Lauren Reading; Gesture and Blind Contour
November 18, 2016 § Leave a comment
I haven’t posted for some time now and so I thought I’d throw in a drawing of my daughter, Lauren using a quick gestural and sometimes blind contour.
Summer Floral
July 12, 2016 § 2 Comments
I haven’t posted in awhile; therefore I’m offering a floral from the Como Conservatory done in colored pencil
Three different Vantage Points of a Floral
April 14, 2016 § Leave a comment
In this series of a floral setting, I chose to frame in different areas. In the first, I chose to look at a fully bloomed flower and its relationship to its budding elements.
In the second I explored how the composition played out in a horizontal format highlighting its repetitive qualities and creating a sense of motion.
In the third, I centered on the relationship the floral elements had to the surrounding space.
Persephone in the Eaves
April 10, 2016 § Leave a comment
Serial imagery can be created by depicting your subject withing its setting, stepping in more closely, and finally even more to examine its finer details.
Last in the Series: Whee!! Off they Go!
March 10, 2016 § 2 Comments
The last in the series of Annie and Clare at play shows them fully immersed in the fun of tumbling in the big metal drum at the playground. Here their movements clearly show the final stage from rest to beginning momentum to this open sense of play. Serial imagery allows you as the artist to take full advantage of your subject material by considering how the story line can change through any number of possibilities. This could be a sequence of motion, a change of palette, change in placement, change in area of focus, and on and on.
<a href=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000A7OPAO/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000A7OPAO&linkCode=as2&tag=drmarmcnanddr-20&linkId=H2HAZV7DGBWTOANS”>Strathmore 400500 80-Pound 24-Sheets Medium Drawing Paper Pad, 11-Inch by 14-Inch (400500)</a><img src=”http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=drmarmcnanddr-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000A7OPAO” width=”1″ height=”1″ border=”0″ alt=”” style=”border:none !important; margin:0px !important;” />
Annie and Clare Beginning to Play
March 10, 2016 § Leave a comment
This next work in the three drawing series of Annie and Clare shows the girls beginning to be roused to play. When seen with the other two drawings, this piece reveals a sequence in their movements.
<a href=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0014ZSH0A/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0014ZSH0A&linkCode=as2&tag=drmarmcnanddr-20&linkId=5XJKUNBF2YKYCCFT”>1 X Graphite Pencil Design Set – Metal Tin of 12</a><img src=”http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=drmarmcnanddr-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0014ZSH0A” width=”1″ height=”1″ border=”0″ alt=”” style=”border:none !important; margin:0px !important;” />
Series of Annie and Clare
March 10, 2016 § Leave a comment
This is the first in a series of three drawings showing my grand daughter Annie and her friend Clare in a sequence of motion. It reveals their movements in a playground drum sitting still and contemplating action to beginning to rouse to full out play.
Annie and Clare Contemplating Play
<a href=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017ZO1FO8/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B017ZO1FO8&linkCode=as2&tag=drmarmcnanddr-20&linkId=HTRUHGX5XCZREF7W”>Staedtler 12 Drawing Pencil Set with Case</a><img src=”http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=drmarmcnanddr-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B017ZO1FO8″ width=”1″ height=”1″ border=”0″ alt=”” style=”border:none !important; margin:0px !important;” />
Old Man in the Eaves
February 4, 2016 § Leave a comment
A drawing from awhile ago of a sculpture on the face of Pillsbury Hall on the University of MN campus. This is from another vantage point and is in colored pencil with Conte’ crayon on Canson paper (the rough side).
Area of Focus
January 24, 2016 § 2 Comments
In this drawing on colored paper, I centered the white around the head of Lauren, my sleeping child. Doing so helps create an area of focus and an element of drama. Chiaroscuro encompasses the style of drawing or painting which reveal an illuminated subject in a darkened environment. The contour line in the outer areas leads you in and out of the composition.
Using Contour as the Framework
January 24, 2016 § Leave a comment
I will be recommending books that I believe will help you along your journey of self discovery through drawing and will start with my book the Little Book of Drawing; a Friendly Approach. This book is unlike others in that it highlights the contour line as the framework for your personality and emotion, composition, and reveals form and depth. My drawing of Lauren illustrates the importance of the contour. Notice that my contour is unique with its curvilinear quality and quirkiness. Yours will be much different. By allowing your hand and pencil to become an extension of your eye, you lose your inhibitions and connect with the subject. This gradated pencil drawing allows that line or contour to show through.
Dr. Mary McNaughton and Drawing 