The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain - Betty Edwards [88]
Fig. 9-41.
Some further tips
Eyes: Observe that the eyelids have thickness. The eyeball is behind the lids (Figure 9-38). To draw the iris (the colored part of the eye)—don’t draw it. Draw the shape of the white (Figure 9-39). The white can be regarded as negative space, sharing edges with the iris. By drawing the (negative) shape of the white part, you’ll get the iris right because you’ll bypass your memorized symbol for iris. Note that this bypassing technique works for everything that you might find “hard to draw.” The technique is to shift to the next adjacent shape or space and draw that instead. Observe that the upper lashes grow first downward and then (sometimes) curve upward. Observe that the whole shape of the eye slants back at an angle from the front of the profile (Figure 9-38). This is because of the way the eyeball is set in the surrounding bony structure. Observe this angle on your model’s eye—this is an important detail.
Neck: Use the negative space in front of the neck in order to perceive the contour under the chin and the contour of the neck (Figure 9-40). Check the angle of the front of the neck in relation to vertical. Make sure to check the point where the back of the neck joins the skull. This is often at about the level of the nose or mouth (Figure 9-22).
Collar: Don’t draw the collar. Collars, too, are strongly symbolic. Instead, use the neck as negative space to draw the top of the collar, and use negative spaces to draw collar points, open necks of shirts, and the contour of the back below the neck, as in Figures 9-40 and 9-41. (This bypassing technique works, of course, because shapes such as the spaces around collars cannot be easily named and have generated no preexisting symbols to distort perception.)
After you have finished:
Congratulations on drawing your first profile portrait. You are now using the perceptual skills of drawing with some confidence, I feel sure. Don’t forget to practice seeing the angles and proportions you have just sighted. Television is wonderful for supplying models for practice, and the television screen is, after all, a “picture-plane.” Even if you can’t draw these free models because they rarely stay still, you can practice eyeballing edges, spaces, angles, and proportions. Soon, these perceptions will occur automatically, and you will be really seeing.
Showing of profile portraits
Study the drawings on the following pages. Notice the variations in styles of drawing. Check the proportions by measuring with your pencil.
In the next chapter, you will learn the fourth skill of drawing, the perception of lights and shadows. The main exercise will be a fully modeled, tonal, volumetric self-portrait and will bring us full-circle to your “Before Instruction” self-portrait for comparison. Your “After Instruction” self-portrait will be either a “three-quarter” view or a “full-face” view. I’ll define the three portrait views for you before we turn to lights and shadows.
Another example of two styles of drawing. Instructor Brian Bomeisler and I sat on either side of Grace Kennedy, who is also one of our instructors, and drew these demonstration drawings for our students. We were using the same materials, the same model, and the same lighting.
Demonstration drawing by the author.
Demonstration drawing by instructor Brian Bomeisler.
“Portrait of Joy” by student Jerome Broekhuijsen.
A student drawing by Heather Tappen.
Demonstration drawing by the author.
“Portrait of Scott” demonstration drawing by instructor Beth Furmin.
10
The Value of Logical Lights and Shadows
Berthe Morisot (1841-1895). Self-Portrait, c. 1885. Courtesy of The Art Institute of Chicago.
Fig. 10-1. Drawing by student Elizabeth Arnold.
Light logic. Light falls on objects and (logically) results in the four aspects of light/shadow:
1. Highlight: The brightest light, where light from the source falls most directly on the object.
2. Cast shadow: The darkest shadow, caused by the object’s blocking of light from the source.
3. Reflected