Week Seven: Form, Space, Cross-Hatching

The week before last, while learning to use grid lines you drew a cute puppy (shown above is Elvis' drawing of the dog). Last week you took on a very different drawing challenge: an old man with a craggy face. You drew from a sketch by Leonardo da Vinci (shown above). While continuing to use grid lines for drawing accurate proportions, you explored the drawing technique called cross-hatching. Drawing the texture of the puppy's fur was a big contrast compared to drawing the texture of the old man's face.

Everyone also did a warm-up sketch of a cube that introduced vanishing points, and 2-point perspective. This was helpful as we continue drawing the two sketches by Vincent van Gogh.

Since you're still working on your van Gogh sketches, there won't be an online drawing challenge this week. I hope you take the time to use all that you've learned in class--lines, shapes, patterns, texture, space, form, overlapping, shading--in finishing your drawings. Remember to keep comparing your drawing to the reference picture for accuracy.

Friday we'll be talking about the two drawings you've made from the Vincent van Gogh sketches. Some students asked to see drawings I've done, so here are links to my work online:

Eye Draw
Night Sketcher
Synaptic Traffic
The Scribbles Institute

This Friday I'll bring some of my drawings to class and we can discuss the drawing process.

Also, it was nice to have Keeley drop in and join the fun!

Hilda: Maybe you and some students can show Keeley some of the things we've learned so far, like holding the pencil on its side, patterns, overlapping, etc. Might be helpful as she draws the van Gogh pictures.

See you 9:00 am Friday :) --Rob

Shaylah

Excellent use of cross-hatching and tones to show the form of the man's head. Very good job of drawing contour lines and shading of the muscles and textures of the hair and skin--he looks like a very old man! I really like the way you used gray tones and lines to show the form of the chin and neck muscles. You did a very good job of drawing the proportions of the man's face. Compare your drawing to the reference picture while checking the measurements of the forehead. Is the forehead area the same size? Also, great work on the cube.

Jared

Very good job of using cross-hatching to form the man's head. The angled lines you drew in the background help to show the contours of the forehead, nose, and huge chin--excellent job! Great start in adding shading for the man's cheek and back of his head. Overall, the proportions of the man's features and shape of the head are accurate. Check the reference picture to see if the size of the forehead looks correct. Great cube!

Craig

Great job of using cross-hatching to form the old man's head, especially in the area where the jaw and neck muscles are. Your lines make him look REALLY old. The details for the teeth and mouth are well drawn. Excellent use of angled lines in the background to show the man's profile. Check the reference picture to compare the distance from the back of the head to the edge of the forehead in your drawing. Are they the same?

Michael

Excellent start with cross-hatching! Good job of using lines to show the texture of the old man's hair. The angled background lines do a great job of showing the profile of the face. I like the contour lines for the jaw and wrinkles of the eye. Compare your drawing to the reference picture. Is the size and shape of the man's forehead the same? Check the measurements of the the neck, too. Nice looking cube!

Leif

Wow, lots of cool lines and tones going on here! The shading or the neck muscles, under the chin, and cheek area do an excellent job of showing the form of the head. The contrast of the man's face and the lines in the background really highlight his facial features. Compare your drawing to the reference picture, and check the overall proportions. Is the form of the back of the head and the jaw area the same? Excellent cube.

Gage

Excellent job of drawing contour lines for the wrinkles around the mouth, jaw, and neck muscle. I like the shading you've added to show the form of the ear. Good start at drawing the texture of the hair and texture of skin on the neck. Compare the reference to your drawing. Are the overall proportions the same? Excellent cross-hatching on the cube.

Elvis

Very good start at drawing cross-hatching for the back of the neck and head. Also great start at drawing the texture of the hair. The blending of the shading around the temple area of the head, cheek bone, and under the chin are a nice contrast to the highlighted forehead, making the face look 3D. Nice cross-hatching on the cube!

Ricky

Excellent start with cross-hatching and shading with tones. Overall, the proportions of the back of the head, neck, and cheek are well drawn. Nice positioning of the ear. I like how your angled lines form the temple area of the head, area where jaw meets the ear, and cheek bone. Compare the bottom of the jaw and chin to the reference picture. Does the chin look the same? Great cube.

Jaime

Excellent start in drawing the overall proportions of the face, neck and chin. I really like the contour lines you've drawn for the wrinkled skin around his jaw and eye. Nice contour lines for the edges of the man's profile. Compare your drawing to the reference picture. Does the form of the back of the head look the same?

Our Teachers (and Keeley, too!)

Keeley
So cool that you got to draw with us on Friday. Welcome to the SLV Sketchers! You got a great start on your van Gogh drawing Friday. And you did an excellent job of cross-hatching lines on the cube.

Hilda

Great job x 2! I really like how you experimented with tones in one of your drawings, and cross-hatching in the other one. Both drawings are excellent representations of the form of the man's head, but the dramatic shading of the one on the left really stands out. And the proportions are quite accurate! Check the proportion of the distance from the back of the head to the front edges of the face. Excellent cube.

Patty

Excellent job of using lines and tones to show the form of the old man's head! Great job of using bold lines to show the cheek bone and the area of the neck muscle, especially where the muscle, jaw and cheek converge. I really like the shading and highlights you've drawn to show the texture of the skin and hair. Check the reference picture to measure the distance from back of the head to the front edge of the face. Also compare the size of the brow area to the size of the chin.