Pencil drawing

[kittynh]

classes are great. I've never made friends with watercolors, but plan to take some classes once I have a little more "freedom" (as in the last child goes off to high school).

Less smell...easier cleanup and the challenge....gggrrrrrr

Of course, I'm a little messed up. I'm currently going nuts over a painting by a 7th grader. It's the "new scream". The Middle School art teacher got mad that for the "portraits of a classmate" class he painted an emotion rather than a "realistic looking face". I'm buying it off the kid. He's a genius. I'm giving it to my friend that is an art agent.

 

[Checkmite]

Somebody at work suggested that I take art classes at college. I looked into it, but I decided I most definitely would not, in any way, shape, or form whatsoever. Nope. Nein. Nyet. I'm not a big fan of "art classes" to begin with (my grades were always thoroughly average in school); but it seems that at this place, it's not like math classes - I can't just show somebody my "work" and get placed accordingly. Instead, if I want to take "Drawing", I have to take all the prerequesites, like "Color", "Form and Shape", and "Art Appreciation", first. That could take a whole year! Screw that - I know plenty about color, form, and shape, thank you very much.

 

[Piscivore]

Somebody at work suggested that I take art classes at college. I looked into it, but I decided I most definitely would not, in any way, shape, or form whatsoever. Nope. Nein. Nyet. I'm not a big fan of "art classes" to begin with (my grades were always thoroughly average in school); but it seems that at this place, it's not like math classes - I can't just show somebody my "work" and get placed accordingly. Instead, if I want to take "Drawing", I have to take all the prerequesites, like "Color", "Form and Shape", and "Art Appreciation", first. That could take a whole year! Screw that - I know plenty about color, form, and shape, thank you very much.

I came to the same conclusion about writing classes.

 

[William H.]

Somebody at work suggested that I take art classes at college. I looked into it, but I decided I most definitely would not, in any way, shape, or form whatsoever. Nope. Nein. Nyet. I'm not a big fan of "art classes" to begin with (my grades were always thoroughly average in school); but it seems that at this place, it's not like math classes - I can't just show somebody my "work" and get placed accordingly. Instead, if I want to take "Drawing", I have to take all the prerequesites, like "Color", "Form and Shape", and "Art Appreciation", first. That could take a whole year! Screw that - I know plenty about color, form, and shape, thank you very much.

That's what I like about night classes, most of them don't have prerequesites and I took them non-credit so I didn't have to worry about a grade. The format was usually to paint or draw in whatever style you wanted and the teacher would walk around and give his thoughts on the works in progress. If you wanted a lot of help he would stay and talk as long as you asked questions and if you didn't want much advice he wouldn't stay long.

I also enjoyed working with ten or twenty other artists, it's amazing how many people who are looking at the exact same thing come up with very different looking paintings.

 

[Kopji]

Great idea on the night classes. We have a large group of artists that teach an occasional class too.

I loved drawing till I met up with an awful teacher in 8th grade. I put it all away till about five years ago when I took it up again as a way to get through some tough times. Drawing is definitely 'mediation 101' for me. I like pencil drawing but LOVE the feel of cork on a nice nib pen. I've been known to completely wreck a pencil drawing just to get some ink on it.

If I had it to do again I would take every art class I could. It's harder when you get older and have to consider family and obligations.

Everything Egyptian is very cool. I love the column.

We had a snowstorm last week and since I'd not ever drawn a ship before thought I'd try one out.

Note to self: The reason people are not usually drawn on ships is because they look like little monkeys.

 

[kittynh]

I think it's a cute ship with monkies!!!


see if there is something like an artists cooperative that gives lessons. I plan to take my watercolor classes from the local artists cooperative. I have to be sure NOT to listen to anything they suggest though. I want the skills and shortcuts, NOT their vision please.

Anyone see the Spounge Bob where he takes art lessons? That is my favorite episode, and to be honest, it's very true.

 

[Checkmite]

Gaff-rigged schooner - very lovely indeed.

 

[sophia8]

Of course, I'm a little messed up. I'm currently going nuts over a painting by a 7th grader. It's the "new scream". The Middle School art teacher got mad that for the "portraits of a classmate" class he painted an emotion rather than a "realistic looking face". I'm buying it off the kid. He's a genius. I'm giving it to my friend that is an art agent.

Aaarrghh... That brings back a horrid memory for me. When I was 11 or 12, we had a new art teacher. For one of the first lessons with her, we each had to bring a flower to class and paint it.
I bought in a cornflower. I put it in a jar and quite quickly painted it. But I thought the painting looked a bit bare - just this blue cornflower, on its green stalk, stuck in the middle of the paper. So I thought to myself "Cornflowers grow in cornfields, right?" and filled in the background with lots of yellow stripes, to represent stalks of corn. I thought it looked great, all that yellow and blue and green (I'd even put a bit of a curve into the stripes, to indicate the stalks were waving in the wind). But when the teacher came and looked at it, she just said coldly "I didn't tell you to do an abstract!" and stalked on, to shower praise on the little b*st*rd in the class who could draw everything with photgraphic accuracy.

It took me years to recover from that knock to my self-confidence, and realise I could paint anything I damm well pleased, any way I damm well pleased.

 

[Kopji]

Thanks. I definitely understand the take on artist's vision.
That IS one of my favorite Spongebob episodes.

-sigh- I miss Invader Zim the most though...

 

[Checkmite]

Aaarrghh... That brings back a horrid memory for me. When I was 11 or 12, we had a new art teacher. For one of the first lessons with her, we each had to bring a flower to class and paint it.
I bought in a cornflower. I put it in a jar and quite quickly painted it. But I thought the painting looked a bit bare - just this blue cornflower, on its green stalk, stuck in the middle of the paper. So I thought to myself "Cornflowers grow in cornfields, right?" and filled in the background with lots of yellow stripes, to represent stalks of corn. I thought it looked great, all that yellow and blue and green (I'd even put a bit of a curve into the stripes, to indicate the stalks were waving in the wind). But when the teacher came and looked at it, she just said coldly "I didn't tell you to do an abstract!" and stalked on, to shower praise on the little b*st*rd in the class who could draw everything with photgraphic accuracy.

It took me years to recover from that knock to my self-confidence, and realise I could paint anything I damm well pleased, any way I damm well pleased.

I ran into that problem in the later years. Elementary and middle-school art were just fine for me. You were given a subject and told to draw it (or paint it, whatever), you did what you did, and turned it in. Sometimes you would be given a medium, like tempera or lenoleum, and told to do whatever you wanted to do with it. That was cool stuff.

Then I got into high school, and took "Advanced Drawing". Suddenly, we were doing much less of the "here's a subject, knock yourself out" line, and started doing some "here's a particular style of drawing, make a drawing using this technique". That irked me. If you didn't get the technique right - if it just didn't "work" for you - you got a nice LOW grade on it. "You didn't learn the appropriate concepts". Well, that's not true - I knew the appropriate concepts behind the technique; I just despised them.

The problem was worse when I took painting. "Today, we're going to learn to paint in the Monet style". Well, I like Monet's (van Gogh's, Picasso's) paintings, and the technique is cute, but I am not particularly interested in learning to paint like him, nor do I plan on using his technique anytime in my life, ever. And of course, you could be a living legend at the technique you like the most - but if the class even covers that technique, it's only one A in a sea of Cs and Ds you earned because you didn't try to hard enough to paint like Monet (van Gogh, Picasso) on those days. In my senior year, since I (barely) passed the advanced painting and drawing classes, I was able to take "Independent Studio", which rocked. The class was simple - do two "large" projects and three "small" ones. You have all year. Use any medium, any subject. I made two large oil paintings, two drawings, and a ceramic ashtray. There were some days I sat in there and just talked with my friends. The teacher was available for help if needed, but mostly sat and chatted with us.

There are classes like Independent Studio at my college...but just like in high school, you've got to "earn the right" to take them by schlepping through all the garbage...presumably, by learning how to paint like Monet...again. No thanks. I've learned you don't have to be taking an art class to submit work for gallery shows or competitions there, which is good.

 

[TragicMonkey]

-sigh- I miss Invader Zim the most though...

And why was Invader Zim great art?

An obsessive preponderance of monkeys.

Admittedly, pigs and moose turned up a lot, too, but it was definitely the monkeys that made it so great.

I'm going to copy the green monkey painting over Zim's couch someday...

 

[Bluegill]

I ran into that problem in the later years. Elementary and middle-school art were just fine for me. You were given a subject and told to draw it (or paint it, whatever), you did what you did, and turned it in. Sometimes you would be given a medium, like tempera or lenoleum, and told to do whatever you wanted to do with it. That was cool stuff.

Then I got into high school, and took "Advanced Drawing". Suddenly, we were doing much less of the "here's a subject, knock yourself out" line, and started doing some "here's a particular style of drawing, make a drawing using this technique". That irked me. If you didn't get the technique right - if it just didn't "work" for you - you got a nice LOW grade on it. "You didn't learn the appropriate concepts". Well, that's not true - I knew the appropriate concepts behind the technique; I just despised them.

The problem was worse when I took painting. "Today, we're going to learn to paint in the Monet style". Well, I like Monet's (van Gogh's, Picasso's) paintings, and the technique is cute, but I am not particularly interested in learning to paint like him, nor do I plan on using his technique anytime in my life, ever. And of course, you could be a living legend at the technique you like the most - but if the class even covers that technique, it's only one A in a sea of Cs and Ds you earned because you didn't try to hard enough to paint like Monet (van Gogh, Picasso) on those days. In my senior year, since I (barely) passed the advanced painting and drawing classes, I was able to take "Independent Studio", which rocked. The class was simple - do two "large" projects and three "small" ones. You have all year. Use any medium, any subject. I made two large oil paintings, two drawings, and a ceramic ashtray. There were some days I sat in there and just talked with my friends. The teacher was available for help if needed, but mostly sat and chatted with us.

There are classes like Independent Studio at my college...but just like in high school, you've got to "earn the right" to take them by schlepping through all the garbage...presumably, by learning how to paint like Monet...again. No thanks. I've learned you don't have to be taking an art class to submit work for gallery shows or competitions there, which is good.

All this brings back to me questions I wonder about from time to time.

Should art classes be graded? Sometimes yes, or never? If the students should be graded, what is the basis that should be used for grading?

I've never drawn a conclusion, and I've never taught an art class, though I've certainly taken them.

Many times I think that art classes should be graded like any other class, on the basis of whether the student is gaining the skills and knowledge required. But the skills and knowledge are usually harder to quantify (and the goals not clearly stated beforehand) than other subjects, like math or history. But many of the other requirements for other subjects are often just as subjective, calling into question the entire idea of grading.

This sounds like a derail. I'm starting another thread. Back to pencil drawings!

 

[davidhorman]

Here's a drawing I did of a friend of mine years ago:

I think I used quite a soft pencil and my patented smudgey-finger technique

Anyone have any +/-ive constructive criticism?

David

 

[Kopji]

Tragicmonkey
They had me from the flying whale.

David
Hi. Years ago? Hey keep drawing!
Drawing people 'I know' is one of the hardest things for me. Surprising how an emotional attachment influences almost every stroke.

I was so excited the first time I drew a portrait that actually looked like the person.

Take 1:
who's that dad?
you
don't give up your day job
don't spend too much time looking for at job as an art critic

 

[Bluegill]

David:
My only criticism is that I'd like to see a wider variety of value in the drawing. More darks.

 

[davidhorman]

My only criticism is that I'd like to see a wider variety of value in the drawing. More darks.

I agree. It was my first real drawing since school (where the only thing I ever drew convincingly was a shoe), and I was afraid to go too heavy, because then I'd have to fill in more of the face.

It was drawn from a photo so in that sense it was a fairly technical exercise. Here's the original:

David

 

[Bluegill]

Olives I drew about a month ago (I just noticed when I scanned it that I really screwed up the date. I labeled it as 2/17/04, when I actually drew it on 1/17/05. I don't know how or why I did that.):

A cicada in charcoal from a year and a half ago.

 

[Bluegill]

very fast sketches from a few months ago while hanging out with friends:

Graphite drawings of myself from about a year ago. I darkened them on my computer because they did not show up well when I scanned them.

 

[Checkmite]

I can't see any of them, Bluegill.

David: The drawing is just fine; however, on a personal note I stay away from using my finger to blend. The reason is that paper, whichever kind you use, is a mixture - and not a uniform one, either. Because of this, certain areas of the paper will absorb more oil from your skin than others, and this will affect the way your graphite sticks to the paper. The result is that your shading will be uneven and blotchy. In the particular work you've shown, your graphite is all very light, so it's not obvious - but it's there if you look hard enough. Next time, try just taking some scrap notebook paper and wrapping a little bit of it around your finger, like a "thimble" - then try the smudgy-finger trick. It should work decently enough, and saves clean stuff around you if you can't wash your hands right away.

 

[Darat]

Somebody at work suggested that I take art classes at college. I looked into it, but I decided I most definitely would not, in any way, shape, or form whatsoever. Nope. Nein. Nyet. I'm not a big fan of "art classes" to begin with (my grades were always thoroughly average in school); but it seems that at this place, it's not like math classes - I can't just show somebody my "work" and get placed accordingly. Instead, if I want to take "Drawing", I have to take all the prerequesites, like "Color", "Form and Shape", and "Art Appreciation", first. That could take a whole year! Screw that - I know plenty about color, form, and shape, thank you very much.

In defence of art classes, hey are great for teaching basic techniques and expanding someone’s' artistic vocabulary and grammar. Good art teachers and classes are the sort of things that at the time probably don’t seem very useful but 10 years down the line something just clicks into place when you need them. When I was younger I very much concentrated on a very precise style pen and ink drawings (and air brushing) so much of what I was taught had no relevance to what I did. Yet just last year when after nearly a 20 year hiatus I decided to try my hand at some artwork I found myself drawing on what I had been taught 25 years ago.

For a couple of reasons the type of pen and ink drawing I used to prefer is now not particle for me so I've been experimenting using "natural" painting tools on the PC (combination of Photoshop & Painter) with a Wacom tablet. It's been fun since it's been a very interesting process of learning and developing new "technical" techniques along with a different style.

One of the first images I was at all happy at showing anyone was this one, it was inspired last summer by a photo I took of a poppy I had growing in my garden.