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December 03, 2005
Interesting, isn’t it?
With the two images in the previous post: on the first one you can clearly see that the ears are at different levels; the right one, as we look at it, is decidedly lower than the left [as we look at it]. But on the second image, further down the line, with more information going on, the ears aren’t obviously different in height. In fact I would go so far as to say that if you just saw the second image you would say the ears were level.
This is the key to drawing. Putting it down how it is, not how you think it is. On the second drawing, because we know that ears occur at the same level on either side of the head, and we can clearly see we’re dealing with a head, we assume they are level. On the first drawing the there isn’t enough information available for our brains to recognise a head so the level of ears is more apparent.
When you are doing a drawing yourself, which I’m sure almost all of you are, you are faced with this difficulty of not having enough information on the paper and too much information on the subject, so you go for the assumptions as opposed to the fact. When you look at the head you are drawing [if indeed if is a head you are drawing, though it relates to drawing teapots or anything else] you see the ears as level, if you measure things you will put the ears down as they are, but on reflection it won’t look right so you adjust them to what you think looks right, which is wrong.
Answer: believe your eyes not your mind*
*harder than it seems, believe me
Posted by john at December 3, 2005 10:49 PM