Russian Drawing Course Part 23: Cast of the Ear

[New Masters Academy]

In this part of the Russian Academic Drawing Course, we take everything we’ve learned about light and shadow and apply it to an organic element, figuring out where to establish our major changes in plane. In this lesson, we will be using a plaster cast to analyze and render the forms of the ear.

Students are encouraged to work from the NMA reference images and 3D viewer included on this page*.

Join Ukrainian-born artist Iliya Mirochnik as he passes on a 250-year-old academic method preserved at the Repin Academy in Saint Petersburg, Russia and seldom taught outside of the Academy and never before on camera.

The Russian Academic drawing and painting approaches were uninterrupted by the modern art movements that transformed representational art in the West, and as a result, they provide a unique and clear lineage to the greater art traditions of the past. As a powerful approach that is both constructive and depictive, it combines the two methods that prevail in contemporary representational art.

In this series of drawing courses, we have set out to condense the entire program, spanning over eight years into a logical, step-by-step procedure. We have made improvements and added resources and exercises to explicitly drive home the concepts that are required to work in this approach.

We have also structured the course so that it is not only useful for professional and experienced artists but also artists with no drawing experience whatsoever.

In the last part of our Russian Academic Drawing Course, Iliya brought together the knowledge we learned about Anatomy in order to complete a fully rendered figure drawing. In this next part, Casts of the Face, you use your understanding of the technique to explore these important and organic forms.

The New Masters Academy Coaching Program directly supports this Course. If you enroll in the coaching program, you can request an artist trained in the Russian Academic Method including Iliya Mirochnik himself. Click here to enroll in the Coaching Program.

Materials

• Graphite pencils
• Kneaded and Hard Erasers
• Roll of Paper, Smooth Sketchbook paper
• Easel
• Light source

* Reference material is only available for premium subscriptions. If you don’t have premium access to the reference, you can pause the video when the reference is shown.

[Shawn Gerling]

Can you share which pencil sharpener you have that you love so much? 🙂

[David Durrans]

What number pencils do you use initially to map out the ear and then afterwards for the half tones?

 

Thanks,

 

David

[Daniel Daigle]

Hi David, the lay in is done with a 2B Derwent Graphic and the half tones were done with a pencil that was slightly softer, but I encourage you to experiment and see what works best for you. If you have a heavy hand like me it might be worth spending a year or so with the softest pencil you can find. I think its more important to develop control first 😀
Good luck!

[Daniel Daigle]

Hi Shawn, you can get your own here: https://store.nma.art/product/long-point-pencil-sharpener/

[Nathan Senevirathne]

Hi

I am wondering you were actually using a tortillon or blending stump to shade (@1:56 sec mark) here.

[Daniel Daigle]

Hi Nathan, it looks like he is using a tortillon, but for this exercise either will work. they have a very similar effect. you could probably even use your finger if you are drawing big.

[Author]

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