Presents Pencil Sketch Drawing Lessons 32

presentspencil sketchdrawing lessons32Sketching Techniques toLearn How to Sketch withExpression and Power

Pencil SketchDrawing LessonsAction&GestureExpress the model’s gesturewith vigorous strokes andlet it be the guide for yourdrawing. Here’s how.by Dan GhenoAgood, expressive gesturedrawing is at the core ofevery effective figurativeimage, whether it’s a loosethree-minute drawing, a tightthree-hour drawing, a highlyresolved three-week drawing, or an obsessivelyobserved and reworked three-year painting.Many people, especially nonartists, think agesture drawing is nothing more than a scribbled quick sketch. Some drawings can be nothing more than this. But in the hands of observant artists, the initial gesture drawing meansmuch more. It establishes the overall proportion of the figure, quickly fixing the mood, thesweeping action of the pose, and the underlyingrhythms that give animation and life to a figuredrawing. To artists, a good gesture drawingswings like a Duke Ellington song and serves asa foundation that keeps all of their later, detailedobservations vital and alive.Leaning Figureby Dan Gheno, 2003, oil sanguine on bond paper, 24 x 18. Collection the artist.Here, I tried to focus on many goals while drawing this quick, 20-minute sketch. I tried to give a senseof physical and psychological weight to the figure as she leaned off her “line of gravity” into the wall forsupport; I aimed to create a feeling of atmosphere with my use of hazy tone that surrounds the figure,implies the supporting wall, and obscures the receding arm. I also sought to describe some of thealternating rhythms that seem to crisscross through her torso and limbs.This content has been abridged from an original article written by Dan Gheno. This premium has been published by InterweavePress, 201 E. Fourth St., Loveland, CO 80537-5655; (970) 669-7672. Copyright 2009 by Interweave Press, a division of AspireMedia, all rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced either in whole or in part without consent of thecopyright owner.2www.artistdaily.com

Pencil SketchDrawing LessonsProcess Drawing,Gestures (detail)by Dan Gheno, 2004,sanguine on bond paper,13 x 24. Collection theartist.Some artists create animplied activity whenlinking multiple images ofthe same model acrossthe page. Many artistsuse this simple grouping,called a process drawing,to create a pleasingpattern of shapes, butmore often, they use itto suggest a sequentialaction in the figure, as ifthe model were moving.For this drawing, themodel took a series ofprogressively evolvingaction positions, holdingeach pose for no morethan five minutes.As I mentioned in one of my firstarticles on drawing for American Artist(January 2000), I feel that the “line ofaction” is the most important aspect ofa figure drawing and certainly at thecore of a well-observed gesture. First,you want to establish the general actionof the figure with a sweeping line—or3www.artistdaily.comline of action—that runs through the bigshape of the figure, capturing the overalltilt of the pose. Then, you add furtherlines, looking for the individual slantsof each limb. You can imagine theseaction lines in your head, or you canlightly draw them on the page. Whendrawn, the initial sketch can often looklike a loose stick figure. It sounds simpleenough—but it can get needlessly complicated if you don’t develop strategies tosystematically observe, record, and retainthe subtleties of gesture as you delvefurther into the detail of form and value.Below, I suggest some methods forachieving a successful gesture drawing.

Pencil SketchDrawing LessonsPast and Present(studies andunderpainting)by Harvey Dinnerstein, studiophotograph of several studiesand detail of underpainting.The full, complete paintingis a very large, multifigurecomposition (961 4 x 1721 4),depicting a psychologically,historically, and sociallyevocative street scene.SpeedMove quickly when you first begin yourdrawing and don’t worry about makingmistakes. You need to get something onthe paper before you can start makingadjustments. Notice how the sculptor DonGale moves his line randomly throughthe forms, crisscrossing all over the figureand wandering around the volumes ofthe torso and limbs like wire wrappingaround a form. Most people know HarveyDinnerstein for his intensely observed,delicate imagery, but notice the brevity ofhis sketch, an initial study for his paintingPast and Present. Look at the musician’slimbs—you can still see an example ofthe long sweeping lines that he used to4www.artistdaily.comunderpin the action of the pose and hisinitial observation of detail that would laterappear in a more elaborate manner in thefinished painting.Rodin is a sculptor of great physicaland psychological nuance, but notice howhe blasts into a figure with a broad watercolor wash, establishing all of the essentialaction and movement of the figure witha very basic but vital silhouette that hereinforces with minimum line. Speedforces you to observe reality with your gut,making observations that have vitality, fedby the passion of discovery or maybe evensome fleeting anxiety. You can later stopand look at the drawing in a more rational,calm manner, making revisions if youintend to push the drawing toward greaterembellishment. Or, you can leave it as is,to live as an example of a moment in timeor as an expression of energy.Many 20th-century artist-educators,such as Robert Henri and KimonNicolaides, were great proponents ofspeedy gesture drawings, and they feltthat one- or two-minute poses were anessential and ongoing part of an artist’straining. I practice quick gesture drawingalmost every day, using it to maintain mysense of proportion and keep my skill levelsharpened, much like a musician playsscales to keep his hand in shape.

Pencil SketchDrawing LessonsContrappostoMany artists look to the torso to establish a sense of action in their figures,especially the contrasting tilts of thechest and pelvis. Italian artists calledthis effect contrapposto. We take thisconcept for granted these days. Forthousands of years, the early Egyptiancultures never did grasp the conceptor rarely moved beyond thinking ofthe torso as one solid, straight form.Likewise, it took the Greeks many generations to move beyond the elegantlybeautiful but static forms of the Archaicperiod, in which they perceived the torsoas one solid and straight form insteadof two contrasting forms. Finally, theydiscovered their own form of contrapposto, and they used it with great gusto,but it disappeared with the death of theRoman Empire. It was nearly anotherthousand years before Western civilization rediscovered this simple and seemingly obvious principle.Contrapposto literally means contrastor counterpoint. We see this all the timein the torso: If the chest tilts backwardas it usually does when standing, thepelvis shifts forward. When seated, thepelvis tends to shift backward, whilethe rib cage of more posture-challengedpeople tends to slump forward. Whenyou stand with most of your weight onone leg, the hip on the supporting legangles up, while the shoulders angledown in opposition. The Renaissanceand Baroque artists saw the beauty ofthis physical principle and put it togreat artistic use. They frequently placedlimbs in contrapposto to each other asRaphael did in his drawing Back Viewof Michelangelo’s David. Here, he drawsone arm up and out, while putting theother arm back and down; likewise, hedraws one leg back and straight, whileplacing the other leg forward and bent.Back View of Michelangelo’s Davidby Raphael, 1507–1508, pen and brown ink, 281 3 x151 2. Collection The British Museum, London, England.5www.artistdaily.com

Pencil SketchDrawing LessonsBending Gestureby Dan Gheno, 1996, sanguinecrayon on bond paper, 18 x 24.Collection the artist.The Line of GravityThe line of gravity is nothing more thana straight line, showing the perpendicular power of the Earth that pullsus to its surface, but this deceptivelyunpretentious line plays an enormousrole in planning your gesture drawing.You’ve probably seen drawings with anill-considered or crooked line of gravityat their gesture base. They feature standing figures that seem to hang listlesslyoff hooks. Look closely—every pose,no matter how simple or bland, has adistinctive but subtle gesture and lineof gravity. On a neutral, well-balanced6www.artistdaily.comstanding figure, the line of gravity fallsfrom the pit of the neck to a point directly between the two supporting feet. Ifthe model moves most of his weight toone leg, the individual body parts of thefigure shift back and forth like a spring,until the pit of the neck and the line ofgravity falls unswervingly over the supporting foot.Even a slightly off-center line of gravity can destabilize the look of a calm,relaxed standing pose. Try to grab ontosome of that dynamic instability whenyou draw action poses. The more thefigure leans over to one side, the morethe line of gravity will deviate from thefigure’s point or points of support. Thehuman body can hold these action posesfor only a few minutes, so draw whileyou can before the model falls over. Tohold an action pose for any length oftime, the model has to grab onto something such as a stool or stick. This propthen becomes one of the model’s pointsof support, with the line of gravity falling between the prop and the pointwhere the model’s feet or other bodypart touches the ground.

Pencil SketchDrawing LessonsFigure 1The human body,particularly thenude human form,has enormousmetaphorical andsymbolic power.Don’t squander itspotential, and don’tlet your drawings—gestural or otherwise—becomescholastic exercises. 7www.artistdaily.comRhythmComposers struggle mightily to createrhythm in their music, looking for justthe right combination of repetition andvariation. Rhythm is equally important toa gesture drawing, but figurative artistsdon’t need to look much beyond theirsubject to find direction. The clothed andnude human body is filled with readymade rhythms, its complex, intertwinedforms offering inspiration for the artist’screative manipulation and interpretation. With study, you will notice theemergence of dominating, repeatingpatterns. You will observe several majorbody parts or plane edges moving intoand out of the overall figure at similarangles, alternating with other secondary,contrasting forms. Although the specificrhythms change with each new pose, youwill frequently notice that many of theserhythms have an S-shaped, flamelikequality to them. I sometimes begin mygesture drawings with a sweeping S-likeline of action (Fig. 1, A). Then, I oftenrun another undulating line (B,C) fromone side of the shoulder down to theopposite side of the hip. More often thannot, I simply imagine these lines in myhead, looking for clues that can help meunlock the music of the human form.Even the individual body parts havetheir own pattern of underlying rhythms.As just one example of many, look atthe leg. The upper leg tends to swingoutward toward the front, while thelower leg swings backward and inwardin a classic S-shaped rhythm (Fig. 1).Even smaller subforms crisscross musically throughout the legs: Notice that theupper leg is fuller toward the top on theoutside and fuller toward the bottom onthe inside (Fig. 1, D). You’ll also find asimilar pattern in the lower leg. You willsee a fullness of form toward the top onthe outside of the calf muscles, and a fuller form toward the bottom on the insidecalf (Fig. 1, E). Move your eyes lower, andyou will find a perfect counterpoint in theankles, with the inner ankle higher andthe outer ankle lower (Fig. 1, F).