Session 4: Figure and Animal Drawing with Steve Myles - FREE!

Session 4

Figure and Animal Drawing

Human Figure

Body proportions

Gesture

Setting up drawing to fill page

Review Foreshortening

Use of negative space

Zoom Demo: Body proportions – head relation

Joints, flippers to hands/feet

Zoom Demo: drawing figure model from photograph

Drawing the hand

Finger “fan”

Animal Drawing:

Use of geometric shapes

Placement of eyes, mouth

Rendering fur and whiskers

Drawing Class Materials: Drawing Paper: Strathmore Drawing Pad, 400 Series, medium surface – 11 x 14 is a good size Drawing Pencils:    Can buy a set of pencils or individual pencils Suggest a range of hardness from 4B (soft) to 4H (hard) Erasers:   Standard “art” eraser – I like FACTIS Black 18 Kneaded Eraser: this is a soft pliable eraser made of kneaded rubber PRISMACOLOR is a well known manufacturer Smudging stick – a stick made of tightly rolled paper used for blending, generally sold where pencils are sold. Pencil sharpener: This is not the type of pencil sharpener you used in school. It is small and portable and is capable of replacing blades. It is usually sold where drawing pencils are sold.

___________________________________ Steve Myles - Biography I started drawing as young boy and first started painting as a senior in college (1971). A career in industry and raising a family pushed painting to the back burner, but I always found time for drawing. When business meetings became boring, I drew caricatures of my business associates and I always found communicating with drawings to be more effective than with just words. Since retiring, I have been able to pick up painting again and pursue art on a full time basis. My education is not at all typical for an artist. I have a BS in Chemical Engineering from Rutgers University and an MBA in Operations Management also from Rutgers. A course in drafting as part of the engineering curricula sharpened my ability to visualize and draw objects in three dimensions and I believe my knowledge of physics has helped with my understanding of color and value. Engineering and art can be complementary as so aptly demonstrated by Leonardo Da Vinci. I live in Reston, Virginia with, Sandy, my wife and partner for 40+ years.. In 2008, I retired from a 37 ½ year career with ExxonMobil and have begun a new phase of life in the art world. I like this “right brain” adventure for the second half of my life after a “left brain” career in industry.  Since retiring, I have been a member of several local art galleries and have been teaching drawing and painting both privately and publicly.  I find much joy in watching my students discover the artistic talents they never realized they had. I paint in both oil and acrylic in a representational style. I have taken courses from excellent instructors at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria and many of my landscapes and still lives have been accepted in juried shows at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, the Treasury of Art Show in Vienna, the Rittenhouse Fine Art Show in Philadelphia, the Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival in Reston, the Oatlands Plantation in Leesburg and the Burwell Morgan Mill Art Show. My drawings include pet portraits and portraits of well known celebrities, as well as still lives and landscapes done in both graphite or charcoal and all in a representational style.

All of my works can be seen at my website: www.stevemylesart.com. Please feel free to visit it.