Week Nine Sketchbook Assignment

In your sketchbook, use the knowledge acquired in our in-class exercise this week to draw a figure of an athlete performing in an Olympic sport. Use photo reference found online or in a book or magazine. (Helpful tip: There's a great album of Olympic photos at this link)

Try to stick to drawing a figure where none of the body parts are foreshortened. The best photos to use will show the body in profile view, like this example.

Visit the official website of the Olympics, olympic.org and have a look at the design of the homepage. Make note of all the design elements you see in your browser window.

In sketch form (as you did for the animal cracker box or the Paranorman midterm drawing) sketch a redesign of the olympic.org website homepage incorporating your drawing as a design element.

* Note: as with ALL your graphic design projects, do three quick thumbnail sketches for yourself showing a variety of possible design solutions before doing the full-size sketch.

Week Three In-Class Drawing Exercise & Sketchbook Assignment

This week we're expanding on what we learned last week about drawing figures with 'realistic' proportions. A great way to handle the first stage of drawing a figure in action is to begin with a "stick man" or "match stick model," as 1940s cartoonist Jefferson Machamer called it in his book, "Laugh and Draw."

Once you've studied Machamer's process of developing a figure as shown above, take a sheet of white 8 1/2" x 11" paper and draw a 1" border all around, as usual. Print your name between guidelines at LR as always. Now reproduce what you see in the example sheet below. *Work with the sheet of paper in portrait format.

Once you're done, have a look at the page below. You can see that each of these stick man drawings of a figure in motion has something new added to it. The ovals included in the torso of these stick men represent the chest (ribcage) and hips (pelvic girdle) of the skeleton.

Week Three Sketchbook Assignment:

In your sketchbook, use the knowledge acquired in our in-class exercise this week to draw a figure of a friend or family member. Begin by sketching them as a stickman, then add ovals for the chest and hips, then fill out the form, giving volume to the entire figure. Finally, add surface details.

Week Eight Sketchbook Assignment

Using photos as reference, draw three people by using the construction method from this week's in-class exercises. The people can be family, friends, or you, yourself. Or use photos found on the Internet, in magazines or newspapers, or even screenshots from video games (as long as the game characters are realistically proportioned - i.e. NOT Super Mario type cartoon characters).

Week Eight In-Class Drawing Exercise

*Note: This week's in-class assignment has two parts.

Part 1: Drawing the Head by Construction

Begin with an 8 1/2 x 11 inch sheet of white paper turned horizontally in front of you on your drawing table. As always, draw (freehand) a 1" border all the way around the page and hand-letter your name between guidelines at bottom right.

Again, working only freehand, sketch a circle in the top LH quadrant of the page as shown. The exact size and placement isn't important. Just try to approximate what you see in this example. Lightly draw guidelines dividing the circle in half both vertically and horizontally.

Extend vertical guidelines down from both sides of the circle, allowing them to taper inward slightly as shown. Extend the centre guideline down as well. Using the half circle as a unit of measure, lightly mark a guideline below the circle so that you have three equal units in height. This is the total height of the head, from the top of the skull to the chin.

Lightly sketch in guidelines 1/3 of the way down from the top of each unit of measure as shown. Note that each guideline represents a landmark on the face, from the top of the head to the chin. Important: Note that the centre horizontal line of the circle if the brow line, NOT the eye line, which is 1/3 below the brow line. Also note the bottom of the circle is the bottom of the nose and that the mouth is 1/3 the distance to the chin - not halfway!

Here's a little trick: if you draw five equal sized ovals touching end to end across the width of the circle on the eye line, the second and fourth ovals are the correct size and shape for the eyes.

Lightly draw guidelines straight down from the centre of each eye to arrive at the corners of the mouth. This is how you establish the width of the mouth.

Since we are drawing a male head, do NOT draw the lips all the way around! Look at how I drew the line for the opening of the mouth and try to mimic it. Add just a sketchy line under the mouth. this represents the shadow under the bottom lip.

Draw a triangle from the centre point of the eye line to the corners of the mouth. point where the sides of the triangle cross the nose line (the bottom of the circle) represent the width of the nose.

Also note how I have drawn angled lines from the side guidelines at around the mouth line to complete the chin. On a male face, always use angled lines, not smooth curves.

Try to draw the nose in the manner shown. A dip in the centre, slight upwards curves for the nostrils, then curved verticals for the outsides of the nostrils.

Extend the eye and nose guidelines outward a bit at both sides of the head. This gives you the height of the ears. Draw a shallow "C"- shaped curve for the outside shape of the ear.

Try adding the interior ear lines as I've indicated. You can now heavy up the eyebrows 9use angular lines as shown) and the top lip and bottom lip shadow, also as shown.

Now extend all the horizontal guidelines across to the right side of the page.

Draw another circle on the right side in the same position as the one you first drew on the left side. This time when you extend guidelines down on both sides of the circle, taper them in a bit more, as shown.

repeat the facial construction steps you used on the male face, as shown.

Notice the female eyebrows are curves, not angles, the eyelashes are long, elegant curves, the lips are drawn all the way around (top lip is a bit smaller than the bottom lip) and the chin is one long curve, no angles.

Finish the eyes, ears and nose as shown.

Part 2: Drawing the Body by Construction

Begin as always by drawing a freehand border 1" in from the outside. This time we're working vertically. Don't forget to hand-letter your name in the lower RH corner as shown.

Draw a straight line (freehand) that goes nearly from the top border to the bottom border, as shown. You'll need to divide the line into eight equal units so begin by visually locating the centre point and lightly sketch a mark there.

Now divide the two equal units in half, creating four equal units.

Now divide the four, creating eight equal units.

Each of these eight units represents a landmark on the body, from head to toe. Draw guidelines across the page and mark off each guideline as shown. Draw a new vertical line on the RH side of the page. this will represent the centre of the body.

In the top unit, draw the head using construction measurements from Part 1. (No need to add details of the face)

Use the width measurement of the head to arrive at the total width of the entire form. Add the width of the head again to either side of the head and draw guidelines all the way down to the base line of the figure.

Measure in approximately 1/3 of one head width on the left and the right and draw guidelines to the base of the figure. measure down approximately 1/3 of the distance from the chim to the nipples to establish the shoulder line.

Locate the navel on the navel line, then draw a triangle to the corners of the shoulders. As the two sides of the triangle pass across the nipple line, they provide the location of the nipples. Darken the centre line from the crotch to the base line. This establishes the two leg shapes. Add the knee caps and ankles as shown.

Begin breaking down each unit with ovals as shown to establish the general shapes of each body part.

Refine and connect all the body parts as shown.

Week Four Sketchbook Assignment

Use the construction technique from our in-class drawing exercise this week to sketch a group of four people. I chose me and my family. I started with myself, since I'm the tallest in my family, so by sketching the tallest person first, I establish how much space will be used on the page.

Notice that I extended my guidelines across the page. Not everyone in my family is the same height, but those lightly drawn guidelines will help me find their relative height. Next I drew my wife. I started with the square for the head and placed it so I established her height relative to mine.

Next is my oldest son, who is in university. He's taller than his mom, but not as tall as me. As you draw each character, add the little touches that make each character unique. Hair styles, clothing, accessories - all these thing and body language and facial expressions help define each character.

Finally I dre

w my youngest son, who is nearly as tall as me and also an artist (so I gave him a pencil and sketchbook). You can draw any group of four (or more) people, but make sure they are all on the same baseline.

Week Four In-Class Drawing Exercise

Begin as always by drawing a one-inch border, but if you feel confident enough to not use your one-inch matte board square, try just "eyeballing it" this time.

Draw a horizontal line across the page 1/2 inch down from the top border. Draw a second horizontal line to create a one inch deep horizontal column. Draw six 1" x 1" squares in the column, equally spaced. Draw six circles in the six squares. using a very light dotted line, divide the circles in half horizontally. Draw two equally spaced dots on the centre line. Draw a line halfway between the two dots and the bottom of the circle. Make this line the same width as the distance between the two dots. Now try some variations, but always keep the two dots on the centre line and the "mouth" halfway between the dots and the bottom of the circle. Add eyebrows in different positions. Draw a second row as shown. Draw six more heads with different expressions, but add a different nose to each face. Complete the rest of the page as shown. You can drag the jpeg in this post to your desktop and print it out to use as a template.

Week Three Sketchbook Assignment

Set up a table top still life of three objects that have circular shapes in them. Cups, plates, jars and cans are all good items to use. Also be sure to have a directional light source near by. A window, a table lamp, even a flashlight are good sources of directional light.

You will be sketching "construction drawings" of the still life arrangement. Drawing "through" each item as if it was made of clear glass. Pay special attention to the ellipses you see on the top and bottom surfaces of each item. Make sure to arrange the items so they all overlap. Do NOT set up the three items as seen at right below, where al three items are sitting apart from each other.

Notice that you won't need to do any shading on the objects in this sketch. But I DO want you to carefully shade the shadows cast by the three objects. Take your time and really observe the shadows and do your best to reproduce what you see. *Note that you should set up your objects on a white or at least plain flat coloured surface. Patterned surfaces will make it harder to observe the cast shadows.

Week Three In-Class Drawing Exercise

This is the template for this week's in-class drawing exercise. You may want to pull this jpeg off the blog to your desktop and print it out. Note that the measurements given on the template are approximate. There are approximately 1/2" gutters between all of the shapes. You may need to shift and adjust your shapes as you draw them to fit everything in so that it is visually evenly spaced. Even spacing between all the objects is more important than exact ruler measurement accuracy!

As always you are to work freehand - no rulers, no erasers. Draw all the lines and shapes as accurately as you can. Lightly draw as many guidelines as you need to ensure your columns of shapes are lined up side to side and top to bottom.

The drawing above is not complete, but you will continue drawing all the circles and ellipses (ovals) into all the squares and rectangles until every shape is finished. Pay careful attention to drawing circles as round as you possibly can. Go over your lines several times if necessary. watch that your ellipses are smooth and round - not pointy and football shaped! Note that your name should be printed as in the previous exercise.

Week Two Sketchbook Assignment

Find a spot somewhere outside with a flat-on view of the college buildings and sit down with your sketchbook. You may have to move back quite a ways to get a good view of the various buildings and surfaces. Do NOT choose a corner location where you are viewing two sides of the building. Spend an hour sketching the various geometric shapes that comprise the college, as well as any incidental elements (cars, trees, etc.) that you see.

Pay close attention to the contrast of values (light and shade) that you see in the scene in front of you and do your best to capture those contrasting values accurately.

Week Two In-Class Drawing Exercise

This is the template which you will attempt to match as accurately as possible, except you won't be using a ruler. All lines must be drawn freehand in pencil.

Pull the jpeg of this template off this blog to your desktop and print it out. Below is an example of the early stages of what your drawing should look like. Start by measuring in one inch from the outside edge of an 8 1/2" x 11" blank white paper. Draw a border (freehand) one inch in from the outside edge of the paper, as shown. Centre the template inside the border and begin reproducing it as shown below. Work from large shapes to smaller shapes, subdividing everything as accurately as possible.

Notice how I drew guidelines in the bottom RH corner of the page and printed my name in simple all caps block printing. The guidelines should be drawn in the middle 1/3 of the bottom inch of your paper, as shown. Your full name should finish so the last letter aligns with the bottom RH corner of the border you initially drew (as shown). When you're finished, your drawing should look like the example below. You might want to drag this last jpeg to your desktop and print it out so you can compare your work to it before handing it in.