Learning to See

[William Whitaker]

Most of us are having a great deal of fun with our portrait art, but we mustn

[William Whitaker]

Here is another Bargue drawing copy by Ryan Brown. The program forces him to spend hours and hours reworking the drawing until he gets it right. The discipline is doing wonders for his growth.

Charles Bargue (1825-1883) was a wonderfully talented painter. He is largely unknown today and his output wasn

[William Whitaker]

This and the following cast drawings are excellent examples of the levels we should seek to attain. Since I haven

[William Whitaker]

Drawings like this are done standing, are drawn

[William Whitaker]

They are obviously very labor intensive. Labor is something we must get used to. It often takes me about thirty hours to paint a head from life. Drawings like this can take almost as long.

[William Whitaker]

This is a cast painting, done in grisaille. The three dimensional cast is on the left, the painting is on the right. You can tell because of the nail that holds the half head on the wall.

Casts are usually lit by artificial lights, either spots or soft spots. One doesn

[William Whitaker]

This is a drawing shown underway. It was completed and posted on the school

[Sharon Knettell]

I can not agree with this more!

When I went to art school, considered a fine one, The Boston Museum School, the ghosts of Paxton and Benson had long fled. The school was in the full throes and still is, of abstract expressionism.

We did have still life set ups, figure drawing, and anatomy, but it was so vague, It was almost like the school felt it was under some obligation to dust off these old chestnuts and offer them to the students. More emphasis was placed on expressing yourself, just how we were able to do that without the neccesary skills was not apparent. Those of us ( me) that were interested in learning the more traditional forms of art were basically ignored and left to flounder. I went to the movies instead.

It took me a long time to learn anything, going to libraries, museums, anything to get any hint at how to draw properly, how to use paint etc.

There were no ateliers, no internet, then. I was young and figured that fine art was all this ugly stuff and that if I wanted to do what I loved I better teach myself. I did not even know what an atelier was!

There are so many wonderful workshops, schools and teachers today that can be taken advantage of.

A lot of the problems I see on this site, and encounter in my own work is a weak underpinning of basic good and thorough drawing skills.

Sincerely,

[Kimber Scott]

Originally Posted by Sharon Knettel

More emphasis was placed on expressing yourself, just how we were able to do that without the neccesary skills was not apparent.

My university drawing instructor told me, "I can teach you to render an object in a couple of hours, but what you really need to learn is how to express yourself."

She taught me nothing.

[Dianne Gardner]

My university drawing instructor told me, "I can teach you to render an object in a couple of hours, but what you really need to learn is how to express yourself."

This sounds so much like my youth. I think it may have been that generation. I was told my work, and my ambitions, were too 'old fashioned' in college. I too learned nothing. Now, after having raised seven children I am trying desperately to get back to where I wanted to be back then. Thank you for this inspiration Mr. Whitaker! I had the opportrunity to see some art students working on similar pieces using a grid (something I had never even heard of until a couple of years ago). Although I have never done these exercises, nor have I worked with a cast before, I am seriously considering finding one to work from. I feel there is so much to learn and so little time left for me! Work indeed it is laborsome but such a joy to do.

Dianne