Updates

For updates, see sidebar on the right.

FREE Art Lessons

We will begin by touching on various aspects of drawing: seeing with the artist’s eye, values, creativity, abstraction, armchair research and where to go from there. The goal is to encourage your artistic abilities. It will be a journey of discovery.

Introduction
It is time for me to pass on what I have learned from my years as a lifelong painter and illustrator, because I have had a wonderful life doing what I love to do.

I have traveled the circuit as an artist, from traditional through impressionistic, from exploration of imaginative cosmic space to atmospheric-nautical with ink, paint, and pastel. In my late years I now use the computer as my art tool. I wrote, illustrated, and published my first book “Keeping Ahead of Winter” after I was eighty-years-old.

I taught oil painting at the San Mateo County Arts Council and taught drawing in my studio at the Twin Pines Art Center, in Belmont CA., now called 1870 Art Center. My work is in the permanent collection of the Peninsula Museum of Art.

Leonardo Da Vinci wrote, “The feeling is what guides you to reach out for the knowledge.”

You will need:
· A medium size drawing pad (if you are just starting to draw, buy a newsprint paper pad -- it is cheaper and you will be more relaxed)
· Number 2B, 4B and 6B drawing pencils
· A pocket knife
· Ruler
· Kneaded art eraser
· Charcoal or conte crayon optional
· An Emory board or a small piece of sandpaper stapled to a piece of wood to shape the point of your pencil
· A drawing board, or use plywood or Masonite
. Masking tape to hold your paper on the board
· Fixative to protect the drawing from smearing (hair spray will do the trick)

Art materials can be bought at your local art store or online at: Dick Blick http://www.dickblick.com/ or Daniel Smith http://www.danielsmith.com/
~~~

TO COMMENT: You do NOT need a Google ID. Select any of the other options presented and follow instructions.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Lesson #6

It is my intention to encourage your creativity.
Art is a part of all our lives, wherever we go, whatever we see. What we do now tells about the culture of today wherever we happen to be.

For those of you who are experienced in drawing or painting, I hope these classes will add to what you already know.

I will appreciate it if you tell me what your particular interests are.

The illustration shows you the distances between features of the head.

-- Think of the head as being shaped like an egg and draw light lines as shown on the illustration.
-- Notice that the ear is between the eyes and the base of the nose.
-- To give the illusion of being three dimensional, instead of making straight lines as in drawing a box, make them oval.

For this exercise draw the head straight on. Normally it looks best if the head is tilted and/or turned. After you get the feel for drawing the outline of the head add the facial features.

You will notice that male heads have sharper lines.


When you feel you have mastered the outlines with the facial features, add the values.
While the adult head is oval, the child’s head is more round. The forehead is more pronounced than the adult and the jaw bones, neck and other facial features are smaller.
These pictures of the children are from my book
"Naptime Secrets."

This should keep you busy for now. You will do a lot of drawings before you feel good about them.

Have fun.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is brilliant and really useful but I'm having trouble with drawing heads tilted directly back as if somebody facing you tilts their head back. Could you help? You're amazing.

Ruth Silnes said...

I'm glad to have you aboard. Your question is hard to answer in words but I'll give it a try. Your question about a head looking straight forward and bent back: The center line of the face would be straight, however, I recommend the head be slightly turned.
Keep up the good work.
Cheers,
Ruth