San Marco Drawings

As a warm-up exercise, we asked experts and students to draw from a photograph. This particular view of Piazza San Marco in Venice is taken from a book of photographs [name forthcoming], and has been a popular subject for artists through the ages.

Photograph

Thisi is the photograph from which the subjects worked (they were given a photocopy on 8.5 x 11 inch paper).

Drawing from a photo differs from drawing from life in that the head position stays the same. When drawing from life, as the artist's eyes move to look from paper to scenery, the head moves and distorts the information to be drawn.

Crisp Precision

(by Matt Brehm)

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Accuracy through Target Marks

(by anonymous)

This architect emphasizes accuracy by drawing tiny "target marks" at which to aim converging lines. This provides him a quick way to check proportions while they're easy to change.