Part 4 Project 2 Ex 1 Proportion

Proportion

I know that people come in all shapes and sizes but generally we all follow pretty much the same proportion.  When something is out of kilter we spot it immediately.  It's remarkable that I can get it so wrong but I do.  Many artists distort or fragment the human figure; Picasso and Matisse are examples.  I guess it's very much like driving; you learn to do it properly then develop it to suit your needs (for good or ill).

I've looked at various information to help me to draw figures.  I started with Vitruvian Man in which Leonardo de Vinci combines the philosophy, geometry, mathematics, religion and architecture of the Renaissance.  The work was based on that by Vitruvius, an ancient Roman architect.

Vitruvian Man - Leonardo de Vinci (1490) (1)

For my purposes the detailed ideas about about proportion are the most interesting. These can be found on Wikipedia (1).

I also looked at the some work by Neil Plotkin (2).  Plotkin shows how Euan Uglow developed his paintings by very using very precise measuring.

Study - Euan Uglow  (2)

Summer Picture - Euan Uglow (1971/2)

In many of his paintings Uglow left in his guide marks so that if necessary he could go back to a piece of work later.

In my Life Drawing Group I'm constantly being told to put in initial marks as a guide and there is a video by Sheila Ceccarelli from Access Art that gives quite clear instructions about doing just that (3) using the sight method.

Frank Curkovic shows another method of measuring (4) that bases everything on boxes.  I'm not familiar with this method and to me it feels very mechanistic and unappealing. 

I did these quick sketches at my life drawing group.  My course instructions ask me to do several 2 minute sketches from different positions around the model.  Because the studio is small I found I couldn't do this because everyone else was doing a long study and there was nowhere to move to.

Because my position was a hard one with foreshortening of the legs I decided to do several images hoping that as I got more familiar with the shapes my drawing would get better.  There was more than an element of panic around because two minutes is no time at all.  

;;p

My manual suggests that I start drawing from the middle of the figure and my two attempts were dismal - my poor model lost her head.  The foreshortening wasn't to good and in the second image I didn't get time to put the seat in. 

I managed to changed my position just a little in the two drawings above and I started from the head (these images are cropped because they are scanned from A3 paper). I think the first one (larger) is a bit better from the point of view of proportion - the torso isn't quite as long and the model looks as though she's seated.  I tried to think of what I saw as "shapes" with the thighs becoming an ovals - I found this helped with the foreshortening.  The second image is a bit of a backward step,

This final  two minute sketch is the best.  The proportions are OK except for the arms which are smaller than they should be.  I realised too late that I should have put in some basic position markers for the head, navel, knees and so on, as a guide. 

I found working so quickly very difficult; I was panicky and forgot the basics.

I put markers in for the next studies which were 10 minutes and the proportions are better although the heads are very flat looking.

I'm not too keen on the solid outlines I've used in these two drawings - I should have used tone or more gestural marks but there doesn't seem to be a lot of time for thinking.

Because things were atarting to get a bit repetitive I made this final piece of work 30 minutes long and in charcoal.  Whilst it's not brilliant I have managed to get some solidity to the figure.  I'm pleased with the right collar bone and the highlights on the breasts.  Having time to look for the tones was a bit of a relief.

By the time I had finished this the pose was over and there was no time for trying other media.  I was sorry that I couldn't try other positions but other people had needs as well.  Unlike my previous work I can't use photos as an aide memoire so when it's done it's done.

This is a very different way to use my newly acquired skills and it's a huge leap.

(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitruvian_Man

(2) http://paintingperceptions.com/figure-painting/euan-uglow

(3) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vgw1CXghL5k

(4) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AMufOx4Hgk