Stop Tuning the Radio
When attempting to render forms in a realistic or illunionistic manner, students often have a tendency to jump to details before it is time to do so. It is important to get the basic proportions, general volume, and composition clearly and accurately defined before going onto middle level elements or even smaller details. One example of this is a student who begins working on the eye shape (or even the eyelashes) before the proportions and volume of the head are established.
Luis Jimenez, Low Rider
I refer to this practice as tuning the radio, (or setting the presets on the radio) before the car is even built. Imagine you are building a car. First you want to establish the chassis, get the axles and wheels assembled, add the motor, maybe add a steering wheel and pedals, etc. before even considering what stations you want the presets on your car radio set to. Heck, in this example, the dash, nor interior have even been installed, and some students are already trying to tune the radio! Attending to details before it is time often results in poor proportions and a drawing that does not work together as a whole. The drawing can seem like patchwork.
Don't be a radio tuner!
An example of building a drawing from overall structure to slowly developing dark values is below.
