Study of Proportions with William L Maughan~ michellechoongkhoo

Very interesting and after checking it out…….oooooh, it does compute….heh heh heh

My understanding of his writings on pgs 60-64 as summarized:
1. placement of the eye is ½ way measurement from top of head to chin
2. the distance from chin to bottom of nose, distance from nose to brow, distance from brow to hairline are all equally spaced 1/3rd of the face

armed with that guideline…..I just had to draw a profile of eddie reading his newspapers….not sure he liked my faithful renditions of all his lines but hahahaha he wouldnt know anyway that the photo is based on him ~

For trying to get the facial anatomical proportions right is one thing, getting the realism correct,,,,,hahahahaha, now that is entirely another long journey ….

" ……Often it has been noted that the more a person does a particular task, the easier that task becomes. This is not because the task becomes any less difficult but because the person's ability to do more increases……" William L Maughan in his book THE ARTIST'S COMPLETE GUIDE TO DRAWING THE HEAD on chapter putting it all together, pg 121

So I will drink to that cheerful optimistic advise~ and plod along into the 2nd month of my 2011 Project……still going strong, hee hee

Happy City Day to KLites and Malaysians…..

next is to study anatomical proportions of nudes….daddy darling, dont worry I wont attempt frontal shots….too shy for that, hahahahahah

here is where I had some fun fooling around with a dear fren Poh Ai's funny FB photo shot where supposedly her darling Hugo was the star….but as she pointed out, I certainly didnt draw Hugo at all well…..

I mean dont blame me, who can when there is this perfect tush buttock to focus on ?

a prelude of new found joyful adventure to discover over the chinese new year….heh heh heh

Nothing is original?~ michellechoongkhoo

“Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photos, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery—celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: ‘It’s not where you take things from—it’s where you take them to.”

- Jim Jarmusch

And so on such a rainy cool Sunday, what is the best thing to do?
Copy from H EDWARD BROOKS'S SHORT POSES, CHARCOAL ON TONED PAPER
and back study with drapery….. huge thanks indeed for his detailed instruction~
An excellent and generous artist ……..If he is here in Msia, I would jump at the chance to study with him~

After all the exercises above, what is the next step?
Of course some dramatic self portrait….hahahaha
Note to self, always choose a photo that is a side profile or 2/3rd turn for pencil work!

learning from William L Maughan~michellechoongkhoo

after 2 days practising with my 2B pencil…..it is time to open up William L Maughan's book "The Artist's Complete guide to DRAWING THE HEAD" which I bought from Amazon.com a few months back……

Amazing stuff, simple instructions….
I wanted to improve on my edges and shadows because I notice that with 2B alone, despite trying to incorporate tonal values, it does not quite give me the effect I wanted~

This is today's effort from learning how to use 3 charcoal pencils of dark, medium, light and following William's instructions on page 26 "The Shadow Shapes and Their Edges"…..

What a great investment it was to buy the book…..

what with all the online tutorials, books, blogs, youtube… it is so much easier to find art tutorials that way than it is to find advertisements for local art teachers!

I sometimes wonder why art teachers dont embrace modern technology to really reach out to their prospective students? 

experimenting with mixed mediums

playing with my new prima color pens and tinted charcoals to see how they blend for sketching.