Figure Drawings

We spend the mornings with Frank to work on our group project and the afternoons with Paul to refine our drawing skills. On the morning of the second day, we revisited the location of our interest to sketch the shapes and textures that make up the sight. We sketched with pencil and collected different textures by putting a piece of paper on top of the surface and rubbing it with charcoal.
The afternoon started with gesture drawings. Thirty seconds fly by very quickly and for some poses I was only able to get a few lines of charcoal on the newsprint. As I usually work slowly and precisely, the task was incredibly more challenging than it seemed.

A gesture drawing 

Paul talked about how images that are synthesised and stored by the mind can affect how we observe and draw. In order to not draw from memory and focus on the subject, the next task was to draw without looking at the model. We were not expected to produce fantastic drawings but to observe closely and draw slowly.

I had more success when the time limit was increased. We talked about using the pencil to measure the model in order to produce more proportional drawings. The drawing below was completed within 10 minutes. With more time at hand, I was able to spend more time on sketching more precise lines. We were not allowed to shade as the aim is to focus on shape and line.

The time limit was then extended to twenty minutes. This time, we also had to draw the background. The technique we used to make the foreground stand out on top of the background is called atmospheric perspective which is when we create an illusion of depth by depicting the objects in the distance in a paler shade.

Our homework was to do a "figure" drawing at Washington Square Park.