Posted in Life drawing, tagged life drawing, Pencil on October 17, 2011| 1 Comment »
Only seven or eight people show up for this life drawing group. Working from the figure is not for the faint-hearted. Let’s just say it, it’s hard work. I came back today after taking the summer off and faced considerable discouragement. In three hours I produced one drawing I want to look at. It’s a beginning. Good to be back.
All contents copyright (C) 2010 Katherine Hilden. All rights reserved.
Posted in Composition, literalness, Still life, tagged In Young, Pencil, pots, still life on May 22, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Of all the students in my drawing class, In Young J. did the most literal study of this still life. An advanced student, she quickly blocks in the composition, mindful of perspective and overlapping forms. This is easy for her. She works in pencil, lightly working various passages over and over to adjust the relative values of the drawing. She tends to hold the pencil way back and swing it lightly, as she tunes the values of her shapes. This drawing occupied all her time in this three-hour class.
I did not take a photo of the set-up (but you can see an accurate representation here in In Young’s drawing) for the simple reason that I had no time, being totally engrossed in the work of my students. It was an exciting class.
How could this be? How can a pile of pots inspire such good work?
This post is the first of seven about the work done by the seven students in that class. Each deserves to be looked at and studied. In tomorrow’s post I’ll talk about the instructions I gave to the class and the reason for piling the pots up in this random fashion. Stay tuned.
All contents copyright (C) 2010 Katherine Hilden. All rights reserved.
Posted in Still life, Technique and Demo, tagged drapery, Pencil, reflected light, round, shadow on April 24, 2011| Leave a Comment »
If you want to create the illusion of roundness in either painting or drawing, you need to study how light plays on a round object. Here’s the 
textbook analysis of a sphere being hit by light from the upper left and casting a shadow on the lover right.
You can memorize this image and its labels and refer to it later when you draw as a kind of sacred scripture cast in stone. This really is IT. Now, as we all know, real life does not conform to holy writ and so it is with spherical objects, vases, bodies and drapery. In real life, specifically still life, some objects are shiny and some are dull and therefore reflect light differently. This realization amounts to a kind of loss of innocence. The complexity of light reflections really does make you want to throw up your hands with the drawing pad landing behind the studio sink, but stay with it. Knowing the textbook case, as shown in the above illustration, will help you see what’s going on no matter how brazenly your object deviates from the norm.
Consider the above page of studies. This is an 11 x 17 page that I scribbled while sitting next to students in my drawing class. #s 1 and 2 show round objects with the light coming from the upper right. Notice the reflected light on the left edge and then the core of the shadow a little to the right of that.
The ability to show a gradation of values is key in creating the illusion of roundness. That’s what the scribbles in #3 are about. Practice this progression, both from dark to light and from light to dark, with very fast strokes of the pencil. (Review “How to Sharpen Your Pencil,” post for 11.10.10)
#4 shows the beginning of a still life drawing. The lines are faint, just to position the objects and the drapery on the page.
With #5 we’re getting serious. We’re facing the drapery. Notice how rough this is, but notice also that the darks of the shadow are really dark. Nothing tentative here. This is important. After you have faintly indicated the main directions of the folds, go in for the kill. Find the courage to put down the darkest part of the shadows. Oh, no, you cry. Yes! Go for it. Seeing where the shadows are deepest will keep you from getting lost.
In #6 we have a more developed chunk of drapery. It’s drawn with scratchy lines, nothing fussy here, no tromp-l’oeil blending. But doesn’t that look like drapery already….you can tell what’s happening, what’s catching the light, what’s tucked in, what’s deep in shadow. And notice the reflected light in that roll at the bottom. Without that, no illusion of roundness is going happen. It’s fun.
All contents copyright (C) 2010 Katherine Hilden. All rights reserved.
Posted in Technique and Demo, tagged customize, Pencil, pendil sharpener, razor blade on November 10, 2010| Leave a Comment »
No, I’m not kidding. And yes, I’ve heard of a thing called a pencil sharpener, own a couple myself.
But I also own dozens of single-edge razor blades and I buy them in packages of a hundred. Here’s why. The pencil sharpener only does one thing: it gives you a point. This is great for precision in illustration, for example in a medical textbook, and it’s also useful in creating certain textures, but it’s somewhat limited as a tool. That’s the point.
Now, consider shaping your pencil to your unique way of drawing. I present to you the razor blade. The single-edge razor blade can do interesting things to your lead. Use it to customize the lead to the way you hold the pencil in your hand. Not only that, the humble rod of lead is transformed into more than one tool.
Here’s what you do. Take a single-edge razor blade or an Exacto knife or equivalent and trim the wood back to expose about ¼ inch of lead. When you do this, your pencil will not look pretty, but you’ll soon forget about such a trivial consideration. Now shave the tip of the lead so that you get an elliptical surface. The angle of this surface is something you’ll want to experiment with because it should feel just right depending on how you hold the pencil when you draw. When you draw on this elliptical surface of your lead you will produce a smooth SURFACE, i.e. shading without lines. Wonderful. When you tip the lead so that just the sharpened edge touches the paper, you will get a fine line. Again, wonderful. You now have a versatile tool. It gives you a fine line, a bold line and a shaded area. And it’s all a matter of touch. As you draw, the lead will develop other facets (like a cut diamond) and you will handle the pencil by turning it. The pencil will feel fluid, like a brush.
Instead of using a pencil (requiring that you cut back the wood), you can buy a Lead Holder and a dozen 2 mm leads of your choice (4B and softer, recommended). The Lead Holder allows you to advance the lead as far as you like. It makes shaving the lead easy. At the end of your drawing session, you retract the lead. Cool.
Once you enjoy the feeling of drawing with the faceted lead, the pencil sharpener will seem like nothing more than a useful invention for accountants.
Portrait of the artist with art, Evanston Art Center benefit, 2010
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 | Keven Wilder on Hilary Hahn practices |
| Keven Wilder on The Process |
| Keven Wilder on Is This Hard? |
 | katherinehilden on Knead and Draw |
| Keven Wilder on Knead and Draw |
artamaze by Katherine Hilden 