Drawing Basics The Landscape And Figure - Artist's Network

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uliette Aristides and Dale Laitinen, at firstglance, have nothing in common but theirmastery as painters in oil and watercolor. Acloser look at their work, however, revealsthat they’re both astounding draftsmen––afacility earned by years spent drawing everyday. “If I could get my students to draw a milliondrawings before they ever picked up apaintbrush, I’d be happy,” says Laitinen.“Drawing is the foundation.”Aristides concurs:“As an artist I feel most confident in that I’vespent more time in drawing than in painting.”Whether you prefer landscapes (like Laitinen)or the figure and still life (like Aristides),whether you work in oil (like Aristides), watercolor(like Laitinen) or any other medium,you’ll benefit from the lessons on drawing theyimpart here.Dale LaitinenLandscapes“I live in California, the landscape of superlatives,”says Dale Laitinen. “People and machineshave further developed the surface of theland in extreme ways. I often find my subjectsby looking down from an overlook, a point ofview that allows me to see my subject in abroader context.” A celebrated artist and apopular workshop instructor, he travels with asketchbook that he calls an “idea maker.”Whether at home or on the road, he fills thatsketchbook with value and thumbnail sketches.Starting with a thumbnailA thumbnail sketch isn’t a drawing that you’dconsider, on its own, a work of art. A thumbnailsketch allows you to try out different waysof seeing and drawing—without investing toomuch time or emotion.“These multiple thumbnails are examples ofthe way I look at a subject from various pointsof view,” says Laitinen. “At some point, I coulddevelop one or all of these sketches into paintings(see the examples at right).”Two ways to think about athumbnail sketchTo do a thumbnail sketch, start by dividingyour piece of paper into small rectangles.• Then look at your scene in terms of shapes:Find a large shape, then find a medium shapeand a small shape—what the late, famousworkshop teacher Edgar A. Whitney called“Papa Bear, Mama Bear and Baby Bear.”• Try to render the essence—the emotional impact—ofthe scene. Forget about details; thinkdynamics: shape and movement.Drawing for itsown sake“I consider Electric Crucifix(graphite and ink, 13x10) adesign that may somedaybecome a painting, butwhether or not it becomesa painting, it’s importantthat I drew it,” says DaleLaitinen. “I tell my students:‘Draw for the love ofdrawing. Drawing is a creativeexpression on itsown—not just a means toan end in another mediumor form. To avoid drawingis to miss one of the mostsatisfying activities in art.’”Thumbnail sketchesLaitinen draws in a hardboundsketchbook withblack felt-tip pens andgraphite pencils (2H and2B to 6B). These quick,small sketches show howthe artist sees the landscapeas a system of massand line.June 2004 The Artist’s Magazine 49
Special Section ■ Drawing BasicsSeeing in LinesDrawing and painting the landscapeSketching a scene is a way to understandit. Note how Dale Laitinen’sdrawings, beautiful in their own right,prepare the way for the subsequentpaintings in watercolor.• Drawing lines and sketching values.“It had snowed during the night inYosemite Valley, and a midmorningwalk along the river brought me tothis clump of branches,” says Laitinen.“The drawing (A) is both a linedrawing and a value sketch. I workedout the abstract pattern by using bothpencil and pen lines. I then developedthe darks using both graphiteand ink. Choosing a sheet of Archesrough paper, I decided to paint MorningSnow, Merced River (B; watercolor,21x15) in pure, transparent watercolor––workingindoors by referring toboth the sketch and a photographmade on the scene.”AB• Drawing a strong diagonal. “Themidafternoon light cast a rose-red onthe walls of Glen Canyon Dam. I wasintrigued by the shadow of the bridgeand the way it slowly moved acrossthe face of the cliff like a sundial,” hesays. “I used the unusually strong diagonalto connect the bridge and thepowerhouse in both the sketch (C)and Bridge Shadows, Glen Canyon (D;watercolor and gesso, 41x29).D• Drawing a thumbnail on the spot.“Leavitt Lake is a place high up theSierra Crest. The snowfields made abeautiful, abstract backdrop withstreaks of light on the slice of shoreline,”he says. “I did this thumbnail(F) on the spot. Later, I happenedupon the sketch and developed it intothe painting First Light, Leavitt Lake”(E; watercolor and watercolor/gessooverlays, 15x21).CEF50 The Artist’s Magazine www.artistsmagazine.com
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Drawing Basics The Landscape And Figure - Artist's Network

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