Painting by Euan Uglow

In September of 1999, a $125 million satellite from NASA approached Mars, passing gently through the fabric of space. Its mission: to boldly orbit the Red Planet and study its climate.

Curiously, said satellite overshot its target and broke apart in the atmosphere. An investigation later revealed that the accident was caused by a measuring error. The rocket scientists at Lockheed sent NASA calculations in English units rather than the required Metric units.

In my last class, I had a problem trying to measure the model. By nobody’s fault but mine, I was too far away to draw a portrait. Consequently, I was seeing large areas like her forehead measure, oh, 15/17ths of an inch, let’s say. Tough to see relationships accurately when they’re that small.

Euan Uglow (1932-2000), a British painter, measured meticulously. If you look closely at his paintings, like the closeup above, you’ll see tiny tick marks where he has referenced certain relationships. My drawing instructor, Doug Norman, calls these marks “scaffolding”. He noted that one critic said of Uglow, “he leaves these little marks because he wants you to know that this is a lot of work.”

The Egg Shape. Sort of works. Mostly doesn’t.

I enjoy drawing faces, but it’s tough to stop myself from caricaturing. In my figure drawing class, we’re trying to capture accurate relationships. I had to fight the urge to exaggerate the model’s bulbous nose with nostril-ring accent and spaghetti lips. Fortunately, Mr. Norman gave us some great insight into what kinds of relationships to look for when drawing a face … (click more to see what I’m talking about.)

Consider using a new measuring tool, something besides your pencil.

He suggested cutting a piece of coat hanger. The reflective property of the metallic surface makes it easier to see.

Use your measuring tool to find “trapped” negative shapes.

Set it on an angle between major points of a feature, the tip of the nose to the indented plane of the bridge, between the eyebrows, for example. See what sort of shapes appear in that negative space and compare those to what you’ve drawn.

Commit to one line.

Drawing multiple lines to define a feature is a dodge. It’s like the artist is saying, “I can’t decide where this is. You (viewer) pick.” In my own work, these lines start to look like value, which can also have an unintended effect.

Darker lines get more attention.

Related to the last item, tread lightly, especially if you’re in trouble. I tend to go over areas like the eyes and the mouth until the bad spots are so dark your eye can’t go anywhere else BUT the places where I struggled.

Look for parallel lines between the eyes, nostrils and corners of the mouth.

Be anti-social.

Well, not really, but be aware that you’re a social being, all about someone’s eyes and face. You’ll probably draw bigger eyes and forget to include enough room for the model’s brain pan in the back of the head. I saw this in almost every drawing (my own included.)

Sometimes the mouth and eyes are confusing. They curve around the head and it’s hard to know how to resolve them. The angle of this model in this portrait by Andrew Wyeth produces a squished ellipse for the left eye, and the corner of the mouth is hidden. This stuff is tricky to capture. Probably a good idea to study how he resolved them.

On a personal note: My eyes were worn out after only about 10 minutes and I started drawing anime. Didn’t get much done, and I’m hesitant to post them here. Here are two servings of poo poo platter.