Foundations drawing in a nutshell

At KU there are four prerequisite courses that need to be taken before advancing to other fine arts classes--two design courses and two drawing courses.

In my experience, the principles that are actually taught in these (or at least those that I picked up) can be summed up quite laconically. For those that would rather opt for self-study, I think these principles could be a useful start.

So, in a nutshell:


2-D design: the basics of Gestalt psychology and some rudimentary color theory. (And inadvertantly that FedEx Kinko's is outrageously expensive.)

3-D design: an unrelenting emphasis on function, as well as presentation and intentional lighting. The rest was craft oriented.

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As to the drawing courses, it should be noted that drawing can't really be taught in the traditional sense. All that one can do is put forth some considerations to remain mindful of, and these in addition to practice and hand-eye coordination should hopefully result in personal improvement.

So:

Drawing in general:

-The first lines you begin with are the edges of your page or drawing surface.

-Every mark alters your entire drawing. It's therefore best to work all over the page, from simple to complex, rather than from one area to the next (and to stay continuously mindful of your composition as a whole).



-If your medium allows, build up as gradually as possible, saving the darkest tones for last. If you don't do this, you'll have much less control over the range and placement of value. (This is something I still need to work on, as is evident in the drawings below.)




Drawing from observation:

-Determine the page's composition before getting into any detail with simple guide-marks and shapes. This determines scale, angle and placement.
-Judge proportions in relation to surrounding forms.


-To help with accuracy, continually reference both positive and negative shapes.


-Pay attention to the quality of your marks (length, width, path, speed) and use these variations in quality accordingly. Most drawings will develop their own set of "rules" for the use of these techniques.




-And the rest are pretty much aesthetic subtleties, such as implying tension, movement and weight...


...texture... (This is actually a drawing from high school, note some problems with perspective, non-sensical lighting, and the range of value.)


...the relation between shading and line...


...and the application of tone. (Again, pay attention to the whole composition. I neglected the background and tried to fill some of it in later... it didn't work out.)


And beyond that, it's pretty much practice and personal exploration.