Attempting The Natural Way to Draw

[courtyard]

Watch my progress and help steer me in the right direction as I attempt all 375 hours of Nicolaides' book The Natural Way to Draw (http://www.amazon.com/Natural-Way-Draw-Working-Study/dp/0395530075/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1235492156&sr=8-1). Any advice/comments you might have are very much appreciated.

[courtyard]

After a very long hiatus from drawing, I'm jumping back into it and am hoping to "unlearn" all of the bad habits I acquired from years of copying photographs. I've applied to an art program that starts in August '09 and want to get as much practice in as possible between now and then, regardless of whether or not I'm accepted. Because I only ever drew from photo references, my gesture drawings, anatomy knowledge, and imagination drawings (among other things) are *horrific,* which is why I'm starting over from the basics here. I had two huge wake-up calls as I was putting together my portfolio...the first was attempting to draw a figure from my imagination, and the second was when I attended a figure drawing session and felt nothing but panic during the two-minute gesture exercises. The results are below...I'd love your help!

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/3915/beforewl4.jpg

After submitting my portfolio, I began following the schedules from The Natural Way to Draw and am 57 hours as of the time of this posting (just finished Schedule 4D). I had been looking for a thread here of someone who follows the entire course but couldn't find one, so hopefully this will be useful to people who are curious about the book. I'm doing it on my own and without a model, which is far from ideal but hopefully better than nothing.

There are many, many problems with my drawings, but the two central issues that everything else seems to hinge upon are that my lines lack confidence and the drawings lack life. I like that Nicolaides addresses these elements in depth before moving onto more specific topics like proportion or anatomy, but I also know there are a lot of people in these forums who disagree with his methods. I will try to post my progress regularly, and feedback from both camps would be equally appreciated.

[courtyard]

I'll quickly post a few images from my last few weeks with the book. Week one focuses entirely on gesture and blind contour drawings. Most days include 1.25 hours/65 drawings for gesture and 1.5 hours of blind contour.

Here is an image from one of Nicolaides' students for gesture, so you can see the type of thing he's after.

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/4254/gesturescanax5.jpg

He writes, "Draw not what the thing looks like, not even what it is, but what it is doing." This results in the "woolly figures" that many of his critics despise, but as someone who finds gesture drawing to be nigh-on impossible, I'm finding it to be quite helpful for loosening up and for learning to be less precious about the early stages of drawings. All were done in 1 min and all are from photos.

I also found the blind contours to be extremely challenging. He emphasizes that you have to believe you are touching the figure/object with your pencil the entire time, and this coupled with using the full 30 mins/hour means drawing extremely slowly. I found that I had to approach it like a meditation to keep my mind from wandering.

[courtyard]

Week two was more of the same for the most part, but I started reading Force by Mike Mattesi, which may have been a mistake. The approaches to gesture in both books are so different (Mattesi focuses much more on form and confident linework) that I think I combined the wrong elements from both, resulting in some woolly, directionless contours. You can probably tell that I discovered Posemaniacs, too--it has its flaws but it cuts down on the time spent searching for photos dramatically, since I'm doing 65 daily. I skipped past most of the poses that are at angles you wouldn't encounter in a figure drawing class, and tried to do a lot of 10/15/30/45 second poses in addition to the 1 min poses from week 1.

I also decided that I was still going too quickly with the blind contours (the hand above took 30 mins), so I slowed down even further and took a full hour for the contour below. Nicolaides says that you can look at your drawing to reposition your pencil if a contour that turns inward on the figure comes to an end, and I think I ended up doing that far too much with the week 1 drawings, so I tried to look down less this week.

[courtyard]

This week, Nicolaides replaces blind contour drawings with weight drawings and modelled drawings, and continues with the 1.25 hours per day of gesture. In the weight drawings, you are meant to draw "the imagined center" of all the parts of the figure rather than focusing on edges or anything surface-level. Areas that hold more weight are meant to be built up, and the drawing instrument (I used the side of a china marker) treated like clay. I'm not sure I did this right, but one of these drawings is included below.

I think this week I veered even further away from Nicolaides' gesture model, and my skill level and grasp of anatomy aren't where they should be for attempting Mattesi's. I re-read the sections on gesture in TNWTD, which helped. Nicolaides writes,

"This thing we call gesture is as separate from the substance through which it acts as the wind is from the trees that it bends. Do not study first the shape of an arm or even the direction of it. That will come in other exercises. Become aware of the gesture, which is a thing in itself without substance."

One thing that I find somewhat frustrating about TNWTD is its illustrations. The book was published posthumously, and Nicolaides never had a chance to create his own exemplary drawings for his exercises. The publishers instead include his students' drawings, and sometimes those of famous artists. I find that a lot of them kind of conflict with the text...for example this Tintoretto drawing that accompanies the excerpt I cited above:

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/2427/tintorettolr5.jpeg


I think they're really evocative studies, but they seem to be much more focused on the shapes and details of body parts than what he describes. I'd be curious to hear whether other people have had this difficulty.

[courtyard]

Gestures: Today I ended up doing over 100 gesture drawings, and I'm definitely struggling. I tried not to worry too much about anatomy (clearly!) and instead focused on the impulse and energy behind the poses. I tried to let my pencil move around freely, without lifting it off the paper, but sometimes felt myself scribbling for the sake of scribbling. I ended up doing a ton more ten second gestures than usual--I find these to be a real challenge, and a lot of them just end up being meaningless panic scribbles. Maybe my problem is that I'm trying to feel the life behind a really stiff 3d model? Tomorrow I'll try a few from pausing videos and see if it makes a difference. Sorry about the horrible photo quality.

Memory Drawings: For these, you study three poses at a time, consecutively and for a minute each, then look away and attempt gesture drawings of all three. Do this for a total of 15 drawings. It's a much tougher version of the flash pose introduced in week 2. Nicolaides warns that you shouldn't try to think of conscious memorization tricks for how to copy the pose on paper, as doing so makes "the intellect reach out too far ahead of the very senses this exercise is intended to train...Remember with your own muscles the movement." He instructs that you get in the pose yourself so that you can *feel* what it looks like. I tried this, and it's pretty powerful--especially if you have very little knowledge of anatomy like me. The only thing that you're drawing from is feeling.

Modelled Drawings: These were actually introduced in the previous week. They are an extension of the weight exercise, and again are described more in terms of sculpture than line. After constructing the core via the weight exercise for 10 mins, students can move to drawing the surfaces. Instead of rendering light and shadow, however, you are only meant to model based on the object's distance from your eye. Objects further away are darker, since you're physically pushing that part away from you with your crayon as you would if you were sculpting with clay. In the 1/2 hour exercise today (figure, from photo), I thought I was concentrating too much on line, so I switched from a china marker to a thick graphite stick for the hour-long exercise. Again, not much to look at, since after an hour of this graphite-swirl treatment you're inevitably left with a black blob. I think I need to start off much, much lighter tomorrow--the last twenty minutes felt like a waste since I'd already exhausted my darkest dark way too early. (Please ignore the Gumbi anatomy of the figure)

[courtyard]

Today continued with gesture drawing, modelled drawing, and memory drawing and introduced "moving action" drawings. For these, the model is meant to get into a simple pose and then pivot to a slightly different pose. S/he moves back and forth between the two for three minutes, while the student draws. I unfortunately don't have access to a model, so instead I used YouTube dancing videos and paused at the beginning and end of movements I thought would work for this exercise. Not nearly the same effect since the model isn't in constant movement, but better than nothing.

I'm really loving the memory drawings. Holding the poses and feeling the tension and weight from my feet through my head has really helped me understand gesture better, and I definitely recommend it to anyone who is struggling like me. I found myself involuntarily shifting my body back into position as I was drawing (which is exactly what Nicolaides suggests in the very beginning of the book, but which I never tried for some silly reason). I used posemaniacs for the poses, but realized afterwards that my drawings were done at completely different angles since I was remembering how it felt, not how it looked. It also made me realize how bizarre the balance of the posemaniacs figures is, too--I ended up using muscles I didn't know I had to keep from falling over.

As for the modelled drawings, I started off much lighter and was able to keep my graphite moving for the entire 30/60 mins without running out of values. Gestures seemed a bit less full of panic today, too. I forgot to mention earlier that Nicolaides suggests using an entire side of paper for each gesture...for the sake of trees, I turn my sketchpad on its side and do two per side. I try to keep my wrist locked and just use my arm and shoulder, which is the polar opposite of how I used to draw.

[courtyard]

I think the gesture/energy connection must be sinking in, as I was knackered today and had a really rough time getting through all of the drawings and doing the exercises justice--but I've had a second wind and managed to do it.The new exercise today was "Descriptive poses", which was definitely tricky without a model. The idea is that you imagine a pose, draw a gesture of it, then describe the pose to the model, have him/her get in the pose, and draw the gesture again. The best I could do was think up yoga and exercise positions, draw them, then google those positions and draw them again from reference. Really lame substitute, I know...

Memory drawings are still my favorite--I've stopped using posemaniacs/references altogether and am just making up my poses, holding each for a minute (still three at a time), then drawing them based on feeling. Modelled drawings went ok, but the hour-long one was pretty torturous. I think I'm also starting to fall into the trap of drawing shadows, so I'll have to look out for that tomorrow.

[briggsy@ashtons]

I think they're really evocative studies, but they seem to be much more focused on the shapes and details of body parts than what he describes. I'd be curious to hear whether other people have had this difficulty.

There's a very very important exercise coming up that combines gesture drawing with anatomical masses, and I think the Tintoretto drawings better illustrate that idea. Until that one comes up, going as deep as you can into the basic gesture exercise will be good preparation. Try using different media, try always to feel the shape of the pose as a graceful flow; most importantly, have FUN with it, and you'll get much more out of it. Feel focused rather than rushed - with each gesture drawing you're practicing how to start the race, but there's no finish line you have to get to.

My main crit is that the modeled drawings don't look right - make sure you consistently leave planes facing you light, and darken planes as they turn away. Ultimately every plane that is equally turned away should be the same shade of grey. Glen Vilppu "borrowed" Nicolaides' modeled drawing exercise for an exercise he calls, for some reason, "indirect lighting": you might find his explanation and examples helpful:

http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=Columns&column=vilppu&article_no=1113

[courtyard]

Briggsy--Thank you so much for your comment...it was extremely helpful. I had already completed the 4D exercises when I saw it, so I'm afraid that I fell into the same bad habits with the modelled drawings as before. I'll respond in more detail to your comment after I post this...

Today's new exercise was the the Reverse Pose. For this, students make a three-minute gesture drawing of what the model's pose would look like in reverse. Having three minutes was a lot of fun--it was three times longer than the maximum I've allowed myself for any gestures so far, and felt positively luxurious. The fact that that amount of time instilled sheer panic in me not so long ago is a sign that this course is having a positive affect.

The number of daily gestures is now reduced to 25, which is a manageable amount to find picture references for (sorry for the poor image quality). The anatomically incorrect shoulder area of the posemaniacs models was cementing further bad habits, so I'm glad to have real (albeit flattened) models to refer to.

Modelled drawings were still incredibly frustrating, but it's comforting to know that that's because I've been doing them incorrectly! More on that to follow...

Today also continued with the memory drawings, still a joy even though my proportions are way off.

[courtyard]

Hi Briggsy--thanks again very much for the Vilppu article. The exercises do seem slightly different, in that Vilppu writes, "Notice that there is no difference between those forms that are close to you and those farther away," while Nicolaides says, "When you have finished, the darkest places on your drawing will be the parts of the figure that are farthest from you although they may not look dark on the model at all. The lightest places will be the parts nearest to you." Regardless, Vilppu's description sounds really interesting, so I'll try that for 4E. I got way too caught up in the anatomy again for the 4D gesture exercises, so I'll make a real effort to break away from that again next time. Your suggestion of using different media is brilliant...thanks again.

[Maxine Schacker]

Don't forget that Nicolaides is asking you to concentrate and the flow of movement through the body, including "what's going where," ie the direction
of the masses rather than what they look like, and the flow of one mass into the next. You are trying to grasp the pose in 3 dimensions, drawing how things tie together, drawing the action of the aparts you can't see as well as what you can see. In no case do you lift your drawing implement from the page or stop drawing!

Each one of these basic exercises is aimed at developing specific knowledge and visceral awareness. In general, you should no be drawing contours (although you may sometimes land on a contour).

Rely on Nicolaides description of what you shoul be concerned with, feeling, doing, rather than on the illustrations: he ied before publication an didn't choose the drawings.

In reference to blind contour, follow the visible edges of form into the body as far as you can. Go very, very slowly, and be sure your eye, hand and sense of touch are ONE. If you stop every time you lose the conviction that you are touching what you are drawing and wait to regain it before you continue, you'll develop real power.

[courtyard]

25 Gestures, 2 Modelled Drawings (30 mins & 1 hr), 15 Memory Drawings, 12 Group Poses

Today I tried (for the most part) to take things in the opposite direction of yesterday. I followed Briggsy's suggestion of using different media for the gestures, and limited myself to 30 seconds each so that I couldn't get wrapped up in details. I tried to focus exclusively on energy and tension, but I'm not sure if I succeeded.:\

The new exercise today was the Group Pose. Two or three models come together and the student attempts to draw them as a unit, following the gesture of the whole. For this, I decided to use images from contact improv performances...they're incredible to see live, as two or more people appear to blend into one another and exchange energy that can range from soft to violent...pretty fitting for this exercise. I again focused just on the energy here and tried to see the pairs and groups as one solid mass. I used a huge graphite stick.

Somehow, I lost the plot with the memory drawings. I kept things quite a bit looser than yesterday, but was still too focused on contours. I attempted the Vilppu variation (http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=Columns&column=vilppu&article_no=1113) of the modelled drawing called indirect lighting suggested by Briggsy and was way (WAY) too concerned with detail and precision. I actually used an eraser absent-mindedly at one point, which you're definitely not supposed to do. Any pointers/tips/suggestions would be so welcome. Next week will be much messier.

[courtyard]

50 gestures, 2 modelled ink drawings (30 mins & 1 hr), 15 memory drawings

The new exercise today was the modelled ink drawing, which is, just like it sounds, a modeled drawing done in ink. I followed Nicolaides' original directions, building up the figure from dark to light based on how near or far the object was (rather than what planes were facing me). I hope I'm doing these right--if anyone has any thoughts or suggestions about how they could be improved, I'd love to hear them.

I'm working hard at coming closer to Nicolaides' gesture model...I keep reading his text for reassurance, and am certainly much closer than I was a week ago. It's infuriating--but so fantastic--how this book is a complete waste of time if you're not 100% honest with yourself..."going through the motions" of gestures will leave you with thousands of pointless semi-stick figures and hundreds of lost hours. In the last chapter, Nicolaides suggested that students could start posing for themselves for the gesture exercises, so I've incorporated a bit of that today.

[courtyard]

50 gestures, 2 modelled ink drawings (30 mins & 1 hr), 5 Moving Action poses PLUS Daily composition as homework

Today's gesture drawings were carried out in a similar way to yesterday's, but I chose to just use the thick graphite stick. I think it's a wonderful tool for this exercise, as you can really change the quality of your line depending on how you hold it--good for making spontaneous decisions about movement, action, and energy.

Today continued with the modelled drawing in ink, and I'm starting to really love these (which probably means that I'm doing them wrong!). I had a lot more success with the hour-long pose, as I chose an incredibly fine pen (which ran out right as I was finishing :( ) and worked on a large sheet of paper. The thickness of my pen nib and size of my paper in the half hour pose (in blue) meant that I was doing a lot of redundant scribbles near the end of the allotted time, but he writes, "Do not hesitate to keep working over the forms until your drawing is completely black", so that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Today was a return to the moving action drawing, and my use of dance videos the previous time made the movement much more vibrant, I think (even though I was doing the gestures incorrectly). Today I used exercise movement photos, and the result was pretty stagnant.

The new exercise today was the daily composition. Nicolaides writes that "No other exercise in the book is more important than this one." He suggests that students do one of these every day for the rest of their lives if they want to be serious about their art. Quite an introduction! These are meant to be done as "homework" outside of the three hours spent on the other daily exercises. Instead of including just a single figure, you are meant to draw something you have seen in the past 24 hours, including the environment. In the beginning, it is to be done in the scribbled gesture style, and then the student is meant to develop his/her way of working. Apparently, there is no "wrong" way to do these, which excuses the pile of excrement I'm attaching below. Any insight that anyone has to offer about these or any of the other exercises or...well...anything would sure be appreciated!

[Maxine Schacker]

When drawing running line gestures, draw through to the feet, through to the hands- not what they look like., but what they are doing! be sure to use your kinesthetic sense- feel the pose in your own body.

The running line gestures overall show great improvement! With many of these exercises your focus- what you are feeling and thinking- is the most important thing. Worry about process, not product.
Are you really up to the daily composition? Don't jump around! Follow the schedules. You don't seem to understand the daily composition (if you are up to it).


(And thanks for the thanks!)

[Sepulverture]

Adda boy! (girl?) It's nice to see someone going at it like this and tackling the fundamentals from the get go. One thing however. As was stated to me several times before quality goes hand in hand with quantity. Do a few long, detailed studies of the human form to compliment all the slews of quick studies you're posting up here.

[courtyard]

Hi Maxine,
Thanks very much for your comment...breaking it down it terms of process versus product is a really powerful way of putting it. I come from an experimental theatre background, and basically spent the past ten years exploring that dichotomy, so it amazes me how much I'm a slave to product when it comes to drawing! I'm slowly breaking that mindset down, though.

Re: the daily composition, I am indeed on that exercise (it's exercise 14 and is introduced on schedule 5B). I'm just looking at the table of contents now and see that there is an exercise called the Long Composition coming up in week 16...could that be what you're thinking of? But if you are talking about the daily composition, it's entirely possible that I don't understand it! Do you have any suggestions or advice about how I could improve?

Thanks again!

[courtyard]

Hi Sepulverture! Thanks very much for the encouraging words. All of these exercises I'm posting are from this book The Natural Way to Draw (http://www.amazon.com/Natural-Way-Draw-Working-Study/dp/0395530075/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1235010343&sr=8-1), and I'm trying to follow it as close to the letter as possible. I'm trying not to look ahead to see what's in store, but I'm fairly certain there will be plenty of long studies on the horizon!

[courtyard]

50 gestures, 2 modelled ink drawings (30 mins & 1 hr), 15 memory drawings PLUS Daily composition as homework

Today's exercises were very similar to yesterday's, with the exception of the memory drawings which had been covered last week. I'm still enjoying the modelled drawings, and how you have to be both strategic and spontaneous with your pen marks. I found some great photos of vintage pin-ups and I was loving their poses.

Today was also the second daily composition, and I hope I'm not way off-course with these. He basically describes them as a unified gesture that incorporates one or more figures, their environment, and the objects in that environment. I keep my pencil going the whole time, without lifting it off the page, and am trying to focus more on feeling than appearances...but looking at it now, it probably is way too contour-happy. Hmph. Any advice on how I could get closer to what he has in mind :?: Thanks for looking!

[courtyard]

50 gestures, 2 modelled ink drawings (30 mins & 1 hr), 6 descriptive poses PLUS Daily composition as homework

Today was once again a continuation of yesterday and the day before, with the only difference being the descriptive poses. I once again thought of yoga positions for these, drew them, then looked up images of those poses and drew them again. With this exercise and with any others involving gesture, I'm finding that the closer I get to what Nicolaides may have had in mind, the less interesting those sketches probably get for you to look at--so thanks for bearing with me! :)

The modelled ink drawings are growing on me the more I do them (I continued with the yoga theme for today's), and again I have a feeling this means I'm doing them wrong, so I hope someone will let me know if that's the case. Having an unforgiving medium like ink along with the obstacle that you can never lift your pen or stop scribbling for the entire time is a real challenge, almost like a game...the only spaces that you are "safe" to stop and look at the drawing as a whole to reassess your values are those areas that are the furthest back from the viewer's eye (those areas where it doesn't matter how dark the drawing gets). If you mess up with one area, all of the other areas must be adjusted. For example, in the second pose attached below, I realized too late that the foot of the bent leg is positioned in front of the arm...that meant having to darken the value of the arm (to indicate the toes) and all of the surrounding areas. My hand and wrist are pretty much doing the same clockwise circles at the same speed the entire time--how dark or light the drawing is depends on how quickly my shoulder swings my arm across an area. After swirling your pen around for an hour and a half, that movement becomes hard to shake, so when I went and did my daily composition afterward I ended up doing it as a sort of modelled gesture. I wonder if Nicolaides is going to let me know when I can move beyond a scribble drawing for the daily composition...if he does, I have a feeling it will be far in the future.
As always, I'd love any feedback you could throw at me.

[Raileyh]

Hi Courtyard,

I'm curious about the exercises your committing to. Seeing the figure as a whole shape is important and learning to make sweeping gestures and drawing through is also important. Working from life is key in learning how to construct the figure. I'm not really seeing any construction as being apart of the book your working with. It's very easy to pick up bad habits in drawing and it's extremely hard to let those bad habits go. The marks we make over and over become apart of our movements (muscle memory) imprinted in our brains, so I'd be weary of repeated exercises that do not include constructing the figure and that require a lot of free form drawing. Quality of line and the marks going onto the page from the beginning can create a strong foundation without having to backup and re-learn things.

you may want to work from multiple books,
Vanderpoel
Bridgeman
Loomis
Henry Yan
Zhaoming Wu
William Maughan
Russian Master Books
Chinese Academy Books


Hope this helps,
-H

[Maxine Schacker]

Nicolaides starts by giving exercises that focus on developing the use of many senses while drawing. Anatomy is introduced, but only after development of:

1) a feeling for gesture that combines feeling the action in your own body (using your kinesthetic sense), combined with traveling with the body in space (what's going where) and feeling how the whole action is "tied together." He gives the example of the difference between a drawing bow that shows what it looks like, and another that conveys the energy of the bow being tied.
2) a feeling for weight, i.e a styrofoam sculpture might take up the same space as a bronze, but its weight is very different.
3) use of the sense of touch when drawing...following form in space with the conviction of touching (contour and cross contour).
4) modeling the form using the sense of touch.

All the books you mention are worthwhile, and form exercises and mass conceptions, as well as solid knowledge of artistic anatomy, are definitely important. However, the genius of Nicolaides is that he awakens us, gets us to use many senses at once and be in full contact with what we're drawing.

It's all important, but you can't do it all at once.

PS I don't have my book here...I'll reread the explanation of that exercise and get back to you.

[courtyard]

Hi Hope,

Thank you so much for dropping by and for taking the time to leave such helpful advice. You're definitely not alone...this book seems to have the most intense love/hate response of any that I've researched. I am (was) definitely one of the skeptics...I seriously felt nauseated when I turned to this week's schedule and saw that it consisted of yet another 15 hours of scribbles. Fortunately, I'm just getting started, and I'm trying to have faith enough to see it through to the end. The book is comprised of 25 schedules meant to be completed in 6 months of drawing three hours a day...I'm just finishing up week five, and so far the course has been entirely about building a connection with the figures that you're drawing. Nicolaides, the book's author, is often credited with coining the term "gesture drawing", and this book explains it in its original sense. The gestures are not meant to look like anything, but are instead meant to be an outward expression of the student's internal response to the energy or action of the figure they are drawing. It is meant to serve as the foundation for every drawing to give it life and purpose, and likewise here it is only the foundation of a much longer course. In the weeks to come, he'll go on to cover things things like construction, proportion, anatomy, drapery, value, etc.

I really hesitated with this course at first, but ultimately went with it because I feel like my biggest weakness as an artist is lacking that fundamental connection to the life force behind the figures that I draw. I'm hoping to study animation, and that weakness is obviously doubly crippling for that line of work, so I'm doing everything I can to improve before I go to school (if I'm accepted). I've taken a roughly ten-year break from drawing, but used to draw all the time before that. I was one of those glorified copied machines that was only interested in detail--starting with an eye and then building it up until I finished it and moved on to another detail, while the rest of the canvas remained white. This course is the polar opposite of that approach, and though I approached it with much resistance, now that I'm wrapping up my 75th hour of drawings that aren't supposed to look like anything, that old obession with a finished, polished product is pretty much broken. I'm hoping to introduce Vilppu, Bridgeman, and Mattesi (and others--thanks so much for the list you gave me!) into my independent studies asap, but I want to wait until I'm able to do so without disrupting what Nicolaides is trying to teach. If you look back to my earlier posts, you'll see what happened when I started reading Mattesi too early (I was just producing wooly contours for both, thus following neither author's teachings).


When I look at your work and the art of people like Henry Yan, I'm floored by how your gut response to the energy of the subject you're drawing, your hand, your eye, and your mind, are fused to produce such graceful, spontaneous, and simple images. It's something I would love to one day be able to come close to, but as it is, my hand, eye, mind, and gut are so uncoordinated and unskilled that attempting to jump to that end point without addressing each of those weaknesses individually would, I think, only end in frustration and failure. I *think* what Nicolaides is trying to do is say--your eye and sense of touch *will* be trained if you sincerely take a full hour to do a blind contour an hour a day, only marking with your pencil when you believe that you are physically touching the subject; I'll *force* you to train your gut by doing visually meaningless gesture drawings two hours a day for five weeks straight if you sincerely open yourself to the power, tension, and emotion that the model feels. If a student does this course resisting it the entire time, it will undoubtedly be pointless...I think it's when you resign to the mountain of monotonous work ahead of you, get excited about it, and actually do what he says the way he says to do it, something shifts internally. I still have a long way to go, though, and keep find evidence of old habits lingering in how I execute the exercises.

Oops...I went on much longer there than I meant to! Thanks again...

[courtyard]

Oh! I've just seen your post, Maxine...looks like you said a lot of the same things as me, but much more succinctly!

[courtyard]

50 gestures, 2 modelled ink drawings (30 mins & 1 hr), 15 memory drawings PLUS Daily composition as homework

Man...getting through all of the assignments today was definitely rough, but I managed. I had real trouble connecting to much of anything. The exercises followed the same pattern that they have for the rest of the week, with the exception of memory drawings.

And don't ask me what happened with the proportions in the modelled drawings--try not to pay attention. It was tricky working on the David drawing, since it doesn't have much depth to it compared to the other subjects I've used.

I think I'm too concerned that the daily composition "look like" something, as today's has lots of contours going on once again. Part of the problem is that he suggests you spend 15 minutes on it, and I have no idea how to make a gesture last that long without indicating the shape of the figure. Also, I think I need to re-read his suggestions for finding the gesture within objects, because I'm failing miserably in that regard!

If next week is another 15 hours of scribbles, I might have to drop-kick this book out the window. Just kidding.

[courtyard]

50 gestures, 2 modelled drawings in watercolor (30 mins & 1 hr), 15 memory drawings PLUS Daily composition as homework

I was very happy when I saw that the new lesson this week involved watercolors. Even though it's still a variation of the exercise I've been working on since week 3 (modelled drawings), having a new medium adds new challenges and provides further insight into how to record depth on paper. Specifically, students can only use three colors: yellow ochre, burnt sienna, and black; after building up the form in the lightest color (yellow ochre), they use a mixture of burnt sienna and black to indicate how far each part of the form is from the observer's eye. Obviously, I still have a lot to learn about this, particularly when it comes to subjects that are essentially on one plane. When that happens, you still have to use the full range of values, so you really have to stop and analyze the subtle depth variations of each body part, taking care not to record shadows.

For gestures and memory drawings, I returned to a pencil today, and I quite liked the change. I tend to hold the pencil as far away from the lead as possible, making it far simpler to focus on movement and running lines of action rather than details and contours. Last week, I veered as far away from contours as possible, so this week I'm going to try to be less afraid of them and allow my pencil to touch on them occasionally, without emphasizing them.

Daily compositions are still the greatest source of confusion for me. I took a day off from the course, but you're meant to do one of these every single day 365 days a year, which is why there are two below. More for fun than anything else, I allowed myself to indicate the forms of what I was drawing more than I did before.

[courtyard]

50 gestures, 2 modelled drawings in watercolor (30 mins & 1 hr), 6 reverse poses PLUS Daily composition as homework

Today was basically the same as yesterday, with the exception of reverse poses substituted for memory drawings. I'm really enjoying the watercolor drawings for a change of pace. I referenced a lot of gymnastics images today.

[courtyard]

50 gestures, 1 modelled drawings in watercolor (1 hr), 1 right-angle study (30 mins), 15 memory drawings PLUS Daily composition as homework

I continued with the modelled drawing in watercolor today, and I still really love these. I have no idea how my tennis player got so fat, though!

For gestures today, I limited myself to 10 and 15 seconds, and there was a huge difference from when I started the course. Before, I would have no idea what to put down with that amount of time, and would just make a few panic slashes with my pencil. Now, 10 seconds feels pretty comfortable for getting down all of the essential information. (I'm not sure why one of them is missing below...I definitely did all 50)

The new exercise today was the Right-angle study, and I detest what I produced for it. The idea is that the student draws an imaginary line from where s/he is sitting (location A) to the model, then another equidistant line at 90 degress from the model to second position (location B). The student then draws the model as if s/he were sitting in location B for the first half of the pose; for the second half, s/he moves to location B and draws the pose again from that angle. This is another tricky one to do if you don't have a model, but if you look around it's possible to find turnaround galleries of models in the same position taken from different angles. I can't believe what I did for this--it looks pretty much identical to the crap I was producing before I started this course--an unsure figure with an unbelievably hair contour. Nicolaides instructs to draw "in the spirit of a gesture drawing," but my problem is that I'm really unclear about how to sustain this for 15 minutes without ending up with a meaningless black blob. My lack of confidence couldn't be more apparent in my lines. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd really really appreciate it. Tomorrow, I think I'll go the black blob route. :[

Oh, and still pretty clueless about daily composition, too!

[Imaginary]

Well... You have my respect for going this long, when i tried this book i lasted about 20 hrs... was just too boring. >_<

Keep it up!

[courtyard]

Hi Imaginary! Thanks so much for dropping by. I definitely know what you mean!

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50 gestures, 1 modelled drawings in watercolor (1 hr), 1 right-angle study (30 mins), 7 group poses PLUS Daily composition as homework

I forgot to take a photo of my daily composition today, so I'll post it tomorrow. Today was much the same as yesterday, but group poses replaced memory drawings.

I was impressed at how badly I had miscalculated the angle of the discus thrower's arm in the right angle study! I made myself be more scribbly than yesterday, but I'm still perhaps focusing too much on contour? So hard not to when you're going for 15 mins...again, if any of you have thoughts about this, I'd love them.

I've also started working on Bridgman studies over in my sketchbook thread (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=150012&page=2). :) I'm feeling pretty confident that it won't interfere with what I'm doing here.

[Litharge]

First off I would like to commend you for being so disciplined and hard-working. Drawing figures is not an easy thing to learn on your own. I am not familiar with the book you are using so take the following with a grain of salt. The "modeled" drawings you are doing assigns values based on how near or far from the viewer an object is. I think you would learn more, from applying values based on the direction the planes of the object are facing. You did this with the hand drawings in post 13. I'd also like to suggest a slightly different approach to gesture drawing. Basically make stick figures. Look more and draw less. Use just a few lines to suggest what the figure is doing. Be stingy with the marks you make. This approach will help you to lay down more confident marks. Try to make stick figures that evoke gender, age, movement, and emotion of the model. I've attached some crappy examples. (ignore the outlines) I like to think of these gesture drawings as wire armatures for the figure. Are you drawing from live models on a regular basis? You really should as much as possible. Taking a 2d image and translating it to 2d is very different from translating from 3d to 2d. (stereoscopic vision) (I'm really gonna feel like a jerk if you only have one working eye.) Keep up all the hard work. In order to learn this on your own you have to keep challenging yourself. Once you get comfortable and start to feel good about what you are doing that means it is time to move on to something else. I'm very impressed with the amount of progress you have made in your gesture drawings in such a short amount of time.

[Imaginary]

Hey, it's great that you'r combining this with Bridgman, you'll learn a lot more this way. Gonna follow this thread all the way through till the end, wanna see what the end result will be after you'r done compered to just studying drawing in your own way (like so many do). So keep it up man i'm cheering for ya! :D

[Maxine Schacker]

Sorry it's taken me so long to get back! The daily composition is a memory drawing of a familiar place. Every composition must have limits to be a composition, so draw the frame you are designing to. If you draw the laundromat, try to remember the relationship, say, of the height of the machine to you, etc etc. Then go back and compare what you've done to what's there.

About modeling: Lay down the silhouette in ochre. Now mix ochre and earth red and paint everything that isn't facing you directly. Now mix black into this mixture and paint the parts that turn from you the most. be sure to feel the forms- a belly will have many changes of direction, as it curves away from you both horizontally and vertically. That's why Nicolaides had you do the charcoal/conte/ litho pencil exercises where you feel you're touching the body in all directions. In many of these exercises, it's the integrity behind what you're feeling as you do them that matters most. Eventually you always feel when you draw...feel emotion, feel surface, feel weight. Marry that to academic knowledge and you have real power.

[courtyard]

Hi Litharge--Thank so much for leaving such a detailed comment. I decided before I began this book that I would follow the author's instructions as carefully as possible, since so many of the people I admire on this site swear by his teachings. I hope to move on to different styles of gesture study afterward (hopefully Vilppu and Mattesi) that focus more on line economy like you describe. I couldn't agree with you more about the use of live models...I am temporarily living in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere, so it's pretty impossible to do the 65+ life drawings a day that the course suggests, but I'm trying to do as much as possible. I even drove four hours to the nearest figure drawing class only to find out it had been canceled at the last minute that night! :( Thanks again for your input.

Imaginary--Fantastic, thank you! Here's hoping that I'm not as mediocre (or worse) at the end as I was at the beginning!

Maxine--As always, your posts are *so* helpful. Thank you!! Drawing the frame for the composition will really help with that exercise--excellent. As for the modelled drawing, you wrote pretty similar suggestions to what Briggsy and Litharge said above, so that seems to be the way forward! I think I just got caught up in Nicolaides saying "When you have finished, the darkest places on your drawing will be the parts of the figure that are farthest from you...the lightest will be the nearest parts to you." I've been purposefully choosing objects and images with foreshortening that exaggerates those distances, so the subtle changes of direction you describe end up getting lost. I think by choosing objects that are basically on one plane, I'll be able to do what you and Briggsy describe and will be able to observe Nicolaides' darkest/farthest, nearest/lightest rule also. (I had already completed the modelled watercolor below when I read you post, so haven't been able to put those suggestions to use yet!)

*****

50 gestures, 1 modelled drawings in watercolor (1 hr), 1 right-angle study (30 mins), 15 memory drawings PLUS Daily composition as homework

The highlight of today's work was definitely the gesture drawings. I was really longing for some action-filled poses, so I used gymnastics images from the Beijing games. I think I felt more connected to the movement than ever, but I'm not sure if that comes across. Using a pen was nice for a change, too.

Still using famous statues for the right-angle studies since it's easy to find images of them taken from different angles. I'm not sure if this exercise carries into next week, but I'm realizing now that I should have used an object from home for a couple of these instead. That was dumb...oh well.

I'm including the daily composition from yesterday that I forgot to upload along with today's. I had read Maxine's suggestion of using a frame before I drew today's, so I gave it a try and it made a big difference. :)

[Maxine Schacker]

The last daily comp is way better!

An unrelated question: how did you get the book cover image up next to your thread? I thought I'd put a pic up too, but am too slow to figure it out!



Later: I meant to mention to you that in my experience the biggest right brain stumbling block for people just learning to draw, is understanding enough basic perspective to draw basic forms (box, cylinder, wedge,pyramid) from every angle, and throw lines over those forms. Do take a look at Hale's "Drawing Lessons From The Great Masters." He says that drawing is conceiving form and running lines over it.
That's dead on.

However, when you're doing the Nicolaides exercises, try to do exactly what he tells you to do. Don't mix it up with other things!

[courtyard]

Hi Maxine--Thank you! And what a coincidence--I had just put Hale in my Amazon shopping cart when I read your post! My perspective skills are abysmal, and my ability to render basic forms isn't much better, so those are both areas I want to address asap. So much to learn!

Oh, and to get an image next to your thread, you use the attachment manager in the thread's first post (click on the icon that looks like a paper clip). The first image that you attach will be the image for your thread. If you want to add a thread image to an old thread, edit the first post and click "Go Advanced" to get the paper clip option. Hope that makes sense!

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Today is my day off, so just uploading my daily composition (thankfully accurate perspective isn't the aim at this stage!). I've made some more Bridgman updates and digital studies over in my sketchbook (http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=150012&page=2)...

[Virg]

hey there, i think this book helps a lot with a lot of stuff, contour drawing helped me a lot to draw later on from imagination but i agree with some people here that you shoud also learn construction to build your figure, gesture, construction, clean contour all of these should be practiced... I think you should grab some loomis books and practice drawing mannikin the way he shows, or some hogarth / bridgeman books for their boxes approach for the main masses of the body, you should draw some figure this way the same way you do these gesture/modeling drawing exercice and all these construction drawing will help you unconciously when you draw to feel the form a lot more easily, im still learning how to draw but i felt recently that each of these aspect had their need when you sketch. Keep going stay motivated :)

[armando]

I skimmed a few of the posts by other people here, I think a lot of people don't understand that all these exercises are a foundation for constructive drawing, and other technical things later on, because none of that means anything without feeling and opinion behind it.
It's really important that you do most of the gestures from life. Feeling the way weight is balanced in the figure, the different thrusts and counter thrusts of different parts of the body, when one part goes forward another goes back. Also in life drawing you're emotions are stronger than when looking at photos, gestures in real life are stronger, the difference between a picture of a guy pointing a gun at the camera and someone pointing a gun in real life, direct contact with humanity makes a deeper impression.
This book came out a few year's before Niccolaides, I don't know their relation, but it has similar ideas and will help clarify things you might otherwise passover: http://www.archive.org/details/artandcraftofdra027904mbp

[courtyard]

Hi WhiteC--Thanks a lot for dropping by and for your comment. I'm going to try to stick to Nicolaides' instructions as closely as possible for all of these excercises that I do from the book, and so far the gestures aren't really meant to "look like" anything. I'm definitely eager to learn about construction and more technical studies, but I'm waiting to dive in until Nicolaides addresses those topics (although I've started in on a bit of Bridgman over in my sketchbook (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=150012&page=2)). Thanks again.

Hi armando--Thanks so much for your comment and support. I spluttered out an incoherent essay of sorts on the first page trying to say the same thing about these exercises being a foundation for future work. :) I definitely agree with you about drawing from life, but as I mentioned a few posts back it's pretty much impossible in my current living situation. This is unfortunately the only chance I'll have in the foreseeable future to do this course, and I'm hoping that working from photos with as much integrity as possible is better than nothing. But I definitely agree with you that I'd be getting much more out of it if there was a live person to work with. Thank you so much for the link to that book--it looks really interesting. I'd be very grateful for any futher input you have as I make my way through the course over the next few months.

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50 gestures (1 hr), 1 page of blind cross contours (30 mins), 15 memory drawings (30 mins), hour 1 of the 5 hour blind contour (1 hr) PLUS Daily composition as homework

Phew! This is going to be a really tough week. We're back to contour drawings, including a 5 hour blind contour (!) :^^;: I find that I get quite nauseated doing these since they require total concentration of mind, eye, and touch on one microscopic point--LOL. For my five hour contour, I'm going to draw a bookshelf and am pacing myself by doing one shelf an hour. The first of these is below--I seriously feel like I'm gasping for breath by the time I finish these! I'm forcing myself to draw only when I believe that I'm physically touching the object with my pencil--this meant quite a lot of stopping and starting today, but I still managed to finish my shelf on time.

Then there is the cross contour--I spared you of these in my week 2 summary since they mean absolutely nothing to an outside observer. You're meant to draw, at a right angle from the outside contour of the object you're studying, a (usually) horizontal contour across its surface. You can draw these contours at random, haphazardly across the page--the ones I'm attaching below are all studies across different parts of a cat.

Other than that, there were more memory drawings and more gesture drawing today. I've also attached yesterday's and today's daily compositions. Yesterday's was way too contour-happy, I think.

[Maxine Schacker]

Draw through to the feet, through to the hands. Be entirely focused so that you are feeling the pose in your own body, and are also aware of the subtle shift of direction from on mass to another. I assumed that you are attending life sessions, or have a friend posing for you. There is no other way to do these exercises!

Thanks, Armando for that link! I look forward to reading the whole book. just quickly checked it out and it's extremely interesting.

[courtyard]

Hi Maxine-Thanks for reminding me about drawing through to the feet and hands again! I really tried to concentrate on that this time, so I hope the ones I've included below are closer to what you're talking about. Nicolaides says in his introduction that a live model is highly recommended, but not essential. I can feel a definite change in how I approach my work since starting the course, so the book is still having a positive effect. :) In Schedule 4, he suggests that students should start posing for themselves and "make a gesture drawing of your own pose." I've been trying to do this is much as possible, and did it for all of today's exercises.

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50 gestures (1 hr), 3-5 quick contours (30 mins), 5 moving action drawings (30 mins), hour 1 of the 5 hour blind contour (1 hr) PLUS Daily composition as homework

All of the figure drawings today were done from poses I assumed myself...this is something I'm trying to do as much as possible for these exercises. The 5 hour contour is still a real challenge, but I think I'm learning a lot from it. I must have accidentally used a harder pencil today, and clearly benefited yesterday from feeling the edge of the paper to help me draw a straight line.

The new exercise today is the quick contour, which is a blind contour drawing that takes five minutes or less. You are still meant to draw the whole figure and believe that your pencil is touching the subject entire time. I used the two cats that I'm lucky to live with, and was surprised by how much the drawings resemble them! I didn't manage to finish the third one, since my subject got annoyed with me and left.

:party:Oh, and really happy news! I found out this morning that I was accepted to the art program I applied to, so hopefully this will all be put to good use come August.

[Robot_Butler]

Hi, Courtyard. I'm new to this forum, and just found this fantastic thread. I love what you are doing here. I'm a huge believer in Nicolaides, and remember having to do thousands of these gestures back in design school. Don't give up, and have fun with them. It is great to be able to scribble with emotion like you are a kid again :)

The only advice I have is something that Maxine already mentioned. You really need to connect these gestures to the ground by being sure to draw the feet (or their butt, if they're sitting, I guess :P). All the weight and movement of the figure transfers through the legs, into the feet, and into the earth. If you have a history with dance, then you know what I mean with regards to balance and footwork. There is a lot of power in that connection.

Similarly, think of the hands as the opposite end of this balance. They are either pushing or pulling, so your gesture lines should show that force.

I'm not saying you need to actually render hands and feet, just give attention to how your gesture lines terminate or change direction at these locations. I think keeping that in mind will help you feel the tension and balance in the figures.

Like I said, I'm new to this forum, and haven't even done any figural drawing in years. Feel free to ignore my jibber-jabber.

[courtyard]

Hi Robot Butler--thank you so much for taking the time to leave such a detailed comment. Really helpful...I keep worrying that if I focus on the feet, I'll end up drawing what they look like rather than what they're doing, so I end up avoiding them all together. The result, as you say, is that all the figures seem to be floating. I'll really try to focus on that tomorrow--I didn't read your message in time for today's. Thanks again.

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50 gestures (1 hr), 15 gesture of the feature drawings (30 mins), 1 blind contour of the head (30 mins), hour 3 of the 5 hour blind contour (1 hr) PLUS Daily composition as homework

Not one but two new exercises today--both focusing on the head! The first is gesture drawings of facial features. These are meant to be done in the same spirit as the usual gesture drawings; not focusing on likeness but instead movement. For example he says a nose might "seem to reach forward and turn and go back up under" while another might "push back and suddenly bob up and stop short." He says that you can use one model making different faces, so I used myself...not the most flattering collection!

The other head exercise was a half hour blind contour of the head. And I'm over halfway done with the 5 hour contour...phew!

[XanaChama]

Your hands and feet are awesome. You are doing great, IMO, it'll all sink in. Good luck getting into your art program. I'm fortunate to have a good program at my community, but where I go after this point I'm not 100% sure.

[courtyard]

Hi XanaChama--thanks so much! That's great that you have such good resources in your community...I'm super excited. :)

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50 gestures (1 hr), 6 descriptive poses (30 mins), 1 right-angle contours drawing (30 mins), hour 4 of the 5 hour blind contour (1 hr) PLUS Daily composition as homework

Woohoo! I've broken the 100-hour mark! The new exercise today was an extension of the right-angle study. The student begins with a right-angle drawing as before, but then draws cross-contours over the object as s/he imagines they would appear from the right-angle position.

By far the most exciting aspect of today's (actually yesterday's--sorry for the late update) exercises was that I had a live model to work with for gestures! Now that the snow is melting, my good friend who works in landscaping allowed my to shadow her as she worked outside. I really got a lot out of it and will try to do this as often as possible. My main focus was on the hands and feet today (thanks again Robot Butler), their weight and pushing/pulling. Sorry for the horrible quality of the daily comp photo--I'll try to remember to retake it later.

[XanaChama]

Are they volume gesture drawings? The paper looks like newsprint, so I assume you're working big? You should try a looser medium. You won't have to make as many marks and the form will be more visible (even as a volume drawing). I'm still trying to get better at gesture drawings myself. In a lot of my gestures, I woke with the side of my charcoal and it allows me to make grandiose marks.

[courtyard]

Hey XanaChama--Thanks so much for coming by! The gestures are supposed to depict action and energy rather than form or volume, but I'm still not sure that I'm doing them right. I definitely agree with you about thicker media being better for most types of gesture drawing, but this book's take on gestures is quite different...the author calls them scribble drawings, and lots of marks aren't necessarily a bad thing. He's very specific about materials, down to newsprint and a 3B or 4B pencil for gestures, but I've done a bit of experimentation with pens and charcoal. I found that using thicker media made me gravitate towards more economical forms of gesture drawing, but I may have to take your advice for the sake of variety and an extra challenge!

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50 gestures (1 hr), 15 memory drawings (30 mins), 3-5 quick contours (30 mins), hour 5 of the 5 hour blind contour (1 hr) PLUS Daily composition as homework

Sorry for the delay with this update. Man...I think I gave myself a handicap by working with a live model the other day. Just having photos to work with was *torturous* after that experience. This is the closest I've come to quitting the course, so I decided to stop making excuses and talked to my landscaping friend...turns out she needs to do lots of gardening work around her house now that spring is upon us, so I'll join her every day for a drawing session. Excellent.

No new exercises for today, but I finished the 5 hour contour--the scale of the last shelf was way off!

Daily compositions still have the problem of feeling messy for the sake of being messy...

[Dickinuri]

I am completely new to drawing and I would like to attempt "The Natural Way to Draw." However it appears you need live models to get the most out of this book. Unfortunately due to my current situation it would be a bit difficult to get live models. Should I study from this book or should I try to learn how to draw some other way?

[courtyard]

Hi Dickinuri--Thanks for looking. I'm in the same situation as you--I live in a town so small there isn't even anything like a coffee shop to sit and observe people! I have had to draw a lot from photo ref/inanimate objects, and I still have gained a lot from the course. That said, I was able to draw from life the other day (see previous posts), and the experience was so positive that I've convinced a friend to allow me to draw her every day while she gardens. It also depends on what kind of course you're after...if you want instant results, this is definitely not the way to go. In the introduction he says that you won't produce anything resembling a drawing for the first three months (drawing three hours per day, five days a week), but will instead spend that entire time understanding how to connect to your subject. So it all depends on what type of thing you're after...hope that helps.

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50 gestures (1 hr), 15 memory drawings (30 mins), 2 modelled drawings (30 mins & 1 hr), PLUS Daily composition as homework

Today was a big catch-up day, so I'll be adding another day's worth of drawings that I've finished shortly after I post this. No new exercises today, but the modelled drawing is back, and this time I'm following Maxine and Briggsy's suggestions. I used the same reference twice, since the first time I found the china marker to be a bit problematic (sorry for the bad photo quality). Both times, I built up the silhouette to start the drawing, then went in for further details. In the china marker image, I kept my marker going in circles the entire time, as I had with the ink modelled drawings. The second time, I still kept my pencil moving, but really tried to build up the planes by carefully developing their contours. Too carefully, I think.

The other development worth noting is that I've decided to do my daily compositions in digital from now on. I see this exercise as a way to train your eye, memory, and sense of composition, all while working quickly without being able to make corrections, and I think this can carry over to the digital medium nicely. I really want to work on my abilities and speed in digital, so I figure I'll be killing two birds with one stone. I'm strictly limiting myself to 15 minutes (Nicolaides' rule), am only working on one layer, am only using the circular brush tool (of different sizes) and am not allowing myself to undo any changes. If all goes according to plan, I'll continue to post these here long after the course is over. I really mismanaged my time on these first two!

[XanaChama]

haha, oh wow, blind contours. I remember those...

I might want to try the scribble drawings based on what you said. They kinda remind me of silhoutte-esk gesture drawings. Much easier to think in volume for me I think. Are the daily compositions from life or imagination?

[courtyard]

Hey XanaChama! Good luck with the scribble drawings...I hope you'll post them in your sketchbook so I can check them out. I find that the more I do (I'm at about 2000 now!), the more excited I get about finding the life and energy in other drawings. The daily composition is a memory drawing--it's supposed to be of something that you've seen in the past 24 hours, generally one or more people and their environment and surrounding objects. The more specific you are while you're looking at the subject the better...imagine that you're taking a photo. Hope that helps!

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50 gestures (1 hr), 6 reverse poses (30 mins), 3-5 quick contours (30 mins), 1 modelled drawing--part of the form in lithograph (1 hr), PLUS Daily composition as homework

Man...doing two of these sessions in one day is rough! I'm back on schedule, at least. Not much new to report for this session...in the modelled drawing for today, students were meant to focus on a specific body part rather than the entire model. In the daily composition, I again had time management issues...spent too much time on the figure and totally neglected the environment. Accidentally gave my subject Mickey Mouse gloves, too...

[courtyard]

Today included further exploration of modelled drawings, this time focusing on small areas of the form. I used the side of a fat stick of graphite for the ten minute studies, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Everything today was done from life! Yusssss! The daily composition was a mess today, but I'm still loving the switch to digital.

[Maxine Schacker]

I don't know how you are managing without a model to react to!
You are definitely making progress. Where do you live? I hesitate to say anything because I'm the director of Max the Mutt in Toronto...but...we do have a July life drawing course (based on Nicolaides) that meets every morning for 2 weeks ($400) or 4 weeks ($800 Canadian which is much less in US dollars). Let me know if it interests you, or check out the Blog on our website.

[courtyard]

Hey Maxine--Thanks for dropping by! If you read the past few posts I've made, you'll see I've been working from life thanks to a very patient and accommodating friend. ;) I've done some lurking in the education sections, so I'm familiar with Max the Mutt through your thread--sounds like an awesome program. That life drawing class sounds *perfect* and I would definitely sign up if I lived closer--I'm about 2000 miles away from you, though! As I mentioned a few post back, I've been accepted to the art program I was hoping for (Ringling for Computer Animation), so I'll fortunately have models to work with come August. And seriously, I'm resizing 60+ images a day for this thread alone, so I'd be more than happy to help with yours. Just let me know...

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50 gestures (1 hr), 7 group poses (30 mins), 3 ten-minute form studies (30 mins), 1 modelled drawing--part of the form in lithograph (1 hr), PLUS Daily composition as homework

Still working entirely from life, with the exception of the group poses today...I used contact improv videos for that exercise. I had a hard time stretching the long form study for a full hour, and stopped at about 40 minutes since I was just pressing on areas that couldn't get any darker. I threw in a bit of black charcoal for kicks (I'm not sure that Nicolaides would approve). Daily comps are still hideous, but still fun...

[manfredkooistra]

Hey courtyard,

it's nice to see someone actually try and work with this book. I have it and want to use it, but I feel that I need a model for it to work for me. I'll explain why I think this, and maybe it will help you with some problems you may have.

My only drawing education ever was figure drawing from a live model. After half a year of doing this twice a week for two hours, I was able to draw a "photographic" likeness of a whole figure within half an hour. It has been a few years since then, and I lost most of my ability in the meantime. I tried to re-learn to draw, using photographs I collected from the internet. But however much I tried, all my proportions were out of shape -- and I did not make much progress!

Some of the difficulties you may encounter, might be related to this. If at all possible, try and draw from a real model. There must be some figure drawing classes somewhere within your vicinity, and if not, pay some student or housewife to sit for you -- maybe clothed, that will make it cheaper and easier to find a model, and you can still draw portraits and even the clothed figure helps you to learn to draw. Also, you can try and have your room really hot, so the model will wear a t-shirt or top or shorts instead of a pullover and shawl :-) Or you can talk to the model and explain and have him/her wear something formfitting (e.g. leggins).

Complement the exercises you do without a model with some kind of drawing from life. If you feel it is completely out of the question for you to get a model, draw stuff from your flat: chairs, vases, the bed, whatever. Do it in the same way you draw your figures, just draw it from live. I cannot stress enough how important it is to draw from life. A good exercise is to draw something from life and on the next day draw it from the imagination to better memorize the form. That will help you to learn drawing from the imagination. I do not mean that you should get ahead of your course, but be creative about how you can achieve the goals each exercise sets you with the means that you have. You can do gestures from the imagination and you can do blind contour drawings from your sleeping dog, too.

Another thing that is very closely related to blind contour drawing is trying to get yourself in the position that the model is holding. I have found that I find it much easier to draw a pose that I have felt with my own body. Looking at it, you have to find understanding through your rational faculty. Drawing is difficult that way, because it is not rational. Feeling the pose, either through blind contour drawing or through taking the pose, is more immediate and directly translates into a movement of your arm and hand -- as if the hand was feeling around the form that you know.

Okay, also I think you should try different media. The graphite or coal you draw with smudges the form too much. You want to learn proportion and shape, but your media does not allow for enough detail for you to work this out. Try a roller ball pen or marker or something that draws a clear hard line. Get away from this soft shading and stuff for the moment. You need to be more courageous and go for harder contrast at this step in your learning.

Keep going!

[Maxine Schacker]

Good advice, Manfred!

Thanks for the offer Courtyard! I've put some of my work on a disc and the plan is for a colleague to help me to color correct and then upload work. My plan is to finally get a website up. I don't have everything recorded, and some of it needs its format changed...but I'm getting there.

I'm hoping to have more time in a few weeks (the academic year is coming to an end).

Good luck at Ringling. I hope it lives up to your expectations. I've read nothing but positive comments on this site about the animation program.
How much life drawing do you get? Do they each classical and computer animation at the same time? I'm very curious and hope you keep a thread going for yourself to post your progress.

I'm happy to hear you like the curriculum in our program. I can't believe how much work it takes to create a good program and to keep it at that level! This must be my karma for not having enough respect for admin when I was a full time painter, teaching 2 days at another school (Sheridan).

At Max the Mutt we are always fine tuning and are always interested in what other schools are doing.

I truly believe that all the schools are important and that it's in everyone interest to have a large number of excellent places to study.

Healthy competition is good, but at heart we need to see each other as colleagues.

The industry can only thrive if we have enough excellent artists (and storytellers) to keep the work we are producing vibrant and interesting, and no one school can do that alone.

We are also dependent, of course, on cultural values and the education students have received before we ever meet them. It can all be a little daunting.

In any case, I'm looking forward to painting and have really been inspired by the passion and dedication of some of the young people on this site.

I've also found links to great websites that sell amazing products (linen panels for landscape painting, for example). I think you are all very lucky to be young and looking for knowledge at a time when so much is accessible! When I think of how hard we searched for every nugget....

I'm wandering. All I really meant to say was good luck! You have a lovely spirit. Don't let anything get you out of touch with that.

[Maxine Schacker]

Dickinuri, to learn to draw the figure you will need to find someplace where you can work with a model. You can look for others with the same goal, hire a model and work together. If this isn't possible, there are many basic things you can learn about representational drawing working from still life. There are a number of books that will tell you about composition, measurement, positive and negative space, silhouette, etc etc.

[courtyard]

Hi manfredkooistra--Thanks for coming by and for your comment. I've been following these suggestions for the past few weeks, so hopefully I'm on the right track! As for materials, I'm going to keep staying as close to what Nicolaides says as I can. This week's modelled drawings were about using the side of the instrument (be it crayon or a graphite stick) and sculpting with big, broad washes of value. Next week it's back to the modelled drawing in ink, though. :)

Hey Maxine--Thanks so much for your kind comment. That's great news about your colleague--I'm looking forward to the update and your website. I will definitely try to keep posting my progress over in my sketchbook (http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=150012&page=3) thread after I'm at school, and will *hopefully* keep doing daily compositions in this thread, time permitting! I'd love it if you could pop in to either/both threads from time to time to keep me in check. :) From what I understand, the first year is entirely traditional--painting, drawing, and traditional animation (plus liberal arts courses). I don't believe that we start working with computers until the second year. I can't imagine the amount of work that must go into building a school from the ground up--my hat's off to you! I'm in total agreement with you about competitors vs. colleagues, and it's a comfort to know that the artists leaving your school will carry that philosophy out into the world.

***********
50 gestures (1 hr), right-angle study (30 mins), gestures of the features (30 mins), the head in lithograph (1 hr), PLUS Daily composition as homework

Over a third of the way through! Sorry for the delay between posts--I've been buried in other work. I've just got a few more exercises to do and then I'll have three more days' worth of drawings, which I'll post tomorrow. Today was a continuation of much of the work from the past week, with a focus on the head. Still using myself as a model for these. Fortunately, the aim is not to achieve a likeness!

[Imaginary]

Hell yea! Thought i'd drop by and throw some motivation, awesome work man, just keep at it!:D

[Maxine Schacker]

I truly can see the improvement! I will definitely try to keep in touch. Why do I feel as if I know you? Not very well, but well enough to go out for a cup of coffee.

You really have the focus required to succeed. I look forward to watching as your work develops.

[courtyard]

Hi Imaginary--Thank you! ;)

Hi Maxine-- :D Brilliant! I know what you mean--me too! Thank you so much.

***********
50 gestures (1 hr), modelled drawing in ink (30 mins), memory drawings (30 mins), long modelled drawing in ink (hour 1 of 3), PLUS Daily composition as homework

I've got three days' worth of drawings that I'll update one after the other today, so bear with me!

Today marked a return to the modelled drawing in ink, which I'm glad about since before I was doing them incorrectly. I find that I don't have to try hard to feel completely engaged with these since there are so many things to be thinking about at the same time--kind of the polar opposite of the blind contours (those take a mountain of effort to keep my mind from wandering since you're only concentrating on one tiny, microscopic point at a time). The second modelled drawing of the day can be a four hour drawing split between four days, four one hour drawings each day, or anything in between. I ended up doing one three hour drawing split between three days, then will either do a final one hour drawing on day four or combine that with day five (which is a modelled drawing of the head in ink) to make a 2 hour head drawing.

[courtyard]

50 gestures (1 hr), modelled drawing in ink (30 mins), moving action (30 mins), long modelled drawing in ink (hour 2 of 3), PLUS Daily composition as homework

Pretty much exactly the same as the previous day's exercises, with the exception of moving action. I'm not sure why I keep remember people as wearing 70s style flares! And...wow...I really need to study perspective.

[courtyard]

50 gestures (1 hr), quick contours (30 mins), memory drawings (30 mins), long modelled drawing in ink (hour 3 of 3), PLUS Daily composition as homework


Phew! Back on schedule. If you get behind on this course, it sure is difficult to catch up again. I pushed the face as far as I think I'll go, so I'll start in with a different drawing tomorrow. I think I'm one day behind with the daily compositions, but I keep walking around the neighborhood *just* to see someone to draw, and instead only find cats! Hopefully I'll have better luck tomorrow.

[Aaron Death]

Oops, you're working so very hard. I can't follow the book though, its method is too weird to follow. My instincts don't tell me to draw that way.

Keep up. Let's see what you can learn out of this book.

[Maxine Schacker]

Just remember that the idea is to never stop when you are drawing the gesture. Your focus, while feeling the pose in your own body, should be on what's going where, how it ties together, how one part flows into the next. In fact, when you study anatomy you'll see that, of course, this is how we are constructed. The biceps, for example, raise the lower arm. The biceps attach above, but the tendons of the biceps insert into the bones of the lower arm. If they didn't, we'd be marionettes.

When you draw the arm, don't begin it, like a doll's arm, at the socket. The arm is attached to muscles of the back and the scapula. Notice how when the model moves her arm the scapula also moves. it follows the form of the rib cage as it passes over the back. if you feel the action in your own body (try taking some of the poses) you'll soon be aware of these connections.

You are the energy flowing through the body from one part to another. Slow down if you must, but don't stop ever.

Keep in mind that you are responding to the varying tensions and lack of tension in the pose. At the same time you are judging DIRECTION and seeing through the pose to feel the unity of the whole.

It takes intense focus and concentration.

I'm sure you yourself can see how much progress you've already made!

[courtyard]

Hi Aaron Death--Thanks for commenting. I guess it is weird in the sense that it has a different, more visceral approach than a lot of other drawing manuals, but for me that's a good thing. ;)

Hi Maxine--thank you. You're so right about the doll arm socket thing. I think I've been so focused on not doing anatomy-centric gestures that I end up doing a strange "incorrect-anatomy" gesture instead. But you're right...if I actually am drawing energy/tension, then that will naturally correspond with correct anatomy because that's how we're constructed. The gestures I've posted below were done before I read your comment, but I think it will really help with tonight's session.

********
50 gestures (1 hr), ten-minute form studies (30 mins), descriptive poses (substituted memory drawings) (30 mins), modelled drawing in ink (1 hour), PLUS Daily composition as homework

Talk about an "off day"...I waited to upload this day's exercise because I was hoping to off-set the awfulness with Schedule 9E. My model friend had to reschedule our session to tonight, though, so I'll be uploading 9E tomorrow instead.

I've decided not to upload what I did for the ten-minute form studies--really bombed that one, so I will do them again and upload them tomorrow. I had the hardest time understanding what he was describing, but it seems like it's a far less detailed modelled drawing (???). I substituted descriptive poses with memory drawings today, but should have done more of them. And the anatomy/positioning of that hand is impossible. Blech! Tomorrow's post will be better.

[courtyard]

50 gestures (1 hr), back to the model (30 mins), gesture of the features (30 mins), modelled drawing of the head in ink (1 hour), PLUS Daily composition as homework

I redid the ten minute form studies from the last schedule and posted them here. I approached them like simplified modelled drawings, and hope I'm not too far off the mark. I will update asap with the "back to the model" exercise...I have a drawing session with my model friend tonight and will do it then. In our last session, I focused on construction more than usual, though I'm not sure if it comes through in the drawings. I think these facial studies lack the spontaneity and impulse that gestures are meant to have, so they fell a bit flat. I ran out of time *again* with the daily comp, so they're floating in midair! Will keep pushing...

[tokszmogus]

Great to see hard work here. Keep going dude. But there are something that's bothers. Have you asked yourself why you need to do so? Don't take it personally but it looks for me like drawing numerous figures just for sake of drawing. Which is not bad but not great if you want to learn how to draw. Try to study cup for a long time, compare drawing with what you see and ask yourself how to make that cup stand out the paper. Proportions are very important. The natural way to draw is only from nature, not from book. That's only my opinion.

This is just my suggestions, think for yourself and do what you think is right :-). Good luck.

[courtyard]

Hey tokszmogus--Thanks for coming by and for commenting. No offense taken...in fact, I'd say that the highest complement anyone could hope to get from this course is being told that it looks like they're drawing for the sake of drawing. It's when I slip out of that mindset and aim for a polished product that I feel like I'm missing the point. All of this is meant to serve as a foundation for further academic study like you describe, which I agree 100% with you is extremely important for any artist to learn. :)

********
50 gestures (1 hr), two modelled drawings in watercolor (30 mins and 2 hours), memory drawings (30 mins), PLUS Daily composition as homework

We're back to modelled drawings in watercolor this week, and I took Maxine's advice found on page two and tried to approach these in the correct way this time. I ended up doing today's and tomorrow's 30 minute sessions in one sitting, followed immediately by the two hour session. I think there's definite room for improvement on the former (the images of the sitting person), but I feel like something may have finally clicked in the bed image (found in next post--will upload right after this one)...I tend to be wrong about these things, though, so please let me know! I've also included in today's post the "back to the model" exercises from last week since I wanted to do these with my live model friend. This exercise, just as it sounds, is done with your back to the model...you can turn to look at him/her as often as you need to, but Nicolaides writes that the strain of repeating this movement means that you will do it as little as possible. I was uncertain of the style of drawing this was meant to be in...I ended up doing three gesture drawings to fill the full 30 minutes. If this exercise comes up again, I'll do a modelled drawing.
I really want to be on daily composition 365 a year from when I started them, so I'll be doing a few extra over the next week to catch up with where I should be.
I didn't take a photo an hour in to the 2 hour drawing, so I'll post the finished image in the next post. I have all of those exercises completed, so I'll upload them in within the next hour or so.

[courtyard]

50 gestures (1 hr), two modelled drawings in watercolor (30 mins and hour 2 of 2 hour drawing), reverse poses (30 mins), PLUS Daily composition as homework

Below is the second modelled drawing in watercolor from the previous post's session, along with the completed two hour watercolor spread over the two days. It's amazing to me what a difference feeling present has over the gesture drawings...as soon as I get impatient or think about finishing them, they turn to garbage. I really enjoyed them today, and that hasn't happened for a while.

[XanaChama]

So what's the key to the compositions? Create something to work from as a base? You're killing it (in a good way), BTW. I'll have to check back more often, awesome work!

[Ging]

I admire your work ethic. keep at it and im sure you will get where you want to be.

Do you feel the course is helping your line work and giving more life to your own drawings? Maybe you haven't done enough outside of the course to know yet...

[tokszmogus]

Well man, that is an interesting aproach :-). Thank you for an explanation. Keep going.

[courtyard]

Hey XanaChama! The daily compositions (or my interpretation of what Nicolaides was saying) are about putting as much information down as possible in 15 minutes. It's meant to be a "memory snapshot" taken within the past 24 hours. I'm extremely slow, so the most I can get down in that amount of time looks pretty elementary, but I'll hopefully get faster and more specific with how I observe things as I do more of these. LOL--I'm not sure if I'm killing it, but I'm learning a lot! ;)

Hi Ging--Thank you! I think my line quality is improving outside the course, especially when I'm really calm, present, and focused. When I'm distracted or nervous, the lines look as garbled as they did before I started. :D The contour drawings are definitely what have helped most with that--when I believe that I'm actually touching the object with my pencil. Still have heaps of room for improvement, though...

Hey tokszmogus--thanks for dropping in again!

********
50 gestures (1 hr), modelled drawing in watercolor (hour 1 of 2 hour drawing), memory drawings (30 mins), ten minute form studies (30 mins) PLUS Daily composition as homework

I didn't have the chance to update yesterday, so I'll post two days' worth back to back. I'm still not sure that I'm grasping the form studies exercise, so I tried different approaches...the last image of the three is I *think* closest to what he describes...really "blocky" and detail-free.

[courtyard]

50 gestures (1 hr), modelled drawing in watercolor (30 mins & hour 2 of 2 hour drawing), group poses (30 mins), PLUS Daily composition as homework

My model friend had to leave after the first ten minutes of the first watercolor, so I finished that exercise off with memory painting. I think with the 2 hr watercolor I'm getting a bit closer to understanding planes turning towards and away from me, but I'm being too delicate in my approach. I threw in a bit of pen with the gestures for some variety. For the daily comp, the pickings were slim that day. I was in the car when I finally spotted another human, so I had about .5 seconds to take her in with her surroundings and dog.

[Zarahn Southon]

Wow, nice advice Maxine..beautifully put. Keep it up Courtyard.

[armando]

I've decided not to upload what I did for the ten-minute form studies--really bombed that one, so I will do them again and upload them tomorrow. I had the hardest time understanding what he was describing, but it seems like it's a far less detailed modelled drawing (???). I substituted descriptive poses with memory drawings today, but should have done more of them. And the anatomy/positioning of that hand is impossible. Blech! Tomorrow's post will be better.

The two exercises are related but have different purposes. I haven't read this book in a long time, and I have to respect you're work ethic since I never completed the course but only did the first few weeks then just read the rest of the book and dabbled at a few of the later exercises. I'm going to have to work through those later exercises.
He starts you off with weight. All that exercise is is getting a feel for mass and solidity, without specific attention to how different parts are articulated in space. The torso is the most massive part and takes up a lot of space, then the legs, then the arms. At that point in the course he doesn't expect you to be able to consider that and simultaneously the arrangement of those forms in space.
The modelled drawing then takes those lumps of mass and gives them surface contours, only the contours you can see, which is similar to cross contour drawing. It's different in that first you considered the solidity and massiveness of the thing and then only after that it's surface, so you've got two things in your mind now because you've got more practice. In cross contour drawing you only considered the surface, because at that point that was difficult enough, just to make that clear.
10 minute form drawing includes what you did in the weight exercise, but now he wants you to concentrate on the way those forms are organized in space, where the parts are pointing, and how the different parts compensate in order to keep balance. Consider standing up straight: if you move your arms around you'll see that although they can point in lots of directions, they don't disrupt balance. Now consider moving your torso: Now the body has to compensate for it's mass in order to keep balance. If you lean forward your rear has to point back so you don't tip over, I just twisted to turn off a light switch a little while ago and while I did it I naturally lifted my left leg backwards in order to keep balance. You can see the same thing when people throw something in a small trashcan, they lean forward kick one leg back and thrust their hand forward.That's what he wants you to pay attention to: "The disposition of the forms in space"
The importance of this is that meaning is carried in the way things point in space, and how they balance. A good example is in school if you didn't know the answer to a question you wouldn't want the teacher to call on you because you didn't want to be embarrassed. If the teacher points to the student next to you: relief. If the teacher points to you: embarrassment. "...the figure projects into space - and into your consciousness."
There are a lot of critiques where people say "The image is kind of flat. Work on the simple forms." They think they are objecting to flatness, when really they are objecting to meaninglessness, because a figure only exists in space, lives in space, does things in space, has meaning in space. "No diagrams, no pat explanations, will suffice, because the form speaks to you only as it does things."

[Kweckduck]

I noticed this thread a couple of weeks ago while I was in the second or third week / schedule. This has been a great help to sometimes decipher what Nicolaides actually means sometimes. I think however that he intentionally kept everything quite abstract so that you would figure it out by experimenting and learn that way, but still. Help is always a precious thing.

Incidentally I aslo started a blog about my progress before I found this thread. For those that want some more reference material: http://drawingpath.blogspot.com

And Courtyard: Thanks again for the help!

[lowercase]

While I was at an art competition/event here in Texas (I'm not sure if you're familiar with VASE), I had an instructor giving a class on gestures. At the end of class, she recommended that we pick up the book you're now plowing through, 'The Natural Way to Draw'.

Well, I did pick it up, but never really got into the exercises.
From what I could tell, (and now see from this thread) it consisted of essentially endless figure drawing exercises of varying kinds.

That's never really been the way I learn, but am wondering how effective you are finding it?

[Kweckduck]

I'm not as far into it as Courtyard, so I'm wondering to see what her answer will be to this.

Personally I didn't find the contour excercices all that educational, maybe because of drawing with a tablet (drawing on the tablet, looking at the screen). It didn't make my contours any nicer, but in my opinion it kind of felt the same.

I have to say the continual and never ending gesture excercices are what I've been picking up the most from. The shear amount of quick studies you do is incredible. And you don't have to care how good or bad it looks afterwards, because they are so sketchy anyway. I used to erase them afterwards to save on paper. :) But I find for me I can instantly see what I'm not getting right. So that area of the body is something I might focus on a bit more the next time and that part will get better, but then I notice something else and change my focus in the next couple of gestures and slowly the whole quick gesture start to look better.

I'm only just starting with the modelled drawings, but the technique used to make them is quite interesting and I can see myself picking up some things here or there.

I suppose if you are at an advanced / professional level of drawing / painting it is a lot of time to invest in something that might not teach you much new. But I think it's an ideal starting point for the amateur that wants to take things a bit more seriously.

[elliec]

Hi,

I too am working my way through TNWTD but have not yet got as far as you. I just started weight drawings today. But I spent a long - LONG - time on gesture drawings and I think I now have a clue about what Nicolaides was onto with them. I've spent about the last year doing gesture drawings and it has changed my other drawings immensely. I use to have terrible problems with proportion and at some point I noticed that when I was doing gesture drawings the proportions were right, I didn't have to think about it at all. And now I find that proportion is no longer the problem that it was. If I just 'think gesturally' everything comes out right.

I also discovered something that I think is important for getting the full effect of gesture drawing - never use photographs to draw from. I think there is something in us that responds to the reality, to the feel of what we're looking at, something that translates what we see into something 'real' on the paper when we do gesture. And, let's face it, a photo is flat. When I try to draw gesturally from a photo, I don't get anything like the feeling of connection, the feeling of 'being' what I'm drawing, that I do when drawing from an actual model or object. Yeah, no one has a model on call to be there every day while we sit there drawing. But so what? Use the dog, use things in the landscape. Just go outside and take a walk with your sketchbook - do a tree, do a cow, do a pile of rocks. Go to the mall and do gesture drawings of people walking by. In a pinch, I do find that watching TV is somehow better than using still photos, maybe the motion recalls life to whatever areas in our brains respond to life. I feel that gesture drawing may have actually changed the way my brain works! I simply see things differently now, and my drawing has improved. Not that there isn't still lots of room to improve yet more!

Anyway, I'd like to join you in your journey through the book, if that's possible - since I'm a bit behind you.

Cheers,

Ellie Clemens

http://www.ellieclemens.com

[courtyard]

Wow! What a wonderful collection of posts to come back to. I will have an update later today, hopefully. In the meantime...

Hi Zarahn Southon--Will do! Maxine's advice has helped tremendously.

armando--Thank you. Seriously--I've reread your advice three times and can't thank you enough for taking the time to explain things so carefully. Putting it in terms of balance really helps, and illustrates once again how important it is to assume these positions yourself. When that exercise comes up again, I may have to drag you back over here to see if I've got it right. Thanks again.

Hey Kweckduck--great progress! I definitely agree that one of the best things about the book is that it's not a typical drawing manual.

Hi lowercase--thanks for dropping by, mate! I think what drew me to this book was that it forced me to work (and learn) in a different way than I was accustomed to. In high school, I used to copy photographs hair by hair with a toothpick...each "sketch" in my sketchbook had to be a polished drawing, or I'd rip that page out. I now have 10 sketchbooks filled with absolute rubbish thanks to this course, but I feel much more connected to what I'm drawing than I ever did before. My actual "finished" works are nowhere near where I'd like them to be, but I feel confident that I'm at least on the right track...An analogy I use for myself is acting, since that's my background, and since you're going into animation it might be helpful. The endless gestures are, for me, like the endless rehearsal exercises, never to be seen by an audience, that go into establishing a character's background, physicality, circumstances, obstacles, objectives, and countless other variables. These allow the actor to be present during an actual performance and respond moment-to-moment as the character would. VERSUS--an actor devoting each rehearsal to nailing down the final inflections, facial expressions, and reactions that will be carbon copied through to the performances, which s/he will continue to repeat without variation, completely impervious to everything else that's happening on stage. It may end up that on the surface they look quite similar, but the first example will invariably have much more power and impact. LOL--sorry if that was as clear as mud. If you already feel a strong connection with your subjects, the course might not be relevant...I just really didn't, so it's helped tremendously in that respect.

Hi again Kweckduck--definitely chuck the tablet for the contours and use a pencil and paper. :) The whole point of the exercise is the tactile experience, and you'll make it ten times harder on yourself to sense that if you're relying on the slippery tablet surface. I think the teachings in the book are absolutely as essential for the professional as they are for the amateur, if not more so...building a shiny, beautiful superstructure on top of a sand foundation is disastrous, no matter who the architect is.

Hi Ellie--wicked post. I definitely agree with everything that you said (although I hesitate to use words like "never" ;) ). I'd love to see your progress and cheer you on! Perhaps start a different thread to avoid confusion?

[Kweckduck]

Hey Courtyard, I didn't mean that I actually did the contours with my tablet, I did them as dictated by Nicolaides, paper and pencil. I meant that the feeling of looking at your screen, while drawing on the tablet is close to the same as looking at your object while not looking at your paper.
I read or heard somewhere that point of the blind contours is to train your brain to "orientate" better. I believe you get something similar when using a tablet. When you start using a tablet, it takes some getting used to. Of course with a tablet you will see the result quicker and be able to correct quicker, but there is some similar ground there.

[BubbaGump]

Wow, I've never seen anyone attempt to do Nicolaides' book on CA before. I admire your dedication. I think his gesture chapters are extremely important.

Just remember that gestures aren't the end-all of figure drawings. They're just meant for artists to start thinking about the full body and get you moving away from what you previously stated was how you drew: starting from the eye and working from a single landmark outwards. Gestures should also be the underdrawing and gt you thinking about heirarchy.
1. line of action 2. gesture 3. fleshing out 4. detail, etc.

Another book I'd recommend that sort of expands on Nicolaides theories is How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way. The chapter on drawing the figure stresses gesture heavily and was a basis for Mike Mattesi's books. It may seem like a naive book, but there's some solid fundamentals to be learned from it.

I wish you all the luck with TNWTD.

[courtyard]

Hey Kweckduck--sorry, my misunderstanding! I know what you mean about using blind contours as an exercise for orientation, but I think it's a different approach from what Nicolaides is describing. I fell into that same trap early on, and discovered for myself that I either had to go for the sensation of touching the object or improving my hand/eye coordination. I found that the touching sensation took every ounce of concentration if I was doing it properly, and that the hand/eye coordination focus pulled me towards worrying about a final product that looked like the subject, which I'm now trying to avoid. You could always use the Nicolaides exercises for the touching sensation, and your tablet work for hand/eye coordination??

Hi BubbaGump--thanks so much for your comment and encouragement. Do you think I'm drifting too far into the "fleshing out" phase? I keep wondering that myself.... You're definitely not alone in thinking that book is wonderful--it keeps coming up on threads. I must check it out! Thanks again.

********
50 gestures (1 hr), modelled drawing in watercolor (30 mins), modelled drawing of the head in watercolor (1 hr), 15 gestures of the features (30 mins) PLUS Daily composition as homework

We're coming up on gesture-free drapery week, so I think I'll be able to catch up! I didn't come near the forcefulness that Nicolaides dictates for the watercolors, so I hope these come up again. I ran out of time on both of these, so the black is virtually nonexistent. Thanks for sticking with me, guys--your comments have been so incredibly helpful.

[XanaChama]

Hey XanaChama! The daily compositions (or my interpretation of what Nicolaides was saying) are about putting as much information down as possible in 15 minutes. It's meant to be a "memory snapshot" taken within the past 24 hours. I'm extremely slow, so the most I can get down in that amount of time looks pretty elementary, but I'll hopefully get faster and more specific with how I observe things as I do more of these. LOL--I'm not sure if I'm killing it, but I'm learning a lot! ;)

You're really dedicated. So I think after time, it will all sink in. I never 'feel' the progress on my own personally, I usually just see it and have a sudden epiphany and go "Wow!". Is it drawing from the past?... sounds like that would really help with working in your imagination and more results in the intuitive realm. Especially when you memorize the pieces.....

[elliec]

Hi Courtyard,

I have to say I'm finding it confusing to keep track of what's going on here. It took me a long time to even find the post I added. Duh!

I'll do some gestures on paper and scan and post them in the next few days. Typically I don't use paper. I use these little thingies that French school kids have - like magic slate sort of things only a little more robust. They also use small dry-erase boards and both of these things are available really cheap in the local supermarkets. I started using these because it meant less wasted paper and I love these things! I use them when I paint outside as well - I can do several quick sketches before starting a painting. I have one of these dry-erase things that I cut down to a small enough size to keep in my purse and I carry it everywhere.

I think you're right about the tactile experience. I tried doing gestures on a tablet but didn't get the same feel. Definitely not the same experience at all.

I'll go investigate how to start another thread - although I have to say that I'm not that good at posting things every day.

Cheers,

Ellie

[lowercase]

Wow, that's a great analogy.
I'm not an actor, but definately understand what you are saying.

I guess when it comes to traditional animation (or computer animation, to a lesser extent) we have to be able to constantly create new forms quickly and effectively, where it's impossible to have a perfect reference (like a photo) available all the time.

I definately see these exercises becoming useful in the future. Keep it up!

[courtyard]

Hey XanaChama--thanks for continuing to visit! Yeah, hopefully those areas will get stronger with practice and lots of anatomy/perspective study. :)

Hi Ellie! I know what you mean--the interface can be really overwhelming at first. This thread (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=79774) has some helpful advice for people new to the site. To start a new thread, just go to the part of the site you want it to appear (such as FINE ARTS, STUDIES, & DISCOVERY or SKETCHBOOKS), and under the Sub-Forums box on the left-hand side there's a button that says "New Thread." Click that. The title that you choose in the window that loads will be the title for your thread (you can edit this at any time) and the first image that you attach using the attachment manager (little paperclip symbol) will be your thumbnail. If you want to change those two elements in the future, click the "edit" button under the post, then "Go Advanced" and you'll have the full set of options. I think that's everything, but just let me know if you have any other questions.

Hey lowercase--I hope you're right! Will do...thanks for dropping by. :)

********
Quick studies of drapery (1 hr), long study of drapery (2 hrs) PLUS Daily composition as homework

Really different schedule this week, which is very exciting in the land of TNWTD. This week is 100% drapery studies (no gestures!). The first of the two exercises is "Quick Studies of Drapery", which consists of 1 hour's worth of 5-10 minute studies of a sheet in various positions, and each of these is proceeded by a gesture of what the student thinks the sheet will look like when it's suspended from the suggested points. For the first four, Nicolaides is extremely detailed about the positioning, but then says the student can go on to choose his/her own arrangements from there.

The first long study is 2 hours, and the second is 3. Again, these are proceeded by a gesture drawing. Nicolaides is very specific about how these should be done--and it's important to note that these are *not* modelled drawings. Instead, the top of each fold should be left white, the left and right sides middle gray, the base of the fold dark gray, and the student should use graduated gradients from black for "undercuts", or sides that are turned under and therefore not visible. He asks that the student finish by drawing a cross contour across the surface.

I had a hard time delineating the different areas in ten minutes, so the quick studies are pretty sloppy. I also accidentally did four instead of 5, so I'll add an extra one in the next session. I will post the two hour study in the next post, but I think I should have made each of its divisions more precise and angular.

[courtyard]

Ellie--I realized I forgot to comment on your info about the French dry-erase boards/magic slates...I've never heard about that, but wow--what a clever thing to use for quick studies! Using so much paper is probably the thing I like least about the course, so that sounds like a great alternative for the gestures (or even a portion of them).

********
Quick studies of drapery (1 hr), long study of drapery (2 hrs) PLUS Daily composition as homework

D'oh! I just realized I read the schedule wrong...it's supposed to be one 4-hour long study plus one 6-hour study. Hmmm...well, here is the 2 hour study I did. I think I might continue on with the 6 hour study tomorrow and do a bonus 4 hour study when I finish the week. They will be much more angular (like the illustration in the book--which I think is *actually* relevant this time).

I did this day's session at the same time as the previous post's, so those comments apply here. I got frustrated with how sloppy the quick studies were, so I took twenty minutes on the fifth one below.

I worry for the safety of the person in the daily comp, but my 15 minutes were up so I didn't have time to change her trajectory.

[BubbaGump]

Hi BubbaGump--thanks so much for your comment and encouragement. Do you think I'm drifting too far into the "fleshing out" phase? I keep wondering that myself.... You're definitely not alone in thinking that book is wonderful--it keeps coming up on threads. I must check it out! Thanks again.

It would depend. If you were aiming for illustration, you probably would be better off skipping some gesture excersises in the book. But since you're going the animation route, I think the stuff Nicol teaches about gesture and heirarchy is important. However, I think you should take occassional breaks from the schedule. It's good to learn that much stuff quantity wise, but don't burn yourself out. Drawing too much can actually hinder the learning process. Nicolaides stresses scribbling, intuition, and feeling, but don't forget that UNDERSTANDING is key to learning.

Know and understand why you're doing these excersises. Whether it's learning to draw the entire form through quick gesture, capturing the feeling and story of the pose, and modeling to achieve 3 dimension, etc.

[drd]

Huge props for even getting started, I tried and failed within the first few minutes

For me, it most definitely is not the "natural" way to draw

But I'm sure it will benefit the person who sticks to it

nice work!

[courtyard]

Hey Bubbagump--thanks a lot for your post. At this stage, I still feel good about plowing ahead and like I'm not in danger of burnout...if anything, it seems like I'm not doing enough. There have been definite moments of frustration (and frankly boredom), but I'm glad I've stuck with it. I'll for sure take a break if that changes...I've been taking this week pretty leisurely, actually. :)

Hi drd--thanks so much for dropping by! I felt the exact same way as you when I started, and I still have my moments of internal rebellion. As you say, though, I think you gain momentum as you progress.

*****
Just thought I might as well post these as I work on the 6-hour study. I find the quick studies really, really difficult. They have the same nausea factor as the blind contours, but this time the problem is taking on too much information too quickly rather than too little too slowly. I can't count the number of times I've started ferociously shading a "base" only to realize it's a "top" of another fold, which then has a ripple effect through the whole image. My arrangements are probably too complicated, too.

Oh, and on these latest two daily comps I broke two of my rules and used multiple layers (one for the background, one for the subject) *and* the eraser. I might stick with that for a while, until I get a bit more confident with speed painting.

[Maxine Schacker]

With daily compositions, try to do places you know and see what you remember. I still remember my shock years ago when I couldn't remember the relationship between the height of the washing machines at the laundromat and my height. It's best to do places you can revisit to check out what you remembered.

At Max the Mutt we also use Bridgman's Complete Guide To Drawing From Life and Robert Beverly Hales' Drawing Lessons From the Great Masters.
Students are also have courses in Perspective and Structural Drawing and Principles of Drawing, using still life to learn point to point, positive and negative space, planar construction etc. We don't complete the whole Nicolaides schedule in year one. It is continued in year two, in tandem with other exercises. A separate anatomy course comes in second semester of year two (in addition to life drawing).

I think you have made significant progress! This will definitely help you at Ringling.

The other thing you might begin doing now is learning to draw and run lines over basic forms (cube, cylinder, pyramid etc.) in perspective.

You won't believe how much this will help! By the way, I don' remember seeing your blind contour and cross contour exercises, and those are very, very important. Connecting your sense of touch to eye and hand is what makes the difference between mechanical and felt work.

[courtyard]

Hi Maxine! You are so right about needing to do the running lines over basic forms in perspective. I was doing some really rudimentary head construction exercises in my sketchbook thread a couple of days ago, and had trouble accurately dividing the head into quarters. Silly question, but how do your students go about those studies? Do they have physical forms to work with, or do they just work from imagination? I want to do them correctly, and I don't really trust my eye at this point! Also in my sketchbook thread, I've been working my way through Constructive Anatomy--I'm still on the hands section. I was planning to move on to The Complete Guide to Drawing from life afterward. I have Hale (ordered it after your recommendation), but have barely started with it--looks amazing though. If you ever have a spare minute to pop over to my sketchbook (link in signature), I'd love your feedback (lots of rough stuff in there, as a warning)... Re: the blind/cross contours, I started posting images to this thread when I was finishing up week 3, so most of the drawings from the first three weeks aren't here (but I did them--it just would have taken too much time to upload everything). Thanks so much for your continual posts and encouragement--I can't tell you what a difference they've made!

**********

Quick studies of drapery (1 hr), long study of drapery (hours 3 &4 of 6) PLUS Daily composition as homework

Pretty identical to the last post...at this point, the quick studies were getting a bit easier, but it still took me over an hour to do 4. I will post the 6 hour drawing in the next post...

[courtyard]

Quick studies of drapery (1 hr), long study of drapery (hrs 5&6 of 6) PLUS Daily composition as homework

For some reason, I decided to nix the "leisurely pace" plan for this week, and instead got back on schedule by doing two six-hour sessions of sheets back to back. Photo quality is an all-time bad. The 6 hour study from the past three days is posted below...I stupidly tucked the bottom of the sheet up for that one, so it looks more like a gigantic turd.

Daily comp for today is terrible...apologies.

[Nkristian]

wow. I really like you're idea of a daily composition:D:D I think I will also do some of my own dailies.

and also you're sketchbook thread has lots of awesome work too.

[courtyard]

Hi Nkristian--thanks very much for your comment. The daily composition isn't my idea, though, it's from the book I'm working from for this thread...you should check it out. :)

*********

50 gestures (1 hr), modelled drawing in lithograph of figure with drapery (30 mins & 1 hr), memory drawings (30 mins) PLUS Daily composition as homework

Please ignore the modelled drawings for today--probably the worst things in this entire thread. I was struggling with how to draw myself in a sheet, but I'll work something out that's less awkward for tomorrow. We're back to gestures, and I weirdly missed them--definitely a sign that this course is having an effect. I also did the memory drawings for today from imagination, and while the proportions are wonky, I feel much more capable than I did at the beginning of January. Last week, I messed up with the lengths of the long drapery studies (I did a 2 hour drawing and it was meant to be 4 hours), so I'm throwing up this bonus 2-hour study that is very non-Nicolaidian. :)

In this chapter, Nicolaides says that you can start doing the daily comps from imagination to supplement ones done from memory. Today's was from memory, but once again I had a hard time getting much info down in 15 mins.

[lowercase]

Gestures are looking good. I can see some real improvement.

[Aaron Death]

Wow, I can definitely see your improvement. Somehow, I do have a feeling that perhaps Nicolaides indeed has some very good things in his book.

The amount of drawing you do everyday is rather terrifying. How much time do you draw everyday?

[courtyard]

Hi lowercase--thanks for checking in again and for your encouragement. I've subscribed to your sketchbook and will return the favor when you update. :)

Hi Aaron Death--thanks a lot! Yeah, you should check him out if this stuff appeals to you. I'm doing Natural Way to Draw 3 hours a day, 5 days a week (due to finish mid-July ) and stuff for my sketchbook whenever I get the chance.

******
50 gestures (1 hr), modelled drawing in ink of figure with drapery (30 mins & 1 hr), moving action (30 mins) PLUS Daily composition as homework

Today was a bad day for gestures, but hopefully tomorrow will be better. Still trying to work out interesting ways to wrap myself in a sheet without getting pencil/ink/watercolor all over it! I'll try to focus more on the figure tomorrow, since that was pretty neglected in today's.

[Leonor]

You're very determined, disciplined and patient for going throught this. I like how imaginative you are with your daily compositions. I can't come up with stuff like that from imagination yet.

These kind of studies is not something I think I could do yet either, they remind me too much of the drill work I did at University (especially that 6 hour drapery, reminds me of a rock I had to do once.)

[courtyard]

Hi Leonor! Thanks for the visit. The daily comps so far haven't been from imagination--they are meant to be a drawing from memory of something that I've seen within the past 24 hours, and have a 15 minute time limit. Mine are still god awful at this point! What you said about drill work really strikes a chord with me--I think in the wrong hands, this course could definitely degenerate into that type of instruction. If you stay true to the text, though, I find Nicolaides' descriptions to be incredibly gentle and encouraging, and often poetic. It's remarkable to me how often what he says merges with Zen Buddhist teachings, and how much of the work blurs into meditative drawing--being completely present with what you're studying.

*******
50 gestures (1 hr), modelled drawing in watercolor of figure with drapery (30 mins & hour 1 of 2 hr drawing), memory drawings (30 mins) PLUS Daily composition as homework

Still getting back into the swing of gestures, throwing in a sprinkling of drawings from imagination and from assuming the positions myself. The 30 minute watercolor was pretty pathetic...I should have tried something simpler since it's very difficult to paint myself without disturbing the fabric folds. Will post the 2 hr drawing in the following post.

*edit: added daily composition*

[kitehiGh]

wow. You've made great process and it's really inspired me to get the book (as grueling as it seems). I wish I would have heard of it sooner. I have some confidence in my abilities to observe from life but I can't draw from my imagination at all. I was hoping that this might improve such drawings? As my understanding of anatomy is definatly lacking. Bahhh.

I am going to be a freshmen at art school next year as well (probably MICA) and really hope to bulk up my anatomy skills over the summer. Looking at my past work is rather annoying now, despite the scholarship dollars I've recieved it seems ultimatly lacking (with potential!)

I want so badly to be able to render figures with confidence in the poses I see them in my head without constantly having to refer to referance photos for basic structure.

So some basic questions:
How is the book broken up?
How many hours a day do you spend drawing?

I am pretty swamped with school work at the moment, but I could probably figure in about 1 hour every weekday and 3 or 4 on Saterday (don't want to burn myself out) until summer comes. At which point I'll be working from 8 to 5, but consiveably could put in about 3 hours a day with more on Saterday and a break on Sunday.

[courtyard]

Hi kitehiGh--I wrote you a long response and hit submit, at which point the the forums froze and everything was deleted. I'm dead tired so I'll respond to you when I update tomorrow. ;)

********

50 gestures (1 hr), modelled drawing in watercolor of figure with drapery (hour 2 of 2 hr drawing), descriptive poses (30 mins), right-angle study (30 mins) PLUS Daily composition as homework

Nicolaides encourages muddiness in the modelled watercolor drawings, and I've definitely achieved that. :D I'm worried about falling into a mindless system for the gestures, so I forced myself to be messy and loose with these.

[Shehaub]

I have had this book for years and when I tried to get past the first couple weeks, I just did not see an improvement fast enough to feel like it was working. After watching you do this, I am seeing how the changes take effect. I am considering picking this book up again. I keep popping between this thread and your sketchbook. I think I see one influencing the other. I could be wrong, but both threads are improving post by post.

I just want to cheer you on and encourage you to keep going.

[courtyard]

Hi again kitehiGh--I work from the book 3 hours per day, 5 days per week, and get up at 4am each day to cram it in. I started on Jan 15 and should finish mid-July if I stay on schedule, so it's a pretty hefty workload. I think with your timeline and goals, and because you are looking for a results-oriented course, you might be better off looking elsewhere for now. Books that you'll see pop up countless times on these forums are Bridgman's Constructive Anatomy and Loomis' Figure Drawing for all it's Worth...both are available online (legally) if you do a quick search. Take the time to find a book and author that you have a strong connection with. Then, one approach that you could try is copying all of the images and really absorbing all of the details while you're doing so, then test that knowledge regularly by drawing the same images without ref. Knowledge of perspective and simple forms (spheres, cylinders, squares, cones) is extremely important, too...my perspective skills are horrendous because I keep procrastinating with those studies, and I run into a lot of problems as a result. Hope that helps...

Hi Shehaub--Wow, thank you! That means so much...I hope you're right about the improvement. :)

*********
50 gestures (1 hr), gesture of the features (30 mins), 10 minute form studies (30 mins), modelled drawing of the head in medium of your choice (1 hour) PLUS Daily composition as homework

I was getting rained on while doing the gestures, so sorry about the wrinkly pages. Face gestures are attractive as ever. I did the 10 minute form studies again, this time trying to keep armando's advice (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=2195758&postcount=78) in mind, and I feel like I'm getting a bit closer to the correct way of doing these. For today's modelled drawing of the head, the book said the student could choose the medium, so I went with digital for fun. The result is kind of scary, but I've never worked this fast in digital before--I had laid down pretty much all of the information and only 18 minutes had gone by, which is unheard of for me. The last self portrait in my sketchbook took over 2 hours and I felt like I was really rushing...I guess modelled drawings truly are a natural way to draw for me now. :)

Threw in one daily comp for imagination today. As I said to kitehiGh, I really need to stop stalling with perspective studies...

[courtyard]

I'm taking a tiny break studying perspective...will be back shortly!

[Noah Bradley]

Definitely seeing improvement here. Admirable dedication to sticking with his lesson-plans. I've heard a lot of people laud the book, but no one actually going through it all. :)

Keep up the good work!

[courtyard]

Hi Noah--thanks so much for the kind words...really appreciate the visit.

*****
50 gestures (1 hr), extended gesture study (30 mins), memory drawings (30 mins), sustained study (hour 1 of 4) PLUS Daily composition as homework

I'm back. The week off was nice. Hopefully the perspective studies I did will start to bleed into the work here...

This week is where everything starts to come together. It's the halfway point of the course, and the major project of the week is a 4 hour sustained study composed of three drawings. The first is the extended gesture study, which is a half hour gesture in which the student can erase (!), emphasize contours (!), and zero in on details. The student then lays down tracing paper over this and does a blind-ish contour drawing...s/he can stop drawing and check occasionally to make sure the lines are matching up. Then, on top of this the student places another sheet of tracing paper and does a modelled drawing. There is an important rule change here, too...instead of the part of the form which is closest to the eye being made the lightest, the student is to refer to the light source and make those areas the lightest and the shadowed areas the darkest. It is still a modelled drawing, however...there are no cast shadows.

I think I found the new non-Nicolaidian rules of the extended gesture so foreign that I accidentally ignored them and just did a lifeless scribble drawing instead. Tomorrow will be better. Lots of gestures from imagination, and memory drawings were from imagination and my own poses. Daily comp from imagination, too.

I will post the images for the 4 hour study all in one post on day 4 of this week.

[courtyard]

50 gestures (1 hr), extended gesture study (30 mins), reverse poses (30 mins), sustained study (hour 2 of 4) PLUS Daily composition as homework


Still plowing along here...on schedule with the exercises, just delayed with the uploads. More to come later today...

[courtyard]

50 gestures (1 hr), extended gesture study (30 mins), memory drawings (30 mins), sustained study (hour 3 of 4) PLUS Daily composition as homework

[kitehiGh]

[QUOTE=courtyard;2215314]Hi again kitehiGh--I work from the book 3 hours per day, 5 days per week, and get up at 4am each day to cram it in. I started on Jan 15 and should finish mid-July if I stay on schedule, so it's a pretty hefty workload. I think with your timeline and goals, and because you are looking for a results-oriented course, you might be better off looking elsewhere for now. Books that you'll see pop up countless times on these forums are Bridgman's Constructive Anatomy and Loomis' Figure Drawing for all it's Worth...both are available online (legally) if you do a quick search. Take the time to find a book and author that you have a strong connection with. Then, one approach that you could try is copying all of the images and really absorbing all of the details while you're doing so, then test that knowledge regularly by drawing the same images without ref. Knowledge of perspective and simple forms (spheres, cylinders, squares, cones) is extremely important, too...my perspective skills are horrendous because I keep procrastinating with those studies, and I run into a lot of problems as a result. Hope that helps...

[QUOTE/]

I am going to do it as a structured plan would greatly benefit me. I've gotten the book from the library and I really like it although I can't start until summer. I am anxious! ahhH! I'll be working a good bit of the summer (as a portrait artist) but otherwise I am free and excited for it. It's going to be a good time. Although I am going to be sure to check out Bridgemen and Loomis.

So thanks you.

[purb36]

great work and dedication dude! excited to see how you improve. your modelling work has gotten soooooo much better, so congrats!

as for composition, i HIGHLY recommend finding copies of Andrew Loomis' Creative Illustration, and Eye of the Painter. They have been the most helpful books i have personally seen on composition.

hope this helps; keep burning those pages away! :)

[Peter Berkovski]

this will pay out to you !

[Maxine Schacker]

It already has. Just a note about modeling. Think about sculpting or carving. Could someone work with your drawing to create the 3D form? In watercolor, first do the silhouette in ochre. Then mix ochre and earth red and do everything that isn't facing you. Then mix ochre, earth red and a touch of black and save black alone for the real undercuts. We should be able to read the turn of planes in space...and this is hard to do!

if you look at our You Tube account, or the home page of our website you'll
see lots of year one work in the video. The still galleries are being redesigned to show more work and should be up by June.

I think you have done a terrific job! Any school is lucky to have a student like you who has initiative and drive and isn't passively waiting to be spoon fed. Hats off.

[courtyard]

Hi kitehiGh--Cool. No problem, and best of luck!

Hi purb36--Thanks so much for that recommendation. I was going to post a question on the forums about good books for studying composition since I need so much help in that department!

Hi there Peter--I hope so. Thank you!

Hi Maxine! Thanks once again for the clarification about modeling--one of these days I'll hopefully get it right! I'm afraid I don't know anyone who could create a 3d form from the drawings, though. That's a great video on your website...it's fantastic to see so many students excited about this type of work. I'm really looking forward to the still galleries--it was fun to catch a glimpse of their progress with these exercises! Thanks again for your kind words...they mean a lot.

*******
50 gestures (1 hr), extended gesture study (30 mins), memory drawings (substituted for group poses--30 mins), sustained study (hour 4 of 4) PLUS Daily composition as homework

I'll do my best to keep updating regularly, but it might be a bit sporadic from here on out...

[courtyard]

50 gestures (1 hr), extended gesture study (30 mins), gesture of the features (30 mins), extended gesture study of the head(30 mins) PLUS Daily composition as homework

[Asatira]

Got to say, there is definite improvement from where you started. I, like a number of people who've commented already, like some of Niccoleides' exercises but can't really imagine sticking to the schedule. It is nice to see you going through and sticking with it. Seeing them applied helps to clarify some things about the exercises. I particularly enjoy your facial gestures. I take it you're using yourself for ref?

I'll have to take some time to go through the book again and come up with my own schedule of exercises.

Keep up the good work.

[Shehaub]

You are developing a nice personal rhythm in your gestures. Not only do they seem more accurate, but they also seem to flow much better. (not sure if that makes sense) Fantastic improvement.

[Maxine Schacker]

Thanks for the kind words! We are so-o-o busy getting the final show ready. We'll video that as well, so you'll get to see some of the work.

You are working so hard and making so much progress! I'm sure you can see it yourself. It's been fun watching you grow.

[courtyard]

Hi Asatira--thank you so much for the kind words. Facial gestures are indeed of myself, lol. Good luck with the book!

Hi there Shehaub--That made perfect sense--thank you so much. :)

Hi Maxine--Thank you! I'm looking forward to the new video...

*********

40 gestures (1 hour), hour 1 of 4 on two different sustained studies (2 hours), PLUS Daily composition as homework

Lots of updates today. I timed myself and realized that I was taking about two minutes for the gestures done last week, so I'm trying to speed it up to one min each again for this week. Bear with me as the gestures look quite sloppy during the transition.

I will post both completed 4-hour sustained studies in schedule D.

[courtyard]

40 gestures (1 hour), hour 2 of 4 on two different sustained studies (2 hours), PLUS Daily composition as homework

Hurray for breaking the 200 hour barrier!

[courtyard]

40 gestures (1 hour), hour 3 of 4 on two different sustained studies (2 hours), PLUS Daily composition as homework

[courtyard]

Hi there--no internet access for the next week, but I'll be working diligently at getting caught up. Thanks again for the support!

[GriNGo]

Daily composition #53 is looking amazing! keep up the good work.

[Imaginary]

It's so cool that you'r keeping this up! If you can do all this, which i couldn't, then your dedication must be on a whole different level from mine. Definitely inspiring me to work harder so keep it up! :D

[courtyard]

Huge update...bear with me as I post everything...

[courtyard]

40 gestures (1 hour), hour 4 of 4 on two different sustained studies (2 hours), PLUS Daily composition as homework

[courtyard]

Hello GriNGo- Thank you so much!

Hi Imaginary! That's definitely not true...your sketchbook shows mind-numbing dedication and discipline, so you could handle this no sweat! ;) Thanks for the visit.

*****

40 gestures (1 hour), right angle study (30 mins), extended gesture of the head in pencil PLUS Daily composition as homework

Man, every other daily comp seems to have a beach in it. Definitely looking forward to seeing the Gulf of Mexico for the first time... :D

[courtyard]

40 gestures (1 hour), hour 1 of 4 on two different sustained studies (2 hours), PLUS Daily composition as homework

[courtyard]

40 gestures (1 hour), hour 2 of 4 on two different sustained studies (2 hours), PLUS Daily composition as homework

[courtyard]

40 gestures (1 hour), hour 3 of 4 on two different sustained studies (2 hours), PLUS Daily composition as homework

[Shehaub]

Nice to see all this work. No slacking off for you huh? The gesture studies are just getting better and better. I really like your sustained studies.

[Munin Raven]

This is really a pleasure to see. Huge respect for tackling this project. I don't know how you have managed to stick to it, but whatever your secret is, keep whispering it to yourself like a mantra. :)

I guess once you faught your way through the initial starting phase, the obvious progress you have began to make provided the boost to keep you going?

[courtyard]

Updating through schedule 16C for the next short while...please bear with me.

[courtyard]

Hi Shehaub! Thank you so much for being so supportive. The sustained studies I'm posting this evening are hilariously bad, so I hope you'll glaze over them ;)

Hello Munin Raven! Thank you. There have been some verrry rough patches with a lot of swearing, lol. At those times I think about all of the hours I've pumped into this and how infuriatingly frustrating it would be to quit at this stage! Mainly, though, I love the text that supports the exercises, and often re-reading a description makes me excited to do the work again.

****
40 gestures (1 hour), hour 4 of 4 on two different sustained studies (2 hours), PLUS Daily composition as homework

I messed up and accidentally included an exercise from the next schedule here--the "skeleton" gesture tacked onto the sustained study. The modelled drawings are very sloppy, so apologies. Daily comp was from imagination, not memory--LOL.

[courtyard]

40 gestures, Study of the bones, Extended gesture of head in pencil PLUS Daily composition as homework
****

The new exercise today was to make a gesture study of the bones beneath one of the this week's sustained studies...I included the image in the previous post. I obviously have a lot to learn here! Yikes.

Daily comps are still dreadful--I haven't had a chance to study up on composition yet, but it's a top priority.

[courtyard]

40 gestures (1 hour), hour 1 of 4 on two different sustained studies (2 hours), PLUS Daily composition as homework

The long composition is the new exercise this week, which I'm excited about but unfortunately I'm only on daily comp 63 and I'm meant to be on 98, so I've got a lot of catching up to do first. >:{ Bear with me!

[courtyard]

40 gestures (1 hour), hour 2 of 4 on two different sustained studies (2 hours), PLUS Daily composition as homework (30 mins)

I tried taking twice as long with today's daily comp, but still not much success.

[courtyard]

40 gestures (1 hour), hour 3 of 4 on two different sustained studies (2 hours), PLUS Daily composition as homework (15 mins)

[Leonor]

Is the daily composition a scene totally from your imagination or a theme the books suggests? I don't remember if I asked this already.

[Chompo]

The time an effort..WOW. You are realy improving

Actualy I am considering following the book my self..
Though I am messy..starting this and that..and never finish..
But I feel this is right for me now...though the schedule doesn't fit mine..
But I'll put the right time to each exercise.

- Begining with the blind contour, I was wandering if you have any tips,
I find it extremly hard to stay focus, not getting my eyes to see blur..and for 30 mins
while not skeeping ahead with my eyes..

- How do you feel now, after going 234 hours?

[Spirit]

As others have said throughout this thread, I am amazed at the dedication you have put into sticking with this! I am not familiar with the book itself, but from your first post to now, I can see a great improvement in your work! This is a good example of what hard work can achieve. Well done :D
Also, would you recommend this course to others? From what I can see it has been a real pain at times :P but from the work you are producing, it seems to be paying off!

[sketcheth]

Wow. This is the most impressive and inspiring I've looked at it in quite some time! Your dedication is really admirable and the effects are astonishing! Your figure sketches are look really sharp, and I also really like your daily compositions! I need to look into this book! Or at least perhaps try out that daily composition idea... thank you for giving me some inspiration!

[courtyard]

Hey guys---sorry for the delay in responding. I was hoping to wait until I had images, but I got waylaid by this week's ChoW. ;)

Hi Leonor--The rules for the daily comp shifted a couple of weeks back. Now they can include drawings done entirely from imagination, but you're still supposed to balance those equally with ones from memory (from within the past 24 hours). I've been fudging that rule as I try to catch up, so most of these last ones have been from imagination...

Hi Chompo--If it feels right for you, I say go for it. You can always stop and take up different studies if it's not a good fit. I'm the same as you about the blind contours...I think the key is to not resist the present moment. As soon as you start thinking about when your time will be up, or how long you've already been drawing, or how bored you are, the exercise kind of crumbles and becomes pointless (from my own experience). But when you actually, *literally* feel like you're touching what you see with your pencil, it's wonderful and enormously helpful.

Hi spirit--thank you so much for that comment...I really appreciate it. I would recommend it to people who are realistic about the course...it's not very results/product-oriented. It's more about changing your approach to art than about developing tips and tricks, if you know what I mean. I think I would spend a full year on it, too, rather than trying to do it in six months. And I would supplement it with other types of study to keep yourself sane, and make sure they are things that you find extremely enjoyable to do. ;)

hi sketcheth! My absolute pleasure. I'm so glad that you find this thread helpful. I've got to hurry up and post another update!

[Leonor]

Thanks for explaining! I actually didn't think of making a distinction between memory and imagination, I thought those words adequate to mean making an image up. Of course it makes more sense to use memory to mean recalling an image seen before.

[Justin.]

That's a pretty amazing improvement from first post to most recent. Good work!

[Chompo]

I definitly identify with what you are saying!
thanks..it's great so see someone who studies the book and improved with it.

I am still wondering how do you feel about it?
and do you actualy take all the 15 hours?

[Arcko]

I have a rather simple question for you. Where are you getting this wealth of poses to sketch from? Are they provided from the book or do you have a stockpile somewhere?

In any event, WOW. You have come quite the ways in your drawing. Might I offer a suggestion? Perhaps you are not coming as far with daily compositions because of the change in mediums? There is a drastic difference from pencil on paper to the digital medium with the huge addition of color. Maybe you should attempt a composition using no color on your pad. My 2c!

[sketcheth]

Haha, another update is definitely called for, but I think you're excused, the ChoW is a very worthy distraction. I wish I had such an excuse! :P Can't wait!

[Andreisart]

Hi Courtyard,

I started with TNWTD in March and ever since I've been lurking in your thread. I must say the work you've done is impressive and your progress is amazing. You're thread has been very helpful for me to keep focused.
I find it difficult to get the right material for all the sketching, but with the use of posemaniacs and youtube (ballet, dancing, tennis etc) I’ve managed to get them done so far. I’ve even started drawing form tv! How did you manage to get all the material? You did use posemaniacs in the beginning, but were unhappy with the shoulders?
The gestures are fun to do, but I find it difficult to measure progress. Sometimes they look like something a three year old drew and sometimes I do see liveliness in them. I guess the trick is not the start drawing contour, but it’s difficult not to.
I’ll keep on lurking.

Keep up the good work!

André

[tmth]

Hi! I just wanted to say that I'm tremendously inspired by the hard work you put in practicing and I really do hope that there will be new updates.
Don't stop now! :)

[courtyard]

Hi! Don't worry guys--definitely not stopping. I'm knee-deep in work that unfortunately has to take priority, but the end is in sight. Thanks for your patience! Will reply to you all individually soon.

[armando]

I recently learned about this, thought you might think it's interesting too if you haven't heard of it before: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proprioception.

[NewGuy22]

Thank you courtyard for turning my head on the book "the natural way to draw"..i too found it interesting enough to order it and start the assignments in my sketchbook i post daily..so thank you and will see you at the end! Oh and does anyone know if there is a quick way to hyperlink your sketchbook at the bottom of all your posts are do people put that in manually everytime?

newguy22

[lowercase]

Oh and does anyone know if there is a quick way to hyperlink your sketchbook at the bottom of all your posts are do people put that in manually everytime?


You can put it in your signature, which can be edited in your 'User CP'.

[courtyard]

Thanks for blowing the dust off this thread, lowercase...

Coincidentally, I was just about to post another update here (with responses) so stay tuned.

[courtyard]

I had to strap on my responsibility pants and get a lot of non-art-related stuff taken care of, so sincere apologies to the people I've left hanging for responses. I should be able to update semi-regularly here this month, but August is going to be a bit of a mad one since I'll be moving across the country and starting school.

A couple of changes...I'm nixing the daily comps for a while. I feel like I pushed them as far as I could for having zero knowledge about composition. It will be far more productive (and easier on your corneas) if I study composition and environments over in my sketchbook thread (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=150012&goto=newpost), and when I can get past a remedial level on that front, I'll start up the daily comps again.

Secondly, I'm tweaking the exercises a little to match what I'm studying outside the course. Will explain more with tomorrow's update.

Responses...
Hi Leonor--no problem! Have you tried any of those drawings out yourself yet?

Hey Justin--Thanks a lot!

Hey Chompo--How do I feel? Excited, especially since I'm making a few changes to how I approach the work. And yes, I take all 15 hours whenever life doesn't interfere. :)

Arcko--You read my mind. After finishing the umpteenth stick-house-tree-blob environment, I realized I needed to take a break from the daily comps! I'm looking forward to starting them up again when they aren't such an exercise in futility. And as for sources for poses, as soon as Nicolaides gave the go-ahead a few weeks back in the course to use imagination for the gesture drawings, that's all I've been doing and it's infinitely more enjoyable. Before that, I was schleping along through the mud and dust after my friend the gardener (which is why there's a huge chunk where every pose is practically identical!). Thanks so much for the comment--it gave me the boost I needed.

Hi sketcheth--thanks for the support!

Hi Andreisart--Awesome...I'm so glad this has been helpful for you. Honestly, I felt the biggest shift in gestures after I started drawing them exclusively from imagination (I can't remember when Nicolaides suggests doing this off the top of my head). There are probably more anatomy problems with these, but they are so much for lively and fun to do. Make them fun, any way you can. Keep changing up your routine to make it exciting. Good luck, and let me know if I can help with anything else!

Hi tmth--Thanks so much for the kind words and encouragement! Sorry for the delay!

Hey armando--Thank you! I wasn't familiar with that term, either...what a fantastic can of worms you've opened up for me. Thanks for visiting. :)

Hi Newguy22--lowercase beat me to it, but I saw someone answered your question a while back in another thread so I *hope* I didn't leave you stranded. Looking forward to seeing your progress.

*******
40 gestures (1 hour), hour 4 of 4 on two different sustained studies (2 hours)

Just posting gestures this evening, but will add the sustained studies tomorrow AM (finishing one of them right now). Did these a few weeks ago. Tomorrow's ought to be even more laughable since I'm so out of practice!

[Chompo]

It's realy amazing you do ALL the 15 hours..
I try..but I just keep on doing modelled drawing for 20-25 mins max,
I alaways split the last exercise of an hour, to 2.
Maybe it's the size of papr( 35*50 cm) or me loosing it.
You inspire me to continue, I do feel like i'm getting..sorta, a natural way of observing
But those..freakish 60 mins.. :P heehee.

[courtyard]

Hi Chompo--I wouldn't worry about it too much. I think I'm going to be a little less anal about that from now on! I think the main thing is to force yourself through the 30 min and 1 hr exercises for the first chunk, esp the blind contours. When you feel that internal shift from excruciation to meditation, I think it's a sign that things are going well... :)

******

Here are the sustained studies (extended gesture + semi-blind contour drawing + lighting-based modelled drawing). Some crazy proportions going on here...

[lowercase]

I think all these exercises you are doing is gonna put you way ahead of the competition by the time school starts. I think most of us are just lounging around till then. :[ What is it now, 1 1/2 months away?

The figure gestures continue to get better. Seriously lookin great.

[Andreisart]

Glad to see you're back on track. I got a little worried I might overtake you ;)
The biggest problem I've got so far is how to spend one hour (or more) on one drawing. But I still really like the book a lot, keeping the schedule is getting some kind of an addiction.
Your sustained studies look great and your gestures definitely are getting more lively.

Anxiously awaiting your daily compositions since the end of may ;)

[Maxine Schacker]

Lately many people have been putting down this approach....this thread is the living proof of just how valuable it is. It's wonderful to see your evolution! It's not the be-all and end-all but it insures that your work is FELT, that you are using all your senses, and in the end it will make all your work stronger. Bravo!

[courtyard]

hey lowercase- I'll see your 2 (?) months of summer without drawing and raise you ten years, which is how long I went without! :D High school is hell on toast, so you're allowed to collapse in a heap when it's all over with. And fortunately, the only person I'm competing with is myself...it would be a pretty grim outlook if I was trying to rank myself against all of the other artists out there. ;) Thanks for the encouragement--gestures were bloody awful today!

Hi Andreisart--You'll definitely overtake me...I'm going to be updating at a very slow pace from here on out. ;) I mentioned a couple posts back that the daily comps are on hold while I study composition and environments over in my sketchbook...I love the idea of the exercise, but at this stage I'm just repeating the same mistakes over and over since I'm lacking such basic knowledge in that area. I really agree with you about the 1 hour issue...I think it's good to put yourself in that head space for a good chunk of course, but I'm now at the point where I think if I'm 45 or even 30 minutes in, scribbling in the same place without any noticeable change, I'll move on to the next exercise. Are you posting your stuff anywhere?

Hi Maxine! As ever, your encouragement means so much. I want to make sure I don't lose sight of what this course is about (like you describe), so I'm letting my approach evolve a little also. You mentioned that Max the Mutt stretches the studies out over two years, which I think is smart. When the course is crammed into six months (like I was doing up to this point), it's really easy for it to feel like a chore some days, which defeats the purpose.

**********
40 gestures (1 hour), study of bones (1 hour), the head in pencil (1 hour)

Sorry for the half-posts...my internet is on the fritz so I keep having 15-minute windows of access followed by hours without. I'll hopefully post the rest of this assignment later today...

Super messy set of gestures today after one month without doing them!

[courtyard]

40 gestures (1 hour), study of bones (1 hour), the head in pencil (1 hour)

I've decided to focus these bone studies on the areas I'm studying in my sketchbook. Used myself as model:

721522

And a self portrait for the head study in pencil. Experimenting with different techniques.

721523

[Andreisart]

Just kidding with the daily composition and no, I won’t overtake you. I usually need two weeks for a one week schedule and I don’t mind if it takes a year or more to complete. Besides I’m not satisfied yet with the effort and result of some of the exercises, so I’ll do them again. Currently the long modeled drawing in ink is being a real challenge to complete. I find it difficult to set up a useful composition of different items.
Not posting any stuff yet, but I’ll get a camera soon. To be honest, besides a great copy of a Matisse I don’t have much to post yet.
The gestures look ok to me, I can see weight and movement in them. The face looks great … I see there is a lot of fun stuff ahead.

[sketcheth]

It's good to see you still going on this thing! Very inspiring!

[Chompo]

I hope to see u update soon!
I wonder what size of paper do u use for a one hour contour and for the 5 hour conour..
He write 15 by 20 inches..but it feels too small..

[tmth]

How's it going? Has the school started for you?
I too started doing Nicolaides! I'm now at 5B. Again, I thank you very much for this thread, it helped me in the moments of my weakness (there were many!). Especially that you said how unbelievably pointless these exercises are if you're not 100% honest with yourself. I found out that I love the modelled drawings with ink, just like you did:)
What keeps you going keeps me going! Cheers!

[courtyard]

Thanks so much for the comments, guys...school has started and I'm swamped (and dead tired), hence the lack of updates. I'm not sure when the next one will be...hopefully soon!

Chompo, I've just been using 8 1/2 x 11, which is fine (in my opinion) due to the huge quantity that he's having you do. At school, however, I've been taking up a full 18" x 24" sheet with each gesture drawing and what a difference! Way too expensive for the whole course, but if you can work in a few large drawings each session I think you'll really like it. Much easier to feel the pose in your own body when your arm has to travel such long distances. :)

tmth--my absolute pleasure! I'm really glad you've found it helpful.

[Artificial]

Hi Courtyard,

Glad to see you will update again. I posted earlier under a different username (andreisart), but didn't like the name.
I still use your thread as a reference when I'm lost, so I hope you'll keep on going.

I finally bougth a camera, so you can view some of the work I'm doing. I won't post many The natural way to draw stuff, because your stuff looks better and I didn't save much of the crap I did. ;)

Enjoy your drawing classes!

[Maxine Schacker]

Now that you've started at Ringling do let us know how and if doing this is helping you!
Sorry I've been out of touch so long. It's quite a story...

This semester i'm back in my studio every day. What a relief! I can't really express any of it in words.

My very best to you as you begin your great adventure. If you get a chance, do stay in touch.

[Bushido]

Nice Stuff!
Keep it up!

[lowercase]

Nice meeting you today, Brooke. Hopefully we'll be seeing each other at FEWS a lot in the future.

[NothingReallyExists]

You know I found this book in the Ringling library just by browsing last week. Funny how that works out. A good program never the less :]

[courtyard]

Thought you might appreciate the attached image...I took it before I left for college of the sketchbooks I went through from January to August.


I've posted a big update in my sketchbook thread, quite a lot of it similar to what I've been doing here. When I have the chance (which might be a while), I'll try to organize the gestures into posts here, and will also try to get back on top of Nicolaides' assignments. School obviously has to be the priority, now...

Hi Artificial--I'd like to see your work...if you post the link I'll definitely visit. :)

Hi Maxine-- So glad to see you're back, and great to hear that you're in your studio again. I'm amazed at how much this book has helped me at Ringling, particularly with gestures and contour drawing (and patience in general). It's wonderful to be assigned a 5 minute blind contour after doing a 5 hour one! I posted a big update in my sketchbook (http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=150012&page=9) with work I've done at Ringling...I'd love your feedback and crits.

Hi Bushido--thanks a lot. :)

Hey lowercase--lovely meeting you, too. I have class until 9:45pm Tues and Thurs, so this semester I'll only be able to make it on Mondays and Fridays. :( Do you know if they are going to have weekend sessions, too?

Hi there NothingReallyExists--Yeah, it's definitely a popular book and a great program. Ringling's library is wonderful... :)

[lowercase]

Weekend session? Not that I'm aware of.
From what I know, just Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

[KingElvis]

wow. nice work in here. Ive worked thru the first 5 or 6 schedules myself. still going on. wonderful book.

[courtyard]

*Edit* Thanks so much for all of the help and comments--I'm so grateful for every one of them. I'm still drawing, just not uploading, and have found that to be a bit more productive with so little free time. I've started working on a site that will be up (hopefully) by next year--until then, I'll keep responding to PMs whenever I have the chance. Thanks again.

[Kuo]

Hey people!

I too started studying The natural way to draw by Kimon Nicolaides.

Im confused with the gesture drawing exercise. Is it supposed to be drawn without looking at the paper, like you do the contour exercise?

Or can you look at the paper when you are drawing?

I really want to understand this because the gesture drawing seems to be very important part of the training program.

Thank you.

[Jack de Klerk]

Hi Courtyard,
Your work has vibrancy and you're obviously not scared of hard work. Practice one of the best ways to learn. Till we draw (and other things) by feeling. Passion shows thus.
The wild and the ink squirgles will look nice animated. . Loox like you have enough to scan into a 2d anim program. GIMP can run layers as animations so one can see the action. Otherwise flipbook.
Jack

[JCook80]

Courtyard, thank you for showing your drawings of the exercises from this book. I've always wanted to see examples of the watercolor modelled drawings.

Every few years I pick up The Natural Way To Draw by Kimon Nicolaides and try to do the modelled drawings from the first few chapters. I find the pen to work better than the crayon and I think doing cross contours really helped me. The thing that is hard about the modelled drawings is that you have no visual reference to check. It is not supposed to look like what you see.

Here are some of my recent attempts. I would appreciate any feedback.
~Jeremiah

http://th02.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2011/016/4/2/modelled_drawings_by_jeremiah29-d37b6bi.jpg

http://th07.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2011/017/5/3/female_nudes_by_jeremiah29-d37e6of.jpg

[stirlsa]

Yes you can look back and forth between your drawing and your subject when you do gesture drawings.