Still Life Drawing
Understanding Value
Understanding Your Drawing Pencils
Understanding building form with value. (Drawing a Sphere)
Breaking Down Complex Forms
Practicing Composition Exercise Examples
Steps to Setting up your still life
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Establish Composition
- Create a viewfinder by cutting a small square whole that you can look through on a piece of small piece paper. It should look like this. (see image to the right)
- Draw 4 thumbnail sketches- small sketches that focus on figuring out composition (the placement of objects) think about where the objects are placed on the paper. Use the viewfinder to decide what parts of each of your object are going to be shown. Each thumbnail sketch should show a different composition. Do this by changing where you are seated when looking at your still life and manipulating the viewfinder.
(see image to the right)
Start Drawing Your Objects
- Make a small border around your paper about the size of a ruler ¾ of an inch to 1".
- Choose one of the compositions from your thumbnails to start drawing.
- When you are starting to draw in your objects do NOT draw them, so the bottom of the objects sit on the bottom of the paper.
- Like the steps taken on drawing the skull, start off with the basic shapes of your object to get the proportions right. And slowly add in details and defining the features of each object.
- Look at how the objects size and features interact or relate to eachother in the physical space.
- Only draw the contour
of your objects. - Draw Light until its Right
- Add in the table line in
the correct spot on your
drawing.
Add Value
- Always start off with the lightest values first and gradually build up to get the darker values.
- Use the previous slides that show the value scales and gradient value scales as a helpful guide.
- Use a piece of paper or paper towel to put under your hand so the graphite stays in place and doesn’t smudge as you shade your drawing.
- Blot using an eraser to try to make a darker value lighter without needing to restart.
- Smudge the graphite using your finger or a paper towel.
- Round objects always have a full range of values
- Flat objects always have 1 value
- Really focus in on the highlights and shadows of each of the object. The form of an object will determine the placement of each of the values.
Check Your Work
- It's always helpful to step away from your artwork and come back to it, this lets your eyes readjust to your work and possibly see things that you might need to adjust, add, or get rid of.
- Stepping back from your artwork also allows you to see your work with a new perspective.
- Erase any unwanted marks and clean up your borders.
- When you are finished and there is nothing you need to change, and it looks as realistic as possible than you are complete.