Some TV sketches done a while ago (before the migraines got in the way of posting!). Starting with the faces on Mastermind. I like these two together as they show how different the human profile can be. I don't use measurements but I'm sure if I did I'd confirm what I think about those 'how to draw portraits' type of books - that there really is no standard measurements. Eyes are not exactly half way and lips are not always as the same as the distance between the pupils etc. Sarah Simblett's book Anatomy For the Artist - whilst an excellent book - annoys me for having used young, perfectly symmetrical, athletic and toned models - even, in one case, a woman who seems to have breast implants! Where are the books with older, skinny and overweight people? Human beings are so diverse and interesting it has always seemed strange to me that artists (and the media) have an obsession with females of a certain age and size. We should be celebrating it, not torturing ourselves to conform to an 'ideal'.
Two more from Mastermind.
I crammed too much onto this page. From Sky News I drew Andy Gray, former footballer. Next to him I've forgotten the name except it was a double barreled Irish name which I thought seemed odd (more of a British class thing usually). Below them, the man on the right (I liked his top lip!) I've forgotten but on the left is Max Clifford, publicist for Jade Goody. I hadn't realised quite how big his nose is in profile until I drew him!
Top here, a name again forgotten, and below is Harriet Harman, looking very serious in an interview with Andrew Marr (whose show is one I try not to miss and whose face I'm still hoping to catch).
I've discovered a trick to drawing from TV, and that is to do it on Sunday morning when the interviews are much longer! You can easily get a 5-10 minute pose if there is something juicy happening at the time!
I've actually finished this little sketchbook and it's the first time ever that I have filled one! I thought it was appropriate to have Eamonn Holmes and Jacquie Beltrao from Sky News on the last page as they are the two presenters I most enjoy watching in the mornings. I wonder if anyone notices that I rarely draw people face on? Not just because I love profiles but because they are a whole lot easier to do!
Last but not least, an unfinished sketch of L'Ecole des Arts Industriel here in Geneva. I say not least because although it's really not worth posting (and it nearly went off the top of the page!), I learned something important while I drew this - I really do not like drawing buildings! Inspired by the Urban Sketchers, I took myself off into town one Sunday just to sketch but after only a few minutes I was bored, bored, bored with this! Geneva has some interesting buildings (and a whole lot of very ugly ones!) and I felt bad for not recording them. Well, not any more. It's just as useful to know what you can't or don't want to do, and buildings are not my thing - not unless they are, say, buildings in my close environment or something I feel I must draw - but from now on I'm happy just enjoy the drawings of others who are more passionate about them!
7 comments:
I love your portraits - whether they are in profile or full frontal! They are always wonderful to see.
Buildings are hard to do. There's thr whole perspective bit about diminishing sise as the building recedes in the distance, etc. I supose that's one reason I hardly do any travel sketches...
Have a nice Sunday!
You do such a fabulous job on your portraits that I would recognize them anywhere!! Your commentary is so true. There are those guidelines and seems everyone you sketch is so different.
I hear you on those buildings!! But I love seeing others sketch them.
Thanks girls!!
Bonny, I don't mind that so much, I think it is just that I like human interest. Plus all those windows and fiddly bits - arrgh! ;)
Teri, yes, I think for anyone learning to do portraits those guidelines might actually make matters worse. Again, they tend to show an idealised version of the face.
So many juicy thoughts to ponder and wonderful drawings in this post! Congratulations on filling your sketchbook! I agree about books on figure drawing and the obnoxious models that are used. There was on book I couldn't even bear to look at it because all of the artist's work was of the pinup variety as were the models. Obviously it wasn't published with us in mind! I'm sorry about the rotten migraines. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on mine, as I've stopped taking the migraine preventative medication since it seemed to make me a little sluggish all the time and I prefer not to take meds all the time to prevent occasional problems.
Thanks Jana! Yes, it's a pet hate of mine - I can think of a few men who I certainly wouldn't class as 'artists' and their focus on drawing 'beauty' is just a euphemism for a sordid obsession. Many of these books seem to indulge them. What a narrow view of humanity!
I used to take beta blockers which made the migraines less intense but much more frequent. I felt much better off them.
Maybe Sarah Simblett's emphasis on anatomical structure led her to use models that clearly demonstrate it---harder to discern skeletal and muscular frameworks under droops and flabs and sags! For less idealized forms, we can look at Rembrandt, Larry Rivers' drawings of his mother-in-law Bertie (IIRC her name), Daumier, Franz Hals, Goya, and so on. Do check out the Larry River drawings---I think you'd like them very much.
I completely agree with you about drawing complicated buildings such as the Beaux Arts one you started on! How do they do it? Why do they do it? Just kidding on the latter ;D. If I could, I probably would. That is why I love artists like Veronica Lawlor, who GETS the energy and gesture and life behind complicated architecture! And that's why I'm taking a drawing workshop with her this summer, to learn to draw buildings with soul and spirit, and to place people within large, complicated spaces. Not that you asked and sorry for the digression ;D. Hoping your headaches vanish altogether.
Laura, yes, that's a really good point. Perhaps it wasn't fair using her book as an example as it's probably one of the best. But I do think larger and skinnier and older models are needed. We are not all that shape so how the body lays fat over muscle and bone would be useful too, or how bones protrude and skin sags. I agree it's useful to see the muscles but I'd like to see more of a cross section of humanity.
Veronica Lawlor! Lucky you! Yes, she really brings street scenes alive and I love her skewed perspectives - that is definitely how it should be done!
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