Clara Lieu

Ask the Art Professor: How do you get yourself to practice drawing?

claralieu — Sun, 19 May 2013 04:05:20 +0000

Welcome to “Ask the Art Professor“! Essentially an advice column for visual artists, this is your chance to ask me your questions about being an artist, the creative process, career advice, a technical question about a material, etc. Anything from the smallest technical question to the large and philosophical is welcome. I’ll do my best to provide a thorough, comprehensive answer to your question. Submit your question by emailing me at clara(at)claralieu.com, or by posting here on this blog. All questions will be posted anonymously. Read an archive of past articles here.

Here’s today’s question:

“I find myself having a lot difficulty getting myself to practice drawing. I keep procrastinating. I know this is rather dumb, because it is as simple as just sitting down and doing it. What is your advice to force yourself to practice?”

Many people don’t realize the tremendous amount of self-discipline that is required to be an artist. Constant, rigorous practice is an absolute necessity. Everyone I know who works professionally as an artist does so with rock solid focus and concentration. Most artists work alone, so we have to have strategies to self-motivate on a regular basis.

One of my former students recently got back in touch with me. She had been really struggling lately in terms of how to motivate herself to work. She asked me whether it was important to be “in the mood” when working. My answer for her was appallingly unromantic. I’m rarely in the mood to work. Instead, I splash cold water on my face in the morning, and get to work, no matter how I’m feeling. The artist Chuck Close once said “Inspiration is for amateurs, the rest of us just show up and get to work.” My work schedule is such that I don’t have the luxury to wait to be “in the mood”. Right now, I work in the sculpture studio most weekdays from 9am-11am. If I don’t sit down and work steadily for those two hours, my window of opportunity to work in the sculpture studio that day is gone.

You have to create a schedule for yourself to rigidly follow. Set aside a chunk of time for drawing that you can anticipate and look forward to every day. Don’t work haphazardly at random times, it will be difficult to maintain a continuous train of thought, and you’ll be much less likely to accomplish anything concrete. I’ve heard before that it can take about one month to firmly establish a routine, so give yourself a few weeks to settle into a predictable work pattern. Eventually, the routine should become an automatic response to your daily schedule.

Extremely long work sessions are not necessary and can actually work against you. I would rather draw every day for 2 hours than draw for 10 hours once a week. Many of my students have noted to me that their work is better when they break up their work over the course of several days rather than trying to do one 12 hour marathon work session the night before the project is due. The advantage of multiple work sessions is you have the opportunity to come back to your work and look at it with fresh eyes. You’ll see things you didn’t see the day before, and be able to make the necessary revisions.

How do you get yourself motivated to work? What kind of strategies work for you?

Ask the Art Professor: What makes a student artist stand out from their peers?

claralieu — Sat, 18 May 2013 22:14:37 +0000

Here’s today’s question:

“What makes a student artist stand out from their peers? What’s something that can set them apart from everyone else?”

I’m lucky that I’ve worked with a number of extraordinary students over the past few years. Most of the students I teach are already quite strong to begin with, so in my opinion it really takes a lot for a student to stand out from everyone else in my class. I look for a number of qualities when evaluating my students, and the ones who distinguish themselves take matters into their own hands, soar to new heights, surpass expectations, and surprise me with their accomplishments. Below is a list of qualities that I look for in my students:

1)Enthusiasm: I’ve had students in the past who were literally an engine for their classes, they motivated other students with their sheer presence in the classroom. Students who exude positive energy at all times are important to the success of a class. When I see a student’s passion and excitement in their work, this truly distinguishes the student.

2)Consistency: Out of all of these qualities, consistency is in some ways the most difficult one to achieve. I’ve had many students in the past who were outstanding, but only on a sporadically. It’s hard enough to be exemplary, and even harder to demonstrate this caliber of work week to week.

3)Fearlessness & Tenacity: When situations get rough, many students will opt for the safer, easier option. I’m looking for the student who will confront immense challenges head on, with determination and persistence. Any student who can conquer their fears and deal directly with tough circumstances is going to be notable.

4)Dedication: Students who are out to simply fulfill the minimum course requirements are never impressive. Instead, I look for students who view their work in the course as being one major part of the larger picture of their career. They don’t treat homework like homework, rather every assignment is treated as an opportunity to be ambitious and push boundaries.

5)Work Ethic: I have a deep respect for any student who is willing to invest intensive labor and time into their work. I’ve seen students assign themselves seemingly impossible tasks and actually pull them off in very short periods of time because of their incredible work ethic.

6)Professionalism: To me, once aspect of being a professional is being able to show up on time all the time, get the job done, and not whine about it. I’ve frequently amazed by students who seem to make tremendously difficult tasks seem effortless and easy. I’ve seen students take on monstrous challenges that I know for a fact required an incredible amount of work, and yet they don’t complain for a minute about how challenging it was.

7)Communication: The top students in the class are not only excellent listeners, but are strong at verbally articulating their thoughts on their process and goals to both the teacher and their peers. Communication is vital to the success of the class and instigates an open dialogue for everyone to participate in.

What do you think are qualities that makes a student stand out?

“What are you waiting for? Make it now!”

claralieu — Fri, 17 May 2013 19:47:32 +0000

I’ve been quite productive over the past week, despite the mental setback I had with my manuscript rejection. Actually, I’m surprised that I recovered quite quickly from the rejection. Instead, I’m trying to focus intensively on getting the last faces in this series finished. This is one of the reasons why I’m so glad that I always have multiple projects going on at the same time. If something isn’t going well with one project, I can always easily divert my attention and energy to another.

Lately I’ve been feeling a sense of urgency with my book. Perhaps it’s impatience, perhaps it’s ambition, (most likely it’s a little bit of both) but I keep having this feeling that if I don’t self-publish now, it will never happen. I guess part of me worries that my enthusiasm for the book might die down at some point, so I want to strike while the iron is hot. The boxes that my silicone rubber comes in have the words “What are you waiting for? Make it now!” written on them. I see these boxes everyday, and every time I see them I feel that urgency.

Ask the Art Professor: Is graduate school worth it?

claralieu — Fri, 17 May 2013 01:38:44 +0000

Here’s today’s question:

“Grad school. Is it worth the extra chunk of loans? Is it possible to make it as a “professional” fine artist without it? How do I go about getting letters of recommendation if I wait for a longer time after undergrad?”

People go to graduate school for many different reasons. Many people go to graduate school so that they are able to teach at the college level. Others will attend because their undergraduate degree was not in art, and therefore they want the opportunity to study in a more concentrated manner. For many art school students, graduate school provides a way for them to gain a more personal focus and sense of professionalism in their work.

Under the best circumstances, graduate school will allow you to make the transition from making student work to making professional work. For most people, their undergraduate degree is about experimenting with different media, subject matter, and contrasting approaches. However, after four years of this, many students have complained to me that they can feel scattered and lost. They’re working with so many methods and subjects that there’s no way they can gain any sense of focus. Many students at this point start to feel that they are barely skimming the surface of their subject matter due to the time constraints of their undergraduate schedules. Looking back at my own undergraduate student work, so much of it lacked content. What I had accomplished by the time I was a senior was essentially all visual exercises: life drawings, portrait studies, and unfinished paintings of a bored model sitting on the model stand. None of it was remotely professional, conceptual, or distinctive in any way.

Figure painting study from my undergraduate years at RISD.

What graduate school should provide is an opportunity to focus on creating a body of work that is personally driven, coherent, and in depth. Basically, variations on a theme. What many undergraduate students never have the opportunity to do is to work with one subject over a sustained period of time. In graduate school, the time for haphazard experimentation should be over, instead it should be a time to concentrate intensively on a specific interest. By the time you finish graduate school, you should be armed with a cohesive body of work that will carry you right into the professional world.

My MFA thesis was a project called “Digging” where I explored the concept of digging through a series of prints and a large scale sculpture installation. My experience working with this one subject laid the groundwork for all of my following projects, and taught me how to engage with my work conceptually. I doubt that my work would have matured the way it did had I not attended graduate school.

A monotype from my MFA Thesis project, “Digging”

While it is possible to “make it” as a professional artist without a graduate school degree, it is tougher. Not only are you missing out on the opportunity to make a new body of work in a rigorous artistic community, but you won’t be able to foster the kind of professional connections with faculty and other students that are necessary to launching your career. Who you know in the art world is everything in terms of having a professional career, and graduate school is one very effective way to get to know people in the field.

For letters of recommendation, you’ll have to contact your former professors from your undergraduate program. For most people, email is the most effective way to get back in touch. Try to make sure that you’re asking a former professor with whom you had a good relationship with, one who would remember you. I’ve been forced to turn down students in the past because I simply couldn’t remember who they were. Always make sure that you ask first, don’t assume that they will automatically write you the letter. (for example, I have a personal policy that I only write letters for students who received an A- or an A in my class) Be sure to give your professor enough notice, (about 1-2 months) so they have plenty of time to take care of it for you.

Did you attend graduate school? What was your experience like?

Crit Wall #2

claralieu — Wed, 15 May 2013 23:37:36 +0000

Welcome to “Crit Wall“, where I offer online critiques of individual art pieces. To submit, send me a link to one image by commenting here, or by emailing the link to me at clara(at)claralieu.com. Please, NO ATTACHMENTS. Include the media, size, and title if you have one. Only submit finished works, no works in progress or sketches. Artwork created for a RISD degree program course is not eligible. You’ll receive notification if your piece is selected to be critiqued. Only one submission per person please, and know that I will not be able to critique every single work due to the volume of submissions. All images will be posted anonymously.

“Jack”
Digital media
11″ x 17″

This piece has a good sense of mood to it, there are clear visual indications of the time of day through the choice of lighting in the piece. There is a feeling of atmosphere and foreboding that is present in the piece due to the dramatic nature of the lighting. The street light in the background is particularly compelling and draws the viewer deep into the scene.

The painterly quality of the bricks in the buildings is well done, although I’m left hungry for more. There is a lot of layering of the strokes which gives the bricks a sense of depth and texture. If there could be even more of this effect spread throughout the work, in general the piece would feel more resolved and complete.

I would recommend working on where details are emphasized. In general, details should be reserved to areas of the image that are closest to the viewer’s point of view, with the details becoming less clear and less distinct the further away they move into the distance. In the building on the left, this effect has actually been reversed: the details are emphasized on the further side of the building, and the part of the building that is closest to the viewer has hardly any detail on it.

Watch out for perspective; with perspective, it’s either right or wrong. For perspective to be fully effective, the viewer has to be 100% convinced of the structure of the architecture is completely solid and correct. This is a classic one point perspective situation, so there should be one vanishing point that all of the diagonal lines perfectly converge to. In the building on the left, the windows and the diagonals are just a little bit off, and thus compromise the structural integrity of the building.

The figure is an important feature of this work, as the figure is an excellent scale reference for the buildings. We get a good sense of size, and the buildings seem to loom over the figure in a dark and menacing manner. Additionally, the figure provides a narrative quality to the image. However, I find the specificity of the figure to be distracting. The figure is far away in the distance so I would not expect to see such sharp detail in the silhouette of the figure.

Ask the Art Professor: What is a gesture drawing?

claralieu — Wed, 15 May 2013 22:16:08 +0000

Here’s today’s question:

“What is a gesture drawing?”

A gesture drawing is basically a quick drawing that captures the essential gesture of a subject in its most distilled form. Gesture is everywhere, embodied in every object, person, and place. It is action, emotion, movement, and expression all rolled together into one cohesive motion. Through gesture, your drawing can transform into anything from ferocious to quiet.

In drawing, gesture represents the primal instinct, the essential character of the subject. As a form of expression, an initial gesture drawing is critical to every drawing. Without a sense of gesture, drawings become sterile and static. Drawings lacking gesture become dull and mechanical. Instilled with gesture, a drawing is able to communicate emotion and expression in a concentrated manner that is visually compelling. Through gesture, the essential character and emotion of any given subject can be effectively communicated.

A sense of fluidity is one of the key components of a successful gestural drawing. This is achieved when a drawing conveys a focused, single motion that allows the object to be perceived as a whole, rather than as a series of unrelated pieces. Essentially, this brings together all of the parts and assembles them into a harmonious, cohesive statement. Fluidity can be achieved in a number of different ways. The manner in which marks are created on the surface of the page can play a major role in attaining fluidity. Marks that continually flow and move into each other will tend to behave as a whole. An emphasis on the relationships of the big shapes, examining how they transition into each other can also be highly effective.

Student gesture drawing

4 steps on how to make a gesture drawing:

1) Start with very light, loose, and sketchy marks.
Keep a sensitive touch with your drawing tool, initially drawing so lightly that you are barely making physical contact with the paper as you draw. Staying light will allow for more flexibility as you continue working on the drawing. Working without an eraser will also allow you to work more fluidly, continually move forward, and accept and deal with your mistakes, rather than backtracking all the time with an eraser.

2) Draw with one very light, continuous line that never leaves the surface of the paper.
Concentrate on seeing the whole shape all at once. This will allow you to work with more fluidity, as opposed to chopping up your marks into disconnected parts. Remember that your first lines will not be “right”, this initial stage is only about getting something on the paper at first. You have to draw it wrong before you can draw it right.

3) Focus the drawing on first blocking in the largest shapes.
Eventually move consecutively towards medium and small shapes. Leave out the details in these early stages of the drawing and concentrate solely on the big shapes. Look for how one large shape transition into each other, and stay focused on the relationships between these shapes.

4) Engage with the entire image all at once.
All areas of the drawing need to be given equal treatment and attention. Don’t allow for one area to be ignored or for another to be finished before the others. All of the parts of the drawing should be developed at the same level of completion at all times. Keep your eye alert and active while physically moving your hand around the page.

What are your tips for gesture drawing? What is a gesture drawing to you?

Student gesture drawing

Ask the Art Professor: How do you get out of thinking you can’t get better?

claralieu — Wed, 15 May 2013 09:55:10 +0000

Here’s today’s question:

“How do you get out of thinking you can’t get better? I just got through my first year of art school, and I can never do anything but hate myself for my art. I’ve learned to tell myself that I’m not terrible, but my art isn’t beautiful or eye-catching, and it never comes out even a thread like what I want it to. And so now I’m sitting here crying, because I can’t even draw because I’m too afraid of drawing. I want to be an artist so badly, but I just can’t. I don’t know what to do.”

We are inevitably our own toughest critics, and usually the expectations we set for ourselves are much higher than any that anyone else could possibly set for us. It’s important to be critical, be ambitious, and to push yourself, but not to the degree that it actually prevents you from making the work. Right now, you’re being so harsh on yourself that it’s paralyzing your ability to make art.

I would recommend exponentially increasing your production level. In other words, make so much work that you no longer feel precious about each individual piece. For example, if you’re used to making 1 drawing a day, make 10 drawings a day and spend less time and care on each one. You’ll be very pleasantly surprised that the 10 drawings will be fresher and more spontaneous than that 1 drawing. Most likely you’ll get 1-2 that are worth keeping. I find that when artists are too heavily invested in one work that they tend to get really fussy and worried about that one piece.

The goal you’ll need to set is to find some way to make art without judging yourself every minute. I’m certainly no stranger to judging my work. I’m enough of a perfectionist that all I see is flaws when I look at my work. To keep myself from doing this, I make a work and then I instantly put it away where I can’t see it. This way, I’m not tempted to sit there and harp on what’s not working. I leave the piece for two weeks, and then I take it out and decide at that point whether I want to keep it or not. Often times in the heat of working, our thinking can be inaccurate. I’ve had more than one occasion where I was ready to toss something, only to realize two weeks later that the work actually did have some merit and was worth working on further.

Give yourself the license to make bad work. I always tell my students that they have to make bad work if they want to make good work. And remember, it’s better to be making bad work than no work at all. Tell yourself that the drawings you do for the next month don’t matter. If you’re spending all of your energy worrying about the outcome, it means that you’re not focusing enough on the task at hand. Concentrate on enjoying the pure process of drawing and don’t let yourself be so product oriented.

Crit Wall #1

claralieu — Wed, 15 May 2013 01:28:16 +0000

Pastel and white charcoal pencil on black paper
40″ x 36″

What immediately captures my attention about this work is the overall fluid quality in the gesture of the figure. The two strongest compositional forces in this drawing are the hair and the folds in the clothing. Both move across the page beautifully and have a looseness to them that is confident and strong. The transition from the direction of the hair into the movement of the clothing is nicely achieved as well.

Probably the most impressive area of the drawing is the lower right hand corner where the pattern of the clothing is overlaid on top of the volume of the clothing folds. It’s difficult to show pattern and volume at the same time, and here its highly convincing the way both have been rendered. The attention to detail in this area far surpasses any of the other areas in the drawing.

Watch out for the proportional relationship between the hand and the head, specifically, the hand feels too small compared to the head. The feet seem fine proportionally, especially since it’s implied that the feet likely belong to another figure. The profile of the head could be much more refined, right now it feels too generalized and ends up looking stiff and geometric. A more organic quality to the form would help the profile of the head appear more lifelike.

In general the transitions in the drawing could be improved. The area where the neck ends and the feet begin feels awkward and choppy, as if the feet were simply collaged on top. The feet are off to a good start, but they could use more anatomical structure, suggesting the presence of bones which are quite prominent in feet. The hand is a good beginning, the knuckles could be emphasized more to show the structure of the hand more effectively.

In terms of the use of the white charcoal pencil on the black paper, the white marks could be beefed up quite a bit. The presence of the black paper still feels too dominant, and the white marks.seem too pale and thin in many areas. Pump up the richness of the whites so that they feel more brilliant and present. The one exception to this is the area with the clothing folds, where the white marks are significantly more substantial and seem to be more volumetric.

“Crit Wall”

claralieu — Tue, 14 May 2013 22:16:26 +0000

I’ve decided to move forward with an experiment that I’ve been contemplating for some time, which I’m calling “Crit Wall.” For the next few weeks I’m going to offer online critiques of individual art pieces on my blog. I’ll write a comprehensive critique for each work.

To submit, send me a link to one image by commenting here, or by emailing me the link at clara(at)claralieu.com. Please, NO ATTACHMENTS. Include the media, size, and title if you have one. Only submit finished works, no works in progress or sketches. Artwork created for a RISD degree program course is not eligible.

You’ll receive notification if your piece is selected to be critiqued. Only one submission per person please, and know that I will not be able to critique every single work due to the volume of submissions. All images will be posted anonymously.

I look forward to seeing your work!

Inner Questioning

claralieu — Tue, 14 May 2013 20:08:09 +0000

I’m in a deep funk today. I’m taking this rejection very hard, which is unusual for me. I know everything that I’m “supposed” to do in this situation, (get over it, move on, and work harder) but I’m having a tough time actually following through on those directives. The part of this process that I hate is the inner questioning that starts to fester in your brain. When you get rejected like this you start wondering whether you were crazy to believe that the work was any good in the first place.

I’m frustrated with myself for letting this particular rejection get to me as much as it has, and I’m having trouble staying focused. The only option that I have is to keep making my work, so I forced myself to start these two clay faces this morning irregardless of how I was feeling.