Nikoma (pencil, 10×8) by NIcholas Raynolds
If you focus on acquiring solid drawing skills, your painting will be much stronger. My drawings are usually studies, exercises and notes, but I often begin a drawing with a painting in mind, only to find that as I become more involved, I become fully absorbed in the drawing as a finished piece.
The demonstration below outlines the method by which I generally approach drawing the portrait and figure, which, in simplest terms, could be broken down into the block-in and modeling stages. This method is based on particular ways of seeing. For example, I work from the general to the specific-looking for the big shapes and relationships.
The demonstration is also an example of graphite used as a transparent medium, which involves developing the drawing in stages of specificity.
Nikoma: Step by Step
1. The Block-In:
Begin with the big proportional relationships, height to width. The arrows point out the four cardinal points. Think in flat, graphic terms, describing the envelope (or the broad outline) of the head, using tilts and angles.
2. Refining the Block-In:
Establish the contour, or outline, of the head and face. Plot the features and look for the negative-space shapes.
3. Building structure:
Develop everything at the same pace. For instance, don’t obsess over the eyes, leaving everything else behind. Look for and describe the internal shapes and structures, which help resolve the contour from the inside out.
4. Massing in Shadows:
Here I clearly distinguish shadow from light, establishing the key (darkness or lightness) of the drawing. I generally keep shadows flat and even, neutral and restricted within a limited value range. Despite this, I strive to give my shadows luminosity, keeping in mind the effect of reflected light.
5. Modeling Form:
As a general rule, I work from dark to light, describing the value scale up toward the light. Here I’ve begun the modeling of dark to light along the jawline and chin. Order your values based on a clear understanding of the anatomy of light and shadow-the phenomenon of incidence and reflection.
6. Finished Work:
Subtle, realistic and honest value gradations give Nikoma (pencil, 10×8) a sense of volume. The mastery of value is a skill that’s easily transferred from drawing to painting.
Drawing Tools Raynolds Uses:
Winsor & Newton vine charcoal, medium or hard
Faber-Castell compressed charcoal
Staedtler pencils (F, 2B to 6B)
Moleskine sketchbook (no larger than 81/2×11 inches)
Strathmore Artist Papers bristol drawing paper, 500 or 400 series
Check out the table of contents for the July/August 2010 issue of The Artist’s Magazine.
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Meet Nicholas M. Raynolds
Born in Victoria, British Columbia, Nicholas M. Raynolds began his art studies in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he received a bachelor of fine arts degree. He went on to study in Düsseldorf, Germany, and in Halifax, Nova Scotia, later attending the Gage Academy of Art in Seattle, before moving to New York City in 2001 to study at the Water Street Atelier and Studio 126. Raynolds is represented by the John Pence Gallery in San Francisco and the Eleanor Ettinger Gallery in New York City and has shown his work at numerous other galleries in the United States and abroad. He has taught at the Art Students League and the Janus Collaborative School of Art, both in New York City; the Long Island Academy of Fine Art in Glen Cove, New York; the Gage Academy of Art; and Studio Incamminati in Philadelphia. Currently he teaches at the National Academy School of Fine Arts in New York City. Learn more about the artist on his website: www.nicholasraynolds.com.
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