We looked at the rule of thirds and the golden mean (fibonacci numbers) which all made sense to me through my understanding of Chopin, Debussy, Mozart, Bartok and modern songwriters! Now I understand why well-proportioned paintings and photographs emit pleasing soundscapes!
So today I was asked to take a picture using the golden mean and the rule of thirds principles for the piece of beautiful Tibetan jewellery I was to draw...For some reason the mathematics just doesn't want to stick in my head and I when I tried to apply the rules the photo just didn't seem right! After 2 shots, I decided I'd take the pic in the manner I usually take them...I filled one corner of the picture by framing part of the focal point with the camera lens whilst keeping white space in the foreground. I don't know if this works or not or why it works if it does work but for me I like the balance...Lyn also agreed that this shot was better than the previous two where the whole of the focal point appeared in the top third.
First I blocked out the drawing and had difficulty getting the proportions and the angles right. But since Lyn gave me this exercise to teach me how to see tonal values and learn how to recreate it on paper, I was somewhat loose in my interpretation of the sizes of stones and the inherent angles.
For homework I had to practise creating a full tonal range. I found it challenging to get the smoothness between the gradations...It's an interesting experience being in the learner's seat but under Lyn's patient guidance I persevered.
Lyn's so generous with her time and her knowledge. She shared a lot of her books with me. One of these amazing books is Vitamin D for Drawing by Phaildon Press...the book's just gorgeous...it's a huge album but each leaf is torn and not cut and it contains many inspirational contemporary works. She also recommended Vitamin P for Painting...
She also gave me a plastic see-through clipboard and said try sketching your hands or your feet by using a fine felt tip pen on the plastic. This way the depth would be removed from the object and I'd be more easily able to transfer the angles to a 2D plane! So simple and so clever...She sed practise doing this with different hand positions and foreshorten the hand so you get used to the lines that are produced in 2D. She sed once I'd practised these a few times my eye will naturally start to draw what it sees and not what it knows!
She keeps saying these are just tools, just techniques. She can't stress enough that it is the message that is being conveyed which is so important.
I'm loving the lessons because I am able to identify with her philosophy for teaching and learning; she's so generous with her knowledge and time...and I really do feel I will be able to move ahead...
Lyn's an artist, but also a teacher, she's a curator and brings quality art for people to see...I love her works as well...I love her lines and the purity of expression. I love her ink work and the fluidity within the piece but also the precise and delicate approach to each subject represented.
Some artists I must research...Godwin Bradbeer and Innocence
bone flesh bone flesh bone flesh...
Noella Roos
Egon Scheile (whose oils I know and like)
Some must read books...
Drawing by Paul Thomas and Anita Taylor
Drawing Space, Form, and Expression by Wayne Enstice and Melody Peters
A pic of Lyn's fab studio...
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