The Expressive Figure 5_4_2022

 

The Expressive Figure Assignment

Concept: Emphasis

Materials

•  Vine or Willow Jumbo Charcoal ( Generals), Graphite lead and holder, ballpoint pen, Crayon, etc
•  90 lb drawing paper 12" x 19" or similar sketchbook
•  Faber-Castell Kneaded Eraser
•  I pad

Starting with charcoal or graphite, quickly sketch draw a gestural mannikin of the pose with the emphasis on proportions and action. This should take fifteen seconds or less and be in the spirit of what Michelangelo called "the Flame". Think of it as three helixes wrapping around a central core, like ribbons or strands of flame rising and converging above.

With the template of the mannikin pose as a guide, consider how the volumes of the "peanut", "cylinders, and "ovoid" describe the volumes "in space" and can taper as they move away from us and loom larger the closer they are to us. Be cognizant of this "in and out" spatial occupancy.

Choose three poses and explore the quality of :

Emphasis

Impart more data in some areas and counterpose that with areas of less data. Detail is balanced against vagueness as a total effect.

Be reminded that some aspects of the body, ( faces, hands, feet, and genitals ) have  increased frisson or "irradiance", and will attract the eye more easily and this will have to be factored into how you calibrate where the eye will go. The artist may have to intentionally obliterate or "ghost" a too realistic head or hand because it upsets the sequence within the drawing proper. This sequential trajectory of the eye starts then, to impart a narrative, as the artist consciously ( perhaps subconsciously as well) imparts data throughout the drawing much as a novel imparts data through a sequence of chapters.

Brush and Ink with Hake brush

very loose and non specific(brut) quality

Pen and Ink on top-

 finishing the drawing with concentrated data specific marks

The Expressive Figure 4_8_2021

 The Expressive Figure

Expressive Figure Assignment

Color Progression in the Figure

Watercolor

Materials:

Brush of Choice:

• Sumi Brush
• King Art Golden Taklon Round 9020 no.12 
• Da Vinci Casaneo Quill Mop no.4
• Ching Yue Calligraphy Brush  

• Watercolor Paint/ Cadmium Yellow Light/ Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Red Light, Cerulean Blue
• Paper Towel/Sponge

Concept: Color progression for the Figure. 

Complexion

Put on the palette a dollop of Cadmium Red and Yellow Ochre.

Dip your brush into the water, give it a shake and then dip into the red.. Make a swatch about

an inch square. Dip the brush again into the water, shake off and repeat with the Yellow Ochre.

Immediately draw the wet ochre brush over the lower section of the still wet red swatch.

Both colors should be wet enough to flood together. Clean your brush, shake off excess water and create several zig-zag strokes, down and away from the swatches. Carry the mixture down a few inches. If the mixture is too red, work some of the Ochre into the mix. Likewise, if the mixture is too yellow, add some red. Pay close attention to the degree of wetness. If too wet, the color is thin. If too dry, the color is dark.

Repeat the previous procedure only this time add Cerulean Blue. Create a swatch of the blue just 

below the Yellow Ochre. Go through the steps of creating a progression with the zig zag strokes.

Pick up some Cerulean with a clean wet brush( be sure to shake off excess water) and pull into Red/Yellow mixture. Do not brush the blue around. Let the paper,paint, and water do all the work.

Warm and Cool washes.

MIx a puddle of Cadmium Red Light and Yellow Ochre as before. Make sure the mixture

is not too red or too yellow. Start at the head and wash this tone down toward the upper back.

Rinse the brush and shake off. Load some diluted Cerulean blue into the brush and wash into the warm wash down to the pelvis. Rinse the brush and shake off. LOad some more of the WARM mixture and continue massing in the rest of the figure. Finally, add a touch of diluted Cadmium red on the feet and hands.

  Let the Paper, Paint, and Water do all the work !

Select at least three figures and paint with  a warm and cool wash.

The Expressive Figure 3_25_2021

 The Expressive Figure

Expressive Figure Assignment

Four Value Figure

Materials:

• Sumi Brush
• Taklon Synthetic Round
• Da Vinci Casaneo Quill Mop
• Chinese Calligraphy Brush
• Hake Brush
• Watercolor Paint/ Choice of: Light Red, Sepia, Brown Madder
• Paper Towel/Sponge

Concept: Figure in Four Values. 

First Pass:

Block in the figure  On white ground paper and using the aqueous media ( watercolor of choice), mass the silhouette .  Imply the light source by creating slight progression of dark away from light. See Figure 1

Second Pass:

Using a darker value of watercolor ( watercolor of choice),block a strip along the shadow side of head and shoulder keeping in mind that the neck cylinder is casting a shadow across the shoulder.

Third Pass:

Using a paper towel or sponge, Wipe,(Wick) out the middle tone along the mostly vertical camber of light. Think of the highlight on a cylinder. The highlight is not a circle of light as on a sphere , but resembles a ribbon of light that moves along the vertical plane of light.

Draw at least three poses using the concept of the FOUR value Figure

 

THe Expressive Figure 1_21_2021

 The Expressive Figure

Expressive Figure Assignment

Materials:

Hake Brush
Sumi Brush
Reed Pen
Sponge

Sumi Ink diluted 1:3 water

Sumi Ink Full Strength

Sepia Watercolor

Concept: Draw at least three poses

1. Using the Hake Brush, Sponge, Sumi, or similar equivalent IMPRECISE brush....

 indicate the shadow areas and contours AWAY from the light using SEPIA WATERCOLOR then-

2. Using paper towel or sponge, soften the turning plane.

3.Using  a more PRECISE brush/tool ( Reed Pen, Sumi Brush or equivalent) and CHINESE INK,

indicate localized high informational anatomy or contrasts. 

80% imprecise brush (Hake Brush)

20% precise brush (Sumi/Squirrel Mop)

Observe how the Chinese ink flows into the sepia watercolor. The pigments have different electrical charges and will react causing blooming and artifacts.