The essentials of drawing ( vẽ tĩnh vật vẽ phối cảnh 20p)

YEAR 2010 THE ESSENTIALS OF DRAWING DRAWING MADE EASY | A.Chattopadhyay THE ESSENTIALS OF DRAWING YEAR 2010 THE ESSENTIALS OF DRAWING Drawing is one skill found in many, but exceptional mastery is very rare Nonetheless, this short guide will set you on the track to become an accomplished artist Before we proceed to understand how to draw accurate sketches we need to acquaint ourselves with a few terms STILL LIFE A still life is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which may be either natural (food, flowers, plants, rocks, or shells) or man-made (drinking glasses, books, vases, jewelry, coins, pipes, and so on) in an artificial setting HORIZON It is that distant single line where the earth and sky seem to meet However, it also has a broader meaning It is often broadened to describe the line where the upper plane and lower plane of a particular frame seem to meet It may be the sky and the earth or even a long corridor͛s ceiling and floor In still life, the horizon is redefined to mean your eyelevel LINES OF VISION Imaginary straight lines that seem to follow along the edges of regular objects and converge at the horizon are called lines of vision The simplest example of this would be railway tracks Each track can be understood to be a line of vision PERSPECTIVE It is the phenomenon due to which all lines of vision seem to meet at a point on the horizon A very important point to be noted: The use of the ruler is considered unethical in drawing Also, all the eye-levels are the author͛s frame of reference during the sketching of the still life compositions Now we are ready to begin 1] THE PENCIL The first step is to get the hold of the pencil right Holding a pencil for writing is very different from the manner it should be held for drawing While writing, there exists no point fulcrum about which your hand may pivot The side of your hand along with your little finger THE ESSENTIALS OF DRAWING YEAR 2010 tends to be the support Also, your fingertips grip the pencil quite close to the tip Your grip on the pencil is also fairly tight However, while drawing, a pencil must be held at least one and a half to two inches away from the tip The grip must not be very tight; hold the pencil gently Your hand needs to pivot about the bony lump on the outer edge of your wrist (ball of you wrist) Get these things right and you are ready to go 2] PRACTICE DRAWING OVALS To get your still life correct, you must understand the value of getting your ovals correct The oval shape is very common in still life as it accounts for rims of bottles, their bases, all vessels and a multitude of other things Position the ball of your wrist on the paper and with a quick movement of the pencil and hand draw an oval in the counterclockwise direction Practice a few more times to get it right Encircled is one of the many practice ovals The correctness and proportions will improve drastically with a little practice THE ESSENTIALS OF DRAWING YEAR 2010 3] DRAWING STRAIGHT LINES Something which is very commonly found in beginners is drawing a line using multiple strokes In effect what you end up with is a thick, broken, bushy line which is usually not very straight The picture alongside shows what I just stated To draw a straight line, place the ball of your wrist on the edge of the paper Following the edge of the paper to draw a straight line is a very simple yet effective way of drawing straight lines Be quick, but not very hasty Try and keep control of your hand throughout What you end up with is a very well balanced straight line Remember, practice makes perfect See alongside 4] USE OF PERSPECTIVE Now we begin with the use of the concepts of perspective and lines of vision We begin with a single converging point In the following steps, we will draw a hallway of a house Follow these steps carefully, remembering what you have just learnt  Draw a horizon on your sheet Position this line horizontally in the center of the drawing sheet  Now select a point of convergence For sceneries with a single point of convergence, it is usually kept it in the center of the page  Now, draw a series of straight lines radiating from this point These are your lines of vision The number of lines usually depends on the complexity and the amount of detail in the sketch The more the detail, the more lines required  Now start filling in objects, positioning their edges along these lines of vision All regular objects must have their edges along these lines Also remember: all vertical lines must be parallel to the edges of your sheet A quick free-hand sketch is shown below Note some of the essentials we have done Also observe carefully how the objects have their horizontal edges along the lines of vision The vertical lines follow the edge of the sheet THE ESSENTIALS OF DRAWING YEAR 2010 Note carefully in this figure the orbs on the ceiling, a rough representation for the lights of the hallway Although they may be irregular figures, they will follow the general pattern of convergence and diminish in size as it approaches the horizon Also, faintly visible are the lines of vision and the horizon Now we are ready to tackle two-point perspective This concerns the use of two points of convergence to plot in a regular shape We will study the series of steps to be followed to draw a box     Draw a horizon Now, select points of convergence Draw radiating lines from both these points Now, try and align the edges of the box with these lines Remember, all vertical lines will still be parallel to the edges of the page Now note the properties of the following sketch done using the above mentioned steps Also visible are the two points of convergence and the lines of vision THE ESSENTIALS OF DRAWING YEAR 2010 Look at the lower box This is a sketch of a box as it would appear below the horizon Also note that as the position of the box starts to climb higher, the upper surface can no longer be seen The upper sketch is of a box with the horizon as its base Now imagine the practical application of this consequence If you were to draw a building from a street level view, the upper sketch is what you would arrive at However, if you happen to have an aerial view or a viewpoint higher than the building, the lower sketch is what you would arrive at Another practical application would be this: When you are constructing a still life of two or more similar box shaped objects, for e.g., books, the book completely below horizon (or eye- THE ESSENTIALS OF DRAWING YEAR 2010 level) will have a large visible upper surface Meanwhile, a book situated midway (that is, with a base below eye-level and top surface above eye-level) would have a very small visible upper surface For a book with a base on or above eye-level, its upper surface would be completely hidden The picture above demonstrates what has just been stated The eye level of the still life arrangement (this eye level is the author͛s frame of reference, and will almost certainly vary between individuals) is indicated by the blue line in this finished sketch Observe the visible upper surfaces carefully and compare their sizes Now we are ready to proceed to the next level, drawing symmetrical shapes 5] FRAMING OBJECTS AND PROPORTIONS You may have seen - in various clip-arts, pictures, cartoons and movies - artists and painters who hold a pencil or paintbrush at arm͛s length and squint down it at their subjects This is not a formality or stereotype, but in fact a very essential part of still life Your pencil is perhaps the single most valuable instrument you possess; not only can you sketch and draw with it, is also very useful to get the proportions of a still life arrangement right The pencil is extensively used to size up an object and get the proportions sketched onto your sheet The technique is to hold the pencil in your hand vertically, in such a manner that you are able to run your thumb along the height of the pencil Keep your arm at full stretch Now close your left eye and look down your arm and at the objects Using the pencil, one can now scale up the object and determine its relative breadth and height We arrive at a certain pencil length for the height of the glass container Now twist your arm and determine the relation of the height of the container and its width You will notice that THE ESSENTIALS OF DRAWING YEAR 2010 the width is just about half the height Using this knowledge, frame the container onto your sheet using light pencil marks to mark its extremities Observe below The grey frame is the drawing canvas The thin black lines are the extremities of the container, framed in Draw a line down the middle of this frame-in This is going to be the line of symmetry of the container It is depicted by the thick brown line Now start marking the outline of the container on the right side of the line Here, the outline is depicted in green Select a number of essential points on this outline Using your pencil as a ruler, determine mirror images of these points on the left side of the line of symmetry What you will end up with is a well proportioned sketch of your object You may now start filling in the detail Have a look at the sketch below to understand the importance of this procedure This procedure requires a lot of practice THE ESSENTIALS OF DRAWING YEAR 2010 The axis of symmetry of the sketch is depicted by the thick black line Check carefully how the image has a very accurate proportion about the axis of symmetry If you not follow this procedure, there is a very high chance that your sketch will be tilted, skewed and/or deformed in some manner Now we proceed to employ the use of the oval in still life 6] USE OF OVALS Here too the concept of the eye level is very essential Almost every shape is bound to have a circle or oval shape (The circle is actually an ideal situation Mostly it is the oval) For example, THE ESSENTIALS OF DRAWING YEAR 2010 take the sketch below The sketch is of an inverted steel mug The rim of the vessel as well as the base is oval However, there is a subtle difference in the ovals that form the rim and the lower part Can you figure it out? The eye level is shown by the thick green line Notice that the oval that forms the rim is wider than the oval that forms the base This is another fundamental Ovals tend to become thinner as the approach the eye level, become straight lines at the eye level and again start to broaden as the oval moves away from the eye-level So the oval forming the base is closer to the eye-level and therefore thin, whereas the oval forming the rim is wider as it is further away from the eye-level For your information, the upper oval is 0.4 inches wide and the lower one is 0.5 inches Here lies the practical application: A frequent shape encountered in still life sketching is the cylinder The mouth and base of cylinders must be ovals, whose breadth must be decided by their relative proximity to the eyelevel 7] SHADING Now we come to the important part Shading is the part where many tend to mess up a perfect outline sketch First of all, understand where the source of light is This will help determine how the shadows will form Begin by a loosely gripped pencil Your strokes must be steady Begin from the darker portion with some firmness and make your way to the lighter section, slowly relieving the pressure along the way Do not be afraid to put bold and heavy strokes One fact that very few people understand is that art, especially still life and canvas paintings, must be observed from at least 9-10 feet away Only then can it be entirety be appreciated So don͛t be afraid, be bolder in your use of the pencil Also many amateurs tend to use their fingertips to smudge the pencil shading in the hopes of arriving at a more uniform shade This will invariably mess up your sketch by making it look dirty as the clear definitions of the lines will be lost Do not be hasty; take your time Remember, art is not to be hurried with THE ESSENTIALS OF DRAWING YEAR 2010 8] HIGHLIGHTING Highlighted regions in glass articles or steel objects are very easy to create Carry on with the regular shading until the shading is complete Now identify the highlighted portions in your still life setup Using a clean eraser, erase all shading marks from the highlighted regions Shading is also the part in this entire procedure that takes the maximum time It requires lots of practice but is also very rewarding All these steps emulated above culminate in this sketch shown below: A still life composition comprising a box, a glass, a spoon and a steel jug Look out for all the aspects we studied: the ovals, the line of symmetry, the essentials of shading and highlighting THE ESSENTIALS OF DRAWING YEAR 2010 RECAPITULATION We wind up by summarizing what we have done so far I Use of the ruler is wrong II Your grip on the pencil must be light III To draw ovals, the ball of your wrist is your pivot IV Draw parallel lines using the edges of the sheet as guiding rails V Straight lines should be single strokes VI All lines of vision seem to meet at one point VII The shapes of all objects, regular and irregular, follow these lines of vision VIII For a structure with the horizon as its base, its upper surface is completely hidden IX The pencil is your greatest friend Use it to find proportions in your still life X Use the power of symmetry to your advantage XI An oval farther away from the eye-level is wider than one closer to eye-level XII Do not use your fingertips to shade XIII Use an eraser for highlighting XIV The last but most important point: PRACTICE So now you are good to go Enjoy!! Need any help? Iǯll be glad to help you out Contact me at Abhiroop_chat@yahoo.co.in ... some of the essentials we have done Also observe carefully how the objects have their horizontal edges along the lines of vision The vertical lines follow the edge of the sheet THE ESSENTIALS OF. .. for the height of the glass container Now twist your arm and determine the relation of the height of the container and its width You will notice that THE ESSENTIALS OF DRAWING YEAR 2010 the width... it is the oval) For example, THE ESSENTIALS OF DRAWING YEAR 2010 take the sketch below The sketch is of an inverted steel mug The rim of the vessel as well as the base is oval However, there