Drawing and form

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Drawing from observation versus memory

Lesson 11 of 14 in Drawing and form.

Drawabox Lesson 2: Observation and Memory · Uncomfortable
Lesson

These are different skills and they feed each other. Observation teaches you to see what is actually there rather than what you assume, and drawing from memory forces you to construct, which reveals exactly which parts you never really looked at.

one lightoverlap tells you what is in frontthe cast shadow tells you where the thing standsobjects that only touch, never overlap, sit in no space at all
A still life set up with one light, overlapping objects and a clear ground line.
A convincing hand drawn from a real hand on the left and a stiff, mitten-like hand drawn from memory on the right, with its thumb, knuckles and fingers circled.
The same person's hand drawings, one made looking at a real hand and one from memory. The memory drawing shows which parts they never really looked at.
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  1. Question 1, locked

    Which of these words means this? “Drawing what is in front of you. Teaches seeing.”

    • Observation
    • Vanishing point
    • Form shadow
    • Timed pose
  2. Question 2, locked

    Which of these words means this? “Drawing without a subject. Teaches construction, and exposes what you do not know.”

    • Reflected light
    • Quantity first
    • Memory and invention
    • Line weight
  3. Question 3, locked

    Which of these words means this? “What you can draw without reference. Built only by observation.”

    • Weight
    • Visual library
    • First and third angle
    • Three-point

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