Ok now that we learned about Degas and his history it’s time to start getting ready to create some art. I always like to do some warm up to get the creative juices flowing! Let’s begin with capturing the action or movement line using some of our ballerina reference pictures. These images are in our class Pinterest board. Print some out so we can use them in our work.
Here are a few I used:
Alright, now that you have some ballerinas printed out let’s get to doing a super, easy and quick exercise about capturing that action line in the figure.
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Easy right? I know this is a very simple exercise but I think it helps us understand what we are after for our next warm up - gesture drawing. Get your big sheets of paper up on your easel or on to your wall and let’s go for it! Set a timer if you like to keep yourself moving. I spent anywhere from 30 sec - 2 mins on these drawings. Remember to go after movement and form over details. Degas highly prized capturing movement in his work so doing gesture work helps us learn how to do that.
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That was pretty fun right? It does take some time to warm up and relax into it... I often find my drawings improve as I relax.
So, let’s move on shall we. I would love to discuss with you a little more about Degas’ beautiful sketches and his drawing techniques. Take a break and let’s chat about just that.
Aren’t his drawings just dreamy? Such a delicate balance between form and line and dark and light. I could start at his sketches all day but we must move on and keep learning! Are you ready to do a study of one of his figure drawings? I could hardly wait to get started!
This is the drawing I chose to copy:
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Well, how did that go? Remember this is a great way to learn but it also very challenging. Drawing like a Master is no easy feat so be gentle with yourself and try and stay very present as you use your observation skills.
Alright let’s move on to our exciting Ballerina projects shall we?