ONLINE ART COURSE – DRAWING THE SECOND EYE
The second project in Module A (graphite) is “Eye Studies.” This afternoon I worked on the second eye.
As before, we began by mapping out the essentials, following along with the teacher’s drawing, and referring constantly to the reference photograph. This eye was a bit more difficult in some ways, because unlike the first one which was looking straight ahead, this was seen slightly from the side.
Once we’d established the basic shapes, we could proceed with the shading and complete the drawing. We proceeded in the same way as with the first eye, starting with the HB pencil and gradually layering up with softer and darker pencils.
Here is my finished drawing.
It’s quite hard photographing these drawings, to get the levels, brightness and contrast right. The original photo comes out much to grey and muted and not at all like the original, so quite a bit of editing needs to be done. After several attempts, this photo still looks a bit too dark.
This photo of the first two eyes is somewhat better.
The third and fourth eyes will be worked without the help of the teacher. Out on our own for the first time!! This is going to be interesting to say the least.
Today I watched some documentaries on the history of Western art, and I found myself examining closely the eyes as painted by Raphael and Titian. I could see all the elements we have been taught to observe and draw. I had never looked at eyes like this before, and now recognise that the elements and shapes that make them up are a lot more complex than I’d first thought. Interestingly, the old masters didn’t seem to give their subjects any eyelashes!
In the documentary series, it was mentioned several times that in Renaissance times, apprentice painters would often be encouraged to copy the work of their masters, to hone their skill. This is what our teacher is encouraging us to do, to copy what he is doing. In one of his introductory videos, he quoted a question he is often asked, “But doesn’t that just teach people to copy, and not develop their own skills?” He answered that on the contrary, it was a good discipline, and taught one to observe more closely and to learn the skills of getting a likeness, skills which would be the foundation for one’s own work in time.
Sometimes if you visit galleries or museums, you will see students copying the old masters, or sculptures, or other artefacts. It’s all good training. I think that if I get time in between the different projects in the course, or perhaps in the rest week at the end of each module, I might pull up a few images of the greats, and have a go – maybe not attempting to copy an entire picture, but individual features, such as an eye, or some folded cloth. It might be a very useful exercise. On my bookshelves in the studio, I am sure I have got some art books – or maybe my hubby has them – and I could look at these, too.
When I ordered my initial supplies for this course, I got a twin pack of drawing books. I am using one for the course, and I think perhaps I might start using the other one for spin-offs – practice drawings, copying works of art, and applying my newly learned skills to other subjects. I am sure that continual practice is going to be useful, and I am reminded again of our teacher’s analogy about the ice – ice at -20 degrees does not change at all if one increases the temperature a degree at a time, until one reaches 1 degree, when there is a radical change and the ice melts into water. You can draw and draw and not feel that you are making progress, but suddenly there is a breakthrough, which is the fruit of the ongoing practice, which turns out to have been very beneficial after all!
