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Reilly abstraction.
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Message
Posted
I wondered if anyone uses the Reilly construct for heads or figures and whether its utility is mainly for imagined or how it can be used to develop portraits from life.
If you dont know what this is its like a wireframe of connected points on the face which give an idea of the plains of the face and placement.
I know roughly how the front on goes, I have yet to practice this and the 3/4 view and the figure one I only have a very rough idea of how it works (an 8 heads high model halfway is hips and a triangle drawm for shoulders to waist with a bottle shape indicating neck to feet... knees then can be place just above quarter mark...etc)
Images came out sideways since I am posting from my phone.
Images came out sideways since I am posting from my phone.
Posted
DB, I suspect that it's the former reason. It all looks terribly involved and requires intelligence to grasp it, that's me out straight away then!
For me personally, I much prefer to keep things simple. I'm in no way decrying any of these projects that you have challenged yourself to complete - yes, I know that they are tried and tested methods of learning but they are not for everyone, there ARE different teaching methods available.
I occasionally visit my old college and have a look at the work on offer. Life drawing (in my college at least) is still an important discipline, that may not be the case in all colleges. That's where I learnt my trade, hundred's of hours drawing from live models and receiving valuable instruction from my tutor's. I enjoyed that, I'm not keen on too much technical stuff but accept that some is necessary, anatomy being one.
There isn't many opportunities to gain that experience I know, life classes do exist in many colleges for outside students but I appreciate that it's difficult. There can never be anything better in my view than hands-on (probably not the right phrase to use) experience, gained by drawing from life.
Posted
David - wouldn't have known this system from the name, but have come across similar ones in the past; somewhere or other I have a book which employs similar methods, from the look of them here.
If it helps, use it: it looks to be a better system than I was taught - we had to draw human bodies in the shapes of eggs, and triangles: with the consequence that my drawings of people looked like a collection of eggs; and triangles.. I wasn't supposed to take it literally, apparently: so - I wondered but didn't ask - what was the point of taking it at all? Because drawing without a system was verboten: 'drawing round the houses', as my highly pedantic art teacher called it.
Now why am I boring you with this half-century old anecdote, I hear you ask, indulgently? Because I think for some of us, 'drawing round the houses' works; for others it never will, and at least to start with they find systems like these helpful.
Posted
Thanks for the response Alan.
This is actually something that can be grasped in half an hour. A set of instructions such as : Draw a ball with a square inside it, divide the square into quarters and extend the centre line downwards the same distance as one of the quarters. Join the lines to form a chin shape, divide the central area in three extend a line horizontal to form the top of the eyes/brow line etc.
So in essence it is shorthand memory technique to remember every proportion of the average human face. (much easier than remembering ratios since you draw shapes and then join various intersection points, I don't think it requires a great deal of intelligence just a few repetitions to get it into the grey matter)
There must be practical applications for this, I just don't know what they are. If someone had chimed in with "I use that to do X,Y and Z" it would have encouraged me to explore it further, if nobody uses it I will file it away in the back of my mind and maybe pull it out sometime if it looks like it can help me.
I also do appreciate that there are other teaching methods, I am keen to explore them all and slowly but surely try any that appeal. Presently I am doing 10 or so quick sketches morning and night (1 or 2 minute poses) trying to concentrate on gesture, and at that speed I cannot think of anything technical but simply have to drag pencil across paper and try to get the flow of the position. This is the complete opposite to the measured approach I normally take and is thus uncomfortable. The more uncomfortable something is, usually the more it is developing an unused muscle.
Posted
Thanks Rob, that's kind of my position. I like to understand why I am doing something, and don't want my bodies to look like triangles and eggs either. Drawing without a system allows happy accidents to occur maybe, but a system allows problems to be resolved. I think the best method is probably have a system but then disregard it unless its needed, the more of these systems you have in your locker I guess the more appropriately they can be selected and the less reliant on any individual approach you become.