Sunday Morning Art Classes

New in 2011,Beginning Drawing

2011-01-04T15:44:00.000-08:00

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Coming soon, Winter Art Class: for complete beginners and those wishing to improve their drawing ability. Classes will be offered online as well as in person at Islands Arts League in Friday Harbor. Click here to read more
Sign up with Annie Adams at 378 2638 at Funk & Junk

Final week this Session, Putting it all together!

2010-04-25T15:01:00.000-07:00

This wraps up 12 great weeks of portrait drawing and painting. Everyone has made great steps forward, by building each week on their knowledge and skills.Scroll back to older posts to see our progress. This week was a long hour and a half pose, giving everyone a longer time to look, make corrections, and develop their portraits. Congratulations to our online students and islanders, working live from the model. Look for our class to begin next fall (November?) with long poses and a full color palette.

Final week of this Session, Putting it all together!

2010-04-25T14:57:00.001-07:00

We had a nice hour and 1/2 session with our model. Everyone is making good observations, and getting it down with paint on canvas!

Portrait Paintings from Week Five

2010-04-18T16:29:00.001-07:00

This week, everyone was putting together a lot of skills: observation, value and edge observations, mapping out and measuring, seeing where the light falls, using the negative shapes to carve out shapes, cutting back, and last but not least, adding more paint. Thanks to our wonderful model Laura for a great session!

Portait Painting Week Five

2010-04-18T16:25:00.001-07:00

What a great session, everyone was enjoying our long pose and making good observations, translating into paint. The more everyone looked, the more they saw.

Week Four, Two Tones

2010-04-11T19:45:00.001-07:00

Today was exciting as we started to make the move from underdrawing to painting. We applied more paint to the light areas, and exciting things started to happen. We were working with 2 tones, laying in the dark shadows first, and then coming in with a light tone for the lighter areas.Some intersection of paint had hard edges, others had soft edges, we were starting to really be able to see those kinds of edges, hard and soft edges that define the portrait.

Week Four..... A second color, Finally!

2010-04-04T22:05:00.001-07:00

Today we finally brought out a second color onto our palettes. We used burnt umber for a dark tone and a light, naples yellow or yellow ochre mixed with titanium white, a warm light tone. Today's idea was to lay in the dark shadow shapes, and then with a different clean brush, go in and define the light areas. The results were somewhat graphic. Since we were only using 2 tones it forced us to really concentrate on edges. We also enjoyed an ease to make corrections by pushing paint, or cutting an area back. This happened especially in the negative space around the portrait. Exciting things were happening as artist were applying more paint. Our poses today were each 20 minutes. Many thanks to our wonderful model, Noreen Ignelzi!

Week 3 The Head as a Cube, 3/4 View

2010-03-28T15:32:00.001-07:00

We were thinking about the head as a cube today and how that effects the eye line and the mouth line. Drawing out a box from the 3/4 view, there are 2 vanishing points on either side. Often the vanishing points are well off the canvas, several feet to one side. What this means for the mouth is that it is at an angle very slightly different from the eyeline. Establish the tilt of the eyes, and then see how the mouth is a few degrees different. I just photoshopped several red lines onto a drawing which illustrate the most forward part of the 3/4 view:the cheek and how the eye and mouth run off at slightly different angles using their vanishing point to the right of the canvas.
The other thing about 3/4 view is that we don't see all of the mouth, the far corner is often obscured by the lobes of the lips. And we don't see the far inside corner of the eye, it is obscured by the bridge of the nose. We do see a great profile of the cheek bone. Not everyone had a 3/4 view, but when you get one, it's nice to know how to handle it, turning the features.
It's great to find an opportunity to tie together several pieces of shadow into one shape, and even loose some edges.

Week Three, The head as a Cube, 3/4 View part 2

2010-03-26T21:11:00.001-07:00

Of all the things you can do to create space, using a vanishing point, is one of the most powerful tools.

Week Two, Getting Better with Just Umber

2010-03-21T15:15:00.001-07:00

Today we were getting more comfortable with the whole idea of painting with just values. We had great shadows on our model, Roger McNew, we were able to see clearly how shadows can define the portrait. We were looking at the shadow line running down the center of the face, "the tideline" I call it, looking at it closely. I did a small demonstration on setting up the features, mapping and measuring. Everyone is expanding their ability to handle paint, using brushes and rags. Great session today from everyone!

Week Two, Getting better

2010-03-21T15:10:00.000-07:00

Very exciting to see good work happening

Getting started with Paint, week One Spring Series

2010-03-14T16:05:00.001-07:00

Welcome to our spring series, painting the model. Welcome to our new online students. Today we started with paint one color, burnt umber. We are getting used to the idea of drawing with our brush, painting the gesture of the head, setting the features. We see shapes and dark accents. We are also starting to address the negative space around the portrait. We worked with simple supplies, just one color paint, a brush and a rag, and a little oderless turp. Everyone had great success today! Including those who have never painted before.

Getting started with paint!

2010-03-14T16:00:00.000-07:00

More exciting results from our first painting session, each of these are 20 minutes poses.

Week 6 Putting It All Together

2010-02-14T18:05:00.000-08:00

What a great model we had today, Miles Cobos. It was his first time modeling, and we all are hoping he will come back for a painting session. Today we talked about some of the areas outside the concentration of the features: the hair, the ear, and the neck. We talked about some of the traditional conventions people use in landscape painting and how we can apply that to the portrait. Specifically, hard and soft edges, high contrast forward, less contrast in back. Even in our short poses, we strive to make good observation of these "outer areas" of the portrait. We looked at a diagram of a sphere to see simple versions of shadows and darker core shadows close to the source of light. We are learning to apply this to shadow observations of the face.

Week 6 putting it all together, Part 2

2010-02-14T17:55:00.001-08:00

Our group has really progressed in ability in just 6 weeks. Take a look back to week one in the older posts and see how far everyone has come. Very impressive and my congratulations to all that participated in our "New York" style class.
Coming next session, beginning painting the portrait, starting March 14th.
In drawing we think with line, in painting we will be thinking in shapes and the planes of the face.

Week Five..... the Nose

2010-02-07T15:20:00.001-08:00

Today we talked about the five basic areas of the nose, the keystone at the bridge, the top, the sides and the underside. We noted that a nose is not straight, but follows the bone and 2 cartilage areas. We talked about the shape of the nostrals and how they change depending on the forward and back angle of the head.
Everyone is interested in continuing our class in March, we are thinking about working with paint, simple value paintings to begin with. More to come as that developes.
All of our class poses are fairly quick, 5 to 8 minetes, no one gets to finish their drawings. I like everyone to set up over and over and over again, that is how we learn. In our painting class we will have one long pose, 2 and 1/2 hours, with breaks of course for the model.

Week Five, the Nose Part 2

2010-02-07T15:18:00.000-08:00

Our model Madelaine Marinkovitch was fantastic today. She inspired a lot of good work everyone is progressing. Our homework assignment is to do a self portrait. Spend about an hour on your drawing. It's nice to do a self portrait and be able to see details up close.

Week 4, The Mouth

2010-01-31T16:49:00.001-08:00

Pete Dawson was a fantastic model today. We started the class by reviewing the eye, and the shape of the head. We talked about the parts of the mouth, the lobes of the lips, the philtrum, and what happens at the corners of the mouth. We saw a drawing of the "donut effect" around the corner of some mouths. We also noted that the line between the 2 lips is not straight, but follows the shape of the lips.

Week 4 part 2, the Mouth

2010-01-31T16:42:00.000-08:00

We thought about using angles while we draw the portrait. Some people tried to draw exclusively with angles, and the results were quite good. We also emphasized punching dark highlights, dark accents, at the end of the drawing session. I'm happy to see everyone developing an expanded line vocabulary, and better observation skills.

A few sketches from Drawing class

2010-01-28T12:58:00.000-08:00

Two with china markers and one with aquarelle stabilio pencils.

Emphasis on the Eyes, Week 3, Portrait Drawing

2010-01-24T22:20:00.001-08:00

Our portraits are getting stronger each week. We reviewed value scales and hopefully everyone will try a value scale this week: 1 to 10. This week we mainly talked about the eyes in detail, and you can see that a lot of new information is being added to the drawings, many good observation of our model, Heidi. Who could have asked for a better model for a lesson on eyes?

Drawing the Head, Emphasis on Eyes Part 2

2010-01-24T22:15:00.000-08:00

We continued with our good habit of doing 1 minute thumbnails first.

Working from the Model with Thumbnails, Week Two

2010-01-17T19:17:00.000-08:00

We finally have our sunday drawing class back on track, and it's a great group. Everyone is quickly grasping a good feel for the gesture and tilt of the head, and general placement of features. After a demonstration portrait drawing, we introduced the thumbnail sketch and made time at the beginning of each pose for a quick small thumbnail. Everyone is making good progress, seeing, and trusting their eyes. In no particular order, here are drawings from today's class. The model may be relaxed, but this was not a relaxing pose with the head tilted back, foreshortening the features.

Working from the Model with Thumbnails, part 2

2010-01-17T19:10:00.000-08:00

More great drawings, note the one minute small thumbnails, a great quick gestural tool for seeing the big shapes. It's fun to compare quick thumbnails to more developed drawings, and how much information was captured in those quick sketches.

Fall Portrait Drawing Class

2009-08-30T10:20:00.000-07:00

Starting in October, I will be teaching a portrait drawing class. Sunday Mornings 10 am to 12 :30. We will be working in black and white, concentrating on our observation and rendering skills. Class will be open to beginners thru advanced level artists. Dates and location to be announced soon.

Working from the model, Week 6

2009-02-23T07:00:00.000-08:00

Roger McNew was our model today. We started class with a discussion about creativity. We reviewed the steps and skills we have covered over the past 5 weeks. We commented that even when you know a basic principle, you can think about it in a new way. We also talked about critiquing your own work as a skill to improve. One solid way to do that is to stand back from your work. You can see what is happening by getting a little bit farther away, arms length or 4 or 5 feet, even better. Another good critiquing tool is to use a hand mirror or compact. By looking at the image in reverse, you can easily see any trouble spots.
This has been a wonderful class, lots of great drawings and learning. This will be my last winter class. All this hard work drawing will make painting and working on loction much easier. Coming for summer, painting workshops! We will go out on location and paint the beautiful San Juan Islands. 2 day workshops will be July 17& 18 and Sept. 11 & 12. I will be working in oils, all medium welcome.

Consolidating Ideas about Space

2009-02-16T10:14:00.001-08:00

We talked about numerous traditional ways to create space in a drawing: overlap, diminishing size, change of marks, varying horizons, vanishing point perspective, edges, soft and hard edges, contrasts, high and low contrasts, ariel perspective, and finally what happens with color and distance. Luckily we had a beautiful morning to go outside and put some of these concepts into practice. It was exciting to see people try new idea and see good results. Seeing angles in vanishing point perspective is challenging, we used a handy yellow straw to help us see what subtle angle variations were happening in roof lines.
Sophie Marinkovitch showed her wonderful illustrated story, Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear now on youtube!

Consolidating ideas about Space, Week 5

2009-02-16T10:11:00.001-08:00

More drawing from our sunny sunday morning

Week 4, Tricks to Put it All Together

2009-02-08T13:40:00.000-08:00

Today was very exciting at our drawing class. We had the antique store to ourselves, and used it for rendering still life drawings. We continued our talk about shadows, revisiting the ideas of cast shadows, form shadows, core shadows and reflected light. We looked at Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring painting as a classic study in light and form. We revisited the concept of negative space, that being the key to having a drawing "lock in".....We used our viewfinders to see shapes around the antique store, not things, but interesting shapes. One final concept, we talked about rhythm in a drawing or painting.

Week 4, Part 2

2009-02-08T13:38:00.001-08:00

We explored how to make an ellipse, which is difficult to do free-hand....Nice ellipses today!

Week 3 Seeing Values

2009-02-01T13:57:00.000-08:00

Everyone got thrown into the deep end of the pool today and did just fine. We were lucky to have a terrific model today, local sculptor, Bert Fox. Today's lesson started with a talk about making a value chart, 1 to 10 values, as a way for artist to talk about lights and darks.We looked at a variety of artists approach to light and shadows, everyone from Vermeer, Rembrant, Degas, Chardin, and many others.
We talked about 2 different linds of shadows, Cast Shadows, and Form Shadows. Cast shadows we can see under the nose, or on a table. Form shadows we can see as a form turns away from the light, typically on a cheek. We talked about the kinds of edges shadows have, soft and hard edges and where we see them. With all that in mind, we launched into drawing from our model. Everyone really did a good job, seeing shadow shapes, and not getting to hung up in details.....Each pose was between 5 and 10 minutes long.

Week 3 Seeing Values, Lights and Darks Part 2

2009-02-01T13:52:00.000-08:00

More great drawings from today:

Week 2, Demystifying PERSPECTIVE and other helpful art tools

2009-01-25T16:23:00.001-08:00

Today we looked at several things that help in observational drawing. The first was scaling, that is using a "unit of measure" to measure the bigger whole. An example would be to measure with your arm held straight out and a pencil, the height of a lamp shade, from top to bottom edge. That would be one unit of measure. Next determine how many units from the lamp shade to the floor. This concept, either vertically or measuring horizontally,that is, across the form, can help put things in proportion to each other. A classic example is the head considered to be 1/8 of the body, or the hand as measure for horses. It is similar to laying a grid across in front of your eyes.
The next thing we talked about is determining angles. We looked at vertical lines, being very consistent in an interior space. Then we started to examine horizontal lines. This introduced our main lesson on perspective. First we defined the 3 kinds of perspective: 1 point, 2 point, 3 point and saw examples of each kind. Even though a lot of this information is very traditional, I showed 2 situations where perspective is very useful for portrait and landscape artists. In viewing the head especially a 3/4 view, we see the head as a cube. the eye line, nose and mouth line will all relate to a vanishing point, as will the placement of the ear. I showed an example of 2 point perspective, that helps to create a flat surface, such as a field or water surface. Finally we learned that vanishing points do not have to be on the page. Sometimes they are way off the page. We looked at some paintings and determined what kind of perspective the artist was using. We saw situations where one painting could have multiple vanishing points, all helping to control the space.
Please enjoy our excellent perspective drawings today. Everyone did a great job looking a difficult angles, determining what was happening, and figured out how to put them down on paper. Sometimes it was hard to believe what our eyes were telling us. It helps to have a few tricks up our sleeves to double check where things are.

2009-01-25T16:17:00.000-08:00

More Perspective Drawings from Week 2

2009-01-25T16:12:00.000-08:00

Our homework project this week is to do a perspective drawing at home, either interior, or outside, or both.

Homework projects from Week One

2009-01-25T16:06:00.001-08:00

Great job everyone, lively lines and good compositions. The idea was to pick 3 or 4 objects, either the same one, from different points of view or a group of related objects and overlay them, concentrating on line and contour as the primary descriptive elements.

Week One, Starting with the Figure

2009-01-18T16:40:00.001-08:00

We had a wonderful model this week to start our 2009 Sunday drawing class. Shannon brought her costume from a play she just preformed in. We talked first about different figurative approaches during the last 100 years. We started drawing with quick poses, looking for the overall gesture. We saw how we can use measuring points, such as the shoulders, knees or elbows, to compare side to side what is happening. We talked about drawing inside of the figure, and drawing outside the figure, or the negative shapes. Everyone really saw negative shapes, especially in a pose where the hands were on the hips, and a "hole" was created under the arm. We talked about setting the figure in an environment, and how just one line could not only indicate an environment, but contribute to the liveliness of the lines. We saw how a linear line works next to a curved line. Finally, we talked about different kinds of tools that people like to draw with, each one having it's own special characteristics.

Week 1, Drawing the Figure, Part 2

2009-01-18T16:31:00.000-08:00

Everyone caught on really quickly to basic figure drawing concept, blocking in, staying gestural, and everyone had a good sense of proportions.
The take-home project this week is to continue to work with line, pick 4 or 5 objects, or the same object, looking at it from different view points, and overlay each object onto one page. Artists could start by drawing a rectangle first, and placing their objects within the composition. We saw some examples of shoes, overlaid and looked at from different view points. We will see these next week.

Stay tuned as each week, we upload drawing from this class.

Drawing Class to Start this January, 18th

2009-01-05T21:38:00.000-08:00

It's official, the winter drawing class will begin Jan 18th, and run for 6 sunday mornings. We will meet up at Nichols Street Suites, above Funk & Junk 10am to 12:30.
This session, I will be covering basic drawing concepts, easy to follow for beginners with challenges for more advanced artists.
Each week I'll introduce a topic and then we will work on that concept. Topics will include line, shape, texture in drawing, observational drawing, space,light, values, perspective, using edges,and creating a composition. If there is interest, we may draw from a model.

Week One, Lucky for us, we have a model this week! I will demonstrate blocking in the envelope of the figure, the gesture, how to easily move toward a lively line drawing. We will discuss checking the tilt of several structural points down the figure, shoulders, waist, knees..... Throughout the class, we will be more interested in the process of observation and drawing, than in polished end results. Everyone will do numerous quick sketches from the model, and have a take home project working with line. Stay tuned!
Cost $65. Call me for any questions. 378 2638.
Materials: sketchbook and pencil.

Recent Portrait Drawings

2008-07-02T11:24:00.001-07:00

Recent Portrait drawings......Our class will get going again this fall....dates not set yet.........

The Mouth

2008-03-24T22:26:00.001-07:00

Our final class focused on the mouth, We talked about the anatomy, and things to look for, the lobes of the lips and how lips are typically in shadow and light. Our model, Heidi was wonderful tonight.

Last Portrait Class, the Mouth 2

2008-03-24T22:21:00.000-07:00

Thank you all for a great art class, we'll see you next fall or maybe in the portrait workshop, May 24/25

The Tricky Nose, Week 5

2008-03-16T21:45:00.001-07:00

This week we talked specifically about the nose. We identified 5 basic areas: the keystone at the top, the top, 2 sides, and the area underneath. We talked about characteristics of each area, and looked at old master drawings to see how different artists have rendered the nose. Our model, Rosa, was fantastic today!

The Tricky Nose, Week 5

2008-03-16T21:39:00.000-07:00

Remember, next week, we meet on Monday at 6 pm instead of Easter morning. Last class, we are having a potluck, if you'd like to bring something easy!

Beautiful Eyes, Looking at Features

2008-03-09T18:41:00.000-07:00

We couldn't have had a better model today, especially with today's lesson about the eyes. Grace, who drew with us last session was wonderful! And, she gets the Stone-Statue Award. We first talked about our homework, thumbnail sketches of various portrait paintings, leading into the idea of starting a portrait with a quick thumbnail to help with the composition. We felt our own eye anatomy and looked at our neighbors eyes as well. We talked about the eye socket, the lids, shadowing on the eyeball, the shape of the iris, and where the highlights are. Today's work was very good from everybody.

Beautiful Eyes 2, Looking at Features

2008-03-09T18:14:00.000-07:00

We talked about thumbnail sketching, doing a quick compositional impression before beginning. Several of today's drawing have the initial thumbnail included.

Beautiful Eyes 3, looking at Features

2008-03-09T18:00:00.000-07:00

A big thank you to Matt for hosting our class at Gallery San Juan's new space. We all enjoyed looking at his and Rick's paintings.

Take-home Project, Composition

2008-03-05T08:39:00.000-08:00

This week's project is to look at an art book or magazine and see how the portrait is composed within the rectangle. Draw out the composition as a thumbnail, to better understand the shapes. Above are some examples of thumbnails, not very detailed, just the big shapes. Please bring your drawing sheet to class.

Below,a drawing from my figure group, need new sharpies!

Shadow Makes the Form

2008-03-02T23:05:00.000-08:00

Today we talked about shadow shapes, and what happens within shadows. We identified hard edge cast shadows and soft edged form shadows. Avery Adams, local musician and soon to be High school graduate was a great model today! Everyone is making excellent progress.

Shadow makes the form, 2

2008-03-02T23:01:00.000-08:00

More great drawings from today's class. After blocking in the major shadow shapes, we looked for darker core shadows, close to the "tide line" of light/dark edge. We also looked for areas of reflected light, classically under the chin, to help turn the form. With so many curved surfaces on the head, there's a lot to keep track of, especially in an area like the nose with multiple rapid curves.

The Envelope Please.......

2008-02-24T14:56:00.000-08:00

Our second portrait drawing class concentrated on seeing the big shapes and angles of the head. We followed a classic figure drawing method of creating an envelope around the head, with just a few lines. Then we started to refine our lines, breaking up one line into several small shifts. We had marking points, and used our centerline as well. We concentrated on this linear, angled and measuring approach. We applied it to shadow shapes given longer poses towards the end of class. Our model, Roger M., was fantastic!!! Our new student got right into the swing of things and the experienced students really took off with these concepts.

The Envelope Please......2

2008-02-24T14:53:00.000-08:00

So many exciting drawings, what a great model, and fantastic drawings from everyone!!!

A Stellar Start to the Portrait Class Feb-March Session

2008-02-17T17:56:00.000-08:00

Today launched our second session of the Portrait Drawing Class. We will be working in black and white this session, and I will posting drawings each week.

We talked about composition, how artists think about placing the head and looked at some examples from Gaugain and Van Gogh. Everyone drew quick thumbnail sketches of some possibilities of placement of the head within the rectangle.

As a guide to get started we talked about construction lines that help set the features. We also saw how depending on the tilt of the head, those classic construction lines don't always work and we need to trust our eyes. We used measuring with our pencils held out in front, to check angles and distances. Our model, local musician, Dave Meissmer, was GREAT!!

A Stellar Start to Our Portrait Class Feb-March Session 2

2008-02-17T17:50:00.000-08:00

This is going to be a wonderful class, I can see already there is a lot of skill in this group, we will be seeing some wonderful portraits. Check back each week this spring to see how we are progressing.

Week Six, The Jaw Bone is Connected to the Ear Bone.

2008-02-10T19:23:00.000-08:00

Today we looked at the placement of the ear. Shannon agreed to model, and I filled in for the final hour. We talked about the jaw bone and how it leads up to the ear. We talked about parts of the ear. How to loacate the ear canal, and some of characteristic folds of the ear. It has been a great pleasure to work with everyone, and I hope to continue all the good work next session. Scroll down and into "older Posts" to see what wsift progress everyone is making. Being big on values,lights & darks, I'm especially happy to see everyone go bolder with the darker values.

We have 3 exceptional young artists in our group, 11,11, and 15 years old. They are doing wonderfully, working at an adult level with ease. Grace did an exceptional job this week capturing her mom's likeness! Her sister Fiona, will be having an art show at the Lavender Day Spa with her own solo show of collages and Encaustic paintings. Opening is Feb 15th, 7 to 9 pm. Very Nice work!!!

The Jaw Bone's Connected to Ear Bone....2

2008-02-10T19:20:00.001-08:00

More great drawings from this last class in our series. Such steps forward for everyone!

Week 5, the Expressive Mouth

2008-02-03T14:48:00.000-08:00

Things are really starting to come together for this Portrait Class, our model was wonderful today and here are some of our efforts:

Week 5, Expressive Mouth Part 2

2008-02-03T14:31:00.000-08:00

Today we took a close look at the mouth, noting the philtrum, above our lips. and the curve of the upper lip. We saw how the upper lip is often in shadow, and the lower lip catches light. The cast shadow from the nose moves over the topography of the philtrum. We saw that the line across the mouth isn't a straight line, instead following the lobes of the lips. We also noted that the corners of the mouth have soft indentations. Our model today was outstanding, local musician, Dave M., held fantastic expressive poses. I have a photo of Dave and then a posterized version, showing how the shadow shapes become a flat shape before we add details. It's hard not to go straight to details, but artists will get better drawings by mapping out bigger shadow shapes and major construction lines first, and adding details later once things are in place. Across the board, everyone is making great progress!

Week 4, The Nose Knows

2008-01-27T18:33:00.000-08:00

This week, we were lucky to have Ellis, long time Islander and commercial fisherman, model for us. We started by simplifying the nose into 5 basic planes, and analyzing each plane: the top ridge, the two side planes, the under plane, and the top of the nose where it begins just below the brow, the "keystone" area. We felt the slight diamond area on the upper bony part of the nose, and felt the soft cartilage of the ball of the nose. We talked about the shape of the nostrils, and how much is exposed depending on our point of view of the model.
The nose brings out other interesting aspects, like disappearing edges on the sides of the nose. And, how to make something come forward in space, by high contrasts, as found at the tip of the nose with highlights and core shadow values in a very tight curve of the ball of the nose.
Our book to review this week is a figure drawing Classic, The Head by Bridgeman. Though written 75 years ago, the information is great!

One of my favorite drawing tools is a stabilio pencil, you can draw with it, and then use a wet brush to liquify the pencil into tones. The third drawing is with just stabilio, and the last pair shows before and after with the stabilio pencil.

Week 3, All about the Eyes.

2008-01-20T16:11:00.000-08:00

We started this week by looking at master artist, Nicholi Feshin. People shared their work done outside of class and we even had an invention! Ruby came to class with a lap easel that hooked on her knee and gave her a somewhat verticle surface while sitting, very clever!! Here are the great drawing from this week.

Week 3, It's All in the Eyes Part 2

2008-01-20T16:04:00.000-08:00

Today lesson was focused on drawing the eyes. We observed each others eyes and noted how eyes look when they are looking in different directions, how much of the white shows, and that the whites of our eyes aren't really white. We observed light on the eyebrow, the lids and the lower lids. Today's model, Claudia, did a wonderful job and here are our efforts.

Second Sunday, Sally and Shadows 2

2008-01-13T19:48:00.001-08:00

More drawing from today class, see previous post for information about today's class.

Second Sunday, Shadows and Sally

2008-01-13T19:33:00.000-08:00

Today's emphasis was on shadows. Our homework for the week is to observe shadows, everywhere. We talked about 2 kinds of shadows. First, the Cast Shadow, with crisp edges, typically found under the nose. And second, Form Shadow a soft edge shadow that turns away from the light, a typical place to find a form shadow would be on a cheek. We also talked about how light hits a sphere, noticing, light areas, dark areas, and within the shadow, 2 kinds of values: dark core shadows and reflected light, still dark, but not as dark as core shadows. With this in mind, we had a wonderful model today, Sally, and here are our drawings. New to the class is a 10 year old artist, Sophie, I will post her impressive drawing first.

Great Start to Our Portrait Class!

2008-01-06T18:36:00.000-08:00

We started our portrait drawing class by having an 8 year old girl, Jillian, model for us, such a good model! We talked about setting the features and some guides to help place the eyes, nose,and mouth. Today was a terrific start, here are some of today's drawings. Along with Jillian and everyone hard at work, measuring and checking angles.....

Great Drawing from Sunday's First Portrait Class -2

2008-01-06T18:28:00.000-08:00

More great drawings of our model Jillian. Note that the last drawing was done by a woman who has never taken an art class, ever...very impressive!

Information for first class

2007-12-31T07:47:00.000-08:00

We begin by looking at how artists approach portraiture. By looking at other's work we start to define ideas, what it can mean to do a portrait. We will talk about points of view, head-on, classic 3/4 view, side profile. We will ask about what other elements are included in the portrait. Who better to start with than Hans Holbein, Master portrait artist to King Henry the 8th? Throughout the class we will look at other artist's portraiture and self-portrait work.

Though every face is unique, there are some proportions that hold true. We start by looking at the shape of the head, feeling our own anatomy, talking about basic bone structure. We look for the vertical centerline, and then make horizontal divisions to place the eye line, locate the base of the nose, and mouth. We will draw from the model in quick gestural unfussy shapes, getting a feel of the shape of the head, and marking in some basic proportions. As the tilt of the head changes, We see how these proportions alter.

Check back to follow class online

2007-12-15T15:30:00.000-08:00

The January session for portrait drawing is full for Sunday morning, start date Jan. 6th.

I am planning on putting information on-line on this blog and posting student work week by week. We have a great range of artists, from complete beginner to professional and from young to old. Stay tuned, should be fun to see people's work.

Drawing is great for many reason. It gives artists a chance to see shapes and values and not have to deal with the complexity of color. When doing a direct portrait study in paint there are a lot of things to keep track of, values, shapes, temperature, edges, placement, composition, shifts of color.....
Here is a quick 6 x 8" oil study, side profile in oils.

2 Portraits with pencil

2007-12-09T19:45:00.000-08:00

Here are 2 portraits done with stabilio pencil. It's a pencil that liquefies with water and brush, yet easy to draw with. I like the punchy dark values that are possible with stabilio pencils as well. Deb Dawson and Diedre Morris each sat for a 10 minute pose this morning and both had a try at portrait drawing too.

Week One Placement of the head, inital gesture

2007-12-04T11:36:00.000-08:00

Starting Week One

This portrait class will be starting on January 6th.
During the first week, we will take a look at historic and contemporary portraiture.
How have artists placed the portrait within the picture? How much is included?
What is the view point? Is it frontal, 3/4, side view? Symmetrical or asymmetrical?
What is the gesture of the head? What is the lighting? What is the background?
These will be some consideration we will think about as we start with portraiture.

Start with composing several possibilities, do 5 quick compositional ideas.

What is a gesture? Start with the central axis. We will work from a model doing multiple quick gestures determining the central axis.
Placement of the features, classic proportional rules of thumb.
If you are interested in signing up for this class, please contact me at 378 2638.
I hope to post some class work on this blog as we draw.

January 2008 Portrait Drawing Class

2007-11-28T19:45:00.000-08:00

Starting on January 6th, I will start a 6 week portrait drawing class. We will work with simple material, pencils and sketchbooks,and begin to demystify the human head. The class will explore setting up a model, lighting, exploring compositions with gestural portrait drawing. We will also start to define character by observing basic lights and darks. Further we will be establishing main structural divisions, tilt, perspective lines, and measuring. We will be learning how to establish volume, with edges, lights and darks, reflected light, and cast shadows. Through good observation, each artist will begin to see feature of the face. The neck, ears, nose, mouth and eyes will also be looked in depth.
Each class will begin with a short discussion and then each artist will draw from a model. Cost $65. for 6 weeks, One time model fee, $15.
Instructor, Annie Howell-Adams at 378 2638 Class is open to artists of any level. Class will meet at 10am to 12:30, most likely location will be at Funk & Junk (upstairs at Nichols Street Suites) 85 Nichols Street in Friday Harbor