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Technical Directive 20 October 2004 Three Basic Principles The THREE BASIC PRINCIPLES are the broadest working principles for creating fine art: Relate a part to other parts and/or the whole. Always work from large to small. Cycle throughout the whole thing. These three principles are ways TO OBSERVE—to notice with a purpose. Used alone or [...]
Technical Directive 19 October 2004 Stable Point You will increase a drawing’s accuracy if you carefully align its parts. Aside from being less than entirely accurate in the first place, as we draw, various parts can shift about without our realizing it, causing all sorts of misalignments. All drawing errors can be remedied by pinning [...]
Technical Directive 18 October 2004 Direct Your Progress The director of a play sits in a seat far back from the stage to ensure the performance works from there. Drawings and paintings must pass the distance test too. In fact, many painters center their styles around this idea. Study the paintings of the great French [...]
Technical Directive 17 October 2004 A Rough Sketch A ROUGH SKETCH CAN BE A ROUGH PLAN UPON WHICH TO BUILD AN ACCURATE DRAWING. It’s easier to fit parts together on a plan than it is on blank paper. For a rough sketch at Mission: Renaissance, we rapidly sketch an overall impression of the subject, then [...]
Technical Directive 16 October 2004 Ovals Ovals help us depict circular objects like cups or vases. The proportions of ovals can vary. The easiest way to make an oval symmetrical (the same on both sides) is to flow it in. Continue circling it until you draw it exactly. Improve its curves and proportions each time [...]
Technical Directive 15 October 2004 Overall Proportions A subject has its overall proportions (its highest point compared to its widest). Regardless of the size, the proportions remain the same. Before begining a drawing, notice the overall proportions and decide on a size. Keep them in mind as you draw, or indicate them on your paper. [...]
Technical Directive 14 October 2004 Preparing to Sketch Seeing to Sketch One day in 1975, I was instructing a young man who, to put it mildly, had minimum drawing skills. But, he desperately wanted to learn. Rick was totally frustrated. Nothing I did helped. Then I asked myself this question: “When I draw, what do [...]
Technical Directive 13 October 2004 Parts of Line Drawing A line drawing has the following elements: • Its SPACE is the blank paper. • Its DIMENSIONS (sizes or measurements) are distances between any two points. • Its LINES represent edges—the boundaries where parts of objects end and the space begins. A line can be straight [...]
Technical Directive 12 October 2004 What to Draw We use still life (objects, fruit and plants) as subjects to draw. Each separate thing is a prop. The props are arranged on a backdrop cloth draped over a stand. We call a complete arrangement a setup. Working from setups is the fastest way for students to [...]
Technical Directive 11 October 2004 The Infinity Drill I’ve created a drill that focuses on the mechanics of sketching—from the way to sit to how you hold a pencil. The idea is to be COMPLETELY RELAXED and sketch as LIGHTLY AND LOOSELY as possible. This makes it much easier to see and fit parts together. [...]
