Keys to Drawing – Chapter 2

 

Keys to Drawing - Exercise 2F
40 Minutes
1 August 2013
Graphite Pencil on Paper
26cm x 37cm (10.25" x 14.5")


Chapter 2 of the Keys to Drawing is called “The Artist's Handwriting”. It is another well-balanced mixture of explanation and exercises.


Keys to Drawing - Exercise 2A
20 Minutes
18 July 2013
Ink on Paper
29cm x 34.5cm (11.5" x 13.5")


The chapter starts with an exploration of the “handwriting” in some master drawings. Exercise 2A is a copy of one of the drawings and Exercise 2B is a drawing in the same style. The objective is to get inside the mind of a great artist and to experience their process by emulating their handwriting.


Keys to Drawing - Exercise 2B
20 Minutes
18 July 2013
Ink on Paper
26cm x 32cm (10.25" x 12.5")


These are intriguing exercises. I’m not sure whether I approached the drawings in the say way as Matisse, but I had a definite sense that the flow and arrangement of the lines was more important than accurate proportions and draughtsmanship.


Keys to Drawing - Exercise 2C
1-Minute Gesture Drawings
23 July 2013
Graphite Pencil on Paper
26cm x 36.5cm (10.25" x 14.5")


The chapter introduces the concepts of the control hand and the free hand. The control hand is similar to the tight, close to the point grip we use for writing. The free hand is a looser grip and the pencil is held further away from the point.


Keys to Drawing - Exercise 2C
2-Minute Connected Line Drawing
23 July 2013
Graphite Pencil on Paper
23cm x 36cm (9" x 14")


More importantly (for me) are the mindsets that Bert Dodson associates with the different grips. The free hand is associated with a carefree, exploratory, big picture frame of mind. The control hand is associated with a more precise, detail-oriented attitude. The remaining exercises in the chapter explore the differences between these two hands/mindsets.


Keys to Drawing - Exercise 2C
5-Minute Burn
23 July 2013
Graphite Pencil on Paper
38cm x 29cm (15" x 11.5")


Exercise 2C is a collection of gestural drawings using the free hand.
 

Keys to Drawing - Exercise 2D & 2E
30 Minutes each
30 July 2013
Graphite Pencil and Ink on Paper
27cm x 37cm (10.5" x 14.5")

Exercise 2D and Exercise 2E are exercises in control hand drawing. Exercise 2D is a tonal bar and Exercise 2E is an attempt to match the tones in a photograph from the book.

Exercise 2F (at the top of the post) is my favourite exercise from the chapter – it is a drawing in which you alternate between the free and control hand. 


Keys to Drawing - Exercise 2F 2009
40 Minutes
10 September 2009
Graphite Pencil on Paper
18cm x 26.5cm (7" x 10.5")


This last picture on the post is my drawing for exercise 2F from when I first read the Keys to Drawing in 2009. I can still remember how challenging I found these exercises without the experience of two and half years following the Natural Way to Draw.