Need suggestions for “seeing” circles in perspective better

[BeLing]

…but I don’t think most good artists draw that way.  I think they just look at it and draw it.  And I think they got that way by PRACTICE.

So you have trouble “seeing”?  You can’t change that, but you can work around it by copying. Start by tracing an ellipse, or whatever it is you want to “see”. If you’re using photos, you can find all the ellipses and just draw over the photo until it’s comfortable.

It’s true pianists must practice, but “good technique” often means you are starting with “good hands”— and if your hands are small, your technique may be a little different from someone who can span 12 keys. You also might want to be playing in jazzy, or improvisational ways, in which “technique” may be a whole different sort of ellipse, if you get my drift.

Anyway, I don’t think art should rely too entirely on technique. It might make things easier for you, but it might make you miss the boat, too by being too mechanical.

[John humber]

plnelson wrote:

You seem to be advocating an analytical approach but I don’t think most good artists draw that way. I think they just look at it and draw it.

I don’t wish to be impolite but your evidence for this is…?

Sure, some people can draw more accurately than others. Might this not be because they understand what they are drawing more than others. Or they just have the knack. You haven’t shown examples of how you are going wrong so it’s pretty much impossible to give anything but general advice; to me your problem appears—from what you’ve said—to be a difficulty between hand-an-eye, and I would maintain that one way to deal with this—to explore, if you like, where the difficulty lies—would be to understand more thouroughly what it is you are looking at; how it exists in space, so-to-speak.

I don’t draw machinery but in life-drawing I use measurement to check proportion, I use (for example) the angle of that leg against the angle of the shoulder or something in the background or whatever else. I might deal with foreshortening or an odd shadow area by understanding what it is I’m looking at.

Drawing is, I would maintain, pretty much all about analysis.

PLEASE how do I make these dreadful yellow things go away?

www.instagram.com/john_humber_artist
www.instagram.com/john_petty_letterform

[Yorky Administrator Ormskirk]

Honestly, most artists just draw (some trace). Ellipses can be drafted using geometry but I don’t think that will help in your example. Try using proportional dividers.

Doug

We must leave our mark on this world

[Friend of Scoots]

plnelson wrote:

Of course, but practice WHAT or HOW?

Its a good question young man

Here’s a suggestion, but will it suit you?

Only you can say!

Raid the kitchen cupboard and find yourself two bowls, one larger, one smaller.

Use the little bowl as a base, and tape the big bowl to it, at whatever angle you choose.

You may now twist and turn this apparatus to any angle you like, which will represent all the varied angles that ellipses appear in our environment, and you can sketch and photograph and study them as you please.

All this talk of axis and stuff is WAY too complicated for me.

Using my brush or pencil to evaluate horizontals and verticals, I establish a bounding box.

Do you see the four points where the ellipse meets the bounding box?

Mark those points off.

Now, simply join the points. Sure, its quick and dirty, I admit that!

Here’s a tip: work out your ellipses OFF the canvas, get them right, then cut around them to make a little template. Put your template onto the canvas and trace around the edge to get your ellipse in the right spot. If things go bad, simply wipe back and try again

 

 

 

[hedvig]

you got lots of great advise, and friend of Scoots is brilliant, I even.feel very inspired to try that one.

But let me offer sloppy lazy restless attention deficit one, that could be a prelude. Sometimes such an approach is the best way to start. Then when you did, it is easier to benefit from more perspectival stuff.

You need to learn to see. Yes. It isn’t that dramatic.

Hand eye coordination.

Take lots of scrap paper, start with paper and a comfortable pencil, crayo n or whatever.

Now look ONLY at the photo,not your hand or paper, and start drawing circles and other things in the picture,be relaxed and move around a lot. I like to draw a little everywhere and move around. Do this a lot familiarize with the photo, the hand familiarize to your eyes. Sometimes make the game: not lift pencil while moving about, turn the photo around,   that will change directions and slants ox the circles, et. c.

Do this a lot. Then if you start drawing sth with this kind of motif, like the one above, later in the process you can use the very very good suggestions. But since you need to learn to see etc I would start with my way, at least if you are impatient.

Look see, he he, it could be sth like this, you can trace on the oicture but I suggest look only on picture, and draw simultaneously on paper without cheating to look.

It could be like this  but on the blank paper, and it can start shitty like this. Is my point. First be shitty, then be brilliant. I am a veritable platitude machine today…

But if you really like drawing you will start to get intetested in a. how things really look b how that translates on your paper and you will become more perceptive and your hand more ready to translate what the eye see.

Shitty result, interesting exercise

There is no short cut you have to look, engage, develop hand eye coordination. Thats the work. And really, if you don’t feel like doing this then I’d move on to sth you like doing better.   It is also important to remember the difference to be and do somthing. I want to be an artist and make awesome stuff vs I want to do the stuff because it engages me. Like a smart person  I know said, nobody would expect to be able to dance the Swan Lake if they had never danced or practiced before. Whereas the result, Swan lake the artistic result of dancers, musicians, choreographer, scenographer, makeup maker etc  might look easy breezy… hehe, everybody knows that it isn’t. Same with painting..

instagram: miniporcini
You are welcome to give feedback to my stuff c&c always interesting.

[Author]

Posts