Class Assignments

 Here are some examples of class assignments in Inventive Drawing at ArtCenter

We begin with short poses of 5 to 7 minutes.  These are to be observational concentrating sprints, not gestural quick sketch.  We are learning to observe more deeply and capture the weight, balance and rhythm along with proper proportions.  The process begins with pausing before you draw.  Observe to analyze commit to memory.  Avoid the glance and mark, glance and mark.  That is a mindless task that leaves little analysis or understanding.  Begin with the head, apply enough information to see the silhouette, a bit of volume, and most importantly which direction the head is facing and tilting.  From there go to the pit of the neck and draw a vertical line.  See which foot is closer to that line and that should also be the leg with more weight.  The figure is not drawn with standard 8 heads.  The height and proportion will vary depending if you are in the front row on a short bench or in the back on a high bench.  Look for alignments to find your proportions, see what leg on which more weight is applied, that hip will generally be higher (but not always, read the pose).

Here is the basic rule: Keep your top 3 drawings and throw the rest away.  Don't save your failures, only your best.  Looking back at your work you will always be challenging yourself to compare your work with your best work.

We spend the first half of class on observation and mechanical skills.  When we begin longer poses we are still starting and proceeding the same way.  Having this information in an accurate drawing first allows us to then focus on the marks through which we choose to interpret the pose/story, and how much we want to caricature the pose.  Caricaturing the pose in your initial drawing interrupts focused observation.  Each week we have a theme which offers an introduction to various artists and styles as well as offer a point of view as to how we will push the drawings.  Here are some class drawings, notes, and sketches to develop a full illustration from the in class pose.

Greek Roman

either a vase or relief

Charles Dana Gibson

Comic Book

Movie Poster

Alphonse Mucha

Here are a couple other drawings to focus on who the model is and their story.  The models are all in costume and portraying a moment, they are acting, our drawings need to capture that acting moment.