Archives

From the Top!

Get the latest download:
"Flash - Drawing the Mouth and Lips"
(Click on the underlined link,
click on the "save to disc" option)

Just signing on? Here's' the link center to get you going. This will be your one stop answer to "How do I get started?". Bottom line is, you need to do your assignments: learning to draw and drawing caricatures, portraits - drawing anything - is absolutely, without a doubt within your grasp. But only if you do the assignments and keep on practicing. I recommend doing these in order if this is your first time here or you feel like you need a refresher.

You'll also find links to relevant past e-zines germane to the topic of the day - that way you shouldn't have to spend so much time looking up and down this page (though printing this entire page out as a guide for the contents isn't a bad idea either :-).

Flash Lessons. Lastly, if you've just signed up or if you've misplaced your "Flash" lessons, the black link box at the right hand side of this page is exactly what you're looking for. One click and Voila! Flash at your fingertips. What's Flash? Flash is the Internet standard for multimedia delivery. It lends itself beautifully for teaching things like, well drawing caricatures :-). And we've packed as much detail as we can into these info-filled interactive lessons. Please limit your download to one copy each (your computer well tell you if you've already downloaded a copy).

If you're viewing this page from within the e-sourcebook loaded on your computer, all the Flash lessons then reside inside your computer and these links will immediately load the modules. Enjoy.

So dive on in and don't be afraid ;-).

Warmly,

Jeff Kasbohm

On with the show: Getting used to the switch inside your brain:

Part I: Learn to
"See it and you'll believe it"
The Foundation Lessons

If I had to sum up the foundation lessons with a pithy one-liner to describe the basic skills of drawing I'd have to say this: learn to

see it, and you'll believe it

To kick things off, there's no better way to learn to draw than to learn to recognize the "systems" operating behind the systems. That means learning to recognize the switch in your brain: i.e. to learning to identify your brain's multi-tasking, parallel functioning, albeit language-dominated always gear-changing activity - and it's subtle but profound flip into the "artist's brain" or "right brain". And learn to recognize that switch by feeling it. And there's no better way to learn this in my opinion than by approaching our topic than the "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" (DRSB) techniques taught by Dr. Betty Edwards (of which I'm a certified instructor). I'll give you my interpretation of those lessons. Here's where you start:

Getting the feel

1) February 28th, 2003 Start here: Vase/Face drawings: Your brain in conflict.

2) March 31st 2003 Upside drawing - getting your language-driven brain out of the way and seeing your hidden drawing powers come to life.

The first skill of drawing: lines and edges

3) Pure Contour Drawing. Do the Pure Contour exercises here. This is the first of the 5 skills of drawing. This lesson centers around drawing and recognizing edges - any kind of edge, contour, or line.

Click on the link above (Pure Contour) for a quick explanation and other related links to take this insightful step. This lesson is important to complete before you go on to the "Understanding the Picture Plane" lesson.

4) Understanding the Picture Plane. The first of the new Flash Interactive Lessons: Understanding the picture plane. The Picture Plane concept is one of a handful of difficult-to-explain ideas. You've got to experience it firsthand to really get it. And that's where you start in this lesson: getting exposed to this powerful concept.

Download your "Understanding the Picture Plane" Flash interactive right here: click me!

5) Modified Contour Drawing. More on recognizing and perceiving edges - and introducing a modicum of accuracy into your contour drawings. Builds right on top of the picture plane lesson. Dive on in!: Modified Contour and Flash Interactive Lesson download.

The Second skill of drawing: Recognizing and Perceiving Negative Spaces

6) July 19th, 2003 The Second Skill of Drawing: Perceiving Negative Spaces. Ever get stuck drawing some complicated object? Or get too intimidated to even get started? Did you know you can learn to draw an object by not drawing it? Click here for the latest page devoted to this paradox and negative spaces.

Click here for the latest Flash Interactive Lesson download (About 4.0 megabytes).

7) The third skill of drawing: Recognizing and Perceiving Angles, Perspective, and Proportions

Congratulations! You're clicking right along, correct? I hope so. It's really important you take your time moving through each of the foundations of drawing lessons (part one of this program). Today's lesson covers arguably the toughest concept of drawing - and a persistent obstacle for many beginning artists: reckoning angles and proportion.

In this lesson you'll learn two techniques that will really aid in mastering these difficult concepts. Download the Flash lesson and dive on in! There's a couple inexpensive tools you may need to buy to do this lesson - don't let that stop you! Go through this lesson as many times as you need to until it sinks in. (It builds directly on what you've learned about picture planes and "formats" and "setting a ground" (all covered in previous Flash lessons).

Click here for the Flash Interactive Lesson download (overall size of download: about 4.3 megabytes).

8) Reviewing what you've learned so far and your first drawing: a profile. In this section you'll review what you've learned and do your first face drawing: a profile drawing of the face. (Flash lesson link available on this page too.)

9) Perceiving Light and Shadow

The fourth and fifth skills of drawing: perceiving, highlights, lights, and shadows a n d the "gestalt" skill, the "I-get-it-like-I-get-a-joke" skill of drawing (this is the fifth, unconscious skill). Click here for light and shadow lesson

Part II: Boot Camp "Believe it
and you'll see it"

You could describe the first 9 steps as "See it and you'll believe it". In this next section where you'll be applying, rehearsing, and reconnoitering your fledgling drawing skills and you could describe the approach as a

"Believe it and you'll see it"
Boot Camp

The thought here is if you know there's more you're supposed to be looking for, you'll start seeing it - and in all the faces you'll ever draw, be they portraits or caricatures or cartoons. Once you know there's all sorts of other layers of detail right there under your nose, you'll really start seeing them and make even more of your own discoveries.

10) Drawing Ears - click here and be transported to
the link center for drawing ears boot camp.
(sister site link: ears )

11) Drawing Eyes - click here and be transported to
the link center for drawing eyes boot camp.
(sister site link: eyes )

12) Drawing Noses - click here and be transported to
the link center for drawing noses boot camp,
(sister site link: noses )

13) Drawing the Mouth and Lips - click here and be transported to the link center for drawing the mouth
and lips boot camp.
(sister site link: mouth, lips, and teeth )

Part III: Transition to drawing caricatures

14) Drawing the shapes and
masses of the head - lesson 14

15) Caricatures:
pulling it all together -
a book-within-a-book lesson 15

Miscellaneous:

16) Primitive shapes

17) Marketing 101

18) Drawing First Aid