Keene Wilson’s Notes on Fowkes, Berberian, Huston, Fechin, Sargent & McCaw

Keene Wilson has collected pages of notes on the following artist’s teachings and procedures.

Ovanes Berberian

Dan McCaw

Carolyn Anderson

Nathan Fowkes

Steve Huston

Nicolai Fechin

John Singer Sargent

Sergei Bongart

Henry Yann

Henry Yann on Light

 

Caricature Class Notes

A student of artist Jason Seiler compiled a handy list of notes taken from Jason’s classes. This is priceless for all artists, whether you deal in caricature, cartoons or landscape paintings.

humble yourself

find the true character of the person

keep it simple

look for simple shapes and size relationships between features

eyes and mouth, then head shape most important

think in terms of inner face and outer face

simplify the weight, where is it?

exaggeration: for every action, theres reaction

compare faces side-by-side to point out differences between people

when sketching: start light and thin, think shape and structure

when darkening lines, dont trace. use as guidelines and improve
upon whats underneath

caricature drawing = study of person’s true character

exaggerate the truth by pushing the features

get the placement and general shape

don’t settle for a weak drawing

perfect practice makes perfect

flip drawing and reference upsdide-down or sideways to turn off left
brain

sketching = adjusting

step back to get a fresh look. zoom out to not get caught up in the
details

squint your eyes to help simplify

what makes person unique and interesting?

what stands out and why?

tell the story

be encouraged, don’t give up

don’t distort, exaggerate

thumbnail sketching: give yourself choices, possibilities

look at face. what comes out furthest, what goes in, what’s narrower,
further?

where is the widest point, thinnest?

find the triangles

focus on placement of features, not details

exaggeration: everything must follow – its the combination of

features relating to each other

likeness is king

width and weight: find the shape of head

pay attention to angles

look away from person. draw the impression of person

follow the form, exaggeration must follow

keep going. start sketching. start over!

think about planes of face, contours of face

sketching = adjustment & problem solving

for beginner: study portraiture before caricature

do thumbnails

develop yourself as an artist – sketch, think, learn, draw, paint, see

hair: get the main shapes first. slow down

don’t do one drawing. explore and sketch lots of thumbnails

don’t exaggerate one feature but all features working together

doing thumbnails are like taking notes

when doing thumbnails, think in animation drawing style

value painting: start with 4-5 values only and move towards more
complex later

what is the reason for what youre drawing?

try to capture the essence of person

what is a caricature to you? strong caricature, strong likeness,
essence.

hair: try to paint it in, dont use speckling

paint with feeling

think cartoon first

what pops out the most?

And these are only half of the notes. For the rest of the notes see the blog post here.

Practical Advice for Art Students

Charles Lasar published a little book in 1910 called Practical Advice from Art Students. The book is hard to come by, but you can read some excerpts at Matthew Innis’ website Underpaintings.

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Howard Pyle “What is Art?”

Howard Pyle gave a wonderful address on “What is Art?” to a convention of architects.

Illustration Magazine Online

Illustration Magazine has uploaded an archive section that has (for the most part) full screen previews of the entire magazine.

Drawing Resources

Charley Parker has posted a helpful list of drawing books on the Lines and Colors blog.

Scott Christensen: Solitary Profession

Scott Christensen has released a new instructional DVD.

Quang Ho Instructional DVD’s

Quang Ho has finally put together some DVD’s that look very good. Below are some excerpts of the videos that you can order at Quang’s website.

Two Color Layin

Stapleton Kearns has a great post on a two-color layin of a seascape, using viridian and iron red oxide. Great demonstration to show what you can accomplish with two pigments, and beautifully.

More on Gallery Contracts

Armand Cabrera has another good post on how to deal with galleries, this one focusing on what things should be covered in contracts.