Hey folks! Sorry I'm just getting back on the 15th (actually, I'm still in Nigeria, but I'm back to unlimited web access). Let's get to it. Before we start working on actually drawing, let's talk about drawing. What is drawing? What is the biomechanical process of drawing, and what are the cognitive processes that support/facilitate it? If any of you have been reading ahead in our text, Betty Edwards' The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, you'll be aware that her contention is that learning to draw is learning to see. I agree with that statement. If learning to draw, then, is learning to see, then is drawing... seeing? In a sense. The world is incredibly complex, especially on a visual level. Take any random scene you would be confronted with on an average day. In fact, let's take the simplest possible scene you could be confronted with: a blank wall. Your eyes see it, your brain process it and the word "wall" floats somewhere in your consciousness. All of this happens in less than a blink of an eye, and you move on to consider other things. But what if you couldn't use the word "wall" and had to describe the object in great detail?

A large vertical surface extending from floor to ceiling (what are "floor" and "ceiling"? "vertical"? "surface"?) and preventing physical transversal through itself, extending horizontally from wall to wall.

It is obvious that our definitions of objects are layered, in that they build on other, existing and sometimes interdependent definitions. Working with these full definitions all the time would be laborious from a cognitive perspective, so we replace them with a symbol such as the word "wall." Eventually, we only perceive the barest amount of detail about an object before we match it to our existing library of symbols - take a quick glance around you, wherever you are, and note all the objects that you rarely ever stop and visually study. When we wish to draw, then, we try to represent these objects, but because of our lifetime of rapid classification and generalization, we lack a sense of the details of the objects and render visual symbols. A classic example is the human eye: most people draw an almond-shaped figure (which we also call an "eye shape"!) with a shaded/filled circle in the middle to represent the pupil. Drawing realistically is intrinsically tied to the ability to study objects and perceive them in great detail, then reproduce those details. Naturally, you can't go through life seeing everything in tremendous detail; you'd overload your brain with mostly redundant information! In a sense, you need to learn to switch on and off this mode of intent visual scrutiny in order to put down the nuances of shape, line, texture, shade and color. This is what Betty Edwards refers to as R-mode. A side note on the whole left-/right-brain dichotomy: personally, I don't ascribe too much importance to the specifics of whether we truly are predominantly one-hemisphere'd. You can skip all the cognitive psychology argumentation in the text, or, if you wish, I can create a separate thread for the discussion of the issue. Over the next several weeks, we will learn to See in tremendous detail, then we will learn to copy what we see faithfully. Assignment: Take a scene of medium complexity that you encounter every day, like a CD rack or bookshelf, and study it in great detail. Write down your observations about every shape, every line, every texture, every light/shade and every color, and post them to this thread. Due date: January 22, 2007. Post your questions, comments and other thoughts on this introduction here.

Hey Oluseyi, wb.

I will be a few days late in submitting this assignment as i'll be studying for exams till the 24th. Expect a submission from me on the 25th

Hey I am here too :)

Nice to see you back.I am having a prolonged exams period though from this Monday until late February (maybe even March) due to some problems with my faculty.

Nevertheless I have bought the book and am reading it too.Might be a little late with tha assignment but I will be sure to do it :) . It is very nice and very interesting.

That's okay, everybody. I'm flying back tomorrow evening, to get into New York on Wednesday, so let's just give it a few extra days - say until the weekend. That also gives me time to prepare the next lesson, which will actually involve drawing.

I'm going to ask everyone to send me (privately) a drawing of their hand and their face, to mark where they stood when they started so we can compare as you improve. The difference between my drawings before and after studying the text for a month is amazing!

Keep drawing. I've done two more portraits in the last three days, which was very good for me after not having done anything in about five weeks! See y'all when I get back.

1st Assignment by Fukushousha:

I chose to observe my desk.It is made out of wood.Now that I observe a little more closely I can notice that the wood is forming waves(that's the worde we use in greece , don't know how to describe it in english.By waves I mean ripples .. the things you see when you cut a tree and look at its trunk.)It creates a very nice pattern.
On the desk is my student's pass , a rectnagle orange shaped.Shiny because it relfects the lighting of the room.Also my wallet a red , rectangle shaped bag , quite dusty.Also I can see a pen positioned on top of the student's pass.It is of transparent colour except from the top(cap ?) which is blue.The last thing that I can see on the desk is a deck of 52 cards.Only the top card's figure is visible.On the top card a windmill from a Greek Island is painted with the blue sea and sky as a background.It makes a nice contrast with the white of the windmill.



That's all ... actually my desk is quite empty today -.- ;
I am not sure If I understood the first assignment quite well , but well .. I tried :).IF there is anything you would like redone just tell me and I will do it.

EDIT: Reading the book now , it seems that the first assignment of the book is th e same as what you want us to send privately to you, except for the portrait from memory part.What troubles me is this viewfinder thing.I guess I will have to construct it using the instructions given in the book.I will visit the art store near here for the rest of the items it says in the book that are needed.

I don't udnerstand what the masking tape is though.

[Edited by - Fukushousha on January 23, 2007 3:09:33 AM]

Quote:Original post by Fukushousha
I don't udnerstand what the masking tape is though.

It's tape that has a paper backing on one side, and adhesive on the other. Usually used as a less damaging alternative to heavier tapes such as duct tape.

Hey Oluseyi: I do not have the textbook that we're working out of. Is there any way i can continue this workshop without it? My parents aren't big on me doing art. Possibly i can stick to doing the assignments you post here (such as assign # 1)? Thanks

Acid, the book is only $25 ( $16 online ) at Chapters. If you need to convince your parents that its worth buying, just show them the back cover. It has a before and after picture that will convince them. Theres also no nudity in it, so they can't object on those grounds. Or you can read it in Chapters if you buy a coffee every once in a while.

I've started receiving replies to our first assignment, and one respondent mentioned feeling shame at what he saw as the low quality of his work.

Never be ashamed of your work!

Yeah, sure, it may not be "good" - not as good as you want it to be, not a perfect rendition of what you saw in your mind's eye - but by creating it and continuing to work on your ability, you are embarking on the journey to make yourself capable of doing what you want. Let me show you something:

Self-portrait
October 11, 2006


October 30, 2006


My hand
October 10, 2006


November 19, 2006



Now, I've been drawing since I was a child, though I basically stopped for something like seven years, and I'd never had formal instruction. Look at what I was able to accomplish in terms of improvement in a month. "Do not despise the days of small beginnings," indeed!

I only read this today. Oluseyi, maybe an announcement in the other forums that this workshop is resuming would be helpful.

Quote:Original post by Demosthenes
I only read this today. Oluseyi, maybe an announcement in the other forums that this workshop is resuming would be helpful.

Good idea. I've posted an announcement to that effect.