jayme del rosario | sketchblog

This is a quick pencil sketch studying the muscles of the upper arm in the anatomy lab. That day we covered many parts of the cadaver, with extensive notes and coverage of the flexors and extensors of the forearm plus their complex connection with the digits. It was interesting being able to move muscle groups to witness and better understand the muscle groupings of the arm and how they move the hand and fingers.

Muscles of the Arm, Pencil Sketch

This isn’t an actual post, but a plug. My school is hosting a free talk/discussion on Friday, November 13th.

Reverse Engineering Painting
Lecture and Discussion with Anthony Mastromatteo
Practitioners of contemporary realism have limited the possibilities of their language by placing their greatest emphasis on technical issues. We will explore further possibilities of visual language as utilized in the past through the breakdown and examination of various successful paintings and plot a path beyond pure technical execution. Along this path, each individual artist may thrive in his or her specific manner of expression.

Time: 6:30-9pm
Where: Janus Collaborative studio, 3rd Floor
Please join us for the evening.
RSVP info@januscollaborative.org

It should be an interesting lecture, followed by a great discussion among attendees. I’m looking forward to breaking up my academic study with such a topic. If you’re in the area or know someone in the area who might be interested, please spread the word.

“Field effect” is a characteristic of color (any color, value, scale) wherein a color’s appearance is affected by what is adjacent to it. From my research and study, this term seems to originate from Ted Seth Jacobs. I’ve only heard the term used by those teachers of mine who have studied directly under Ted, or those who always site some connection to the Ted Seth Jacobs lineage. I mentioned in a previous post about Sarah Lamb’s still life workshop, that she covered this topic of field effect so that we could better notice, understand and see it in nature. Mostly, we discussed a specific field effect in relation to our edges.

Under certain lighting conditions, for example with front light or under a strong spotlight, with the subject against a dark background, the dark tones at the edge of an object may be absorbed into the background and what we really see in this instance is an area just inside the edge of the form instead of the dark light. The outermost edge of this zone blends into the background. This creates the illusion of softer edges instead of a crisp separation between the object and background. The basic lesson is what we’ve heard over and over again, we must pay attention to the edges and work very carefully at the meeting of forms. A great example is an image I’ve posted here before.

Notice how the edge of the shoulder as it turns into the form of the back is very soft, while the edge of the upper forearm of the left arm against a light drapery is much more crisp. We can also contrast the field effects happening in the skull and the right arm. The skull has a softer edge as the top of the head as it turns away from us toward the background and enters the dark light, while the right arm (also turning away from us into the background) is more lit and its dark light zone is not near the edge of the arm placed against the background. Thus the difference in their edge treatment. (At least this is how I rationalize my reading of how Caravaggio treated the two edges differently.) He may have just been copying what he saw, which proves that how he painted what he saw is accurate with visual phenomena. Yet, I suspect that he was aware of these patterns in nature and didn’t just copy nature by rote in his practice. (There are also other reasons why the skull has a softer edge than the right arm.)

For the painting I worked on in Sarah Lamb’s workshop, she had me pay attention to the edge of the gourd which was in the dark light region, against the darker background of the wooden box. This edge was much softer than the opposing edge more directly facing the light source against a cast shadow on the same dark wooden box.

With a backlit subject, the same field effects would occur with the opposite observation. Edges would be softer on the light edge against a light background as some of this lighter zone would be absorbed into the background and harder on the darker side of the form against the lighter background. This is also consistent with the rule that high contrast areas are often the sharpest areas in a painting/nature.

There are many different field effects in nature which I have yet to learn and fully understand. In essence, everything in our visual experience is a field effect since we never see objects in nature in isolation, especially color. The cognitive experience of visual phenomena is a product of many different optical illusions and our eyes are lying to our brains (or is it our brains lying to our eyes, therefore lying to itself? …If anyone knows of any books on this topic, please let me know and shoot me an email! I love this stuff!!).

We discussed another field effect at the edges of a form, in relation to color, which I’ll write as a separate post later this week. I’ve indulged in my musings enough for the evening (making good use of that extra hour we gained from Daylight Savings this weekend). It’s time to finish preparing my panels for this week’s intensive workshop-style class with Michael at the studio.

—-
Though I haven’t had any issues, I thought it wise to add the statement below:

Art Student’s/Blogger’s Caveat:
Everyone should always take this in consideration when reading any blog, but I’ll state it here just to be clear. Everything written on my personal blog is my interpretation of my studies and in no way should be taken as the exact teaching itself. Though I strive to understand and represent all the concepts fully and back up my writing/notes with examples, other more established posts/articles/books, science, visual phenomena, etc. there is always room for error and misunderstanding so it is the reader’s responsibility to cross-reference anything they read here. In case of any error brought to my attention, I will always point them out ASAP. (And of course, if you’ve heard otherwise or spot any incongruities, please shoot me an email since I created this blog to develop a greater, ongoing conversation amongst like-minded people and artists.)

Bargue Plate, Bent Arm of a Man, Graphite

A recent Bargue plate drawing I did over the summer is on the cover of the latest special supplement issue of Drawing Magazine. I completed this Bargue copy via the sister school of Janus Collaborative, NYK Academy on the 2nd Fl of the Harlem Studios (JCSA is on the 3rd Fl). Both programs, in my opinion, serve to complement each other by training your eye in completely two different ways. AT JCSA we focus on the figure and direct observation where measuring is used as a check. It is based on a more structural analysis of drawing where ideas of perspective and constructive anatomy lie strong in the pedagogy.

NYK Academy’s curriculum is based on the sight-size drawing technique of the Florence Academy. This program originated with Andrea Smith who attended and taught at the Florence Academy. She now advises Judy Kudlow, who is the current instructor of the program. The course consists of a rational progression from graphite to charcoal to paint; the subject matter increases in difficulty with every drawing from 2D or “flats”, which are copies of the Bargues on to casts, then still life. There is also a figure drawing class in the evenings which you can take once you learn to measure (sight-size) in space.

With the sight-size method, measuring is a way to train your eye and you learn many things in a logical and simplified way so that you can achieve control of the materials and sharpen your analytical skills in a different way than the structural/constructive curriculum does. It is based on a more perceptual approach. One of the greatest things I’ve learned from the program so far is how to really analyze a curve. In the morning program at JCSA, we discuss the inflection point(s) of a curve and learn to really spot the change of direction through very close observational skills. However, by doing the Bargues I have noticed that it has only enhanced my analytical skills so that I can draw “by eye” much better.

One misunderstanding may be that everything is measured in the sight-size approach. Soon after my first Bargue plate copy, I quickly learned that this wasn’t true. From how I see it, the measurements serve as a foundation from which to build your drawing upon. Later measurements serve as a check and you have to rely on your eye much more along with a perceptual analysis/observation (AND since I can’t unlearn this…a structural, anatomical and constructive analysis). In short, all my teachers are really saying the same thing anyway. The approaches and techniques only seem different on the surface but the concepts are all the same; it’s just another tool.

This special issue of Drawing Magazine discusses the importance of copying master drawings and the lessons behind them, amongst many, many other interesting articles concerning drawing and draftsmanship.

Below are images of my Bargue copy of the male arm in various steps:

"Block-In" or Contours

Shadows

Intermediary Tones

Final Drawing (Stop Modeled in Graphite)

As part of the amazing curriculum at Janus Collaborative School of Art, we are covering anatomy for artists through a dissection course. This class is available to us through a partnership with a medical school, Drexel University, in Philadelphia where doctors inform us of their invaluable knowledge of surface anatomy (and then some…for an added bonus!!). Michael Grimaldi is the artistic anatomy instructor.

Today one of the doctors, in answering our questions as he covered the muscle groups and functions of the lower limb, mentioned that it was very interesting for him to look at things from a different perspective/perspective of an artist interested in realistic rendering of the human figure. Many of our questions were ones that have never come up before in his many years of teaching medical students, nor were they thoughts that crossed his mind in his practice. Yet he found them to be quite relevant, interesting and practical. We don’t do any actual dissection, but we work “alongside” the medical students on a weekly basis as they cut through various parts of the cadaver and reveal the muscle groups for us to study and understand. I like to think that the entire partnership is a collaboration in itself where both the artists and the med school students/faculty learn from each other’s point of views and experience.

Our drawings are also up in the dissection lab and though I’m not sure if they are at all useful as a diagram or illustration to the med students during the week, I’d like to imagine that they are. In return, their work in the dissection lab help reveal to us a better understanding of the amazing construction of the human figure.

Anatomical Study of the Upper Leg

I find that there are many ways to approach a drawing in the lab. I found the lower limb a bit complex, so I decided to draw the upper leg as I saw it (dissected/cut, somewhat incomplete as the skin was completely peeled away and the subcutaneous fat and fascia have been cleaned off in some parts while remnants could be seen in other sections), with a slant toward something more diagrammatic in order to better familiarize myself with the muscles and their function in different states of rest and contraction. This will help me better understand any pose the model takes whether it’s from direct observation or something I create from imagination. I didn’t have much time, and I didn’t get a chance to completely draw the muscles that were already cut so I’m sure I could improve the accuracy of some details in my quick study. Nonetheless, the experience of observing and translating the dissected upper leg of the cadaver into a drawing really helped me gain a great understanding of the surface anatomy in this part of the body. I can’t wait until next week and only wish I could stay longer to draw from the cadavers a little more.

Copy of Menzel drawing, Head of Bearded Man, graphite

Here’s a new copy I’m working on from another visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is a copy of a beautiful drawing by Adolf Menzel, in graphite. I’m going back for a second session since I didn’t have time to finish. I spent a lot of time just admiring Menzel’s handwork. Here’s a shot of what I have so far after the first session.