Author: admin

Today we went to the Wedding reception.  They talked so much about family,  seeing different parts of the world.

I have to be successful doing this. I have to see my family more often.

My regular job is sitting at a desk all day. How much longer can I sit still, following protocol? Am I even an artist at this point? Is it the pandemic isolation that has drained me? is it the lack of sunlight today? The lack of hours?

I promised myself, I would write at least once a day on this. And so I have this one promise to myself that is being kept.

Today is the day after Valentine’s day. Am I as an artist supposed to have some great designs up, showing love in the air? Or is it a day like any other day?

Talents grow or shrink. It is rare that it is status quo. But often I find myself, tired of sitting at a desk. Do I really want to sit at a drawing board after sitting on a computer all day?

Maybe, I should look at art on a bigger scale. In a way that will not let me just sit.

So I feel like the details of this post are quite interesting.  I feel like the more I post and comment the more exposure I will have. This is fun, and I definitely feel like there are possibilities to this.

So let’s get them, tiger!

Cell phone text. I clicked on add post.

So this is a test page. I want this to show up under the journal page.

 

We have all been there. We see a person and you want to capture that moment with them. You draw their beautiful face and give them some hair only to see everything about the drawing looks a little odd. Getting your proportions correct can be the difference between a high-end quality painting vs a cartoon looking art fail. Once you master the basics, you will have more control to manipulate the sizes for more dramatic and emotional effects.  

Below are 4 ways to make your human drawing look a little more well… Human. 

 

Head shape: 

Does your drawing look a little like the drawing above. Always remember, the eyes should be in the center of the head. Remember, your subject has a begger brain than you may be giving the credit for. Often people do not draw the head high enough and get the flat head. Like they are missing half their brain! Please, do not draw your loved one, and gie the only room for ahalf a brain.  

 

How to fix:  

Generally speaking, you should start with drawing the whole head first. If the person is looking straight ahead, then their eyes should be drawn half way down. If they are looking up, the eyes should still curve around the head at the mid-point will just be facing up too. 

Let’s face it, we all love to draw the eyes first, or maybe even another feature that captures us. Then we draw in the head later. When you do this, simply measure the length from the eyes to the chin. Then mark the same distance from the eyes to the top of the head. If you came in short, just give them more hair. That’s right pile on the hair. It will not look like an 80’s prom queen. We have enough hair to cover the top of our heads. (unless the person is bald.) You can also add a hat, scarf, or whatever you need to do to give them a bigger skull to fit that beautiful brain of theirs. 

 

Eyes too close or too far apart. 

As a general rule, there should be the distance of one eye between the eyes. Now, this rule only works for a face aimed directly forward and we all have slightly different face arrangements, but this is a really good rule of thumb. So, if your eyes are about 1 inch wide, there should be about 1 inch between the eyes too. 

How to fix:  

As we all now we should always measure and draw light lines before we put in details. But if we already put in both eyes and they are too far apart or to close, there are still some tricks. If the subject is wearing make-up, use the make-up make the eyes wider or smaller. Make-up can change the appearance of people in real life, and on the canvas. If they are not wearing make-up you can still achieve some flexibility with shadows. And if all else fails, give them a hairstyle that covers up one eye. 

 

Tiny hands: 

Hands are weird when it comes to drawing. So many long fingers that look dangly. We think of them as being items way down at the bottom of our arms. But in reality, they actually take up about 1/3rd of our arms. Really. Measure for yourself. From the wrist to the tip of your middle finger, it is the same length as your wrist to your elbow. And from your elbow to the just below your shoulder. Cartoony hands are usually even bigger than that!  

 

How to fix: 

We all know the infamous pose of putting the hands behind the back. So, yea you can do that. But if you really want to be a great artist, this is something you will need to master. Measure the lengths of the arm and make sure you draw the hand to scale. The bone that sticks out on your wrist to the tip of the longest finger should be 1/3 of the arm when looking straight on. When the hand is coming toward you, it will be a lot bigger than the arm. Practice drawing the hand over and over. Use your non-dominant hand to be your model. Yes, you can be a hand model!  

 

Tiny head: 

The body should be about 7 ½ of the head size on an adult. On a toddler body is about 4 head sizes and a baby’s head can actually be about half of the full body’s size. 

Often for fashion design the legs will be a little longer, add on one extra head size to the length. 

 

How to fix: 

If the head is too small, you can always add hair. Yes, hair fixes so much. You can also add a hat, or anything to make the head look bigger. If the face proportions are off because of this, then give them some sunglasses. Sometime a little re-drawing of the legs to make the shorter can also help. 

If the head is too big, they may look more like a child. So, you can own that. Or add onto the legs. If the subject is wearing a dress, you can add ruffle or another layer to the dress to make it appear longer. If the subject is wearing pants, you may need to erase the shoes/feet and redraw them. Pants often fold a little at the cuff, so you can use that to your advantage to hide the eraser marks. 

Why do you want to draw? 

There have been times in my life that I felt so much emotions. Emotions that words just do not capture. There have been times that I felt no one understood me. Times that I just don’t feel like talking. There are pieces of art that are stuck in my head that did not get out in time, until my life changed and that moment is gone. 

  

How many times have you felt something that you cannot explain? The picture is there in your head, you want it to come out. How many times has it stayed there unable to share it?  

  

Sometimes the reason you cannot put the paint on the canvas is the technical and other times fear.  

  

When I was a teenager, I was going through a lot of emotions as most people do at that stage of life. Also, as many do, I had a fear of what others thought of me. One drawing in particular I never let anyone see as I could not let anyone know I was sad and suffering. I hid partially under my blanket incase my parents made sure I was “asleep”. The bedroom light was off and I had only the light of the moon. With so much emotion, I scribbled on the page a figure. The figure was hunched over and crying. The sides of the were scribbled on to show the ciaos going through my life. Structurally, it was not a good drawing, there were no details and the proportions were off. But it was expressing exactly how I felt. I drew it, went to sleep and kept the drawing hidden for years. 

  

A few year later I was coming home from college. Being less than rich, the bus seemed like the best option. The drive was about 24 hours long. There is not much to do when sitting for 24 hours on the bus, so I started to draw. The people around wanted to see my art.  

  

I let them look at my drawings, one by one in my sketch pad. Some funny pictures, some detailed. But with each page they turned, they got closer and closer to my hidden art. My mind raced. Is it more embarrassing for them to see the raw emotions? Or is it more embarrassing to admit that I made art I do not want people to see? Sometimes it is easier to let total strangers into your most personal secrets. So, I held my breath and let them turn the page.  

  

They loved it! It was the one that connect with them the most. Some of them felt the same way.  

  

Here is the truth about art, it connects people. We are supposed to behave a certain way, and feel a certain way. There are social cues we get from other people, and when the other people put up a wall, we feel the need to do so too. Then others see us with our walls up and they get the social cues that they should do the same, until all of society gets the social cues that everything is just plane and “normal”. Art allows us to break the walls and express ourselves, connect on ways that can be difficult for many people to do.  

  

If you have an emotional picture you have been too afraid to share because you think people will think you are crazy, I invite you to share it with someone. Sometimes you will be surprised that they needed to see that art. Maybe once they see your art, they found at last, a piece that could express how they feel too. 

So, why do you want to draw?

 

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