Madame X
Today's drawing is day two of developing my portrait skills. Today was a warm-up exercise of drawing John Singer Sargent's Madam X. Focusing on the proportions and how the eyes, ears, and head proportions line up.
Putting aside what you see, people are even more alike than you think. There are infinite unique faces and features, but almost everyone is the same in many respects. For example, the eyes are halfway between the top of the skull and the chin, and the back of the eye to the back of the ear is the same distance as the front of the eye to the top of the head. In this crazy world, another example of what we have in common.
Learning the isosceles triangle of the head, eyes, and ears is fantastic. Progressing 1% a day.
The Hand on the Picture Plane
Today’s assignment was to draw my hand in foreshortened view using a glass picture plane. This technique/learning tool was created back in the 1400s. This tool helps you see and draw a three-dimensional item on a two-dimensional plane.
It is unbelievably easy to trace my hand on the glass. It was interesting to me how the glass eliminated the stress and angst of trying to capture the depth of my hand. Instead, I focused on the lines and outside map of my hand and watch—a great learning experience.
I picked up a discount picture frame and a few cheap mats at the craft store—an inexpensive, practical glass picture plane.
Pure Contour Drawing - The Hand
Pure Contour Drawing – The Hand
An essential drill to help people develop their drawing skills was introduced in 1941 by Kimon Nicolaides; contour drawing. This drill helps build your skill in seeing the edges and contours of your subject.
In Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, Betty Edwards modified the contour drawing into the pure contour drawing. Her drill has you looking at a subject, in this case, my left hand, and placing my other hand and pencil on the paper. I started the timer for five minutes and ONLY looked at my left hand. I followed the crevices and contours of my hand with my eyes and allowed my drawing hand to “follow” my eyes on the page.
Your outcome is a record of your perceptions of the creases in your palm, not a beautiful sketch of your hand.