Youth Workshop was a hit!
“The activity of creating harmonious visual relationships is what differentiates artistic drawing from “copying” reality. The artist is not copying the subject, but rather making a beautiful, harmonious image using the subject as a reference. ”
I love this quote. It points out that not only is what an artist obverses beautiful to them, but the connectivity between the artist and the subject involves an even deeper level of observation. The connectivity in this deep observation has the ability to put aside the beauty of the whole and allows the artist to recognize all the details that create the harmony of edges and interiors of a drawing.
The group I worked with for this workshop had a great energy. The sequence of starting with gesture drawing was very suitable for them. I always love warming up to drawing this way. There is so much that the eye is taking in and it almost feels required that you work quickly. As the mind and hand warm up and the eyes begin to digest and retain information at a more average rate for each artist you can see the students settling into their groove.
We talked together as we looked at drawings in-between their hour of gesture drawing. The Pause (Pow-za) (which is very fun to say with an italian accent) had them on their toes ready to get back to their easels. We reviewed drawings from my colleagues at the FAA (Tanvi Pathari and Stephen Bauman, whose work I very much admire) a few of my own studies, and then focused on examples of drawings from history: Bargue, Bridgeman, Vanderpool, and Speed.
This moment of the workshop was very important to me in the organization of the workshop. I love to share these drawings and the sight size technique from FAA because through 7 years of studying no one in America ever talked about these draftsman because of the large post-modern dilemma regarding most of Art and Academia .
Delightfully, in Florence it seemed hard to find anyone talking about other drawings besides the draftsman named above and masters of the 19th century. The amount of visual language present in drawings from this era is enormously exciting for the mind!
At FAA Due to the everyday training of your eye (and your mind) at your easel , your eyes learn to limit and be very selective with visual information as your draw. For example, learning to avoid solid contouring (without being very detailed of how it changes if you do have to use an entire contour) and how to present with your hand the true information your eye perceives, not simply what you know yourself to be drawing. For myself , I know that when I was lose my ability to perceive and draw what my eyes are experiencing and begin to draw what I "know" I'm looking at , I have usually reached a point of exhaustion. Taking a 10 min break will usually resolve the fatigue of the eye and starting fresh keeps the drawing in good standing. As an artist you can never get bored of seeing and thinking with your eyes only as you work, because there will always be your individual way of presenting this information and it feels new to your mind every time! There are different patterns to get the puzzle to fit, and its just familiar enough ,as you weave your way through what your seeing, that with each subject you attempt you find a new journey.
Applying, the above explanation of perception to the class I tacked on drawing with straight lines as an initial start ( called a Block-in) and introduced proportions to challenge the students to maintain a particular visual effect in the beginning phase of drawing.
They had laser focus, and their brains had digested the images and conversation beautifully. To help them accomplish this challenge I had given each student a copy of a Bargue drawing. These copies helped them to feel sight-size drawing in their eye, hand, and mind. The method requires that you observe from a specific distance, memorize your desired mark, and then place that mark on the paper. The proportions on the drawing are determined by a plumb line held horizontally. For these students the goal was to help them develop discipline in accuracy without being frozen by the obsession of getting it right. Getting it right takes an immense amount of practice. The goal was to provide a tool and help them practice. By not over emphasizing perfection, letting them experiment, and then keeping them honest in their work, I found they were doing very well! It was immensely gratifying to help them learn to know their own artist dialog and dive in!!!
Another Pausa served as an introduction to more materials. We were shifting from compressed charcoal to pencil (with the Bargues) then to Nitram Charocoal( for life drawing again) . ( see lower in the blog to see the materials list). I gave each student a hand made sander and they purchased Nitram from the Atelier.
After spending the remaining part of day 1 on copying the Bargues (this was done with pencil) and the start of the 2nd day, we then took all the principles introduced (gesture,material, visual approach) and placed them into practice with drawing from life again. The students had the familiarity of the still life they had been working on during their initial experience of the gesture work. They began their final study on heavier quality paper with Nirtram Charcoal for their sight-size drawings from life!
I was excited to see the results of these students. They had digested and transferred a great deal of information into their final studies. I had one student who I advanced to a cast for the last part of the final day. She did so beautifully that she bought a cast from the Atelier! Needless to say there were questions and struggles, but that was the idea. Having the questions arise when you are in the community of a group is a lovely thing.
By demand, I am teaching a second workshop Sept. 13th and 14th
Adults and young adults are welcome. I am thrilled to be returning to the studio. And I hope to see some of you readers there.
Laura