Last week I started a very intense 10 – week drawing course at my art school. I am very excited about the new method we were introduced to and I would like to share with you the knowledge I gained during the course as well as my personal observations together with my drawings created during the course.
The course is based on the The Charles Bargue Sight – Size Drawing course from the late 19th century. This classical drawing course helps students develop their observational skills and enables them to develop a systematic and straightforward approach to using systems of measurement when drawing from life. The Bargue´s method doesn´t allow any self-expression and creativity. However, it leads to very accurate and functional drawings that you can use as a good start for a painting.
Charles Bargue is mostly remembered for his Cours de dessin, one of the most influential classical drawing courses conceived in collaboration with Jean-Léon Gérôme. The course […] was to guide students from plaster casts to the study of great master drawings and finally to drawing from the living model.
Among the artists whose work is based on the study of Bargue’s platework is Vincent van Gogh, who copied the complete set in 1880/1881, and (at least a part of it) again in 1890.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Bargue
Materials:
A2 and A3 Cartridgepaper
Pencils (2B,HB,2H)
Knife (or sharpener)
Putty rubber / kneadable eraser
Plumb line (a thin string or fishing line with a small weight attached)
Sight – Size Method Basic Ideas
The method is based on points, lines and angles that constitute the basic elements for construction the contour/outline of the object (the visual outer shape of an object). The student studies relationships of points, lines and angles observed in nature. To put it simply the method is based on breaking an organic shape into a series of points and lines that create a simplified shape (also known as envelope shape) of the object. In the image below Charles Bargue simplifies a foot by using a triangular envelope. In this series of drawings, it is easy to identify how this envelope helped the artist view the foot as a whole. It also helped him to decide on proportions and to find smaller shapes within bigger, more obvious shapes.
Developing a whole drawing of a figure from an envelope shape:
This practice requires that you always look at the drawing or object from exactly the same unvarying position. All measuring is done from that position and the observation is then transferred on the paper.
This method depends on setting up a specific relationship between you, the drawing, and the subject. The relationship necessary for the method to work is where you are positioned so that you can easily view the subject and drawing so they appear to be the same visual size. Once the subject and drawing are seen as being the same size, it becomes possible to mechanically measure and compare the proportions of the subject to the drawing and judge the drawing’s accuracy. This process trains your eye to perceive finer and finer deviations in form between the subject and drawing.
My work in progress – a study of an animal skull
Here is my drawing process from the first lesson.
The first thing I did was establishing the initial lines to aid the basic construction of the drawing – a frame within the drawing will be built. To do this I stood at the vantage point and found the highest point and the lowest point of the object. Then I marked this point on the paper, close to the edge. Since the distance between the vantage point and my paper was quite large, there was always the chance that I would not place the mark in the right spot. You have to step back to the vantage point immediately you have made a mark. Constant checking each and every mark is essential to your successful work. If a mark appeared too high or too low, I would make a mental note of the amount of adjusting needed, and would walk back up to the paper and move the mark. The result of this process is a cluster of marks on the left edge of the paper, which I then connect to establish the the outer shape of an object.
By adding more points I gradually developed the shape of the object. E.g. from a very simple square eye of the skull I developed a hexagon shape and therefore I got closer to the round shape of the eye.
The drawing (below) took me several hours of intense concentration. I am pretty pleased and surprised with the result though. I think that I grasped the basics of the Bargue´s method and I am looking forward to share with you my progress soon.
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