Ground Zero

Ground Zero

Pen and Ink

Drawing is non-negotiable. It is either right or it is wrong.

Is learning how to draw a waste of time? It's a lot faster to scan, project, trace or use computers to do the work. It's an argument I've heard a lot especially from students who can't draw. The final product justifies the means. Who cares how the artist got to the finished painting? Besides, it takes an awfully long time to become a good draftsman, and in the end it's hard to sell a drawing. I guess those would be a defendable positions, but, to me, they are just cop-outs. Drawing, in my view, is the Number 1 principle of sound representational painting. It's been said, "Well drawn is well painted". Every artist should tatoo that to the back of his or her hand. The rub is that the work and time involved to become proficient in drawing is quite daunting. It is easy to say, "I just don't have the time". What's really being said is the passion isn't there. If the desire were strong enough priorities would have a way of sorting out. I've been drawing for nearly 60 years and am still trying to improve my line. It is a constant exercise the artist must do. Drawing is not like riding a bike. You can't lay down your pencil or brush for six months and expect to keep your skill level high. It always amazes me to find art students so reluctant to take drawing classes. Usually, it is a painting instructor that nudges the student towards a drawing class by telling the person not to come back to painting until they've learned how to draw. I have all my drawing students buy a 3" by 5" sketch book and urge them to make 5 or 6 quick drawings each day. Any subject is fine. They are told to spend no more than 2 minutes on any drawing. I know doing all those drawings is a big burden. Afterall, that is 10 to 15 minutes every day! How can they ever find the time. The point of the exercise is to train the eye and hand to work responsively without too much interference from that pesky brain. Learning how to see is paramount to being able to draw. Looking at something is quite different from seeing something. Once the real joy of drawing is an important part of the artist's life, drawing becomes as habit forming as the strongest drug! It is an addiction that will lead to better and better paintings. To me, drawing is grand fun!

The way I usually begin to draw a portrait is to let my pencil or charcoal lightly wander responsively into every nook and cranny of the head without stopping to focus on details. In this way, I get a feel of the attitude of the head and the location of the features. Then I begin to develop the eyes beginning with the eye that is closest to me. I really focus intently on that eye with no consideration of any other feature. I look at the small shapes of the whites aroung the iris and examine how they relate to each other reletive to the orb of the iris. Is one corner higher than another? What is the horizontal alignment of one end of the eye to the other. I then move the other shapes surrounding the whites and the iris and carefully develop each shape until all the shapes within the eysocket are completed to the satisfaction of my eyes. I then move to the other eye paying close attention to the space between the eyes using the eye I just finished as as a measurement guide and complete it in a similar manner. I pay close attention to how each eye lines up with the other horizontaly. I compare the size of the second eye to the first until I am satisfied that they are correct. I now have a series of shapes that I can use to align and measure the rest of the features with. I work outward toward the sides of the head. This gives me the relief from being cramped within a fence. From there a good likeness is almost assured.