getRealism

Drawing as a Form of Visual Art

• The creative process of drawing
• Comparison of freehand drawing to a meditative practice
• Common contexts of drawing (childhood experiences with simple tools)

Common Drawing Tools

Overview of various drawing instruments

1. Pencils
2. Pens
3. Markers
4. Brushes
5. Charcoal
6. Conte crayons
7. Pastels
8. Crayons
9. Other unconventional tools

The Meditative Nature of Drawing

• Drawing as a process of mindfulness
• The experience of thoughts drifting away and refocusing
• The decision-making involved in the drawing process
• Placement of marks
• Shading techniques
• When to stop or continue

Challenges in Drawing

Frustration as a sign of growth

The importance of tackling difficult subjects for skill refinement

Discussion of realism as a challenging area in drawing

Observational Skills in Realism

The objective

The role of careful observation in creating believable representations

The Flow State in Drawing

Flow state and peak performance - drawing

Immersion in the drawing process leading to loss of track of time

Progression in Drawing Skills

Transitioning from simple line drawings to more complex techniques

Introduction of shading to create three-dimensional form

The challenge of moving beyond line drawing to incorporating shading

Understanding Shading

Explanation of shading and its purpose

The impact of light and dark on depicting form and texture

Shading Techniques

Overview of different shading methods

Cross-hatching

Filling areas

Blending

Steps for Effective Shading

Detailed steps for shading in a drawing:

1. Study the object and identify shadows
2. Determine and sketch shadow shapes
3. Lightly fill in shadow shapes with attention to variations
4. Observe and blend as needed
5. Build shading gradually from light to dark

Drawing Techniques

Importance of Line Variation

1. Use of curved lines for shading
2. Straight lines to convey direction

Understanding Perspective in Drawing

Basic Principles of Perspective

• Creating the illusion of space and depth
• Objects appearing smaller with distance

Tools for Drawing in Perspective

• Perspective lines
• Vanishing points

Incorporating New Elements

• Identifying converging parallel lines
• Adding objects like tabletops and window sills

Toning a Drawing

Definition and Purpose of Toning

• Similarity to shading
• Adding depth and dimension

Choosing the Right Drawing Surface

Common Surfaces for Drawing

1. Various types of paper (drawing paper specifics)
• Colors, weights, and textures
• Cold press vs. hot press paper
• Effect of texture on drawing medium application
2. Alternative surfaces (cardboard, wood panels, etc.)

What is Drawing?

Drawing is a form of visual art that involves making marks to create two-dimensional images. It's an act of bringing something into existence from nothing. Freehand drawing feels natural and almost primitive, often resembling a meditative process. Typically, drawing involves making marks on paper with a mark-making instrument. These instruments can range from pencils and pens to charcoal sticks or even your fingers and other objects. Remember drawing with a rock as a child? Have you ever drawn in the dirt with a stick or used a piece of charred wood from a bonfire?

Common drawing tools include pencils, pens, markers, brushes, charcoal, Conte crayons, pastels, crayons, and many more.

Drawing as a Meditative Practice

Drawing can be likened to meditation. While drawing, thoughts may drift by like clouds, and your focus must return to the task at hand repeatedly. Drawing involves a series of decisions: determining where to place each mark, how lightly or darkly to shade, and deciding when a drawing is finished or ready for more work. This process grounds you in the present moment.

Embracing Frustration

Drawing can sometimes be frustrating. If you feel this frustration, it may signal growth, indicating that the challenge is pushing you to develop your skills. Tackling difficult subjects offers an excellent opportunity to refine your abilities. Realism is a challenging and often difficult subject.

Drawing Realism

Drawing realism requires careful observation. The objective is to create a believable copy of the natural world.

The Flow State in Drawing

Refining your skills can lead to a flow state, or peak performance state, where you lose track of time and become deeply absorbed in your work.

Transitioning from Line Drawing to Shading

As you improve, you may need to progress from simple line drawings to adding shading, which creates the illusion of three-dimensional form. Contour drawing is a specific type of line drawing that involves outlining objects. However, it can be easy to get stuck at the line drawing stage, and transitioning to shading can feel intimidating.

Shading Artwork

Shading in drawing involves analyzing light and dark areas to depict the form accurately. It describes how light interacts with an object and indicates the location and intensity of the light source. Shading can also convey the texture of surfaces.

There are various techniques for shading, including cross-hatching, filling in areas, and blending when necessary.

How to Shade

To effectively shade a drawing, follow these steps:

1. Study the object, allowing your gaze to relax and come to rest on the shadows.
2. Determine the shape of each shadow and sketch that shape onto your drawing.
3. Lightly fill in the shadow shapes, looking for variations and gradations as the values shift.
4. Copy what you observe, and blend only where necessary. Blending can soften the edges where light meets shadow, creating smooth mid-tones.
5. Build up your shading in layers, gradually moving from light to dark.

Using curved lines for shading can illustrate contours, while straight lines can convey direction.

Perspective Drawing

Simple techniques for drawing in perspective can help create the illusion of space and depth in your artwork. When drawing in perspective, objects should appear smaller as they get further away. Using perspective lines and vanishing points can assist in positioning objects within a composition, helping to establish the illusion of space between the foreground and background.

New objects, such as tabletops and window sills, can be incorporated into a composition by finding the point where existing parallel lines converge. This point can be used as the vanishing point for adding new elements like tabletops, ledges, windows, or other lines. Perspective techniques can range from simple to complex.

Toning a Drawing

Toning a drawing is similar to shading and helps to add depth and dimension.

Drawing Surfaces

Drawings are most commonly created on paper, though almost any surface can work well if it is compatible with the chosen drawing medium.

Drawing paper comes in a variety of colors, weights, and textures, including cold-press and hot-press papers. Cold press papers typically have more texture. Hot press paper is typically a smoother paper. A paper's texture is often referred to as its "tooth." A coarse texture holds more of the drawing medium, such as charcoal or pastel, on the paper’s surface, and a rough texture helps prevent chalky mediums from dusting off. The texture of a paper affects the application ease and drawing outcome.

Drawings can be made on various surfaces, including paper, cardboard, cardstock, wood panels, vellum, canvas, leather, fabric, cave walls, and more.

While drawing is primarily considered an artistic pursuit, it is also used in architecture, engineering, and many other fields.