Okay, like I promised this is the first installment in a series of exercises, activities and projects that I hope will help any aspiring illustrator or concept artist start drawing or improve drawing.

I’m calling them barasu (it’s Japanese for “to expose”, “to break apart”); several “barasu” will be connected to the current lunacy. These “barasu” are part of my ongoing efforts at learning on my own (I am self taught).

So for starters, this one is just what you have to do and how you have to prepare mentally to face the challenges that are coming. More of these will follow; in fact, I just finished the draft for the second installment about lines so watch out.

In case you are wondering what this has to do with lunacy 001, well I had put up an earlier post that should clear that up. It’s a simplified diagram of the entire essay, hope you can find yourself somewhere in that web, also included is a paragraph by paragraph summary of the 6-page essay… I got complaints: too long!

So, again I would like to hear from any of you and hear your feedback especially on the exercise template. Does it contain everything it’s supposed to or too much?

Thanks

Coming to terms

To begin, you must first accept the truth. That truth is this: every Endeavor ends in success or failure, what makes you a good artist is your willingness to come to terms with either outcome. If you fail you should be content and in the event you succeed you are equally content. It means you must accept responsibility for the consequences of either outcome.

To proceed, you must have or acquire five ingredients (yours might be more or less). I have found that these ingredients happen to form the categories for all art instruction(this barasu is “craft” for instance), and are all you require to do great drawings.

Craft(entails physical skills, media used)
Technique(entails mental tools, patterns found, knowledge gathered)
Objective(entails projects, skill goals)
Design(entails style, philosophy, patterns, creativity, ideas)
Effort(entails work hours, study time, practice time)

The diagram below explains this. It’s an analogy so please read the essay on convergence again and study the diagram thoroughly.

To persist, you must be willing to do

exercises
activities
projects.

Why this is important is cleared up by the concept map below.

The point to keep in mind is that the diagram is color coded to show you groupings, just follow the arrows and the reason becomes clear. In my first essay (lunacy001) I talked about convergence and patterns and its relevance to concept artists…so the “patterns” in the cmap (concept map) refers to the skills we all are seeking to get, because a pattern is both a thing and a process, and that is what the skills are about: wanting something done and knowing how to go about it.

To improve, you must use sessions, I know it’s not very creative, but it works. Sessions encourages you to use consistent drawing practice and track your progress as your art improves. I have used it to study hands, anatomy, figure invention. Right now, I’m using it to study animals, work on fashion…its fun really.

The exercise template below is in essence what every exercise must entail to qualify for use, when doing a session.

Exercise name	What I call the exercise, you can it whatever helps you remember.
Objectives	Quantifiable skills acquired, hard or soft
Pre instruction Test	Placement test determines Intensity, constraints, tools, steps followed.
intensity	How long, how often exercise is done
constraint	Limits set to enable you “reach” objectives
Craft tools	The tools and materials you’ll require
Set up	Describes what you have to arrange before proceeding
Exercise steps	The instruction in images preferable
Examples	My own sample of the exercise
Progress Track	Session number and phase number helps you track your efforts.
Milestones	Landmarks you will see that shows you have accomplished the task…you can score yourself with this
Suggest rule	Here you have to suggest your own observation(this is the pattern)
Utility Test	And here you use it(the rule or pattern) more than once
Post exercise comment/advice	Things to watch out and what to expect from the exercise in case you don’t succeed
Escalation	For advanced learners, develop a variation to the exercise that makes it more difficult or complex

Note: the brown coloured rows are tasks you perform on your own, the blue rows are all determined by the pre-instruction test and the green rows indicate progress trackers.

Finally, to follow along with future lessons, you must get the session tools and they are as basic as I can make them.

· A pencil, 2b preferably.

· A ream of A4 printing paper, for starters

· Papers about 52gsm in thickness (just barely transparent) cut to about A4 size and 9 by 4.5inch slips…lots of both

· A ball point pen, black

· black, red, blue and green chisel-point Markers

one final note, the image of these tools, as well as the list, does not contain an eraser. This is not a mistake. I have found, and you will have to trust me, that in starting there is no place for the eraser until much later. You will thank me later. As for the little black stuff, it’s my wacom tablet…don’t worry, I won’t be using it for the barasu.

Exercise name	001 A place for everything(craft)
Objectives	I’m not telling you. Do the test first.
Pre instruction Test	Step1: bring out all your supplies as specified in the barasu001: coming to terms. Step 2: place all the pencils and paper you have from all the others(I suggest you use wooden pencils and A4 printing paper for this test) Step 3: now, start tearing up and squeezing new sheets of paper. Step 4: next take two pencils, and break them whichever way you like. Step 5: when you feel you have had enough, go down to the bottom of the exercise sheet to read your placement. Step 6: keep the broken pencils, throwaway the thorn papers. End test
intensity	Once every day, until you need to buy new supplies.
constraint	Do, not more than 20 sheets in a day, and not more than 2 pencils in a day
Craft tools	1 A4 printing paper 2 Drawing pencils 2B(do not use clutch pencils, if you do the lead is the focus of the exercise) 3 a sharper
Set up	Just have a stack of your paper and lots of pencils.
Exercise steps	Step 1: squeeze a new sheet of paper, then another, and another, one after the other. do this ten times. Step 2: throw it away in a corner Step 3: make 10 drawing attempts…about anything you like Step 4: squeeze your attempts and throw them in a corner, but in a different corner from the first. Step 5: break the point of the pencil you used to do those drawing attempts in step 3. Step 6: study the pencil lead you just broke off is step 5 Step 7: pick up the squeezed plank sheets of paper and unravel them(open them out) Step8: sharpen the pencil, the point which you broke off earlier. Step9: make marks based on what marks the squeezing created. If you find objects there…even better Step 10: pick up the drawing attempts, open them up, bring out any old file, and place them in it. Step 11: determine your fail rate and salvage rate.(see milestones below)
Examples
Progress Track	Session1: as already prescribed Session 2: before any drawing work
Milestones	1 when you see recognizable objects in the blank squeezed paper 2 How many drawing attempts do you regret squeezing compared to all attempts? Subtract that from all drawings you did, This is your fail rate 3 How many do you not want to place in the folder compared to all attempts? this is your salvage rate
Suggest rule	Hint: step 6 Which was harder to destroy, your paper or pencil?
Utility Test	Send us feedback on what situation you used this exercise?
Post exercise comment/advice	This exercise hopes to achieve 5 things. 1 How well you have learnt to come to terms with the consequences of your decision to start learning to draw. If you have not, then by the second sheet of paper torn in the test you would have started cursing. 2 to show you that the paper is the most deposable thing of all the tools provided and you should never fear it, blank or otherwise. 3 show you that all drawing is about making an attempt and that all failure is recoverable and can be corrected, that is what the sharpener did and that is what you did when you filed your terrible attempts. I have a name for that folder , it is called “revival drawings” 4 to help your determine your fail rate and revival rate. These two can determine whether , like me you cry when it does not work out, or say “I have come to terms with my attempt, failure for now….success for later”. Be honest with yourself when determining these, because it is a measure of your progress. 5 to teach you the benefit of having excess supplies. The idea that you have so much paper, pencil etc, to throw away will allow your mind take chances and make the mistakes that are up ahead. 6 to point to your comfort zones, that is what it is you like or prefer drawing…because it is both a blessing and curse at different times.
Escalation	Choose an object you would like to draw, give someone else the job of scribbling on your paper, keeping the object a secret, and then you must find the object in their scribble.