Drawing and Painting Glass
Jun 27, 2010 Drawing, Painting
Question: How do you draw something that’s clear?
Answer: You don’t.
Confused?
The key to drawing or painting glass is not to render the actual glass object but to render the way the glass distorts and reflects the objects around it.
Glass is clear so we see through it, but glass can be many different shapes. What we see through the glass gets warped. This warping is what gives us the information we need to determine the shape of the glass.
In the painting above, you can see a glass bottle sitting in front of some blinds. The way the blinds are seen through the glass tell us about the shape and volume of the bottle. When I painted this, I didn’t paint the bottle, I painted the blinds as they are seen through the glass. This is key!
When rendering glass, you’re going to need a reference image, either from life or a photo. You will also need to use your artistic observational skills. You really need to pay attention to what’s going on within the glass. That being said, don’t get too caught up in the myriad of tiny shapes that you can see. You will need to simplify and edit the shapes. Pick out the major light and dark areas, then work the mid-tones.
The other thing to remember is that glass is reflective. This means that shapes and objects in front of the glass may be seen in it, but it also means that there will be bright highlights. These highlights are what communicate the shiny, reflective nature of the glass.
Drawing and painting glass is not as tricky as it looks. Pick a simple object to start (the more complex your glass object, the more difficult it will be to draw). Focus on the lights and darks, pay close attention to the way the glass distorts the background, and observe the subtle variations in tone. As you draw the visible shapes, you will begin nto see your glass objects take shape.
Good luck! I’d love to see the results of your efforts!
Tags: art tips, drawing tips, drawings, paintings
How to Draw a Rose – Tutorial
May 9, 2010 Drawing, Tutorials
A little while ago, Shannon asked me to do a tutorial on how to draw a rose. Well, here it is!
All the principles are the same as drawing a portrait, you’re just working with different shapes.
The first thing I did was head over to the Wetcanvas Reference Image Library to study what a rose actually looks like and to find a good reference. As I browsed through the photos, I began to get a feel for the patterns of light and dark within a rose’s petals. They are deeply shadowed near the base and get lighter as you reach the edges. Here are a few possible references; I put them in grayscale to better see the values.
I will be drawing from the photo on the left, which has the best range of lights and darks. For this tutorial, I won’t be using a grid. When drawing a rose, unlike a portrait, it’s not absolutely necessary that everything be accurate down to the last millimeter. Here it will be enough to use the shapes the petals make in relation to each other to get an accurate rendition of the rose.
As always, start with a line drawing. Use a hard graphite, like a 2H pencil, and press just hard enough to leave a mark. Don’t press so hard that you indent the paper, otherwise you will never get rid of that line.
At this point, don’t focus on drawing a “rose.” Instead, draw the shapes that the petals make as they overlap one another. Pay close attention to the contours of each petal. It’s the little notches and irregularities you see that will help make your rose look as realistic as possible.
Next, still using your 2H, begin to shade in the values. Don’t press hard, but work up the graphite in layers to create some shadows. Shade in everything but the very lightest areas; keep those free of graphite completely.
Be very careful with your edges. You’ll notice in the reference image that some of the shadows have very hard edges and some are very soft and gradual. Try to render these exactly as you see them. This will give the petals volume and show that they are curled and three-dimensional. Don’t bother trying to understand what is happening in the center. Focus on the values and the shapes, and draw those. Blend with a tortillon.
Now take your B pencil and shade in the midtones. Here you’re adding depth and value. Again, pay close attention to the hard and soft edges. Blend.
Next, use your 2B to darken the deepest shadows. This is where you can sharpen some of those edges. Blend it out into the rest of your shading.
The last step in our rose drawing tutorial is to use a kneaded eraser to pull out the highlights and again, to sharpen some of the edges.
And there’s your rose finished! I hope this helps, Shannon, and if anyone else has a request for a tutorial, just get in touch!
PS: Stay tuned for a giveaway announcement in about a week!!
Experimenting with Deconstruction and Another Portrait
Dec 11, 2009 On my Easel
As usual, I’m working on a couple of projects. A major theme lately has been portraits. I’ve been super busy because of Christmas. I thought I was working on my last commission of the year when I was approached about one more.
It’s a last minute request, and a big one. I am doing a large portrait of an entire family, twelve people in total. I’m still not sure how big the drawing will be, it all depends on the size of the faces. I meet with the client tomorrow to discuss details. It’s kind of a special request that I might not have taken otherwise. Assuming I can get started tomorrow, I’m going to have to draw at least one face a day to finish it before Christmas. Not impossible, but it means I’m going to have to manage my time very well!
In the meantime, this is the drawing that I need to finish before I start my big project. This drawing is for my boss, Dana. She previously commissioned a portrait of her partner running a marathon. These are her kids and this will be a Christmas gift for her mother!
I’ve had a little bit of time to work on some abstract pieces lately too. One idea I’m really excited about is the idea of deconstructing wooden furniture and turning it into an art object. What interests me about this is the idea that the arrangement of pieces is what makes an object what it is. By taking it apart and rearranging it, it stops being an object, even though all the pieces are still present.
My other venture has been the deconstruction of my paintings on canvas (as in the first picture). These works had kind of stalled and had started feeling un-interesting to me. The act and process of painting them was a very valuable experience for me, but as art the paintings weren’t doing much. I started by cutting a canvas into twenty-five squares and re-arranging them. The act of gluing down and ripping up stretched the canvas, creating an interesting texture. I’m still not sure where I’m going with this, but it’s always liberating to destroy your own work!
Portrait: Johnny Depp as Sweeney Todd
Aug 26, 2009 On my Easel
Here is the latest page from my sketchbook! I was bored the other night and started digging through DVDs for something good to draw and here is Johnny Depp as Sweeney Todd! I picked this one because of the dynamic light. Please don’t mind the sphere and the scale in the corner… that was for my pointillism tutorial! Done in pencil, it’s mostly shaded and only partially blended, but I think it will stay that way.
This was a lot of fun for me. It was the first time in a LONG time that I’d done anything like this just for myself and I really enjoyed it! My goal at the beginning of the summer was a portrait a week… needless to say, that hasn’t happened! Although I have been sketching a lot more then I was before. After this, though, I might be more inclinced to do more portraits.
The chair painting is currently on hold… I’m working on a piece for OCAD’s Whodunit fundraiser. I seem to have so many projects on the go right now, I don’t know what to do first!
I’m also working on putting together a class for the rec center and a workshop or two for the local gallery. Work starts up again in two weeks, I don’t know how I’ll manage everything!
Willow Charcoal – Wingback Chair Drawing
Aug 11, 2009 On my Easel
Here is the latest in my attempt to get back into drawing in my sketchbook and working from life. This is the view from my couch!
The chair was a lucky find at Value Village. I’d always wanted a wingback and one day, there it was! It’s covered in a very retro blue velvet. Eventually, I plan on learning how to re-upholster furniture and then I will cover it in something more contemporary.
I did this drawing in willow charcoal. I love willow charcoal! It’s a very soft, delicate type of charcoal that gives a very richly textured gray. If regular charcoal is like wood or metal, willow charcoal is like velvet. It’s easy to blend and great for building up layers. If you haven’t tried it, I recommend you do!
There’s something about the simplicity and starkness of this composition that really strikes me. I find myself drawn to this image. It has an everyday sort of feel, but at the same time it seems a little unnatural and out of place.
I have an urge to paint this image. I did a series of still life paintings a couple years back that had simple compositions, and this reminds me of them. There’s a canvas on my easel right now that used to be an abstract painting. It wasn’t going well so I painted it out completely.
I think I’m going to go play!
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