BASIC DRAWING SKILLS

6th Grade Art & Introduction to Art

Ms. McDaniel

Drawing – Line

1. Beginning Lines

2. AddShading

3. AddValue

4. Add TextureAll drawings start out as simple line drawings and lead to completed drawings with the addition of shading, texture, etc.

LINE – A line is the starting point of all drawings. It can vary in width, direction and length.

Drawing - LineThere are lots of different types of lines. Curved, zig-zag, horizontal, vertical, and more.

Lines can be thicker or thinner. A drawing made with only a single type of line is not as interesting as drawings made up of different types of lines.

THICKERLINES

THINNERLINES

Drawing – Line

By varying line sizes, you can create an optical illusion to fool the eyes.

Drawing – Shape

When a line curves around and crosses itself or intersects other lines to enclose a space, it creates a shape.

Similar to a silhouette or an outline, a

shape is two-dimensional. It has height and width, but no depth

SHAPE – The outline of a figure or form. Shapes can be geometric (rectangles, triangles, and circles, etc.) or organic (irregular).

Drawing – ShapeGEOMETRIC SHAPES – smooth edges and are measurable.

ORGANIC SHAPES – round, complicated edges – often found in nature.

Drawing – Shape

When we combine simple shapes, we

begin to get the start of a drawing.

This monkey is drawn with simple lines which

become complex shapes. Although the image is made up of

simple lines and shapes, our brains see

a monkey.

Drawing – Shape

If you can break a complex shape/picture

into simple shapes, then you will have a

much better grasp on drawing a picture you

may have been previously unable to draw. You can add

details and adjust the shape after you have established your basic

form.

Drawing – Shape

From your basic shape, you can add curves, lines and other details to make your drawing

look like the picture.

Drawing – Negative Space

The dragon is a solid object so it occupies positive space.

NEGATIVE SPACE - The space between or behind the objects on the page.

Positive space is the area occupied by any solid object.

Drawing – Negative SpaceNegative space is the area NOT

occupied by a solid object.

NegativeSpace

Drawing – Negative Space This can be used to create great illusions as the brain

can jump to one visual conclusion or the other, depending on whether you automatically see the positive space first or the negative space.

Drawing – Shading & Value

In drawing, you need a full range of shades from absolute black to absolute

white and all the greys in between. You achieve these values while drawing by pressing down HARDER OR SOFTER

with your pencil.

Drawing – Shading & VALUE

Your drawing needs to have a full range of VALUES.

This drawing is too DARK.

It is difficult to distinguish many

details. They have only used the last part of the value scale which

does not make the drawing as effective as

it could be.

VALUE - The lightness or darkness of a color and the relative lightness or darkness of a surface. Value makes objects appear more real. ALL objects have more than one value.

Drawing – Shading & VALUE

Your drawing needs to have a full range of VALUES.

This drawing is too LIGHT.

Everything in the picture looks washed out because the artist has only used the first part of the value scale.

Drawing – Shading & VALUE

Your drawing needs to have a full range of VALUES.

This drawing uses the full range of the value scale and as a result, it is very well

done.

Drawing – Shading & VALUE

Your drawing needs to have a full range of VALUES.

Don’t forget your highlights. Highlights are where the light is hitting the subject. They should be the

lightest thing on your drawing.

Drawing your HIGHLIGHTS makes

your dark values seem even darker.

Drawing – SHADING & ValueWe establish a full range of value in a realistic black/white drawing with SHADING. You can make an object more realistic or 3D by drawing where the lightness and darkness is according to a light source.

You can make your object more round and more believable by shading.

SHADING – A continuous series of grays which are used to make an object look 3D and to create the illusion of light.

Drawing – SHADING & ValueShading is what takes your drawing from

simple, flat shapes to a realistic representation of what you are trying to draw.

You can tell that this has the lines of a rose, but on first glimpse, it is hard to tell what the drawing is of.

When you add realistic shading, this one is

instantly recognizable as a rose.

Drawing – Shading & Value – LIGHT SOURCE

To establish where your shading needs to go, you will need a LIGHT SOURCE.

A light source is where the light shines on your subject. Shadows can be drawn by being able to tell the direction your light source is coming

from and drawing them opposite.

LIGHT SOURCE – The direction from which a dominant light originates. The placement of this light source affects every aspect of a drawing.

A light source is where the light you are using to draw with is coming from. If we take away all light in a room, then the room is black and we see nothing.

Drawing – Shading & Value – LIGHT SOURCE

Depending on where the light is positioned, we see shadows on different parts of Bob. This makes a large difference when you are drawing.

You must think logically where your light source is and draw your shadows directly OPPOSITE of where the light is.

Think of Bob as a 3D object where shadows will slide around his face depending on where the light source is coming in.

Drawing – Shading & Value – LIGHT SOURCE

Drawing – Gesture Drawing

Gesture drawing is making a very quick drawing using very light easy strokes. Just do overall stuff. It should not include lots of details. It is a good way for you to warm up or get a basic shape.

GESTURE DRAWING – Drawing a form using scribbles and non-skilled pencil strokes.

Drawing - Texture

Actual Texture

Implied Texture

Texture is a very important concept in art. In order todraw realistically, all drawings must have texture. Everything has texture – smooth, soft, rough, veiny, grainy, etc. In art, there are two types of texture:

TEXTURE – Making a drawn object look like it feels in real life. (I.E. rough, smooth, etc.)

Actual texture is making a rough surface on a piece of art – painting in thick layers or making a sculpture with a tactile surface – something you can physically touch and feel.

Actual Texture

Implied Texture

Implied texture is drawing or painting a surface to look like what it actually feels like.

All drawings and paintings have to have implied texture – this makes them realistic.

There are two types of implied texture:◦REAL Implied Texture◦MADE-UP Implied Texture

Real applied texture in a drawing or painting are textures that actually occur in real life. For example, leaves, stone, water, etc.

Implied Texture - REAL

Made-up implied texture is drawing with a texture that does not occur naturally – like a pattern.

Implied Texture – MADE-UP

Drawing - Proportion

Drawings need to be in proportion for them to look realistic.

If you draw one thing much larger or smaller than another, then it throws the whole drawing out of proportion and makes it unrealistic. In Proportion

Out of Proportion

PROPORTION – The size of one element of the composition as compared to the size of another related element. For example if a person has a head larger than their entire body, then we would say that they were out of proportion.

Drawing - ProportionProportion can be intentionally manipulated for various

reasons – humor, abstracting a painting, etc.

Drawing - Perspective

Linear PerspectiveAtmospheric Perspective

Perspective is a mathematical way of drawing distance accurately. Drawing using perspective tricks the eye into seeing depth on a flat surface. It is based on the way the human eye sees the world.

There are two types of perspective:

PERSPECTIVE – the illusion that an image has space and distance.

To create the illusion of space, the artist creates a vanishing point on the horizon line.

Linear Perspective

• Vanishing Point – The single point on the horizon line where all the lines on the ground seem to come together.

• Horizon Line – The place where the land and the sky meet.

Objects are drawing using orthogonal lines which lead to the vanishing points.

Linear Perspective

The effect the atmosphere has on the appearance of an object as it is viewed from a distance. The colors of background objects become less saturated and shift towards the background color, which is usually blue, but under some conditions may be some other color.

Atmospheric Perspective