Drawing with an Envelope

I was teaching two of my younger students today, they are in 2nd and 5th grade.  I have been working with them, especially the older one, on using envelopes to start a drawing.  An envelope is an outline of a simple shape that surrounds the subject of your drawing.  It is done as the very first mark put down on the paper.  It helps to get the placement of the subject on the paper correctly, helps to start analyzing the big shapes, and helps to avoid time consuming mistakes in proportion.  I have found this to be one of the most effective ways to teach students how to start to learn to "see" and how to work big simple shapes before moving on to smaller details.  I think sometimes my students start using envelopes just to humor me, but slowly they realize what a useful tool it is and how much it improves their drawing.

The method is very simple, you draw a simple shape using straight lines that encompass the object(s) you are drawing.  This helps to simplify things and to see the big shapes, and trains you to look for the big shapes before the small ones.

For example, in Bouguereau's Virgin of the Angels, the envelope would look like this, something like a slanted diamond:

image from the J. Paul Getty Museum

Here is a picture of some of the pieces from my student art show.  All the pieces on the far right panel are of grade school students' work, ranging from 2nd to 8th grade, and I taught all of them this method.  The pencil portrait of Abraham Lincoln was done by one of my 5th grade students and it won first place in the Thinkin' Lincoln Art Contest.

Red Chalk Figure Drawing by Jaime Cooper

I used the method I learned from Robert Liberace to do this drawing.  I used white Mi-Tientes paper with a sepia watercolor wash, then a coat of amber shellac thinned with rubbing alcohol.  My only tools were a terra cotta Verithin colored pencil and an eraser pencil.

Live Demo Pictures from the Ligonier Art Walk

Many thanks to my beautiful model!  I rigged up a webcam and projected a larger image on the back wall so more of the audience could see how the portrait was progressing.  I painted for a little under 3 hours.

Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art Ligonier Career Development Workshop

Career Development Workshop for the Visual Artist
Speaker: Marcene Glover, SAMA Directory Artist
May 17, 2014, 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Cost: $30 SAMA Ligonier (One Boucher Lane and Route 711 South, Ligonier, PA 15658)
Contact: Jess Campbell @ jcampbell@sama-art.org or 814-472-3922

Artist and Consultant, Marcene Glover, will take you through the steps of defining and setting into motion the correct plan of action to reach your desired goal. Whatever level you are at, Marcene will help assess your best path through marketing yourself in the Art world. This workshop will help you understand what types of galleries you should be targeting, and it will give you tips on building your portfolio, pricing your work, writing Artist statements, talking about your work to collectors, and more, including things to consider when grant writing and accepting commissions. You are invited to bring along one to three original pieces of work. Bring framed/ready to present work if you have it; if not, then bring your unframed work. This is an informal critique, but you will get the most out of it if you bring your most presentable work. If you are not able to bring any artwork with you, please join us anyway; you will still have a lot to participate in and benefit.

Student Art Show

The Ligonier Art Walk was a great success! It was wonderful connecting with everyone. Everyone's pieces in the Student Art Show were beautiful and I continually got fantastic comments on all of them. Thanks to all of my students for participating.

Ligonier Art Walk Live Oil Portrait Demo

Here is a photo of my live oil portrait demo during the Ligonier Art Walk. A huge thank you to my beautiful model and the audience. It was a blast! I will post some in progress pictures of the portrait later on.

Live Oil Portrait Painting Demonstration

Jaime will demonstrate an oil portrait painting from a live model in her studio starting at 4 pm on Saturday May 10, 2014 during the Ligonier Art Walk. Come by to watch, ask questions, and discuss art techniques. Everyone is welcome! The studio is located at 212 West Main Street, Ligonier, PA 15658.

Ligonier Art Walk

The first Ligonier Art Walk will be happening May 10, 2014.
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