DR - Drawing What You See (Lesson)

Drawing What You See 

In the last module, you created an artwork that concentrated on types of lines and varied values to create emphasis in a pen and ink drawing. In this module, you will learn more deeply about the process of learning how to draw and will apply more elements and principles to your artwork.   You will specifically work with the elements of value, shape, and form in this module. Learning to draw is a series of simple tricks and steps that anyone can learn. People begin learning to draw with different levels of natural ability, but with practice, anyone can create successful drawings.   Your final project will be a still life of geometric forms like the ones shown. Geometric forms are used as subject matter in drawing classes because they make up everything you see and would want to draw. For example, an ice-cream cone is made up of a cone and a sphere.

When you learn to play a sport you typically will complete a series of drills that teach specific skills that apply to that sport. Football players learn to throw the ball, soccer players run laps to improve lung capacity to be able to play for 90 consecutive minutes. In tennis, a drill could be practicing hitting balls at the mid-court or backline to improve your volley or backhand. Your coach will create drills that improve your skills in order to be successful. Drawing teachers have a series of drills that improve skills in the same way. By themselves, the drills may not seem like a completed artwork or like they are making a difference, but when you complete the series you will see a significant increase in your skill level. The first series of drills will teach your hand and eye to coordinate together and are called contour drawings. The second drill teaches you how to use perspective to turn shapes into forms. The final series of drills shows how to create value, set up a still life, create proper lighting and draw in the imitationalism aesthetic viewpoint.   This module has many assignments and will be one of the longest of this course, so expect to spend several hours on each activity.