Just a Simple Canadian Girl

Bargue #3

(big form modelling)

graphite on Stonehenge paper

I'm just a simple Canadian girl working her way through a six-pack!!!

I am roughly half-way through the big-form modelling of my third Bargue drawing- the Belvedere Torso. I'm amazed by the confidence I gained during Bargue #2. I feel like the muscles and abs on this guy are a cake-walk next to working through the beard of my last Bargue. The hardest part of this one was the comparative measure at the beginning and I suppose that is because it was new to me. It's not over yet, however, so I should probably watch my words!

Once I finish all of the big-form modelling I will take one or two more passes over the entire drawing with an incredibly sharp pencil and clean it up so it reaches a high finish, then I will move on from copying the Bargue plates to working from a cast. This will challenge me again to take all I have learned and apply it to life- working directly from a three dimensional object. 

It is hard to believe I have been attending Atelier 2302 for almost a year (part-time) and I will have done three drawings. The time invested in each one is rather staggering, but in my mind entirely worth it. I also have to admit that I rarely find the time to work on the drawing outside of class, so that has slowed me down. The training I am receiving is priceless- my eye is stronger and I am honing my skills beyond anything I could have imagined. I am so thankful Craig Berry moved back to Saskatoon and opened his Atelier. Better late than never for me to gain this knowledge.

Bargue # 3 - The Belvedere Torso

  Bargue #3

graphite on Stonehenge paper

© Nicki Ault, 2014

My new motto: "Keep Calm and Bargue On".

I had a great day at Atelier 2302 yesterday. The real deal is underway on the Stonehenge paper. This is the point where, with every hour spent, the fear of something bad happening increases exponentially. I now have the light and dark shapes separated and a nice, even, homogenous tone in the shadow shapes. I really enjoy the next stage which will be to describe and refine the shadow shape and big-form model in the light shapes. At first I felt really nervous about that six-pack, but then I decided that if I pulled off the beard in Bargue #2, then I can surely do this.

I found this video on YouTube- footage of the Belvedere Torso in the Vatican Museum. It's not the greatest quality, however it is interesting to see the sculpture to scale and as a three dimensional object. I now understand the markings a bit better in my drawing (i.e. the hole on his right thigh). To learn more about this sculpture go to this link: The Belvedere Torso.

In other news, I have been to the studio a little bit and it is beginning to feel good again. I am tackling a really big painting right out of the gates, so all going well I will have that to show you soon. It is 30 x 60" and has some challenging subject matter in it.

Have a great weekend!

A Day of Barguing

Bargue #3 continued

graphite on bond paper

Last Thursday was a full day of Barguing (a new verb?). I made some changes for the better to my drawing and now the chest and the hunch/curve of the back are more accurate. I know I will need to make more adjustments even after it is transferred but I wanted it to be in the best shape possible going forward from here. So with that handled I began preparing to transfer by flipping the drawing over and covering all of my lines on the backside of the paper with graphite (I used a light-box to see the lines more clearly). 

I then centered the drawing over the Stonehenge paper and securely taped it at the top edge so that when I transferred the lines I could flip back and forth to make sure it was going well, but not worry about shifting the image. As I traced over the lines of my drawing I had to be careful not to press too hard so as to score the paper, but press hard enough to actually transfer some graphite onto the Stonehenge. In the above photo you can see my drawing flipped back showing the lines covered in graphite and you can see, very faintly, the transferred image on the Stonehenge paper. The plate I am copying of the Belvedere torso is on the left. Voila! 

Bargue #3 Continues

Bargue #3 (in progress)

graphite on paper

I went to art class last Thursday with a fresh sheet of Stonehenge paper in hand thinking I would be transferring my drawing now that the light and dark shapes are separated. Nope. I kept finding errors and spent the day correcting them. Now as I study this on the computer screen I see a few more mistakes so, literally, back to the drawing board I go!

Bargue #3

 

Bargue # 3

articulated construct

graphite on bond paper

In this next step of the Bargue drawing I am working out the "articulated construct". Once all of the outside lines are determined (and they may still change as more measurements and alignments take place) then it is time to hone in on the inside shapes. At this point all of the smaller shapes within the "envelope" of the larger shapes can be mapped out. Heights and widths within the big form are found using alignments and comparative measure. Fun and challenging!

A Day of Barguing

Bargue #3

gestural construct

graphite on bond paper

About a month ago I began my third Bargue drawing (based on the Charles Bargue drawing course) at Atelier 2302. I absolutely love this plate and hope that I will be able to do it justice. The second Bargue I worked on increased in difficulty from the first Bargue and now this third one is upping the ante yet again. Basically I am now at the level where the horizontal and vertical grid used for measuring is gone, I am creating my own gestural construct as opposed to copying it and I am enlarging the image so it is no longer one-to-one measurement. Yowsie! 

In the image above I am working out the gestural construct which is the start of the drawing (the image I am showing you is slightly further along than the initial gestural construct). Everything is kept very simple at this initial stage- mostly finding the outside shapes and the essence of the subject in as few lines as possible. Here all of the big shapes are determined, these will then contain all of the smaller shapes that will be worked out in the articulated construct. Working from big to small- that's what I am doing. Comparative measure is used to get this work done. A unit of measurement is chosen on the plate- I chose the lower right-hand vertical section of the base on which the figure is sitting. I enlarged it by about 25-30% when I moved that measurement over to the bond paper and now all else will be compared to that as I move lines and shapes over. It is hard to describe- sorry I am not doing a great job. Also, sorry my drawing is rather light and hard to see at this point.

I never seem to have the time (or make the time) to work on my drawing at home so I have decided to add in the Thursday afternoon drawing class this way Thursday is now a full day dedicated to the Bargues and my learning at the Atelier. I am usually a fairly patient person, but I really want to progress a bit more rapidly as I make my way to painting the figure.

Next stage of the Bargue tomorrow.