Drawing Mentor 7-10: Sketching the Land Water and Sky, Sketching Plants, Sketching People and Animals, Sketching Buildings PDF
Preview Drawing Mentor 7-10: Sketching the Land Water and Sky, Sketching Plants, Sketching People and Animals, Sketching Buildings
Drawing Mentor Volume 7 Sketching the Land Water and Sky Volume 8 Sketching Plants Volume 9 Sketching People and Animals Volume 10 Sketching Buildings By Sarah Bowles Copyright © 2012 Sarah Bowles All rights reserved. No part of this book, text, photographs or illustrations may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means by print, photoprint, microfilm, microfiche, photocopier, internet or in any way known or as yet unknown, without written permission. Preface The Drawing Mentor series of books is intended to help beginning to intermediate drawers learn and improve their drawing skills. Each book is written as a stand-alone lesson which can be used on its own, this gives the reader the ability to pick and choose the lessons and skills they would like to learn to the exclusion of all else. The earlier lessons in the series are very foundational, designed to improve the reader’s technical ability and understanding before going on to later lessons which are more project-based and written assuming technical skills have already been developed. If you’re an absolute beginner it’s recommended that you proceed from Volume 1 as that will ensure your understanding of how to use the techniques employed in later lessons as occasionally these lessons will refer to principles and skills taught in previous volumes. This book includes Volumes 7, 8, 9 and 10. The purpose of these lessons is to continue the discussion from the previous volumes on sketching by applying that skill to different genres. Specifically, Volume 7 is a lesson on sketching the land, water and sky. Volume 8 continues with a lesson on sketching plants. Volume 9 is a lesson on sketching people and animals, and Volume 10 is a lesson on sketching buildings. The concepts in each lesson are explained thoroughly and many examples are given, opportunities to practice are also included to help you master the skill taught in each section. These are the last of the strictly skill development lessons, completing them in addition to all the previous lessons will prepare you for the more advanced project-based lessons in the volumes that follow. The intent of the Drawing Mentor series is to periodically add new lessons over time to help you continue to improve your skills. If there is a particular skill or lesson you would like covered please feel free to send an email to [email protected]. Your feedback and suggestions are very much appreciated and will be used to help create lessons that will benefit you the most. Your good reviews are also very much appreciated. Thanks for choosing Drawing Mentor. Here’s to your success. Sincerely, Sarah Bowles Help Support someone in need. 10% of all profits are donated to organizations giving humanitarian assistance. Table of Contents Land Water and Sky Land Water Sky Conclusion Plants Grasses Shrubs Trees Putting it all Together Conclusion People and Animals Wire Frames Beyond the Wire Frame Personal Traits Details The Head Hands Feet Clothes Animals Conclusion Buildings Multiple Angles Details Conclusion Land Water and Sky Welcome to Volume 7 where we will focus on the basics of sketching the land, water and sky. The ability to look at a scene, sketch it quickly, and determine if it’s balanced is a good skill to have; the key is knowing how to identify major features, shapes and tonal depth. This is important for all sketches but especially for landscapes. Because very few small details are needed in these sketches, the major features are much more important. Sketching land features becomes simple when you realize there are only a handful of things you need to know to be successful. To begin with, land can be broken down into three main categories, rugged mountains/rock formations, rolling hills and plains or valleys. A landscape can contain features from one, two or all three of the categories. Once the category of each land feature is identified, the next step is to determine the dominant ground cover. Typically it’ll either be a rocky sandy terrain, vegetated terrain consisting of trees, shrubs and grass, or a combination of both. In simple steps, identify the shape of each landmass and sketch it, identify its covering and add the appropriate tone, and lastly, sketch any minor details that may be important. Water comes in the form of rivers, lakes and oceans, or on a smaller scale, puddles and streams. Lakes oceans and puddles are very similar; the water is usually flat and reflects the image of what’s around it. The reflection can be broken and distorted depending on the number and size of waves and ripples or it can be clear as glass if the water’s surface is flat and smooth. Rivers and streams can either flow relatively fast, in which case lines can be used to show its speed and direction, or they can flow slow and smooth and be more reflective like a lake. To sketch the sky there are two main things to identify. First, identify the tone of the sky. This will depend on the time of day. Second, check for cloud cover. There are two basic cloud configurations to know for sketching. Clouds will either be rounded and fluffy, or they’ll be thin and wispy. Either the sky or the clouds will be darker depending on the type of clouds and time of day, take note of which is darker and shade accordingly. Once you have a handle on identifying the features of a landscape, making an accurate sketch should be fast and easy. Each part of the landscape will now be discussed in greater detail. Land As mentioned before, there are three major land structures; rugged mountains and rock formations, rolling hills, and plains and valleys. These features are the foundation for many sketches because most things are influenced by the type of land around them. Plants, animals, water, buildings, and even the sky are all influenced by the land. Many different techniques can be used to sketch land. Contour and blind contour sketching are good ways to start; it’s also possible to start with one of the tonal techniques, hatching or shading. (See Volume 5 for an explanation of these techniques.) When using the contour method to sketch the land, an outline is drawn for each major landmass. Starting with a blind contour sketch first will help you notice all the ups and downs to each mountain, hill, plain or valley, and how they relate to each other. After completing a blind contour drawing, regular contour drawings should be done as well. Contour drawings should include contours for major changes in vegetation. If a tree line ends in the middle of a mountain, or if a mountain has snow on it, there should be a line to show the change in tone. If a plain has groups of dark trees or areas of light grass or dirt, these should also have their own contour lines. After completing a contour sketch the next step is to fill it in with tone. An important concept to understand is that as objects get farther away they lose detail and tones look more faded. Mountains and hills that are far away will typically be sketched using a single tone for each mountain while areas that are closer may have some details in the rocks and vegetation. This happens because particulates like dust and water are always in the air. The farther away one looks, the more particulate they have to look through and fewer details will be visible. Also, objects that are farther away will look more blue, violet and grey because the red, yellow and green tones are the first to get filtered out through the atmosphere.
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