—Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald

Project Assignment

PROJECT 3: Self-Portrait in Costume

For this assignment, you will focus on two areas: 1) facial/ bodily proportions and 2) mood, personality, and emotion of piece. You will complete one (1) self-portrait in a costume of your choice at no smaller than 18”x24”. The drawing must be completed in charcoal, graphite, or a combination. The self-portrait must include your full body and your face. Be specific when you choose a costume; does it reflect an aspect of yourself and your identity? How will you curate the image? What elements can you include or exclude to aid the interpretation? Is your pose active or passive? Where are you?

ELEMENTS OF ART:

Line, Color, Shape, Form, Value, Space, Texture

PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN:

Balance, Emphasis, Movement, Pattern, Repetition, Proportion, Rhythm, Variety, Unity

THUMBNAIL SKETCHES:

Create six (6) fully developed studies (minimum 4” in either direction). Fully developed means a complete composition, value structure, line, shape, and space; this does not refer to details within the composition. Use ink, marker, or pen; these media will aid your development of the value structure.

SKETCHBOOK PROMPT: Draw yourself everyday

A self-portrait starts with looking at yourself. This takes diligence, so you will spend 10-15 minutes every day drawing yourself until the project is due. This will result in 21 self-portrait studies. These should be no smaller than 6”, and should focus on head and face, though you may include other features and/or props. The goal is a wide range of expression.

Possibilities: looking up/looking down, profile, ¾ view, expressive emotions, Home Alone face, eating, sleeping, crying, singing, etc.

HOMEWORK: Fabric and chair study

You will look at how fabric folds, creases, and wraps around the form of a chair. The chair will exist in a defined space, with floor and wall treatments considered, using perspective techniques. The chair must be visible, either with sheer fabric or by partially draping the chair. This drawing will be 11”x14” and is to be executed in charcoal on toned paper. White charcoal will be used for highlights. You may tone your paper with charcoal, tea, coffee, watercolor or ink wash.

DUE AT CRITIQUE:

Self-Portrait in Costume- minimum 18”x24”

Rubric

ASSIGNMENT	CRITERIA	POINTS
Thumbnail Sketches	At least 6 thumbnail sketches, exploring your ideas for location, composition, pose, and expression	10
Homework	Chair covered with fabric drawn on toned paper with white charcoal	10
Resolution of the Assigned Problem	Meets project criteria: 1 drawings total. Must include at least 3/4 of body, full facial features, expression or communication of emotion, costume.	20
Technical	Craftsmanship, presentation, and technical application of methods; intentional design choices; attention to detail; consistency of proportions	20
Ambition & Innovation	Difficulty of technique, concept, and creative problem solving	20
Conceptual	Thoughtful and intentional use of techniques; aesthetic choices support content.	20
	TOTAL	100

Powerpoint Lecture

Lecture

Sketchbook Prompt

Draw yourself everyday

A self-portrait starts with looking at yourself. This takes diligence, so you will spend 10-15 minutes every day drawing yourself until the project is due. This will result in 21 self-portrait studies. These should be no smaller than 6”, and should focus on head and face, though you may include other features and/or props. The goal is a wide range of expression.

Figure Drawing Resource

You will need to register for this online study group. All figure drawing class sessions will be done through Line of Action, and we will be drawing the same figures and poses. This is where you will practice gesture drawing, static and active poses, facial features, and other figure drawing techniques. We will draw during class time together and share drawings in Daily Discussion.

Line of Action Drawing Group

Life Drawing Techniques

Life drawing techniques can be roughly divided into two categories: formulaic techniques and observational techniques. With the formulaic techniques, you apply a formula to locate some main anatomical landmarks. Formulaic methods would allow you in theory to be able to draw believable figures from imagination by building up the body from interlocking shapes, after you trained your eyes and brain by attending many life drawing classes. It also speeds up the sketching time. Observational methods are based on observation, they can be free or precise. If very precise they will usually take longer and are based on careful observation and measuring.

Formulaic Technique

Counting heads

As you probably know, the human body can be divided into heads length, most people falling into the 7 to 7 1/2 heads length. This counting method can be useful as a reference but generally works better for standing poses. If your model is sitting in a twisted position, the head reference might be more difficult to use, although the head can still be used as a convenient unit of measure to evaluate lengths.

Michelangelo’s canon for the male body. Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man. The ideal length here is about 8 heads which is a bit more than the average male body (7 to 7 1/2 heads).

Formulaic Technique

Gesture Drawing

Observational Technique

Contour drawing and continuous line drawing

These two life drawing techniques are fast and well suited for shorter poses. In a continuous line drawing, the pencil is not lifted up from the paper, leaving traces inside the shapes as well. This kind of drawing can be done in pen and ink to develop confidence, as marks can’t be erased. With contour drawing, you draw mainly the contour of the figure, leaving most of the details out.

Short 1 minute pose. You probably won’t have much time to measure. This kind of pose is more about the movement and energy of the pose than about being exact.

It is more difficult to be precise with a line or contour drawing, but these kinds of drawings are usually strong and clear in their simplicity.

Observational Technique

Create an “Envelope” Around the Figure

A first step in gridding the subject is placing an “envelope” around the outside edges of the figure (below). It’s helpful to use only straight lines during this process because landmarks will occur at intersections where the angle of each line changes direction in a drawing of the human figure.

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Plot the Inside Landmarks

After you establish the envelope and create the outside angles and proportions, look for inner landmarks (see below). These are often located at points where two angles intersect or at “hard places” where the skeleton is close to the surface.

how to draw realistic people, drawing the figure, life drawing

Fill in values and textures

figure drawing techniques, how to draw realistic people

Observational Technique

Plotting with Angles and Big Shapes

As you begin drawing the figure, place large areas of value lightly on your paper (see below). Look for the big shapes and the overall silhouette of the figure. Pay particular attention to the angles of the shapes.

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Define the Angles and Shapes

After you’ve ghosted in the figure in Step 1, begin to define the specific angles and shapes in your life drawing (see below). At this point, look mainly at the outside contours and assess the relative distances between your points.

step-by-step instruction, how to draw the human figure

Focus on the Inner Landmarks

As you move from the outside angles and shapes to the inner ones in your figure drawing (below), carefully locate and place these landmarks relative to the outside ones. The form shadows on the inside of the figure are important to consider as you connect your inner landmarks to each other.

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Strengthen and Adjust

Continue to strengthen and clarify your figure drawing (see below) as you define each shape and contour line. Look closely at the negative shapes or “windows” between the arms and the torso, for example, and make sure these are correct. As you work from larger units to smaller ones in your life drawing, add more detail.

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Learning Objectives

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Draw quickly with fluid and loose gestures,
Distinguish between static and active poses,
Render the figure with accurate proportions, showing movement and/or tension,
Practice reductive drawing using toned paper, erasers, and white charcoal,
Combine costume, pose, and expression to elicit emotion.

Class Agenda

During class time, we will be drawing from a figure drawing website. You will need to register for Line of Action, and you will need to familiarize yourself with using the site, as we will be using it during class time.

Tuesday, 3/2: Gesture and Pose

We will start with short poses to get familiar with gesture drawing and blocking in the general movement of the body. No details necessary, until we get to longer more sustained poses. You will complete several drawings, all in your newsprint pad, likely several on a page. You will upload the drawings to the Daily Discussion.

Thursday, 3/4: Gesture and Pose

Tuesday, 3/9: Sustained Pose and Refining Form

Complete the figure drawing section for today. We will warm up with gesture drawing, then build out with volume and begin to refine edges and details. You will complete several drawings, all in your newsprint pad, likely several on a page. You will upload the drawings to the Daily Discussion.

Thursday, 3/11: In-Process Critique—Small group meetings: Before class, upload your in-process Self-Portrait to the Discussion Board. At the beginning of class, we will work in small groups to discuss progress of Self-Portrait.

Refining Form and Facial Features

Complete the figure drawing section for today. We will warm up with gesture drawing, then build out with volume and begin to refine edges and details. We will begin to study the face more closely and render different expressions. We will draw from the figure as well as draw from a mirror. You will complete several drawings, all in your newsprint pad, likely several on a page. You will upload the drawings to the Daily Discussion.

Tuesday, 3/16: Facial Expressions and Mirror Drawing

Complete the figure drawing section for today. We will focus more intently on facial proportions, active and passive expressions, and drawing from a mirror. This is different than drawing from a photograph, as the features are mirrored. You will complete several drawings, all in your newsprint pad, likely several on a page. You will upload the drawings to the Daily Discussion.

Thursday, 3/18: Critique on Zoom.