w01 karin

Brenda Hoddinott

W-01 Advanced: Studio Series This diary explores the entire process of

choosing a photo, planning a composition, and setting up grids on both the photo and paper, to draw a fun portrait of a

beautiful child named Karin.

You will find no step-by-step directions in this heavily illustrated diary; rather I simply share my drawing process, including my motivation for using various artistic tools and techniques. You can follow along with me and gain a greater understanding into my drawing processes, and also gather up your drawing materials, and either draw Karin, or someone special in your own life.

The most important component of learning to draw is maintaining the enthusiasm. Aspiring artists should feel comfortable in using whatever tools are available to them, such as viewfinder frames and grids, so as to create drawings that make them happy and subsequently motivated to continue onward. Grids do not hinder artistic growth; rather, they serve as tools to make the learning process more pleasurable by helping with such challenges as rendering believable proportions and correct perspective.

21 PAGES – 25 ILLUSTRATIONS Recommended for artists with advanced drawing skills, as well as home schooling,

academic and recreational fine art educators Published by Hoddinott Fine Art Publishers, Halifax, NS, Canada – January, 2005

Copyright to all articles, images, text, projects, lessons and exercises within this drawing class belong to Brenda Hoddinott and may not be reproduced or used for any commercial purposes whatsoever without the written permission of Brenda Hoddinott.

E-mail [email protected] Web site http://www.finearteducation.com or http://www.drawspace.com

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Learning to draw is not a short term goal but rather a lifelong journey. My philosophy on teaching art is to focus primarily on the enjoyment aspects while gently introducing the technical and academic. Hence, in creating a passion for the subject matter, the quest for knowledge also becomes enjoyable.

If you decide to work from your own photo, make sure you choose a large one in which the facial features are clear and in focus.

I took this photo of my friend Kathleen’s daughter, Karin, several years ago, always with a drawing in mind someday. Today Karin is 14 years old!

I prefer to make modifications to my photo in the planning stages, before I actually start to draw. After playing with the photo for a few minutes, I decided that the composition would be more expressive and aesthetically pleasing if her head appeared to be more tilted in the drawing than in my photo. Therefore, I taped my photo to a sheet of grid paper at an angle, rather than lined up with the grid lines.



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Using the lines of the graph paper as guidelines, I drew the horizontal and vertical grid lines with a fine tip ballpoint pen.

My graph paper has one quarter inch squares; hence, the grid squares on the photo are the same size.

I placed a viewfinder frame on my photo and continuously adjusted both sections until I found a composition I liked.

I usually keep a few viewfinder frames of various sizes handy, for helping me with choosing compositions when I work from photos.



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I taped the perimeter of my composition with masking tape, and then used a pen to mark letters and numbers on the tape to identify each vertical and horizontal row.

Next, I carefully taped the corners of my Arches 140lb. watercolor paper to a large sheet of graph paper.

I wanted my drawing to be twice the size of the photo, so I drew half inch squares on my drawing paper. Hence, four (2 by 2) of the graph squares on the paper, represent one of the grid squares on the photo.

As I drew the grid on the paper with an HB pencil, only the weight of the pencil itself created the very faint lines. Needless to say, this illustration has been scanned much darker than the original drawing, so you can see it!

I added letters and numbers to the drawing paper to correspond with those on the photo. I can now identify each square as I work; hopefully, I can avoid drawing the wrong image in a grid square.



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When I work with a grid, I prefer beginning my drawing in the upper left and then work downward toward the right (I’m right handed). Again, the following illustrations have been scanned very dark so you can see my sketch lines, which are in fact very light.

I used an HB pencil, and worked on one square at a time, while constantly referring to my photo to make sure that I was working in the correct squares.



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As I drew the lines inside each square, I visually measured the proportions, and observed the relationships between the lines, shapes, and spaces.



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Sometimes I add diagonal lines in the grid squares of those sections that have more details. However, in this case, my grid squares are very small anyway, so this is not necessary.

I’ve sketched the location of her eyebrow even lighter than the eye and nose; a darker outline may be difficult to completely erase.

The individual hairs of the eyebrow will be drawn with hatching lines.



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After completing the initial sketch, I took a break, then came back and corrected a few sections with which I wasn’t completely happy.

I’m now ready to plan my shading and get started on the really fun stuff – adding values!



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With everything in place, I then referred to the photo to map out where I planed to draw the light and dark values.

And yes! This scan is much darker than the actual sketch!

Next, I erased the grid lines in the facial area and used my kneaded eraser to gently pat the mapping lines until they were barely visible.



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In my photo, the light source is from the right. To keep her face looking soft, I’ll use mostly light and middle values, and use dark values very sparingly.

I began shading with a 2H pencil. The crosshatching lines graduate smoothly to create the various light values identified by my shading map.

I then used an HB pencil to add medium values to the shadowed areas.

This foundation of shading has identified the facial forms; the next step is to add more details to her individual features.



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I completed her hair and eyebrow with hatching lines that curve in many different directions.

I used darker shading to accentuate some sections of her upper face around her eyes.

I shaded her eye with my usual techniques. The iris and white of the eye are darker under the upper eyelid and on the right. The darkest shading is in the pupil.

The eyelashes appear thicker closer to the eyelids.

This effect was rendered by using curved hatching lines of various thicknesses and lengths.



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I used HB and 2B pencils to add more contrast by adding darker values to the face around the nose, lips, forms of the lower face, and the opening of her mouth. I left a section around her mouth very light to further accentuate the three-dimensional forms of her lower face.



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I darkened the shading of the neck.

Then, to make the mouth look more realistic, I completely erased the outlines around the lips and teeth, and added shading to the teeth.



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I wanted the entire facial area to be the focal point of this drawing; hence the shading needed to be perfect.

Before I continued on to the clothing, I took several breaks, coming back after each and making tiny adjustments to sections that didn’t look quite right.

To further accentuate Karin’s face, I plan to use various shades of gray for the dark sections of her clothing rather than black.



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At this point, I checked my drawing carefully to make sure all the grid lines were erased from the clothing sections. I began shading the clothing by using crosshatching to add light values to define the major forms.



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I added darker shading to the shadowed areas of her clothing and hat, and to the background sections on the right.



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After shading in some polka dots and ribbons on her clothing, my drawing is complete!



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BRENDA HODDINOTT - BIOGRAPHY

As a self-educated teacher, visual artist, portraitist, forensic artist, and illustrator, Brenda Hoddinott utilizes diverse art media including graphite, technical pen, colored pencil, chalk pastel, charcoal, conté crayon, and oil paints.

My philosophy on teaching art is to focus primarily on the enjoyment aspects while gently introducing

the technical and academic. Hence, in creating a passion for the subject matter, the quest for

knowledge also becomes enjoyable. >Brenda Hoddinott<

Born in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Brenda grew up in the small town of Corner Brook. She developed strong technical competencies with a personal commitment to self directed learning, and the aid of assorted “Learn to Draw” books. During Brenda’s twenty-five year career as a self-educated civilian forensic artist, numerous criminal investigation departments have employed Brenda’s skills, including Royal Canadian Mounted Police and municipal police departments. In 1992, Brenda was honored with a commendation from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and in 1994, she was awarded a Certificate of Membership from “Forensic Artists International”.

Her home-based art career included graphic design, and teaching recreational drawing and painting classes. As supervisor of her community’s recreational art department, Brenda hired and trained teachers, and designed curriculum for several children’s art programs. In 1998, Brenda chose to end her eighteen-year career as an art educator in order to devote more time to writing, drawing, painting, and developing her websites.

Drawspace http://www.drawspace.com incorporates her unique style and innovative approach to curriculum development. This site offers downloadable and printable drawing classes for students of all abilities from the age of eight through adult. Students of all ages, levels and abilities have praised the simple step-by-step instructional approach. This site is respected as a resource for fine art educators, home schooling programs, and educational facilities throughout the world.

LEARN-TO-DRAW BOOKS BY BRENDA HODDINOTT

Drawing for Dummies (2003): Wiley Publishing, Inc., New, York, NY, this 336 page book is available on various websites and in major bookstores internationally.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Drawing People (2004): Winner of the Alpha-Penguin Book of the Year Award 2004, Alpha - Pearson Education – Macmillan, Indianapolis, IN, this 360 page book is available on various websites and in major bookstores internationally.