Drawing the Hand Gesture Contours Realism

Gesture  This quick drawing captures the energy and movement of the subject.  It does not have to be realistic.  Gesture drawings are quick, loose drawings. Do not stop the motion of your hand  Do not take your pen off of the surface to move it to another point, you just drag it over.

The gesture drawing focuses more on the inference of the figure, not an exact replica of what you see. Practicing quick gesture drawings will train your eye-brain-hand co-ordination Before you begin a fine drawing or painting, gesture it first to get a 'feel' for what you are going to do. Gesture

 TASK: With a partner, complete 5 gesture drawings each. Your partner will make 5 different hand gestures (School Appropriate!!) for you draw. And then you will switch. Remember, these are quick drawings that should be done within 1 minute. Gesture

Skeletal Structure

 Contour drawing shows the outline of the subject, and not the volume or mass of an object. Contour Drawing

 focused on the edges - the outside of an object or the line made by a fold or pattern. Contour Drawing

Cross Contour Drawing  Like contour drawing, cross contour drawing involves drawing an object using only line.  Unlike contour drawing, cross contour drawing deals with illustrating the way an object sits in space using lines. For example, if you were to draw a sphere, there would be circular marks inside the sphere that will illustrate the way the sphere is round.

 Surrealism was the most influential avant-garde movement of the interwar years. Its chief goal, asserted by its founder and leader, André Breton, was to meld the unconscious with the conscious to create a new “super reality.”  Surrealism in the visual arts almost immediately developed a bewildering variety of styles. It could be highly finished, aiming at a kind of heightened realism OR could be entirely abstract.  The general aim of surrealism is to surprise, often to shock, frequently to disturb, and always to create a dreamlike atmosphere. Surrealism

“The Burning Giraffe”; 1937

Salvador Dali Surrealism

 As an art student in Madrid and Barcelona, Dalí embraced a vast number of artistic styles and displayed unusual technical ability as a painter.  In the late 1920s, two events brought about the development of his mature artistic style: His discovery of Sigmund Freud's writings on the erotic significance of subconscious imagery; and His affiliation with the Paris Surrealists, a group of artists and writers who sought to establish the "greater reality" of man's subconscious over his reason. Salvador Dali Surrealism

 To bring up images from his subconscious mind, Dalí began to induce hallucinatory states in himself by a process he described as “paranoiac critical.” Using this technique his painting style matured extraordinarily, and from 1929 to 1937 he produced the paintings that made him the world's best-known Surrealist artist. Sleep; 1937

 Dali depicted a dream world in which commonplace objects are juxtaposed, deformed, or otherwise metamorphosed in a bizarre and irrational fashion.  Dalí portrayed these objects in meticulous, almost painfully realistic detail and usually placed them within bleak, sunlit landscapes that were reminiscent of his Catalonian homeland. Allegory of an American Christmas; 1943

The Temptations of St. Anthony; 1946

Perhaps the most famous of these enigmatic images is "The Persistence of Memory" (1931), in which limp, melting watches rest in an eerily calm landscape.

Fantasy Art

 a genre of art that depicts magical or other supernatural themes, ideas, creatures or settings. Fantasy Art Definition

Characteristics  Depictions of ancient myths and legends  depictions of modern day fantasy, magical or supernatural forces, are very common elements, and help distinguish fantasy art from other forms.  Dragons, wizards, fairies and other fantastical and mythical creatures are common features in fantasy art. Fantasy Art

Hand-scape Assignment

 Draw hands from life – careful observation  Combine realistic hand drawing in fantasy “scape”  Utilize elements and principles of design – show good composition skills/principles of design – value shading Objectives

Materials Pencil Coloured Pencil (optional) Quality Drawing Paper Portray the hand as a prominent, totally unusual & unexpected ‘character’ in its environment. Show hand(s) interacting with that environment… passively, or actively. You will use features and characteristics of Surrealism and Fantasy art Description

Steps  Complete 5 gesture drawings of your hand in different poses  Complete 2 contour drawings of your hand  Come up with ideas for an environment in which to place the drawing of your hand  Decide on a final pose for your hand  Flesh out your hand (this is still your rough copy) Begin by drawing your hand in skeletal form Add the muscles and tissue Complete the drawing of the hand as we see it.

 Begin work on your design  Ensure your hand includes shading and is complete with detail.  Hand must be done in pencil. Colour may be added to remainder of composition. Steps