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Charles Bargue Drawing course
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Message
Posted
I like the precision of pencils and feel comfortable with them because we are all pretty familiar with how they behave... I have 8 Staedtler Mars Lumograph pencils (4H through to 6B) and a couple of mechanical pencils and solid graphite sticks (HB-9B).
This course was designed to be done in charcoal, but like I say it advises that a novice may have problems dealing with the content and a new medium at the same time. It says the beginner can attempt it in pencil but is advised not to go softer than 2B (the reasoning I think is that softer pencils often produce graphite dust that can smear and make a mess) and harder pencils for the drafting as these can be erased easily providing that they have been gently applied.
The advantage of charcoal seems to be the lack of shine and evenness of application, the darkest pencils produce a very shiny surface and shading large areas can be slow.
Regardless I tried these charcoal pencils and they seem OK but the charcoal sticks (Nitram) seem to be the implement of choice for ateliers, perhaps it would be easier for me to use pencils (as I said I like them and feel good results can be produced) but then half the point of doing a course is to push yourself outside what you are comfortable with in order to learn. In the drawing of two feet and a hand I have had more experience with charcoal pencil than I had in my life and they produce OK results for roughly 15p a pencil, presumable a better quality product at £2 a stick would produce even better results but the only way I will know is to try and if I don't like them I can always go back to pencils.
I will keep my eye out for Wollfs carbon though next time I am in an art shop...
Posted
Plate 11 and 12
I think because these charcoal pencils are cheap they are erratic (some seem to go darker than others, some apply more smoothly than others despite they are all the same grade) anyway I persevered with these hands and I must visit the printshop again soon to get some more copies blown up from the book.
I also have "figure drawing design and invention" book by Michael Hampton here now to work from, its the complete antithesis of Bargue with emphasis on gestural and construction, so I have been doing some 1 and 2 minute quick sketches (there's a series on youtube which flashes up figures in different positions for 1 minute, 2 minute and 5 minute poses so I plan to make these part of my daily routine... the idea to work loosely and instinctively without measuring or erasing.
I think because these charcoal pencils are cheap they are erratic (some seem to go darker than others, some apply more smoothly than others despite they are all the same grade) anyway I persevered with these hands and I must visit the printshop again soon to get some more copies blown up from the book.
I also have "figure drawing design and invention" book by Michael Hampton here now to work from, its the complete antithesis of Bargue with emphasis on gestural and construction, so I have been doing some 1 and 2 minute quick sketches (there's a series on youtube which flashes up figures in different positions for 1 minute, 2 minute and 5 minute poses so I plan to make these part of my daily routine... the idea to work loosely and instinctively without measuring or erasing.
Posted
I managed to get some more copies made up yesterday (after going around the houses because the place near me has shut down) Quite a costly business this time too as some of the plates I had blown up to A2 (because they are more complicated and can warrant a full page study to themselves) I skipped quite a few plates (arms and legs) because of their proportions they won't fit in the sketchpad I am using.
I did these two in pencil (2b, mechanical and 3H) and they caused me some trouble... I can see the point of simplifying into straight lines and then refining but a couple of lines seemed to move between stages and since I was using these as landmarks to judge distance from these are not precisely accurate (I am happy with the results but if side by side to the original I can see some areas could use amending)
I have added daily quick sketches to my routine which are the polar opposite to Bargue where I can sit for some period of time looking and comparing (I should sit for longer, these are meant to take days and I seem to do them in hours so maybe I am not being thorough enough or maybe I just haven't reached the killer ones yet) the quick sketches are nothing more than gesture drawings really but its all practice.
I did these two in pencil (2b, mechanical and 3H) and they caused me some trouble... I can see the point of simplifying into straight lines and then refining but a couple of lines seemed to move between stages and since I was using these as landmarks to judge distance from these are not precisely accurate (I am happy with the results but if side by side to the original I can see some areas could use amending)
I have added daily quick sketches to my routine which are the polar opposite to Bargue where I can sit for some period of time looking and comparing (I should sit for longer, these are meant to take days and I seem to do them in hours so maybe I am not being thorough enough or maybe I just haven't reached the killer ones yet) the quick sketches are nothing more than gesture drawings really but its all practice. 
Posted
I was sceptical, I admit - but this course does seem to be bearing excellent fruit for you; while practice does indeed make perfect (or as near as we can get to it) it doesn't help those who persist in making the same mistakes however often they draw: it will help those who have studied and thought about what they're doing. It may be essentially an old method, but it's survived because, clearly, it works.
The copy of this wasn't great so some bits are faded, also I keep tweeking this because I every time I step back I see small differences.
Posted
Thanks Lew.
Found a silly error on that arm, I am using a spiral bound sketchpad which can be left open... when I set it up I put it the wrong way around so the arm appears on the back of one of the other images (upside down the wrong way around pfft) and since even with fixative the darks can rub onto the opposite page I have two options, either rub it out and redo or live with it. I choose the second but it is an irritation.
Plate 22, (I skipped a couple of children's outstretched arms) lady holding fabric to shoulder.
Posted
Plate 23, which looks Ok but I know took me a quarter of the time it should have (there are some lessons on this plate) maybe thats because I used pencils instead of charcoal but I think maybe I wasn't thorough enough and shouldn't have done it so much y eye but double checked measurements and extended lines.
