Lines, Not Lions

No Frills Friday here-  I've been wanting to give some little lessons, or perhaps 'suggestions' for improving the work I'm seeing.  For some reason it seems that the newcomers to the quilt arts shortchange themselves and their work by not having strong drawing skills.  Drawing is the basic first step to expression in any art field you may want to attempt, but instead I see so many new 'artists' shortchanging their work by jumping straight into abstraction.  One cannot do that without the basics under the belt.  All great abstractionists are accomplished draughtsmen, and it's quite easy to become proficient if you just put in a few hours here and there whenever you get a chance.  A sketchbook, or loose paper is fine, the tools are simple- a pencil or markers or your ugly Bic pen work well.  My suggestion is to file away these drawings as you go because it's always so illuminating to go back and see how quickly you will progress.  Ready?  Set!  Go...

lines in neon

The other day Robert Genn had a column that I copied for this blog HERE that talked about the five skills worth learning as an artist.  If you don't feel like re-reading the whole thing, I'll repost the first paragraph here:  

Drawing mastery is understanding our world and understanding relationships. Contrary to popular belief, drawing doesn't mean trailing a line around things--it means seeing and reporting the relative distances between things. Drawing is a non-literary way of looking--and the skill to put down what you see in a two-dimensional way. Drawing mastery takes time and patience.

Obviously I want to talk about drawing, my own thoughts as well as accepted paths.  First of all, it is my personal belief that everyone can draw, it's simply a matter of practice and repetition.  Any skill requires diligent practice to become masterful, and drawing is no different.  All little kids love to draw and spend much time and thought on their work.  Somewhere along the developmental time line though, they start being able to articulate their thoughts in words and that takes precedence over their art work- they don't draw as often now that they can communicate their ideas verbally and with the written word more quickly. Unfortunately schools don't see the value in alternative communication skills so there is no longer time available for much art.  Parents reward good marks in reading and writing but frankly don't care much how their child is developing in art.  But, there is good news.  It's simply never too late to draw, and success is guaranteed if you simply put in the time.


As an old teacher I would always tell the students there was a big mystery to learning how to draw and then I gave them the secret information;  

You will succeed if you look more at your subject than at your paper.  
ALL the information you need is 'out there' on the thing being drawn, 
you won't learn drawing from looking at your own drawing! 

And that my friends is the whole ticket.  Sounds easy, but you'll need to work at it because you THINK you need to watch your pen point, you don't.  Believe me.  C'mon, TRY it!

Line is the basic element that refers to the continuous movement of a point along a surface, such as by a pencil or brush. The edges of shapes and forms also create lines. It is the basic component of a shape drawn on paper. Lines and curves are the basic building blocks of two dimensional shapes like a house's plan. Every line has length, thickness, and direction. There are curved, horizontal, vertical, diagonal, zigzag, wavy, parallel, dash, and dotted lines. We would then talk about outlines and contours and enclosed and open lines.  


We would discuss negative vs positive shapes and how both are equally important as we point out the areas on the items to be drawn. And I would pass out line drawings from famous artists to each student and direct them to turn the drawing upside down and to copy it keeping relative shapes and sizes in mind.  They are to keep the drawing upside down through the exercise, and then after 10-15 minutes we all turn them right side up at the same time.  usually they are quite surprised at the accuracy of their first drawing and it's explained why-  because having the drawing upside down, you are more interested in the shapes and relationships of the lines as opposed to the subject and in fact you study your object (the artists drawing) more in your efforts to copy if correctly. 


We do a simple line drawing of a still-life paying attention to linear relationships in the positive and negative shapes, the directive is to fill the page edge to edge, to zero in on a portion of the still-life so it goes off the page in at least 3 directions.


We do the same still life again, but this time we have to only glance at the paper when we change directions or want to check a relationship.  Nothing but a glance now and then.


We do a contour drawing, or blind drawing where we do not ever look at the paper.  This works well if the desks are turned sideways to the still life and forces the student to be directed away from the drawing paper.  The pencil should move at the same pace an ant would crawl along the edge thats being drawn.  Slooooow!  Study the lines, the directions they go in, where they bend or turn, the edges texture and length and draw every detail.

Start with simple shapes and a drawing tool that doesn't have to be refilled. here the artist has used a calligraphic marker for a very expressive line.

Emptying ones pockets yields some great subject matter.  The artist has only worked on the outlines of the key shapes here, and has down a great job observing.  YES, this is good!

 Shoes and sandals are always interesting lines, especially worn-in examples.  See how the artist progressed after a few drawings like this one above, to more accurate shapes and observations below.  This will happen to you too, I guarantee!  Just do the drawings!  

A little more about Contour Drawing:  
Contour means "outline", and concentrates on the  exterior edges of objects. A plain contour has a clean, connected line, no shading and follows an open "edge" of the subject. More complex contours  may have line textures or be contrasted with mixed media. Pencil drawing, ball point pen and black markers are good practice tools.  No erasing, no starting over.


Below is a video of Ian Sklarsky  who specializes in contour images.  Check his site for some more examples of what can be achieved by NOT looking at your drawing!

Cool Hunting Rough Cut: Ian Sklarsky Draws Otis from Cool Hunting

And you're saying, "WHY do I have to draw, how does it relate to textiles?  And I reply:

 Two embroidery drawings by Dawn Rogal showing thread lines, the 'contour' of the hand above, the edges of the ribcage below- both interesting for their keen observations.

And don't forget that quilting line you are so fond of-  whether hand or machine, even stippling (ugh!) is better with improved drawing.  (Oh, dear, I am letting my preferences show.  Get back to your drawing now, sorry!)  Here's your homework-  check around your studio to see how BETTER DRAWING might have improved your work. You don't have to show me, just know that there is room to grow!  And another key to drawing, another big secret:

It's FUN, it's MEDITATIVE, it's mind-expanding and legal!  
pretty soon, this will be yours!

(link to more of Estonia-based artist Heikki Leis here)