Sketching class #1
Posted by Lorraine
on
9:55 PM
in
learning
Okay. So I went to my first official sketching class since last summer.
I did not exactly sketch a cone; instead I sketched a nose.
My teacher taught me to think in a new way. I used to regard sketching as putting together a series of lines, starting with the easiest part, then link the lines to other parts. Kind of like copying a map (my attempt in Chinese history class). Of course I could do that. But then the results often seemed not in proportion.
I guess that was because I sketched what I thought I was seeing, but not what I actually saw. The teacher told me to make shapes first; the whole nose bridge and nose formed a long, slanted rectangle, and also a smaller, horizontal one. I started like that, and tried to transform the images in front of me to shapes. This helped me know clearly which was which, and where things went.
What a big relief it was to me...
For a person who had done Chinese painting for years, sketching seemed so insecure. Yet I'm starting to feel better about the practice.
I did not exactly sketch a cone; instead I sketched a nose.
My teacher taught me to think in a new way. I used to regard sketching as putting together a series of lines, starting with the easiest part, then link the lines to other parts. Kind of like copying a map (my attempt in Chinese history class). Of course I could do that. But then the results often seemed not in proportion.
I guess that was because I sketched what I thought I was seeing, but not what I actually saw. The teacher told me to make shapes first; the whole nose bridge and nose formed a long, slanted rectangle, and also a smaller, horizontal one. I started like that, and tried to transform the images in front of me to shapes. This helped me know clearly which was which, and where things went.
What a big relief it was to me...
For a person who had done Chinese painting for years, sketching seemed so insecure. Yet I'm starting to feel better about the practice.