Drawing for the Absolute and Utter Beginner - Softcover

Garcia, Claire Watson

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0823013952 ISBN 13: 9780823013951

Publisher: Watson-Guptill, 2003

Synopsis

Based upon the author’s own successful workshops, Drawing for the Absolute and Utter Beginner helps new artists create competent, often eloquent drawings. A series of progressive lessons demonstrates such essential skills as recording edges, creating dimension, adding accuracy, developing value, balancing compositional elements, and drawing the human face, both frontal and profile views. Step by step, readers learn how to create a reasonable likeness of an object and give it spatial depth using such simple black-and-white mediums as pens, pencils, charcoal, and graphite wash. Inspirational examples and tips for success from beginning students who have worked on the same material confirm readers’ successes, and allow readers to consider the advice and impressions of others at the same level.

About this title

About the Author

Claire Watson Garcia is a faculty member at Silvermine School of Art in New Canaan, CT. Her “Absolute and Utter Beginner” courses and workshops geared toward beginning artists have been popular for 20 years. She lives in Ridgefield, CT.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

As you add values to your sketches, they will gain a sense of dimension and weight. They may look less like fleeting impressions and more like solid objects, especially at a distance. The more time you spend adding visual information to your drawing, the closer you get to creating a study. The name itself implies that the artist has spent time closely observing the object. This scrutiny may result in more substantial, solid-looking drawings, with more detail and refined technique. The major differences between sketch and study are that in creating a study, more time is spent at a slower pace, adding a greater amount of detail, with more refined value application

Take Your Time
Many beginners wonder if they're taking too long. It's not how long you take; it's how long the drawing takes. Just stay with it until it feels and looks finished-- to you. 
If your sketches are developing into studies, or you'd like them to, add the following points to your drawing approach. For creating a study:
-Slow your pace.
-Break up contour lines into smaller overlapping lines.
-Keep your pencil in closer contact with the paper surface.
-Fill in values with greater precision.
-Add more detail.
-Evaluate each area more frequently.

Edition details

• Publisher: Watson-Guptill
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0823013952
• ISBN 13: 9780823013951
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 160