Jeff’s Blog

I am really unhappy with this. I considered not posting it at all, but then I thought there are probably a lot of other people who are considering picking up a pencil, but who don’t do it simply because they’re afraid to suck.

Well, let me tell you… it’s OK to suck. That’s why it’s called a sketch book and not an art book.

Anyway… the idea behind this is that you draw the shapes around the primary object instead of drawing the shapes of the primary object. By drawing the shapes around the thing you really want to draw, the left side of your brain is able to take control, because the shapes become more abstract. Instead of drawing the stretchers between the legs of the chair, you’re just drawing some interesting triangular type shapes.

Unfortunately, my proportions were all out of whack. The chair is too tall on the top and/or too wide at the bottom.

I was so unhappy with the negative drawing that I thought I’d take a stab at a more traditional sketch. That one didn’t work out so well either. Better, but not particularly good.

Well, some days are better than others. Guess I’ll just have to chalk this one up to “just one of those days”.

Both of these are 2B pencil.

Pablo Picasso drew this portait of Igor Stravinski.

I’m reading Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, and one of the first exercises is to copy this portait.  The twist, though, is to draw it upside down.

The idea is trick your brain into a mode where it can no longer say things like, “Oh, that’s a nose.  I know what a nose looks like.  No need to look at it anymore, just start drawing.”  By flipping the image upside down, you begin to lose track of what it is you’re drawing; and you focus just on drawing the shapes.

Now, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain is definitely a book for beginners.  It is targeted at individuals who think they have no drawing talent and could never learn how to do it.  And for my part, I waffle between moments of crushing self-doubt and certainty about my own mediocrity.  I have no illusions that I am a great artist; but neither do I think I’m a rank beginner.  So I question whether I need to revert to a book so basic as this one.

Still, I think there is something I can learn by returning to the absolute basics.

So, I dilligently followed the rules… I flipped the image over and drew what I saw.  The head is a little small, but I was surprised by how close I actually got.