Anna

[Matthew Severson]

This drawing has another name: The girl with the wild hair.

I'm hoping someone can tell me whether I am on the right track or not. My drawings tend to have an annoying flatness to them that I try to correct by adding depth with deep shadows, but so far, it has helped very little.

Perhaps my only problem is the poor reference photo.

Matthew S.

[Garth Herrick]

Hi Matthew,

I have never had the nerve to critique a drawing yet, but if you don't mind, I'll give it a try:

I think you are on the right track. You know what has bothered you about drawings in the past, and you know some of the things you can improve, so you must be on the right track.

The imagery is lively. How could it not be? It's a happy child at play.

It is good that you are looking for the big forms first and introducing details only when you must. It is good that you are striving for a broader range of values by indicating the deep shadows. It does help. You are sensitively modeling the subtle turning of values in all the forms. The main problem I see is that you are giving nearly everything nearly equal intensity and fussiness in the modeling.

I see the reflected light under the chin having equal weight to the brightest lit parts of the face, for example. To avoid a sense of flatness or confusion to the viewer, these two parts cannot be equal! They must be different. Almost never will the reflected light be anywhere near as strong as the primary light.

A way to help avoid this is to make sure the primary lights on the face and hair are truly luminous and bright, without too much fussy detail. This lit part of the drawing or painting is called the light mass. it must all be light to work. Avoid detail (you are good at this already). Any detail in the light mass must be very light too. This also means any modeling or shifting of values must be very light and very subtle too. Working out a light mass does not mean making the light areas all flat and equal in brightness. There is only one point that will have maximum brightness. Everything else gradually and subtlety builds up toward that point. Squint at your reference and see what is really important and bright, and what isn't. A reflected light isn't.

Make sure you are exploring and representing the entire range of values offered in the medium in which you are working. While it is good to get the darkest darks indicated as you have, and to keep the bright areas in the light mass luminous, all the scale and range of values in between have to be represented somewhere in the drawing, to really make the forms turn and grow away from flatness.

Another tip is to keep a clear perspective of the relative importance and relationship between various and juxtaposed elements in the drawing. For example, make sure the reflected light is just a very subtle and hardly noticed reflected light. It should never compete for attention with the light mass. Less is more because reflected lights tend to destroy form and contribute to the sensation of overall flatness, and too much sameness in the modeling. In the same sort of way that the light mass needs to be bright and uncluttered, without fussy modeling and detail, the shadows or the shadow mass need to be kept quiet and simply stated, with as little going on as possible, too. There is usually to more activity expected to be seen in the light mass than the shadow mass, however. In the half tones where the light mass, and the shadow mass meet, is where there will be very interesting dynamics and energy. Precision in evaluating the specific values represented in the half tones are paramount, for authenticity and dimension. Here you can explore detail, nuance, and edge control (sharpness and dissipation) to the fullest, because this weather front between the shadow mass and light mass is where much of the description of forms and volumes really happen.

Combine all this and it would be pretty hard to end up with a flat drawing. I think you sense much of this already, and with a little more practice and encouragement, you will get it.

I am not sure, but it looks like you are drawing on a toned piece of paper. It does not look white. This is good. You could work farther into your drawing with a white pencil to get that light mass going. This is just a suggestion that will surely extend the dynamic range (the total extent of the range of values) in your drawing.

Now I possibly have given you a lot to think about!

Happy drawing and painting,

Garth

[Matthew Severson]

Thanks so much Mr. Herreck. You've given me allot of great tips!

Ever since I took up drawing when I was eight years old, my favorite part of a round object was the reflected light, but I've never realized how much I've always overdone it in my drawings.

It's so insanely difficult to make the values just right on every part of a drawing. I don't know how you do it!

Thank you again.

..Back to the old drawing board.

Matthew