As you read through this new entry, I ask that you consider the word “relationship”, always something that goes with something else.  The more you relate things to one another, the more accurate you will be in learning to SEE.

For example, draw a rectangle, this will contain the oval shape for the face.  In relation to the top of the head, and the chin, where are the eyes, from the eyes to the chin, where is the nose, how about from the nose to the chin, where is the mouth, draw light lines to indicate those features.  Now, between the side of the face and the center, where is the eyeball.  As it is about halfway, I make a line to indicate that relationship.  Interestingly enough, the corners of the mouth, in repose, relate to the center of the eyeball.  The corners of the nose are directly under the inner aspect of the eyelid.

The ears relate to the eyes and the nose.  I use the negative shapes of the rectangle to help me determine the shape of the hair and the chin.  NOw we are talking about a face in repose and staring straight on, things change when, the face is looking down, sideways or way up to the sky, so then there are a different set of relationships

Everything you draw, should have an initial shape, then you can determine where its parts touch that shape and making a mark or a line will help you relate things to one another.  The face you see to the right shows the use of      these initial shapes and lines, The one on the left is a little more refined, but  using the same process and relationships.

This method of drawing has been used by the masters, in fact, in some of  daVince’s drawings, you can see evidence of giving his subject  an initial  shape and then dividing up the shape to have things relate to one another.

You always have your hand with you, put it in an interesting position and  give it  a shape, determine where each part of the hand touches the shape and draw a light line or mark to indicate that, use the negative spaces to show slants and knuckles, all  of a sudden the hand will appear to you. Try this, after you have the initial  shape of your hand in an interesting position, use line to indicate where  things  are, use the negative shapes to show how much “volume” exists  outside the hand and relate the the fingers to the palm, etc, don’t worry  about the little lines and wrinkles in your hand, just the outside edges, and  no shading.

Remember, you are gradually going to learn to see again, gain confidence in  this gift you have.  Pretend that you are a babe and that you have never seen these things before, so that more than anything, you want to study them and document these new images.

It is not that drawing is never a struggle, anything that you do, as you become more powerful and try more involved subjects, is daunting. But this is a process, the more you do it, the more proficient you become and then…the more you want to do it.  Above and beyond that, find something that you feel passion for, every pencil line is a caress.

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Today is the very first day of my new blog, I hope to add new information every week to discuss this process of making art.

Drawing is the absolute foundation of every painting.  It’s the connection from your eyes/brain to your painting surface, without it there is a disconnect.

You see something you feel passion for, with wonderful shape and shadow, you take a picture and when you look at the developed picture, you can’t for the life of you, see what it was that you wanted to paint.  Frederick Franck says, “We do a lot of looking, through lenses, etc…our looking is perfected every day, but we see less and less.”  Cameras and computers are taking over our experiencing and seeing.  Unfortunately, by relying on these wonderful technical skills, we have lost confidence in our own ability to record a scene that we wish to make into a composition.  As an artist, by creating paintings, you are helping your viewer to see that which he cannot and you can regain your ability, just by exercising your drawing skills.

To that end, I recommend that you draw a little every day, nothing lengthy, just 20 minutes, a still life, landscape, your shoe, you always have your hand with you, put that into an interesting position, just do a line drawing, no shading.

Carry a small 8 1/2X5 1/2 sketch book with you all the time, so many times, waiting for my children I would take out my sketch book and sit in the car and draw what I saw out my windshield.  I have designed a book , just this size that has drawing paper, collated with tracing paper, you can do the line drawing and if you are working toward a composition, turn over the tracing paper to give it value.  Next week I will talk about my method of drawing, used by the masters.

The second picture is a drawing which I have added the tracing paper to, with the idea of putting in the values.  It helps me decide how it will be as a composition, as essentially solving many of my design problems at an early stage.

But at this point, what you are wanting, is to draw, to see, to regain your ability to take off the labels, this is a tree, this is George’s nose, or eye, this is a vase and daisy…and see all the uniqueness around you.

Talk to you next week, try to do some drawing.