Looking Back to Move Forward
At the beginning of the drawing the primary concern is the total action. In Illustration No. 2 I have tried to show how the kinds of lines you use and the forms that you emphasize affect the feeling that your drawing communicates. Look at the differences between drawings A, B and C. Each drawing has a difference in the feeling it communicates. In "A," the lines, in general, go with the direction of the forms; one line flowing into the next. The general feeling is one of rhythm and grace. In drawing "B," we have a much sharper feeling and, in a way, "jerkier," if you can think of a drawing as having movement. The sharpness of the corners give it a bit more "bite," as we say, and perhaps this harshness is easier to understand. In "C," where the concentration is on the contours, the actual gesture becomes secondary to the flat shape created. "A" and "B," though different in feeling, still convey the sense of the movement (since the movement or gesture was the subject), while in "C," the subject was the contour and not the flow of the forms (the gesture, in this case, if captured, is a secondary consideration to the shape). This is not to say that shape is not important. In fact, it is very important, but at the beginning of the drawing, the primary concern is the total action.

Examples "A" & "B" of Illustration No. 2 are exaggerations of two very common basic approaches to starting a drawing. "A" is exemplified by drawings of Daumier and "B" by the preliminary pen sketches of Peter Paul Rubens. These are the two extremes; you will find many artists who combine elements of both. Again, remember, there are no rules. Illustration No. 3 gives more examples of the approach shown in example B. Illustration No. 4 shows the second step in the process, clarifying the basic volumes, or masses. This can be carried to the extreme of cylinders and boxes, as we did in the first four lessons, or can be incorporated into the drawing in a less obvious way, as they are in Illustration No. 4. The study of boxes, cylinders, and spheres is the means and tools that help you understand in a simplified way what it is you are looking at. Again, there is every extreme inbetween.

Illustration 5.

Putting It All Together
Illustration No. 5, as well as many examples in previous lessons, give you a little bit of the feeling for the variety that this step can take. In general practice, the artist will often do a drawing in several layers. This layering is done in numerous ways. In the Fifteenth Century, it was common practice to do all of the preliminary drawing we have been discussing in a medium that could easily be erased, such as a soft charcoal, chalk, or graphite, and afterwards, going over the drawing with ink or wash. At this point, the preliminary drawing would be erased and further development of the drawing would be continued. Today we use light tables, tracing paper, and opaque projectors to do the same thing, still using the same materials and methods of the past.

Remember, we are discussing a procedural approach to drawing, not direct drawing. Although all drawing is, in a way, direct, the point is that the sequence allows you to concentrate on one element at a time and go from the general to the specific. This is a general method, or approach, to help you organize your efforts. It is not a rule, but a tool. Illustration No. 6 exemplifies this.

Illustration 6.

Glenn Vilppu first wrote for Animation World Magazine in the June 1997 issue, "Never Underestimate the Power of Life Drawing." His drawing manuals and video tapes may now be purchased in the Animation World Store.

Glenn Vilppu teaches figure drawing at the American Animation Institute, the Masters program of the UCLA Animation Dept., Walt Disney Feature Animation and Warner Bros. Feature Animation, and is being sent to teach artists at Disney TV studios in Japan, Canada and the Philippines. Vilppu has also worked in the animation industry for 18 years as a layout, storyboard and presentation artist. His drawing manual and video tapes are being used worldwide as course materials for animation students.