I start my morning with a Gregory’s Macchiato and Parfait!
There’s alwasy a starting point! This is my progress 20 minutes into a drawing.
As time goes on, I rework and add shades of color into the drawing using Pastels.
The homework is then collected and hung on the wall for critique.
Thanks for reading!
Until next week,
Kathleen
This week in Drawing in Life, we focused on the breakdown of drawing drapery on the model, aka a clothed model. Here are some tips that I’ve picked up on that have been helpful in my drawing this week:
1. I don’t know how many of you guys have taken geometry classes before but the first step in drawing drapery is breaking down the folds and shadows in the cloth into geometric shapes, for the most part triangles. Pressing the side of a stick of charcoal is a great way to make straight lines for triangles.
2. Focus more on the model and what you are viewing than on how the drawing looks initially. There is always time to go back and add detail to a drawing once the outline is drawn in.
3. A chamois cloth or a paper towel can be used interchangeably to get shading between folds in clothing. If a paper towel is being used, fold the paper towel into a desired size and use an edge to shade, pressing the paper towel against the page and dragging in the direction that you are shading.
Drapery Model
As one of my goals is to be able to draw the human figure by the end of the spring semester at FIT Saturday live, understanding the importance of also knowing how to include drapery in a composition is a must. My progress so far has been noticeable from week to week. Between practice sketches at home and my time spent looking through other people’s similar art on the internet (aka my obsession with the hashtag drawing on tumblr) I have noticed the lessons I have observed in class appearing in my work. Utilizing the information that professor Martino tells me during Saturday live classes in any artwork made at home has helped me to remember what I’ve been taught and it makes a more structured composition.
The saying practice makes perfect holds true in the case of drawing. The best thing that a person interested in, beginning to, or even advanced in drawing can do for themselves is to practice, practice, and practice some more. Experiment with pencils and charcoal and I’ve learnt not to be afraid of making mistakes. Erasers are handy if when they aren’t missing, and my last piece of advice I can pass on to you in this post is to always hold onto an eraser at all costs. It WILL come in handy in any drawing class; I promise.
Thanks for reading!
Kathleen
Every family has their disagreements, but one thing that my family never disagreed on was my decision to take classes at FIT and pursue my dreams of becoming an artist. My immediate family is my backbone, they are who I aspire to please; and so far the work I have been creating has been catching their attention. My aunt has asked for specific drawings and paintings that I have made to hang above the fireplace, and my passion for drawing has come in handy when I needed to make my grandmother a card for her past birthday. I have also been working on a decorative mural of flowers in my grandfather’s house. My family not only supports my love for the arts but adds fuel to my fire of inspiration.
Me and Mom
My mom has always been my biggest fan; whether she was watching from the sidelines at my sports competitions, helping me with my homework, or teaching me math (my weakest subject, her strongest). Her newest cheer leading gig has been observing and critiquing the work that I make during my Saturday live class. I usually continue working from home immediately after class on Saturday and as soon as I walk through my front door I am bombarded with questions about the current week’s drawings and lessons. As a college student on the road to achieving a very successful teaching career, Mom took some classes in art. While my mom was taking these classes I was just a baby, and in awe of my charming baby face she drew this side view portrait of me.
Side Portrait by Susan Bondy 2003
Just this week, my mom made an online portfolio of some of my work that I’ve created while in class at FIT. I dream of going to art school, and by creating a portfolio for me she has made my life a million times easier. Strong drawings included in a portfolio are a huge part of applying to art schools and according to my mom it is never too early to start keeping track of work.
It is also never a bad idea to have a second set of eyes brush over a piece of art or project that is in the making and thankfully enough I have my Mom to point out any missed flaws or improvements in my work. As a student taking Drawing in Life, there are occasions where I will need a model as we learn to draw specific parts of the body. For example, this week my class was assigned to draw 4 sets of hands on a page of paper using just black charcoal. As soon as I spoke to my mom about class and the assignment she volunteered ambitiously for the position of my hand model. Below is the final product.
Until next time!
Kathleen
My Train to FIT
Saturday, what a great day, it just so happens to be my favorite day. My day to myself, and my day to do what I want, when I want; everything else can wait until Sunday. On Saturday mornings I start my best day off right. There’s no waking up on the wrong side of the bed on Saturdays when my alarm clock goes off at 7:24! Getting up so early in order to arrive FIT in time and also have the time to grab a coffee with my friend that travels with me by 9:15 isn’t always easy, but so worth it. Coming from Queens, I get dropped off at a small train station by my house; sometimes this is where I grab my first cup of coffee. As an avid coffee drinker, there is no such thing as too much coffee.
As soon as my train pulls into Penn Station, I go into mad dash mode; got to get that coffee. The hustle down to my favorite spot around FIT is one of excitement. If you’re looking for the best cup of coffee on all of 7th avenue, head to Gregory’s Coffee. Better than Starbucks (which is also en route to FIT), Gregory’s sells all different types of coffee, from Macchiato to café Americano. My personal favorites from Gregory’s are the caramel macchiatos, and their to die for chocolate chip cookies.
Gregory’s Caramel Macchiato
On my first day of class at FIT, having an art supply store (Barnes and Nobles) on campus came in handy. A great tip that may come in handy before your first class at FIT would be to check your student FIT account to make sure that any and all supplies required for the class are in your possession, beforehand. Something as simple as having all the supplies you need as soon as you need them is so rewarding and beneficial because you could focus on your artwork, without the hassle of have to pick up the supplies late. My Professor was very understanding and did not require me to visit Barnes and Nobles but, if you can while at FIT, make use of the on campus supplies.
Breaks at FIT are about 15 minutes long, just enough time to make it across 7th avenue to buy more coffee (usually where I end up going), or to buy a snack. Usually during breaks, my friends Sofia and Rachel and I make our way down to Dunkin Donuts on the other side of the street.
A restaurant that is worth trying near FIT is called Brgr. A healthy alternative to junk food, with the same great taste; Brgr only serves grass-fed meat. Known for not just their grass-fed cow jokes hanging across the walls, Brgr serves the best shakes around FIT. If you are a student taking two classes at FIT and you are wondering where to try for a great lunch, visit Brgr.
These are my favorite chill out spots this spring at FIT. I hope these come in handy; whether you’re in the mood for a burger or just some early morning coffee.
Thank you for reading this week!
Yours Truly,
09Kathleen
Professor’s Shading Demo
There are a million ways to describe FIT’s unique environment. Unfortunately, I don’t have enough space in this post to list them all, but my favorite term to describe the FIT atmosphere is inspirational. At FIT inspiration can be found around any corner, in any hallway or classroom, in FIT’s own museum, and even in the lobbies. Looking back on my first time walking down hallway of D building on the first day of classes, I remember stopping to think, what inspires me? How will I take advantage of all the opportunities presented to me this spring? Will I make any lasting friendships? Who will influence my art, and help me better my artwork?
My New Friend, Sofia
Inspiration as defined by Merriam Webster Dictionary is a person, place, or experience, that makes someone want to do or create something. Although classes were not in session this Saturday, looking through my work from my past weeks in HFA 024 Life Drawing has inspired me to continue drawing even without the early morning trip to FIT. So I spent my Saturday working on a drawing I had started about two weeks ago in class that I never had the chance to finish.
This spring, I have the pleasure of being taught by Professor Martino. I came to FIT with no knowledge on how to accurately proportion and draw the human figure. You can’t imagine how drastically important it is to know about the human anatomy to draw it. Believe it or not, when drawing the human figure each body part can first be sketched as a sphere, cube, cone, or cylinder. Simplifying the body is not as easy as it looks! Another factor that is considered when drawing the human figure is light source. The light source in a composition heavily influences the dimension and depth of the drawing. The three types of shading that Professor Martino demonstrated for us are shown above.
About two weeks ago at FIT, my class started working on drawings of a skeleton that is stored in the classroom. This was my favorite day of classes at FIT so far, because while working o n drawing the skeleton, my class managed to name him (Steve) and we all got very attached, unlike his shoulder. Steve the skeleton’s shoulder is permanently dislocated; this coincidence turned into a challenge to draw, and a joke to laugh about with my classmates. Throughout class, the girls in my class grew together by making parodies of popular songs, all revolving around Steve. “I knew you were Steve when you walked in” was sang out in the middle of a sketch, as the classroom erupted with laughter, even Professor Martino let out a giggle.
That class two weeks ago brought the class out of its shell. I believe that the opportunity to work hard to draw the skeleton together and joke around about Steve brought my class together more into a group of friends and not just a regular school class.The friends I have made have also inspired me, after our first critique on some homework to work to better my drawing even after the professor has checked it. My friends have inspired me to be persistent in my work because practice makes perfect. If you are anything like me, you LOVE critiques. Critiquing is the best place to find ways to improve not only your current artwork, but to keep in mind the advice and the mistakes you made on the piece of art and work towards becoming a better artist in the long run.
With that I would like to thank you for reading this week!
Until next week,
Yours Truly,
Kathleen
Steve the Skeleton