Okay I know what your thinking, candy cane stripe gesture lines, really? Yes really. This funny name came about in class one day. I was trying to explain how to draw with flowing gesture line. However there were a few students who were just not getting it.
I could tell they were starting to get a little frustrated. So the first thing that came to my mind was a candy cane stripe. Who knows it might have been right around the Holidays.
You see when we draw the portrait and the figure for that matter we tend to become too timid with our lines. We start drawing, attempting to get the likeness and we draw with short choppy lines. Sometimes drawing with a short choppy line is appropriate. Especially in the initial stages of the drawing.
You want to start integrating a looser more flowing continuous line early in the process. Almost as if your are drawing a ribbon wrapping around the features of the head.
Whether you want to call it a ribbon line or a candy can stripe, it doesn ‘t matter. What matters is that you try to draw in a state of flow keeping your pencil on the paper for two to four second intervals.
There is not one specific place I can point to start using this candy cane stripe gesture line. You’ll know it when you see it. It will be different on every portrait you draw. Perhaps it could start with a flowing stand of hair. It can start with a shadow shape shown in the critique video below.
You want to start drawing with these loose flowing lines early in the process when you are starting to flesh out the portrait. You know I’m a big proponent of using the angles and measurements technique. Adding this loose gesture drawing technique into the mix early adds balance to your process.
I challenge you to actually practice drawing cylinders with a ribbon like stripe wrapping around them. You could also think of drawing a mummy’s head. Wrapping a strand of linen around the structure of a head.
There are many words for me to use when trying to describe how to draw in a loose manner. Drawing with candy cane stripe gesture lines is just fun playful way to help you remember to draw with continuous line that wraps around form.
We are here to help you improve your drawings. Whether you are into drawing portraits or the figure we can help learn the necessary skills to improve. Click here to start improving today.
I have to say that I’m one lucky guy. I keep meeting these incredible students, their raw natural talent is awesome. Their work ethic is certainly over the top in some cases. Jun is certainly one of those cases. Not only does she have a natural ability to draw, her work ethic is incredible.
Jun is super young. She is in her first year of college and boy o boy has she sprinted out of the gate. I’ve really been impressed with Jun. She is an easy going quiet gal who puts her head down and cranks through each exercise in class. She also cranks right through the homework always going that very long extra mile.
Now Jun knows that she is just getting started. She certainly has a lot to learn. She always asks me how to improve. Right now she just has to keep doing what she has been doing, putting in the pencil time. Working on the exercises taught in class.
However on her own time Jun has to study more anatomy. She also has to study more about form. Plus she needs to understand the patterns and rhythm of the body.
However let me tell you, there were no students like Jun when I was a freshman in college. She is really kicking some serious butt. I would have loved to be in this class back when I was eighteen years old. Of course my fragile little Italian ego would have been beaten up a bit. But man I would have learned so much just hanging around Jun. I can certainly say her work ethic would have rubbed off on me the most.
I ask my students all the time about their dream job. It’s a super important question. It’s sets you up for clear thinking in terms of which direction you should take your practice.
Jun wants to be a character designer for video games. I’m pretty confident in saying that’s exactly what she will be.
My favorite Jun quote, “I don’t like to go out and party, I like to stay inside and draw in my sketchbook all night”. Unstoppable focus comes into my mind.
Now get out there and draw. Don’t be perfect, just draw.
Nope Jun doesn’t have a Tumblr, Deviant account nor Instagram. She says she is too lazy to update that stuff. I’d say she is right on track to conquer the world.
Jun draws completely from her memory for some drawings in her sketchbook. For others she uses photo reference for inspiration as well as to copy. She also draws a lot from life . Jun uses Prismacolor Col-erase pencils as well as HB mechanical pencils.
Do you love figure drawing as much as I do? I’m certainly most passionate about drawing the figure. But when I first started my drawings looked flat. My figure drawings had hard edged outlines.
Back in the day when I first started out as an illustrator I certainly wasn’t getting a lot of work. My agents introduced me to one of their established illustrators. He was so busy they suggested that I help him out while they were trying to get me work.
I agreed and I’m glad I did. He turned me onto the whole whole convex line thing. He actually did it through painting. Specifically portraits. It was like the floodgates of form driven art had opened up for me. That old saying is pretty true, you don’t know what you don’t know. All of my drawings had that awful hard edged flat outline. I also outlined items in my paintings too.
Now through years of life drawing I almost take for granted the whole convex line thing. If you study the work of the old masters you’ll see what I mean. The line they use on the edge of the body roles into the figure creating three dimensional form. Just like I demonstrated in the video critique.
I highly recommend that you complete a copy of the old master drawing up above. You can download a copy of the original here. Then compare the copy to your own work. You will immediately notice the difference. Especially in the contour line.
Raphael is certainly a master at merging his line and tone.
Knowing where to put these form lines in and around the figure can be a bit confusing. Especially if you haven’t taken the time to study anatomy. I see this big time with my students. They are freshman, so most of them haven’t had the chance yet to study anatomy. When they draw a clothed figure I see that they use form driven convex line, but drawing the figure, no way. It just doesn’t click for them.
I suggest to my students to study one bone a week. Where you see bone close to the surface of the skin, that’s where the convex lines are. Mostly at the joints of the body. The knee, ankle, elbow etc.
So be conscious of your line. Study anatomy and use form driven convex line to create three dimension within your drawings.
Thanks for reading.
Looking to learn more about line? We have a whole mini course on how to utilize line over at Drawing Tutorials Online.
Have you ever looked at your portrait drawings and wonder why they don’t look realistic? Part of the reason they do not look realistic is because the edges within and around the portrait are too simplistic. Specifically the edges of the eyes, edges of the hair and the edges of the face in relationship to the background.
When it gets down to brass tacks, there aren’t enough angles within the drawing. There are too many macro angles and not enough micro angles. Think of Macro angles as broad strokes. Think of micro angles as detailed rendering with a fine brush.
One definitely needs to look more at the subject they are drawing. In this case a portrait of a male model drawn from life. You definitely want to get into the habit of looking at what you are drawing at least 50 to 60 percent of the time. A lot of artists have unintentionally developed the very bad habit of looking down at their pad too much.
Another contributing factor to overly simplistic edges, sitting too far away from the subject. In this case once again a male model drawn from life. When drawing someone’s portrait from life you want to be no further than six to eight feet away from the model.
Think about it, if you are trying to draw an iris which is a half an inch wide, sitting ten to fourteen feet away is not going to help you.
So the next time you analyze your drawings ask yourself the question, do I have enough angles? Are my edges too simplistic looking? Do I need to make my drawings more complicated by adding more angles to my edges?
Let us know what you think. Leave us a comment below.
If you need a helping hand analyzing your own artwork take a peek at our One Time Coaching. We can help you figure out how to take your drawings up to higher level of quality today!
Recently a member posted up a drawing to our Group Coaching Gallery over at Drawing Tutorials Online. The question this member posed was, how do I draw a likeness of Bette Davis in under an hour?
Great question! I’m guessing you have drawn a portrait or two. I guessing you didn’t get the likeness every time. I know there have been many times that I struggled with drawing the likeness of someone too.
There is a combination of drawing techniques that you can use to help solve this problem.
The first technique, draw a boarder. Draw a boarder on your paper to the exact proportions of the boarder of your portrait reference. So if the photo reference has a boarder of 8 x 10, draw an 8 x 10 boarder on your paper. Yes use an old school ruler.
Second, place your photo reference right next to your drawing. A big mistake I see, many artists keep there photo reference far away from their drawing. Keep it super close.
Third, draw the abstract negative shapes that surround the head and shoulders. If these abstract negative shapes are not correct, you guessed it, no bueno. You will never get the likeness of someone’s portrait if you do not draw these negative shapes correctly first.
Fourth technique, draw angles or use a continuous line to separate the hair from the face. Just being conscious of drawing the shape of the hair verses the shape of the face is half of the battle.
Fifth, definitely start to draw in the shadow shapes of both the hair and face. Put some tone in. Don’t make the mistake of just drawing with line alone.
In terms of the features, it totally depends on the type of light. Was the portrait reference taken in form light, rim light or front light? Each one of these light sources requires a different skill set to get the likeness.
So the next time your want to draw Bette Davis or the girl next door start with a boarder.
This techniques works. It has helped many of my coaching students. It has taken the mystery out of how to draw a likeness when drawing a portrait.
Did you need help with learning how to draw a better portrait? We have dozen’s of portrait drawing tutorials within our member area at Drawing Tutorials Online. Those tutorials combined with weekly coaching will help you improve with speed and confidence.
Last week I started teaching my students all about how light hits form. Ultimately that involves shading. So the question I asked them after their first shading exercise was, are you light handed or heavy handed? There were some insane results. It was a pretty fun exercise.
How about you? When you shade something light in your drawing does it always look a little too dark? How about the opposite? When you are drawing something very dark, for example a characters dark shirt, do you make it look completely too light?
When I was a college student I was super heavy handed. Everything I drew and painted was super dark and super contrasty. Let’s just say I didn’t have a clue about the value ratios. I wasn’t even close to developing my touch yet.
That’s why I wanted to share this video critique with you. It absolutely highlights the need to understand and apply the value ratios.
Try these two simple exercises below.
Practice shading an egg resting on white copy paper. Place it near a window for a soft light source. This is a great exercise to see if you can control your light values. There should be no darks on or near the egg.
Now do the opposite, shade something that is a dark value. It could be something as simple as a dark coffee mug. Once again make sure there is a light source. You definitely want a light side and a shadow side on the object. Apply the value ratio rules spoken to in the video critique. Use middle tones for the light side of the object. The light side should have no whites.
There are many variables. Is the object you are drawing shinny and reflective? Well then there will be very light highlights even on a dark object. So whichever object you choose to draw make sure it has a matte non reflective surface. This will help you be true to the exercise.
Lastly make sure your light source is not too powerful. Don’t use a powerful spotlight. That will change the value ratios as well. A normal lamp or a north facing window would be perfect. If you want to learn more about how to control the value ratios consider a subscription to Drawing Tutorials Online. If painting is your thing we have an extensive list of tutorials covering this topic over at our sister site Painting Tutorials Online.
Let us know what you think. Leave a comment below..
