Umoto, Sachiko. Illustration School: Let's Draw Plants and Small Creatures. Quarry Books, 2010.
Monday, January 8, 2018
Drawing: Strawberries & Lemons
I'm not going to lie, I was definitely thinking about summer when it came to the drawings for this post. Just think about all that delicious lemonade...But no. It's winter, and that means I can only dream about summer. With these doodles, I focused on drawing them step by step as usual, but I also considered the shapes that I was drawing. I really tried to make all the shapes of each step look the same, instead of getting within the ballpark and calling it good. Starting with the strawberry, "1. Draw the outline of the strawberry. 2. Draw the calyx. 3. Draw the little seeds on the surface" (Umoto 86). The general shape of a strawberry is almost like an oval, but with one end pointed a bit more. The top (calyx), leafy bit of the fruit includes a rectangular stem and semi-circle-ish leaves, and the seeds are shaped like mini ovals, filled in. Once finished, I was able to not only see a piece of fruit, but also all of the shapes that make up the doodle. The lemon, however, was a little bit harder. To start, I drew an oval shaped like the lemon. I then drew the protruding parts on each end, and added the spots on the surface, just as directed (Umoto 86). The oval was simple, and so was one end of the lemon, which was just a rectangle. But the other side was tricky. I had to draw a little wave, that almost looked like a really stretched out letter "m". It took me a few tries to get this bit to my satisfaction, but I managed. The last step, adding the spots, was similar to step 3 of drawing a strawberry, so it was not too challenging. Shapes are everywhere in the world; every object is a shape or a combination of them. Overall, I was pleased with the outcome and my ability to think about and identify the shapes in each of these pictures that have me longing for that summer sun.
Take an object or two that you see everyday; what shapes contribute to this object? If you were to draw it, would it be easier to draw the shapes that it's made of or try to draw the whole object at once?
Umoto, Sachiko. Illustration School: Let's Draw Plants and Small Creatures. Quarry Books, 2010.
Umoto, Sachiko. Illustration School: Let's Draw Plants and Small Creatures. Quarry Books, 2010.
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This is really cute! I loved your little illustrations. They really do remind you of summer. You did a great job imitating the book's drawings. In my experience, lemons have always been hard to draw, since they have a peculiar shape, so I congratulate your success. To answer your question, if I were to take an object and draw it, I would draw a box because that is probably the extent of my artistic skills. It's rectangular frame and sharp 90 degree angles contribute to the the object's shape. It would probably be easier the draw the shapes it's made of.
ReplyDeleteThank you Ha Tien! I appreciate your feedback. I agree with you, sometimes I do just draw a box and call it good, as they are simple and quick doodles. However, I admire your observations, if only brief, about the actual shapes that a box is constructed of. And, don't worry about not having any artistic talents, not everything is for everyone. :)
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