Drawing Nature

     After successfully drawing the basic shapes, I have decided to push myself further and draw some plants. Drawing flowers and trees are actually one of my favorite things to do.

     The first thing I made was a lily. When i was making these drawings, I thought I was done with the basic shapes. But I was wrong. Part of drawing the lily was to make a foreshortened circle. Then, Mark Kistler introduced a new technique: tapering. Tapering is narrowing your object to make it look like that part of the object looks like it is further away. "Tapering is another one of those very important ideas that you will start to notice everywhere now that you are aware of it" (Kistler 124). Using this new technique, I completed the lily (or lilies), and i think they turned out pretty good.

     The next object i drew was a tree. Using the tapering technique, I drew the trunk and roots. It took me so long to get this right in my mind because I am very self-conscious about the way my drawings look. Then as it came to the leaves, I used a special way to draw them (Kistler taught me this technique). You draw a circle, then draw little arches along the edge of the circle all the way around, and then lightly sketch some curly "Q's" inside the circle. Kistler says that having an odd amount of objects together, is a lot more visually appealing than an even amount (Kistler 166). Add some shading and wood grain texture and you got a nice looking tree.

     How do you think these drawings turned out? Could I have added more shading to the lilies, or made the tree slightly bigger?

Kistler, Mark. You Can Draw in 30 Days: the Fun, Easy Way to Learn to Draw in One Month or Less. Da Capo Lifelong, a Member of the Perseus Books Group, 2011.

Cylinders, Volcanoes, and Coffee Mugs

     After drawing spheres and squares, I am drawing the last basic shape in the book, Cylinders. Cylinders are probably the most difficult of the basic shapes. You have to make sure the top of the cylinder is foreshortened and, according to Mark Kistler, make the bottom curve a little more rounded than the top curve (Kistler 100). Regardless, they are fun to draw and I got a little carried away during the lesson and did a lot more than Kistler taught me.

     Later, I learned how to take the cylinder shape even further and drew a volcano and a coffee mug. I noticed a lot of drawings that i made have a lot of foreshortened shapes in them. Mark Kistler says, "Recognizing foreshortening and other laws of drawing in the world around you will help you learn how to draw in 3-D" (Kistler 158). That made me realize that foreshortening is one of the most important part in drawing.

     Do you think that foreshortening is one of the most important part in drawing? Or is there something of even more importance?

     Kistler, Mark. You Can Draw in 30 Days: the Fun, Easy Way to Learn to Draw in One Month or Less. Da Capo Lifelong, a Member of the Perseus Books Group, 2011.

Foreshortening & Cubes

     Now that I have been able to draw spheres decently, I am on to drawing cubes. Apparently, cubes can be used to draw just about anything. To start drawing, a cube, you have to draw a foreshortened square. Mark Kistler says that foreshortening is a distortion to make one part of a drawing look closer than another (43). This way, it looks like you are staring at the side of the cube, rather than the top. Here is a little more advanced cube that I drew:

     As you can see, where the inside of the box is, that is a foreshortened square, which makes the drawing look distorted.

     Soon i learned how to stack 3-D rectangles, which follows the foreshortening above. However, Kistler mentions a crucial thing when stacking anything with a foreshortened square. He says "When you draw the back edges of the top of the pedestal, be sure to go behind the corner of the post" (Kistler, 68). If this is not done, then it ruins the foreshortening effect as well as making the drawing look weird

     Then i took those two techniques, combined them, and made this:

     What is your opinion on foreshortening a square to make a cube? Do you think this is the best way to make a cube or is the anything better?

Kistler, Mark. You Can Draw in 30 Days: the Fun, Easy Way to Learn to Draw in One Month or Less. Da Capo Press, 2011.

Shading and Positioning

        Drawing has always been a big passion of mine, but i lacked the skill (and patience!) to be able to create something from my mind. When I found this book called You Can Draw in 30 Days by Mark Kistler, I immediately thought it was perfect.

 

          The first lesson was drawing a sphere. I know, simple, just draw a circle. But there is more to it. Kistler says to determine a light source, and apply shading to make the drawing look 3-dimensional (12). He also explains that "Cast shadows are fantastic visual anchors that help secure your objects to the ground surface in your picture" (Kistler, 13). After drawing the cast shadow you put shading on the object to emphasize the 3-D effect. Here was my final product:

          In lesson 2, Kistler went on to explain how some drawing techniques can create an illusion to make objects seem further away. Kistler mentions three techniques to help create the illusion. Size, placement, and overlapping. Combine these techniques with shading, and you can get a drawing like this:

Do you think positioning and shading is all there is to 3-D drawing? Or do you think there is more?

Kistler, Mark. You Can Draw in 30 Days: the Fun, Easy Way to Learn to Draw in One Month or Less. Da Capo Press, 2011.