Santa Cruz Mountains Art Center Sketchers

Matt

Alright, Matt!!! Holding the pencil on its side was a bit challenging but... Whoa!... once you got the hang of it you put together some excellent sketches. I really like how you sketched light guidelines for the shapes of things; then drew darker outlines to finish--keep practicing this. The proportions in your drawings are VERY accurately drawn; the crab got more accurate with each new sketch that you made.

And your abstract/surrealist composition turned out fantastic!!! You broke up the page wonderfully with a wide variety of lines and shapes. Looks like you really enjoyed the 6B graphite pencil!

Allison

Wonderful! Drawing! Allison! You're off to a GREAT start in drawing accurate proportions! You've got excellent control of your line work and a sharp eye for detail. I really like how you sketched freely with loose lines until you found accurate shapes; then you finished with darker outlines. The crab and puffer fish are nice examples of getting 'sketchy' with your lines. The gray tones for shading are a really nice touch.

Your abstract/surrealist mashup flowed together wonderfully! You've got a great sense for composition as you did a superb job of tying lines and shapes together.

Penny

EXCELLENT start in drawing with lines and shapes, Penny!!! So cool how you got into holding the pencil on its side and used your whole arm to sketch the puffer fish! You really started to gain control of your lines for the fish's body while sketching guidelines on top of one another. Sketching like this was a big breakthrough for you. Keep practicing sketching light guidelines; then finishing with darker outlines. The proportions in your sketches are very accurately drawn. And I really like your experimentation in using the side of your pencil point while drawing the lizard. Cool facial expressions. :-)

And you really got into the zone while composing your abstract/surrealist sketch!! Excellent how you drew large, sweeping curved lines and repeated oval shapes for a dynamic composition.

Michele

Wow! Michele! You jumped in, tilted that pencil on its side, and cranked out a lot of fantastic sketches! Great job of drawing accurate proportions on all your creatures, especially the lizard. I really like how you loosened your lines and drew on top of your mistakes while sketching the frog as you gained control of the sweeping curved lines of its legs. You've got an excellent eye for details.

You REALLY pulled your line work together for an awesome abstract/surrealist composition! I like how you used lighter and darker lines to break up the page. The lighter shapes appear to recede to the background, creating depth in your picture.

Drawing Challenge: Getting Abstract

If you have time for this challenge, use the techniques you learned last Thursday to create an abstract drawing. An abstract drawing doesn't represent things (people, objects, places, nature, etc.) in the real world. Instead, you'll combine lines, shapes, patterns, tones (shading), and textures to make a picture from your imagination.
Think of it as composing music. Use the repetition of lines and shapes to create rhythm in your composition on paper. Get bold with swirling movements of your arm like a conductor of an orchestra. Express your emotions and feelings through the lines that you draw.

Use all different kinds of lines (thick, thin, curved, angled, squiggly, etc.). Try overlapping shapes. Throw in a bunch of patterns and textures to make designs. The only rule: Don't draw any people, places, or things from the real world.

Ideas for Your Abstract Drawing
These paintings by the modern artists Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) show ideas for your abstract drawing using lines, shapes, and patterns. Enjoy drawing from your imagination.

Kandinsky was a very influential artist in Europe during the early 1900s and 20s. He believed that painting should let artists express their own inner lives in abstract, non-material ways. Just as musicians do not depend on the material world for their music, so artists should not depend on the material world for their art. His expressions with line, shapes, and color became the foundation of abstract art.