STILL LIFE
What for?
On the 9th of June, I gave
one of my first drawing lesson about how to draw a still life.It was quite new for me, especially for
giving this in english. I remember that I actually did one lesson
among friends of mine in Nantes (France), but this was obviously into
my comfort zone. This is
also what is about EVS, get out of that comfort zone.
Before that day I tried to find
beautiful objects for the composition. Usually for my own exercises I
don't try to compose something, because I consider that the most
beautiful subject is our own mess. The remains of a diner, the
open laptop on a messy bed, tossed clothes, books or papers around...
Because it has storytelling. We can feel that there is life
behind, rather than just put some flowers into a jar, then on a
lovely tablecloth, just with the purpose of drawing it, because it means nothing to you.
But for this lesson i had to find
objects, so I've been to Salon Uporabnih Umetnosti, because it's a
nice vintage place. I could borrow old objects, which already
have a story: a teapot, cups, glasses, bottles, a lamp
converted into a bowl to put fresh fruits at the last moment. I tried
to create a scene with those object, to make it lively. It was quite
okay with that composition, but I've decided to put two compositions,
one simple and one more complicated. On the complicated one I've put
an old alarm clock, a light bulb, a bottle... Those object had
basically no link between them, it was just made for the exercise,
with only difficult things to draw. The people were clever enough to
not choose this one.
The purpose of the workshop was
to draw that composition with only grey values, in an
'academic way'. It means with no personal 'style', but
just as it is, with a particular way to built the shadows, according
to the volume, with hatchings, according to the source of light. This
is a really good exercise, and what is really the best is
doing it as much as possible, trying to draw everything
around us, outside, landscapes, people. No need to go to Africa
or New Zealand to find the most interesting animals or landscapes.
You can basically go into the train station, a shopping mall, a
museum, taking live model courses, draw yourself, or go to the zoo.
Everything is a potential subject. You can also work through
pictures. The best though, is drawing the reality because your
brain will have to convert the 3D into 2D. You must try to think that
you are a 5 years old child, and that you've never seen those
things in your life, and/or that you don't understand how it's
working. A lot of people make that mistake, they draw what they know,
and not what they see. It is only the idea they have of the reality,
and trust me, it's never accurate.
There is absolutely no point in just
trying to reproduce a picture as a final artwork. It is a means, not
an end.
The students were good and got caught
up with the game. But I noticed something bad, is that a lot
of them felt frustrated to not be able to do it as they
expected, and they were basically too severe with themselves. It was
their first drawing lesson !
In my opinion, the ability of drawing
in the minds of people in general is too much considered as
'something we have or not'. It is denying all the work we need
behind before having a correct level. And the bad thing is that a
lot of people give up because they think they are not good enough.
They just need to keep it up... I believe only in the capacity
of improving quickly, this is the only gift we can talk about. Some
people of course progress quicker, it's true in everything, but they
do work. And then when you know how to draw the
reality- you don't stop- you can play with it and
break the rules, find your style, etc, but very important,
not before (breaking the rules). Study hard the reality and you will
be able to draw the most crazy stuff on the paper, simply because
your brain will have that library of datas and will be able to play
with it and it will have
consistency.And above all, it helps you to understand
what you are drawing, how it's working. Even if it's about a
monster with four arms (volumes, muscles, perspective, attitude,
proportion...).Even if you do caricatures, characters with big noses
(like some classic french comic books:) ) as long as we can recognize
it, you need to have the basis. There is no shame
in studying the reality, the best artists have references when
they work. There is actually any merit in saying that it comes
out from your head, because it is simply impossible for the result to
be good, unless you studied your subject hard like hell, but usually
people who are proud to say it just didn't. So basically I present to
you some of my favorite artists, working on their paintings or
illustrations, or giving tips, with obvious references. If you
keep all of that in mind, you'll go far away. Something else you need
to know : you will mainly get unsatisfied, it is part of the job, you
can be happy about some results, but it's never the end of your
progress, you will always always go further and further all your life
long. You'll be like the wine, better through the years ;)
Disney illustrator and animator Aaron Blaise video tip
Illustrator James Gurney video tip
The same guy, using here references of the begining ot the century for a steampunk style illustration (which takes place in a famous square of Nantes, my former town! So obviously highly documented background as well)
Illustrator Norman Rockwell:
Painter and illustrator Gil Elvgren:
Illustrator Paul
Bonner
This is his studio. For this step, he is using a picture of
mountains for help about colors. And a lot of his previous sketches
and studies he is keeping around.
James Jean sketches:
Please stay curious,
not only about drawing, but everything: dance, movies, books,
radio, exhibitions, music, theatre, design, sculpture, history, geography, science, documents, fashion... And also:
people, your friends, landscapes, buildings, animals, your boy/girlfriend
sleeping... Everything! And above all: enjoy.. It will be visible in your work.
Don't fear the fact of being wrong. You can always start all over again and nobody will see it.
Thank you for reading this post!
Cécile, from France
