Week Lost Track - Famous Artists Course Chapeter 2

Here's my notes from chapter 2 of the Famous Artists Course:

-Every object is made up of one or more of the following: box, cylinder, cone, sphere.
-Draw every object all the way through before applying detail
-Light and shade helps a drawing be more convincing but the basic drawing must be able to stand on its own, shade can't fix a bad drawing.
-Shadow must be consistent, not draw attention away from the main focus, and clarify form, not confuse it.
-Every form needs its own space in which it exist. Clearly show each objects relationship in space to each other.
-Think of your drawing space as a window, which you can see the solid shapes through.
-When you draw forms, think of them as enclosed each in its own individual box.
-Draw forms as you would actually see them from where you stand or sit. (forms change in appearance depending upon eye level).
-The further away an object, the smaller it appears, also the distance between objects lessens.
-The "true horizon" is always the level of one's eyes.
-Proportion is another important factor. Note proportions before putting pencil to paper. "see, observe, remember."
-To communicate quickly with an image, you must present an identifying view of your subject, so their forms are easy to recognize. (often silhouette). If the flat shape is interesting and quickly tells what the object is, then the form can be even more interesting when drawn in its full three dimensions.
-When drawing, do the big shapes first before going into any detail.

Week 4 - aka way behind.

So I've fallen quite a bit behind. It's been a little harder keeping my crap together and working than I thought it would be initially. But I've managed to catch up quite a bit. Here's an update/plan for each book I've been working on:

Fresh Ideas for Web Designers:
I read the first chapter on the author's first detailed style, Gothic, but realized that the book goes into more detail than I am able to understand yet as far as web programming. He explains some of the why's of specific styles, but then goes into how it was created, which is above my head at this point. So I decided since I'm already behind, I'm going to cut that book for now and focus on catching up on the others, which I feel I'm learning a lot more from.

Famous Artist Course:
I finished reading and doing most of the activities from the first chapter. These included, learning to shade with pencil, and learning to do line drawings with pen (real pen with an inkwell and all). The pen drawing was a bit messy but fun, and actually came put pretty good. I've also started reading chapter two: "Form - The basis of Drawing". This chapter and chapter 3: "Composition - How to Make Pictures" add up to as many pages as just the first one, so catching up on those two shouldn't be too hard. That just leaves me with chapter 4: "Drawing the Human Form" to catch with to finish up the week.

Embracing Your Potential:
I've read up to and just started Chapter 4 in this book. It has been really helpful for not just myself, but also for Erik, and for us as a couple. For example, every night, before falling asleep, we go over our "highlights" for the day. Three things a piece for the both of us that took place in the last 24 hours. I think it's led to a slight overall improved outlook on life. I also need to get back and answer all those questions from chapter 1, in addition to finishing up chapter 4 this week. I may start with that book today. We'll see.

Beginning Programming for Dummies:
I have gotten up to chapter 6 in this book. I have learned about the basic difference between different programming languages, the basics of writing a program, and the tools used by a programmer. Though I have yet to actually get to the point in the book where they have me make a program myself. Coming up this week is chapter 6: "the structure of a computer program" and chapter 7: "variables, constants, and comments." I look forward to learning how to make my own programs.

So off to getting caught up I go. BBL