✑ ANDREW LOOMIS on FUN WITH A PENCIL ◇ PART ONE, S1

FUN WITH A PENCIL  ◇ PART ONE, S1

Today on the JUFSEN BOOK CLUB, we'll discuss Part One, Section 1, BLOOK BASICS, of the old but gold 
Fun With A Pencil : How Everybody Can Easily Learn to Draw, released 1939 by the American illustrator Andrew Loomis. 

This is a summation in own words. All credit goes to author and creator of the book, Andrew Loomis. 
Down below you can find a summation of key points.

For simplicity's sake, Part One HOW TO DRAW FUNNY FACES has been divided into three Sections. 

꧁ Section 1 ✿ BLOOK BASICS  p. 13 to p. 24 ꧂
Section 2 ✿ BLOOK EXPRESSIONS p. 25 to p. 35
Section 3 ✿ BLOOK ACCURACY p. 26 to p. 49

With that outta the way... Let's start!

Our buddy and mentor, Professor Blook starts off with saying "Grab a pencil and paper quickly!" because this was a long time, that was all there was to use. Now, however you can use whatever media you'd like, a digital media as for example ProCreate, or a more traditional such as graphite, pens, charcoal, and on and on. 
Just be sure you follow and understand Blook procedure and method, whatever the media. Draw lightly in the beginning, and take one stage of the drawing at a time. When finished with the final stage, draw over with strong and hard lines, indicating the contours you want to show.

Congrats! You now know some tips and tricks to making your very first perfect "Blook"! As the Professor Blook calls it.



Here we see the different stages of the drawing process. 

1 . First off we start with a ball. Perfectly round or a little lopsided, which is okay, there's still hope. You can make it work. The idea is to go from big forms to small.

2. Draw a line, dividing the ball into two halves. Add the nose and some simple lines for the mouth and eyes. 

3. Building-onto your figure, add the detailed features of the face. Eyebrows, eyes, cheeks and so on. Remember to use your BUILDING BLOCKS.

4. NOW, with thick and heavy lines, draw in the contours you wish to show. Erase your construction forms, or layers if you're digital. 



Some tips for building your Blook.
✐ Keep the two sides of your head matched, not one cheek or ear larger than the other.
✐ Draw your construction forms, lightly, saving the hard lines for the final phase.
✐ Keep your forms large, so you'll have plenty of room to draw on.

Now Loomis let's us try again, now switching up the method a bit this time!

1. Again, start with a ball, round or lopsided.

2. Place a ball where you want, big or small. This is your nose.

3. This time, divide the ball into four halves. One vertical line, and one horisontal. Remember to keep the lines curved and within the small ball, which is your nose. This is the key stage for showing form and solidity to your funny face.

4. Add lines indicating your mouth and ears.

5. Have your fun with the details! Build with Simple Shapes that show the effect you want. For a tip round is friendly, triangular is dangerous, square is though and rigid. Click here for more on shape emotion

6. Lastly fill in your light construction lines with dark lines, showing contour.

✐ A tip for getting more variety with you Blooks by, raising, lowering, fattening or shrinking all the forms you play with.  

The "Blook Ball"

THIS is the Blook Ball, see down below. It's a big help for showing form to your head, helping you place your features more accurately than ever.

If you practice on the Blook Ball, freehand, with a compass or even a circle template, the better you'll get at making your faces! What's important is that you get the working idea in place. As a help, remember that the horisontal line are where the eyes and ears are placed, and that the vertical line is the division of the head.




Here's a summary of key points and ideas we got from Part One Section 1 of Andrew Loomis book.

1. Use whatever media you are comfortable with, BUT make sure you follow the Blook method
You can traditional media or a digital one. What is more important is that you begin your drawing with simple shapes, and at one phase a time, following the Blook method.

2. Draw your construction forms lightly
In the first phases of your drawing, it's important to keep your construction forms light, saving your heavy and hard lines for the final phase. 

3. The BUILDING BLOCKS you choose to use, determine the emotion of your character
As said in the previous blog on Fun With A Pencil, certain shapes inflict in us certain emotions. Use this to your advantage, and give new thought to the design of your character.

4. The curvature of the lines determine the angle and form of the head.
If you want to boost the perspective and form you show in the characters you draw, make sure your lines are correctly and cleanly laid in, giving you both a helping hand in the construction phase and also a more believable head.


Down below, leave a comment on your thoughts and gladly give some feedback. 
As always thanks for reading!

See you around!

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