Covid Virtual Sharing Feb/March 2021
Updated: Apr 10, 2021
Virtual Member Sharing - Perspective
One of the most challenging aspects of drawing is making a three-dimensional object look realistic on a two-dimensional surface. This is one of the few areas of art where there are actual “rules”, some of which defy the apparent logic of our own minds, but when used correctly, miraculously make an object appear to ‘recede’ on the paper or canvas.
There are a number of tools for adding depth to a drawing or painting, including composition and colour, but in this challenge, we’ll deal with perspective drawing only. Simply put, lines that are parallel need to be drawn at an angle so that they converge in the distance, and the angle at which they are drawn is crucial to achieving a convincing spatial illusion.
Understanding a few fundamental techniques will immensely improve your drawings. While buildings and streetscapes are the obvious example, drawings of many other objects can also benefit from slight adjustments for perspective, for example, trees reaching upward, arms and legs reaching towards or away from the viewer, cars and other vehicles.
Here a few websites and videos that explain the basics and will provide some inspiration:
https://mymodernmet.com/perspective-drawing/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQHcNlyQ130&t=153s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on2FKHDsaCM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkNMM8uiMww
Virtual Member Sharing -Atmospheric Perspective
As a follow up to our last Challenge on LINEAR perspective, this week’s Challenge is ATMOSPHERIC perspective, which is often described as the effect that veils of atmosphere have on the landscape, creating a feeling of distance. An Atmospheric landscape can be divided roughly into 3 main overlapping areas:
· BACKGROUND: uses cooler, greyer, lighter colours with little or no detail, the area furthest from the viewer
· MIDDLE GROUND: uses warmer colours, some detail, the area between the background and foreground.
FOREGROUND: warmest colours, most detailed, the area closest to the viewer. The paintings above illustrate that atmospheric perspective isn’t limited to landscapes but these principles can be applied to any type of work such as still life, florals, abstractsetc.https://www.marygilkerson.com/access-atmospheric
This week’s challenge is to create an image, in any medium, showing a sense of distance by employing atmospheric perspective. Use a photo, sketch, ideas from the videos below, or your imagination as a reference. https://youtu.be/6AQrXGAvtqs
Virtual Member Sharing Challenge “Winter Scenes and Shadows”
Although the Groundhog may have predicted an early spring, we know that there is still plenty of time to paint a winter scene in Manitoba along with capturing those dramatic shadows from our beautiful winter sun. So, our next Program Challenge is to paint Winter Scenes and Shadows in a medium of your choice.
To inspire you here are some options:
Paint one of the attached winter scenes. (photographs taken by Linda Rubell)
Paint from one of your own winter photographs.
Be inspired by watching these two short videos by Grant Fuller:
Shadows on Snow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlH96rYNcZY&t=48s
or “How to paint Snow”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkkBwUWXuN8
Or paint along with these longer videos:
By Grahame Booth “Snowy Lane” using just three colours and three brushes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVjTOEt3fJg
By Paul Clark “Snow Scene” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3vvdUtXWpg&t=254s
By LynnsAkvareller a Swedish painter “Blue Birch River” https://youtu.be/QXPFq0LN1Fg
Virtual Member Sharing -Perspective Part II – The Horizon Line
In Part I, we dealt with one point perspective and how parallel lines converge at the horizon line. But what is the horizon line? This is easy to envision in a landscape where there is a true horizon. However, a drawing or painting of ANY subject has a horizon line, which is more accurately described as “eye level”, and is the level at which you (the artist) are looking at the scene.
The rules of perspective are the same regardless of eye level; all that changes is the location of the vanishing point. This is explained on the following site:
https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/perspective-in-paintings-2578098
This week’s challenge is exercise # 1 in the above website i.e., to sketch a simple object twice, once looking at it from a somewhat higher viewpoint and once from a lower one. The following website has more general information about perspective, plus a number of useful exercises for gaining a better understanding of the principles:
https://www.studentartguide.com/articles/one-point-perspective-drawing
While the concepts of perspective may seem daunting at first, a basic understanding will quickly become intuitive with a bit of practice. And you’ll see a dramatic improvement in your drawings, even where the image does not involve a lot of depth, for example, furniture or a windowsill.