Lesson 2: Line An Essential Ingredient.
The Tacit Nature Of Drawing
When I first learnt to understand what tacit meant on the piano - I was fascinated. You are trying to play something that is not really there. Similarly when an artist begins to sketch he/she is attempting to make marks on the page to 'try them out.'
At this stage of the drawing, experiment, push and pull, go over areas of the drawing time and time again. Cover the page with huge amounts of energy. The energy will be vague marks that act as signposts and suggestions. Only when you are ready to commit to a final idea will your lines begin to become expressive.Before drawing the artist will need to make some basic decisions.
- What will the subject matter be?
- How will it be arranged?
- What materials will best reflect the nature of the subject matter?
- These are muddled decisions and often come about as part of a subconscious process.
- They are not neatly nestled, methodical steps of a process.
- They are intuitive stages of evolvement of design.
- Instruction about them cannot be precise and prescriptive.
- You will develop your own style and pattern of engaging in working drawings.
Set out below is a visual description of the types of lines that artists use to draw up and block in the basics of designs. They have been arranged in a sequential order - however your own personal style may move you to approach the tasks they represent in a different manner. If you stray away and then feel uncomfortable and begin to flounder I suggest you come back to the suggestions until such time as you feel comfortable. In the end you will intuitively know what to do.
Now that you have read that short essay, I would like you to get your flower arrangement and begin to draw methodically in this way.....
Pssst! Draw quickly. Do not turn the exercise into a hard deliberative chore. Rather just have a go and have fun!
Whisper Lines.These are the lines that an artist uses when first approaching the page. Soft, gentle, so unnoticable that you do not need an eraser. They are hardly there.
Most of the classic artists used these lines and allowed them to remain in the final expression. Quick, expressive gesture lines such as these imbue the drawing with the quality of a thought process. The viewer can trace the process of creation.
- Play with these lines,
- experiment with them,
- push them this way and that.
- Pull them about on the page
- before deciding whether to allow them to became a part of the drawing.
Ghost Lines.These lines are a little bit more tangible. What they say is "I am a lil' bit more sure and I'll have a rough guess about this, but whatever you do don't hold me to this as I am just not ready!"
Scribble DrawingsThese lines are a little more certain. By the time you have arrived at this point you will have made decisions about issues such as
- placement,
- what the longest line will be (approximately)
- and you will be enjoying the process so much that you will be scribbling away energetically, and quickly.
- Let a rough mass of scribbles appear very quickly on the page
- ....but keep them ever so light.
- Allow the subconscious to speak to you gently.
- Listen intently to your heart.
- Have a relaxed, enjoyable time but commit to nothing.
Getting It Into Proportion.OOps! I guess we had to re-enter the real world eventually. The Chapter called "Taking A Sight on Reason, Ratios, and Relationships.' from the recommended text Drawing on the Artist Within. pp184-203 will illuminate these matters for you. Lets step back and take a look. It is time to make some judgements. Place the whole drawing away from you propped up against a wall or on an easel. Walk as far away from it as you can without losing clear sight of the drawing. Now you can experience the drawing as gestalt. Allow the overall effect wash over you and 'feel' the feeling it gives you. Take mental note of the feelings or list them quickly into your journal but don't particularly worry about expression now. Look at whether the porprotions feel right to you. Do some areas need reworking, with regard to size in comparison with each other?
[Side Note. Ssssh! This would be a good time to commune with your muse. Have a look to see whether the subconscious has exaggerated some aspect of the drawing for a poetic reason. Can you respond to the beckoning of your angels? If you don't want to get side tracked at this point, and I suggest that you don't - scan or photocopy the drawing just the way it is. Glue it into your journal and come back to it later.]
Viola! - Engage.Oh dear. It is time to make a commitment. Remember many of these lines are guidelines (see: Directional Lines and Vanishing Points.) and are not meant to be a part of the final drawing.
- Leave them exactly where they are.
- Don't rub them out and what ever you do don't firm them up either.
- Just let them guide you gently.
- Now relax!
- This part of the drawing is crucial. Often it is the point at which some people become discouraged.
- Just relax into working around the drawing in a circular motion - reorganising the shapes in proportion to each other.
- Go around once very, very lightly correcting the elements in relation to each other.
- Relax into it. Go around again and again correcting and correcting.
- What you have is an effect something like "changing rooms." As you correct one element another will look out of kilter.
- Don't overwork the drawing.
- Don't forget that the reason we have chosen flowers as our subject matter is so that we don't have to be absolutely accurate. Near enough is good enough.
Once you are comfortable with the designal elements of the drawing it is time to begin to shade. Shading itself is dealt with separately in another lesson but the description reads as before.
- Work the drawing in a circular motion.
- As each element changes the ones next to them may feel too light or too dark.
- Don't overwork it.
- At some stage your inner voice will caution you to stop.
- Listen to your muse she always beckons one to a place of comfort.
Points to remember.
- I always watch my students closely to make sure they are not becoming discouraged. Discouragement in artistic ventures comes about when we are too self critical. Even if you do art for a living - the catch to the whole venture is that you can't do it well if you are not enjoying the process. It is important not to become too self-critical. As you step back from your easel tell any thoughts about 'good or bad' to go. Look only to see whether the parts are resting comfortably in relation to each other. Note your feelings about whether the composition is pleasing. Appraise issues of light and tone. See whether the different elements are falling into place for you. But don't can the drawing. Acceptance is the key to your artistic development. Be happy with the little gains you have made in the exercise you have attempted. At the appropriate time move on. Don't judge any one piece of work outside the context of your overall development. And don't allow anyone else to do this either. Ask for feedback in the discussion area and make note in your journal of what you have achieved and what needs improvement. Have fun. Make friends. Groups of like-minded people can work wonders as a source of empowerment.
- As you draw - work quickly.
- Try to turn off the rational logical side of your mind.
- What works for one artist may or may not work for another. I suggest that you read, research and practice techniques separately.
- When attempting a drawing that you hope will be an artistic statement - train your mind to turn off the side of the brain that allowed you to learn these techniques.
- At some stage there will be a cut off point where your artwork begins to just 'sing.'
- This point is similar to the time when a musician switches from learning a piece of music to 'playing' a piece of music from memory. It is an entirely different experience. Time will pass without you knowing and lines and marks will appear on the paper without your conscious effort.
(Tao Te Ching), written by Lao-tzu 24That is why it is so essential to journal daily. Do the groundwork and the artistic statements will happen.
- He who stands on tiptoe is not steady.
- He who strides cannot maintain the pace.
