Why we draw: observation, memory and ideas
Drawing is more than making pretty pictures. It is a process of looking and thinking:
- Observational drawing: drawing what is in front of you, slowly and carefully.
- Sketchbooks: quick studies, notes, colour tests and ideas collected over time. They show how your thinking developed.
- Visual memory: looking hard, then drawing from memory; it trains the eye.
- Drawing for different purposes: to plan (design, architecture), to explain (science drawings, diagrams), to record (travel sketches), to express feelings (art).
Drawings may be quick gesture sketches (seconds), studies (minutes to hours) or finished works.
Sketching, blocking in and line
Blocking in
Look for the big simple shapes first: sphere, box, cylinder, cone. Draw them lightly. Check proportion (how big things are compared to each other) by measuring with a pencil held at arm's length. Decide the framing (composition): what is in the picture, where the main object sits, how much space is around it.
Line
- Contour line: the outer edge and important inner edges.
- Line weight: thick, dark lines come forward; thin, light lines go back. Varying weight makes a flat drawing look 3D.
- Cross-contour lines follow the surface like lines of latitude on a globe and show volume.
Light, tone and chiaroscuro
On a lit object you can see five parts:
- Highlight: the brightest spot, facing the light.
- Mid-tone: the main lit area.
- Core shadow: the darkest band on the object, where it turns away from the light.
- Reflected light: a little light bounced back from the table into the shadow side.
- Cast shadow: the shadow the object throws on the surface, darkest near the object, on the side away from the light.
Types of light: natural or artificial; direct (hard, sharp shadows) or diffused (soft shadows, cloudy day); front, side, back (silhouette) or top light. Side light shows form best.
Tonal value is lightness or darkness. A value scale goes from white to black in even steps. Chiaroscuro (Italian for "light-dark") is strong contrast that makes forms look solid and dramatic. A high key picture uses mostly light values; a low key picture mostly dark.
Dry, wet, alternative and digital techniques
Dry media
Graphite pencils (H = hard and light, B = soft and dark), charcoal, conté, pastels, coloured pencils. Shading techniques: hatching (parallel lines), cross-hatching (crossing lines, darker), stippling (dots), blending (smoothing).
Wet media
Ink, watercolour, gouache, tempera, acrylic and oil. Techniques: wash (thin even layer), wet-on-wet (soft, spreading edges), wet-on-dry (sharp edges), glazing (thin transparent layers on top of dry ones), impasto (thick paint). In watercolour the white of the paper is the lightest value.
Colour mixing
Primary colours red, yellow and blue mix to secondaries: orange, green and purple. Complementary colours (opposite on the colour wheel) mixed together make greys and browns.
Alternative and digital
Collage, mixed media, printmaking, sgraffito (scratching through a layer), and digital drawing with a tablet and layers. Use materials safely: ventilate rooms, avoid eating near paints, clean brushes without pouring solvents down the drain, and reuse paper.
Space and the human figure
Linear perspective uses a horizon line and vanishing points so parallel lines meet in the distance (see the lesson on perspective drawing). Atmospheric perspective: far things look paler, bluer and less detailed because of the air between us and them. Use both for interiors, streets and landscapes.
Figure drawing: an adult is about 7½ to 8 heads tall; the halfway point is near the hips. Start with a gesture line for the pose, then simple shapes for the head, ribcage and pelvis. Knowing basic anatomy (bones and main muscles) helps. Foreshortening: a limb pointing towards you looks shorter and overlaps itself.
Portraits: the eyes sit about halfway down the head; the bottom of the nose is halfway between the eyes and chin; the mouth is about a third of the way from the nose to the chin.
Key formulas and definitions
- [object Object]
- [object Object]
- [object Object]
- [object Object]
Worked examples
1. A ball is lit from the top left. Where are the highlight, core shadow and cast shadow?
Highlight: upper left of the ball. Core shadow: a curved band on the lower right. Cast shadow: on the table, to the lower right, darkest where the ball touches the table.
2. You want a dark, mysterious portrait. Which tonal key and which light?
A low key (mostly dark values) with a strong side light to create chiaroscuro.
3. A figure drawing should be 24 cm tall. How tall is the head?
Using 8 heads: 24 ÷ 8 = 3 cm. (With 7½ heads: 3.2 cm.)
4. Which watercolour technique gives soft, blurry clouds, and which gives sharp-edged leaves?
Soft clouds: wet-on-wet. Sharp leaves: wet-on-dry.
Common mistakes
- Drawing details before the big shapes: proportions then go wrong. Block in first.
- Outlining everything with the same thick line: vary the line weight to show depth.
- Making the cast shadow on the same side as the light: shadows fall away from the light.
- Using only middle greys: push the darks and keep some whites for a full value range.