Lesson 6 Form - Using the Box Technique

There are many techniques to help you draw things accurately. Today, I’d like to show you one. The ‘box technique’ is very simple.

Have you ever drawn something that leans or is disproportionate? This is an easy way to avoid it.

Do you want a simple way to get something accurate? Well, this is as simple as connecting the dots, then making small revisions. I love the box technique, because it breaks the drawing process down into simple steps.

First, pick an item to draw. Here are three items: bananas, a feather duster, and a vase.

Imagine that you need to mail them. What shape of box would you need? Tall and thin, square, short and wide? Draw a box shape that will fit your subject. (See last week’s lesson on how to measure using a pencil.)

WARNING: draw your box and all your lines very lightly, so they can easily be erased.

It’s best to start out with something simple, that doesn’t have a bunch of shapes and textures.

So today we’re going to draw the vase. Your box will be tall and thin, like the vase.

Now cut the box in half both ways, so you have a big plus sign in the center of the box.

Take a look at your subject, the vase, from top to bottom. Where is halfway? Now look side to side. Where is half way?

Are there any other features in the vase that would be easy to divide into portions? Look at the top where it narrows into the middle. It is ¼ the way down. Look at the bottom. The widest part is ¼ the way up.

Divide your rectangle just like the image above. I'm taking the natural math of my subject and using it to help me.

Now look to see where the vase is narrowest. Is there any other part of the vase that is narrow like that? The bottom is. They are almost the same width. Mark their spots on your rectangle in the quartered sections.

Now look at the bottom half of your vase. Look at the fattest part. It hits the sides on the bottom quarter line.

Drawing a perfect curve is hard, so we're not going to. Not yet. We're going to draw straight lines - connect the dots. Using your ruler, connect the bottom dots to the edge of the  rectangle at the bottom quarter line where the vase is fattest, then connect that line up to the dots on the halfway line.

The next widest part of your vase is the very top. The neck of the vase is almost straight. We're going to pretend it is. So take the top quarter and draw the neck straight up. Then from the top quarter line, connect that line out to the top edge of your rectangle, like in this drawing:

There. Now you have the basic proportions of the vase. Yes, we will round it out soon. But first, let's round out the top and bottom.

Let's start at the very bottom of the vase. Starting at the middle line, curve a line out until it runs into your side-bottom line. Do the same to the other side. You CAN get this free-hand, but it will probably take a bit of work. If you have a hard time, use some tools. You can use a protractor or compass, ore even use the edge of a clean, dry cup. Put it down on the paper and use the edge to get your curve.

Now go up to the top and do the same thing. Notice that I didn't swing the curve right into the top line of the rectangle. In the photo, the widest part of the mouth is a little below the top.

Tip: You'll want this curve to match your bottom curve. You don't want it to be a fatter or leaner curve.

Now finish the top half of the mouth of your vase. Again, you'll want the curve to have the same arc, only in reverse. This may take a bit of work, but you can do it. Use the cup if you have to, just flip your paper upside down.

Next, notice how the base of the vase has a double line? Just draw a parallel curve just above your bottom line, the do the reverse curve on top to finish out the bottom circle, just like in the drawing below. With that done, NOW it's time to round out the sides of your vase. Let's start with the widest part at the bottom. I went from the middle down to the bottom quarter line on both sides. Again, you'll want to make sure that the curve matches on both sides.

Don't be afraid to erase and try again if it doesn't work the first or the tenth times. Erasing is good! (We are always searching for erasers at our house because the are always used up. I buy them by the crate.)

Now follow through with your curve going to the bottom.

If you erase the 'helper' lines in the bottom half, your vase will start to look like a real vase. Exciting, isn't it?

Okay, now look at the photo. The mouth of the vase has a lip. On the under side of your curve, it runs parallel, but on the top swing of the curve, it ties in. Because it is glass, you can just barely see the lip through on the other side. For now, just draw the bottom parallel curve and tie in the sides around the top, like the drawing below.

Now, you are ready to begin smoothing out the angles in the upper half of your vase. Wherever you run into an angle in these parts, such as at the top quarter and middle line, smooth the line out so that it flows from the rounded part of the vase into the neck and up to the top.

Now do the other side.

You can erase your 'helper' lines.

And you can take out the rectangular box surrounding it. Feel free to go back and add any details you'd like, such as the center circle on the bottom, and hints of the lip on the back edge of the upper curve.

Now you have a beautiful vase that is accurate, centered, and flowing!

This box technique can be used on just about anything. Practice with another simple object or two. Break your subject down into the simple math of where the middle is both horizontally and vertically. Then look for any other features that break down into simple math. Use dots to mark the spots. Use straight lines at first, then add curves and dips. It's a blast!

Next week: Shading your vase.



Bill Waterson’s Corrupting My Breakfast

You know how sometimes you’re so shocked you can’t move? And your kids are involved?

I just had one of those times. Luckily it didn’t involve the dreaded call: “Hey, Mom, I kinda sorta had a traffic accident in your new car . . .”

And luckily, it wasn’t: “Hey, Mom, close your eyes and hold out your hand. Promise not to scream, okay?” (Believe me, I was dumb enough to fall for that one. Once. And to plead my cause, I was sleep deprived. But I can still feel the tiny clinging legs of the insect that resided there for .2 seconds — before becoming a projectile that didn’t normally fly. And my shriek is still echoing off the Himalayas somewhere.)

But now, here I stand, stunned.

I’d risen early and in a good mood. I planned to make scrambled eggs and bacon. So dancing off to the kitchen, I pull out a wire whisk, a glass bowl, then twirl to the fridge and grab a carton of eggs. Still humming, I lay it on the counter and open it.

The humming stops. The jaw drops.

A bunch of eggs are staring back at me. Some terrified. Some deceased with x’s for eyes. A few happily smiling. All of it horrible.

Disclaimer: Others in the family—who shall remain nameless—like to cook, and don’t like to take two steps over, open the cupboard door and throw the egg shells away. Hence, the broken shells often return to the carton—until the next time I open it and mutter under my breath and take two steps over and dispose of them. Yeah, I know. Wears me out.

Okay. So the eggs with personalities are funny. Takes me a minute. I have a son who is a religious Calvin and Hobbes fan. Actually, a lot of us are, but he’s taken it to a cult level. We have the entire series, hardbound. The pages are wearing out from all his late nights under the covers with a flashlight, giggling like crazy.

(If you haven’t read Calvin and Hobbes, stop right now, look it up on the internet and check out the snowmen. Now do you know what I’m talking about???) Well, Bill Waterson’s evil sense of humor has infiltrated our infrastructure to the point that it’s corrupting my eggs.

And, other than the dead ones, they’re all staring at me.

So I do the intelligent thing. I close the top, put them back in the fridge and grab the other carton.

Gah!

He got that one, too! But now, I’m really laughing.


Great. What do I do?

So, here’s a study for all you psychology majors. Which one of the dang things do I sacrifice first? Breakfast must be served.

I know. I’ll make pancakes instead. Takes fewer eggs. My fingers hover over each egg. This is silly, I know, but how to I kill one that’s trembling in terror? Or smiling trustingly?

Okay, I can do this. I’ll take the monster – the Dracula one in the left front corner. The mad Cyclops is next. Dang, do I really need to triple this batch? I better. I have several growing, starving teenagers.

So I close my eyes and grab, hoping it’s not the blue one in the back row with the ‘deer in the headlights’ expression.

Oops. I grabbed the one screaming with his eyes closed.

Can’t do it. I drop him back in and take the mad guy from the second row.

Does my son know the trauma I’m going through? No, he’s snuggled in his bed, swimming-pool deep in the ‘teenage sleep of the dead.’

And I’m here, agonizing in the kitchen. It’s a great relief when I close the lid, and return it to the fridge with the other carton.

But you know what? I learned a valuable lesson.

If you want to survive, don’t be mad.

Don’t grow fangs.

Smile and be happy. Even if you know you’ll be sacrificed, grin like an idiot. Chances are you’ll live another day.

So I go wake the kids for breakfast. When my son finds out what happened, he gives a maniacal cackle worthy of Calvin himself.

I give my own evil smile. Ha!

Laugh away, marker-boy. Tomorrow, you’ll make the eggs!

Lesson 5 – Measuring Form without a Ruler

How can you draw the form of things accurately? Measuring is a big part.


There’s a variety of ways, but one of my favorites doesn’t require a ruler, at least for the measuring part. You use your drawing pencil to measure. Here's how you do it. (I used a vase.) Stand back from your subject. (I put my vase on my table and went around to the other side.)

Aim your body toward the subject. Hold your pencil in your hand and stretch your arm out straight, locking your elbow.

Now close one eye (if you’re right handed, close the left eye and if you’re left handed, close your right). Hold the pencil upright. Now, put your pencil in front of your subject.

Line up the top of your pencil with the top of the subject. (I'll be referring to it as the vase.) Slide your fingers up or down your pencil until your fingers are just under the bottom of the vase. Now your pencil is as tall as the vase.

What if your subject is too big to measure? Step back until until it fits your pencil. Remember this spot. You will make all future measurements of your subject from that place.

Now that you have the measurement, mark it on your paper.

Flip the paper around with your other hand, and lining up the first mark with where your fingers are on the pencil; mark the other side, making the full height measurement of the vase.

Then go back and measure the width of the vase by tipping your pencil horizontal and putting the tip on one side and your fingers on the other.

Mark it on your paper.

Using your other hand, flip the paper around again and lining the previous side mark up with the bottom of your fingers on the pencil, lay the lead down on the paper and mark the other side.

You should have four marks showing both the width and height of the vase. You can use a ruler to connect the marks. It should make a rectangle that is accurately as tall and wide as your vase.

Take a ruler and connect your marks to make a rectangle.

We'll use this technique to help us with next week's lesson, where we'll draw the vase.
 
Look at other subjects and practice measuring the height and width with a pencil, then marking them on the paper.
 
If you have some time to kill, find a set of cupboards in your kitchen or office. Measure the height and width of the whole set and mark them as you go. Then, going from left to right, measure the width of each individual cupboard door and mark it, left to right, on your paper. Then go back and from the top, measure the height of each individual cupboard and mark it. Take a ruler and connect the lines. You'll have accurate 'bones' of the cabinets.
 
Use this technique on anything!

Next week: Form: drawing a perfect (or pretty darn close to perfect) vase

The True Story Behind the Drawing – African Mother and Child

When I first looked at her photo I had no idea she’d endured banishment, humiliation, and a death sentence. What I saw was a snapshot of a sweet African mother holding her child. There was something about her eyes. And I wanted to draw them, badly. It wasn’t until after I finished the drawing that I learned their story. And cringed. And cried.




About ten years ago in Utah, I went to a slideshow presentation about a humanitarian mission in Mali, Africa. One of the last slides was of this mother and child. I fell in love with it. After the show was done, I asked the nurse giving the presentation who I could contact to ask permission to draw that photo. She had taken the picture and kindly agreed to let me draw it. We exchanged addresses and phone numbers.



While I waited, the memory of the picture haunted me. It was very exciting when the picture arrived in my mailbox. I went right to work. When I’d finished, I was able to talk to this nurse again and heard the story.



The nurse was part of Ouelessebougou Alliance, a humanitarian foundation that provides many services and kinds of help. At the time I spoke to her, the Alliance was sending a medical team, which included an ob/gyn doctor, each year right after Christmas to Ouelessebougou in Mali, Africa.



And each year as they arrived at the medical facility the Alliance had built, they passed a long line of cheering women. Many walked for days and waited even longer.



But the team could only stay a week, could only help so many, and could only bring as much donated equipment as would fit in the back of their single jeep.



Many of the women in line shared the same problem. Infertility. Their culture, unchanged since Biblical times, placed a woman’s value upon her ability to bring children into her family. Polygamy, although shocking to us, was normal. So was starvation and infant mortality. Children were prized above all else, because they were the future of the family.



When a woman was unable to conceive, she was seen as a burden – dead weight – eating food that could be given to the children.



In time, she would be cast out of the family. Often, her parents wouldn’t take her back because she was unmarriageable. Many of these cast-offs wandered the streets, despised, suffering every privation, begging, most often dying. It was a death sentence.



Unless . . . this humanitarian team could do something.



The woman in the picture was taken inside. She was put under and cut open. The doctor and nurses looked and then shook their heads. She had no fallopian tubes. Even here in the U.S., the odds for fixing it aren’t good. Still, they had to do something. Grabbing some IV tubing, they rigged make-shift fallopian tubes, sewed her up, sent her to the crammed recovery room, and prayed. Still, everyone knew it was impossible.



The week finished. The team packed up, and drove past the dispersing line of women who hadn’t made it in. Hopefully, they’d survive another year. Have another chance.



The team returned the next year.



And the next.



And in that cheering line was this woman – smiling – cradling her sleeping child.



She returned to show the volunteers why they sacrificed to come each year.

__________________________________



I love sharing her story, and the story of the people who go, unpaid, halfway around the world to help. If you are interested, you can learn more about the Ouelessebougou Alliance at their website: http://www.sistercommunity.org/ or http://www.ouelessebougou.org/



If you choose to make a donation to their Alliance, I want to thank you! I’m serious! We have problems everywhere, here even, but I’m so touched when I learn of people with good hearts.



You’ll make my day if you comment and/or pass on this blog. I’d love to share this mother’s story and assist the Ouelessebougou Alliance in making a difference.

Drawing Lesson 1 c - Shading an Apple

Okay, now we get to take everything you’ve learned on the last two lessons and apply it to something real – an apple in this case.

BLACK AND WHITE vs. COLOR PHOTOS

Here are two photographs of the same apple. One is black and white, and the other color. Look for the absolute black areas of each apple. You will notice that the black and white picture has stronger tones. I see black by the stem, as well as at the base. On the colored photo, I only see black at the base.

DRAMATIC

Black and white drawings are more dramatic, just like the photo. Your blacks will be stronger. Your tones will be stronger. You have to make up for the lack of color.

HOW TO TRANSLATE COLOR TO BLACK AND WHITE

Look at the color photo, near the bottom of the apple and a little to the right. Can you see where it has a slight reddish flush to it? In the black and white photo, it is translated into a slightly darker tone.

HIGHLIGHTS AND NEAR-HIGHLIGHTS

Now look at the photos and concentrate on the highlights. Can you see three? One is behind the stem, two are in front of the stem, more to the right. If you look closely, the highlight furthest right is not quite a 1 (or perfect white) in tone. It is a 2.

GRADATED SHADING SCALE

So the rest of the apple has a tone of 3 or darker. Now look at the darkest area on the left side. Can you see how it curves down and to the right, getting lighter as it goes? This is a gradual transition, just like you did in shading lesson 1 b.

REFLECTED LIGHT

You’ll notice some funny things going on in the shaded area on the left. Near the bottom, for some strange reason, it gets lighter, then darker. This is because light is hitting the surface of the table that the apple is resting on, then reflecting up and into the apple. So is the shadow, just at the very bottom. Another area of reflected light is on the very bottom of the right side, too.

BEGINNING THE DRAWING

Okay, now that you can see all those things, we’re ready to start.

TIP: if you are using fine pencils, use your 2H for basic sketching - you can switch to your other pencils as needed once you get into your shading. Don't use your 6H for basic sketching because it will gouge the paper and don't use your B, because it is too dark to easily erase if you mess up.

If you are using a standard number 2 pencil, draw very lightly.

STEP 1

Now, draw an outline of an apple. You can do this by drawing a circle. If you need to, you can take a cup, turn it upside down and trace the outside.

The stem is just two straight lines at an angle, with a circle on top. Then draw a curving line at its base.

The shadow is a pancake shape coming off the right bottom and laying well beyond the left side.

STEP 2

Go back into the apple and very lightly circle where the highlights are. Make sure to make the circles larger and wider than you think you need. You can always shade them smaller, but it’s very hard to erase out a perfect white, so that’s why we make them a little big.

STEP 3

Now go to the very base of the apple. Using pressure, shade a thin band of perfect 10 (or black) around the base of the apple, right up close to the bottom. Then you can shade into the pancake shaped shadow. See how the shadow isn’t a perfect 10 as it gets away from the apple on the left? It goes from a 10 to a 9, then in places, an 8.

STEP 4

Now, avoiding your circled highlights, shade the entire apple a 3. Keep your strokes nice and even. To be able to make longer strokes, slide your fingers up your pencil until they are holding it near the eraser area. Now try making wide strokes. It will be easier. And it takes some practice to get the strokes smooth and even, so don’t worry too much if it doesn’t come right away. Just keep going.

When you’ve shaded the entire thing, you can use your blending stick (if you’d like) to smooth your 3 tone inside the apple.

STEP 5

Alright, now we get to do the really fun stuff! If you’re using fine pencils, grab your B. If you’re using a regular number 2, here we go. Look at the photos of the apple. Really pay attention to the darkest shadow on the top left side of the apple. It is darkest right on the edge, probably a 9. As it comes down and around the apple, it turns into an 8, then 7, then 6 and so on down to your 3. Begin shading your apple.

TIP: Watch out for making hard lines anywhere, especially inside the apple. All edges need to softly change from one tone to the next.

STEP 6

Once you have the first shadow coming down and around, go to the base of the apple on the left side and bring the shadow up and along the base going right.

PLEASE KEEP REFERRING TO THE PHOTO DURING THE ENTIRE DRAWING PROCESS. DON’T JUST TAKE MY WORD FOR IT-- BECAUSE I’M NOT PERFECT, BUT YOUR PHOTO WON’T LIE.

STEP 7

Now go to the far right side, Just along the edge, start your shading at about a 7 then as you shade left into the apple, change your shades to a 6, then 5, etc. Curve a shadow around the base, watching out for that cool reflected light on the bottom right.

STEP 8

Isn’t it looking pretty?

Go back and smooth any places that are rough and add more tone if needed. Shade in your stem. Notice that the outside lines are dark, going lighter in the center of the stem. The top circle of the stem is mostly one shade, about a 4-5.

STEP 9 OPTIONAL: Using a Blending Stump (Blending Stick)

Okay, this step is only if you’d like to. You might just like the look of your apple the way it is. If so, leave it.

But if you’d like to get it ultra smooth, grab your blending stick and let’s go.

Always clean your blending stick out before you start. (Take it to another sheet of scratch paper, and gently rub the top, but NOT on the very tip or it will collapse. Tilt the blending stick slightly so the tip is barely touching, and using the top side, rub away. Roll the blending stick and rub until the entire top edge is clean.)

Now, starting immediately next to your highlights, blend out and away, working your lightest areas first.

WARNING: DO NOT BLEND INSIDE YOUR HIGHLIGHTS.

You can see in this drawing below how I’ve only blended the area around the highlights under the stem.

STEP 10

Keep working your way out with the blending stick, doing all lighter areas first, then working into the darker areas. You will notice that in the lighter areas, the blending stick makes them darker, and in the darker areas, the blending stick steals away a little of the dark.

STEP 11

You may want to use the other end of the blending stick for the darkest areas, as it stains the blending stick and is hard to get out. Go ahead and blend the darkest area of the apple and then the shadow.

STEP 12

Another thing that happens when you use the blending stick is it will smooth out any texturing that happened. You may want a little. The photo shows lines and spots in places. If you like them, go ahead and put them back in with your pencil.

FINAL TIP: Don’t let the edges stay a hard line. Take your blending stick and gently rub the outer edges, pulling away slightly. I call this “FUZZING IT UP”. What this does is creates the illusion that the edge is still going (which it is, since the apple is round). Do this also on the pancake-shaped shadow below.

One thing a hard line does is create an edge, like the edge of the table. Unless it is an edge, always soften or fuzz up your outer lines and make the ‘line’ disappear.

Congratulations! You now know how to shade! Date this picture, sign it, and put it into a page protector in your 3-ring binder for protection.

If it didn’t turn out as good as you wanted it to, you have several options:

1) Give up (not recommended, because I’ll hunt you down and give you 30 lashes with a wet noodle)

2) Get stubborn. Here’s where being stubborn is a virtue. Do the drawing again. It will be better each time you do it. My first apples were pitiful. Trust me! I still do a bad one now and then.

3) Admit you learned something. Come on, you did! And learning is awesome! You WILL get better every single time you draw.

SHOW ME YOUR DRAWING:

I bet you did a great apple, though! In fact, if you have a scanner or a digital camera, I’d love to see it! You can e-mail it to: thewonderfulobsessions@gmail.com. If you’re willing, I’d even love to post it on my blog (please let me know if this is okay and if you want your name with it, or as an anonymous.)

ASSIGNMENT:

As you know, all adults are just blessed with lots of free time (NOT!!). But if you happen to have some and need something to do, pick a simple subject – like a leaf, a rock, etc. – and draw it and shade it. Make sure you use a 10 and a highlight and all the shades in between. Practice really does make perfect!

NEXT WEEK

So, next week, we get to learn to draw FORM. See you soon!