Drawing Fundamentals 1: Basic Illustration Skills & Sketching Accurately | Ethan Nguyen | Skillshare
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Drawing Fundamentals 1: Basic Illustration Skills & Sketching Accurately

teacher avatar Ethan Nguyen, Portrait Artist & Art Instructor

Watch this class and thousands more

Get unlimited access to every class
Taught by industry leaders & working professionals
Topics include illustration, design, photography, and more

Watch this class and thousands more

Get unlimited access to every class
Taught by industry leaders & working professionals
Topics include illustration, design, photography, and more

Lessons in This Class

    • 1.

      Class Trailer

      2:11

    • 2.

      Setting Up Your Workspace

      5:29

    • 3.

      How to Sharpen Your Pencil

      3:46

    • 4.

      How to Hold Your Pencil

      5:48

    • 5.

      How to Control Your Pencil

      2:19

    • 6.

      Circle & Ellipse Exercise

      3:36

    • 7.

      Run the Track Exercise

      4:24

    • 8.

      Line Quality Exercise

      3:41

    • 9.

      Connect the Dots Exercise

      3:27

    • 10.

      Observational & Constructive Drawing

      4:14

    • 11.

      Sight Size & Comparative Measurement

      3:41

    • 12.

      How to See & Draw Accurately

      7:39

    • 13.

      Measuring Angles

      3:21

    • 14.

      Triangle Drawing Exercise

      11:57

    • 15.

      Measuring Distances & Proportions

      5:50

    • 16.

      Polygon Drawing Exercise

      13:20

    • 17.

      3D Shape Exercise 1

      4:02

    • 18.

      3D Shape Exercise 2

      4:52

    • 19.

      3D Shape Exercise 3

      5:21

    • 20.

      3D Shape Exercise 4

      5:40

    • 21.

      Bargue Drawings & Grid Method

      2:34

    • 22.

      Eye Drawing Exercise 1

      9:55

    • 23.

      Eye Drawing Exercise 2

      6:53

    • 24.

      Eye Drawing Exercise 3

      5:00

    • 25.

      Nose & Mouth Drawing Exercise 1

      8:00

    • 26.

      Nose & Mouth Drawing Exercise 2

      6:22

    • 27.

      Nose & Mouth Drawing Exercise 3

      7:52

    • 28.

      Face Drawing Exercise 1

      18:33

    • 29.

      Face Drawing Exercise 2

      14:51

    • 30.

      How Important is Accuracy?

      1:27

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About This Class

Do you want to learn how to draw but don't know where to begin?

In this 1st part of the Drawing Fundamentals Made Simple series, you going to learn all the foundational skills you'll need to be successful at drawing.

Here are some of the things you'll learn in this course:

- How to set up your workspace for optimal drawing success.

- How to hold and control your pencil to create smooth, clean lines.

- The most common mistakes beginning artists make and how to avoid them.

- How to measure angles and use them to draw anything accurately!

- How to spot proportional errors in your drawing and fix them.

- How to use a variety of lines and marks to create dynamic drawings!

- And a whole lot more!

We'll begin with showing you how to properly set up your workspace. This will not only make it easier and fun for you to practice, but it'll also help you avoid postural problems as well as make your artworks better…

Next, you'll learn how to properly hold and control your pencil. This might seem really simple, but many of the most common problems plaguing new artist stem from not knowing how to properly control the pencil.

By mastering this aspect from the beginning, you'll be able to improve much more quickly.

Then you'll be given simple, fun exercises with printable worksheets that will help you draw smooth, clean lines and curves.

Once your hand dexterity has improved, you'll learn the measuring skills that every artist need. You'll discover how to measure angles and distances to make your drawings accurate and proportional.

Then we'll go through step-by-step exercises that will help you master these concepts. We'll begin with drawing simple 2D shapes and then progress to 3D objects.

By the end of this course, you'll have a firm grasp of how to measure what you see in order to draw anything accurately.

This course is designed for the complete beginner, so even if you've never picked up a pencil before, you'll be able to follow along without being overwhelmed.

If you're a beginner who wants to learn the fundamentals skills of drawing so you can jump-start your artistic career the right way, then this course is for you!

This course is part of the Drawing Fundamentals Made Simple Series.

Be sure to check out the other courses in the series so you don't miss out on any important skills:

Special Thanks

Everything I know I’ve learned from someone else. And this course is a combination of my personal experience & the things I’ve learned from all my teachers.

So, before we begin, I’d like to give a special "Thank you!" to all the amazing artists whose works and teachings helped made this course possible.

The list (in no particular order) includes, but is not limited to:

Charles Bargue
David Jamieson
Brent Eviston
Scott Robertson
Stan Prokopenko
Jeff Watts
Andrew Loomis
And many more…

Meet Your Teacher

Teacher Profile Image

Ethan Nguyen

Portrait Artist & Art Instructor

Teacher

I am a professional artist and teacher and have taught thousands of students how to draw the head and figure through my courses and online videos. 

My strength as a teacher comes from my ability to deconstruct complex subjects into manageable concepts. And my attention to detail helps me to explain these concepts in a way that is very approachable to students.  

In order to make sure my courses contain the best available information, I am constantly researching, studying, and training to improve my artistic skills. 

See full profile

Level: Beginner

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Transcripts

1. Class Trailer: Do you want to learn how to draw but don't know where to begin? Hi, my name's Ethan Win. I'm a professional artist and teacher, and my online courses has helped tens of thousands of students from all over the world improve the drawing. And in this first course of the drawing, fundamentals made simple Siri's. They're going to learn all the foundational skills you need to be successful. Withdrawing. We'll begin with the absolute essentials, like how to suck your workspace, how to properly hold and control your pencil, how to create smooth lines and curves and so on. These things might seem really simple, but many of the most common problems plaguing new artists stems from not knowing these fundamentals. By mastering these aspects from the beginning, you'll be able to improve much more quickly. Accompanying the lessons are fun exercises where principal worksheets that will help you to put these concepts into practice. Once your hand dexterity has improved, you'll learn the measuring skills that every artist need. You'll discover how to measure angles and distances to make your drugs accurate and proportional. Then we'll go through step by step exercises that will help you master these concepts will begin withdrawing simple two D shapes and gradually evolved into more complex subjects. For this will be working with the classical drawings of Charge Bar. The's famous bar drawings have been used to train artists for hundreds of years and in this course will be using them to learn skills like accurate measurement shaped design and simplifications of form. By the end of this course, you'll have a firm grasp of how to measure what you see in order to draw anything accurately. This course was designed for the complete beginner. So even if you never picked up a pencil before, you'll be able to follow along without getting overwhelmed. So if you're a beginner who wants to learn the fundamental skills a drawing so you can jump start your artistic career the right way, then this course is for you. So I hope you found this video helpful, and I'll see you on the inside 2. Setting Up Your Workspace: Before we get started, let's talk about how to set up a workspace. Drying. It's a skill that requires many, many hours of practice. And unless you have a comfortable workspace, you're not going to be motivated to put in the time it takes to get better. In addition, a good setup can help improve your Partial Health, as well as allow you to draw better, as we'll see in a minute. Many artists begin by simply drawing on a flat table. This is fine in the beginning, but for the long run is not ideal. For one is very bad for your posture. Being hunched over a table like this for hours IN puts a lot of stress on your neck and back. If you're young, you can probably get away with it for a while. But eventually you have a decent chance of developing back pain. Secondly, because the drawing surface is flat, unless you're head is hovering over the drawing, you're always looking at it from an angle. This causes it to appear distorted and your accuracy will suffer. Ideally, you want the drawing surface to be perpendicular to your eyes so that you're looking straight at it without any distortion. So let's go over the various ways to accomplish this. The easiest way is to just use a drawing board is just a wooden board that you can clip. You're drawing paper to sit in a chair and lean the drawing board against the table to keep it somewhat vertical. And you can adjust it to your comfort level. Even if you don't have a table, you can use a chair to lean the board against. Or simplest still, you can just turn your own chair around and use the backgrounds to support the drawing board. And this is similar to the drying horse head up. That's often news in many art classes. By the way, make sure you pad your drawing with plenty of underneath or you're going to get a lot of grainy texture when you try to draw. Another option is to use a decimal. The decimal allows you to adjust the tilt of the drawing surface by loosening or tightening knobs in the back. You can also adjust the opening of the easel to accommodate different size drawing boards. You can also just use a light wooden board that you can get at any hardware store and tape you're drawing paper onto it. If you find that the drawing board wobbles, just take some tissue paper, fold them into pads, and tape them to the easier like this that will stabilize the board and fix the problem. The DES iso allows for more stability than the previous options, but it's less mobile and can be a bit cumbersome. If you don't have a dedicated workspace. You can set this up in front of your TV or computer, or use a bunch of cardboard boxes to prop up a laptop behind the easel and use it to look at references or watch drawing courses. There are so full size Esau's that will allow you to work standing up. When drawing. It's really important to be able to lean back or step away from your drawing so you can look at it from afar. This gives you a fresh perspective and allows you to see mistakes that you normally would miss. You should do this as often as you're drawing. So wherever you decide to work, make sure you have a decent amount of room behind you. Now, my own personal setup is to use an articulating metal arm as my easel. These arms can be screwed or clamped to a sturdy desk. And then normally used to hold TVs or computer monitors. Many digital artists use them to hold their drawing tablet because it allows for a huge amount of flexibility. You can use it to work sitting down or standing up. And you can also screw it to a wooden board and use it for traditional art. When working, I can just take my drawing paper to it, or I can clap my sketchbooks or even a whole drawing board to it. I've also velcroed a pencil holder to the board, which can then hoard my pencils and brushes. I will include links to all these recommended materials in the supply lists you can download. Now the beautiful thing about this setup is that it's extremely adjustable. I can tilt the board to almost horizontal or perfectly vertical, and I can even rotate it. I've also used the arm to hoard my computer so I can use it for references or watching tutorials. It's also great for tight spaces since you can swivel the arm out of the way and it doesn't take up much space. Now this setup is pretty expensive, so don't rush into it. There are many different ways to set up your workspace. And I just wanted to give you an idea of what's possible. For now, just start with the simplest setup so you can start practicing and see how it goes. 3. How to Sharpen Your Pencil: we all know how pencils and normally sharpen. But have you ever wondered why artists sharpen the pencil in this weird way? I always thought they were just trying to be cool and different. What, it turns out, there's actually a really good reason to sharpen your pencil this way. See, with a normally sharpened pencil, you can really only use the tip, but with an artist pencil, not only can you use the tip, but you can also use the side of the pencil to create. All kinds of interesting marks will go into details about how to hold and control the pencil later. For now, let me show you how to sharpen your pencil. To look like this, you need an Exacto knife. You can also use a utility knife or one of these razors that you can purchase for really cheap. Hold the pencil in one hand, like so. Hold the Exacto knife or razor in the other hand with the blade facing away from you. Then use your thumb to push the blade forward while pulling the pencil back slightly. Just be careful not to cut yourself, and obviously you want to do this over a trash can. As you get closer and closer to the lead, try to only take off a thin layer of wood at the time so you don't risk going too far in and cutting a chunk off the lead. The lead is very vulnerable to breaking at this point, so be very gentle. Every once in a while, pencil will break on you. It's always tragic. Women's happened, but that's okay. Just wipe off your tears, move on and try to be more careful next time. By the way, every time you drop a pence on the ground, the impact will weaken. Oh, crack the lead core so that when you try to sharpen it, I will keep breaking on you. Once a pencil has been dropped a few times, I won't while they're trying to sharpen it in this way anymore. Instead, I just used the regular sharpener and draw with the tip of the pencil. Also, the software a pencil is, the more easily it will break. So be careful when sharpening charcoal or pastel pencils. You want to keep going until you have about an inch of exposed lead, and that's a smooth taper from the wood to the lead. Carefully scrape off any glue that's on the pencil. Now that the lettuce exposed, we can use sandpaper to foul down the tip even further. I like to use regular sandpaper that you can pick up at the hardware store sandpaper, a categorize according to grit numbers. The higher the grit numbers, the smoother. The sandpaper Hi grit paper will give you a smooth pencil, but sharpening can take a long time. Low grade number will sharpen very quickly, but we'll leave a rough surface on the pencil. I like to use the rough paper about 160 grid to foul down the pencil quickly and then use the smooth paper about 222 grit to finish it off. The really important thing is to rotate the pencil frequently to keep things even. Be careful not to push too hard as you can break the lead. And, of course, keep the pencil flat against the paper so you can create a nice, pointy tip. Once finished, wipe off the excess powder and the pencil is good to go using sandpaper. You can actually get the tip much sharper than with a traditional sharpener. You can do this for all types of councils, from charcoal to graphite to color, pencils and pastels and even would lis pencils. Now, of course, if you plan on only using the tip of the pencil, then there's no need to sharpen it in this way, and a hand or electric sharpener will be fine. But hopefully now you know why and how. Artist sharpen the pencils this way. Go ahead and try this out for yourself. Just be careful not to cut yourself, and I'll see you in the next lesson. 4. How to Hold Your Pencil: In order to draw well, we first have to learn how to hold and control our pencil effectively their two main ways to hold a pencil, the writing grip and the overhand grip. Most of us are familiar with the writing grip, which we use when we right. It involves using your thumb index and middle finger to manipulate the pencil because you're using three fingers to hold the pencil. This grip is also sometimes called the tripod. Grip. Those grip exclusively used the tip of the pencil to make marks on the paper. The benefit of this grip is that it allows you to use your wrists and fingers to control the pencil, which gives you a lot of precision. This can be seen in our everyday handwriting. Were able to make very small and intricate letters using this grip for drawing. I like to use this great when working on fine details. You can adjust the amount of pressure and precision you have by changing where you hold the pencil. When you hold the pencil closer to the tip, you'll get much more precision in your line work, as well as increasing the pressure and darkness of the lines. When you move the grip back towards the end of the pencil, the pressure you exert will be much less, and your lines will be lighter. Although you lose some precision, you'll be able to make smoother and more gestural lines with the overhand grip. You hold the pencil similar to how you would hold a candle with the tip pointing upward and the pencil resting lightly in your palm. You're mostly controlling the pencil with the thumb index and middle finger. The ring and pinky finger can be used to further secure the pencil or stable as your hand, as is gliding over the drawing paper. It's important not to rescue a hand too much on the drawing paper, as this will prevent it from being able to move smoothly. But at the same time, don't hover your hand above the paper as you won't have a lot of stability and your shoulder will get tired very quickly. A light amount of contact with your fingers for stability and comfort will be best with the overhand grip. You can either have your palm facing up to the side or down when drawing. I like to use all variations Unlike the writing grip, which only employs the tip of the pencil, the overhand grip allows you to use a tip as well as the side of the pencil. When using the side, you can control how much the pencil makes contact with the paper to adjust the line. Wait, for example, hold the pencil flat against the paper to create broad lines. This is great for shading large areas. Tilt the pencil more on his tip to make the line a little bit thinner. For really thin lines, you can use just the tip of the pencil or dragged the pencil along its edge. Dragging the pencil to create thin lines like this will feel really awkward at first, but the big benefit is that biotin ating Between using these side and dragging the pencil, you can seamlessly switch back and forth between thick and thin lines, allowing you to create very dynamic marks. Yes, you develop. You'll find that you can make all kinds of interesting lines using the overhand grip. This is one of the key to how artists are able to make such dynamic drawings using justice . Single pencil Realistic shading will also be a lot easier as you can quickly go back and forth between hard edges and soft edges. There are so many variations to the overhand grip. Some artists like to choke up on the very tip of the pencil to get really tight control. When doing really dark shading, you can support the tip with your finger so it doesn't break is easily. You can also dragged the pencil back and forth to create a lot of sharp zigzag lines. This is great for rendering hair quickly with the overhand grip there many interesting possibilities. Many beginning artists find the overhand grip to be very awkward. And they would ask, Do I really have to draw with his grip? Can't I just stick to the writing grip that I'm used to? My answer is absolutely. You can use whatever group you feel comfortable with. There many professional artists who use only the writing grip and they produce amazing works. However, I would encourage you to give the overhang grip a try. I hate it using this group at first, but once I got used to it, I found it open up a lot of possibilities in my artworks. So to recap, the writing grip used the tip of the pencil and is great for precision and detailed works. The overhand grip use the side of the pencil as well as a tip and is great for big gestural lines as well as creating a lot of dynamic marks. For now, your assignment is to play around with ease to grips and noticed their strengths and weaknesses. Use a large piece of paper so you have plenty of room to play around. Explore all the different types of marks you can make. Try changing the direction of the pencil to go from thick to thin lines. Try filling in large area with a flat tone or pattern. Try making zigzags or thin lines. Just have fun and explore all the different things you can do with the pencil, and I'll see you in the next lesson. 5. How to Control Your Pencil: Now that you know the different ways to grip your pencil, let's talk about how to control your pencil. Most of us grew up using the writing grip and controlling the pencil without wrists and fingers. Where most people begin drawing, they naturally try to draw the same way they write, using the wrists and fingers. This tends to lead to scratchy and messy drawings and is a huge problem for beginning artists. This is because while the wrists and fingers a great for small, precise marks, it's very bad for big fluid lines, and a drawing is much bigger than a bunch of letters. So in order to draw effectively, we also have to incorporate the elbow and shoulder. For example, notice how I'm able to write effortlessly with my wrists and fingers, and I can even draw quite well as long as it's very small. But as soon as the shapes become bigger, my lines get very wobbly to draw the big shapes effectively. I'll have to use my shoulder, which has a lot more range of motion. Notice how the wrists and fingers are still and it's my shoulder that's moving the arm. This makes strong, big circles and fluid lines much easier for drawing lines. Oh, pivot my elbow and incorporate a little bit off the shoulder movement as well. Now you might be wondering what is the relationship between the writing and overhand grip and drawing with the wrist and shoulder? First of all, you can draw your entire arm using both the writing and overhand grip. Without said, the writing grip will tend to utilize the wrists and fingers more, and the overhang grip will tend to utilize the elbow and shoulder more as a general rule. When you first started drawing, you want to use the overhand grip and draw with your elbow and shoulder. This will allow you to capture the big shapes and overall proportions, as well as captured the big gesture of the subject later in the drawing. Once you're ready to hone in on the details, you can switch to the writing grip and draw more where your wrists and fingers. But of course, this is instead of stone, and you should switch back and forth between the two groups as the situation demands. Now let's go through some exercises that will teach you to draw what your shoulder 6. Circle & Ellipse Exercise: one of the best way to learn to draw from your shoulder is to practice making circles and ellipses. Unless you want to draw scratches circles that consists of a bunch of short strokes. You can't just use your risk. As a result, circles and ellipses force you to draw your shoulder that also an extremely important part of drawing. Almost everything we draw involved these shapes, so it's a good idea to learn how to draw them well. Three. Assignment is very simple. Relax your arm and make a circular movement focusing on moving from your shoulder. Noticed that my wrists and fingers a fix and most of the movement is coming from my shoulder and a little bit from the elbow. Lightly touch your pencil to the paper and do your best to trace out a perfect circle. The first few revolutions might be a little wobbly, but as you course correct, you'll be able to get closer and closer to a round circle, keeping the lines very, very light in the beginning. While you're still finding your groove is key, you want to move at a moderate pace, not so slow that your lines get wobbly and not too fast that you lose accuracy. Also, you don't want to rest your hand too heavily on the paper is that will prevent smooth motion at the same time. Don't hover over the paper as you won't have any stability. A light amount of contact is best. Once finished, we can check to see if the heightening with of the same to see if we need to make any adjustment on the next ones. If you're having trouble getting the shape right, I've create a practice sheet you can use trace over the dotted circles to teach your hand the muscle memory for drawing a perfect circle. They're different sizes you can practice with. You'll find that the largest circles and more challenging and requires you to use your shoulder even more after working with that for a while, go back and draw freehand and see if your circles improved. Try practicing. Would both the writing grip and the overhand grip what you're comfortable with Circles practice drawing lips is the process is the same. Try drawing them freehand first, and then, if you're having trouble, use a worksheet to help you get used to what are perfect lips looks like you can practice drying them at various degrees of roundness. You can also practice strong in them at different angles. This will help train your shoulder to move in more versatile ways. Once you feel more comfortable, you can also try drawing in one smooth motion. See how much better these looks compared to the scratchy wrist only versions? I'm often asked, How long should I be doing these exercises? My answer is only do them for as long as they're useful. The best way to get good at something is to practice doing that very thing. If you want to get good at portrait drawing, then draw a lot of portrait. It's if you want to get good at figure drawing, then draw a lot of figures. But for many people, starting out thes subjects might be too difficult in overwhelming. In those cases, simple exercises are a great way to gradually develop your hand eye coordination and learn basic skills. I have tried to create a progression of exercises that will Combinator all skill levels if you're a little bit more vans and feel that an exercise is too easy or if you feel like you have gotten what the exercise has to offer. Go ahead and move onto the next one. We definitely don't want to be spending all day doing exercises if we don't have to, So I hope that clears up that question. Now. Print out the worksheet, give this exercise ago, and I'll see you in the next lesson. 7. Run the Track Exercise: now that you're more familiar with circling ellipses or increase the difficulty a little bit. This is an exercise I learned from Matt Ojiambo, and it's called Running the Track. The idea is simple. You draw out a path with your pencil and then retrace the path while staying on track as much as possible. This is a great exercise to train you to draw your whole arm, because your shoulder and hand has to work together to keep your movement fluid. You can do this exercise with an angler, do a magic shape or an abstract, curvy shape. Try doing this exercise using both the writing and the overhand grip. If you find that your shoulder get a little tired after a while, that's pretty normal. The muscle in your shoulder may not be used to moving this way. Take breaks wouldn't have to, and your endurance will build up over time. There are also things you can add that will make this more challenging. For example, once you feel comfortable going one direction, try reversing it and go the other way. You can also change the pressure you apply in order to develop your pressure sensitivity, for example, out designate a segment of this shape is the light area, and whenever my pencil goes over it, I would decrease the pressure to keep the lines light. Once I'm out of the area, I'll increase the pressure again. Being able to modulate the pressure you put on your pencil is an extremely important skill in drawing a very common beginning. Mistake is to be very heavy handed with the pencil, where every line you put down a super dark. This gives you very little margin of errors because every mistake you make is very noticeable. And, of course, beginners tend to make a lot of mistakes so that drawings get really messy really fast. The best way to fix this is to keep your initial lines really light. The lighter you keep your lines, the more mistakes you can make without it being noticeable. Of course, being able to keep your lines light does require certain amount of dexterity Much. This exercise will help develop, so I highly recommend you spend some time working with it. Furthermore, as you get more advance and drawing, the ability to smoothly go back and forth between dark and light lines will become Even more important, it will help you create smooth transitions when during realistic shading, and it will help you to make your quick sketches more dynamic. So, yeah, precious sensitivity is definitely a skill you want to develop, so that's pretty much the idea behind the exercise. Now, if you get bored with the more simple patterns, here's a few more challenging ones you can try. I learned these from the drawing Journey YouTube channel. Start with a circle, then break off and form a bigger circle next to it, then form another circle next to it, and so on your hand will move in a sort of figure eight pattern. Once you reach the end, you'll have to circle back around. And you can just keep going over this track in any pattern you want, as long as you stay on the line and don't lift up your pencil. Another pattern I like is these looping shapes. Start with two small ones, followed by two big ones, and then alternate back and forth again. Once you reach the end, turn around and go backward. You might find that with the smaller shapes you're using a little bit more risk movement, and with the bigger shapes, these shoulder dominates more again. This exercise teaches you to draw with your whole arm, and you can also incorporate precious sensitivity as well. I've kept the lines light during the vertical portions and dark during the diagonal portions. Now, these patterns can be very challenging, especially with all the modifications that we can add. So don't feel like you need to spend days mastering them before you can move on. Just do them until you're reasonably comfortable with your shoulder movement. You can always come back to these exercises as part of your future warmups. Okay, have fun with these exercises, maybe even come up with some of your own patterns, and I'll see you in the next lesson. 8. Line Quality Exercise: Obviously, the ability to draw straight clean lines is extremely important in art. Unfortunately, as mentioned before, one of the biggest problem plaguing new artists is messy line quality. To be clear, I'm not talking about the stylized messiness that certain artists used to great effect. I actually love this style of loose drawing. These lines are connected, rhythmic and purposeful. What we don't want of the disjointed, scratchy lines. One reason for this is the tendency to draw too much with the risk rather than the whole arm, particularly the shoulder. We address this issue in the previous lessons. The other reason is the tendency to be too heavy handed. We address this with the precious sensitivity exercise, and the last reason is that most beginners just not used to connecting their lines in a seamless way. So we're going to work on that in this exercise. Suppose you need to go from point A to B, using several lines. The wrong way would be to do this. The lines don't connect, and we get a messy drawing. The much better way is to connect the line seamlessly so that the appears one now. In order to do that we have to be able to taper out strokes. Here's what a normal stroke looks like. Here's what a tapered stroke looks like. Notice how the first line has an abrupt start and stop, whereas the second line has a smooth fade in and out. This makes it much easier to seamlessly connect multiple lines together without the overlapping parts standing out the tape would line also looks more attractive when doing shading the varied line. Weight will give you a drawing more interests, and it's also grateful, rendering hair and a variety of other things to practice, making the tape of stroke. Think of your pencil as the Nam plane that softly lands on a runway and then gradually takes off again. So you want a light amount of pressure in the beginning of the stroke, more pressure during the middle and then a light pressure again towards the end practice, making the stroke over and over again at various angles until you're comfortable with it. You'll probably find it helpful to use mostly the elbow and shoulder with a little bit of risk movement to modulate the pressure When doing a curve stroke, you want to pivot at the wrists. Once you're able to make this show, consistently practice connecting them together to create one seamless line. Once you're comfortable with straight lines, try doing it with curves. Draw, see curves and S curves and try to make them as smooth as possible. Sometimes you might get pretty close, but the lines are just a bit off. That's OK. What you don't want a lines that at different angles from each other's and obviously don't match. Being able to do this consistently will allow you to draw complex lines and shapes while making it seem like you did it in one effortless stroke. This is a really simple exercise, but it's important to get into the habit of creating clean lines from the very beginning. Okay, have fun with these exercises, and I'll see you in the next lesson. 9. Connect the Dots Exercise: now that you know have to draw clean lines. Here's another exercise to help further develop your hand eye coordination. This one is called the Connect the Dots exercise. Start by putting a bunch of dots randomly throughout the paper, then connect any two dots using a straight line that many ways of doing this. So I encourage you to play around and find the one that works best for you. But here's the method that I find most helpful. Rather than just jumping in with a bunch of attempts, which could result in a messy line. Start by practising the stroke without actually touching the pencil to paper. Really pretend as if you're drawing the line except without making contact with the paper. Remember to draw your entire arm here. I'm using mostly my elbow and shoulder. Once you're comfortable, very lightly touched the pencil to paper. The line you produce should be super light and barely visible. Chances are the 1st 3 lines will be a bit off. Just try again until you're able to hit the mark a few times by keeping the lines light. You could make more mistake without messing up the drawing. Then, once you're confident you got the stroke down. Apply more pressure with the pencil and commit to a dark online. Hopefully, this line will be right on the mark, but if not, that's OK. Just keep practicing. You can also go over lines to clean them up and make them stand out more. This will further develop your hand dexterity. Once you've connected all the dots in every possible way, just make a few more dots and keep going until you fill up the page. As you get better and better at this, you'll spend last time ghosting the lines and can commit to a darker line sooner. Also, notice how the ends of the lines are tapered. You'll probably notice that certain angle is a much more comfortable than others. That's normal. Most right handed people find it most natural to go from lower left to upper right. Try practicing other angles as well. It's good to be able to draw a line from all angles, but if you want to, you can also turn the paper and use your natural stroke. Lots of professional artists turn their paper, so there's nothing wrong with it. The speed can also make a difference. Going to slow could cost the line to wobble. Going too fast might give you a really straight line, but you couldn't miss the mark entirely. Play around and find that sweet spot between accuracy and straightness. If you find that it starts to get too easy, challenge yourself by placing the dots further apart. You can still try to connect them with one long line. Or, if you need to use multiple lines, remember to tie them together into one smooth line as much as possible. Once you feel comfortable with straight lines, try connecting the dots. Would curves. Here is even more important to make very light lines at first to plan out your path and only apply more pressure once you feel more confident and try using both the writing and overhand grip again. Remember to draw what your shoulder to keep the lines more fluid. And once you got the hang of connecting two dots, try connecting three dots. Now that's a challenge. This exercise would develop skills that would not only be useful in your general drawing, but once you get into perspective drawing, you'll be using this exact skill to draw mirror curves in perspective. So have fun with this exercise, and I'll see you in the next lesson 10. Observational & Constructive Drawing: most beginning artists have probably heard the advice. You should only draw what you see, but at the same time they've also heard the advice toe only draw what you know. So what is this all about? Well, there are two main types of approaches to drawing. Observational drawing and constructive drawing. Observation of drawing is when you draw from a reference either a photograph or a live model, and you're using measuring techniques to replicate the reference on your paper. This is the draw. What you see School of thought. Here, you can see the artist using her tool to carefully measure the angles and transfer them over to the drawing. In this style of drawing, there's a lot of emphasis on matching the angles and proportions exactly a scene in the reference within observation. Withdrawing There are two ways of working site side. Where you're drawing is the same size as your reference and comparative measurement. Where you're drawing is at a different size from the reference. Constructive drawing is when you're drawing from memory or imagination and you're constructing the subject using geometric shapes rather than copying a reference, you're building the subject from scratch here the artist is simplifying the different body parts into boxes and cylinders. Once he has to pose and the perspective worked out, he can go over the drawing again and work out the smaller details. You could also use constructive drawing when working from a reference as well. But rather than measuring angles and distances toe help withdraw. You focus more on building the form using simple shapes and then gradually refined the details. You can still measure angles and make observations from the reference, but is not the bulk of your attention. As you can probably guess. Constructive drawing requires you to have some knowledge of perspective and understanding of the form that you're drawing. This is the draw, what you know, school of thought. Here's another example where the artist is using the Loomis method to construct ahead out of simple shapes, s the form of the head become more and more define. He begins to add the smaller details of the features while still constructing them from simple boxes and circles. Observation of drawing tends to be more popular with classical artists who like to create really realistic works, but they will still incorporate some constructive drawing in their process and constructive drawing tends to be more popular with illustrators, animators and comic book artists who have to draw from imagination more. But they may still make observations from reference for inspiration when drawing. Most artists use a mixture of the constructive and observation approach, even though they mailing one way more than another. In my opinion, both approaches of valuable and an important part of your development as an artist, you need to do a lot of observation on drawing in order to sharpen your eyes and build up your visual library. And you need to do constructive drawing to deepen your understanding of the form and train your creativity. So when starting out drawing what you see is a great way to train your eyes to see accurately as you gain more experience and build up your visual library. Yobe A. To shift more towards a constructive draw what you know, approach an experiment withdrawing for imagination in this part of the Siri's will sharpen your observational skills so you can accurately draw whatever you see 11. Sight Size & Comparative Measurement: the two main methods of measurement in art site size and comparative measurements. Insight size. The drawing is kept at the same size as the reference when working from photo. This is simple. Just place the drawing and reference side by side and making the same size. When drawing from life, you would position your canvas next to the model side by side and then adjust your distance from the model, depending on how large you want your drawing to be. If you want your drawing to be bigger, you would move your canvas closer to the model. In this example, the model and canvas are right next to each other. To make your drawing smaller, move the canvas further away from the model. In this case, the artist move far away enough so that the diminished buildings will fit onto the canvas. Once the motto is at the desired size, you can begin the drawing process. This makes measuring much easier because all the angles and distances can be transferred over in a direct 1 to 1 racial. Many traditional art academies teach site size because is a great way to train beginning artist how to see accurately works that are produced in sight size can be astonishingly accurate. However, there are some drawbacks to this method. For one, it could be somewhat limiting. When drawing from photograph, you're restricted to the size of the reference. When drawing from life, you'll have to position yourself in a very particular way relative to the model. This could be an issue if you're working with limited space or in a crowded classroom and can't move wherever you want. In. This course will be using site size in the beginning to help train your eye. But once ready will move on to the comparative measurement method. With comparative measurement, the drawing is able to be of a different size as the reference. This allows for much more flexibility, but it does make a measuring a bit more challenging. You were still measure angles the same way as in sight size. But measuring distances will be a bit more complicated. Rather than making a direct 1 to 1 comparison, you have to observe the ratios within the reference and compare that with your drawing. For example, three or measurement. You noticed that the height of the cylinder is twice the with so in your drawing, you have to be sure to maintain this height toe with ratio. The drawing can be big or small, but as long as you have this ratio, it will be proportionately accurate. The downside of comparative measurement is that it's a bit more difficult and slightly less accurate than site size. The upside is that is a lot more flexible. It trains your eyes to see better, and it better prepares you for drawing from imagination by forcing you to become sensitive to proportional relationships. In my opinion, the pros of competitive measurement far outweighs the cons, and it's my preferred method of worker Harmer. There are many amazing artists producing outstanding works in sight size, and it's also a great way train beginners to see accurately so in this course will be working both methods. 12. How to See & Draw Accurately: you might have heard our teachers talk about the importance of learning to see as an artist or developing an artistic eye. So what exactly does that mean? What is seeing is an artist entails well, there many elements to it. But one big component is being able to see accurately. Seeing accurately means being able to look at an object and replicate on paper without mistake. This may sound simple, but it's harder than you think when most people who don't know how to draw try to do so. They usually end up drawing not what they see, but rather some mental abstraction of what they think things should look like. So how exactly do you see accurately? Well, it boils down to two things. Being able to judge angles and distances of the two angle is definitely more important. Angles, like the star of the show and distance is more of a supporting player. If you can judge angles and distances, you babe to draw anything accurately using a technique call triangulation. Strangulation is a technique that allows you to accurately find any point in your drawing based on the surrounding. For example, suppose I want to draw this triangle using site size, I'll begin by copying any of the edges. Let's go with this one to help me gauge the angle. I can imagine a plumb line, which is just a perfectly vertical line next to the edge and see how much it deviates from this perfect vertical and try to match that angle on my drawing. By the way, this technique of using a perfectly vertical or horizontal line to help you measure is something that we're going to be doing a lot in drawing. And since we're working in sight, size will go ahead and match the distance or length of the line as well. Boy, this gives us point A and B. Okay, this line is now our home base. It helps us to establish the scale of the drawing, and we can triangulate off of this line to find Point C. To do this will match the angle of line BC again. I can imagine a perfectly horizontal line to see how much the edge deviates from it and match that angle in my drawing. This time, I actually don't need to worry about matching the length, since we already established the scale of the drawing with the first edge. As long as our angles are accurate, all the links should fall into place. Now we know the point. C will lie somewhere on this line to find it will use the same processes before to match the angle of line A C. The intersection will give us the precise location of Point C and close out the triangle. Right now, you can probably see why this technique is called triangulation. And as you can see simply by observing the angles and, to a lesser extent, distances, we were able to create an exact match of our reference. Let's try this again, but this time will draw a different scale than our reference, also known as comparative measurement. Again, we can begin by matching the angle of any of the edges. Let's start with Line A B. Now we get to choose how big or small the drawing should be. In this case, let's make it smaller than the reference again. This edge establishes out scale and determines the size of the rest of the drawing. Next will match the angle of line BC again. We know that Point C is somewhere on this line to find it will mash the angle of Line A C and that completes our shape this time by establishing our own scale and then matching on the angles. From the reference, we were able to create a drawing that is at a different sides, yet still perfectly proportional to the reference. Okay, now let's try this again. What is slightly more complex shape? We'll be working in comparative measurement, and we'll start off by matching the angle of one of the edges again will imagine perfectly horizontal and vertical lines that help us gauge the angles. Now we need to establish the scale of the drawing. This time, let's make the drawing slightly bigger than the reference. All right, so here's our home base. Now let's triangulate offer this To find Point C. We'll start by matching the angle of line BC. We know that Point C is somewhere on this line. To find the exact location. We'll have to imagine a lying going from A to C, and if we match the angle of this line in our drawing, the intersection will give us the location of Point C. Next. Less matched the angle of line C D. Now let's find the exact location of Point D. Here we have two choices. We can either imagine a line going from A to D, and if we were to match an angle of that line, it should give us the location appointee. The other option is to imagine a line going from B to D and match its angle. Both methods should give you the exact same result. When drawing, I often use both approaches as a way to double check each other and ensure that I have the most accurate positioning. Next will match the angle of line D E again to find the location of Point E. We have many choices. We can imagine a line going from C T E or B t e. Or better yet, we can match the angle of Line E. This would not only give us the location of Point E, but close out the shape as well. In practice, I would probably use all three methods to ensure maximum accuracy. When I was said and done, we should have a perfectly proportional drawing. But of course, in practice, we would still have to double check our measurements and correct for any mistakes, but I hope this illustrate how triangulation works. The same process of triangulation can help you to draw any kind of subject, including complex Portrait's and figures. This technique is extremely critical to drawing accurately, and every artist I know uses it on some level. I know I can seem really technical now, but don't worry. We'll go through a bunch of exercises to help make the skill intuitive. And trust me, if you do enough practice, it will become intuitive. So with that said, I'll see you in the next lesson. 13. Measuring Angles: Now that you know the importance of measuring angles, let's go over how to actually do it. The most common way to measure angles is with your pencil. You can also use a thin skewer or a knitting needle or anything that's long straight off in . Some artists find these easier to use and all of the more accurate than the pencil. Now hold the pencil up to the motto or reference photo. You can fully extend. The arm will keep it bent. It doesn't matter if you're handshakes, you can stabilize it with the other hand. Then close one eye and align the edge of the pencil with the lying you wish to measure. Then move the pencil over to your drawing and compare the angle. This will allow you to see how accurate your angles are and make any necessary corrections . Of course, you want to be careful not to shift the anger of the pencil while moving in. You might want to go back and forth several times just to make sure you didn't shift the pencil as you were moving it. This is a very popular way to measure angles. It's quick, convenient, and you'll see many artists using it. The problem is, if you have shaking hands and shift the pencil as you're moving it, the technique doesn't work. So here's another method that solves that problem. For this. Instead of using a pencil a skewer, you need a tool that has to movable edges and a stationary pivot point. This can be a divider, a compass, a pair of scissors. Just be careful not to cut yourself or even two pencils that held together by your fingers . Now hold this to up to your reference, just like before. Okay, so one of the edges will be your constant. You want to keep this edge at a perfect vertical or horizontal. You can do this by aligning with the edge of your photo reference. Or, if you're working from a live model, just try to keep the edge as perfectly vertical or hards on toys you can. The constant is what you use toe Orient yourself when moving over to the drawing. Next, align the second edgewood, whichever angle you wish to measure, then moved the divider over to your drawing. As long as you don't move these two edges relative to each other, you can shift or rotate your hand as much as you want, and the anger will still be retained. Align the constant with its respective angle. In this case, that will be the edge of this grid box, and you can then check the accuracy of your drawing. This method takes a bit more time but is very accurate, and for people would really shaking hands. This is the way to go, sometimes finding a perfect vertical or horizontal to uses your constant can be awkward, in which case I'll use an angle that I already established as my constant. If you're going to do this, just make sure that the angle that you're using as a constant is as accurate as possible. Otherwise, you could introduce mistakes into drawing. Now these measuring tools are great, but we don't want to overly rely on them. Instead, we want to use them to help tune our eyes, to see angles more accurately so that we can eventually measure angles without them. And we'll be doing a lot of exercises to help you do just that. So I'll see you in the next lesson. 14. Triangle Drawing Exercise: Okay, so this is an exercise I learned from David Jamieson and is a great way to practice triangulating and measuring angles. Go ahead and print out the worksheet that goes along with this lesson and follow along. We'll be working with the first word sheet of the set as quick. Note. These exercise sheets were designed for a right handed person, So if you're left handed and find that your hand tends to a block, the reference as you're drawing, no need to worry. Just turn the worksheet upside down and you're good to go, in fact, whether you're right or left handed. If you want to get some extra practice in, you can turn the paper upside down or even sideway, and get four times to practice out of every exercise sheets. By the way, I'll be using a colored pencil for this demo, but please feel free to use whatever drawing tool you like. I'm just using the color pencil because it shows up better in camera. We're going to try to draw these triangles as accurately as we can, using the site size and comparative measurement. Let's start by working inside size. These dashed lines will help you to keep the reference and drawing at the same size. So here's the process I want you to use. Start by drawing any one of the edges. Do you best? A. Mash the angle as closely as possible. Most likely you're going to be a bit off. So the next step is to really look at the line you drew and compare it to the reference. You can visualize a plumb line and see how much the angle deviates from it. Or look at the negative space between the reference and the line that you're drawing and make sure the two lines are parallel to each other. I find this method to be the most effective or just constantly look back and forth between the reference and you're drawing into any mistake jumps out at you. Use whichever met that works best for you, but the important thing is to really make an effort to spot the mistake. This process is what's really going to develop your eyes to see more accurately once you feel comfortable that you know what the mistake is. If there's any at all, make a mental note of it or even say it out loud to yourself. For example, you might say this line is too steep or too flat, or it needs to be rotated to laugh. All right, more. Whatever the case may be. In this case, the line looks way too steep, and the top needs to be rotated to the left. Next, use your pencil or divider and check the angle to see if your diagnosis was correct. In this case, I use the horizontal dash line as my constant and allowing one of the edge of the divider with it and align the other edge with the line on measuring. Compare that with the drawing, and sure enough, the top of the line needs to be rotated to the left. If your diagnosis is right, go ahead and correct your mistake and double check to make sure that it is right. In this case, we got a lot closer. But the bottom of the line needs to be rotated to the left a tiny bit If your initial diagnosis was wrong, for example, if you thought the line was perfect, but upon measuring you found that it was actually a bit off. Look closely at the drawing and reference again and really try to see the actual mistake. Get your eyes to become sensitive to win and angers off. And how is off? Once you're able to see this, correct the mistake and then double check to make sure that it's right. Now we can do the same for the second edge. Make your best guess at matching the angle, scrutinised the line and try to spot any mistake. In this case, the line looks pretty close, and I'm having a hard time seeing a mistake. And I used the divided to check, and it seems we were pretty close. But the top of the line needs to be rotated to the right, just a tiny bit, much better. And now, for the last edge, this line looks pretty darn close as well. Now let's check sometimes finding a perfect vertical or horizontal to uses. Your constant can be awkward, in which case I'll use an angle that I already established as my constant. If you're going to do this, just make sure that the angle that you're using as a constant is as accurate as possible. Otherwise, you could introduce mistakes into drawing, and if we did a good job on on the angles. We should end up with a perfect or almost perfect match of the reference. Now, since we're only human, a little bit in the accuracy is to be expected. So don't stress out too much about it. Not being said, go ahead and look over your drawing to see if there's any mistakes that needs fixing. Once you're happy with it, clean up the lines. I like to add some lying weight variations by making certain segments darker and thicker than others. This helps to make the drawing a little bit more interesting. Next, we draw the same triangle again, using comparative measurement in the space below, established the first edge, using the same processes before I was scrutinized the line and try to spot any mistakes. But I'm going to say that there isn't one. Check the angle and it looks good. Now I decide how big or small I want the triangle to be. I'll make this one smaller than the reference onto the second edge. Once again, I'm gonna call it and say, There's no mistake and this one looks good as well. We're on a roll and I don't think there's any mistake with the third edge, either. Okay, it looks pretty good. Maybe the top of the line can be rotated to the left a tiny bit. We can correct for that as we're cleaning up the lines. Lastly, I draw the triangle one more time, but this time bigger than the reference. Okay, I think the line is accurate, but I'm not super confident. Bigger shapes tend to be a little bit more challenging because it's harder to maintain accuracy with longer lines. And yeah, on the bottom. Need to be rotated to the left a bit, since I wasn't able to spot this mistake just with my eyes. Now that I know what the actual mistake is, I'm going to compare the reference and the drawing again until I can discern the mistake for myself. Imagine, your eyes are like bloodhounds and you're giving them the sense of what a mistake looks like. The more you do this, the more finally tune your eyes will become. Once I'm satisfied that my eyes have seen the mistake. Clearly, I'll go ahead and correct it in the drawing and just keep repeating this process until the shape is complete. Okay, let's do another example. I established the first angle. I find it really, How four to look at the negative shape between the two lines. This time I used the pencil to measure the angle. I'll hold the pencil just above the paper and touching the tip of my thumb and index to the paper to stabilize my hand. And the line looks pretty good. Next, I'll do my best estimate the length of this line, and we can check it with the divider. Then I'll draw in the second edge and move back and forth a few times just to make sure my hand in shift, most good and now for the last edge. I didn't think there was a mistake here, but it looks like the bottom needs to be rotated to the laugh a bit. Okay, once again, I draw the smaller version of the try and go down below again. I'm looking at the negative space between the two lines and try to ensure that their parallel to each other, check the angles and correct any mistakes. - Lastly , I'll draw a bigger version of the triangle in the remaining space when determining the length of the first edge. Try to imagine how big the final drawing will be based on that length and make sure that it's gonna fit on the paper. The ability to estimate the size of the final drawing, based on the initial scale and managed that space is actually a very important skill. And it will help you to avoid the very common mistakes of having your drawing run off the page because it's too big. So this is a very good time to start practicing space management skills. Try to be as accurate as you can, but realize that Freehand drawing will never be perfect and some small inaccuracy are acceptable. This exercise will train your eye to become more sensitive toe angles and triangulating. Now I know all these steps can be really tedious, but we just need to do this in the beginning. While we're developing our eyes. Once your eyes attuned and you begin drawing, you won't have to go through all these steps. It will become much more intuitive. But for now, just be patient. Follow the process and you will see an improvement in your ability to see accurately. So go ahead and do the rest of the triangles on your own, and I'll see you in the next lesson. 15. Measuring Distances & Proportions: So far, we've been able to use angles to keep our drawing accurate. Now, in a perfect world, all our annual measurements would be perfectly exact, and that's all we would need to keep the drawing accurate. But in reality, our angles will really be perfectly exact. And in more complex drawings, Somali inaccuracies can add up to big proportional errors. So in order to ensure maximum accuracy, will also incorporate distances into our measuring process so that they could help double check the angles. Now here's how to measure distances and dry. Let's say we're working in sight size with a photo reference. Measuring distances in this case would be very simple. You could simply calibrate your divided to whichever distance you want to measure and then compare it with the doing. You can check whether the overall height or width of the drawing is accurate or any smaller details. If you don't have a divider, you can simply use your pencil and mark the distance. What your fingertip. If you were drawing from a live model, you need to use a different method. First, hold a pencil in your hand and fully extend your arm towards the model without bending the elbow. Close one eye and bring your open I down to your shoulder. The reason why extending your arm and bring your eye down to your shoulder is important is because we want to keep the distance between our I and the pencil consistent. If we don't do this as we move the pencil around to measure different areas, the distance between the I and pencil will fluctuate, causing our measurements to be off. This is especially true and figure drawing, where moving the pencil from the head down to the feet can cause a huge discrepancy in measurement. So by keeping our open, I close to the shoulder and the arm fully extended, while not perfect, can help to minimize this effect. Once your arms fully extended and your eyes glued to your shoulder, online the tip of the pencil with the beginning of what you want to measure and use the tip of your thumb to mark off yet and then compare it with the drawing again. You can check the overall height of with or measure the smaller details. Now that site size where the measurements can be compared directly when working in comparative measurement, however, will have to compare the measurements in terms of relationships to each other. For example, suppose we want to check the accuracy of this drawing. First, you pick a base unit and then measure everything else in term of that base unit. So if we wanted to check the with two height relationship, we would use the with as the base unit and see how many times it would fit into the height . In this case, we would say that the height is two times two with then we can do the same measurement on the drawing and see of that ratio matches up. A lot of times, the ratio will not be a clean fraction like this. For instance, if we use the width of the pyramid as the base unit, we can see that the height is roughly one and 1/4 the with to be more exact. It's actually a bit less than one and 1/4 so we'll make a mental note of that As we're checking the drawing, that should be one and 1/4 and the drunk slight. One lesson that so that looks about right. We could also use parts of the drawing as the base unit. For example, if you wanted to check the relationship of these two lines, we could use a shorter segment as the base unit and see that the longer line is just a tiny bit less than two times the length. And that ratio can then be used to check the accuracy of the drawing. And you can do this for any two parts of the drawing and figure. Drawing. The head is often used as the base unit, so if you want to check the height of the figure, we calibrate our pencil to the height of the head and measure it against the body. We can see that this figure is roughly six and 1/3 heads talk. Then we can use that ratio to check the drawing. In this case, the drawing is too tall at seven heads and needs to be shortened. You can also use anything is the base unit that's convenient. I often look for 1 to 1 matches. For example, we could notice that this segment of the low leg is equal to this segment of the upper leg , or the width of the shoulder is equal to this segment of the arm or this segment of the upper arm is equal to the negative space between the shoulder and the back of the head. In a portrait drawing, we could notice that the width of the I is equal to the distance between the eyes or the width of the mouth is equal to the distance between the upper lip and the chin and so on. I really like this method because it allows me not have to deal with awkward fractions. Well, I hope that gave you a good idea of how to measure distances in drawing. And as you practice more and more, judging distances will become more intuitive without having to hold up your pencil to measure your baby, to tell when a distance is bigger or smaller than it should be and correct it. So let's get to the next lesson and start practicing 16. Polygon Drawing Exercise: Okay, so in this exercise, we're going to be practicing angle and distance measurement while drawing polygons. Now, rather than being just an abstract exercise, polygons actually have a very practical application and drawing. When approaching a drawing. Many artists will start by simplifying the outer contour of a subject into a polygon shape . This technique is called enveloping, and it helps to establish the overall proportions and composition before more details is added. So being able to drop holly guns well is a skill that will become very useful later in your career. So with that said, go ahead and print out the worksheets and follow along notice that before I even begin drawing, I'm visualizing the size of the drawing to make sure that it will fit comfortably in the space before starting. Any drawing is a good idea to think about the composition emplacement to make sure that's going to look good on the page. And that was a good time to start getting into that habit. So it once I'm happy with the placement, I'll match the angle of the first edge, double check. The angle looks good next, since I'm working in sight size, I'll match the length of the line as well. Double check with the divider. Remember, if you don't have a divider, you can just use a pencil ruler to check the length. Then I'll match the angle of the second edge. Check the measurements, and to find out how long the line segment should be, I'll match the angle of the imaginary line going from these two corners, and then we can use the divider to double check the distance. In this way, the angles and distances work together to maximize accuracy and repeat the same process for the other edges. For this one, matching the distance is pretty easy because we can just use the dash line as a reference. Now, instead of continuing to draw on that direction, let's go over here. It's always a good idea to jump around periodically and develop the drawing evenly. That way, you get a better sense of the overall proportion that will check the angle. Looks like it's a little bit off here again. We're matching the angle from corner to corner to find the length of the line. I can use the angle of multiple pairs of corners to maximize accuracy and that would check the distance and close out the shape. After we're done, weaken, Scrutinize the shape to spot any mistakes. Try to find any mistakes with just your eyes first, and then use the tools to double check. You can check the length of all the edges is where I was. The distances between the corners. Okay, everything looks good, so we'll just darken and clean up the lines. Next would do this shape again in the space below, using comparative measurement. Check the angle and correct any mistake. Next would decide the scale of the drawing for this one. I'll make it smaller than the reference. Then I matched the angle of the second edge and triangulate to find the length. Now, if you want to double check the length, we can't just do a want one comparison as we did in sight size. So I'll do a little measuring and notice that the longer line segment is about 1.5 times longer than the shorter line. We'll compare that ratio in the drawing, and it looks like outline needs to be shortened a little bit on to next edge. As I'm trying gilling this edge. I can use the angle of multiple pairs of corners to maximize accuracy and just keep repeating this process until the drawings complete again. Notice how I'm jumping around and developing the drawing evenly. Now try to use your eyes despite any mistakes. To me, it seems like the drawing is a bit too narrow. Let's use the divider to confirm again. We can't just do a 1 to 1 comparison, so we'll have to do a little work to find some proportional relationships. Okay, so after a little digging, I noticed that the distance between these two corners is the same as the distance between these corners. So let's check that in our drawing. Compare this distance with this distance and yeah, it looks like this drawing is a bit too narrow, and it looks like the culprit is the angle of this lying being a little too steep. So let's correct that much better. And I also noticed that this distance is equal to this distance, which is also equal to this distance. Check that with the drawing, and it looks good now is clean up the lines. Okay, on to the next rate Here I started drawing right away and didn't manage to space properly and ended up running into the reference. So be sure to think about the composition before you start drawing, as the things we're going to draw becomes more and more complex, space management will become more and more important, check the angle and looks like we were quite a bit off. Let's correct that matched the length of the line, matching the angles, next edge and triangulate to find the length and double track. To see about triangulation was accurate and just keep going like this for the rest of the shape. Notice how this shape is basically being constructed using many smaller triangles. Once we're done, double check all the distances and clean up the lines. Next, I do the shape again using comparative measurement. This time, I'll make the drawing bigger than the reference, but you can do whatever you want. How measure the angles and distances for the 1st 2 edges really carefully to establish a good foundation. Then, for the rest of the drawing, I use more of an intuitive approach as you progress and become more comfortable with drawing, you wave to use more of an intuitive approach. But if you find yourself struggling, go ahead and fall back to the step by step measuring and re measuring procedure that we use in the triangle exercise. - Okay , so that's the rough lay in. Now let's check the proportions. After a little digging, I noticed that this distance is equal to this distant. Now let's compare that in the drawing, and it looks good, and I also noticed that this distance is a tiny bit longer than this distance, and that's the same way in the drawing. So that's good. And this distance is about the same. Is Thisted distance and this distance? Now let's compare that in the drawing, and it checks out on drawing as well. Okay, let's do one last one. And this time I'll use more of an intuitive approach and check for mistakes. Wants the drawing is done. - Okay , so that's the rough lay in. Now let's check the proportions. So this line here is a bit too short, so I'll bring it out a tiny bit and everything looks good. Lastly, I draw a bigger version, was shaped down below again, are mostly used, an intuitive approach and shack for mistakes afterward. This process is much closer to how I would approach drawing when practicing for myself now to Jackley proportions. I noticed that this line is the tiny bit longer than this line, and the same is true in the drawing. You can always find perfect matches, so these approximate comparisons will have to do sometimes. And this distance it's just about the same as this one. I'll see if that's true in the drawing, and yes, it is. Lastly, this distance is a tiny bit longer than this distance, and the drawing is the same way. Okay, everything looks good, and that's it for the exercise. Go ahead and do the rest of the worksheets on your own. If you feel confident in your measuring abilities, you can go ahead and use a more intuitive approach and check from the stakes afterward. If not, go ahead and use the more structured step by step process where you draw and check your measurements after each lines. Okay, have fun with this exercise, and I'll see you in the next lesson 17. 3D Shape Exercise 1: in this exercise, we're going to apply all the skills we've learned thus far to drawing three D objects. This will allow you to continue practicing your measuring skills as well. See how three D shapes can be constructed using simple lines. You can print out the worksheet and follow along as usual will begin by matching the angle of any of the edges. We can double check the angle and matched the distance. Do the same for the next edge. Check the angle and matched the distance. As the drawing develops, we can compare the negative shapes to help with spot any mistakes. You can also know the anger from corner to corner and make sure they match that of the reference. So far, we've created a pyramid shape simply by joining two triangles together. That's the magic of drawing. We can create an illusion of three dimensionality just by combining lines in a particular way. To me, that's pretty cool. Here we can imagine a vertical plumb line to see how the top and bottom corners a lineup with each other that can help us ensure our angles accurate. Once finished, we can check all the distances now to help the shape re better, we can add a little bit of shading. Let's imagine the light source is coming from the top right, in which case the sides that are facing away from the light will be the darkest. And we can also add Thika lying weight alone the shadow sides. To further emphasize the lighting scheme, you can put the light source in a different location if you like, play around with different lighting scenarios and see how it affects the drawing. Don't worry about getting it perfect. We'll cover shading in more details later on. For now, just treat this as a fun little intro to lighting. Now let's draw this shape again, using comparative measurement. Okay, so that would be my scale. Now I'll match the angle of the other edges. Don't worry about mashing the length of these edges just yet. Now I'll match the angle of this little line, and that should give me the length off the other edge. Match this angle and that will give me the length of fee third edge. Now repeat the process for the lower half, and for this one I'll put the light source in the lower. Right again. The sides that are facing away from the light will be the darkest, particularly the top surface. Add a little lying weight to the shadow sides and while done. Okay, so go ahead and try this for yourself. 18. 3D Shape Exercise 2: Once again, we'll start by matching the angle and distance of one of the edges, and we can repeat the process for the other edges as well Again. As the drawing take shape, we can start comparing the negative shapes to check the accuracy. One thing to notice about a cube is at the lines that are supposed to be parallel will converge together slightly. For example, thes three vertical lines angled in towards each other as you go down the queue, and these horizontal lines on the left will also angled towards each other slightly. The same is true for these lines. On the right, you'll learn more about this convergence effect in the perspective course, but for now, just noticed thes Soto angle changes. What we don't want is to make these lines parallel to each other's or worse, angling outward. Once finished, we can check the length of the edges or the distances from corner to corner to see if it matches the reference. And for the shading. Let's imagine the light coming from directly over the Cube. Okay, now let's draw it again. Using comparative measurements, I'll start one of the vertical edges. Looks like I'll have to move it down a bit to make sure the top will fit the page as the importance of space management Again. Now, let's match the angle of the of edges. We can just let the line extend longer than assured and figure out the actual length later . Now, to figure out where this horizontal is should end. How match the angle from these two corners. Of course, you could just imagine these lines in your mind. I'm just drawing them here to illustrate the point. So that's where we'll put the next vertical edge and will match the angle of this horizontal edge to close out this side of the Cube. And to ensure maximum accuracy, we can check the angle between these two corners to make sure it matches the reference now on to the top of the cube. Here, we'll use the angle from these two corners to figure out where that top edge should end and close out the top side of the Cube. Okay, last one. Match the angles of the edges. Then we can double check the angles from corner to corner. And lastly for the shading. How imagine the light coming from the bottom right, and we're all done 19. 3D Shape Exercise 3: here we have sort of a custom shape you can think of. It is a vertical column that's been sliced diagonally at the top. And even though it might look a little complicated, we're just going to begin by drawing the top, which is simply a polygon shape very similar to the ones we drew in the polygon exercise. - Then we'll draw in the three other shapes that make up the body of the column for the lighting. Let's imagine that is coming from the top left, in which case the right side will be darkest and the other size will eventually get lighter as they move towards the light. And maybe with the top in the area. That's further from the light will be slightly darker than the area of us. Closer now, for the comparative measurement version, I'll start by matching the angle of the 1st 2 edges. We don't need to determine the scale just yet, but once we match the angle between these two corners that will triangulate the distances of the edges and lock us into a certain proportion. Now we can continue the same process for the other edges use motile angles to ensure accuracy again. This is the exact same process we use in the polygon exercise. Now we can draw in the body again, will use triangulation to determine how long these edges should be in order to be proportional to the rest of the drawing. And, of course, as we're doing this, comparing the negative shapes can be very helpful, especially with this last shape here. The angles are so subtle, and the lines is so short that it can be difficult to judge them accurately, in which case the negative shape can really help us see things that we might have missed once again. Check for any mistakes, clean up the construction lines and add in the shading. Let's imagine the light is coming from the bottom right, and we're all done. 20. 3D Shape Exercise 4: okay on the last example, this one is quite a bit more complicated than the previous ones. But don't worry, the process is still the same. Just match the angles and distances and build up the drawing one line at a time. This being site size, the fact that we can measure the distances directly will be very helpful. Notice how this object is really just a bunch of polygon shape stitched together. This goes to show that any complex object can be broken down into simple shapes, even though a complex shit like this can take more time to draw. In some ways, it can be easier because it gives us more details with which to triangulate. Also, because there are more details. Any mistakes that we make does not stand out as much, so it can be more forgiving in that way, and you'll notice I'm bouncing around the drawing a little bit to build it up evenly when checking for mistakes. In addition to checking the sides, we can also check the distances between the corners. Now we can imagine the light source is coming from the left. The shape is more fun to shade because there's more planes to help us show the gradual transition from light to dark again. Don't worry about making it perfect. Just have fun playing around with the lighting. Now Straw. Bigger version of this here. I'll use more of an intuitive approach. And what necessarily measure is meticulously. Of course, you can still see me lightly, making note of the angles between corners to help me triangulate as you get better and better, this process of triangulation will happen almost automatically as your drawing and for this drawing. Observing the negative shapes can be particularly helpful. - And now we can add the shading with the light source on the right, - and we're all done. Go ahead and do the rest of the worksheet on your own and have fun. 21. Bargue Drawings & Grid Method: Now that you have a good grasp of basic measuring skills, we're going to apply them to more complex subjects. For this will be studying from the classical barb drawing. Charles Bar was a French painter in the 1800 and is known for devising a very influential drawing course what you can now find as a book. Many art schools used the drawings from this book, often called bar plates, to help students learn observational drawing skills. Students would meticulously copied these drawings in order to learn hand eye coordination, shape design and simplification, Judging subtle value changes and creating smooth shading the strongest can be very time intensive and can take up to 40 hours or more to complete in this course will be doing a much more abbreviated version of these barbs. Studies Father will be spending less time on them, will still be able to learn many of the important lessons that they have to offer to help us maintain accuracy in some of the drawings will be making use of a grid. This is where the artist draws a grid on the reference photo and then replicate the same dimension grid on the drawing paper This essentially devised the reference into smaller chunks that you can tackle one of the time. This makes keeping things accurate and proportional much easier. Now Gritting is a bit of a controversial subject. Many artists considered cheating or crutch that whole students back from developing their Freehand drawing skills. And that's definitely some truth to this. If you use a great exclusively and never practiced freehand drawing, it will become a crutch. But there are ways to use gritting that does not turn it into a crutch. For example, in the beginning, you could use a very detailed grid like this one that gives you a lot of help. But as you improve, you can use simpler and simpler grids that will force you to draw more freehand until eventually you won't be using a grid at all. Why should be your eventual goal? Until then, I see gritting as a great stepping stone that can help new artists learn the fundamental observational skills and build confidence without getting overwhelmed. Also, even professional artists we use grid sometime. It could be a great help in really large and complex compositions. Many mirror artists use grids because working as such a large scale can make Freehand drawing almost impossible. So this is not a tool that should be scoffed at. We just have to use it wisely and sparingly, and this course will be practicing with both a grid as well as freehand drawing. 22. Eye Drawing Exercise 1: okay. In this exercise, we're going to be drawing a simplified I as a way to practice our observational skills. Go ahead and print out this worksheet, which should be the first in the set and follow along while the way I'll be using a colored pencil for this demo. But please feel free to use whatever drawing tools you like. We'll start by drawing the eye at the same size as the reference, also known site size. Using this grid, I'll start with establishing the eyebrow. But really, you can start at any point how estimate where the eyebrow intersect, this vertical grid line and market. Then I'll check the distance with the divider. Just make sure next will match the angle of the eyebrow. I find it useful to look at the negative space around the line, which can really help me to judge the angle. The eyebrows mostly a straight line, but it also has some Soto curve to it, so pay attention to that. You might find it helpful to just draw. It is the simple straight line first, and then add the subtle curves later. Okay, that looks pretty good. Now let's check the angle of the line. I'll align the edge of the pencil with the line to capture the angle and then move the pencil over to the drawing and compare. Of course, we have to be careful not to shift the angle of the pencil while moving it. One tip is to hold the pencil just above the paper and stabilize your hand by touching the tip of your thumb and index to the paper and just slide back and forth. You might want to move back and forth a few times just to make sure your hand didn't shift , and it looks like the bottom half of the line needs to be rotated clockwise a tiny bit. Now let's match the angle of the next edge. Yes, I'm drawing this line. I'm observing the distance between the end of the line and the vertical grid line. This will help me to judge the angle. Better double check the angle, and it looks good onto the next one. As I'm drawing this one, I'm making note of wear into Saks vertical grid line and how far that point is from the center. I also note where it intersects the horizontal grid line if it were to keep going again. These little observations will really help me to judge the angle of the line and you notice , as we continue, that this is a huge part of how observational drawing works were constantly making observations about where one line intersects with another, or how one detail alliance with another detail and using these observations to keep our drawing accurate. Another tour that can help is to look at the negative space around the lines so we could compare this negative space in the reference without drawing and see if it matches up or this space over here, or these triangle shapes that are formed by the intersections of the grid lines. All these little observations, our chances for us to catch mistakes and the more than we use, the less likely that's going to be a huge mistake in our drawing. Okay, so, assuming we couldn't find any obvious mistakes with our eyes using negative shapes, angles and distances, let's use our tour to double check. I'll use the pencil to check the angle, and it looks good, and I'll use the divider to check this distance and this distance because we're working in sight. Sides weaken. Just transfer the distance over directly in the beginning stage of a drawing. We want to take extra care to make sure that all our measurements accurate. That's because this is the foundation of our drawing. If we have a lot of mistakes in beginning, as we add to the drawing, those mistakes will get compounded and are drawing will become more and more inaccurate. So it's a good idea to measure and remember in the beginning. And as I drawing become more and more established, we can relax a bit more and do things more by I. Okay, everything looks good, so let's continue. We can use the same process for the next lines. That's the drawing progress. We have a lot more negative spaces that we can use so we can compare these different shapes to make sure the drawing is accurate. Negative space is a great because they combine both angles and distances into one element. Okay, lastly, will use the same process to draw the brow, ridge and nose. Now try to scrutinize the drawing with your eyes to see if you can spot any mistakes and then use the tools to double check. I'll check the various distances to make sure that they match. And once you're happy with the drawing, darken and clean up the lines. I like to add some lying weight variations by making certain segments darker than others. This helps to add some interests of drawing. As you can see simply by matching the angles and distances of a few lines, we were able to create the illusion of a night. Now go ahead and pause the video and draw this yourself. If you haven't done so already, remember to carefully observe angles, distances and negative spaces. Next would draw the same. I again in the space below. Except this time will be drawing FREEHAND and on Drawing will be at a different size from the reference, also known as comparative measurement. In this case, I'll make the drawing a little bigger than the reference. We'll start out the same way by establishing the eyebrow, having drawn this eye before using the grid, where help make drawing it freehand a little easier, and I would check the angle without the grid lines there to guide us. We'll have to observe the angles more carefully. For example, I might note that the bottom line extend past the top line a little bit and that the two ends form an angle like so this will help guide me as I'm drawing the line. Since we're still in the early stage of the drawing, I'll be sure to double check my angles to make sure everything is nice and accurate. Here are making a note of the angle between this point and this point toe. Help me figure out where the edge of the I should be. As the drawing develops, we can start to compare the negative shapes, even though the reference in the drawing at a different size the negative shapes will still be the same. And even though we don't have the grid lines anymore, weaken still visualize thes negative shapes with a little bit of imagination, I guess. Technically, these are positive shapes, since they appear on the subject itself. But whatever semantic is an important, the idea is that looking at space outside the line can help us to spot mistakes. Here we can notice that this corner of the nose bridge lines up horizontally with this corner of the island that's going to be really useful in helping us to place that line again. We can notice at that point where the nose bridge turns lines up horizontally with the back corner of the eye, another very useful observation. And lastly, we can notice that the end of this line matches up with this corner of the island. These are the kind of things you want to notice as often as possible when doing observational drawing once we're done, scrutinized the drawing for mistakes and then double check with the tools. We already checked the angle as we were drawing, so I'll double check the distances now, since the drawing and reference at a different size, we can't just transfer the distance directly over. So, after a little digging, I noticed that this distance is equal to this distance. In the reference, compare those in the drawing and it checks out, and this distance is equal to this distance, and it's the same way in the drawing, and you can go on like this for as long as you want. It just depends on how thorough you want to be. Once you feel happy withdrawing, darken and clean up the lines and as you can see we still have plenty of space on his page . So if you want to get more practicing, I highly encourage you to draw the eye again multiple times at various sizes until you fill up the page, you can never get too much practice. But with that said, we're going to be doing a lot of drawing in this course, and I don't want you to get burnt out on just one exercise. So if you find yourself getting sick of drawing the same thing over and over, put the worksheet away for the time being and move on to the next lesson. You can always come back and keep practicing when you feel up to it. 23. Eye Drawing Exercise 2: Okay, let's do another example of the eye drawing exercise. This should be the second worksheet in the set. Now, before you watch this lesson, be sure to attempt to do this exercise on your own first and only once you're finished or gotten stock. Should you wash this lesson? This is the best way to get the most of these exercises. So if you haven't tried to draw the side yet, go ahead and positives video and do that now. Okay, let's dive in. We'll start with the site size grid version. I'll start by matching the angle of the eyebrow. These lines give us some really nice negative shapes to use. And, of course, we want to take full advantage of the grid by noting where the eyebrow into sex with the grid lines and check the angle. Check the distance and now we can add in these subtle curves in the line. With this lying, we can note it's vertical and horizontal distance from the grid lines and check the angle. This photo in the eyelid is roughly align with the front corner of the eyebrow, so that can be very helpful. Check the angle. - Once we get into the eye, I'll be relying on a lot of negative shapes and also observing the intersections with the grid lines. The nice thing about these exercises is that in addition to practicing the observational skills, we're also learning good design sense. For example, you might notice that this I does not look exactly like a real life I. It's a very stylized version of an eye, and by drawing it, you get to see how Charles Barg simplifies Dacres of the eye into straight lines while still making it look beautiful and realistic. Okay, so as I'm drawing, I'm noticing a few details about the reference that will help me to keep my lines accurate . For instance, the corner of the island is almost vertically aligned with the tear duct. The line of the upper eyelid, if extended, would make contact with the end of the eyebrow, so they align with each other just at a slightly upward angle. And there's an angle line that roughly ties together the eyebrow, tear duct and lower eyelid. If we know if the angle of that line it can really help us with the placements and even though for time's sake I may not be checking the angles and distances as often as Thebe. Previous video. I would encourage you to double check your measurements as often as you need to ensure accuracy. Now check the drawing for mistakes, and once you're happy, darken and clean up the lines. Next hour, draw the eye again. Freehand. I'll start by matching the angle of the eyebrow. Check the angle of the lines, and I can also use the angle between the corners of the eyebrow to triangulate exactly where they should end. If all the angles match up, then we know that our drawing is proportional to the reference. Note all the vertical and horizontal alignments that will help us draw this line. Also note the angle between these lines, and we can triangulate the position of any points by matching the angle between it and the surrounding areas. Of course, don't forget to compare the negative shapes as your drawing here. Notice how the outer corner of the eye roughly lines up horizontally with the inner corner , and there's that angle line that ties the eyebrow. Tear duct and lower eyelid together and note that angle right there. Now let's check the drawing for mistakes. After a little digging, I noticed that this distance is equal to this distance. Compare that in the drawing. Here's a few other matching pairs that you can check. This distance should be the same as this distance. This distance should be the same as this distance, and this distance should be the same as this distance. Okay, once you're happy, darken and clean up the lines. And, of course, there's still plenty of space on this page, so I would highly recommend you draw this again multiple times if you're filling up to it. 24. Eye Drawing Exercise 3: Okay, Here's another example of the I exercise. This one should be the third worst sheet in the set. Again, make sure you try to do this exercise on your own first before watching this video the size in perspective. Don't let that scare you. We can still use the same approach is before mash the angle of the lines and used the intersections of the grid lines and negative shapes to help you and check the angle. This line has some subtle curves in it, which can throw some people off. If it helps, just simplify the line into straight segments and capture the angle. Then you can go back and add in the subtle curves in the line before continuing. We can check the distances to make sure we're on the right track. Now I know it can seem like overkill to do so much, measuring just for one line. And as you get better at drawing, you can measure more by I. But since we're still learning, it never hurts to be more careful. There's a lot of details in this area of the eye, so we really have to slow down and carefully observe the angles and negative shapes as we're drawing. And even though you might see me drawing continuously in this video when doing the exercise yourself, I highly recommend you really slow down, pause frequently and re examine your lines to make sure the accurate Isaac Newton once said , that genius is patient. I definitely think this applies a good drawing as well. Okay, so I'm looking at the drawing and it seems like there's something off about the shape of the eyeball. I think it might be a little too wide, so let's check that with the divider. And sure enough, it is a bit too wide. Let's check the surrounding areas well, and yet they're a little too wide as well. This one is quite a bit so. So let's fix That just goes to show you how you need to pay careful attention and check your measurements. One mistake in an area could cause a whole cascade of mistakes in the rest of the drawing. Okay, now we can clean up the lines. Now let's try it again. Freehand! Once again, I'll start with the eyebrow and check the angle. I'll use the angle between the ends of the eyebrow to triangulate. Check the angle when drawing things in extreme perspective. These subject can sometimes looks very strange and weird because we're not used to seeing it at that angle, and that might cause is to draw it less accurately. In these cases, negative shapes can be even more useful because it helps us to objectively see the drawing without preconceived notions. And with all these details at the center of the eye, we really want to observe all the little angles that ties these details together. Remember all the observations we made in the grid drawing about what lines up with what and the angles between different areas can still be used here to help us place things, the eyebrows looking a bit short. So I'll extend it and clean up the lines and we're all done. Congratulations. You just drew in. I in perspective. Okay, go ahead and do the rest of the worksheets on their own, and I'll see you in the next lesson. 25. Nose & Mouth Drawing Exercise 1: in this set of exercise will be working with the slightly more complex nose and mouth again . Print out the worksheets so you can draw along. I'll start with the nose, as that seemed to be the easiest part. Our estimate where the nose intersects with the vertical grid line and market, and we can double check if you want to be sure, and I matched the angle of the first line that will check the angle. Looks like it needs to be a little steeper. As I'm drawing the other lines. I can note the angles between the corners to help me keep things accurate. So I'm looking at the distance between the nose and the vertical grid line, and it seems like something is off. And sure enough, it looks like our noses a bit too wide, So let's bring the edge in a little bit that will check the distance. Now that's a lot of information in the lips and chin. So instead of jumping into the details right away, I'll establish the rhythm lines that ties these details together. This will help us to keep the proportions and perspective accurate. Luckily, Barb already shows us the rhythm lines that he used, so we can just copy those. So that's the line that ties the outer contour of the lips and chin together. And these next two lines capture the slanted angle of the top and bottom lip. This illustrates an important concept and drawing, which is you should establish the bigger relationships first before focusing on the details . And, of course, as we're drawing these lines, looking at the negative shapes will help tremendously. Next hour, roughly draw in the chin. Here we can simplify the chin into straight line segments in order to make it easier to draw. As you can see by putting in, these basic rhythm lines are drawing is starting to read, which means it's beginning to look like whatever we're trying to draw. This is really helpful because it allows us to judge the overall proportion and spot any overt mistakes. It also gives us confident that we're on the right track, which makes it easier to know what to do next. And I would also be a good time to check the drawing for any mistakes. Once you're happy that everything is reasonably accurate, we can now add in the smaller details by taking care of the overall proportions. First, we can now narrow down and focus on capturing the smaller angles and lines accurately by observing the negative shapes, grid line intersections and so on. If we started working on the details right away, without the big rhythm lines to help guide us, we might become to tunnel vision and caused the details to not line up properly. Once you're done, look over the drawing for any mistakes. Then I'll lighten the lines with the eraser. Next, we'll look at the finish barb drawing and fill in all the curves and details. Basically, we're softening out all the corners and changing the straight line segments into subtle Kurds again. Notice how it's easier to pay attention to all the curves when we have already worked out all the proportions and placements. By the way, I've made my construction lines way too dark for the sake of the video. In your own drawing, you want to keep the lines as light as possible so that the drawing doesn't get too messy. Then, once you're happy with the drawing you Congar kin and clean up the lines. Now let's draw this again using FREEHAND comparative measurement, I'll match the angle of one of the edge of the nose. The length of this lying would determine the scale of the drawing that will check the angle . Since we don't have the grid lines to help us will have to pay extra attention to the angles. Here. I'll make a note of the angle between these two corners toe. Help me determine the length of the second line. We can use the same process for the third line matches angle and then no, the angle between the corners. Okay, so here's our home base. Now we'll put in the rhythm line, know where this line intersects with the nose and try to match the curve as best you can. We can look at the angle between the end of the curve and the tip of the nose to help with judge the accuracy or perhaps the angle between the curve and the nostril. For this line, we couldn't use the negative shape to help match the angle for this line. We could also use the negative shapes as well as visualized where the curve would hit the nose if it were to keep going next, Draw on the chin again. We can break it down into straight line segments to make it easier to focus on the angles. Check to see if there's any proportional errors, then proceed to add in the smaller details. No the angle between the upper lip and the nostril. Note the angle between the nostril and this corner of the lower lip, and note the's angles between the corner of the chin and these points on the nose. We can also use horizontal and vertical plumb lines to check for accuracy. For example, noticed that the corner of the lower lip lines up vertically with this corn off the nostril . Well, this corner of the upper lip lines up horizontally with this corner of the natural, and that the tip of the nose is slightly above that line and so on. Now check the proportions. This distance should be the same as this distance and the reference. Check that in the drawing, and it's a match. And here's a few other matching pairs that you can check. This distance should be the same as this distance. This distance should be the same as this distance, and this distance should be the same is this distance. Next, look at the finish barb drawing and add in the subtle curves. And lastly, clean up the lines and add in some lying weight variations. Now try this exercise for yourself and I'll see you in the next lesson. 26. Nose & Mouth Drawing Exercise 2: Okay. Be sure to try doing this. Exercise yourself before watching this video. I'll begin by establishing the notes. I'll make a note of where it intersects the vertical grid line. Remember to pay attention to all the negative shapes and the distances between the grid lines. We can also look at the angles between all the corners. Check the distance. Next I'll put in the outer edge of the face. Notice how I'm drawing through the nose to ensure the continuity of the line. Now I'll simplify the tilt of the lips into thes diagonal lines. You can draw straight onto the reference of it helps you to visualize it. We're basically making a note that the lips are at a diagonal angle. This is really crucial to show in the proper perspective of the lips, and these lines will remind us to capture this important detail as we're drawing. A common beginning mistake in this situation would be to start drawing the details right away, which could work if you have good observational skills. But what ends up happening most of the time is that the artist will get lost in all the details and end up leveling out the lips, making the corners even to each other, because subconsciously they think that lips are supposed to be even. That might be true for another drawing, but in this case the lips are supposed to be at an angle, and making them even would kill the perspective. And as you can see, the drawing is starting to read, which is very encouraging. We can double check the measurements before moving forward. Next, we can add in the smaller details. Hopefully, you'll find that these construction lines that we put in make drawing the smaller details a lot more manageable. And as I'm drawing, my eyes are constantly looking back and forth between the reference and the drawing and comparing the negative shapes and angles. At first, it might be awkward to draw and look at the same time, but as you practice more and more, your hand and eyes will learn to work in tandem, and eventually it'll become effortless. But in the meantime, don't be afraid to pause frequently and step back to assess your drawing. Now I'll lighten the lines within the eraser next looked at the finish, barb drawing and at in these subtle curves and details. Notice how much easier it is to draw these subtle curves when all you have to do is trace over the lines that you know already proportionally accurate. Of course, you still have to pay attention to the reference and draw carefully, but it's a lot easier than trying to get all the details right away from the get go. This is also a good time to notice how Charles Barg chose to simplify these curves, how he turned a curve into a series of line segments, what details he chose to edit out or leave in and so on. This will help you to make your own choices when simplifying things in the future. Once you're done, darken and clean up the lines. Now let's draw this again using Freehand comparative measurement my skin, I'll begin with the nose. This just seems like the easiest place to start, and it will give us a home base to measure off. Take care to match the angles of the lines as closely as you can and note the angles between the corners toe help you triangulate. The positions here noticed that these two corners are about level with each other. Now we'll put in the edge of the face and the lines indicating the tilt of the lifts. Here, looking at the negative shapes, can really help with the chin, noticed that this corner of the chin lines up vertically with this corner of the nose. By the time we get to the chin, it can be easy for proportional errors to accumulate and make this area either too big or too small relative to the nose. So we want to observe some angles that goes between the chin and the nose to help keep the two in sync with each other. Now we can come back and add in the smaller details here, noticed that this corner of the nose lines up vertically with this corner of the upper lip and noticed this angle between this corner of the mouth and the nostril. Note that angle there. Now check for mistakes and use the barb drawing to add in these subtle curves and details, and we're all done 27. Nose & Mouth Drawing Exercise 3: Okay, let's do one more example of this nose and mouth exercise again. Tried to do this yourself before watching the video. Once again, I'll start with the knows. There's a lot of details in the strong, so noting the grid line intersections will help us to keep things organized and accurate here. I was gonna put the nose too far to the right, but then I looked at the distance from the grid line and I corrected it and put it closer to the center. So when you're drawing, you want to constantly shift between a narrow focus and a wide focus. Narrow your focus when you're drawing small details. And then why didn't your focus to take in the whole picture and make sure that the details you just put in fits with the overall drawing? Then repeat this process with the next detail and so on. This is how you catch mistakes and keep things accurate. If you find yourself being in just one focus mode for a long time, that's usually when mistakes happen. Max will draw in the edge of the face. This line acts like a rhythm line and ties together the apex of the lips. Here you can know where the curve intersects with the horizontal grid line and also how it contacts the nostril everywhere to keep going. And these lines were indicate the tilt of the lips. Since this mouth of seen in perspective, capturing the tilt of the lips is very important. And, of course, this is just one way to approach a drawing like this. If you like, you could imagine other angles and rhythm lines that you find more helpful. Or if you're confident in your observational skills, you could just start drawing the details without bothering with ease. Construction lines use whatever approach suits you best here. I'm really paying attention to the negative spaces, which are really helpful. The chin is protruding out a little too much, so let's bring it in a bit. Now we can add in the smaller details. This math area has quite a bit of detail, so slow down and take the time to observe everything carefully. Why should done and happy with the drawing? We can lighten the lines with an eraser, and now we can go over the lines and add in the even more subtle details. There's a bit more information in this one compared to the previous exercises, so be sure to take your time. Don't rush it and pause frequently to reassess your work. Remember, a huge part of drawing well is just being patient, constantly looking back and forth between the reference and drawing to check for mistakes and then being willing to fix those mistakes when you notice them. Notice how the lines of the lips overlaps with each other in order to create the illusion of form. Overlapping lines is a great tool for creating three dimensionality. Also notice how barb is using lying weight variations to convey the depth of the forms. The area is that in the shadow like the nostril, the underside of the nose and the opening of the mouth are given darker line weights and the areas that are getting more light given a lighter line, wait. In this way, the artist is able to convey three dimensionality without even using shading. Here I am deviating from the barbed, drawing a bit and adding some heavier line waits to the chin and the edge of the face because I think it makes it look a little bit more interesting. That's just my preference, and I encourage you to play around with the line way to see what looks best. Now let's draw this again. Using Freehand comparative measurement, I'll start by matching the angles of the nose. Remember to use the angles between corners to help you. Troy angrily the positions of each points. We can use several angles for each given points to maximize accuracy Now, normally, when I draw, I won't necessarily draw these lines in the drawing, but you can certainly do it if it helps. Also, I may not be showing myself checking the angles as often as the previous videos, but I would encourage you to double check your measurements as often as you need next, draw in the angle lines and put in the chin. Hear how much the chin protrudes out is pretty important. So I'm going to visualize a plumb line from the edge of the chin and see where it lines up with the nose and use it to help guide my drawing. And it looks like I could have moved the chin to the laugh a little bit more. And just to make sure the mouth area is proportional to the nose. We can check the reference to see that this distance will fit into the mouth area two times . Check that and drawing, and it looks good. Okay, Now we can start putting in the smaller details. Notice how this corner of the lip lines up with this corner of the nostril. The vertical grid line actually gives us a lot of useful information, so pay attention to it. Here. I feel like the chin still needs to be moved to the laugh a little bit more next, lighting the lines and add in the subtle details. And we're all done. Go ahead and do the rest of the worksheets on your own, and I'll see you in the next lesson. 28. Face Drawing Exercise 1: in this exercise, we're going to apply all the concepts that we've learned so far toe help us draw a subject that has a lot of interconnected details. This exercise is quite a bit more complex than the previous ones. So to make it easier to draw, we're going to simplify it into simple line segments. Basically, we're prioritizing the bigger details, like the overall angle of the lines over the smaller details, like these subtle curves and bumps in the lines. For example, for this forehead area, we would choose a few straight lines that would capture the angle changes that occurs within it. This area has one major angle change at this corner, so we could simplify into two segments like this. Now the simplification process is an art in itself. There are many different ways to go about it, and the nice thing about working with this drawing is that we have access to how Charles barred would have done it here. We can see that he also used to lines, but the second line angles in a bit, whereas ours is straight up and down. Both method works and there's no correct way. But looking at it now. I think I like barbs a little bit better because it captures the fact that the brow ridge dips in a bit as it transitions to the nose. So the take away here is whenever possible. You want to simplify your subject into a few lines while still retaining the defining characteristics. Also, in the beginning, it will be very helpful for you to draw these lines straight onto your reference. But as you become more experience, you'll be able to just visualize them over just subject, and it will become just a way of seeing, in fact, as you develop your own style, how you choose to simplify a subject and designed the line segments will be one way for you to express yourself as an artist. Now, how would you simplify this nose bridge area? Think about what lines you it used and draw them on your worksheet reference for me. I simplify the bridge of the nose into these two segments. Looking at Mark's drawing, we can see that he took a pretty similar approach, except he also extended one of the line all the way to the forehead. By doing this, he's relating the angle of the nose to the anger of the forehead and seeing how they differ from each other. That's a pretty useful observation, which could help him to keep the two in proportions with each other. So the next time we simplify something, we might want to take this into consideration. So how did your simplification compared to barbs or mine? How did they differ? And what did you learn from it? By making these decisions and then comparing them to what Barb did? You can learn so much about his thinking process. It's almost like having a master artist sitting there and giving you critiques on what you did. For the rest of these lessons, I want you to pause the video and try to make thes simplifications yourself before you look at my example or barbs by attempting to solve these visual puzzles yourself. Before looking at the answer, you're going to get so much more out of these lessons. Okay, let's continue for the rest of the nose and mouth. I'll simplify it. Using these lines, looking at what Barb did, we can see that he chose to use one big line to relate the angle of the tip of the nose with the chin. Whereas I chose to emphasize the angle between the nose and the upper lip. I felt like those lying connect more seamlessly with each other again. Both methods work, but this is one instance where I actually like my simplification better. So how did your choices compare? Okay, now that we have a basic game plan, we can begin to copy the lines and roughly block in the face. This process is pretty similar to what we've been doing in the previous lessons. Pay attention to the angles. Note the intersections with the grid lines, compare the negative shapes and so on. For some of these lines, you might find it helpful to imagine where they would intersect with the grid line. If they were to keep going, check the angle. Check the distance for the I. The simplification is pretty obvious. Most of it consists of straight lines anyway, so I'll just ignore the smaller details and place in the bigger lines. Looking at it now, I can see that the eye is a little bit too low relative to the reference. Unfortunately, I missed this while recording the demo. Hopefully you can learn from my mistake. Now we can cut into the nose some more in order to further refine the shape. This is a bit too low, sobering up a bit. Now we can block in the arrest of the nose and nostril. It's particularly important to simplify shadow shapes, often when drawing from life of photo reference. The shadow areas are very ill defying with unclear borders, so it's very useful to design them into concrete shapes. Here, Barb has already designed these shadow areas at the natural and I into well defined shapes . That's one of the benefit of doing a massive study like this. The original artists has done a lot of work to simplify the complexity of real life into these attractive shapes, and by drawing them, we can absorb some of that design sense. Now that the major elements are in place, we can look over the drawing to make sure that the overall proportion emplacements are correct. Then we can lighten the lines with an eraser next, using the under drawing as a guide, we can add in these subtle details if we've done our job well in the previous stage. This process should be relatively easy, although that doesn't mean we should be careless. Even at this stage, we should carefully observe the reference and look for any mistakes that we might want to fix. As we fill in more and more details, we can get a better read on the drawing and thus better judge if something is inaccurate. - Once you're done and happy with the drawing, we can clean up the lines and add in some lying weight variations. Now let's try this again using Freehand comparative measurement. Usually I like to begin by establishing a home base, which for me is usually the eyes. That's a lot of tightly grouped details in the eyes, and I find that if I work hard to capture these details accurately, it gives me a solid foundation from which to measure and draw the rest of the face. Here. We want to make sure that this corner of the eye is lower than this corner again. We want to carefully match the angle of each lines and observe the angle between various corners and landmarks. Comparing the negative shapes will also be allowed to help. I know I must sound like a broken record right now. But good observation on drawing is really just about doing the simple, fundamental things over and over again and doing them with a lot of care. Here. I'm connecting this photo in the eye with the eyebrow. Using this rhythm line here, I'm connecting the corner of the eye with the eyebrow with a straight line and note that if this lying was extended, it would contact the end of the eyebrow. The idea is that you want to relate different elements of the drawing with each other. How far away is this detail from this other detail? And at what angle and so on? And by observing these angle relationships, I noticed that the eyebrows a bit too low, so I'll move it up once you have the first few lines laid down. It's a good idea to mentally extrapolate from this initial scale to see how big the final drawing will be and make sure that it's going to fit on your paper again. This is an important space management skill that's good to practice. You don't want to spend a lot of time developing a drawing, only to find out that some portion of it is going to get cut off here, I'm drawing the vertical plumb line. That's in the reference to help me see which details lines out would torch. You can also just visualize a line of your life. Now that we have a good home base, we can triangulate out from here and build up the rest of the face. - Here . I realize that the nose is too big and strike it down a little. The nose can be really tricky. It's really easy to make it too big or too small. So take your time and really observe the angles and distances carefully. Horizontal lines? A really useful here. We want to make sure that all the corners and landmarks in the nose correspond with the correct landmarks in the eye so frequently visualizing perfectly horizontal lines. Going from the I to the nose can help you to make sure that everything is in their proper place. You'll probably notice that I'm a bit more detailed with my simplification on this drawing than with the grid example. I find that with Freehand drawing, the added details and corners help me to translate better and keep things more accurate. But I'm still keeping things at the level of straight lines and not worrying about the subtle curves. Yet you want to find the approach that works best for you here. I feel like there's something off with the tip of the nose, but I'm not sure what it is, so I'll leave it for now and start working on the mouth area. It could be difficult to evaluate the proportions of the individual parts until you have a good read on the overall drawing. So if you get stuck in one area, it's a good idea to just leave it and work on another area. As the drawing develop holistically, you'll be in a better position to judge what exactly needs Fixing. Filling in the shadow of the nostril can help me to judge how far out the tip of the nose needs to be okay before moving on. Let's check to see if everything is in proportion. This, with of the nose, should be roughly equal to the height of the eye area. This distance should be roughly equal Revis distance. This distance should be roughly equal Revis distance, and we can keep going like this for as long as we want. Now we can block in the mouth area. Here, you can see me taking my time to observe the reference and note the angles between various points. I'm also using vertical plumb lines to make sure the details of the mouth are lining up properly with everything above it. Again, it just comes back to doing these basic fundamental things over and over again with diligence. Now that we have a good read on the overall drawing, I can assess things a little bit better, and it looks to me that the I is a bit too small relative to the rest of the face. So the easiest way to fix this is to make the I a little bit bigger. Now we can go over the drawing and add in the subtle details. Most of the hard work is actually done in the previous stage to make sure everything is proportional inaccurate. So in this stage we can really narrow down and focus on capturing all the little nuances. This is also a great opportunity to fix any minor mistakes that you see make certain things bigger or smaller or movie a little to the left or right and so on. Sometimes trying to draw accurately can cause us to be afraid to put anything down because we're worried that is not going to be perfectly right In those instances, I find it helpful to just make the best guess I can, knowing that I'm most likely off and then scrutinizing the guests I've made to see which adjustment needs to be made so you don't need to get everything right the first time. As long as you keep your marks light and is willing to make corrections. - Once you're done, we can clean up the lines and add in some lying weight variations. 29. Face Drawing Exercise 2: by now, you're probably pretty familiar with the process of working with the grid. So in this exercise we're going to try something a little different. We'll draw using site size, but without the grid lines. This will make things a bit more challenging. But oh, better trained your freehand drawing skills. This can be helpful. You find it easy to draw with the grid lines, but Freehand comparative measurement is still too challenging. You can download and print out this version of the worksheets without the grid lines. And, of course, if you like, you can do this exercise with the grid as well. Okay, let's get started. Start by simplifying the outer contour the face again. Normally, I would just visualize this in my head as I'm drawing, but it may help you to draw straight onto the reference. Once again, we have these simplification that barb use, so if you get stuck, you can refer to the choices that he made. In this case, Barb and I made pretty similar choices, except he also used a core of rhythm line to connect the forehead with the lips. That's a useful observation that we can take note of Now we can start blocking it in how? Estimate the precise location of the lines as best I can, and then that will check the distance with the divider. Check the horizontal distance. Check the vertical distance. The more often you check, the more accurate your drawing will be. In the beginning, I recommend you check your measurement pretty often. And if you find a mistake with the tools, make sure to pause and examine it with your eyes until you can see the mistake clearly before correcting it. As you get better and better, you'll find that your initial guesses are pretty spot on, in which case you can start to rely on your eyes. A lot more will develop the drawing holistically so we can get a better read on it. Remember to constantly look back and forth between the drawing and reference to compare the two. If you find it hard to draw and look back and forth at the same time, what you probably will it first try taking frequent pauses where you stop drawing and inspect the drawing. As you get better and better, your eyes will be comparing the drawing in reference as you're drawing without you even thinking about it. And it looks like the eyes needs to be moved lower and to the left orbit. That's the nice thing about drawing insights. Size measuring is a lot easier than comparative measurement, which allows you to be a lot more accurate. Now. Lighten the lines and add in the subtle details in traditional a Tilly Azour art schools. Bar plate exercises like these are done in sight, size and with a lot of emphasis on extreme accuracy. Drawings, a measure and re measured many times and then meticulously rendered until the drawing is indistinguishable from the reference these drawings can take weeks to complete. What we're doing here is a much more abbreviated version of that exercise, although I would advise you to take as much time as you need on each drawing. The more time and care you take with each drawing, the more accurate they will be. - Hair and beards can be notoriously hard to draw. It's so easy to get lost in all the details, and all the tiny mistakes can add up really quickly. My advice here would be to slow down and take your time. Patient is he also pay attention to the outer edges and corners. Toe help You keep things in proportion. For example, notice where the edge of the beard lines up with other details of the face that will help to keep you from drawing it too big or lopsided. Also, the nice thing is that is not as important to get the hair exactly like the reference. Even if you're bit off, it won't affect the final drunk too much. The eye and nose, on the other hand, is very important to get right. Once finished, darken and clean up the lines. Now let's try the comparative measurement version, hopefully by practicing in sight size first, you'll find this a little bit easier for the other face exercise. I started by building a home base with the eye and then triangulating out from there. For this one will take a slightly different approach, are lightly block in the Ho Fei so we can get a read in a sense of the proportion and then go back over it with the details. Since we can't constantly check the measurements like we did in the sight size example, I'll have to pay really close attention to the angles between the different points. Also used vertical and horizontal lines to see how different details lineup with each other's. Compare negative shapes and so on again, which is going back to the fundamentals like we always do. Drawing is a lot like a juggling act, except instead of balls you're juggling visual informations as your hand is making marks on the paper. Your eyes are alternating between different points in the reference and noticing their relationships to each other. Point A. Is that a 15 degree angle from Point B, And it's also at a 40 degree angle from Point C and so on. And you have to maintain all these different relationships in your drawing, and that's hard. It's really hard. You're going to make a lot of mistakes. Hack. Even master artists make a lot of mistakes. But if you keep making an effort to slow down, observe carefully and correct the mistakes that you see eventually, your eyes will get better at noticing these small details, and your hand will get better at capturing them. Something else is really important is to pause frequently to step back and look at your drawing from a distance. This could give you a much needed fresh perspective and let you see proportional inaccuracies in your drawing. This can be a simple is leaning back and looking at your drawing if it's smaller or if it's a bigger drawing, getting up and taking a few steps back to look at it from afar, do this often as you're working. I can't really show myself doing this in the demo, but I wanted to emphasize just how important this is too good observation of drawing. - Now we can go over and and in the details on the second round, I'm able to focus more closely on the details and spot any inaccuracies in our initial block in. So as I'm drawing, you'll see me move and change things slightly to make them more accurate. With each pass over the drawing, you'll be able to refine it and make it more and more accurate. Aside from honing your observational skills, doing these barb exercises also has a lot of other benefits. For one, you're able to observe the aesthetic design sense of good classical drawing, which will help you to make your own drawing more attractive. And for another, your building, confident by seeing how a seemingly complex drawing like this can be constructed step by step, using simple lines and tones. And now that you have a good idea of how to tackle these barb drawings, I would encourage you to look for other bar plates and practice with them here. The nose is a bit too big, so I'll bring in a bid. Now we can fill in the shadows and darken and clean up the lines, and we're all done. Go ahead and do the rest of the worksheet on your own and have fun. 30. How Important is Accuracy?: as mentioned before this part of the drawing fundamental Siri's is all about developing your ability to see and draw accurately. But with all this emphasis on careful measurement, I worry that I might make you neurotic about perfect accuracy or, even worse, give you the impression that drawing is all about making a carbon copy of your reference. That's not the case at all. I'll goes. Artists is not to become really good photocopiers when you watch master artist draw. They're not super concerned with copying exactly what they see. Instead, the interpreting and redesigning what they see so that the drawing can look even better than the reference. As Jeff Watts would say, Good draftsmanship is about drawing a combination of what you see, what you know and what you wish you saw. Personally, I find art to be most rewarding when I stopped trying to be a slave to the reference and instead redesign what I'm seeing. But in order to build up my visual library and design effectively, I had to spend a long time learning to see and draw accurately. As the saying goes, You must learn the rules before you can break them. Likewise, you must learn to draw things as they are before you can draw them as you want them to be. So to sum it up, everything we've learned so far is very important, and you should spend a lot of time honing these skills, but don't stress out too much about it and understand that good art is about more than just perfect accuracy.