Art lesson : How to draw a memory
When we lived waaaay out west on the coast of Perth, our local beach was Beaumaris. It was a tiny little pocket of sand nestled in between jutting limestone cliffs. Every day I walked past this beach, sometimes in the morning when all was calm, or in the evening when the stiff breeze turned your cheeks bright pink with their bite. When I had to do a Tonal Analysis drawing recently, this photo provided the perfect subject.
First step was to convert the image to black and white, which really helps defines the tones (darks from the lights).
I also prepared the surface of the paper with a thick layer of gesso. This provides texture, and really gives the paper some “tooth”. Once dry, the paper feels like a canvas.
With the photos handy as reference, I lightly sketched in the basic shapes with a thick graphite stick. It’s like a lead pencil without the wood casing. Great for shading large areas. The “Rule of Thirds” was also in my mind whilst drawing (don’t have your horizon line exactly in the middle of the paper).
Once I was happy with the basic outlines, I could start laying down the tones. Some people like to start with the light tones, but I prefer the darks, as you know what the darkest dark will be, and can work backwards from there. A 2B pencil is a good choice for getting the edges sharp.
With the side of the graphite stick I could lay down the large area of the sea with a few broad strokes. The lovely texture from the gesso was showing through the lighter tones. To prevent unnecessary smudging, I put a tissue under my right hand which keeps it clear of the paper surface.
Short sharp strokes will lay down dark lines. The graphite on gesso really shows up black. The same strokes on plain paper will just leave silvery lines that gouge out the paper. I love gesso!
The finished piece. Note you can edit out anything you don’t want - you don’t have to slavishly follow the photo. I got rid of the man, the rubbish bin and the sign.
Did I mention I love gesso? I also use it as a base for my watercolour paintings of birds.
But we’re not talking about birds today - the finger is decidely unusable still, after yesterday’s encounter. On a happier note, it’s my dad’s 90th birthday today, and I sent him about 200 photos of our new home and it’s local wildlife. We spent over an our today talking about the birds, the wallabies, the goanna and backyayd python. Not hard to see where I got my love of wildlife from.
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Evening,
oh my word Cindy. I really do enjoy your Posts. Not that I ever know what will be there today, but that my dear is half the fun.
(Back to me)
It would be wonderful to stay at bigpond for me. Today Dodo had no signal and Telstra one bar, max’ two. I do not know how I will cope when I cancel the Pond. Eeeekkk. $118 a month is nearly a car loan. $34 is far better, if, and that is big if, it works. Yesterday it was fine so beats me???
(Back to you)
Back to your art. I am jealous that you may take a memory and put it to paper. That would be great.
(Back to me)
I knew so many weirdos when I was growing up. Their toothless faces, I still se them.
(I think dental care is reverting back to those days too)
One Aborigine smoked two ciggies at once. An old dear, Elsie lived in a 1920’s Leyland bus. British racing green. Poor dear. Her wealthy Hubby, Albert, came from old money. He shot animals in different countries. Day and of a night. He left Elsie in Hexham NSW, and promiced that he would return. He left as she was in disgrace. Elsie was raped one night when they were in New Guinea, and the baby was black. They were on their honeymoon. (Elsie shot that man with Albert’s elephant gun when the bad man returned the second night). I said to mum,
‘Can they put his head back on mum?’
Mum was shelling peas at the time,
‘Who?’
‘The man that gave Elsie the black baby’.
‘What? Who told you this?’
‘Elsie’.
‘Elsie has no right to put things like this into your head’.
and mum darted off to Elsie’s and I darted off to the mirror to look for the things that Elsie put into my head.
Elsie was still waiting when we left.
Byeee
Grotty, you are one fascinating woman. I would like to dump all your knowledge/memories in one huge barrel, and slowly sift through it all.
You are lucky to be have had such a childhood as you did and be as “normal” as you are today
I would not be at Bigpond if there was an altrenative.
Thanks for stopping by,
Cindy
Hi you two, I was bored watching TV and landed here, what a treat. Two interesting ladies.
Didn’t have my URL handy for blogspot will add it later.
http://a1960scontact-simplyrag.blogspot.com/ MUSICAL NOTES blogspot
http://downtoearth-virgolynne.blogspot.com/ DOWN TO EARTH blogspot
By the way, where aaammm IIIIIII????
Great post as usual. Very interesting and you are very talented. When I was your age I went back to Uni to upgrade my teaching qualifications. I majored in Art and I can remember doing tonal drawings but I didn’t have the help of computers then nor were we introduced to Gesso. It sounds a great medium. Is that what the old artists used on the walls?
It did prick my conscience to throw away the rhoeos (thanks for reminding me) but I have been planting the extra ones everywhere there is a spare spot but if I plant any more they will over run the garden.
We didn’t have crusty bread rolls just crunchy wholegrain toast. For tea we had rissoles and saurercraut. I’m not fussed on it but the Swiss boy likes it.
Grotty certainly has some interesting tales to tell.
Hi Minerva and Diane, glad you both popped by.
Minerva, there is a comment filter here, once you’ve made a valid comment that’s been approved (so it’s not spam), then all your other comments show up.
Will check out your other blogs!
Diane, good on you for recycling Rhoeos! They can get out of control though, so sometimes a good hard cut back is required.
I think the Old Masters used egg tempera for the walls. Had to paint before the plaster dried - so much pressure!
Your dinner sounded delightful!
Cheers
Cindy
My daughter just finished doing a drawing from a photo….She is very clever just like yourself….Me , well I have trouble drawing stick figures…lol
Hi Mandy,
I HATE drawing people, and we spent so much time doing just that in class. A bit more comfortable with it, but wouldn’t do it out of choice.
Would love to see your daughter’s drawing.
Cheers,
Cindy
Hello Cindy…
Sorry to see you ended up with Lonz and David on your blog….I wouldn`t take to heart what they say…One`s an alcoholic and the other thinks he knows everyone and everything…lol
Only one Mandy?
Oh dear…..its much nicer here…..don’t the boys have anything better to do with themselves….I don’t get it….
I am fascinated by your posts, whatever they are about….keep it up !!!!
Hey Kim,
Yes, the day is never dull, although Bigblog is like a tiny pool with 2 crusty old toads sitting in it, dirtying up the water for everyone…..
This was really interesting and I enjoyed reading it, wish I could draw but I really suck at it unlike my daughter Jessica she is very good and could be better if she took some lessons. I think she would love this post.
Hi Jo-Anne,
I hate drawing things that I don’t want to draw, but we had to during lessons. Funnily enough, it was during these lessons that I actually learnt a lot more.
Jessica probably doesn’t need lessons if she likes to draw. If she puts aside a little time each day, she will get better and better.
Thanks for stopping by,
Cheers,
Cindy
This is the first time I have entered anybody’s blog. In fact I got your blog address from a magazine I picked up yesterday and was fascinated by the whole thing. I have no clue as to how to get my own blog address but I will ask around. Your photographs are beautifuk. I am also an advocate of gesso. I use it under everything. It works well with watercolors and pastel as well. I have been both a etcher amd an oil painter for some time. I am now concentrating on encaustic.
Hi Grace,
Thank you for your lovely comment. I am only relatively new to blogging, and each day brings surprises, such as your comment. Is my blog truly mentioned in a magazine somewhere? I would love to know which one - I’m astounded!
I have only just started learning about oil painting - there is a loong way to go for me there! This week we are learning about impasto techniques.
My art teacher last semester intorduced us to gesso - I really like it’s creamy texture on paper. I saw in the shops tubs of black and I tried to look up your website, but it couldn’t display. If you’d like some info on starting your own blog, just drop me a line. Wordpress or Blogger hosts them for free.
Would love to see some examples of your work, especially the etchings - I LOVE that beautiful quality of print that you get only with etchings.
Warm regards,
Cindy Lane