Sketching
You will need: A sketching pad/art book/piece of paper, pencil sharpener, erasers normal size and thin, another sheet of paper, something to draw off like a photo and some pencils. With the pencils I usually use at least three; one 2H or harder, a HB or B, and a 4B of softer. An eraser brush would be useful too. I don’t have one, so sometimes I do end up smudging my drawing or spitting on it in an attempt to get rid of the little bits of eraser. I want one though.
First find everything. Then select a hard pencil like 2H, sketch. Roughly and lightly outline the animal or whatever you are drawing, keep your eyes flicking from the picture to your paper. To get distances realistic, measure the eye/ear or something on the screen/book (the picture you are drawing form) and see how many of them would fit in that distance you are trying to get right. This way is especially good if your drawing is not the same size as the photo.
Use the rubber.
Don’t rub it all out, you have to start somewhere.
Now get a softer pencil like the B and start to darken in the shapes. Don’t press to hard, and don’t be afraid to rubout a big bit and start over. Next ad more detail. For the eyes leave a little ‘reflection’ of white in them.
From now on I switch pencils a lot of the time using the B and the 4B and sometimes using the 2H again.
If you are drawing something like a horse, look where all the muscles are and what way the hair lies. Horses faces are not flat they are curved and have bones in them, the eyes stick out (a bit). Horses have big nostrils and their hooves have interesting shapes. THEY ARE NOT LITTLE SQUARES ON THE BOTTOM OF STRAIGHT POLES! Look at all the curves in the animal. If it is a dog, cat or other long haired animal, use strokes to shade its body. Yes it takes a long time but it is worth it. Well At least I think it is. Close ups of a horses face can also be done with little strokes, pay attention to what way the animals hair it sitting.
 |
| I drew this a few years ago, it could definitely be improved. Two of the things it needs are more shading and reflections in the eyes. |
When you draw the details/shading work from left to right and/or use another sheet of paper and rest your hand on it. This is so that you do not smudge the parts you have already drawn. It is extremely annoying if your drawing gets smudged now.
Don’t forget shadows. Think where the sunlight is coming from and what parts of the animals body or the thing you are drawing will get in the way of the light and cause shadow. When you shade turn the pencil on its side to get more coverage area.
This Horse took me half an hour to draw. Sometimes they can take a lot longer. It also depends on how many times I get interrupted to... I really enjoy drawing and never used to be anywhere near as good as I am now. Practice.... Practice is what it takes, and a lot more practice. I started drawing horse by tracing them, tracing any picture I could find. Now I can look at a photo and make it on paper. Not quite a photo of anything, but a lot of things. I have never tried drawing cars... never really wanted too. They are rather well deadish. Certainly they do not have the beauty and grace and fluid movement of horses. Some people might argue otherwise, but I will not be swayed.
People on horses look better than they are. People in cars look worse than they are. ~Marya Mannes
A horse is poetry in motion. ~Author Unknown
I paint the spirit and soul of what I see. ~Brian Froud
One last thing; If the animal in your photo is in a weird or unusual position, the drawing will be more difficult and has more chance of ending up looking strange. They can work but they are a lot harder. And (yes it wasn’t exactly the last) If you are drawing a person, I would suggest draw one with his/her mouth closed (well all open mouths I draw look well.....) and from the side, then you don’t need to make the faces symmetrical (Not that faces are entirely symmetrical.)  |
| A drawing I did a few weeks ago |
 |
| "Brunby Eyes" Another sketch I did today. The camera flash makes the eye look a bit strange in this picture. |
And some more quotes.
All art is but dirtying the paper delicately. ~John Ruskin
Drawing things makes them seem more real and makes me feel more alive. It also makes me pin down and remember things - landscapes, season, weather, occasions, incidents, people - that would otherwise have melted from my memory. ~David Gentleman
One must always draw, draw with the eyes, when one cannot draw with a pencil. ~Balthus
About the Author
0 comments