Friday, February 22, 2013

Italia 4º Set 2012. 17x24, Pen & Watercolor

Via da Selumido, Firenze. 


Marzabotto
Pavement work in Via Rizzoli, Bologna
Piazza Pra Via Gallira E Via San Giuseppe, Bologna
Bar Giuseppe  Piazza Maggiore, 1 Bologna
Cicileo Café, Bologna

Friday, February 15, 2013

Polish Houses exercise

"The Polish Houses"... an exercise we did in our USk Argentina group. 
Each one made a different drawing of the same photo. This was mine. 

Saturday, February 9, 2013

My Kitchen - The Prequel.

Ok, here I go again. I uploaded my "step by step" yesterday in various Facebook groups and received a lot of questions about whether I use a ruler or how I fix the perspective.
So here is another "step by step" since I see perspective does not come so easy if you are not trained. I am liking this J
Yes, I use ruler and pencil and "construction lines". I searched carefully into the USK Manifesto and found no mention against it. No sins commited, so I can use a ruler and still be in a state of grace!.
I am sorry… I know there is people that despise rulers, abhor of pencil pre-work and like to rough it.  Well, maybe I am too old, but if I can have a choice I prefer sleeping in a bed, since the floor feels harder for me lately.
So, here is what I do to get into the space where I am going to place my stuff. I need to place some lines to be safe. To UNDERSTAND the space I need to slip some precise lines. The rest comes easy:
..
All of this is to be done with a ruler.
1) I try to find an horizon line (HL - Red). It is an horizontal line that is usually at eyesight height. (The sea horizon is always there). And then I find a vanishing point (VPoint), a dot into the HL where all the lines tend to go to.
Then I need to look around for some strong lines (BLUE) that go into that VP. Here I see some lines in the kitchen top and in the tiling that I can use. I draw them with the ruler.

2) There is another set of lines (3) in the other direction, perpendicular to the blue lines. Those vanish into a VPoint thats off the drawing, so I kind of have to figure them up. Here they are, two green lines .

3) Once the main blue and green lines are placed, I divide the space between them proportionally, so I can use all these lines as guide for the freehand drawing that comes after all this. I divide the narrow end in -say- four spaces, and the same at the wider end. And them I draw some more lines (three thinner green lines here) that I will use as guides and erase after ink work.
4) I do the same with the blue lines, those that go to the Vpoint, here I make two sets of spaces I the narrow end and two sets in the wider, and, again, I place six thinner lines, three and three.
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Now I can kick the ruler away but I do have a group of lines I can trust, and into which I can move without much danger. All the rest of the drawing can be made by guesswork, and that brings softness to the whole thing. But this "initial spatial structure" helped me undestand how the space where I am drawing works. If I get lost, it will not be by much.
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And, all verticals, as a general rule, are vertical.
That's it. Good luck.

Mi cocina, Paso a Paso


KITCHEN STEP BY STEP (17 x 24 cm)
1) I plan the drawing in pencil, trying to undestand the structure of the space I am in, choosing centers of interest and deciding how to set a dialogue with the borders.
2) I move into ink. I use either Lamy M + EF nibs (Noodlers ink) or 0.1 & 0.3 graded pens. I try to define shapes that don't exactly coincide with the objects depicted, sometimes isolating parts of an object, sometimes mixing two shapes into one mass.
3) I plan and fill the dark areas, trying to place deep darks or full blacks near the points of interest.
4) Watercolor. I am trying to use a limited palette for the big pieces (Sepia, Indigo, Paynes' Gray, Neutral tint, Ivory black) and use color to place accents all over.
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COCINA PASO A PASO (17 x 24 cm)
1) Planeo el dibujo en lapiz, tratando de entender la estructura del espacio en que estoy, eligiendo puntos de interes y decidiendo como dialogar con los bordes del dibujo.
2) Paso a tinta. Uso a veces lapiceras Lamy M y EF con tinta Noodler's. Otras, puntas fijas Pizzini 0,1 y 0,3.  Trato de definir formas que no coincidan exactamente con los limites de los objetos dibujados. A veces aislando parte de un objeto, otras mezclando varios objetos en una sola masa.
3) Planeo y relleno las zonas oscuras, tratando de ubicar sombras o negros cerca de los puntos de interes.
4) Acuarela. Estoy tratando de usar una paleta limitada para las piezas grandes (Sepia, Indigo, Paynes' Gray, Neutral tint, Ivory black) y usar color para marcar acentos en todas partes. 
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Mi casa. Ensayos para el Workshop

Hace unos dias me avisaron que mi propuesta para un workshop en el 4º simposio USK en Barcelona fue aceptada, asi que me puse a practicar. Como estamos de vacaciones y tengo a mi familia en casa, trato de estar aqui. Ademas  hace calor...
El "Workshop" se llama "Dibujar como un pajaro: Como elegir un punto de vista".
Para practicar esto, cualquier lugar es bueno, mientras uno pueda definir diferentes planos (frente, medio, fondo). Asi que hoy me sente tranquilo en mi cocina y empece a mover la cabeza  20 cm para aca, 20 cm para alla, 20 cm para atras, hasta que encontre este ángulo que me gusta. Estoy también tratando de dejar espacio en blanco libre en todos mis dibujos. 
Mi escritorio: aqui vivo.
Si estuviera encadenado a la mesa no me daria cuenta…

 Nuestra cocina, que fui registrando paso a paso
Voy a tratar de armar ejercicios para que quienes acudan al taller entiendan que muchas veces un buen sketch no se logra solo con habilidad en el uso de la tinta o la acuarela, sino en cambio con astucia en lograr un punto de vista novedoso, establecer profundidad mediante el uso de planos, etc.
Para empezar a explorar esta idea, ayer me tire en el piso en al baño al lado del inodoro. La ultima vez que paso esto fue hace media vida tratando de sobrevivir a una borrachera, y es lo que creyo mi mujer cuando trato de entrar al baño...