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Current State of Drawing // Drawing Set-Up

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Current State of Drawing // Drawing Set-Up

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I'm right-handed; this set-up allows me to see my drawing and the subject at the same time. Also, note that the drawing surface is propped up; this keeps my line of vision consistent

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I set a timer for 30 seconds and loosely sketched in the "brown paper package" form of the entire set-up. After that, I evaluated the overall placement and size in my drawing. Then, for the next 30 seconds, I used "spaghetti" lines to lightly place primary objects of the set-up.

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The vertical and horizontal lines indicate how "key features" of the shoes align. (Thanks to Madisyn, ARTT 110 Fall 2020 for this phrase!)

To find these alignments; close one eye and hold your pencil up to the set-up. Line up the pencil with a key feature and see where your pencil intersects with key features of other shoes. Put a line in the drawing itself to document what you observe.

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In a complex set-up like this, I pick a primary object and develop it somewhat to my liking. I am aware that I will have to change it later on; however it is "good enough" and "close enough to right" to serve as a critical point of reference. It becomes my "north star" and helps me place everything else.

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While it's necessary to build up the drawing evenly and work general-to-specific, our brains also need areas of clarity, otherwise we have a mess of lines and that is confusing.

So, using my ~north star, I move outwards. A few students phrased it as working "shoe-to-shoe," and I think that accurately describes my process as well!

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As I'm doing my best to understand the angles and shapes of the shoes, I also look at the gaps between the shoes themselves. Because the gaps are totally abstract, it can be easier to document those in the drawing.

For me, personally, I need to emphasize those negative spaces in order to understand what the heck is going on. You can see I blocked them in. Later on, I will fade those areas and give some indication as to what is actually happening there.

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To continue borrowing this phrase, take a moment to look at the shoe-to-shoe evolution.

What I'm doing here is spending a controlled amount of time per shoe. This keeps me from getting "tunnel vision" (thank you Chase, UMD 9am folk, for this phrase).

After a few minutes, I evaluate the shoe I've just worked on. How is it fitting into the drawing? In what ways does it need to change? Should I just leave it for now so that I don't get obsessed? I then make a few quick revisions and move on.

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Insight from Baheera: Take lots of pictures. This helps us see the whole drawing at once.

While this picture and many of the following ones seem very similar, the process of taking them does two things: It forces me to stop drawing (aka, get out of my own head) and, because of this pause, forces me to evaluate the piece as a whole.

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Where Football and Drawing Come Together. 

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Where Football and Drawing Come Together. 

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Football is a game of inches. Drawing is a game of fractions of an inch. Regular evaluation of the drawing itself allows us to identify subtle and necessary revisions sooner rather than later. Allowing marks to accumulate helps our brains with this process.

Take a look at the sandal in the lower left corner. The lines are amassed and occupy a ~ ½" range. Any one of them could be right and most of them are wrong. Having ALL of them on the page makes it possible to visualize each option.

[Also, I won't have to redraw the whole shoe. I'll simply "carve away"/eliminate the bad lines.]

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So, over time, we will naturally emphasize what seems right to use. We need to be careful with this because it's easy to end up with a bunch of heavy lines; this is the drawing equivalent of highlighting every line in a textbook.

Increasing the sharpness, vs boldness, of a line is a way to put particular areas in focus; this is just like the eye doctor. What is clear and sharp is legible. What is fuzzy is vague and hard to see.

Also note that the sharp lines look closer to us. This, too, can get us in trouble just as easily as it can help us. PRIORITIZE. Reserve the clarity for the foreground. When it's flip-flopped, our brain cannot interpret the space in the drawing clearly.

Here, my lines aren't particularly organized. See how the darker/sharper ones are kinda placed throughout that central area? I will have to fix that so that those clear lines are talking about the same thing, such as one part of one shoe. It's confusing now because those lines of equal clarity are describing different shoes. I think of this as being noisy.

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Moving on with your life (and the drawing)

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Moving on with your life (and the drawing)

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I kept getting obsessed with the sandal below the flat, pointy shoe. Just like, could not get it right and therefore I kept, as they say, "polishing a turd." Solution: Let the wrong thing be wrong for now and get other stuff right. Move on with your life and to another area of the drawing.

I forced myself to stop with the sandal. I realized spending some time on the bottom shoe would help me in a few ways: First, I'd have a new problem and could redirect my perfectionistic tendencies to a more productive cause (working on the whole drawing.) Another thing, is that the shoe I hated probably just needs some context, and in this case, an anchor. The bottom shoe could "hold" the bad shoe in place. Finally, if I can nail that bottom shoe, maybe the shitty shoe won't be as noticeable. Sometimes, you just gotta work smarter.

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Drawing is a process of comparison and relative size/placement.

So, as these other shoes are developing in accuracy, I'm noticing new things, namely that key features related to my north star shoe need to shift. If you look at the top edge of the pointy shoe, you'll see where I moved the lines up. I had to increase the size and height of that part of the shoe. This only became apparent when I had more context for that shoe in the form of describing its surroundings. All the more reason to be balanced and even in your drawing process!! Catch these things sooner rather than later!

Honestly it's more "north-ish" than it is certain!

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hahahaha

sorry.

Anyway, just another progress pic. As the drawing becomes more "complete" the changes are ever more subtle. Pictures help us identify these minute (but sometimes significant!) changes;  each pic is literally a snapshot of our process and decision-making.

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Oh yeah, do take note of the shoe behind the pointy north star. I'm drawing it in lightly. 1: To allow for error & flexibility; 2: So that it does not compete with the shoe in front. The lightness/looseness means it is naturally less prominent. I think of it as being "quieter" than the lines in front.