WARM-UP EXERCISES FOR DRAWING FACES

I’m starting to explore my theme of masks and faces with some sketches of faces. For these first attempts I use a fascinating drawing book, Drawing Projects by Mick Maslen and Jack Southern, that suggests many sets of structured drawing exercises to try.

Together these exercises encourage an investigative approach to drawing that I find very refreshing. I learnt about the book from my tutor Sian Martin years ago and it remains one of the most inspiring creative buys I ever made. Unfortunately it is now rarely available at least online.

Here I use some projects from the book as a loose, inspirational tool to explore my particular theme of masks and faces. But I promise myself to expand on this wonderful drawing resource in a future post.

I sketched 1 in pencil and 2 in fibre pen with my left hand. I was not ‘allowed’ to look at the drawing while sketching. It is a combination that allows very limited control. So these first sketches are just scribbles even if in 2 I can start to see a face.

In 3 I changed from left to right hand and even if this too is certainly no masterpiece at least a face is there. With practice I think I could gain some more control on the process.

Drawing without looking at the paper really helps me to focus on the subject and to shorten the distance between what I see and what I draw. This is also a very useful warm-up exercise before engaging in a real drawing session.

For Sketch 4 my inspiration was a very different exercise from the same book. I taped three pencils together and used them as a single tool. It’s an interesting method in that the resulting marks are tentative and exploring in nature and no hard edges are possible.

DRAWING WITH AN EXTENDED ARM

Still another very useable drawing exercise from the same book is drawing with a felt pen held loosely with an extended arm. The farther away you hold the pen from the point, the less control you have.

I further developed the original sketches on my tablet using the app Art Set.

Below is a selection of images from my real and digital sketchbooks.

I made a series of sketches from a photograph holding a felt pen at different lengths:

• halfway its length
• at its farther end
• attached to a 30 cm stick
• attached to a 60 cm stick
• a combination of lengths

These few exercises from the book Drawing Projects have just whetted my appetite for more and I shall certainly try others!

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