Posts filed under 'Drawing'
Some drawings may require the artist to achieve a higher level of accuracy. This is true when one tries to copy a photograph with a pencil drawing. For the pencil drawing to look great, there is no room for errors. A small error may not give the artist the same result in closely getting the exact replica of the photograph on paper.
Artists make use of different way in order to increase the accuracy they have with copying a certain photograph in their pencil drawings. The easiest would be tracing the outlines of the photograph. This is especially ideal for beginners in drawing by tracing some key points of the photograph to achieve better accuracy. Professionals do it by using a projected image of the photograph over the drawing surface and tracing the key points and elements for better accuracy.
A less direct way of achieving accuracy in drawing a photograph would be using a grid. The grid is a series of vertical and horizontal lines drawn initially on the drawing surface as well as the photograph to give the artist a sense of relative proportion and shape of the image within each grid square. In essence, the artist is given a means of drawing the image a square at a time. The lines of the grid gives the artist a reference from how each part of the image can be outlined.
Having a grid for reference of the outlines of the image on a smaller scale can achieve better accuracy than doing the drawing free hand. This would be an easy way for beginners at drawing to learn how to train their hand and eye coordination. Little by little,
beginners may have a better feel of how lines can be copied from the grid on the photograph to the corresponding grid on the drawing surface.
The important thing about grid drawing is to discern the relative proportion of the image. This is especially important if one is to scale up or scale down a drawing of a certain photograph and yet acquiring the same accuracy. It is not important that the distances of the lines on each grid square is measured to achieve accuracy. It is more of the proportion of the lines between each grid square that is to be achieved. When scaling up, the grid drawn over the photograph to be copied become bigger squares on the drawing surface. When scaling down, smaller grid squares are used on the drawing surface than on the photograph being copied.
May 7th, 2008
Good drawings do not merely depend on skill and talent alone. The use of the right drawing materials also play a big part on how your drawings eventually come out. Here is a list of some of the basic as well as optional drawing materials that you should have with you before you begin sketching.Pencil
The pencil is the most important tool that you will be using in drawing. But as with all tools, there are many pencils that you will have to choose from. Artist pencils are usually graded or classed into the type of lead that they are made of. A “B” pencil refers to a soft lead one while “H” pencils refer to those that use hard lead. B pencils tend to easily smudge while H pencils are less likely to but are instead more prone to making indents on paper. These pencils are also numbered usually from one to five, from the softest to the hardest type of lead used. For general drawing, most people prefer using the HB or #2 pencil which is the standard as well as the most common type.
Paper
Along with the pencils that you will use, a good type of paper would also be needed. What most people try to make use and probably the best option would be regular printer paper. It is one of the most affordable and common drawing material that you can use. But if you plan to take your drawings a bit more seriously, then you might want to invest on sketch books or pads. The paper used in these sketch books and pads are thicker and may be able to handle frequent erasures without getting ruined. Sketch pads come in various sizes, with 9″x12″ and 10″x15″ being the most common ones. Choose one that would work best for you.
Eraser
As you start drawing, you might experience some drawing mistakes that you would want to correct. This is where the eraser would come in handy. Instead of getting impatient and tearing up a drawing with every mistake, you can use an eraser to remove a mistaken line or two and correct them accordingly.
Ruler
A ruler will also come in handy especially if you are doing some technical drawings on the side. A ruler would especially be useful if you are drawing objects with straight edges such as buildings.
March 5th, 2008
Developing a better way of creating pencil drawings can take some practice. Along the way, it will also help you learn more about how to effectively use the pencil in order to make your drawings look better. Aside from your creativity, the way you are able to use your main drawing tool, the graphite pencil, can greatly help in improving how your pencil drawings come out. Here are some useful tips that can help you out.The first thing that you should always bear in mind before you start doing your pencil drawings is to have sharp pencils on hand. It is always important to have sharp pencils always ready for use. Although there are times that you might need blunt pencils for creating different effects on drawings, the main part of your drawing duties always require that you use a sharp one. An absence of sharp pencils can easily ruin many a drawing. So always remember to have some sharpened pencils with you before you start doing a drawing.
Another important part of pencil drawing is the use of a variety of lines. Every experienced pencil artists know that different lines can be drawn simply by lifting the pencil or pressing it a bit harder on the paper. The way a pencil can be used with less or more pressure can produce a wide variety of effects that can help put life to a pencil drawing once it is finished.
Even shading can also make pencil drawings look better. Sometimes the usual shading motion from side to side, with each stroke ending below the last one, can result in uneven shading due to the overlapping of one line band with another. In order to even this up, you can try to work your pencil back and forth over the same area to make the shading as even as possible.
The direction of the marks that you make on paper can also affect the outcome of the whole drawing. The directions of the marks that you make on paper can be used to describe your object. The direction can be used to follow the form or go against it in a contrasting manner. The type of direction used can help create some energy on your drawings as well as direct the viewer’s eye.
Also remember that the marks that you make with the pencil on the paper can have an effect on the overall drawing. How carefully you make the pencil strokes matter can also make an impact on the finished drawing consider yourself as a conductor with your pencil as a baton. Every stroke that you make corresponds to the timing and the flow of the music that you wish to hear. Random pencil strokes in your drawings can ruin it.
January 30th, 2008
Learning to draw takes time and a lot more effort. It takes learning the basic techniques in order to come up with great drawings that people can appreciate more than usual. With the basic drawing techniques in mind, there are a great many drawing beginners who have continued to make the same mistakes over and over again. Here are some of them and what one can do in order to correct them.
1. Drawing On the Wrong Paper
Many beginners don’t seem to care for the type of paper that they are drawing on. In fact, the type of paper being used has all the importance in the world for every drawing hobbyist. Some may think that they make dull drawings without ever realizing that the reason might just be the paper that they are using. Some types of paper can make some drawings look pale. There are some papers that have a surface that has a kind of sheen that prevents most of the pencil particles to stay on them. Some sketch papers can be too coarse and will give your drawings an uneven texture. Try using photocopy paper for you basic drawings instead. They can have the properties that you need to be able to get the most out of your drawing materials.
2. Drawing Using A Hard Pencil
If you see that your drawings don’t seem to have the shadowing or shading effects that you want, chances are, you are using a pencil with a hard tip. Try to now the different grades of pencils and know which ones to use. If you wish to have a darker tone on your drawings, you can use type B, 2B and 4B pencils.
3. Drawing 2D Photos Instead of 3D Objects
This has been a very common mistake for many beginners. They seem to prefer drawing a scene from a photograph instead of practicing on, let’s say, a certain landscape that is in front of them. Practicing drawing from two dimensional photographs seem to give your drawings certain flat features without certain depths in them. This can rob the beginner of practicing how to draw the fine details and features of three dimensional objects and scenes without much perspective and depth. What may come out would just be ordinary drawing that may not have that much on an effect to anyone else.
4. Drawing the Head out of Proportion
Almost every one may have experienced this especially when they began taking up drawing as a hobby. Even the seasoned experts may have gone through the same phase until they finally mastered the principles of proportion. All too often, drawing beginners end up having the heads either too big or too unshapely. It is important to know the rules of proportion in order to be able to draw the head correctly. The best way for one to learn how to draw the head proportionately is by first drawing a ball. Then draw a line from the top of the ball down to the to bottom. Then draw another line from one side of the ball to the other side in order to give you a cross section outline. This will become your markers later on. Extend the top and bottom line of the ball to about a third of the distance and then draw the end to become the chin and jaw. The horizontal line of your ball should mark where the upper bridge of the nose should start. The nose should end somewhere at the curved bottom of the ball. From this, you can then indicate the mouth eyes as well as the ears in their places more proportionately than by doing it free-hand style.
June 15th, 2007
Drawing is a skill that must be practiced in order to master. It is not simply a talent that will work itself out. It takes years of practice sometimes just to learn and understand the fundamentals and apply it in what you are working on. The basics will take you to where you wish to go and the practice and the experience that you gain will help you complete your journey towards mastering your drawings.Along the basics that you have to learn is how to make use of light in your drawings. Light can bring any picture to life. The way you make use of it in your drawings can help provide a better perspective to what you wish to express in your drawings. The type of lighting techniques that you use can influence the type of mood that you wish to convey. Drawing “light” on paper may a while to master. But once you get the hang of it and understand the techniques used on how to put light into paper, then that alone can make you into a better artist than before.
There are four main types of lighting that can be used in your drawings. This will depend on where the supposed light is being sourced from. Here are examples of lighting techniques and how you can put them into paper:
Front Lighting. This is probably the simplest and easiest lighting technique to use on drawings. But it may also be the most unappealing visually. Front lighting can just make your drawings seem elementary. Front lighting eliminates or hides shadows that can otherwise give some bit of depth and perspective on your drawings. Your drawings using front light would look flat, no evidence of using some three dimensional form on them.
Side Lighting. Drawing with the effect of side lighting can put emphasis to the darker and lighter sides of your drawings. But using side lighting may be trickier to do at times. With using a side light, you should be careful of where you might be casting your shadows. These shadows on drawings can actually put some variety as well as add balance into your drawn scenes. With side lights you can draw a tree with its trunk in lighter and darker parts. The darker areas are those not bathed in light. This helps add some depth into your drawings especially if the shadows cast are done just right.
Back Lighting. Backlighting allows you to draw silhouettes. It would not necessarily ruin your drawings if you make use of back lighting that might try to hide most of the details of your scenes. You can make use of back lighting and still come up with great drawings by varying the intensity of darkness on the shadow areas. It will all depend on the creative composition of your drawings that will be able to make the best use of back lighting.
Top Lighting. Drawing that make use of this light source usually create drawings with the light sourced form the top, as what “high noon” scenes can provide. The tops of the objects are usually drawn light and they began to darken going to the bottom.
There are other types of lighting that can be used which can be a variation of any of the above light sources. Mastering how you use them can allow you to come up with more dramatic and more captivating drawings. It would take some time to master, but you would surely appreciate it once you have been able to come up with the finished product.
June 7th, 2007
If you are interested in drawing, it can become into a worthwhile as well as fulfilling hobby. Drawing requires continuous practice in order for one to become good at. It is not something that can be learned just by reading about it. In needs always having a pencil and paper on hand and an ideal subject. One may then start drawing away to create a masterpiece, dependent on one’s adeptness in the use of his hands, the creativity and the vision of the mind.
Many people might see drawings as incomplete artworks. Sketches in pencil may not be considered by most as worth appreciating, mainly because it may lack the color that most paintings offer. But pencil drawings can have a uniqueness and an artistry of its own. Techniques and methods in pencil drawing are practiced and studied so that one may be able to excel in what can be a very fulfilling hobby for some. If you are on your way to try out drawing as a hobby, here are some useful tips that you may be able to use.
- Make sure that you use the right materials for drawing beginners. Even the type of pencil and the paper being used is important for someone beginning to learn about the fundamentals of pencil drawing. At the start, beginners like you should opt to use soft and darker pencil grades. You can choose from using B, 2B and 4B pencils or those with darker values. The paper that you draw on is also just as important. The surface and texture of the paper that you are using might affect how your drawing might eventually end up. If you see yourself creating pale drawings even though you are already using darker pencils, chances are that it might be the paper. Avoid using shiny-looking paper with a sheen that may be too smooth for the pencil particles to attach to. Try using cheap sketch paper or office photocopy paper for your next drawing.
- Practice your drawing skills by using solid objects instead of drawing images in photographs. Using photos flattens the features of what you will be drawing. You will not be able to practice drawing objects on paper with perspective. Perspective adds a certain artistry and life in your drawings and it is something that you should learn early on if you wish to be good in your hobby later on. Try drawing a live plant for example. This will help you how to picture out a solid object and how to use its perspective and transfer it into paper.
- Learn about proportions and how you can put them into your drawing. This is especially true if you want to learn drawing human figures. Every body part, be it in humans and animals are made according to proportion. Having no idea about proportion would make your drawings look amateurish and unrealistic. It would be a good idea if you try to learn the basic principles of proportion and how you may be able to use it in what you draw.
Drawing will really take some practice and more in order to master. But don’t let the hard work deter you from making it into a hobby. There is a certain fulfillment that you can get by trying to learn a new skill, more so if it is something that you enjoy doing. Instead, try to keep up your interest in drawing no matter how bad you think your first work would come out. With practice, you will be able to improve your work little by little. In no time, you would be able to create your own drawing masterpieces that you can be proud of.
April 17th, 2007