Sunday, January 7, 2018

Drawing - Scale/ Proportion

          After looking through what techniques were left in my book Design Basics by David A. Lauer, I decided to try drawing something with different scales/proportions for my next piece. These two words are very similar, as they both relate to size, however are slightly different “Scale essentially is another word for size; ‘large scale’ is a way of saying big, and ‘small scale’ means small… Proportion refers to relative size, size measured against other elements or against some mental norm or standard” (Lauer 80). I attempted this technique by drawing a simple flower with a lady bug sitting on one of its petals. The flower is considered large scale because it takes up most of the space on the paper, and takes up most of our visual attention. The lady bug is the small scale, since in comparison with the flower, it is much tinier, and can be looked over at first glance.

          First, I started by sketching the flower. This seems very simple, but I had to draw it twice because I was unhappy with the way the petals looked the first time; some petals were too long, or too wide. Once I was happy with the way the petals looked, I drew the little lady bug. Next, I outlined the pencil lines in black, and colored everything in. This is the first drawing I used color in and I’m really happy with how it turned out.  I feel it made the piece stand out much more.

          Tying this piece pack to my first piece, scale and proportion often go with emphasis and focal point. Large scale is a visual emphasis, and the eye naturally is drawn to the largest figure in a piece, creating a focal point. (Lauer 80). This just shows how everything is connected. Most pieces have multiple art elements or techniques used. Trying out so many new techniques has helped me increase my knowledge and skills on drawing.

Have you ever drawn something using scale and proportion?
What’s your favorite drawing technique?


Lauer, David A. Design Basics. third ed., Thomson Learning, 1990.

6 comments:

  1. I found it very interesting that scale referred to size and proportions referred to the size of an object relative to another. Looking back, I would say that I have drawn something with scale and proportion, but I used the techniques more subliminally than actually knowing what I was doing. For your outlining, do you make some outlines thicker than other ones for emphasis?

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    1. Thank you for taking the time to view my post Faith! I do make some lines thicker than others for emphasis. In this drawing, I made the outside petal lines thicker than all the other ones, to make the entire flower stand out more on the background.

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  2. I really like your drawing Bryanna! I too have also done a few drawings with scale and proportion (including one where i have to scale backwards in a way), and they are very crucial techniques that make a drawing come to life. Although, i would have to say that my favorite drawing technique is shading.

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  3. Thank you for commenting Sebastian! I think that shading is a really cool technique too!

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  4. I think your drawing looks amazing, I love all the color in it. What did you use to color in the drawing? Also, I've used scale and proportion, I think it's a good technique because it shows how the size of something can affect the drawing. My favorite drawing technique is gestural drawing because it allows your drawing to not have to be perfect and if you mess up you didn't really have to start over.

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    1. Thank you so much Tarnvir! To answer your question, I used marker to color in the center of the flower and the ladybug, and a colored pencil to color in the petals. I don't think I've ever tried gestural drawing, but it seems very interesting. Thank you for viewing my post!

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