warm ups
Creación de las aves (Creation of the Birds) by Remedios Varo
warm-ups i think are very underrated. they are a very good way to practice the basic movements that you use all the time.
it is kinda like when you first start working out and naively think you will end up shredded in a month...until you realize just how hard it is to build muscle and maintain low body fat. but, you do learn the importance of consistency and thinking long term. so you add working on basic movements with consistency and long term planning and eventually you build a skill. then you practice that skill and fail more times then a beginner even imagines to attempt, until you hit some level of mastery. and, because mother is the repetition of all skills...wait...because repetition is the mother of all skills, eventually with enough mechanical practice and mental learning, you can draw naturally. wait wasn't i talking about working out lol. i think i mean to say is that developing a skill is like working out because you gotta push yourself over a long term period and stay disciplined to see any progress.
anyways, my whole dump on practicing also requires the right knowledge to guide that repetition. Here are some "good" practices that i have found.
Peter Han line warm up as a go-to. i have no clue if he is the founder or not. in fact, don't come at me with pitchforks if your great grandpa was the founder of this method. but...basically this is what you do.
just like in math, if you have two points, you can connect them. we are just eye balling two points and drawing lines to connect them. you will find the shorter lines much easier to draw and the longer lines a bit harder. try to make contact with the paper when using your drawing hand. loosen up and make sure to avoid getting into wrist overload. i would say try to use your shoulder as much as you can. first ghost the movement 4-5 times then commit to the line. also, see the overall spacing in between the lines and try to match that as well. now repeat this exercise ten minutes everyday for the rest of your life. you can also throw in some curves.
Edit 1:
here is an updated version of this method that i now practice. add in alternation of line weight between the two points. for example, connect two points with a light line weight and the next set below with a darker line with harder pressure. think to yourself, i will make a light line or i will make a dark line as you do so. you can also experiment with trying out tapering strokes where you add light to dark to light "line weight" on one stroke.
if you are confused about what is line weight just think of it either as someone smashing a pencil's graphite into the paper or barely making contact. in the first instance, the viewer's eye is immediately gonna look; it is like a bad accident, the eyes are just drawn there by natural curiosity. that is NOT to say it is bad to use very heavy line weight, it is just another tool and it is often used to put the viewer's eye on a targeted area. on the other hand, light line weight can also guide the viewer's eyes to the areas of darker line weights. much like a magician uses redirection to create spectacles in a focused area, light line weight guides viewers to look into the direction of heavier line weight.Gesture Work. gesture is probably my least worked on area in drawing...not a good thing because gesture is what gives images dynamism, movement, and emotion. so, i think we should definitely change and work on practicing it more. i will do some research on gesture work and exercises, and most likely will consult Kimon Nicolaïdes in that regard. i also think this is where animators shine, and perhaps, it would be worth consulting the The Animator's Survival Kit. for now, i enjoy the spirit of going to the paper and looking at a moving figure and doing 30 second drawings. then 30 second drawings without lifting the pencil. then 30 second drawings limiting the amount of lines. i hope to talk more about gesture, and i am sure there will be a whole post dedicated to it. but for now, let's just keep it simple and leave it at stay tuned. i hope to bring a better warm up for this area as i learn more. but for now, let us keep this up and move it along.
in the honor of king julian and my attempt to convince you to at least try the Peter Han exercise, please go get your supplies, get the pencil on paper, and then MOVE IT.
neil, signing off on 12/08/24 (usa).
