeat of Monday's project. Similar still life arrangement and same directions.  Travis Gilbert's drawing above exhibits a textural approach to using the eraser while addressing cross-contours and the categories of light.

Alex Andrade's drawing illustrates a broad composition with lots of repeating shapes, specifically the triangular or cone-like, funnel forms. Although there could be more distinction between the local values on the objects, the textural rendering and use of the eraser is very well done.

6/15 A Means Towards Gesture

Today we worked on developing volume through gestural techniques.  We started with cross-contour drawings then to continuous line drawing, scribble gesture, mass and finally a combination of techniques. Gesture drawings should be quick, spontaneous and all encompassing of your subject.  In other words, you draw all the way around the forms and through them treating them as though they were transparent.

1/13 GESTURE DRAWING

First night drawing.  The evening started with some cross-contour exercises. Subject: gourds.  Cross-contour lines map the topography of an object similar to the latitudinal and longitudinal lines on a globe. Note the lines crossing the gourd accentuate the roundness of the gourd by arching from left to right.  The lines also transition from dark to light.  This gives a greater sense of volume and suggests a light source (darker lines representing the shadow side).

Next, we made continuous line drawings.  A continuous line drawing is composed of one long continuous line.  The pencil should not leave the paper from start to finish.  Continuous lines should record the path of the artist's eye as it moves across his/her subject. Continuous lines wrap and draw through forms defining structure. Again when the line quality is varied with thick lines and thin lines, dark lines and light lines, you can suggest more depth and volume.

And finally after viewing some slides, we made gesture drawings. Gesture drawings are a quick and spontaneous, all encomposing line that searches to define its form. Like the previous exercises, it records the path of the eyes. We addressed three different types of gesture: Line, Mass, and Scribble.

Line gesture suggests structure and volume. Mass and Scribble gestures suggest mass, volume and light. The example above is a Scribble gesture.