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In reply to Lucy I think a good edition to this could be to move on to traces derived from other senses, if the students start by tracing a invisible line by sight you could move on to that of touch with ease. This could be as simple as getting one participant to draw on an other's back with the second participant trying to then follow this through touch. I have done this before and it worked well, you can even extend it to a sort of Chinese Whispers where all sit in a line drawing on the person in fronts back and see how the trace develops down the line. Hope this helps, Nathan chenery [log in to unmask] www.nathanchenery.co.uk www.twitter.com/nathanchenery On Sat, Sep 17, 2011 at 12:35 PM, lucy ward <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Hello there, > > I would like to add a suggestion to this thread and then ask for > suggestions in return. > > I am planning a workshop on the idea of the trace. I mean the trace in the > sense of tracing movement, action or time. Or that drawing might be the > leaving of a trace. > So far, I have some activities where my class will draw the movement of my > hands as I move them in patterns in the air, and then draw from videos of > other actions, like the hands of a conductor as he conducts an orchestra, > linking their hands with his. These ideas come from the work of Morgan > O'Hara, www.morganohara.com. It is a kind of drawing with no subject, or > drawing that is a recording rather than representation. > > I hope this adds to the list of 'divergent drawing exercises', but does > anyone have any ideas as an extension to this, as I seem to have hit a bit > of writer's block? > > Lucy > > > > ------------------------------ > *From:* Jan Phillips <[log in to unmask]> > *To:* [log in to unmask] > *Sent:* Friday, 16 September 2011, 22:18 > *Subject:* Re: [DRAWING-RESEARCH] Divergent drawing exercises > > Excellent collective brainstorm, thank-you, all. Here's my contribution. > > Students draw each other in pairs, I get them to sit with pairs at > opposite sides of a long row of tables. Each side of the tables is > alternately 'model' or 'active drawer'. I then use a music to time the > changeover, each side draws for the duration of one song, then the roles > swap. Students maintain concentration well, models have something to focus > on, sometimes they sing along, and both sides can predict the duration of > the pose if they know the song. It frees me up to circulate and teach > instead of the distraction of timekeeping. Models have to pick the same > viewpoint to focus on each time. Intense concentration is achieved in this > class, no silly embarrassment. In fact the main problem is to get them to > stop drawing when it is their turn to model. Sometimes I have solved this by > providing only one pen for each pair, to be swapped with each turn. > As this task is a preliminary drawing for drypoint etching, we use > ballpoint pen. > The focus is drawing the face, using short straight lines. I use music with > a frenetic rhythm to suit the task, ( Jet 'Get Born' ) but obviously any > other aesthetic intention could be matched with different music. > > Jan Phillips > > > Sent from my iPad > > On 15/09/2011, at 8:26 PM, Ronette Pickering <[log in to unmask]> > wrote: > > Good idea. I do this but have the students sit with a small A3 board and > paper in groups of four, then three then two. If you have people face to > face they fall apart with laughter and you don’t get much done. In a group > of four they get a profile view, in three a sort of three-quarter view and > finally in two face to face by which time they’ve got used to the idea. The > pose is for no more than five minutes, they keep their pencil or biro or > whatever in contact with the paper the whole time and at no time look at the > work. Get the students to move each time to find someone that they haven’t > drawn before. Good mixing session for a first class of the year, semester, > term too. Excellent exercise for a group of experienced people mixed with > complete beginners. If they all follow the process it’s hard to tell who is > whom. It is also a good exercise in looking and one that I come back to with > my students quite frequently. The drawings have a certain ‘je ne sais quois’ > but funnily enough are usually recognisable as the person who has been > drawn. The students find it good fun. > > There are some useful books for teaching figure drawing one of which is > Figure Drawing by Nathan Goldstein. > > Ronette > > > > *From:* Dan Roach <[log in to unmask]> > *Sent:* Thursday, September 15, 2011 9:29 PM > *To:* <[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask] > *Subject:* Re: Divergent drawing exercises > > Hi Mike/Rachel. > > Thank you for this. Yes, the continuous line is another good idea. I was > thinking about setting timed drawings too…so for example getting the group > to sit opposite from one another and give them two minutes to draw the > other, then one minute, then thirty seconds, then fifteen etc…I foresee this > would start them looking from the start. > > These guys are all animators or illustrators while I am from a fine art > background, so I'm particularly interested in trying to get them to shed any > pre-conceptions of what drawing is for…a tough thing to do, even if it's a > year long module. Most of them I envisage experimenting with media as well > as their execution of drawings; pencil, charcoal, pen and ink, crayon etc… > > I know that there is often a deficit from the level of drawing that is > attained at A level/AS level and that at which the students really can > benefit from if they wholeheartedly throw themselves into their 'own drawing > language'. > > Dan > > From: Rachel Pearcey < <[log in to unmask]> > [log in to unmask]> > Reply-To: The UK drawing research network mailing list <<[log in to unmask]> > [log in to unmask]> > Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2011 08:52:03 +0100 > To: < <[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask]> > Subject: Re: Divergent drawing exercises > > I agree very much with Mike. But not about the Biro. one of the problems > with the humble Biro is that it gives no sense of the potential quality of > any marks, thick, thin, light, dark. The beauty of most simple drawings is > contained in the quality of the marks. > Rachel > > On 15/9/11 08:42, "Mike newman" < <[log in to unmask]> > [log in to unmask]> wrote: > > Hello Dan, > > I find continuous line drawing takes you away from photorealism. The nature > of a start and endpoint and a confined space such as a4 means consideration > is needed for how to realise the act of capturing what we see whilst at the > same time keeping a continuous movement with your pen. I like to use a > humble biro as it dries fairly quickly allieviating chance for smudges. If > using continuous line for life drawing it is worth spending a few seconds > considering the journey your pen may take. I will start at often at the head > oor the foot or at whatever the extreme is. > > couple of links to examples from my website - > <http://www.mike-newman.co.uk/section490954.html> > http://www.mike-newman.co.uk/section490954.html > > <http://www.mike-newman.co.uk/section499110.html> > http://www.mike-newman.co.uk/section499110.html > > thanks Mike > > On 15 September 2011 08:20, Dan Roach < <[log in to unmask]> > [log in to unmask]> wrote: > > Hello. > > I was hoping to pick the collective brain. > > I've been tasked with running a series of drawing sessions aimed at first > year undergrads, within an illustration an animation framework. The brief > that I've been given is to 'open up the students expectations' of what > drawing is or can be. Beyond this, the only stipulation is that the course > leaders would like the students to begin developing a set of skills that > will serve them when drawing representationally later on in their studies > e.g faces, the human form, mass, light etc. > > I'm going to factor life drawing into the series of sessions but I wondered > if there were any cornerstone exercises that members called on to: > > 1. loosen up (or possibly tighten up!) the eye/hand and > 2. get students out of the mindset that photorealistic renderings of a > subject don't equate to the most successful/interesting drawings > > I have two or three ideas that can be varied and we'll also be going out to > different locations to make a series of drawings at each site. > > This is going to be a year long programme and my initial thought is that > the most important factor in the students development is to get them making > as many drawings as they can. They will be using A4 sketchbooks to gather as > much information as they can and then, seed larger pieces of work when back > in the studio. Of course my hope is that the group will start to formulate > their own drawing aspirations and practices beyond the initial projects and > tasks set for them. > > Any thoughts or advice would be gratefully received. > > Thanks in advance. > > Dan > > > > > >