Hand of Light - Thursday Group

Thursday Art group - Session 5

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Proportions 1

In this session we experimented with drawing in proportion. There are a number of ways to work out or gauge the proportions of the subjects we are drawing or painting and the group were offered some suggestions to try.

A basic still-life arrangement was set up for the group.

"I have briefly commented on the works shown, based on my impressions as both teacher and impartial observer." - Richard Gentle

After a short demonstration of some of the ways to begin proportional drawing, the class produced the results shown on this page.

Although it might have been easier to begin this session with photographs and grids (see video clip lower down the page), the purpose was to jump in at the deep end and use firsthand, direct observation, of a 3-dimensional, physical scene. This session very quickly demonstrated the need to develop personal looking and observational skills. Although occasionally, some people have an innate natural ability, for the rest, it's not something that is easy to grasp on the first go!

It seemed that the class really began to concentrate and, whilst the exercise was quite difficult, it did demonstrate the personal input and dedication required for artists to master their craft.

Nan decided to start with a grid method. The main difficulty encountered seems to have been the proportions of the cup and the main focus appears to be in the area of overlap between the pint glass and the wine glass.

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Mags

Mags used horizontal and vertical lines to help see the relative positions of her objects.

Lorraine has almost pulled it off, perhaps with the exception of the taller glass which is a little wide, relative to the more in-keeping proportions of the other glasses - even though it takes up the foreground position and naturally appears larger.

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Rebecca compared the relative sizes and shapes of the glasses to obtain their visual proportions.

Nicola used a few methods to work out the proportions of her various objects. The stem of the wine glass proved difficult to reproduce and perhaps this was due in part to attention being given to the main shapes of the glasses, relative to each other, rather than careful observation of the more subtle forms.

Tracy volunteered to try out a grid method and initially tried hand-holding the frame. Unfortunately, not being able to maintain a consistent position caused constant minor changes in viewpoint between looking through the grid and returning to her drawing. However, after fixing the grid to a solid stand, using the grid method worked quite well.

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Tracy

Kathy used the pencil measuring method (and also a ruler) and found that adding an edge to represent the table also helped her to position her objects on the page.

In the short time that was left, Kathy also drew the pot (shown right), using the table lines as a grid reference.

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Rebecca concentrated on both position and angle of objects, although still needs more time to master some of the shapes.

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Realistic Drawing tutorial - Getting Proportions Drawn Correctly. Includes tips on using grids with photographs - pros & cons and how to make better grids.

Lorraine produced a drawing with some nice qualities of texture and reflection, although proportions still require some more practice of observation.

Nan's final drawing of a different object presented new challenges, both in proportional and 3-dimensional ways. Seating position relative to the object may have caused some foreshortening with the perspective and given more time, I am sure she would have compensated for this.

Techniques demonstrated

Using a grid method.
Holding out a pencil with fully extended arm.
Keeping pencil at right-angles to surrounding horizontals and verticals - such as holding the line of your pencil relative to the walls of a building or horizon of a landscape, etc.
Drawing vertical and horizontal centre lines on your paper and also an eye line. Holding your pencil or a ruler towards your subject, notice any deviation from the vertical and horizontal and mark your drawing accordingly.
Sketch out your scene with a few straight lines to begin with and create curves later.

Suggestions and observations

Work out the proportions of one object and then create the other objects relative and in scale with that first object.
Try to see the whole drawing in relation to the space you will have available on your page.
Try sketching the main features quickly and lightly to give an approximate idea of scale and positions.
You will experience some 'foreshortening' when drawing, since you are converting a 3-dimensional scene onto a 2-dimensional surface and some illusion is required to make the scene look right.
You could also use a compass or a proportional divider.
You could use a plumb-line* to determine a precise vertical line.

*A plumb line is basically, a string with a weight on the end.

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