Drawing Faces and the Golden Section

Our next assignment is learning how to draw faces. Yes, yours! Aren't you excited? As I learned to draw faces, I started to look at faces differently. I now look at the relationship between the parts of the face. How far apart are eyes? How about the way shadows are cast on cheekbones and chins. What gives a face character? Dimples? Pimples? Wrinkles? Scars? This week spend some time studying the faces in your life. Look at symmetry, how big is the forehead in relation to the other parts of the face. What gives your face character and is uniquely you? How can you portray that in a drawing? Where do the dark values vs. light values naturally occur on your face?

This week look at pictures of yourself and choose a picture that is a close up of your face or one that you can enlarge. It must have detail! You should be able to see all your features well. Another option if you are pressed for time or can't find a good photo with detail,  find a picture in a magazine where the whole page is taken up by the face- beauty magazines have good pictures to use. Bring these into class next 
co-op day please!

As you study and observe, you will start to see the proportions that naturally occur on your face. When looking at the ratios or spaces between the forehead and eyes, nose and mouth do you see anything interesting?  You should, because these proportions and patterns are found all over the place in nature and were created in the ancient world. This patterning was discovered long ago, in the 6th century BC, by mathematicians. It was used by the Egyptians to build the pyramids. Artists like Leonardo da Vinci, used it when he painted the Mona Lisa., as well as, musicians  and scientists  have used it throughout the ages. It is called the Golden Section or Golden Mean. Believe it or not we are still using this in design today, take a look at the iPod or iPhone both were designed with the Golden Section theory. Sweet!

To watch a video on this, visit this website HERE (WARNING there is a nude, The Vitruvian Man, famous drawing, created by Leonardo da Vinci circa 1490.) This short You tube is fascinating and gives us perspective and insight  into our created world. HERE is a website with Golden Section applied to the human face. SO cool! HERE is a tutorial on the female face to draw step-by-step. If you click on the image it will get bigger so you can print or look at it. Have fun this week!

NEW UPDATE: You can get the practice worksheets for class HERE and HERE (3 pages total) if you wish to practice(which I hope you do in preparation for this week!)

2013 A Great ART Year!

Student Artwork HIS Co-op End of the Year Program

This year was wonderful for me as a teacher! I added another art class to my schedule and was so pleased with all the students progress. I taught at two different co-ops, HIS Ministry Co-op and Immanuel Co-op, different style co-ops but both classes engaged great homeschooling students.

This year we studied the world of Modern Art. I have to say, that as a teacher, I was pleasantly surprised by how much my students enjoyed this era of art. What I enjoyed most was being able to present living artists to my students, even one from our area who grew up in my hometown. Students had the opportunity to attend a couple of free exhibits at our local art museum, Andy Warhol and Eric Carle too. I love being able to offer students this opportunity. Experiencing art up close and personal is so different then seeing it on a page in a book.

Students also had the opportunity to enter their artwork into our local Spring Fair and be judged against their peers.  This too, is part of an artists life. I enjoy encouraging my students to take the opportunity to engage other people in what they are doing and to have the courage to take that risk. I never tire of seeing a students confidence increased!

I also enjoyed taking techniques, that I learned in my continuing education over the summer, and teaching them to my students. This year students learned a saturated paper watercolor technique and stenciling technique I learned at a Kay Barnes workshop. Students had fun creating their own stencil to use in their creation of a Marc Chagall  painting.

Below are photos from the End of the Year program at HIS Co-op. Students at HIS Co-op had a great time working collaboratively like, Dale Chihuly, to make a mural. This is our version of  his Mille Flori.  In this project students studied pattern and shape and looked at contrast of colors. Fabulous!

Thanks for a wonderful year and making the world a beautiful place with what you have created, Mrs. W

HIS Mille Flori a Tribute to Dale Chihuly

Student works. Some of the Artists studied: Mondrian, Rene Magritte, Marc Chagall, Jasper Johns, and  Seurat