Coming Out of the Dark

COMING OUT OF Brenda Hoddinott G-02 BEGINNER: SHADING FORMS In this lesson you draw the three-dimensional form of a sphere with a focus on light, shadows, and a cast shadow. The medium is charcoal, and erasers are the drawing tools. The technique of taking away values, rather than adding them, is very popular in art classes, especially still life and figure drawing. Many beginners love this method, because it focuses on creating light and dark values separately, rather than rendering a full range of values all at once. This project is divided into the following two sections: Ü DRAWING WITH ERASERS: Most artists are familiar with drawing dark values on a light surface. However, as you will soon see, you can also draw light values on a dark surface by using an eraser (or erasers). In this section, you experiment with two different types of erasers as drawing tools. Ü COMING OUT OF THE DARK: I take you step-by-step through a drawing of a spherical form. You draw light with erasers, and shadows with pencils. In other words, you take away values rather than adding them! Form, as applied to drawing, is the illusion of the three- dimensional structure of a shape, such as a circle, square or triangle, created in a drawing with shading and/or perspective. Suggested drawing supplies include a 2B or 4B charcoal stick, 2B or 4B charcoal pencil, vinyl eraser, kneaded eraser, heavy white drawing or watercolor paper, and paper towels. 7 PAGES – 7 ILLUSTRATIONS This project is recommended for artists from age 10 to adult, as well as home schooling, academic and recreational fine art educators. Published by Hoddinott Fine Art Publishers, Halifax, NS, Canada – Revised 2006 Copyright to all articles, images, text, projects, lessons and exercises within this drawing class belong to Brenda Hoddinott and may not be reproduced or used for any commercial purposes whatsoever without the written permission of Brenda Hoddinott. E-mail bhoddinott@hoddinott.com Web sites http://www.finearteducation.com and http://www.drawspace.com 2 DRAWING WITH ERASERS Most artists are familiar with drawing dark values on a light surface. However, as you will soon see, you can also draw light values on a dark surface by using an eraser (or erasers). Values are different shades of gray created in a drawing, by various means, such as varying both the density of the shading lines, and the pressure used in holding your pencils. Shading refers to the various shades of gray (values) in a drawing that make drawings look three-dimensional. In this section, you experiment with erasers as drawing tools. You need the following two different types of erasers: Vinyl eraser: works well for drawing really light areas and fine details. If the edge of your vinyl eraser gets too dull to draw properly, just cut off a new piece (about an inch long) or simply cut a small slice off the end with a very sharp blade or knife. Kneaded eraser: is great for lightening large areas. You can either pat or gently rub the surface of your paper. To draw fine detail, simply mould the tip of the eraser to a point or wedge. To clean your kneaded eraser, simply stretch and reshape (also known as “kneading”) it several times until it comes clean. ILLUSTRATION 02-01 1) Use your darkest pencil to smoothly shade in the entire area of a drawing surface. A drawing surface (also called a drawing space or drawing format) refers to the area in which you render a drawing. Mine is 6 by 3 inches. Use the side of the pencil point, instead of the tip. It’s faster and you end up with a smoother surface. 2) With a piece of paper towel or soft tissue, very gently blend the whole surface, until you have a solid tone. ILLUSTRATION 02-02 Blending is the process of rubbing shading lines with a blending tool (such as tissue or paper towel) to evenly distribute the drawing medium over the surface of the paper. Don’t apply too much pressure, or you’ll grind the graphite into the paper so much that it won’t erase (thereby defeating the whole purpose of this exercise). Copyright to all articles, images, text, projects, lessons and exercises within this drawing class belong to Brenda Hoddinott and may not be reproduced or used for any commercial purposes whatsoever without the written permission of Brenda Hoddinott. E-mail bhoddinott@hoddinott.com Web sites http://www.finearteducation.com and http://www.drawspace.com 3 ILLUSTRATION 02-03 3) Use your erasers however you wish to experiment with pulling light values from the dark drawing surface. COMING OUT OF THE DARK Time to put a twist into your notions on drawing a sphere, by pulling light values from a dark surface! In this section, I take you step-by-step through a drawing of a spherical form. Form, as applied to drawing, is the illusion of the three-dimensional structure of a shape, such as a circle, square or triangle, created in a drawing with shading and/or perspective. You draw light with erasers, and shadows with pencils. You practice taking away values rather than adding them! ILLUSTRATION 02-04 1) Shade in a section of your drawing space with your stick of charcoal. Use the side of your charcoal instead of the end. It’s faster. If you are using graphite instead of charcoal, use a dark pencil such as an 8B. 2) With a piece of paper towel or soft tissue, gently rub the surface until you have a solid tone. This shaded background is your middle value. Your erasers will create the lighter values and you’ll use your charcoal pencil to shade the darker values. Copyright to all articles, images, text, projects, lessons and exercises within this drawing class belong to Brenda Hoddinott and may not be reproduced or used for any commercial purposes whatsoever without the written permission of Brenda Hoddinott. E-mail bhoddinott@hoddinott.com Web sites http://www.finearteducation.com and http://www.drawspace.com 4 3) Shake the extra charcoal off your paper into the garbage. 4) Use your kneaded eraser to begin erasing or “pulling out” the light areas. Erase, pat, and pull out light areas until you can identify a circular shape. Shape refers to the outward outline of a form. Basic shapes include circles, squares and triangles. The light source is coming from the upper left, which affects the placement and value of every section of shading. Light source is the direction from which a dominant light originates. The lighter values closer to the light source, are near the top of the sphere. The tiny glow on the lower edge of the circle is the reflected light. Reflected light is a faint rim of light reflected or bounced back on an object from the surfaces close to and around the object, such as the surface on which the object is sitting. By the way, don’t worry if your circle looks more like a kidney! The goal of this project is to draw a three-dimensional shape. ILLUSTRATION 02-05 Copyright to all articles, images, text, projects, lessons and exercises within this drawing class belong to Brenda Hoddinott and may not be reproduced or used for any commercial purposes whatsoever without the written permission of Brenda Hoddinott. E-mail bhoddinott@hoddinott.com Web sites http://www.finearteducation.com and http://www.drawspace.com 5 5) Use a sharp edge of your vinyl erase to “pull out” the white area (the highlight) in the upper area of the circle as shown. A highlight is the brightest area of an object; usually, the section that is closest to the light source. Don’t worry if it doesn’t come completely white (mine didn’t). But it should look a little whiter than the light area around it. Less light reaches the other surfaces of the sphere that are closer to or in the shadowed areas. Shadows are the areas on (or adjacent to) an object that receive little or no light. ILLUSTRATION 02-06 6) With your charcoal pencil draw an outline around your shape. This step is optional; you may prefer to leave the edges soft. You can draw this circular (or kidney shaped) outline freehand if you wish, or even use a compass to draw a circle if you are fussy picky like me. 7) Use your charcoal pencil to add dark shading to the shadow sections of the circle. The shading in the shadow area looks like a crescent shape or backwards “C” (refer to illustration 01-06). 8) Draw the cast shadow underneath the sphere. The cast shadow is on the surface, under and to the right of the sphere. The shading in a cast shadow is darker closer to the object and becomes gradually lighter toward the outer perimeter. A cast shadow is a dark area on a surface, adjacent to where the light is blocked by an object. Copyright to all articles, images, text, projects, lessons and exercises within this drawing class belong to Brenda Hoddinott and may not be reproduced or used for any commercial purposes whatsoever without the written permission of Brenda Hoddinott. E-mail bhoddinott@hoddinott.com Web sites http://www.finearteducation.com and http://www.drawspace.com 6 9) Step back from your drawing, have a look at the overall values, and add final touches to the shading, if needed. By using extremes in values (more light and dark values than middle values) you create a high contrast drawing. Contrast measures the degree of difference between the light and dark values within shading. You can make some areas lighter by patting them with your kneaded eraser and others darker by adding more shading. ILLUSTRATION 02-07 Copyright to all articles, images, text, projects, lessons and exercises within this drawing class belong to Brenda Hoddinott and may not be reproduced or used for any commercial purposes whatsoever without the written permission of Brenda Hoddinott. E-mail bhoddinott@hoddinott.com Web sites http://www.finearteducation.com and http://www.drawspace.com 7 Sign your name, write today’s date on the back of your drawing, and put a smile on your face! BRENDA HODDINOTT - BIO As a self-educated teacher, visual artist, portraitist, forensic artist, and illustrator, Brenda Hoddinott utilizes diverse art media including graphite, technical pen, colored pencil, chalk pastel, charcoal, conté crayon, and oil paints. My philosophy on teaching art is to focus primarily on the enjoyment aspects while gently introducing the technical and academic. Hence, in creating a passion for the subject matter, the quest for knowledge also becomes enjoyable. >Brenda Hoddinott< Born in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Brenda grew up in the small town of Corner Brook. She developed strong technical competencies with a personal commitment to self directed learning, and the aid of assorted “Learn to Draw” books. During Brenda’s twenty-five year career as a self-educated civilian forensic artist, numerous criminal investigation departments have employed Brenda’s skills, including Royal Canadian Mounted Police and municipal police departments. In 1992, Brenda was honored with a commendation from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and in 1994, she was awarded a Certificate of Membership from “Forensic Artists International”. Her home-based art career included graphic design, and teaching recreational drawing and painting classes. As supervisor of her community’s recreational art department, Brenda hired and trained teachers, and designed curriculum for several children’s art programs. In 1998, Brenda chose to end her eighteen-year career as an art educator in order to devote more time to writing, drawing, painting, and developing her websites. Drawspace http://www.drawspace.com incorporates her unique style and innovative approach to curriculum development. These sites offer downloadable and printable drawing classes for students of all abilities from the age of eight through adult. Students of all ages, levels and abilities have praised the simple step-by-step instructional approach. This site is respected as a resource for fine art educators, home schooling programs, and educational facilities throughout the world. LEARN-TO-DRAW BOOKS BY BRENDA HODDINOTT Drawing for Dummies (March 4, 2003): Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., New, York, NY, this 336 page book is available on various websites and in major bookstores internationally. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Drawing People (August 2004): Published by Alpha - Pearson Education – Macmillan, Indianapolis, IN, this 360 page book will be available on various websites and in major bookstores internationally. . originates. The lighter values closer to the light source, are near the top of the sphere. The tiny glow on the lower edge of the circle is the reflected. edge of your vinyl erase to “pull out the white area (the highlight) in the upper area of the circle as shown. A highlight is the brightest area of an