Week Seven: The Head and Figure in Correct Proportion

*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 Nine Sketchbook Assignment: Using the information you learned in this week's exercises, draw a full standing (clothed) figure of anyone you like, real or imaginary. Indicate the measurements to one side of the figure as in the exercise. Label all the proportions as in the exercise. Show all construction lines as in the exercise - THEN draw the clothing over top. DON'T erase the underdrawing!

Week Seven: Super You!

In your sketchbook, reproduce the drawing of Iron Man as you see it on the page below. Do three separate drawings as you see in the example below with the page oriented vertically (portrait format) in front of you.



During class today we formed into groups and took turns posing as a superhero for the rest of the group five minutes, according to whatever sticker of a character we were assigned.

This week's sketchbook assignment:

Google image search "vintage comic book covers". Study the design elements of a typical comic cover from the 1940s, '50s, '60s, '70s or '80s. In your sketchbook, design a comic book cover featuring you as the hero. Make sure to include the typical design elements you saw on actual vintage comic book covers: the company name, the price, the month, the issue number, title typography in a unique 'logo' style, and some additional typography in a flash or call-out box and/or in word balloons.

Include a background for your design. You may have more than one figure. If you want to do a close up of your character, makes sure to include at least one full figure in the background as well. The cover does not have to be a superhero themed image. Here are a few examples of student designs from previous years:













When uploading your sketch, please use the following naming convention: LPeng_SuperYou!.jpg or .png (please replace "LPeng" with your own first initial and last name).

Week 4/5: Intro to Independent Study Assignment #1 (Due at the start of class, Week 6)

You will be redesigning the current Maynard's candy box below to reflect a Hallowe'en theme.




Step 1.


Subdivide the page into four quadrants with an approx. 1/4" gutter between the quadrants. Sketch four unique designs - one in each quadrant. Again, here's an example of some well done thumbnail sketches from a previous group of students...



This stage constitutes the first part of your sketchbook assignment for Week 4. When done, take a picture or scan this page, save as a jpeg and upload it into Week Four Sketchbook drop box. Please use the naming convention LPeng_MaynardsThumbnails.jpg (but switch out my name for your own name).



Step 2.

Choose what you feel is your strongest thumbnail design and create a full size pencil comp on this page.

Here's an example of a well done pencil comp from the last group of Semester 1 students...


When done, take a picture or scan this page, save as a jpeg and upload it into the ISA #1 drop box. Please use the naming convention LPeng_MaynardsComp.jpg (but switch out my name for your own name).

Both pages must be in the correct drop boxes by their respective deadlines (see our Canvas course page under the Assignments tab). You have one additional week to hand the comp in late - however there will be a penalty of 20%.

Week Two Sketchbook Assignment: Cartoon Family

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 Two In Class Exercise: Simple Shapes Cartoon Figure

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 One Sketchbook Assignment: Sketch the College

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.

CC2: Week 8 Composition, Part 4

Orient your page in portrait format (vertical) draw your one inch image area border. Divide the image area into four equal quadrants. Leave a half inch gutter between each quadrant.

Study these four illustrations. Using pencil shading or your grey markers or a combination of both, redraw all four images as thumbnail sketches.

On a new page, divide the page into four quadrants, as above. Choose one of the four illustrations and create four new compositions using the same elements, but imagine the image is the visual for a magazine cover. As you design your four new thumbnail compositions, add the magazine title. Using greeking, add a header, a footer, three story headlines and a UPC rectangle to each of the four thumbnail designs.

This week's sketchbook assignment: choose one of your four new possible magazine cover designs and sketch a full page comp version. Using the tracing paper overlay provided in class, explain in writing and with diagrams why your improved composition works. Describe how you have applied the principles of composition studied over the last four weeks.