7 principles of drawing that will help to achieve realism even for beginners
Miscellaneous / / June 25, 2023
Stick to the laws of perspective and figure out how to show light and shadow.
A beginner draftsman will need these items for the first drawing.
- Graphite (simple) pencils. They differ in hardness. 9H is the hardest, 9B is the softest. To get started, you can take a few pieces marked HB, 2B and 4B.
- Paper. The one that is used for the printer is better not to take - it is too thin and will not withstand many corrections. Suitable paper with a density of 140 g / m2 - usually this parameter is indicated on the package.
- Eraser and nag. Klyachka is a soft eraser that is applied to the right place in the drawing. It partially removes the tone and does not injure the paper as much as a regular eraser.
If you want to work with color, add watercolor to the list and a couple of brushes - one medium and one smaller. For example, take a round brush with squirrel hair - it holds water well, which is important for watercolor. True, such options are not cheap, so you can choose a synthetic brush - the main thing is that it retains a sharp tip when working.
And now - to the rules.
1. Keep Proportions
In order for an object or a person in a drawing to look like life, it is important to monitor how the individual parts of the object relate to each other. For their measurements the artists use not a compass and a ruler, but a pencil. This method is called sighting.
Suppose you need to understand the relationship between the height and width of the glass you want to draw. Stick to a simple pattern:
- Take a pencil and, with your arm outstretched, point it at the desired object. Squint one eye so that the object does not double.
- Place the tip of the pencil on the top edge of the object, and mark the bottom edge with your finger. You got the height of the glass.
- Without changing the position of your finger, turn the pencil over and point its tip to the left or right edge. Check how much the height of the glass is greater than the width.
- Draw the proportions on paper. One of the sizes is set arbitrarily, and the second must be proportional to the first.
To get the right measurements, it's important to hold your pencil vertically when measuring the height and horizontally when checking the width.
The sighting method is used not only for simple figures. For example, with its help it is convenient to check how different parts of the face relate when drawing a portrait. If you draw not from nature, but from a photograph, you can also compare the proportions with a pencil, applying it to the picture.
You can learn more about how to measure proportions in the video.
2. Remember perspective
People live in a three-dimensional world - every object has a length, width and height. But on paper, you can only get a two-dimensional image. To make it look realistic, use principles linear perspective. They differ from what was told in geometry lessons:
- Parallel lines always intersect. You won't see this in the picture, but it's worth keeping in mind that all receding lines meet at a single point on the horizon.
- Perpendicular lines do not intersect at right angles. Depending on their location in the figure, the angle will be obtuse or acute.
- Circles turn into ellipses. Moreover, the closer the circle is to the horizon line, the narrower it becomes.
- Items of the same size look different depending on their location. The further away from the viewer, the less.
A simple example is in the figure railway the rails will converge on the horizon, although we know that in life they run parallel to each other. And the trees and people in the distance will appear smaller than in the foreground.
In addition to linear perspective, there are aerial. It assumes that the contours of the subject blur and become less saturated as it moves away from the viewer. In the picture, everything is the same as in life: objects that are far away, we see not so clear and detailed.
You can learn more about how to convey volume and space on paper from the video.
3. Pay attention to composition
For a drawing to look harmonious, it must have composition center. It doesn't have to be in the middle of the paper. For example, you can use the rule of thirds: divide the sheet vertically and horizontally into three parts and place the key elements along the lines or at their intersection.
There are a few more tricks on how to highlight the compositional center:
- tone contrast. The main object in the picture should be much darker or lighter than the secondary ones.
- Colour contrast. For example, you can draw a bright yellow object against a dark purple background.
- Size and shape. A large object in the foreground will attract more attention than a few small objects in the background. A round bulb will stand out against the background of rectangular ones.
- Generalization and detailing. The most important item in the drawing may be more detailed than the others.
The video will help you understand the basics of composition in a drawing.
4. Learn to hatch
To make an object look beautiful and realistic, it is important to master the shading - it will allow you to convey the shape, volume and texture of objects.
Eat different techniques. With rectilinear strokes are placed diagonally at the same distance from each other. Cross - overlap the lines at an angle of 45 degrees. Circular - applied in an arcuate manner. The choice depends on what you are drawing. For example, the circular technique is suitable to create volume in round or convex objects.
A few rules will help you learn how to hatch:
- Apply lines with quick movements. If you do this slowly, they will begin to "tremble".
- Hold the pencil like a sword. This will give you more freedom to move your hand, and it will be easier for you to draw straight, long lines. Holding a pencil the same way as a writing pen is useful when you need to draw small details.
- Sharpen your pencil well. As a rule, artists do not use a sharpener, but a clerical knife. With this method, the stylus is very sharp, and they can draw longer. And you can also keep sandpaper on hand to correct the stylus in time.
- Don't rub the strokes. This can happen when you hold the pencil incorrectly and your hand is on the drawing. It is better to keep it on weight, or at least put a clean sheet under the brush.
- Don't use too hard pencils - They are difficult to layer. You do not need to press the pencil with all your strength - then the stylus will leave dark lines that are difficult to erase.
You can learn more about the hatching technique from the video.
This video shows you how to properly sharpen pencils.
And here are ways to hold a pencil.
5. Move from general to specific
Outline the overall composition: mark with light lines the size of the picture in relation to the size of a sheet of paper, estimate the proportions of objects and their location. Make sure that the boundaries of objects do not rest against the edge of the sheet. Do not forget the shadows - they must also fit in the picture. After that, you can move on to the objects - depict the general shape, and then work on the details.
If you violate this order, then you can not guess with the proportions. For example, when creating portrait first they outline the oval of the face, then they determine where the eyes, nose, lips will be, and only at the end they move on to drawing the pupils, eyelashes and other small details. If you draw eyes immediately, they may be too large or too small.
In this video, they talk more about the algorithm for working on a drawing.
6. Separate light and shadow
On the surface of each object there are dark and light areas, the location of which is determined by its shape and texture, as well as the nature of the lighting. There are several basic concepts that are used in drawing:
- Light - the illuminated part of the object.
- Shadow - unlit part. The shadow on the object itself is called its own, and the one that it casts is called falling.
- Penumbra transition from shadow to light.
- Reflex - reflected light in the shadow part. It can be given by a table, ceiling, neighboring objects.
- glare - the lightest part of a glossy object.
The illumination of an object depends on where it is located. Light source. Often there are several of them - for example, a lamp and daylight from a window. But for starters, it is better to focus on one source. Mark the shadow and start hatching according to the shape of the subject. There are also some recommendations here.
- Do not try to immediately get a dense tone - sometimes you need 7-8 pencil layers to achieve deep shadows.
- When there are several objects in the drawing, work on them at the same time. If you focus on one part of the drawing, it's easy to darken it.
- Do not make the transitions between shadow and penumbra too hard - It is better to shade the borders with a soft pencil.
- Make sure that the drop shadow repeats the shape of the object. At the base, it will be dark and with clear contours, and as it moves away, it will begin to lighten and blur.
You can learn more about how to designate light and shadow in the video.
Another video on the basics of working with chiaroscuro.
7. Think Palette
If you decide to enter a color, use color circle. It was created by the Swiss artist and teacher Johannes Itten.
This tool helps to find harmonious combinations. There are several basic schemes.
- Complementary colors located opposite each other. For example, yellow and purple, orange and blue, red and green.
- Contrasting triad. A variant of a complementary combination, but instead of one color, two neighboring ones are taken from it. Let's say yellow, red-violet and blue-violet.
- Classic triad. Combinations of three colors that are at an equal distance from each other. For example, orange, green and purple.
- analog triad. A combination of three shades that are located next to each other - blue-green, blue and purple.
- Tetrad. This is a complex scheme that includes one primary, two secondary and one accent color. As an option - red-orange, yellow-orange, blue-green, blue-violet.
There are only 12 colors on the classic color wheel. To select other shades, you can use online tools. For example, Palleton or Adobe Color.
In addition, these rules will help create a beautiful work:
- Shades appear in shades that are opposite to the color of the object. Let's say that to depict the unlit side of a yellow apple, you can mix in a little purple.
- If the lighting is warm, then cold shades are noticeable in the shadows, and vice versa. For example, if you are painting a landscape at sunset, add blues and purples to the shadows. This is because the light is warm at this time of day.
- White objects in painting are depicted by mixing other colors. Say, in the clouds, illuminated by the sun, there will be yellow, orange, dark blue, purple tones.
- Pure black is best not to use. Instead, you can mix other colors. To find the right shades, carefully examine the subject - you will surely see that black is not uniform. It may contain other shades - yellow, red, purple, blue.
How to use the color wheel is explained in this video.
And here you can learn how to paint warm and cold shadows.
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