“In the panoramas, the city opens out, becoming landscape – as it will do later, in a subtler fashion, for the flaneurs.” The Writer of Modern Life, Walter Benjamin
In exciting news, I hung my first solo art show last weekend at The Foundry in Corvallis, OR. Thus the delay in the newsletter. As I was preparing for this show it brought up several techniques that can be useful for drawing as well. So I thought I would take this chance to share what preparing an art show is like while incorporating some drawing tips.
Framing a View
In a drawing, the frame is the extent of what we choose to draw from a scene. Perhaps you are really zoomed in on a detail or we might zoom way out to focus on the larger scene. Either way, you are choosing a frame for our drawing that determines what we see. You may not intentionally choose a frame when drawing, but becoming more aware of the framing you use can be a powerful tool for expanding your practice.
A helpful tool to start being more intentional with your framing is a view finder. This is a small frame you carry around with you. If you do not have a view finder, you can also frame a scene by putting your thumb and pointer finger on your opposite hands together to form a box. You will often see film directors doing this. You can then move your view finder around to consider what you want to draw from a scene. This can help you stay focused on what you want to draw and avoid the overwhelm that can come from trying to capture too much in a single drawing.
When hanging an art show an interesting element is that you have a second chance with your framing choices. Many artists use mats inside of a frame to help focus the eye on the art and provide a sharp frame boundary around the work. In my case, I was using 9”x11” frames with a 5” x 4” mat opening. This was a challenge because it was a rather small opening, but also allowed me to move my work around a lot to focus on the best elements in the scene.
In this example of the Portland Skyline from Mt. Tabor, there is a lot going on between the tree and tower in the foreground, the middle ground with the mass of east Portland and then the downtown towers and hills in the background. I considered several framings, but ultimately decided on one that included the tower, but cut off the reservoir and the tree in the foreground. The reservoir was the weakest part of the scene, but I liked the top of the tower and the people standing next to it for scale. I excluded the tree in the foreground as including it would have excluded most of the skyline.
Visual Storytelling
When I excluded the tree from the Portland Skyline painting, I was making an important storytelling choice. My artists statement for the show was, “Logan Bingle produces watercolor paintings of the places people live, work and play.” So I wanted each painting to be more focused on the built environment people inhabit, which is why I de-emphasized the tree in the foreground to focus on the Portland skyline.
A drawing always has a story to tell whether it is intentional or not. The choice of framing, line work and other techniques all convey a message. This may be a simple reminder for yourself about a great place you visited, or it could be sharing the experience of a place with others. Considering the story you are telling in your work can help you to choose what to focus on when drawing, the technique to use and avoid being distracted by details that are not as meaningful to you.
The story you are telling does not need to be explicit and it may change over time. Setting an intention or general idea of what you want to convey in your work can be a useful exercise and is a good way to cross pollinate your drawing practice with other creative activities such as writing or meditation. Writing can be particularly useful since it provides a more direct access to a story. If you want to try this, take 20 minutes to fill up a page based on this journal prompt:
What story do I want to share with the world?
Proportion
Another interesting aspect of drawing that comes up when hanging a show is proportion. Proportion is where math and art meet as it is the ratio of object’s size and distance apart in relation to each other (height x / height y = height z). While art people often shy away from math, proportions are an important element of drawing. The eye is quick to note when proportions are off. Being aware of proportions and how we experience them can allow us to capture a scene more accurately and enhance a drawing with some visual tricks.
When handing an art show you want to make sure that the frames are level and inline with each other. This is making use of proportion since you want the paintings evenly spaced apart and at the same height from the floor. And as anyone who has hung art before knows, the eye is surprisingly sensitive to the slightest deviation from a frame being level and spacing differences.
When hanging art we can use a tap measure to find distances and make sure they are consistent. When faced with drawing a scene it is usually not feasible to measure everything with a tap measure. So in stead we need to establish a common ruler we will use to find proportions in a scene. You will want the element you use as your ruler to be relatively static, so it does not change while you are drawing. Some good elements in a scene to consider as a ruler are doors, tree trunks up to a branch, windows, and large rocks.
Once you have decided on your ruler hold a pencil or pen out at arm length. With one eye closed, put one end of the pen at the top of the element you are measuring from and use your thumb or a finger to mark the bottom. Then move the pen up or down to the top or bottom of the element to see what is within one length of the object. You can continue doing this to count what is within two lengths, three lengths and so on.
Buildings are great to practice this on as they are intentionally well proportioned. Find a building near you and see how many door heights the building is. You may be surprised at how often a door height will evenly divide a building. Depending on the height and style of the building it is common for doors to be half or a fourth the height of the building they are in. Once you have this proportion you can start by drawing the door. Then use your pencil as a ruler to find the height of the door in your drawing and use that to count off to the top of the building. You can use the same technique to find other elements on the building such as a row of windows or decorative elements.
Inspiration of the Week
When I am not drawing, I apply my creativity to designing information systems. Recently I was struck by this You Tube video about the supposed collapse of AI. The concern voiced by scientists is that AI images from tools such as Dali are beginning to look the same and people are starting to recognize the appearance of images generated by a particular system. This seemed rather humorous to me as an artist since this sounds like a natural step on any artist’s journey. Most artists (human or AI) can work in a variety of mediums and styles, but usually eventually settle on a preferred style they are known for. Despite the challenges AI presents, I hope that Dali is allowed to develop its own style that people come to love and hate.
Drawing Events & Groups
This week I am hosting the April drawing hour on Wednesday from 8pm-9pm PST if you would like the structure of a designated time to draw. I will be drawing the live musical performance at Bomb’s Away in Corvallis, but you are welcome to head to your own favorite evening spot. I will post on the group chat, and you are welcome to share your recent work.
April Drawing Office Hours, April 10, 8pm-9pm PST
Sketch Fest, Edmonds, Washington, July 19-21, 2024
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