Emerging from the Page

I came across this drawing while straightening out my flat files. It is a life drawing from the class I teach at DuCret School of Art in Plainfield NJ.
I leave alot of drawings at this stage out of necessity, I usually only sneak in a little work on my own drawing for one sitting (15-20minutes), the rest of the time I work the room and instruct one on one.
I like the drawings at this stage because there is evidence of the process, the drawings tend to be a bit more caligraphic early on and have a feeling of being part of the page in some areas and emerging from it in other areas.

Habit is Stronger than Will

Irwin Greenberg (Greeny), one of my teachers at the High School of Art and Design used to say that "Habit is Stronger than Will". He urged us to develop a habit of drawing or painting each day regardless of what other things we had to do. Greeny would stress the importance of putting our time in to advance our artistic growth. We get in the habit of other daily rituals for the sake of our physical, spiritual and financial well being and as artists we should have a "habit" for our creative well being. It doesn't have to be grand or time consuming, it could be a sketch or some thumbnail concept sketches, a small watercolor or oil study.

Over 30 years have passed since I was in a class and heard that bit of advice from Greeny. Sometimes it takes maturity to understand how meaningful and life changing a few words of advice can be.

If we only work on our art when we have the "will" to do it, our output and growth as artists will be tied to the strength of our "will", if we make art one of our habits we will see a direct correlation in our work.

Working From Large To Small

When I draw the figure from life I generally work from large shapes to smaller shapes. I might start with a gestural block-in for placement and proceed to loosely and lightly lay-in tone to indicate the largest masses. I don't spend too much time on the outer edge of the form because I know the pose will change a bit from one sitting to the next and even the best models move a bit during the pose. I tend to resolve an area in a form of drawing shorthand that allows me to recall the pose and the lighting even without the model there.
Beginning with the pattern of light and shadow is the key. I often see students making an infinite number of measurements and missing a sense of the whole form and underlying structure. There is also a tendency to place hash marks for the eyes, nose, crease of the lips, ears etc. at predetermined generalized distances, I call it the football head approach because at some point the drawing looks like a football. The oval shape, the center line and hash marks. I'm not a fan of the football life drawing game, it prevents real observation.
When you work your way to placement of the features, see the structure and simplify it. Think sculpturally about form.