How to Make a Tortillon in 5 Easy Steps
Dec 6, 2009 Drawing
1. Get a piece of paper. Any kind of paper will work, including computer paper. Experiment with different kinds and see if there’s one you like best!
2. Cut the paper in half diagonally, about an inch from each corner. You now have the makings for two tortillons.
3. Starting at the short edge, roll the paper up as tightly as you can. This might be a bit tricky at first, but you’ll soon get the hang of it!
4. Use something long and thin to poke into the end of your tortillon. The wrong end of a skinny paint brush works well! Push the tube out to create the point.
5. Use a small piece of tape to secure the end and voila! Your very own homemade tortillon!
I used to do this all the time when I first started drawing. I had to practice a few times before I could remember the exact technique, but it’s not at all difficult.
A blending stick is just a tightly rolled piece of paper. Tortillons are not exactly expensive, but making your own can save a bit of money. It can also save your butt if you desperately need a clean one and you can’t go buy one!
If you’ve just read this and you’re thinking, “What the heck is a tortillon?” a tortillon is a tool that you use when shading pencil drawings. It can also be called a blending stick or blending stump. Have a look at my drawing tools page for more details!
Tags: blending, getting started, tools, Tutorials
How to Shade a Sphere - Tutorial
Sep 4, 2009 Drawing, Tutorials
Aside from being an impressive skill to brag about to your friends, knowing how to draw and shade a sphere can really help you when it comes to realistic drawings. The shading of a sphere is what shows us that it is a round, three dimensional object and not just a flat circle. Once you know how to shade a sphere, you also have the tools to shade an apple, the tip of a nose, the cheeks and forehead. The principle is the same!
When drawing a sphere, you need to consider your light source.
Here we can see that the light source is coming from the left of the sphere. This puts the highlight on the left of the ball, and casts a shadow to the right. You can see on the bottom right where the light has bounced off the floor and back onto the sphere to create a reflection in the shadowed area.
Here, the light is coming from the front and to the left of the sphere. This changes the shadows. Now the cast shadow is coming from the back of the sphere, and the highlight is more towards the middle. Notice that we still have a reflection at on the back edge of the sphere.
In this example, the light is coming from behind and to the left of the sphere. The cast shadow is in front and the highlight towards the left, top edge. The area of reflected light is now much bigger, and our shadow is darker.
Backlighting is much more dramatic. The highlight is along the very top edge and the shadow is very deep.
How to Shade a Sphere Tutorial
I’m going to be working from life for this one, using the first example as a reference. Your first step is to draw the outline of your sphere and the shadow it casts using a B pencil. To get the shape of the shadow right, it can sometimes help to draw the whole thing on top of the sphere, then erase your lines.
Next, outline the edges of your shadows and highlights. I usually draw the highlight bigger than what I want so that I can shade up to that point and blend past it. You want to keep the highlight as white as possible.
Still using your B pencil, start to very lightly shade the area around the highlight. Work your way to the edge of the sphere and the edge of the shadow.
Squint to see the more subtle shading of this shape, and add another darker layer along the edge of the shadow. You don’t need to press any harder, just keep shading the same area until it gradually gets darker.
Now take your 2B pencil and shade in the entire shadow area. Try to make a gradual transition between the shadow and the midtones. You don’t want a solid line between the two.
Again, we’ll use the same pencil to shade in another darker layer where we see the darkest shadows.
Now the fun part! Use your blending stick to blend your pencil marks together. It’s important to work from light to dark. Start at the highlight and blend inwards, keeping the center free of graphite. You want the white of the paper to show through as the brightest part.
Next, we’ll work on the cast shadow. The edge of the sphere against the cast shadow should be nice and sharp. Since the cast shadow is the darkest value, use a 4B pencil to shade in the area directly underneath the sphere.
Using your 2B again, shade in the rest of the shadow. You’ll notice that in my reference, there is a second light source (the window) that is causing different shapes to appear within the shadow. This second, dimmer light source is casting a second, lighter shadow.
Now you can blend out the shadow. Pay attention to the edges of your cast shadow. It is sharper closer to the sphere and gets lighter and softer the further away it gets. At this point, you’re almost done! All you need to do is use your kneaded eraser to clean up your edges and re-define your highlight and the reflection. Voila, a sphere!
Now you can use your skills to draw virtually anything with a rounded shape. The rules are the same! A highlight, a range of midtones, the shadow with a reflection, and a cast shadow! Practice this using a ball and a lamp to hone your skills and try out different light sources. Have fun!
Tags: blending, getting started, shading, Tutorials
All About Drawing with a Reference Photo
Aug 29, 2009 Art General, Drawing
As you learn to draw, your reference photo is going to be your best friend. Aside from life drawing, using a reference is the best way for you to learn structure and proportion.
Why Do I Need a Reference?
If you’re the kind of artist who likes to draw from his imagination, by all means, continue! You can still find references for the individual elements of the composition you want to create. A hand from this photo, a facial expression from that one, a pose from another. Having something to refer to will go a long way towards making your drawings more believable and realistic.
An example is a drawing I did a few years ago. It started with the idea of a medieval style woman leaning against a door with her hand on her hip. The image on the left is straight out of my head. Notice how awkward and unnatural the figure seems! It wasn’t working, so I snapped a picture of myself in the pose I wanted. The picture on the right is the result of having that reference to look at. It’s still a simple cartoonish drawing, but the figure is much more natural and believable.
So now that I’ve convinced you that you need a reference, let’s talk about finding the right one!
- Detail
You need to find an image that has a close-up, detailed image of the subject you want to draw. It’s no good trying to draw a portrait when the person in the photo is so far away their eyes are just two dark spots. If you’re going to draw it, you should be able to see it! In this photo, we can’t see enough of the flower to be able to do a drawing of it.
- Quality
The better your reference is, the better your drawing will be. Don’t choose a photo that is blurry or pixellated. When I do commissions, I ask for as high-resolution a photo as possible. I know that my customers are expecting a recognizable likeness of their loved ones, and the only way I can get that is by using a good quality photo. Here, you can see the general shape of the flower, but it’s too blurry to see the details.
- Lighting
Lighting is extremely important to consider when choosing a reference photo. You don’t want a dark, gray photo, but you don’t want one that is too bright and washed out. Pick a reference that has a good range of value from dark shadows to highlights, and midtones in between. Try to avoid photos with flash, if possible. The light from a flash is very harsh. It creates unnatural cast shadows and makes everything closest to the camera too bright. You can see how the flash creates very dark shadows and actually changes the colours in this photo.
Photos from Magazines
Magazines are probably the most accessible high quality images you will find. They can be either really good, or really bad. The problem is that they are beautiful photos that translate into flat drawings. This happens because they often use several light sources to evenly light the subject. This gets rid of most of the information that tells us about the contours of the subject. If I were to draw this face, there’s not much shading I could do. The drawing would be her head and her facial features.
On the other hand, you can find some “artistic” photos in magazines. These use more dramatic lighting and give you way more to work with in terms of shadows. It’s all a matter of choosing carefully. Be aware of copyright laws, though! You can practice with these images, but you can’t exhibit them or use them for profit in any way.
Ways to Use a Reference
There are different ways to draw from a reference photo. The firs two involve drawing realistically and trying to recreate the image in a believable way. You can use a grid to do this, or you can “eyeball it” using measurements and proportions.
The third way is to use an image as inspiration and draw your interpretation of the object. This can be as expressive and abstract as you want it o be. Maybe it’s the colour arrangement that interests you, or the patterns of light and dark, or the contour lines. I went to school with an artist who painted abstracts that incorporated delicate, wiggling lines of paint. You’d never know it, but her reference for those pieces was tree branches.
Where to Get Reference Images
Most agree that it’s best to take your own reference photos. That way you can control the lighting and composition. Do this as often as possible. I’ve also asked to borrow other people’s photos to use as a reference. Taking your own photos isn’t always possible, though. If you want to draw the Eiffel Tower and you’re able to pick up and go to France… well, good for you!!
What can the rest of us do?
There are online services, that provide royalty free stock photos. This means that the photographer has given permission for that image to be used for commercial purposes. Some of these sites, like Free Digital Photos, are free. The higher quality ones, like iStockphoto, usually have more selection and require a small fee for each image.
Another option is the Reference Library at Wetcanvas. This is a user-run forum where anyone is welcome to upload their own photos for others to use. The good thing about this is it’s free and you know the photographer has given permission for the picture to be reproduced. The bad thing is that the quality may not be what you’re looking for. It can be a good place to start, though. There are lots of categories to browse through, and if you can’t find what you need you can always make a request.
Be careful about using photos you find online (or in books and magazines). Don’t use someone else’s work without their permission. Respect copyright laws, as they are there to protect creative works, including your own!
Combining References
Don’t feel like you have to stick with just one reference. You can combine different images to get just the composition you want. I’ve often done commissions where the customer wants a portrait of their kids, but only has separate photos of them. In a case like this, I would usually combine the images digitally to find a natural way for the figures to fit together. Be careful about size and scale when you do this, you don’t want someone to end up with a freakishly large head!
For another commission, I was asked to do a drawing depicting a woman’s birthday. She wanted herself in there, her son, her daughter, a banner in the background and the cake! Each of these was a different reference. There were no photos of her son at the birthday, so I used a completely separate picture for him. The photo of her daughter was very poor quality, so I used it for the pose and the dress only. I used a different reference for her face. By doing this, I was able to capture the specific details of the birthday, but also draw a recognizable likeness of each of her kids.
In Conclusion
Reference photos definitely come in handy! Eventually, you may become familiar enough with your drawing subject that you don’t always need one, but in the beginning, you just can’t rely on your memory!
Tags: art tips, better drawings, drawing tips, getting started
5 More Tips for Better Drawings
Aug 27, 2009 Drawing
As a continuation of 5 Tips for better Drawings, I bring you 5 more! These simple strategies will help you improve your drawing skills.
1. Mirror Check
You know when you get to that point in a drawing where you can see that something isn’t right, but you can’t tell what it is? When that happens, look at your drawing in the mirror. Something about seeing the reverse of your image makes mistakes pop right out. All of a sudden you can see that the one eye is higher, or at the wrong angle. But don’t wait for something to look wrong, do this throughout the entire drawing to keep things on track!
2. Paper Guard
Graphite has a nasty tendency to smudge, especially the softer, darker variety. No matter how hard you might try to work from top to bottom, left to right (or right to left for those lefties out there), chances are good that you’ll drag your hand through your drawing at least once. One way to reduce this risk is by using a clean sheet of paper to rest your hand on. This protects your work, but lets you draw comfortably.
3. Make an Investment
If you haven’t already, invest in some quality materials. You’ll be surprised what a difference this can make! Paper especially can go a long way. Regular computer paper can warp badly as you work it, so get a nice sketchbook or some quality paper. Experiment with different textures, but make sure you get a nice, heavy paper. Proper pencils are important as well; they blend better and give you nice dark shadows. Don’t forget the fixative if you want your work to be preserved and protected!
4. Measure Twice, Draw Once
Measuring is a good way to get the proportions of a drawing right. I don’t mean measuring with a ruler, although you could do this if your reference is the same size as your drawing… What I’m talking about is measuring one part of your image against another. Find things in your reference that are the same size, then make sure they end up that way in your drawing. Sometimes you can use one element to measure the size of larger things by seeing how many times it fits inside. For example, if you’re drawing apples in a bowl, you can measure how many apples fit across the bowl. This ensures that the bowl and apples will be proportionate to each other.
No, not the kind that grows on the end of your finger! I’m talking about a thumbnail sketch; a smaller version of a drawing. By doing several thumbnail sketches, you can try out different compositions without investing a lot of time and effort. It’s no fun drawing a beautiful picture, then realizing the composition is off. Take the time to do a few small sketches before diving into a full-blown drawing. Your finished product will be much better with a well thought-out composition.
Get Started with Drawing!
Aug 25, 2009 Art General, Drawing
Here is a collection of articles that are aimed at helping beginners who are just getting started with the art of drawing.
Tools
Drawing Tools: How to Choose a Pencil - Need help choosing the right pencil for your drawings? This article gives you an overview of the types of pencils available and when you should use them.
Drawing Tools: What you Need to Improve your Drawings - Besides pencils, there are several other tools available that can help you produce better drawings.
How to Draw
Tips to Improve your Drawings: How to See - One of the keys to successful drawings is teaching yourself how to see your subject matter. This article will show you how to retrain your brain.
5 Tips for Better Drawings - Here are five simple tips that will help you draw better in no time!
How to Grid a Reference Image and Draw from It - Gridding is a helpful tool when it comes to drawing realistic images. This article gives explains the process.
How to Draw from a Gridded Reference - Tutorial - This tutorial builds on the general gridding tips of the previous article. Here you will find a step-by-step guide on how to use the grid.
Shading
How to Shade Your Pencil Drawings - Shading is what gives drawings that three-dimensional feel. Here you will find answers to all your shading questions.
Shading Techniques: Hatching, Scribbling and Pointillism - Bored of the commonly used smooth shading style? Here you will learn about different shading techniques that you can use in your drawings.
How to Shade with Pointillism - This article further explores pointillism and how to use it to effectively shade your drawings.
What to Draw
21 Ways to Kickstart your Creativity and Become a Better Artist - Now that you have the tools and the skills, what do you draw? This article will give you 21 ways to help generate ideas.
Why Doodle? - Doodling is another tool to help get your creative juices flowing. Here you will find out why, and get some tips on how to get doodling.
Enjoy!
Subscribe to RSS Feed
Subscribe by Email