TEN NOVEL WAYS OF DRAWING – Be discrete and draw people anywhere in this unique “sketch book”.

1. For a few cents or at most a dollar pick up a novel at a used book store.

2. Open it up at any page, pick up a drawing tool and start sketching right across the print.

3. This “sketch book” is perfect for drawing people because the unaware "model" will assume that you are reading.

4. After trial and error I found that a roller ball pen flowed well over the paper of the book I had chosen, better than a felt tip pen. I use it to indicate the contours of my figures.

5. Because a contour drawing remains just that, a contour, I use a color pencil for the flesh tones (face and hands).

6. For the darker values I realized that the newsprint sheets of the pages I drew across accepted the Ivory Black no 6700 Derwent Drawing pencil better than graphite. But you will have to experiment yourself to see what suits you best depending on the “type” of page you draw across.

7. Once upon a time ... I found a seat in a bookstore, sat down and drew novel seekers in a novel way. Not one looked my way because they thought I was absorbed in my book. Instead, I was reading them and transcribing them into forms rather than print.

8. Another time I sat on steps and stepped up my drawing skills by sketching climbers and “descenders”. Pausing between the flow of passersby I read a few lines while waiting for more subject matter.

9. I figure I haven’t finished exploring this novel way of drawing as I am discovering that I can add color later to my figures or backgrounds after the figures have left. I figured that one on my own!

10. Sometimes the numbered chapters influence my drawings, especially the tens. I add eyewear to these. When I sketch someone reading a novel I wonder if he or she has ever thought of writing one or better still - draw in one!

I must admit that this novel idea was not my own. An artist friend, Rochelle Mayer, has been sketching in used novels for quite a while ... while riding the subway. She then uses the sketches for future studio work. What a novel idea!

Finally, since every figure drawn has a beginning and an end, I draw a "climax" at every page...more than the author probably ever imagined!

Raynald Murphy sca

DESSINS DU NU À L’ENCRE DE CHINE – Un défi que j’accepte avec enthousiasme

« …Une brève réponse à la question : ‘Qu’est-ce que le nu?’ : Le nu est une forme d’art inventé par les Grecs au Ve siècle avant J.-C., de même que l’opéra est une forme d’art inventée en Italie au XVIIe siècle. Cette conclusion, évidemment trop simpliste, a toutefois le mérite de souligner que le nu n’est pas un sujet mais une forme d’art. » *

L’encre de chine, ne pardonne pas. On ne peut pas effacer ou reprendre la marque faite sur papier avec ce médium permanent. Lorsque je dessine à l’encre j’accepte le défi. Le temps semble s’arrêter tant je suis concentré. Comme le skieur en compétition avant son départ je me prépare mentalement avant de commencer. Je visualise, puis j’attaque!

Voici avec commentaires quinze dessins exécutés dernièrement lors d’ateliers de modèle vivant à Radio-Canada à Montréal. Ces dessins de format 9 po par 12 po environ ont été dessinés soit avec une pointe en métal ou avec un petit bâton de bois aiguisé. Je représente parfois les valeurs une fois l’encre séchée par un lavis ou par quelques traits de crayon de couleur. Je ne dessine pas le modèle au crayon avant de le faire à l’encre. Les poses sont de cinq, dix ou quinze minutes.

1. Nue fesses à l’air –  La qualité de la ligne varie. Elle est parfois dure, mince ou souple.

2. Nue morose – La masse blanche du papier non touchée de l’intérieur du modèle contraste avec l’activité de la ligne, des hachures et des taches noires.

3. Nue bras au dos – Les hachures et traits raides semblent faire vibrer le modèle.

4. Nue appuyé sur un bras – La force du noir de l’encre n’a pas d’égale avec d’autres médiums.

5. Nue perchée sur le tabouret – Le truc lorsqu’on dessine à l’encre c’est, je crois, de varier l’épaisseur de la ligne.

6. Nue aux seins poire – Il est important que nous sentions le mouvement de la ligne. Notez qu’ici j’ai choisi d’accentuer le rythme des contours du corps par des hachures dans le même sens que ceux-ci.

7. Nue au visage tendu– Je sentais de la tension dans le modèle. J’ai tenté de l’exprimer par des taches noires à des endroits clés et par des traits rigides au lieu de courbés.

8. Nue à la fesse blanche – Par opposition à la pose précédente, le modèle est à l’aise. Les courbes sont rendues avec une ligne délicate. Le lavis gris de gauche accentue la courbe gracieuse à partir de l’épaule jusqu’au talon.

9. Nue en T – Je concentre intensément – puis j’agis en plaçant avec précision les marques les plus foncées aux endroits les plus importants.

10. Nue en diagonale – Les traits plus foncés sont placés du côté qui est à l’ombre, soit à droite. Du côté gauche le dos et la fesse sont en lumière, donc la ligne est mince ou absente.

11. Nue en étirement – J’oppose les taches noires par des lignes délicates ailleurs.

12. Nu appuyé sur le banc – Pour cette pose il était important de rendre le volume pour indiquer sa musculature. Son expression faciale est transmise par quelques marques bien choisies.

13. Nus penchés – Le placement des hachures aux bons endroits fait que je pense ces deux dessins réussis.

14. Nu au repos sur un banc – Cette pose exigeait que j’indique bien les parties à l’ombre, sinon la pose aurait été incompréhensible.

15. Deux nus en hachures – Lorsque le modèle prend une pose intéressante le dessin de celui-ci semble être plus facile.

* Kenneth Clark, LE NU Tome I, Hachette Littératures, 1998, p. 21

Raynald Murphy sca

SKETCHING PEOPLE IN THE METRO/SUBWAY – Drawing shapes rather than people

“I love things and that’s what I paint. Yet I don’t copy them - a photograph could do that better. Instead I react to them. That is, I try to change what I see and make the pieces fit like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.” Charles Reid in the introduction to Painting What You Want to See.

Shapes, shapes and more shapes

Some say drawing people correctly is very difficult but the paradox is that when one stops thinking about drawing people and starts thinking about drawing shapes, then people drawing starts being easier. Probably because we are so used to seeing people, we try to draw what we think we see – a symbol or an example of a generalized person – rather than concentrate on drawing correct shapes.

Setting up to draw in the subway

One day this winter the weather was not conducive to drawing or painting outdoors, so my friend and I decided to set up at subway train stations to draw people and the surroundings. We sat on small folding stools and drew in small sketch books with dry media.

Our objective – learning and having fun

At one train station there is a circular seating area where one can sit and wait. We both sat and sketched at a discrete spot about ten paces away. We were not drawing facial portraits at that distance but rather we were trying to design interesting shapes that looked as close to what was before us. Putting the pencil somewhere near the center of the page we drew one shape after another. After an hour or so, we had accumulated a few drawings, some more finished than others. We did not produce masterpieces but we enjoyed the challenge and we hope this increased our drawing skills. Some of these drawings would be used later as subjects for studio paintings.

Light and dark – Figure and Ground

It is important to think of a drawing strategy before putting pencil to paper. For example, in drawing the figures that were sitting or standing around the circular bench I tried to visualize dark flat shapes against a light background or light shapes in front of a dark ground. By so doing I reduced the complex shapes to simple flat forms that fit into each other like puzzle pieces. Once I had penciled an outline of the person, I added value or volume by hatching parallel lines on parts of the figure or the entire figure to distinguish one shape from another. Some figures were left simply as contour shapes.

What to do when people move

I must admit that drawing people in public is not that simple especially for the beginner especially if they move. So you might ask: what do you do when the person you are sketching moves or leaves? Well, I usually stop drawing that person and start drawing another person shape elsewhere or draw the surroundings. Then, if the person resumes his original position I complete the missing shapes. If not, I invent what I feel should or could be. As long as the proportions are correct, I remind myself that I am not taking a photo, I am designing. I am creating my own reality.

 Adding color and texture and leaving parts unfinished

In some of the sketches you will notice that I added some color and/or created texture by crosshatching dark over light. I also sometimes faded out or left parts of the scene or part of the figure incomplete. This strategy permits the viewer to participate in the drawing by mentally filling in the missing parts. Simplified lines drawn in perspective completed the background and suggested the environment.

Sketching in busy areas

During the whole two hours or more that my friend and I were drawing very few passersby came over to see what we were doing. It is a fallacy to think that one will be disturbed when drawing in public. Let’s face it, most people are too preoccupied to even care or look at what you are doing. So why not try sketching in public? It is a very valuable learning exercise. Moreover, you might become positively addicted to it as my friend and I have become.

Raynald Murphy sca