Just published,  Should be available revised and updated on Amazon and though other outlets as an   eBook, or in paperback or hard cover.

 Here's another earlier work not shown here before (believe it is in the BPL collection).  Image was copied from a slide, and I have not yet cleaned it up, but dirty is growing on me.  

    One of my favorite titles: "The Young Colonel Sanders Memorial Poolside Antics"

 An updated slightly revised and cleaned up version of the Seeing and Three Kinds of Memory blog page will soon come out in book form.

 Recent article in Showcase Magazine

HomeARTISTCarl Jackson: A Legacy in Art and Instruction

ARTIST

Carl Jackson: A Legacy in Art and Instruction

ByCaroline Margaret

 

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Carl Jackson is an artist whose career spans over five decades, during which he has distinguished himself not only as a creator but also as an educator and mentor. His artistic journey has taken him through various roles, including illustrator, arts administrator, concept artist, and gallery director. With an extensive and diverse background, Jackson’s work has found a place in numerous prestigious public collections, including the Boston Public Library, The Addison Gallery of American Art, The Brooklyn Museum, and Rutgers University.

Jackson’s exhibitions have been showcased both nationally and in private galleries across the country, including Allan Stone Gallery in New York, Sherry Frumkin Gallery in Los Angeles, and Fountainhead Gallery in Seattle. His artistic impact has also been recognized through two solo museum exhibitions—one at The Addison Gallery of American Art in Andover, MA, and another at the University of Oregon Museum in Eugene, OR.

A Multifaceted Background: From Submarines to Studios

Jackson’s artistic perspective is enriched by a uniquely varied background. A graduate of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, he served aboard nuclear submarines before pivoting to the arts. His experiences in the military instilled in him a sense of discipline, precision, and a capacity for deep analytical thought—qualities that later informed his artistic practice.

Upon leaving the Navy, Jackson sought a different path, one that allowed for greater creative expression. He attended the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), where he immersed himself in the study of fine art. The transition from a highly structured military environment to the open-ended world of visual art was profound, offering Jackson new ways to interpret and engage with the world. His time at RISD marked the beginning of a lifelong commitment to artistic exploration and intellectual inquiry.

An Artistic Vision Shaped by Complexity

Jackson’s work is deeply reflective of contemporary societal challenges. He approaches art as a medium for dissecting the complexities of human nature, politics, and technology. His paintings often incorporate layered compositions that juxtapose order and chaos, reflecting the intricacies of modern life.

One of his standout works, Composition #105, “Rood” (Acrylic on Canvas, 56”h x 48”w), exemplifies his commitment to exploring the tensions of the modern world. In discussing the piece, Jackson describes it as an attempt to navigate an increasingly complex reality—one in which greed, self-interest, and psychological disorders are exacerbated by unchecked technological advancements. In his view, these forces threaten to overpower humanity’s better impulses, leading to the rise of fascism and an uncertain future shaped by weaponized media and digital landscapes.

The Role of Technology and Media in Jackson’s Art

Jackson’s concerns about technology and media are evident throughout his work. He perceives modern society as being at a crossroads, where advancements in artificial intelligence, mass communication, and surveillance have created both unprecedented opportunities and significant risks. His art serves as a commentary on the ethical dilemmas posed by these developments.

Through abstraction and symbolism, Jackson invites viewers to consider how technology influences human behavior, often raising questions about autonomy, morality, and power. He believes that today’s digital landscape has been weaponized, allowing misinformation, propaganda, and manipulation to flourish. His work challenges audiences to critically assess the narratives they consume and the structures that shape their perceptions.

Teaching and Mentorship: A Lasting Impact

Beyond his personal artistic endeavors, Jackson has made significant contributions as an art instructor. With over 50 years of teaching experience, he has mentored countless students, helping them refine their technical skills and develop their own artistic voices. His approach to education emphasizes critical thinking, encouraging students to view art not just as a craft, but as a powerful means of communication and reflection.

As an instructor, Jackson has worked in various academic settings, inspiring emerging artists to engage with the world around them through their work. He believes that teaching is an extension of his artistic practice—a way to cultivate a deeper understanding of the creative process and its role in society.

Recognition and Influence

Jackson’s influence extends far beyond the classroom. His work has been collected by esteemed institutions, a testament to his impact on the art world. The Boston Public Library, The Addison Gallery of American Art, The Brooklyn Museum, and Rutgers University all house pieces from his extensive body of work. His exhibitions at major galleries and museums have further cemented his status as a significant contemporary artist.

The inclusion of his work in both public and private collections underscores the broad appeal and relevance of his artistic vision. Collectors and curators alike recognize Jackson’s ability to capture the essence of modern life—its anxieties, contradictions, and moments of clarity.

The Future of Jackson’s Artistic Legacy

As Jackson continues his artistic journey, his work remains as vital as ever. His paintings serve as a mirror to society, reflecting both its strengths and its vulnerabilities. In a time of rapid change and uncertainty, his art provides a space for contemplation and discourse.

Looking ahead, Jackson remains committed to exploring new themes and pushing the boundaries of his practice. Whether through large-scale paintings, smaller works, or continued involvement in education, he continues to shape the conversation around art and its role in understanding the world.

Through his profound insights, bold compositions, and unwavering dedication to artistic excellence, Carl Jackson has established himself as a formidable force in the contemporary art scene. His legacy is not only found in the works he creates but also in the students he has mentored and the conversations he has sparked. His art will undoubtedly continue to inspire, challenge, and provoke thought for generations to come.

 

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 Some more early work in private collections not shown before

To copy or not to copy...that is the....

 Since copying is such an integral part of learning to draw I thought I should repost this note,  from the 2016 archive.

To copy or not to copy...that is the....

Copying
 
Thoughts on copying

Most of us, a one time or another, have been admonished not to copy.  In its pejorative sense, the word copy implies plagiarism, or, putting forward something done by someone else and implying it is our own.  That is not the kind of copying I advocate, rather, you should use copying (which I sometimes term Close Scrutiny) to learn.  As anyone who has made copies of their favorite comic book character, or fantasy superhero will attest, you can learn how to draw your own fantasy figures by copying some examples.  You are, in effect, building the conventional  mental constructs (how to draw spiky hair, what Viking swords look like, the subtleties of dragon teeth) of these objects that you can then reproduce from memory.  Some people are satisfied to learn only in a relatively narrow spectrum, building their mental constructs from fairly limited material.  In this instance and I see it occasionally in my students, the drawings produced, though highly finished and capable of producing ooohs and aahhs from the untrained masses do little to further the artistic development of those in question.  The point being, the process is sound; it is up to the individual to use it as a constructive learning tool that furthers their knowledge base.   But this  kind of narrow adherence to a particular style or technique brings up a common issue.
There is an old chestnut in which an art teacher claims, “if I teach you how to draw (or anyone teaches you, for that matter including copying) you will end up drawing like me (or them) and your personal artistic growth will have been stunted”.  In the best case I think this is a misguided but heartfelt concern for the student, in the worst case I think it is a rationalization for the inadequate skill levels possessed by the teacher.  If a student does not intend to become an artist but rather wants to develop personal skills of visual expression, then skill with any style is better than no skill at all! 
If a student aspires to becoming an artist, whether in the applied or fine arts my experience has been that beyond developing professional skill they always want to also develop a personal style, after all self-expression is the initial impetus for becoming an artist in the first place!  So a student that picks up on the personal quirks and approaches used by a teacher is just pausing to amass information on a much broader and longer journey of discovery in which they will copy many styles and try many approaches before homing in on their personal expressive idiom.  A great percentage of that journey will happen, not in a classroom, but, will come from personal study and will take the form of copying from references, whether they be photographic, from life or from the works of other artists from whom they wish to learn.  The artist’s own style will emerge as an amalgamation of all he or she have studied in the classroom, plus, in far greater measure, their own personal input  which will rely heavily upon the learning approach of copying the work of others.  .  
If you have ten or twenty years along with the resources to attend drawing classes, you can improve incrementally and will probably eventually gain competence without ever having to make copies of other materials to aid in the process.  But the reality of doing this is that you are relying to a substantial degree on observing your fellow students and on the finite knowledge capabilities of your instructors and this limited approach is going to take you a while.  I don’t mean to denigrate the skills of your instructors, after all, I’m one of them! but missing the chance to actually see how masters of the craft did things will speed up your learning curve immeasurably.  And, beyond that, it is unrealistic to suppose that you will be taking endless drawing courses – you must learn on your own, and copying is a major component of that process! 



Carl Jackson, 2008

And from the blog

The best way to copy

Assuming we want to develop our knowledge (mental constructs) of things, then it makes sense to copy versions of those things we want to know more about.  There are three main ways we could undertake this process. 

1.       We could set up the object (s) on our desk and draw from life, or

2.      We could take a picture of the object (s), print it out, and then use that “flattened’ version to do our drawing.  This would simplify our task as it would make space and size relationships more readily apparent.  Lumped into this flattened out versions category would be magazine pictures, paintings, comic book illustrations, and so on; just about anything we can get some sort of picture of.  But, let’s say we want to maximize the amount of knowledge we get from a copy. How about…

3.      Copying a competent existing drawing of the object or objects we wish to develop knowledge of.  Not only can you learn shape proportion and detail but also the kind of marks used (technique) to develop the drawing,  (obviously when using this approach you are limited to the view of the object determined by the artist whose work you are copying).

There is no correct answer to “the best way to copy”.  It, of course, depends on the draughtsman’s knowledge and skill level.  But for beginning and intermediate level artists who are intent on improving their skills and knowledge, then I recommend copying existing work in the same or a similar medium.        

I have a term I use called Close Scrutiny which I define as the careful copying of works that are pertinent to your area of interest.   Most serious books on developing drawing skills advocate copying.  It is not enough to simply look longingly at work we admire.  We must “get into it.”   If you force yourself to struggle to approximate the sorts of marks that are embodied in highly skilled work you will, inevitably, absorb portions of that dearly acquired knowledge. I feel the best way you can do this by trying to reproduce it in your own hand.  If you wish to learn to play the guitar you wouldn’t just study chord diagrams in a manual; you would actually try to imitate and test these diagrams by working with the instrument, over, and over, and over again.  And if the first few times you couldn’t get the fingering correct, you would persist until your fingers and hands, “did what you wanted them to.”  You could probably learn to play the guitar without the manual and study of previous music, but it would be a much longer process, and if you tried to learn the guitar without practicing fingering, you would fail.  In a like manner, you must train your hands and enhance your memories if you wish to improve drawing abilities.

When I was a student, in my rendering classes and mechanical drawing I was fine and did well because I could focus in (remember the 6 degree cone of focus?), but in the figure drawing classes there was that annoying 3D space and all that unfamiliar complex detail that I had no memorized conventions for, to contend with; I was lost.  My drawings were never finished and the parts that were, always seemed distorted and incorrectly positioned.   My first semester instructor was sympathetic but not that helpful, and I remember his rather unspecific suggestions that I “be looser” “draw faster” and “let it flow,” I was particularly distressed when he suggested I just “draw loose like Rembrandt,”.  He didn’t know how to tell me what my problems were and although I improved, mainly because I was looking at other student’s drawings, my progress was frustratingly slow. ( Note: I realize now that this disconnect I was experiencing was due to my lack of understanding that I had to set up "relationships" before working on details  See section on Relationships )

 

The next semester I started in the same funk though my new instructor was more helpful with his suggestions “Look at negative spaces” (if he had used the term gaps  [under "Seeing" see "Objects and spaces are of equal importance"], I would have caught on a lot faster), “Get your proportions correct” and “look for the gesture”.  Beyond that, my hand was beginning to make better marks.  He suggested that I make some copies of some Master drawings and start looking at anatomy (At the time there was no specific course in human anatomy).  Well, I was so balled up in my classroom inadequacies and with other courses that I didn’t pay much attention at the time.  But I determined that I would stay in Providence that second summer and really work on my drawing.  I recalled his suggestion that I copy some Master drawings, and I asked him what artists he suggested. He said, “Pontormo as a good place to start”, he also added that starting to build a personal art library and getting an anatomy book would be a good idea.  

 

I found an old copy of an anatomy book by Jeno Barcsey in a used bookstore.  The models in the book were strange looking, but the pencil renderings were spectacular.  I wanted to be able to draw like that!  Not knowing where else to start, I began to copy the illustrations in the anatomy book; at first the individual bones and later the muscles and muscle groups - copying them to learn about the shapes but also to learn his rendering style.  It was one of those epiphanies I mentioned in the introduction when I realized that if I used my rendering capabilities to copy drawings I admired that I could really learn technique and anatomy at the same time!  So I’m copying anatomy and I’m copying master drawings and I’m attending the open summer session figure drawing classes, and no one is telling me to draw faster or like Rembrandt!  And this led to a couple of other discoveries.  First of all, that the way anatomical details in the Master drawings were drawn, were conventions for drawing those same body parts when I got to the live figure sessions. Now It Was Beginning To Make Sense!  Second, this stuff I was making copies of was beginning to be embedded in my memory – I was replacing my earlier inadequate memories with much more serviceable ones.  To be sure, when I drew, these memories could dominate if I let them, but by regulating or balancing the use of the good memories with honest right-brain analysis of the current subject, I was on my way to competency.  It was only years later, when I began teaching drawing myself, that I realized the richness of content one could acquire in just one copy, if it were undertaken with the correct approach.

In one seriously undertaken copy of a master drawing a student would be:

·        learning anatomy along with

·        conventions for anatomical parts (a knee from the front for example), or a method for suggesting foliage.

·        The Masters shading technique and edge handling and line quality.  Copying these subtleties of drawing are invaluable to building your own muscle memory and understanding of technique.

·        The nuance of the Masters compositional structure, See the El Greco, Example .#80

·        While improving the ability to use right side measuring technique and seeing of relationships; You are comparing copy and original side by side, and mistakes are easier to pick out than trying to compare a drawing to a live, 3D situation.

·        Developing the habit of accuracy; of recognizing and correcting mistakes – The drawing doesn’t get up and move after twenty minutes plus the space is conveniently flat  all at the same time!

I should note here that the struggles I recount are primarily with the human figure and anatomy, but are equally applicable to any genre whether it be landscape, still life or any other form when drawing from life or copying.

So, as you can see, improving Mental Constructs and training your hand to make better marks inevitably incorporates the development of Technique, which we will cover in more detail next.

 

 I'm just getting back a pastel and tempera piece I though was lost.  I had loaned it out 30 or so years ago.  Title, "Thought Police Inspecting a Thought"

 Work is for sale.  Prices on request + shipping

 I am currently teaching drawing online through the App. SuperProf using the concepts found under the Page "Seeing and the Three Kinds of Memory".  Anyone viewing this blog who is interested in expanding their drawing skills should checkout SuperProf.com.  

"$1.49 a Pound" Graphite, 13"h x 16"w, 1977, Coll. Boston Public Library

 

The Three Kinds of Memory

1.      Memory knowledge of what things look like.  I refer to this type of memory as a Mental construct.

2.      Technique.  This is acquired knowledge and memorized processes which enable the artist to enhance the believability and reality of a drawn object or scene 

   

Both of these types of memories reside in the Left-brain memory storage bank.

 

3.       Muscle memory.  This is the kind of physical memory you acquire by repeating a physical process over and over.  Think doing a one and a half flip off the high board, tying your shoe or simply dashing off your signature. 

I have come to understand that most of the problems that plague the artist trying to accurately represent objects or scenes arise in the acquisition and refinement of Mental Constructs. 

We all have stored visual memories of everything we encounter.  In the case of most people, these visual memories are fairly undeveloped.  You can test this hypothesis by grabbing a pencil and drawing a tree.  Deciduous (leafy) or Coniferous (needles)?  Or more specifically, Maple or Willow, or Hemlock or Sequoia?  You see where this is going.  For most of us, for the most part, we only have rudimentary knowledge of tree shapes and details.  If, on the other hand we were a botanist we probably would have gained enough stored knowledge (mental constructs) to create more accurate drawings of specific trees. 

Drawing things from memory is a test of the stored knowledge you have of particular objects.  If you attempt to draw things you must try to reproduce those details and characteristics that define the subject.  By doing this you are enhancing your stored knowledge (mental construct) of the subject.  Thus when you try to reproduce the subject again your result will be better able to achieve an accurate result.

 Luxembourg art note 2023

As with most of my work this piece evolved over an extended time and is an attempt to describe an ever more complex world that most of humanity is not equipped to deal with.  A more recent graphite piece, included in this application has the title "Smart But Not Smart Enough" which, I think, is central to my belief, that we, as a species, though clever, and even capable in many ways, cannot overcome our negative impulses.  Greed, self-interest, sociopathy, neurosis, demagoguery and aggressiveness when abetted by an unfettered technology, in my opinion, far outweigh our better impulses.  The oft-repeated maxim about old men decrying the excesses indiscretions and stupidity of the young no longer applies.  Evolution of technology without concomitant maturation of our ability to control our negative impulses is a disastrous stew.  These are not new ideas, but I do think the rise of fascism, enhanced by a "weaponized" news media and web make the future increasingly uncertain.

I have mentioned sources and inspiration in describing previous entries in this application.  A few I might mention are Bosch, Bruegel, Goya, and more recently Bacon, Beuys, Graves, Bontecou; but many others.  Yeats' "The Second Coming" and Arnold's line "were ignorant armies clash by night" resonate.

Carl Jackson's Blog: Contact Information

Carl Jackson's Blog: Contact Information:  Email: chipmj2001@yahoo.com Phone: 1 206 290 4514 (best to leave a call-back number) Prices on request

I've added the newest versions of Comps 127, 128 and 129 under "NEW" 

 I've added several new projects under new and moved a bunch of stuff to "current"

 I have reissued the blog entries for Seeing and the Three Kinds of Memory as a page in logical chronological sequence.  See the pages section above.

 Three Kinds of Memory (part 1)

There are three kinds of memory you must develop to evolve as an artist.  Two of these are closely interrelated and we will discuss them in this Section.  The third area will be covered under the broad umbrella of Technique in the next section.  . 

1.       Mental Constructs of things --A constant upgrading of your understanding of what things look like; not just the surface detail but the structural identity as well. 

2.      Muscle memory—the constant translation of visual data, through the hand to the page, that, over time, trains the hand to better, more concise and descriptive marks.  

We just spent a whole section devising ways to keep our memory from distorting our drawings, but that doesn’t mean that memory doesn’t play a part in the drawing process.  Before we can properly understand the essential role of memory in drawing realistically, we need, to understand how currently held  memories, if not regulated, can take over the drawing process.  The act of drawing is a balancing act between what you are seeing and what you have stored in your memory about the subject of your drawing.  When you begin to learn to draw, you don’t have very good memories of what things look like and rely mostly on symbolic or generic conceptualizations of those things, and if you couple that with the tendency of the left side of your brain to take over the drawing task, your results will most likely end up as a version of reality that has been influenced by your symbol memory and is thus does not look much like the scene.  It is at this initial stage of the learning process that your capacity to see correctly will pay big dividends because it is at this stage--when you do not have a very good handle on your subjects--that you must try to expend extra effort to be accurate, that is you must use the techniques of Chapter two to insure you are being accurate and not succumbing to the tendency to allow the left brain to substitute symbolic information for what is really in front of you.  When you take this extra care you improve upon your existing memory of that scene, and this upgraded or better memory will, in turn, improve any subsequent drawings you may make.

 

If you always make a conscious effort to strive for accuracy when you draw, the knowledge that you gain in the form of better mental constructs will help you to make an even better drawing of any new subject.   

These better memories of things (everything!) come from drawing, lots and lots of drawing and concentrating on accuracy.  Let me make an important distinction here.  The drawings that you make of things (especially things you are unfamiliar with) are really to analyze those things, and this analysis only works effectively if you have learned to “see” correctly and actually do a careful drawing of the object in question.  I’m not talking here about an hour and a half of shaded and embellished rendering – although you can do that if you wish - I just mean about five or ten minutes of solid structural analysis in which you look at major (prominent?) details of form and include them in the overall sketch.  This careful analysis is what builds substance into your memories of the stuff around you.  If a student doesn’t realize the importance of taking this extra care, no matter how zealous his or her efforts, a lot of the time will be wasted.  Slow down, and build your artistic abilities on a solid foundation of knowledge especially if you are an “applied arts” artist who really needs to be able to utilize and manipulate real world visual data. 

Drawing and Sketching

As a beginning artist you should be drawing all of the time, drawing everything, utilizing your newly acquired visual skills to analyze the world around you.   When you are drawing and sketching, you are usually on location and working at a moderate size, say, 6 x8” and 11 x 14”. If you are in the beginning stages of learning to draw, I recommend that you use pencils of medium grade (F, HB, B – primarily because they hold a point longer, and are more forgiving for the artist who has not yet developed control over pencil pressure [touch]).   You should also carry an eraser.  When you are drawing, you should not let mistakes you notice when comparing your drawing to the scene you are working from  to pass; fix them, because you are trying to train the right side of your brain to function properly, that is, to add to and improve the visual data you have already stored, and, by allowing mistakes to go uncorrected you diminish the effectiveness of that process.

Some Practical tips: most drawing books suggest that you do a simplified drawing of the object you are going to sketch and then add the details.  So, to draw a fire hydrant for example, you would start with a vertical cylinder, and so on….  This is a valid suggestion as far as it goes but, what never was made clear to me (and which took some time to realize) was that that first cylinder should be drawn very, very lightly and loosely so that you can  visually  compare your drawing to the object to check that you have the overall proportions correct  (see example 25 

 This will allow you to make adjustments to your drawing (also very lightly) before proceeding to the bolder, finish lines.   This way, you haven’t committed to a bunch of dark, unfixable lines that are in error.  Using especially soft pencils for this work is also not advised since they are crumbly, messy and become dull very quickly.  Mistakes when erased tend to smear, adding to the mess.   Until your hand skills and touch have improved, I advise you to use a selection of several mid-grade pencils (B, HB, F) with 2 or 3  of each grade, all sharpened, to improve results. 

 

Everything you draw with careful observation will become a memory that will aid in subsequent efforts-- not only in subsequent live drawings of other things, but in building your capacity to draw things from memory. 

Sketchbooks and Visual Diaries

You should keep a Personal Visual Diary if you are serious about becoming a visual artist of any consequence.  It should be a personal record of your artistic journey.  It can contain your thoughts, ideas, things you want never to forget, drawings, descriptions of techniques, coffee cup stains, a visual record of the places you have been and the ideas you have considered.  In short, it should be a reference book about you and for you.  Even if you do not plan on becoming a pro, a sketch/diary will still be important, not only as a reference to previous insights but as an historical record of your artistic journey. 

Sketch book diaries should probably be hard bound books or the newer hard bound book with a spiral binder which lies flat for drawing and should be regarded as an important personal document and treated that way.

 

Copying and Close Scrutiny: Why and how to copy and how it worked for me

 

“The masters must be copied over and over again and it is only after proving yourself a good copyist that you should reasonably be permitted to draw a radish from nature”.                                                                            Degas

 

Once you are convinced that having better (more accurate) memories of the way things look will help you to draw them better, the next step is the building up your store of memorized information.  If, for example, we wish to become more skillful at depicting the human form we can copy great drawings from the past, not only to train our eye-hand skills but to increase our knowledge.  Later, when we work from the live model we can utilize knowledge we have acquired from close observational study (copying) to help us produce better results.  This does not happen all at once, so we must be persistent, and approach each “copy” as a valuable learning experience.  Analyzing and deconstructing the work of a great artist, if approached properly, can be like “channeling”  their knowledge from the distant past.   At the end of this chapter there are several copying exercises with a detailed description of the approach to use.

The best way to copy

Assuming we want to develop our knowledge (mental constructs) of things, then it makes sense to copy versions of those things we want to know more about.  There are three main ways we could undertake this process. 

1.       We could set up the object (s) on our desk and draw from life, or

2.      We could take a picture of the object (s), print it out, and then use that “flattened’ version to do our drawing.  This would simplify our task as it would make space and size relationships more readily apparent.  Lumped into this flattened out versions category would be magazine pictures, paintings, comic book illustrations, and so on; just about anything we can get some sort of picture of.  But, let’s say we want to maximize the amount of knowledge we get from a copy. How about…

3.      Copying a competent existing drawing of the object or objects we wish to develop knowledge of.  Not only can you learn shape proportion and detail but also the kind of marks used (technique) to develop the drawing

There is no correct answer to “the best way to copy”.  It, of course, depends on the draughtsman’s knowledge and skill level.  But for beginning and intermediate level artists who are intent on improving their skills and knowledge, then I recommend copying existing work in the same or a similar medium.

 

              

I have a term I use called Close Scrutiny which I define as the careful copying of works that are pertinent to your area of interest.   Most serious books on developing drawing skills advocate copying.  It is not enough to simply look longingly at work we admire.  We must “get into it.”   If you force yourself to struggle to approximate the sorts of marks that are embodied in highly skilled work you will, inevitably, absorb portions of that dearly acquired knowledge. I feel the best way you can do this by trying to reproduce it in your own hand.  If you wish to learn to play the guitar you wouldn’t just study chord diagrams in a manual; you would actually try to imitate and test these diagrams by working with the instrument, over, and over, and over again.  And if the first few times you couldn’t get the fingering correct, you would persist until your fingers and hands, “did what you wanted them to.”  You could probably learn to play the guitar without the manual and study of previous music, but it would be a much longer process, and if you tried to learn the guitar without practicing fingering, you would fail.  In a like manner, you must train your hands and enhance your memories if you wish to improve drawing abilities.

When I was a student, in my rendering classes and mechanical drawing I was fine and did well because I could focus in (remember the 6 degree cone of focus?), but in the figure drawing classes there was that annoying 3D space and all that unfamiliar complex detail that I had no memorized conventions for to contend with; I was lost.  My drawings were never finished and the parts that were, always seemed distorted and incorrectly positioned.   My first semester instructor was sympathetic but not that helpful, and I remember his rather unspecific suggestions that I “be looser” “draw faster” and “let it flow,” I was particularly distressed when he suggested I just “draw loose like Rembrandt,”.  He didn’t know how to tell me what my problems were and although I improved, mainly because I was looking at other student’s drawings, my progress was frustratingly slow. 

 

The next semester I started in the same funk though my new instructor was more helpful with his suggestions “Look at negative spaces” (if he had used the term gaps I would have caught on a lot faster), “Get your proportions correct” and “look for the gesture”.  Beyond that, my hand was beginning to make better marks.  He suggested that I make some copies of some Master drawings and start looking at anatomy (At the time there was no specific course in human anatomy).  Well, I was so balled up in my classroom inadequacies and with other courses that I didn’t pay much attention at the time.  But, I determined that I would stay in Providence that second summer and really work on my drawing.  I recalled his suggestion that I copy some Master drawings, and I asked him what artists he suggested. He said, “Pontormo as a good place to start”,  he also added that starting to build a personal art library and getting an anatomy book would be a good idea.  

 

I found an old copy of an anatomy book by Jeno Barcsey in a used book store.  The models in the book were strange looking, but the pencil renderings were spectacular.  I wanted to be able to draw like that!  Not knowing where else to start, I began to copy the illustrations in the anatomy book; at first the individual bones and later the muscles and muscle groups - copying them to learn about the shapes but also to learn his rendering style.  It was one of those epiphanies I mentioned in the introduction when I realized that if I used my rendering capabilities to copy drawings I admired that I could really learn technique and anatomy at the same time!  So I’m copying anatomy and I’m copying master drawings and I’m attending the open summer session figure drawing classes, and no one is telling me to draw faster or like Rembrandt!  And this led to a couple of other discoveries.  First of all, the way anatomical details in the Master drawings were drawn, were conventions for drawing those same body parts when I got to the live figure sessions. Now It Was Beginning To Make Sense!  Second, this stuff I was making copies of was beginning to be embedded in my memory – I was replacing my earlier inadequate memories with much more serviceable ones.  To be sure, when I drew, these memories could dominate if I let them, but by regulating or balancing the use of the good memories with honest right-brain analysis of the current subject, I was on my way to competency.  It was only years later, when I began teaching drawing myself, that I realized the richness of content one could acquire in just one copy, if it were undertaken with the correct approach.

In one seriously undertaken copy of a master drawing a student would be:

·        learning anatomy along with

·        conventions for anatomical parts (a knee from the front for example), or a method for suggesting foliage.

·        The Masters shading technique and edge handling and line quality.  Copying these subtleties of drawing are invaluable to building your own muscle memory and understanding of technique.

·        The nuance of the Masters compositional structure, See the El Greco example.

·        While improving the ability to use right side measuring technique and seeing of relationships; You are comparing copy and original side by side, and mistakes are easier to pick out than trying to compare a drawing to a live, 3D situation.

·        Developing the habit of accuracy; of recognizing and correcting mistakes – The drawing doesn’t get up and move after twenty minutes plus the space is conveniently flat  all at the same time!

I should note here that the struggles I recount are primarily with the human figure and anatomy, but are equally applicable to any genre whether it be landscape, still life or any other form when drawing from life.

So, as you can see, improving Mental Constructs and training your hand to make better marks inevitably incorporates the development of Technique, which we will cover in more detail next. 

 

 

 

Seeing (part 4)

 

Measuring, flattening space, and controlling left-brain memories are essential skills, but several additional concepts can greatly enhance your seeing capabilities.

 

Other Kinds of Relationships

Once you have developed some skill at seeing flat, other comparisons beyond simple spatial and size relationships become possible.  Parallel relationships and lines that flow into other lines are examples.

 It takes only a little practice to develop the skill of seeing parallel relationships or lines that extend into other lines once you understand the trick of perceiving gaps.  Try this: Look for parallel lines that stretch the limits of your perception.  Take Example 20.  You could use the angle of the student’s upper arm resting on the table.  It happens to be parallel to the receding edge of the desk beside him.  And that, in turn, is “lined up” with the lower edge of the box surrounding the shapes on the dry erase board. 

 

 To help you understand this you can make your own “relational” seeing exercises.  Try looking for parallel curves or other shapes that are similar to each other. (Look at Example 19 again and then look at examples 20-5 and 20-6.) 

So, you can begin to understand that flattening space (mentally) not only helps us improve the accuracy of our pictures, it also opens up other, more advanced ideas about the way in which we construct them. 

The possibilities are limitless.  This ability to notice and apply a subtext of consciously perceived relationships, which anyone can acquire with a little practice and imagination, lies at the heart of compositional structure that one discovers in the drawings and paintings of the Masters. See Examples 21, 22, and 23.

By looking at a group of objects without focusing on any one object within the group you can perceive relationships between objects, distances between objects, size comparisons of objects, parallel relationships, and other spatial information that is not available to you if you only let your left-brain take over and focus on individual objects.

 

Lose control early to gain control later

In my work with students, I have come to realize that in many cases the problem of getting lost in the details of objects could be alleviated by simply changing the way the pencil is held during the initial stages (the blocking-in stages) of the drawing.  Normally, whenever you find yourself gripping a writing instrument (Example #30), you’re getting ready to engage in some detail-oriented process like writing down a phone number or doing a math problem. So, your mind is trained to start focusing from the instant you pick up the pencil.

By gripping the pencil in a way that prevents you from drawing details, you have immediately taken away the ability to be in control—which can be scary.  When I encourage students to use a more relaxed grip as in Example 31, they are often uncomfortable at first.  They feel the loss of control.   But, losing control is exactly what you should do at the blocking-in stage of a drawing.  You are only interested in very loosely and lightly sketching out the size and location relationships of the objects anyway!  So, holding the pencil loosely will keep you out of the left-brain detail mode, and help you concentrate on getting the relationships in the drawing correct.

 

Example #30 Control position; working on details

Example #31  Allow the pencil to float—holding it loosely with thumb, index and middle fingers (not touching the fleshy web between index finger and thumb).  This prevents you from focusing on details, which inevitably happens if you are holding the pencil like an accountant (control mode, Example #30).

Remember, you only want to be setting up the image by drawing “blob” shapes very lightly but in the correct spatial and size relationships to the other “blob” designated objects.  So, no details.  Everything drawn very lightly.  The advantage of this technique—blocking-in marks drawn faintly—allows you to add the finishing details later without having to erase.

 

Use the same process on any subject.  Notice the torso of the nude is treated as a parallelogram.  You can simplify the thigh jutting forward as a plexiglass cylinder, correctly sized and placed to which you then add details. 

 

  See the next section.

 

Avoiding names for objects

In this process of translating 3-D information into a 2-D representation of that information, the more you can objectify the things you are trying to depict, the more successful you will be.  “Objectification,” in this context, is to see the object as a simple geometric shape. The blocking-in process uses this notion.

 

Look at the above example to see a problem that commonly comes up for students when they are drawing from live models.  A student, when confronted with a foreshortened view of a portion of the body—the thigh for example—may have a great deal of trouble trying to draw it correctly as seen.  Here again, that old left-brain dominance is the likely culprit. What may be happening is that the student’s left-brain has a mental picture of a thigh which it tries to impose on the drawing.  Since that mental picture has little to do with the actual scene the student is observing, the result is usually a very distorted or bent-down (differently angled) version of the thigh that has no resemblance to the actual image.  In cases like this, I suggest the student try to visualize the thigh not as a thigh but rather as a transparent section of Plexiglas pipe.  (Plexiglas pipe is a good substitute in this case.  Since it’s a visually neutral object, the student probably won’t have an existing mental picture of it.)  On seeing a piece of pipe, the student only needs to approximate the overlap between the openings at either end, and then refine the thigh shape-contours to that construct.  See Diagram F-1 and This, Not This diagram that follows.

 

 

 

The resulting drawing is close to the observed configuration because the left-brain “thigh” memory wasn’t required to create it.  

Converting familiar but difficult-to-draw objects into simplified forms, takes away their name/memory relationship and makes them much easier to draw correctly.  This is closely related to the concept of blocking in.  The main difference in this example is the addition of a 3-D component that comes into play when the student visualizes both ends of the transparent cylinder.  Most blocking in needs only flattened shapes to represent elements in the composition so that their relative placement and size are initially established.

 

Summary

I cannot stress enough the need to be able to see correctly.  If you bypass this step, it might derail all your subsequent efforts at improving.

 

The next step for you as a student is to practice these techniques for a week or two to ensure that you have mastered them and can use them in your future drawing.   To recap, here’s what you should be working on:

 

·                  ·     Measuring techniques:     Sight with your pencil to make relative size comparisons and to measure angles              for translation to a flat drawing surface

• Seeing flat, understand and use gaps:   Consciously visualize spaces between objects—get used to the idea that spaces and objects are coequal
 
• Looking for relationships between things:   revisit  Seeing (part two)   “Relationships”
• Control the tendency for the left side memories of things from taking over in the middle of a drawing.  Embrace “measuring” to help you to avoid overreliance on existing memories

You have now reached an important plateau.  You can correctly draw what you see.  This doesn’t mean that every drawing will come out as you want it, but with your newly acquired skills you will be able to identify and correct problems of spacing and relative size in your drawings.  Over time, as you continue to draw, the number of corrections you have to make will be fewer.

 

Once you understand the process of “artistic seeing” you will be able to correct your own drawings and the progress you make developing your skill should be much more rapid.

 

Next, the three kinds of memory.