Tracing IS a method for learning art
Not tired enough, apparantly.
Long ago when I was a kid, early pre-teen if I remember right, I tried to be artistic, drawing by copying some drawings in a book... on fairies iirc. I showed that little drawing to my best friend the artist, who promptly squashed my dreams of artistic endeavors by whatever nasty thing that came from her mouth. How we continued then as friends I don't know. It took me until much later in college when I took a basic art class to realize hey, I did have some talent and ability to draw, so long as I have something I can work from visually. I even have those basic drawings somewhere in this house, waiting for me to put them up, which I really need to do.
Anyway, I am reading another site on illuminations FAQs, with interesting answers... such as this.
Good Visual reference. Get it. Use it. Religiously. If you don't, it will decrease the quality of your work in a real obvious way. In the US, at least, there is this mind set that real art, and real talent, comes only from the very coinage of your brain ;), but the truth is very different from the popular opinion. Why do you think Leonardo left all those sketch books behind? What about Holbein's sketches? The various medieval model books? In the days before photography, great artists made life drawings of their subjects to take back to the studio, or copied illuminations from earlier books, or whatever. You get the point, I'm sure. :) Always remember what Picasso said: Good artists copy, great artists steal. ;)
... Second, you now have a page that will allow you to trace said form over and over until you have a feel for the hand movements involved in making the various shapes. Looking at the outline will also show you what the outline is supposed to look like without having the thing swallowed in the entirety of the illumination. As has been said in this list previously, tracing is a valuable method of learning and was practiced in period, so don't let any preconceived notions of "proper drawing" prevent you from making use of this valuable learning tool.
Elise (Elyse) C. Boucher
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Library/2036/art/BEGINER.HTM
:-)
I feel vindicated... again!!
Well, now off to bed.
Long ago when I was a kid, early pre-teen if I remember right, I tried to be artistic, drawing by copying some drawings in a book... on fairies iirc. I showed that little drawing to my best friend the artist, who promptly squashed my dreams of artistic endeavors by whatever nasty thing that came from her mouth. How we continued then as friends I don't know. It took me until much later in college when I took a basic art class to realize hey, I did have some talent and ability to draw, so long as I have something I can work from visually. I even have those basic drawings somewhere in this house, waiting for me to put them up, which I really need to do.
Anyway, I am reading another site on illuminations FAQs, with interesting answers... such as this.
Good Visual reference. Get it. Use it. Religiously. If you don't, it will decrease the quality of your work in a real obvious way. In the US, at least, there is this mind set that real art, and real talent, comes only from the very coinage of your brain ;), but the truth is very different from the popular opinion. Why do you think Leonardo left all those sketch books behind? What about Holbein's sketches? The various medieval model books? In the days before photography, great artists made life drawings of their subjects to take back to the studio, or copied illuminations from earlier books, or whatever. You get the point, I'm sure. :) Always remember what Picasso said: Good artists copy, great artists steal. ;)
... Second, you now have a page that will allow you to trace said form over and over until you have a feel for the hand movements involved in making the various shapes. Looking at the outline will also show you what the outline is supposed to look like without having the thing swallowed in the entirety of the illumination. As has been said in this list previously, tracing is a valuable method of learning and was practiced in period, so don't let any preconceived notions of "proper drawing" prevent you from making use of this valuable learning tool.
Elise (Elyse) C. Boucher
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Library/2036/art/BEGINER.HTM
:-)
I feel vindicated... again!!
Well, now off to bed.