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| Fawn...a sketchbook drawing |
was the subject for our drawing class. Animals are adorable. They capture our interest. But drawing them is just as difficult as drawing the human figure.....I believe that one has to truly understand the skeletal and muscular structure in order for the drawing to convince. Using photos is inevitable unless, of course, the animal is asleep or innate for a long period of time. We have to learn how to fill in the gaps....the legs that are not shown in entirety in the photo. We also need to understand how to use the photo only as a reference and to alter the composition to the benefit the work, thereby avoiding the collision of body parts that makes a drawing visually confusing. In this case, I used a photo that was cut off at the bottom. My solution was to complete the work with strong, yet vague, line work. In this case, I believe it works as the story is at the top, in the forward bend of the neck. Details must be deferred until the end, as tempting as it is to focus on the spots. In fact, class time was coming to an end even before I had a chance to consider the spots, so I brushed across the fawn's back with my kneaded eraser in the direction of the lay of the fur. That would have to do. Drawing allows for many discoveries and leads to even more questions. Subject matter is always, for me, much deeper than the time spent in the primary consideration. Everything takes longer than we expect. Everything provides a possibility for more study. Anything worthwhile deserves careful consideration as well as devotion.
I would like to carry this one further.....into a painting.
