Week Four: Lines, Shapes, Proportion

Last week was the introduction to measuring and drawing accurate proportions. And of course, the Salinas Sketchers rose to the challenge! Everyone made lots of progress in drawing a realistic dog. Some of you took BIG steps towards improving your skills. Highlights: Once again, Vicky's determination led her to making huge progress in drawing realistic proportions. Jesus focused his energy and skills to make a big improvement in drawing proportions. Alex P. and newcomer Jasmine blazed with their drawings, too. I did see Ignacio drawing a really cool dog but it wasn't in his sketchbook, so I don't have a post for him this week.

If anyone missed last week's exercise of drawing the puppy try to work on it so that you understand how to use grid lines for measuring proportion. Accuracy is our focus this week, everyone. I'll bring in the reference picture of the puppy if anyone needs it.

Ready for today's drawing challenge? :-)
We'll be drawing after the Mexican mural painter David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896-1974). Your challenge this morning is to draw the self portrait by Siqueiros. Do at least 2 or 3 smaller practice sketches. These are called thumbnail sketches. Sketch out the basic shapes of his facial features. Keep checking the accuracy of proportions as you sketch. In your larger final drawing go for the details of his bold line strokes. Hot Tip: Hold your pencil sideways (for bold lines) and move your whole arm. Let it flow! Capture the curves and angles of his expressive lines. Do as many sketches as it takes to draw accurately. Draw big and courageous!

Here's today's challenge reference picture: Click here

and...

Check out the new Expression Session posts by Ian, Jacob B., Christian, and Alex P. Remember, if you want to post up in the Expression Session you must finish all of your assigned drawings. And your post must be rated 'G'. Click here

We'll be drawing another Siquerios piece in class today. See you at 10:00! --Rob

Ian

Hey, Ian! The dog you drew on the right has a really nice style to it! Now, compare it to your drawing on the left. The overall proportions of the one on the left are much, MUCH more accurate! Try comparing it to the reference photo. Excellent job of drawing realistic contour lines that form the dog's facial features and shoulders! If you stay focused on drawing accurate proportions your drawing skills will become a lot stronger. Keep it going!

Alex M.

Hey Alex!! This is another really BIG improvement in your drawing skills! You drew accurate, realistic proportions of the dog on the left. Compare both of your drawings to the reference photo. Which one is more accurate, more realistic? With concentrated, focused effort, your drawing skills will continue to improve in leaps and bounds. Very good job of drawing the facial expression of the cartoon dog. Compare your cartoon drawing to the reference picture. Is the size of your dog's body compared to its legs and ears accurately drawn?

Jasmine

Welcome to Salinas Sketchers, Jasmine! Wow! You started off with a couple of excellent drawings! I like the style and technique of the puppy on the right, especially the eyes. But check out how much more accurate the one on the left looks, compared to the reference photo. Fantastic job of drawing contour lines that form the dog's facial features, neck, and chest. Very realistic-looking ears. Great job on the eye. :) Compare your drawing on the left to the reference picture. Is the curve of the dog's forehead accurately drawn? Keep up the great work.

Edna

Right on, Edna!! Excellent job of drawing contour lines that form the dog! Your line work just gets better and better. I really like how you drew the folded ears and jaw lines. The contour lines around the edge of the eye is a nice touch. Great job of drawing realistic, accurate proportions. Cool cartoon dog! Compare your cartoon drawing to the reference picture. Is the size of the dog's body compared to its legs correct?

Alex P.

Hey, Alex! Excellent job of drawing contour lines to form the dogs head, neck, and shoulders. Great job of drawing the ears, and the shading is a nice touch. You've got an excellent eye for drawing accurate overall proportions of what you see. I would really like you try drawing with grid lines and go for as accurate proportions as you can, and to compare it to a sketch without grids. I'd like you to keep sketching from life as much and as accurately as possible. This will help your future freestyle art in a big way. Compare your drawing of the dog to the reference picture. Carefully check out the proportions of the nose/snout area. Are they accurately drawn?

Jacob B.

Alright, Jacob!! Excellent effort at drawing a realistic dog in both pictures! The one on the right is very will drawn. Compare both of your drawings to the reference photo of the puppy. Which drawing has more accurate contour lines of the head, neck, and shoulders. Now, compare your drawing on the left to the reference photo of the dog. Is the position of the eye accurate?

Jacob V.

Two Fantastic drawings of the puppy, Jacob!! Your unique drawing style is really starting to shine in the drawing on the right. You did a very good job of including details of the facial features, and you drew accurate proportions overall, especially the neck and shoulders. Nice job on the folded ears in both drawings. Now, if you compare the puppy on the left to the reference photo you'll see that the proportions are more accurate, especially in the forehead, snout, and positioning of the eye. Keep practicing your accuracy--you've got a keen eye for it! Nice job on the cartoon dog, too!

Erik

You did an EXCELLENT job of drawing accurate proportions of the dog, Erik!! I really like how you 'boxed-in' the basic shapes of the dog on the right. But you truly made a BIG leap to drawing realistic, accurate proportions with your dog on the left! The contour lines that form the dog are very well drawn. The positioning of the ears, snout, and jaw is very accurate. Compare your drawing on the left to the reference photo of the puppy. Is the neck and shoulder area accurately drawn? WAY cool drawing of the cartoon dog. You did a great job of capturing the movement of the legs and ears.

Jesus

First of all, Jesus, you did a great job on the drawing on the right! But your drawing of the puppy on the left is OUTSTANDING!! This really is a big change in your drawing. If you keep focusing your efforts on drawing accurately, your skills will continue to improve in a big way! Excellent line work on the cartoon dog!

Vicky

Yes!! Vicky!! You made a HUGE breakthrough in accurate proportions with your drawings of the puppy! You did a great job of including the details of the dog on the right. But the one on the left became a realistic-looking dog! You did an EXCELLENT job of the proportions and folds of the ears. The jaw is very well drawn, too. And you got a great start on the shapes of the cartoon dog.
Keep it going. Your hard work is really starting to show in your drawings.

Leo

This is a fantastic contour line drawing, Leo!! Wonderful job of drawing of the overall proportions of the dog. You did a great job of drawing the eyes. And the proportions and folds of the ear are very well drawn. Compare your drawing to the reference photo. Look carefully at the snout of the dog. Is it drawn accurately?

Christian

Excellent start, Christian!! The contour lines of the ears are very well drawn. You've got a lot of control of your lines. It would be cool to see this one finished! :)

Diana

Diana, your drawing skills have so much potential!! All it will take is a little focused effort and your drawings will take off running, just like the cartoon dog you drew. Excellent job of drawing all of the details, and the overall proportions of its body and head. You also got a great start on the head of the puppy. The contour lines and proportions of the ear are well drawn.

Reference Picture: Siqueiros Self Portrait

Click picture to enlarge:

Reference Photo: Dog

Week Three: Patterns, Texture, Positive/Negative Space, Proportion

Everyone is doing a great job of overlapping shapes to create depth in your drawings. You're also creating really nice patterns and textures in your drawings.

All of you jumped in and drew an egret while learning about positive and negative space. Last week's highlights would have to be Vicky's jaguar drawing and Diana getting an excellent start at drawing the jaguar. We'll continue working on drawing accurate, realistic proportions.

>>This morning's challenge is to draw the proportions of a puppy. Remember, draw light guidelines for accurate proportions. Look for where the negative space of the white background meets the positive space of the dog's brown head and shoulders. That's where you'll carefully draw contour lines for the edges of its head and shoulders.

>>Reference picture for drawing the puppy: Click here

I've added a section called Expression Session. It's a gallery for your freestyle drawings. Go ahead, express yourself. But remember, the gallery is rated 'G'. And, you can post work in Expression Session only after you've finished your class assignments.


C ya! --Rob

Edna

Edna, you created lots and lots of wonderful drawings last week!! The line work in your drawing of Tonatiuh is a great example of your ability to draw accurate lines and shapes. Overall, the proportions in your drawings are very accurate. Compare you drawings to the reference pictures you were looking at. Excellent job of drawing the contour lines that form the egret. Check to see if the 's' curve in the egret's neck is accurately drawn. You drew very clean contour lines and accurate proportions for the tiger and lizard. Check the sizes of the tiger's ears and fur around its face. Are they accurately drawn?



















Fantastic work in drawing the proportions of the jaguar! Superb overlapping of the body and legs, making its form look natural and 3D. Nice facial features and patterns. Check to see if the curve of the tail is accurate.

Marcos

Excellent! Work! Marcos! The proportions in your drawings are accurately drawn and you did a wonderful job of adding details such as facial features, patterns, and texture. Great job on the contours and proportions of the jaguar. Nice contour edges forming the egret. Compare your drawings to the reference pictures you looked at. Check the size of the tiger's ears. Also check the 's' curve in the egret's neck. Is it accurate?

Leydi

Leydi, you've made fantastic progress in drawing with lines and shapes!!! VERY good job of drawing contour lines to form the jaguar. Nice work of overlapping the body and legs. And you did a great job of drawing the curve in its tail. Excellent job of drawing the patterns and textures on all of your pictures. Great start with drawing a realistic egret. Compare your drawing to the reference picture you were looking at. Is the 's' curve in the egret's neck accurately drawn? Is the form of the body the same?

Jacob B.

The overall proportions you've drawn for el tigre, the egret, lizard, and jaguar are looking very good!!! You did an excellent job of drawing patterns and textures on your pictures, Jacob. Your contour lines do a nice job of capturing the form of the egret. Compare your drawings to the reference pictures you were looking at. Check the size of the tiger's ears and the distance between them. Are they accurate? Also, check the accuracy of the 's' curve of the egret's neck and the form of its body.

Jacob V.

EXCELLENT use of lines, shapes, and tones in your drawing of Tonatiuh!! I really like the style of line work that you're developing, Jacob! I know that you were drawing an awesome tiger and jaguar in class last week, but I forgot to take your sketchbook last week. So, I'll post those drawings next week. Great start on drawing a realistic egret. Compare your drawings to the reference pictures. Are the proportions of the egret's head and body accurately drawn?

Erik

Your line work continues to develop wonderfully, Erik!! The proportions on your tiger and jaguar are well drawn. Great job of overlapping the body and legs on the jaguar, making it look 3D. The patterns and textures are VERY accurately drawn. Great start at drawing a realistic egret. Compare your drawings to the reference pictures you were looking at. Is the neck of the egret drawn accurately? Is the proportion of the lizard's body, compared to its head, drawn accurately?