Vitruvian Studio: Drawing Fundamentals Online Course

Chimp Skull

In December I signed up for the Vitruvian Studio online Drawing Fundamentals course. I started in earnest, but then life happened. Now that it is March, my schedule has cleared a bit and I will try again, starting over at the beginning.

To be honest, it is not a very exciting course. It is akin to a musician practicing scales, or an athlete repeating a simple drill. Yet having a deep, intuitive command of the fundamentals are what make guitar solos and breathtaking gymnastic feats possible. I am trying to just be zen about it and embrace the simplicity. It is not easy but it is a good practice that can benefit many areas of life!

Vitruvian starts at the beginning, with the premise that if you cannot draw a line to match the angle of another line, how will you be able to draw a portrait?

Step 1: Learning to sharpen a pencil.

As a first step, I learned how to sharpen my pencil. Sounds crazy, right? The Vitruvian course does not actually require or even suggest this but others do (for example Watts Atelier and Sadie Valeri Atelier). Using a razor, you whittle away the wood exposing a long bit of lead, then sand the lead into a needle-like point. Like this:

Why?

This seems to have a few purposes. First, it encourages a light touch, otherwise you’ll break the tip. Second, this exposes a long flat expanse of lead so you can draw fat strokes for shading. Finally, once started, you don’t need to sharpen again for quite a while – your pencil sharpens itself as you draw.

I’ve broken some pencils so far! But I hear this is normal, and the whittling can be relaxing, and a good lesson in patience. Actually, all of this stuff is a big lesson in patience.

Step 2: Assessing angles.

Here, I have many pages like the top page in the photo below – with 4 lines at various angles. Vitruvian teaches us to assess the tilt of a line by using a “clock” metaphor. You ask yourself – is that line tilted at 2 or 3 or 4 minutes past the hour?

Each minute represents a shift of 6 degrees (so 1 minute past is 6 degrees, 2 minutes past is 12 degrees, and so on). Of course your angle may be 4 or 10 degrees, but the clock metaphor gives a useful starting point. Each of the lines below matches a particular minute on a clock face.

So first, I look at each of the four lines on the top sheet and ask myself “how many minutes before or past the hour is that?” and then compare the line to the bottom page. I mark whether or not I got it right, and write the answer next to the line.

Step 3: Learning to hold the pencil.

Another thing that sounds crazy – didn’t we learn this in grade school? Apparently not. In order to draw smooth, straight lines, you need to be able to draw from your shoulder – you hold your hand in one position and move your entire arm to draw a line. So you hold the pencil in an underhand grip, and brace your pinky knuckle against the page, like this:

It took me a couple of weeks to get used to this and it felt really awkward at first, but I am much more comfortable with it now. The chimp skull at the top was drawn almost entirely using this grip. This not only encourages a light touch, it also prepares you to hold and use a paintbrush.

Step 4: Line Matching.

Finally, you try to draw long, fluid strokes that match the angle of each line, drawing from your shoulder. You continue until your paper is filled with lines, like this:

The emphasis is on repetition, so I have about 25 sheets like this to do before I move on to the next step.

Sophie

Painting an Apple in Gouache

Lately I’ve been trying to find the perfect medium for painting outdoors. Watercolour is convenient, but it is particular – it’s hard to cover your mistakes and easy to be too tentative.

Oil paint is lovely, buttery and vibrant, but it is messy to travel with, and it takes so long to dry that it is impractical for overnight hiking trips.

So I’ve been experimenting with gouache. Specifically Holbein Acryla Gouache, in a tin that used to hold magnetic poetry. I’ve got a Masterson Sta-Wet sponge and paper in there that I’ve cut to size – these keep the gouache from drying out. I’ve taped a 4″ x 4″ gessoed birch panel into the lid for painting on.

With my design sketched out, I’m ready to start painting!

And… it worked! You can wipe off the palette paper as you work, with a damp paper towel, and mix new colours right on top. Gouache will take some getting used to, but I think it will be worth the effort. It’s a great practice medium – I can be ready to work in minutes. The main thing I’ll do differently next time is start on a toned board, instead of the glaring white – I see more of these in my future!

Sophie

 

Printmaker Profile: Dave Lefner

Dave Lefner is a linocut printmaker from Los Angeles. He has been creating prints for over 20 years and has built up a stunning body of work.

You can find his website here, and you can watch a wonderful video here where he takes you on a tour of his studio and shows you his creative process, step by step.

Dave Lefner’s Reduction Linocut “The Palace”

My favourite aspect of his prints is how well he captures the strong California light. I love California and its artists (William Rice, Edgar Payne and Frances Gearhart come to mind); if I were American I would move there in a heartbeat. Dave’s prints spark that longing and cool air and lonesomeness – a feeling akin to having stayed out in the sun a little too long.

Dave Lefner’s Reduction Linocut “T-bird”

Dave was gracious enough to fill out my relief printmaker survey describing the elements he uses to create these beautiful works!

A huge thank-you to Dave for allowing me to share his process.

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A note about printmaker profiles:

As a relative beginner to the art of linocut printmaking, I’m starting to understand just how much the technical aspects affect the final print. One can choose to print on tissue-thin or thick as cardstock paper. There are many brands of ink available. Some print on dry paper, others mist their paper with water first. Some use a press, others burnish the back of each print by hand while it sits on the inked block.

As artists, we get to experiment! Yet, some combinations work better than others, and I’d like to know what those are. So I’ve put together a (15 minute) survey, asking printmakers to pick one print and describe the technical details of its creation.

My goal is 100 responses! Then I will summarize the results here for you.

Are you a linocut printmaker? Take the survey here!