Finish Line Drawing

Objective: be able to accurately draw.

Why: Blocking in is the most important thing you can learn in art. If the art is correctly blocked-in, the shapes, angles, and positions will be accurate.

Standard: Elements and Principals of Visual Art, Create.

Shape drawing

(read everything before beginning to draw)

Use the art you blocked in in the last lesson. If you have lost it, go back to that lesson and start over. 

 1.     This assignment combines everything we have learned so far.

2. Turn your reference upside down like the one above. Then draw what you see. We all have a tendency to draw what we know instead of what we see.  When it is upside down you will see more of the shapes and how they interact. You will tend to see a circle instead of a head, and a triangle instead of a skirt.  You may turn it over from time to time to see your progress, and to see if it is working, but when you are drawing, I expect the art to be upside down. Draw what you see, not what you know. This is an exercise, but it is a useful tool to know.
3. After you have blocked-in the basic shapes to start with, drawing lightly, add in the mid-sized objects, arms and legs. Keep looking at negative and positive space, size, shape, angle, and relations. Note the lengths of objects, did they use foreshortening?
4. Draw-through to get the proportions correct as you block-in. Example: thigh overlaps calf at the kneecap.
5. Next, add in details like fingers, hair, eyes, nose, and mouth.
6. Last, what will really make your drawing nice, is paying attention to line widths and shapes. Try drawing the lines exactly the way the artist did. This is when you start drawing a little darker. Before this, everything should be in light pencil.
7. If you are getting close to an hour and are not done, finish one of the people as completely as possible and turn in what you have done. (Blocking-in part about 15 minutes)  

When you are done photograph your drawing and submit it on canvas. This drawing should take about an hour, and look something like the one below, not perfect but close to the above drawing.