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Maeilly Metho PDF
Maeilly Metho PDF
Maeilly Metho PDF
knowledge and skills beginning with the elementary and building to the complex. He
primarily taught the craft of drawing and then painting the nude figure. Each step in his
lectures followed logically upon the step which had been previously taught. His students
moved forward in their learning with a degree of confidence as skills were accumulating.
We were instructed to take notes during the lectures in order to put the lessons into
words we understood and to enable us to look back over the material. The lectures
included drawings on a blackboard and always began with something humorous. The
following account was made possible by elaborately re-recording my lecture notes the
following day.
When he believed the time had come, he advanced us to the painting class.
We continued to attend lectures while in the painting class. There were no grades and
the length of study was decided by the student.
FRANK J. REILLY
When a teacher at the Art Students League and later when I knew him at the Frank Reilly
School of Art. We students used a glass palette which we cleaned with a razor blade in a
holder. There was a fifth value gray under the glass and it was placed flat on a stool.
The classes were from seven to ten o'clock each weeknight and included a ten-minute
break every hour. The time was kept by the monitor who called the poses and kept order.
After a pose was called students were not allowed to enter the room and disturb the
class. The poses were five, fifteen and thirty minutes in length beginning with the fives. A
nude model was on a model stand two to three feet high and the male models wore jock
straps.
A floodlight was placed a few feet higher than the model and directed at about the center
of the torso. The placement of the light was such that the entire figure was about 3/5 in
the light for the forty or so students. There were three rows of seats and the row farthest
back was elevated. Where the students sat depended on arrival time and preference. The
monitor sat in the middle of the first row.
We drew on 9" x 12" sheets of loose, smooth newsprint or tracing paper, with a kneaded
eraser within easy reach. The paper was secured by a clip at the top of a masonite
support. Using a razor blade and fine sandpaper, we fashioned a chisel edge on a 4b or
6b charcoal pencil which kept its shape due to the way it was used during drawing...
DRAWING INSTRUCTION
Hold the charcoal pencil thumb up swinging the wrist and arm to create a graceful line
and rest the fingers lightly on the paper. When holding the pencil as if writing and
moving the fingers, it can be moved only a few inches but when holding the pencil thumb
up and moving the wrist, the range of motion is greatly increased. I began to think of
drawing as similar to dance...
Sit with the drawing at a 45 degree angle supported on the back of a chair...
The pencil is in motion before it hits the paper (sometimes with a few mid-air test
swings). Draw in a downward motion initially using the "fat" portion of the charcoal for a
light wide line. Twist the pencil and use the edge for a sharper, darker line or tip up to the
point.
The six line figure is not the way to draw, it's the way to think...
The axis, #4, is an imaginary line through the center of the figure which appears to be
straight when viewed from the front. Side view...
The abstract figure becomes more life-like as anatomical features are added...
Mr. Reilly's six line abstract figure is the way I was taught to think about the relationships
of the various parts and proportions of the figure when drawing. I would initially visualize
the abstraction and draw with a wide light line and then, as the drawing progressed,
adjust more closely to the forms of the model. As I became more certain of placement the
lines became darker and more committed...
One great difficulty is the tendency to, 'tack things on.' Which is to say, parts of the
figure are added to parts already established and the relative lengths and placements are
misstated, (frequently due to the model moving). This was overcome by imagining the
abstraction and 'seeing through' to visualize attachment points, the lengths of body parts
and their positions in relation to one another. It was not necessary to ask the model to
move to the original position.
BEGINNING A DRAWING
In a standing pose with the weight on one leg, I knew about where the head was, the feet
and the center of the figure so I began with these, (known quantities). Related to the
head, I knew about where a thrust out hip was, the other hip in relation to this, the angle
of the shoulders, (with the rib cage), and so on...
RELATIONSHIPS
Action is the direction of the movement of the figure, initially established with a wide,
light line.
A line comes from somewhere and goes somewhere. I formed the habit of constantly
looking for relationships when drawing, making certain every line was in relationship to
something else.
By first indicating the head, then the center, (crotch), and then the base, I didn't draw
from the top down and hope the feet would be on the page.
A drawing isn't exact so mistakes were made on the side that would help, eight heads
high instead of seven, for instance.
The word relationship in this context means that the position of everything on the figure
was found by finding imagined connections.
STRUCTURE
DRAWING IDEAS
Don't copy.
Only put down a form that is related to something.
Draw, 'big to small.'
A drawing is an explanation of the light.
Use confident lines.
Eliminate lines that don't explain an action.
A line should flow, be accurate and graceful.
There are no points or right angles on the figure.
Never draw piecemeal, (draw a face around a nose).
Avoid monotonous lines, (parallel).
Consider negative shapes. The voids between body parts and the figure itself.
Begin a drawing with light, thick lines.
Be economical with lines.
Draw the action lines (idea) first then draw the forms in conformity to the action lines.
Avoid anatomy until later stages of a drawing.
We were instructed to practice shapes in order to learn control. Round, large on the
bottom, large in the middle etc. and drawn from the top down...
Do the longest relationships first, then progressively smaller.
Relationship choices change with the pose. Here is one set of choices...
Station points on the abstraction are where lines intersect or at a known quantity...
FORM
Opaque.
transparent.
Translucent.
Has texture...
Glossy.
Matte.
Nap.
Relate every symmetrical form to it's corresponding form; eyes, breasts, hips, arms,
legs, etc.
Keep the outside shape simple.
Small forms are in sympathy with large forms which are with the action.
HANDS
"A hand can easily look like a bundle of sausages." - Frank Reilly. Learn the shapes of
knuckles, pads, ligaments, and other characteristic forms...
The above are samples of the many hand drawings I've done from the George Bridgman
books. George Bridgmen was Mr. Reilly's drawing teacher at the Art Students League.
Learning structure and anatomy allows the artist to further shape what is seen on the
model.
The books by George Bridgman are good sources for the anatomy of the entire figure.
CONNECTORS
Joints
ANATOMY
The supinator muscle moves the thumb away from the body.
The pronator opposes the supinator and moves the thumb toward the body...
1 - Pit of neck 2 - 7th cervical vertabra 3 - 12th dorsal vertebra 4 - sacrum 5 - tip of iliac.
Circles show the spine curve and the angles of the vertabrae...
Muscle groups
Bone to bone.
Bone to muscle - expression, E.G. muscles from zygomatic arch to mouth.
Muscle to muscle - protection, E.G. muscles surrounding the mouth.
Muscles are always found in opposing pairs.
Muscles can only contract.
Side view...
1 - Buccinator muscle, (under masseter) 2 - Lower eyelid, 1/2 of head 3 - Zygomatic arch,
(wraps around skull) 4 - Levator Scapuli, (pulls mouth up) 5 - Lesser zygomaticus, 6 -
Pulls corner down
7 - Pulls lower lip down 8-Circular band of muscle (muscles of expression attach) 9 -
Teeth cylinder.
There are fine books by George Bridgman, Mr. Reilly's drawing teacher, on this subject
which I keep for reference. He designed shapes for and understood the interactions of
everything on the figure. Mr. Reilly taught anatomy but stressed the external shapes of
muscle groups (structure).
FORESHORTENING
Pivot points.
The lengths, end sizes and centers change but not the pivot points.
Pivot points are usually at the centers or at the starting points of the action...
Overlapping lines are used in foreshortening to show what is in front and what is behind.
When foreshortening, be sure that one form is longer than the other, usually the the
forward form. The forward form in front overlaps the form in the rear.
Shade shows the action of a series of forms on the figure and it is advisable to first draw
the large idea instead of breaking the shadows into smaller forms immediately.
Line#1 in the diagram is an example of drawing the larage idea of the action. If this were
to become a painting, the smaller shapes would eventually be painted as they appear on
the model...
The division between light and shade reveals the shape...
A shadow on a form is at right angles to the light and has a soft edge, a cast shadow
follows from the light and has a hard edge...
A cast shadow shows the shape of the object casting or the object cast upon...
The length of the cast shadow is relative to the position of the light.
Cast shadows have sharp edges near the source.
Shadows sometimes skip forms and then connect.
Avoid monotony in position, size and shape.
Shadows are...
With the action.
With the form.
With the light.
PROBLEMS
While I was still in the drawing class, Mr. Reilly began including problems in his lectures.
Problems were homework. He used simple figures to illustrate the material in the
lectures. Problems both made clear the lecture material and gave us experience in the
use of brushes and paint.
The problem here was to determine and paint the values in the light and shadow areas
(including the background) using the chart below...
Frank Brangwyn said of Howard Pyle's work that... "The darkest dark in the light is
always slightly lighter than the lightest light in the shadow". The above chart shows
these values...Black(0) in the light is 4 plus and White(10) in the shadow is 4 minus. The
above is the chart for normal indoor light.
The numbers on the problem diagram above are locals and will adjust according to the
chart. 7 on the diagram was painted at 8 plus in the light and 2 1/2 in the shadow. The
jacket (local of 2) was painted at 5 plus in the light and 1 minus in the shadow etc.
Normal form light is two parts shade and three parts light. Rim light is the reverse. Back
light has no light and front light has no shade. Norman Rockwell used front light almost
exclusively...
Problem - Using the above chart, determine the values and paint the spheres. The
background is 5 and the locals of the spheres is 10, 5 and 0...
This chart illustrates form light with more and less light. With more light Black becomes
two and with less light White becomes eight...
Problem - paint the simplified figure of the Nun in the three form light conditions. Again,
the values in the diagram are locals so the the light and shade must be determined from
the charts. for instance, for normal form light, 7 in the light is 8 1/2 and in the shadow 7 is
3...
Mr. Reilly had an arrangement with a government agency for his students to compete in a
Fire Poster contest. The winning poster was printed by the state of New York and used
for a year. Below was my entry for one of the two years I competed.
The values for the background heads were determined on a variation of the value charts
and may be seen as a solution to one of Mr. Reilly's homework problems. I mixed a string
of red from the third value to nine. When I painted the background within this range, the
figure, painted in full value range stood out.
PLANES
Plane diagrams were taught by Mr. Reilly to show where value changes on a form might
occur. The light strikes planes at various angles which may result in darker or lighter
values. Edge planes can pick up reflected light in the shadow and consequently lighten
in value (reflected light, reflected color). The plane diagrams are not the way to draw but
show what to look for. Drawing the planes against the forms, however, is the way to draw
especially in the beginning of a drawing. Mr. Reilly believed that the student will.. 'See
what he knows'. When I understood that planes went against the form I began to see
them in that way.
Planes can be repeated, are against the form and can touch other planes...
Procedure
Hair parts on a plane and grows on a plane. It takes the form, to some degree, of the
shape on which it grows...
Learning these idealized features allowed me to give shape to forms not readily
apparent...
PERSPECTIVE
In one point perspective, the front plane is square to the picture plane. It is used for
narrow pictures only due to distortion. One point is a convention as it is not true to
nature. Angled planes can be in one point perspective.
The VP, or vanishing point, may only move if the plane has no thickness. In one point,
only one set of lines converges to a VP...
Two point perspective is used most often and is, as is all perspective, based on the right
angle...
A circle in perspective is not a perfect ellipse because the center moves. The center is
found by diagonals. The circle on top in the first illustration will touch the spots
indicated...
One and two point perspective can occur in the same picture.
Two point pespective has two sets of parallel lines which vanish to two vanishing points.
The object is at an angle to the viewer in two point perspective and everything in the
picture must be within a 60 degree cone of sight to remain undistorted...
Not relating windows is a common error. Once the windows are established on one wall,
imagine the vanishing points on the other. This puts all the windows in relationship...
Three point perspective
Mr. Reilly went into perspective of inclined planes, perspective measurement, cast
shadows in perspective and the perspective of reflections. A high level of exactness is
not usually required in my landscapes so I've not included some of what he taught. Good
books on perspective are readily available. In my experience, it has been sufficient for
me to understand the principles to get the drawing visually convincing. If something still
looks "funny", I imagine a horizon line and vanishing points, draw a separate sketch or
consult a book to resolve the matter.
DRAPERY
Art school drapery studies. The man with sunglasses and the cowboy are from
photographs...
When drawing a figure with clothing, be conscious of form, action and tailoring. Think of
supporting surfaces, gravity, pull points and structure based on the six line abstraction.
Drapery is used to design a figure and is mostly fairly straight lines and the shapes of
folds is generally triangular.
Merely copying the surface appearance of folds leads to cutting into the underlying form
or having the form bulge out.
The action of the figure will provide opportunities to reveal pull points, twists, and to
design folds that show underlying forms.
The artist is concerned mostly with the excess material that allows for folds to occcur.
Clothing is designed with the average figure in mind. the top button is at the pit of the
neck, for instance, the third button down is at the nipples of the breast, the fifth button at
the navel and pleats are at the tip of the iliac...
Be sure that folds are off center and zigzagging down...
1 - Wrap-around folds, 2 - High points cross the form to avoid monotony, 3 - Folds show
foreshortening and the form underneath...
Pull points...
PICTURE MAKING
Tipping
Overlapping
Black, white and gray backgrounds
General abstract ideas
Color abstraction
Color choices
Composition ideas
FIGURE PAINTING
Art schol palette and supplies
Color charts
Required paint, their values and chromas
Yellow/red chart
Wash-in for figure painting
Lay-in
Order of importance
Order of doing
Edges
Steps
A figure painting is most dependant on...
Effect
Complexion
Graduations and progressions
Finishing
LANDSCAPE
Types of illumination
Four light conditions
Palette
Range
Atmosphere
Landscape color
Recession
Sky
Clouds
Trees
Water
Mountains
Mr. Reilly contracted to write four books that were neither completed nor published
which is the reason for my undertaking this project. A complete survey of his program, if
it existed, would be far more extensive. The above is an honest account of his teaching
as I experienced it during the four years or so that I was his student and monitor during
the 1960s. It accurately describes the substance of his teaching.
Doug Higgins