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| TIP #1 |
| Sorry- this page is kinda drab right now. . my stupid BG won't load ^_^;;;Anyhow- on with the tips ^_^ |
| These excercises are meant to train your eyes to recognise details and to practice. |
| Contour Drawing: Have a friend or family member sit still for 5 minutes or so. Draw only the outlines of their bodies. Pretend you are tracing thier outline with a pen or that you are taking a really really long piece of wire and you are molding it around thier shape. If you finish before 5 minutes start to add the outline of the wrinkles and folds of clothes. *NOTES: -DO NOT sketch! this is not a "sketching" excercise. The contour drawing should be composed of mostly one long continous line. (like the wire -remember? ^_^) -DO NOT erase too much! It is ok to make mistakes. Erasing detracts from the value of this excercise to help you "see" things. -DO take your time! The object in this excercise is to train your eyes, not to race through it. -DO try contour drawing of other objects ^_^ ( ie. Shoes. . . or furniture. . .You won't believe how much my sneakers have improved since I tried this 0_0! ) EXAMPLES: |
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| This is what my contours usually look like I have a rather sketchy fast style of drawing. (I actually picked my least sketchy contour...my usual ones are rather. . . well..messy 0_0;;) |
| This is my "cleaner" more true to the technique (but not completely- I think i am incapapble of not "sketching" 0_0) contour sketch that I did in about 5 minutes. . .so it isn't really all that good ^_^;; but with contour sketches it is ok if it isn't perfect ^_^ The objective is to train you eyes to notice details ^_^ |
| Shadow/Highlight Drawing: This is a fairly easy concept to grasp. If you are having problems decideding on shadow/highlight placement to give your pictures, the BEST option is to do alot of stilllifes. That way you develope a better idea of where light falls. Shadow/Highlight Drawing can help also. Simply put- you either use dark pen (or pencil) on light paper and draw nothing more than the SHADOWS of something (off if person is wearing dark clothes- then all the dark parts. . ) or use dark paper and light pens or pencils or chalk to draw only the highlights. (a great chance to use thos milky gel pens ^_~) *NOTES: -DON'T draw outlines. (at least try not too) -DON'T spend too much time on one attempt- this is just an excercise- remember? EXAMPLE: |
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| Negative Space: Ok, so this isn't an excercise - just a reminder that it really helps to take a good look at negative space. Negative space is the space BETWEEN objects. Examining the way the look and drawing them really helps one "see" things better. |
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