The philosophy of these lessons: Look, Learn, Practice
Chapter 17 of "The
Way To Happiness" deals with Competence. I've found that
too many limit their own progress as an artist with the concept
that they "haven't got the talent." 90% of being
a good professional artist is about looking for yourself,
learning (including good study habits), and practicing what
you have learned to become Competent. If you are interested
in a free copy of "The Way to Happiness", please
email me for one.
Lesson 9
1. Thought:
"Although many great drawings appear linear, great
drawings aren't built on the idea of lines. Lines are in fact
an obstacle to what I consider the most effective way to learn
to draw. Lines don't exist in nature. Lines are abstractions,
ways of defining the edges of forms or the ends of tonal shapes.
By seeing the abstraction behind the detail, you can differentiate
the shapes with halftones. Tonal drawing lets you get the
essentials of an image down in the most succinct way."
Burton Silverman, "Figure Drawing Fundamentals",
The Artist's Magazine, June 1993
2. Word for the week:
Local Color: The "local color" of a subject
is the middle color and value that you see when you look at
the object. For instance, a bunch of cherries would have the
basic local color of deep red. All variations within the light
and shadow sides of that form, according to this way of painting,
are created by deepening or lightening, warming or cooling,
or greying the intensity of that basic red. from Answers by
John Kevin Flynn, The Artist's Mag May 1993

3. Practice: "Learning bears fruit when it is applied."
You
can demonstrate the above definition by doing some sample
exercises using common fruit. For instance: draw the outline
of an orange. Find the "local Color". Then darken
(with its complement, blue) the side that is in shadow. Now
lighten and warm the side that is toward the light with light
orange or yellow. (You can vary the colors used to lighten
and darken the form according to whether the light hitting
the object is warm or cool.)
Try this exercise on a number of different simple colored
objects like fruit or blocks or boxes. Keep it simple. Keep
some of the Local Color showing.
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