The Language of Line: Part 3 of The Drawing Laboratory

1. Trailer: We look at drawings up Close, the lines and marks take on a life of their own. Lines may seem simple, but even an individual line can evoke ideas and emotions in a viewer. I want to teach you how to activate your lines, how to use them to create a compelling experience on the page. I want to teach you how to draw lines that will truly connect with your viewers. My name is Brent Eviston. Welcome to the third course in my drawing laboratory series, The Language of Wine. Every drawing you do will be made up of hundreds if not thousands of individual lines and marks. Each of these lines serves two functions. First, each line will describe the physical properties of whatever it is you're drawing. You'll use lines to describe the contours of your subject and to show its three dimensionality. But the second function of each line is to express an idea or an emotion. This aspect of line and mark making is often overlooked. Every line you draw will perform these two functions whether you intend them to or not. In this course, you're going to learn how to draw descriptive and expressive lines that truly engage viewers. And in doing so, you're going to start to develop your own personal drawing style. You'll start by learning how to create all kinds of different lines and strokes. You're going to explore what is truly possible with a pencil. Next, you'll learn how to use different kinds of contours to more accurately describe the form of your subjects and to make them look more three dimensional. You'll learn how to draw different kinds of textures and tactile sensations. Soft objects will appear soft, heavy objects will appear heavy. This kind of drawing engages your fingertips as well as your eyes. You'll also learn how to express emotions through your drawings. Remember, your lines are communicating emotions whether you want them to or not. I'm going to teach you how to be intentional with what your lines communicate. You'll even learn how to create the illusion of time and motion in your drawings. By the end of this course, you will have a new understanding of just how powerful lines and marks can be, what they communicate, and how to use them in your drawing. How you choose to draw your lines and marks will determine your unique individual style. Drawing is all about mine. So join me here in the third course in my drawing laboratory series The Language of Line, where you will learn just how powerful lines and marks can be. 2. Introduction: Welcome to the third course in the drawing Laboratory series, The Language of Line. All Be your instructor, Brent Eviston. In this introductory video, I'll introduce the essential ideas you need to understand before beginning the lessons. I'll go over some of what you're going to learn and why it's important. As the title suggests, this course focuses on line. To understand why line is so important, we're going to begin by trying to define what it means to draw. What is drawing? The word draw literally means to pull or drag something. We've all heard the word draw used in common phrases like a horse drawn carriage. This means that the horse draws or pulls the carriage. When we draw, we are performing a very similar action. We pull the pencil across the page and as the pencil is drawn across the surface of the page, it creates a visible path showing where the pencil has been. This path is a line. When we draw, we almost exclusively make lines. Lines are what differentiates drawing from other art forms. For example, when you paint, you focus mostly on color and shape. Sculptors focus mostly on three dimensional forms, but drawings require lines. Now, lines may seem simple, but you can draw lines in a near infinite number of ways. When we look at drawings up close, the lines and marks take on a life of their own. At times, they appear to be abstract expressionist art, and in a very real sense, they are. Every line has a set of unique qualities that can evoke ideas and emotions in the viewer. This is what abstract art aims to do. Every drawing you do will be made up of hundreds if not thousands of individual lines and marks. Each one of these lines will serve two different functions. First, lines must describe the physical forms and properties of whatever it is you're trying to draw. Now this is a rather practical and even obvious idea. When we draw, we're trying to draw an image of the subject. But this brings me to the second function of line. In addition to describing the properties of your subject, each and every line also communicates ideas and emotions. Now, this is less obvious and it's very commonly overlooked by people who draw. Every line you create will perform both of these functions at the same time. Now, as this course progresses, you're going to learn a lot more about how these two factors, description and expression play out in drawings. But for now, I just want to get this idea into your consciousness. Ine is the most fundamental element of drawing. Our lines are always communicating ideas to the viewer, whether we intend them to or not. In this course, we're going to delve deep into lines and marks. We're going to explore how to make them, things we can communicate with them, and how we can use them in our drawings. To do this, let's begin by exploring how absolute beginners often approach their drawings. If I were to ask a random person to draw a picture, somebody who has little to no experience or training in drawing, they would most likely begin by drawing short nervous strokes around the edge of their subject. These short lines usually overlap one another and they move their pencil around the edge of the subject until they define the outline. Now what are these lines and why do beginners so frequently make them? There are two things we can learn from this very common approach to drawing. First, is that most people assume that the primary function of drawing is to outline the shape of an object, to establish the boundary between their subject and everything else. Often, the space inside the outer edge of the object is left blank. Now, if you don't think about it too hard, drawing the outline of a subject and establishing its shape seems like an obvious thing to do. But why does this seem so natural and obvious? Well, I'd like you to do something for me. Hold your hand out in front of you and take a look at it. Do you see an outline around your hand? Now, let your eyes fall on any other subject in your environment. Are any of them outlined? Do you see a line that goes all the way around the edge of objects? The answer, of course, is no, there are no outlines encasing the objects that we see. What we tend to see are shapes and colors butting up against one another, but there's not a line separating them. When we outline our subject, we are drawing something that does not exist in reality. Now this is a bit of a paradox because when we draw, we often feel like we are drawing what we see, but this simply is not the case. Even the first lines in the drawing don't exist in reality. When we draw, we are communicating in a completely different visual language. When we draw, we translate reality into the language of line. Goal of drawing is not to copy reality in a realistic way. If that's what you want to do, get a camera, not a pencil, we draw to communicate something about our subject to the viewer. Keeping this in mind, let's go back to the novice attempting to draw. We've explored the impulse to outline, but now let's take a look at the lines themselves. So often we see beginners draw with short overlapping strokes that move around the edge of the object. What do these lines tell us about the state of mind of the person drawing? Do these lines appear confident and free? Absolutely not. These lines appear timid and unsure, almost fearful. These lines tell us something about the mental state of the person drawing them. I think you'll agree that these lines are not beautiful or inspiring to look at. They can actually make viewers a little uneasy. They express the anxiousness of the person drawing them. This is what I mean when I say that lines express ideas and emotions. The way we draw our lines communicates things to the viewer, non verbal things. They do this whether we intend them to or not. Now, there's a metaphor that I find incredibly useful while exploring line quality, and that is line quality is very similar to tone of voice. Just as you can express ideas and emotions by how you use your voice, you can do the same thing using line. How you draw your lines is just as important as what you're drawing. In this course, you're going to learn how to use your lines expressively in the same way an actor or an orator might use their voice to be expressive during a performance. Now, ultimately, it's up to you what you want to communicate with your lines and marks. But generally speaking, we want to avoid lines that appear monotonous and boring to viewers. We want to create lines that engage the viewer. This is what you're going to learn to do in this course. Of course, we're going to go far beyond expression in this course. This course actually begins with much more practical uses of line. You'll learn how to describe the physical properties of your subject, express their three dimensional characteristics, as well as describe their textures and tactile sensations. But right away, I want to get this idea in your head that in addition to describing the physical properties of your subject, your lines are always expressing ideas and emotions. They are always doing both. Before we get to the lessons, there are a few things I want to cover. First, this is not a beginning drawing course. If you're an absolute beginner, I highly recommend taking the first course in my drawing laboratory series, how to draw a beginner's guide. That course will teach you all of the basic skills you need to start drawing. If for any reason you've come to this course as a beginner, I highly recommend going back and taking that first course, how to draw a beginner's guide. In this course, I'm assuming that you already have some basic drawing skills and that you're already familiar with materials and how to set up your drawing station. You're welcome to use whatever materials have worked for you so far. A pencil and paper are all that is needed. Or, of course, you can use a digital tablet. Now, in the previous courses in the drawing laboratory series, I almost always have a reference image that I'm drawing from. But in this course, some of the demos will not include reference photos. There's a very simple reason for this. In my previous courses, I was trying to teach you how to observe a subject and how to get its basic forms and proportions on the page. But assuming you already know how to do that, we can move a little beyond that skill. In this course, we are not merely trying to replicate reality. So during many of these drawing demonstrations, I am not going to show the reference photos from which I was working. The reason is that I don't want you to constantly compare my drawing to the reference photo and think that they don't look similar enough. In this course, I am not merely copying what I see. I am using the language of line to go beyond reality, to communicate something more to the viewer. I want you to be able to focus on the beauty and power of line without constantly comparing my drawing back to a reference image. I want you to see what line can communicate all on its own. Many of the demos in this course do have reference photos. I just want you to understand why sometimes I am not showing them. I will save you the suspense. Many of the drawings that I do in this course do not look like the reference photos. They are not intended to. Remember, the goal of a drawing is not to copy reality, just like the goal of a poem is not to provide a technically accurate description of a subject. We want to go beyond that. In this course, we are learning how to communicate using the language of line. Ultimately, how you choose to draw your lines and marks will determine your unique individual style. This is one of the most important elements of style. So once you're ready, I will see you in lesson one of the language of line. 3. Defining & Exploring Lines: Welcome to the first lesson in the language of line. A line is the most fundamental element in a drawing. Every single drawing you do will be made up of hundreds if not thousands of lines and marks. All of these lines will work together to create the illusion of three dimensional form on the flat surface of the page. Every single one of these lines and marks is an opportunity to communicate something to a viewer. In this first lesson, we're going to explore what line is, how it works, and some of the possibilities we have open to us. When we draw, it's so easy to get stuck making the same kinds of lines and marks over and over again. Many people don't even realize the wide range of possible lines and marks we can make and what they communicate to a viewer. The goal of this lesson is to explore what line is and the different kinds of lines and marks that the pencil can make. First, we need to define what a line is. Now I have a very practical definition of line that you may not have heard, here it is. A line is any path the eye can follow. I'll say that one more time. A line is any path the eye can follow. Now I like this definition because it opens up a wide range of possibilities. This definition includes all kinds of different lines, continuous lines, implied lines, broken lines, textured lines. This is a perfect practical definition for drawing. But this definition is also expansive. It allows for creative and expressive experimentation. So now let's head to the drawing board and explore this idea a little further. In this demonstration, we're going to explore what a line is, and I'm going to give you some different ways to think about line. Here I've drawn four boxes. In each box, we're going to explore a different way to make a line. The most common form of line, the line that most people are familiar with is called the continuous line. Here I'm going to draw a simple continuous line. But of course, there are a number of different ways we can make lines. Now as we go through each variation, I want you to keep in mind our definition of a line. A line is any path the eye can follow. In this box, I'm going to make a similar line, but instead of doing one continuous line, I'm going to create it from a number of dots. Now, individually, each of these is merely a dot, not a line. But taken together, they absolutely create a path for our eye to follow. We might think about this as a broken line. It's a line that's been implied with a number of individual components, but each dot almost operates like a stepping stone of a path. Our eye easily hops from one dot to the next in an obvious path that is very similar to our first line. Let's keep going. For this next exploration, I'm going to lightly draw the line before I start to fill it in. I'm going to use this very light soft line as a guide. I'm going to draw a series of vertical lines that go from our line to the bottom of the box. Sofully you can see that in this box, I'm drawing probably a couple dozen individual straight vertical lines. But when they're all put together like this, they stop reading as individual lines and tend to make a shape. I'm going to take my kneaded eraser and get rid of my initial guideline that I drew, so we are only left with these vertical lines. The way our mind interprets this is very interesting. I drew a series of individual vertical lines, but because they're so close together, our mind tends to group them into a shape. This curved line is the most prominent path that our eye easily follows. It's actually easier for our eyes to follow this implied line than it is to follow any of the individual vertical lines that I actually drew. These vertical lines group together to imply an edge. Now, let's explore one more way to think about line. For our final variation, I am once again going to draw a very light curved line. Now for this line, I'm actually going to fill in this bottom section with a number of dark strokes. I'm slowly going to fill in this shape with dark soft lines. I'm going to go right up to the edge of our line here. I'm going to try and draw this so that the individual strokes all blend together. That's to do this. I may need to go over and over the lines that we've drawn. When we get up to our curved line, what I want to do is soften this edge. Up here, I'm also going to add some value as well. I'm going to keep this value very, very light. My goal here is to maintain this line but make it as soft as I can. What we have here are two areas of value, a darker area down below and a lighter area at the top. Now, the boundary in between them is very hazy and soft, but we can still see the implication of the same curved line we've been working with. I want to soften this line as much as I can while still having it be visible. So here we have four different ways to create the same path the eye can follow. Here we have a very common and conventional continuous line. Here we have a broken line created from individual dots. Here we've implied our line by creating a series of vertical lines of different heights. Together, these lines imply our curved line. Finally, we've created a very soft version of this line that's barely visible, but despite its soft edge, we can still detect the same curved line. So hopefully this is illustrated our definition of a line. A line is any path the eye can follow. In each of these, our eye can follow a remarkably similar path, despite the fact that each of these lines has been created in a vastly different way. Hopefully, we're starting to expand your idea of what a line can be. Now let's take this idea a little further. In my beginner's guide to drawing, I introduced a few basic ways we can make lines. Here's a quick reminder of some of the most basic ways we can vary our line quality. Lines can be dark or light. Lines can be thin or thick. Hard or soft, straight or curved, short or long. You should already be familiar with these dimensions of line, but these basic variations can be combined in an infinite number of ways to create all kinds of effects on the page. Now I'm going to introduce a project that will allow us to explore different ways of making lines and combine your vocabulary of line. Our goal is to be able to create as many different kinds of lines as possible. We want to create drawings that have a wide range of lines and marks. We want to do drawings that excite the viewer that pull them in and take every opportunity to communicate something to. Remember, every line you draw is communicating something to the viewer, whether you intend it or not. Exploring the possibility of line and expanding your vocabulary of line is the best way to take control of this reality. This project is called the ever changing Line. During this project, you're going to start drawing a line, but every few inches, the line is going to change. Now, you'll see me demonstrate this project on 18 by 24 inch paper, which is what I recommend. But as always, you are welcome to use whatever size paper you like. Let's head to the drawing board. For this demonstration, my goal is to create a single line that moves its way across the surface of the page. But as this line moves across the page, I want it to change over and over again. I want to create a path for my eye to follow, but I want this path to be made up of as many different kinds of lines and marks as I can imagine. I'll begin simply making a simple curved line. But very quickly, I'm going to thicken that line drawing it with the side of my pencil. Next, I want this thick line to start to be more textured. From here, I want this line to become more angular and I'm going to switch to the tripod grip. So I want you to take note that the tip of my pencil just snapped off. If you don't break the tip of your pencil at least once while doing this project, then you are not pushing your pencil far enough to its limits. Use my drafting brush to sweep away any little bits of the pencil lead and continue. So from these more angular jagged lines, I'll draw some more straight lines. I'll make them at right angles. From here, I'll try some softer lines that come together to create an interesting texture or pattern. Now, it's important to note that your lines don't have to be continuous. You can start to use individual marks to continue the path for the eye to follow. Maybe these smaller marks start to become a little bigger. I'm going to switch my pencil grip again. Switching pencil grips is a really great strategy that will allow you to engage the pencil in different ways. From here, maybe I'll try out some different kinds of marks. I will make a dot, but make the edge a little more textural, start to make them a little bit bigger. Now I'll start to change them once again. I'll switch back to the tripod grip. Different line. From here, I will make a number of parallel horizontal lines that create a shape but also continue our line. Next, I will come back over this way, making some nice beautiful soft edged curved marks. Maybe now we'll make some very smoke like marks. Make these smoky marks thicken and then perhaps get a little thinner again. I go over this one more time. Now remember, this is all just an exploration. We are not trying to make any particular kinds of lines or marks. We are simply exploring what the pencil can do. Next, I'll change my grip again. I'm going to hold the pencil far back. See what kind of lines and marks this makes. Next, I will try holding the pencil very close to the tip and grind it into the paper. Next, I'll make some tiny little marks. This is not planned out. I'm just making this up as I go along. Next, I'll make some heavy strokes. Then maybe I'll make some very light, most rain like strokes. Hopefully, you can see that we've created a path that our eye can follow all the way around the page. For this next section, I'm going to combine some incredibly soft marks with a harder line that runs through the middle of them. Next, I can create some sharp marks. That are held together by some very fluffy softer marks. Here I'm combining different lines together to create different effects. Here, maybe I will try a back and forth worrying that starts to get sicker. At every step of the way, I'm trying to create something unique, something I haven't tried before. Here, maybe I'll try tapping the tip of the pencil against the paper like it's a drumstick. Next, maybe I'll hit it a little harder to see what kind of lines and marks it makes like this. Maybe I'll conclude the line with a nice big spirally shape. So what we have here is an experiment in line and mark making. Here, I have drawn a single line, a single path for our eye to follow around the surface of the page. But this path is made up of numerous different kinds of lines and marks. I've tried to hold the pencil in different ways. I've tried to move my hand in different ways to see what kind of lines and marks I can create. Remember, the goal here is not to make a good drawing, but to explore, to experiment to see what our pencil can really do and push it to its limits. Now, I don't know how these lines and marks may be useful in a drawing. But what I do know is that I never want to feel limited by my vocabulary of line. I want to have a wide range of lines and marks that I'm familiar with to use depending on the circumstances. Doing this project will allow you to increase your vocabulary of lines and marks, that'll ensure that you have many different ways to communicate with and to connect with your viewers. I've done this project more times than I can keep track of, and every time I do this project, I try and come up with new ways of making lines and marks. You'd be amazed at how many of these different kinds of lines and marks have ended up in my drawings. They often end up in drawings in very unexpected ways. You never know when a particular kind of line or mark is going to be useful, but we'll talk more about this as the course progresses. Now, as you're doing this project, I'd like you to ask yourself, what do these lines make you think about? What materials or textures might they communicate? What ideas do they bring to mind? What do they make you feel? What do they remind you of? Most importantly, how might these lines be used in a drawing? Every line you create should have a different and unique character to it. We want to be able to draw as many different kinds of lines as possible and to think about how they might be used in our actual drawings. Our only goal with this project is to expand your vocabulary of lines and marks. But beyond that, there's no right or wrong way to do this project as long as you're following our definition of line, as long as you create a path that your eye can follow. As long as you're doing that, you can explore any kind of mark making that you can think. Okay. So here is your project for today. I want you to draw a minimum of three ever changing lines, each one on its own sheet of paper. Now, I recommend using 18 by 24 inch paper, but of course, you are welcome to use whatever materials you have on hand. If you are using much smaller paper, you may want to do this project more than three times. Once you've completed your ever changing lines, I want you to take a look at what you've drawn. I want you to look for particular lines or marks that resonate with you. I want you to select 3-6 of these lines and practice replicating them on a separate sheet of paper. Now, I recommend starting off by drawing a series of light straight lines and then covering those light straight lines with whatever lines you selected. Once you find a line or a form of mark making that you find interesting, we want to be able to replicate that. As you're replicating your lines, you still want to ask yourself, what does this line mean? What does it remind me of and how might it be used in a drawing? Now you have your projects for today. In the next lesson, we're going to explore two different kinds of contour drawing, outer contours and inner contours. Now, this next lesson will be a bit of a departure from what you've learned about today, but I promise you as the course progresses, we're going to pull all of these ideas together. Go do your projects. Thank you so much for joining me here, and I will see you in the next lesson. 4. Inner & Outer Contours: Welcome to the second lesson in the language of Line. In this lesson, I'm going to introduce you to the most important and fundamental kind of line you're going to draw the contour. A contour is essentially the boundary of something. A contour line describes the edge of an object. Now, there are two different kinds of contour lines we're going to talk about in this lesson outer contours and inner contours. An outer contour is essentially the outline of an object. An outer contour creates a boundary around whatever it is you're drawing. This boundary says that everything inside the contour is part of the object. Everything outside of the contour is not. Inner contours are any lines that occur within that outer boundary. Outer contours and inner contours work together to describe the form. So to get a better sense of how this works, let's head to the drawing board. So here we see the outer contour of our subject, an acorn squash. An outer contour is essentially just the outline of a subject. It describes the two dimensional shape. Now there are a couple of things I'd like to note about the outside contour. If you let your eyes follow the edge of this outer contour, you'll see that it's incredibly detailed. Notice how many times it undulates in and out. It contains many curved lines, but also a number of angles. But despite all of these details, I want you to notice that there is no indication of three dimensionality. The outer contour just establishes this two dimensional flat shape. So in order to give the illusion of three dimensionality, we need inner contours. An inner contour is any line that is inside the outer contour. For the next few minutes, I'm going to add some inner contours. To do this, I'm going to need to draw the stem of this acorn squash. First, I'll draw it simply just as a conical shape or a tapering cylinder. Once I've sketched in the shape of the stem, I can start drawing the inner contours. Just like anything else, I'll start them lightly at first and then darken them once I feel more comfortable. Notice that as soon as we start to add these inner contours, the subject begins to appear more three dimensional. I'm drawing the inner contours using incredibly light and also soft lines. I want to be able to correct these forms if I need to. So now that I've drawn most of the inner contours lightly, I can start to darken them. But as I'm darkening them, I want you to notice something. Each inner contour of this subject begins its life as an outer contour first before diving inside the form to become an inner contour. Once again here, we have an outer contour that dives inside the form to become an inner contour. Now, when this happens, when an outer contour dives inside the form and becomes an inner contour, we call it an overlap. This outer contour here dives inside and overlaps the contour that's behind it. This gives the distinct impression that this part of the subject is in front of this part. In fact, we can establish a hierarchy of overlaps that depict what parts of our subject are in front and what parts are behind. All over this subject, we find overlap after overlap. Here, we can see this line starting as an outer contour and then diving inside the form, creating an overlap here. This line dives inside the form and overlaps this part of the contour, which dives inside the form and overlaps this part of the contour. Notice that the more overlaps we create, the more three dimensional the object begins to appear. Now, many of these outer contours that dive inside and become inner contours go all the way to the stem, but some of them tend to disappear. Once this contour dives inside the form, it quickly fades out. Once an outer contour dives inside and becomes an inner contour, we want to follow it to its conclusion. Inner contours and overlaps are some of the most powerful tools we have to create the illusion of three dimensionality. I've taken a few minutes and detailed the contours of this subject. I've darkened many of the outer contours and I've added more detail to the inner contours. Now, inner and outer contours can be made up of any kind of lines and marks we want. You'll notice that some of the inner contours are dark, hard and heavy, while others are light and soft. So here's what I want you to take away from this demonstration. We've been working here with two types of contours. We started with the outer contour, which was just an outline of the subject. It created a flat shape, almost like a silhouette. Next, we added inner contours. An inner contour is any line that is inside the outer edge. And finally, when an outer contour dives inside the form and becomes an inner contour, it often creates what is called an overlap. This drawing has numerous overlaps. So hopefully you now have a sense of how contour lines work. Outer contours establish the two dimensional shape of the subject while inner contours communicate three dimensionality. Overlaps can show that one part of the subject is in front of another. At this point, you should have a sense of how outer contours and inner contours work together to describe a form. Now it's time to put these ideas into practice. Today, you're going to be doing two classic drawing exercises. You'll be doing blind contour drawings and partially blind contour drawings. A blind contour drawing is exactly what it sounds like. While you're drawing, you only get to look at the subject you are drawing. You do not get to look at the drawing itself. Blind contour drawing focuses solely on the outer edge of your subject. The goal of a blind contour drawing is to move your eye around the outside edge of whatever it is you're drawing and to record every single little detail. Now, I recommend using pen for this project. During today's demonstration, you'll see me using a ballpoint pen. But you're welcome to use a pencil if that's what works best for you. Now, there are only two rules when it comes to blind contour drawing. The first rule is that once you start drawing, the line must be continuous. You do not get to lift your pen. Rule number two is that once your pen starts moving, you do not look at your drawing. You only get to look at the subject you are drawing. Let's head to the drawing board where I'm going to demonstrate blind contour drawing. Mm hmm. So for this demonstration, my goal is to create a single line that moves its way across the surface of the page. First, I'm going to place my hand down on the paper in a position that I want to draw. The specific position of the hand doesn't really matter. And remember, this drawing is going to be one continuous line. I'm going to start that line here at my wrist just above my watch. So to begin, I'm going to place my pen down on the paper. I want to leave enough room on the paper to draw my entire hand. So now my pen is placed and I'm ready to draw. From here on out, I am not going to look at my drawing. I'm only going to look at my left hand. I'm going to slowly move my eye along the contour of my hand, beginning at the left side of my wrist. As I do this, I want to move my pen so that it mimics the movement of my eye. I want to draw and record every tiny detail that I see in the contour of my hand. Remember, I am not looking at this drawing at all. Here I get to my ring going up and over my ring finger. Now, when you do this project, you will be amazed how many tiny little details you start to see in the contour of your hand and your fingers. Remember, the goal of this drawing is not to make a good drawing. We are training our eyes, our mind, and our hand to see all of the tiny little details of the contour. I want you to note how slowly my pen is moving. This is because I'm moving my eye very slowly across my hand. As my eye travels around the edge of my hand and my fingers, my pen is mimicking this motion. My pen is following the same path my eye is following. Remember, the slower you go, the better. Now, I cannot see my drawing. I am sure that it is out of proportion and distorted and that is completely fine. Once again, I want to remind you this project is not about making good drawings. It is about training your eye and your mind to see detail in contour. Finally, I'm arriving at my thumb. At this stage, I don't even know that I have enough room left on the paper for this drawing. I don't know how big or small my drawing is. All of my attention is going to focusing on the tiny details of the contour. I have not looked at my drawing once, and of course, I have not lifted my pen. All right, I am arriving back at my wrist. As anticipated, the final drawing looks distorted, out of proportion, and a little silly. In fact, you never have to look at the drawing in order to get the benefits of this exercise. I tell you this because it's so important that when you do this project today, you don't get caught up in the final product. It is not going to be a good drawing and that is completely fine. Hopefully you can see how many tiny details I was able to find in my hand. Every little fold, bump, and divot of the contour are recorded. In this drawing, they're actually a little exaggerated. This is very common when you're doing blind contour drawings. Remember, the goal is to accentuate all of these details in the contour. Hopefully, this gives you a sense of how this project works. You're drawing one continuous line that mimics the path your eye takes around your hand and you are not looking at the drawing until you have gone from one side of the hand to the other. The goal of doing blind contour drawings is to sensitize our eyes and our mind to all of the details that we find along the contour edge. I'd like to remind you again, this project is not about making good drawings. In fact, you can reap the benefits of this project without ever looking at your drawing. Today's projects are all about the experience, not about the final results. Now you'll see me demonstrate partially blind contour drawing. In a partially blind contour drawing, we are not sticking to the outside edge. We are looking for any reason to dive inside the form. We want to look for lines that start as outer contours and then dive inside and become inner contours. Now, while you're drawing, every outer contour line that you follow inside the form will eventually end. Some of them fade out, some of them run into other lines. But when that happens, you can look at your drawing long enough to place your pen back on the outer contour and start following the next line. This project allows us to explore overlaps and inner contours. Let's head to the drawing board for a demonstration. Now it's time to do our partially blind contour drawing. Just like before, I'm going to place my hand in a position that I want to draw. I want a position that's going to show a lot of overlaps, and just like before, I'm going to place my pen on my paper trying to leave enough room to complete the entire rest of the drawing. I want to place my hand carefully because once I start drawing, remember, I do not get to look. So now my pen is placed and I'm ready to draw. I'm going to begin this drawing at the left side of my wrist just above my watch. Just like before, I'm going to move my eye along the edge of my hand. But instead of following the outside contour, I'm going to follow the contour inside the form, and almost immediately this line dives in. Once I follow this line until its conclusion, I can then look at my drawing only to place my pen back on the outer contour. Once again, I begin moving my eye along the contour of my hand very slowly, having my pen mimic that motion. Once again, the outer contour dives inside creating an inner contour. That line slowly fades out. Now I get to look at my drawing and place my pen once again back on the outer contour. I'm at the fold right at the pinky, there are a number of overlaps here. I follow this line in. Now I get to place my pen on the contour again while looking, but once my pen starts moving again, I no longer get to look. Almost immediately, the line dives inside the form once again. This line curves up and around the pinky finger. I now get to look at my drawing to place my pen back on the outer contour, and I begin again. It doesn't take long before my pen dives inside this time for a very short line. I get to look, place my pen back on the outer contour, and continue. Hopefully, you get the idea at this point. I can continue this process all the way around the edge of the form. So this line is the tip of my pinky finger right here. But instead of the line diving in, it actually runs in to the fingernail. So I'm going to take my pen and bring it inside the form to draw the fingernail and have it come back to the outer contour. And then it dives back inside, which point I can look, place my pen back and continue on. Once again, I have a line that comes and overlaps. I'm going to start on the inside to record that line. So this is very common where you'll run into lines that are overlapping the contour you're drawing. When that happens, simply stop drawing and you can place your pen inside the form and follow the contour out. You should take any excuse to dive inside the form. And remember, every time you dive inside, that means you get to look at your drawing in order to place your pen back on the page. Now I'm drawing my ring finger and the contour goes up and over the ring finger all the way to the other side of the form. So once I complete that line, I'm going to place it back to record the contour of my ring. Now I'm not looking, going up and over. Now I can look again and start back at my ring finger just above my ring. Doing this project, you will be amazed at how often your pen will go inside the form. Overlaps are one of these things that if you haven't thought about them, you don't think that they'd be as common as they are. Once again, the goal here is not to do a good drawing. It is to train our eyes and our mind. Once I've completed this finger, I'm actually going to go back to the space in between my ring finger and my middle finger and start again. Remember, as my pen is moving, I am not looking at my drawing. I'm only looking at the drawing when I pick my pen up and place it back on the outer contour. Now at times you may need to get creative on how to record all of the overlaps. There are many. Remember, the only hard rule you need to follow is that you don't get to look at your drawing while your pen is moving. Once you follow a line to its conclusion to where it stops, is overlap by another line or whether it just disappears, you may need to be clever about where to place your pen back on the outer contour. As I mentioned, at times, you may need to place your pen inside the form and follow an inner contour back out. But as long as you are not looking at your drawing as your pen is moving, you should be able to get the benefits of this exercise. Once again, here, this line stopped and I'm going to begin inside the form and pull this inner contour back out. This is especially common at the knuckles where you'll have a lot of folds in the skin. There's a nice long inner contour that separates the hand from the thumb. Place my pen back on the edge and continue on drawing the thumb. Now, here is the fingernail. It starts inside the form and then emerges back outside to create the outer contour. Almost back to the wrist. With this drawing, we are still trying to record every single detail, every tiny change in the outer contour of the subject. You can see how textural this drawing becomes. All of these little bumps and divots are exaggerated. Now this exaggeration was not intentional. At every moment while drawing, I felt that my pen was simply mimicking the path my eye took around my hand. But it can be incredible to see how many little details emerge in this drawing. This drawing also illustrates how common and prominent overlaps are. There are dozens of overlaps in this simple drawing. And of course, this drawing doesn't even record all of the inner contours that are on the back of the hand. Nor does it record all of the lines going up and over the fingers. This drawing only captures outer contours that become inner contours. But once you start to look around the hand you're drawing, you will see so many additional opportunities for lines and marks. Hopefully, at this point, you understand how to do blind contour drawings and partially blind contour drawings. Before we get you to your project, I want to leave you with a few closing thoughts. As children, when we start drawing, this impulse to outline a subject is innate. Outlining our subject is one of the most fundamental ways we start drawing. We don't even have to think about it. It just makes sense to us. But as complex as an outline can be, it does not address any sense of volume or three dimensionality. In fact, the vast majority of lines and marks you make in your drawing will occur within that outside boundary. Beginners often focus way too much on the outer contour and not nearly enough on the overlaps and inner contours. But one of my goals with this lesson is to get you to understand how outer contours and inner contours work together. They are both essential. Okay, let's get you to your project. For your project today, I want you to do three blind contour drawings of your hand and three partially blind contour drawings of your hand. Now remember the rules. With a blind contour drawing, once your pen starts moving, you do not get to look at your drawing or lift your pen until you have gone all the way around the contour edge of whatever subject you're drawing. With partially blind contour drawings, you can follow an outer contour as it moves inside the form. But when that inner contour ends, you can look at your drawing to place your pen back on the outer contour edge and then start drawing again. Once you've completed these blind contour drawings and partially blind contour drawings of your hands, I want you to select at least one additional object. I want you to try these projects on something other than your hand. Try and pick an object that has a lot of detail on the outer contour, as well as a number of overlaps and inner contours. Remember, your goal here is to have an experience, not to create good drawings. In fact, I would never recommend doing blind contour drawing when you're working on a drawing that you actually want to finish. The goal of today is to train your eyes and your mind to see as many details in the contours as possible and to open yourself up to all of the overlaps and inner contours that you may have been missing. Resulting drawings are going to look distorted and probably pretty silly, but that is okay. Contour drawing is a powerful tool. In this lesson, I want to challenge you to go beyond simple outlines. I want to challenge you to start to see and draw all of the tiny details that a subject contains. Now, beyond learning about contours, this project will also dramatically improve your handeye coordination, which is of course, an essential skill for anybody who wants to draw. With all of this in mind, go do your project and I will see you back here for the next lesson where you're going to learn about cross contour drawings. M 5. Cross Contours: Welcome to Lesson three. In this lesson, we're going to explore cross contour. Cross contour lines are lines that travel across the surface of an object. To help you understand cross contour lines, imagine a grid drawn over the surface of an object. This grid is very similar to latitude and longitude lines on a globe. When applied to the surface of an object, these grid lines will help describe the topography of the surface as well as accentuate its three dimensional qualities. In this lesson, we're also going to explore foreshortening. Foreshortening occurs when an object goes into extreme perspective. For example, we can take a look at this pencil going side to side. When the pencil starts to come toward us in a very dramatic way, we refer to that as foreshortening. Foreshortening is one of the most challenging three dimensional drawing skills to master. But the strategies you're going to learn today will help you understand what happens to objects when they go into foreshortening and help you draw them. Now, unlike outer contours and inner contours, cross contour lines are not naturally occurring on the surface of most objects. The first thing we're going to learn to do is how to apply a cross contour grid over the surface of an object. Next, we're going to draw this object from observation. But before we get to that, I want to remind you that in this course, I'm assuming that you have already gone through the previous two courses in the drawing laboratory. I'm going to assume that you already have basic drawing skills and that you understand how to do three dimensional drawings. If for some reason you've made it to this course without having gone through the previous two courses in the drawing laboratory, I highly recommend that you go back and take them. In just a moment, you're going to see me draw a cross contour grid over two objects, an apple and a banana. These two objects have very different shapes and we need different strategies to apply the grid to each of them. I recommend using a permanent black marker for this project. But of course, you're welcome to use whatever you have on hand. You just need to make sure that whatever you're using will make a mark across the surface of whatever objects you select. Now, I recommend using fruits and vegetables for this project because they are readily available and they are inexpensive. But as always, you are welcome to select whatever objects you. Just remember that the project today requires you to draw a grid over the surface of these objects. Now, if you do draw a grid over anything that's edible, I do not recommend eating it afterward. Now, let's head to the drawing board where I'm going to show you how to draw a grid over an apple and a banana. So you can see here that I'm using a green apple. I recommend you'd use either a green apple or a yellow apple. They are lighter in color and the lines that you draw over them will show up much better. Now, I'll be drawing using a permanent marker. You can use whatever marker you have on hand, although you may need to experiment to make sure that the marker will actually draw on the surface of the apple. I'm going to begin with the longitude lines, the lines that run up and down over the surface of the apple. I'll begin by slowly drawing a line that comes out of this top section of the apple where the stem is. I'm going to go very, very slowly. Now these are hand drawn lines and they are not going to be perfect. Now, I recommend plotting your way down the apple. I'm going to put a series of dots on the surface of the apple that I can follow as I travel toward the center of the bottom of the apple. Once I've done this, I can connect these dots. Again, I'm going to move very slowly as I draw a line down the surface of the apple. You don't have to draw the entire line in one stroke. Here is my first longitude line. Notice that when we view the apple from above, it looks pretty straight. But as we turn the apple, we can start to see the line curve revealing the three dimensionality of the subject. Now I want to make it appear that this line travels all the way around the apple and comes up the other side. I'll set the apple down and I want to draw a line that goes in the exact same direction. I want this next line to appear to be a continuation of the first. Once again, I'm going to plot my way down the surface of the apple to the bottom. Once I know where the line is going, I am going to slowly draw it down the surface of the apple. Now, it should appear that I have a continuous line that goes all the way around the surface of the apple. Next, I want to draw a line that goes perpendicular to the first longitude line. I'll set the apple down and I'm going to start to plot a line that travels out from the center, but then it appears to be at a right angle to the first line. We'll begin this line. Taking it straight out and plot the rest of my way down. Next, I plotted my way down this side of the apple. Now I'll slowly draw this line. Now, an apple is an organic form, it will have many irregularities. So it can be a bit of a challenge to get the lines to appear exactly the way we want. They don't need to be exact. Now you can see we have our longitude lines emerging from the center of the top of the apple. These sets of longitude lines are perpendicular to one another. From this point of view, it looks like our apple has been divided into four segments. We want to divide each of these segments in half again. Now I'll draw some additional longitude lines. I'll use the exact same technique of first plotting the lines down and then drawing them. Now for these additional longitude lines, we want them to appear to be halfway in between our initial longitude lines. Again, these lines are not going to be perfect. Just do your best. Again, here I'm finding the middle point between these two lines and I'm going to plot my way up and down the surface of the apple and now I can draw. From this point of view, you can see that the right side of this particular apple is larger than the left side. This does create some strange asymmetries. Nevertheless, we want to try our best to send these longitude lines directly down the center between our two existing longitude lines. Now, while you're doing this project, you may want to keep a couple of extra apples on hand. Your first lines may not work out as well as you hope. That is perfectly normal. Now you can see that we have a number of longitude lines drawn up and over the surface of our apple. Now while you're doing this, you may want to make sure that you're not smudging your lines. I've smudged in a few places. It's very common and that's totally fine. We just want to make sure that the lines remain clear. Next, I need to draw my latitude lines. I'll be drawing a total of three latitude lines. Remember, latitude lines move side to side. To begin, I first want to find the halfway point between the top and bottom of the apple. It looks like it will be about here. I want to do this for each of these lines. Once I found the halfway point between the top and the bottom, for each of the eight lines, I can begin connecting these dots. While you're doing this, you may want to give your marker just a little bit of time to dry in between lines. Now we have our first latitude line traveling around the apple. Next, I want to draw two more latitude lines, one up here and one down here. Once again, I will plot my way around the apple. Now I can connect these dots and complete the second latitude line. You can see that despite my best efforts, these are not perfect. Again, this is to be expected. Even if the lines aren't perfect, they will still be very functional for the project we're going to do today. Now I will plot out my last latitude line. Once I'm ready, I can draw. Now we have completed the latitude and longitude lines on our apple. Hopefully you can see what a great job these lines do describing the three dimensionality of the form. They really highlight the roundness as well as the surface characteristics. We can see the longitude lines emerging out of this fur with the top and traveling around the form. You can also see that each latitude line is essentially an ellipse that highlights the roundness of the object. So this is your final goal to draw eight longitude lines emerging from the top of the apple and moving down to the bottom and then to draw three latitude lines that travel all the way around. Once you've got this, you'll be ready to draw the apple. Next, we're going to apply the same technique to a banana. Now, a banana does not have obvious latitude and longitude lines, but let me show you how I would handle this form. I'll start by making a mark halfway between the ends of the banana. Next, I'll make an additional mark halfway between the first mark and this end, and then I'll find a halfway mark between this mark and this end of the banana. Next, I want to plot my lines. I'm going to move around the banana first plotting the middle line. That appears to meet up pretty well. Now I'm going to draw this initial line. I'm essentially drawing a ring all the way around the banana. Now I want you to take a look at the curvature of this banana. On the concave side of the banana, these two lines will appear to get closer. On the convex side, they will appear to be further apart. Just something to keep in mind as you are drawing your lines on this type of form. Once I've plotted my path, I can draw. Once again, you can see that on the concave side, the lines are closer together and on the convex side, they are further apart. Now I'll repeat the same process on the other side. Once I plotted the lines, I can begin to draw. Now I have completed three lines traveling around the banana. Now, one thing that's interesting about bananas is they actually have natural cross contour lines running along their length. If you want to, you can follow these lines with your pen. Now, you don't need to draw over each of these lines. You can see here I've skipped one. But the goal is to go around the banana and to draw these additional lines to highlight the curvature. Now in this banana, these lines were not evenly spaced. I'm having to invent one here. This is very common. Remember, these are natural objects and you will find many irregularities. For this one, I can follow the natural line that's already running down the length of the banana. Hopefully, you can see I now have a number of cross contour lines drawn around this banana. I want you to note how they change as we move the banana through space. Again, we can see they really highlight the three dimensionality. Now, of course, you're welcome to draw these grid lines on any fruit or vegetable you want. You don't have to use an apple or a banana. But hopefully, this gives you a sense of how to draw a grid on objects that are different shapes. Now that you understand how to apply a cross con to our grid to an object, it's time to draw. Now, in just a moment, you're going to see me demonstrate how to draw an apple from a pretty traditional point of view. But in your project today, you're going to be turning this apple in numerous directions. You want to be able to draw cross contour lines over the surface of objects from any point of view. So let's head to the drawing board. M when doing a cross contour drawing, I'll begin just like I would with any other drawing. I'll start by drawing the most basic shape, which is, of course, a circle. Once I've drawn this simple light circle, I can use the blocking technique to shape the apple. I can see that the right side of the apple is higher than the left side, so I'll draw a line like this. I can also see that the right side of the bottom is slightly lower than the left. I can see this line tilting upward here. I'll move around this basic circle and shape the apple. I want to turn this simple circle into a shape that reflects the subject in front of me. As I do this, hopefully you can start to see the specific apple that we're trying to draw take shape. I'll even block in the depression where the stem is. Once I have a basic block in, I can start crafting the contour. Now, the contour lines will be a little more curved than the block in. When crafting the contour, I can start to draw the smaller, more subtle changes in the outer contour. My goal is to craft an outer contour that captures the specifics of this individual apple. It's important to craft the outer contour before we add any cross contour lines. Once I'm satisfied with the outer contour, I can begin to slowly draw the longitude lines. To start, I'm simply going to block them in just like I did for the outer contour. I want you to note that these longitude lines curve right into the outer contour of the apple. That's part of what makes them look three dimensional. If we think of the outer contour like a freeway, the longitude line is like an off ramp that curves off of it. I also want to note how it emerges from this depression the longitude line appears to curve out of it before traveling down over the surface of the apple. Next, I'll do the longitude line here. Again, I want to carefully block it in first before I darken it. Here we see it curving up and out of the outer contour before curving over the surface of the apple. Also trying to pay attention to the distance between each of these longitude lines. I think I can move this one over just slightly. This is why we keep our lines light to begin with. You'll see me go through the same process for each of the longitude lines, paying close attention to how they emerge from this depression at the center of the apple and how they interact with the outer contour. As I'm crafting these longitude lines, I start to see subtle changes in the outer contour I can make as well. For example, I think this outer contour needs to be moved out just a little bit on the right side. Now we only see a small portion of the longitude lines on the backside of the apple. Nevertheless, I want to draw them with care and attention. I have now lightly drawn in all of the longitude lines, the lines that run up and down the surface of the apple. Now that I've done the longitude lines, I can move on to the latitude lines. I find this to be the easiest and most straightforward way to draw cross contour lines. Start with the longitude lines, then move on to the latitude lines. One thing that you may have noticed is that these latitude lines are essentially ellipses. They operate the exact same way. Notice that the axis for this ellipse is tilted. This is because the right side of the apple is larger than the left. This causes the apple to sit in a particular tilt on the surface it's resting upon. I want to pay close attention to the distance between this latitude line and this depression at the center of the top of the apple. Now we'll move down to the second latitude line. While I'm drawing these latitude lines, I'm paying close attention to the square shapes created. I'm noticing that this longitude line can be moved in just slightly. These kinds of corrections are very common when drawing. You want to get in the habit of making changes when you notice these things. Finally, I'll move down to the lowest latitude line. Now that I've made my first attempt at each of the latitude and longitude lines, I want to take a look at the result. I want to compare my drawing against the subject. I don't merely want to darken what I've already drawn. I want to take this one last opportunity to make any changes. I think this latitude line can be moved up just slightly. I think it needs to be closer to this depression at the center of the top of the apple. I can use my eraser to knock back any excess lines. I also feel like this latitude line can be moved up just slightly. Before I darken any lines, I want to make sure that they are doing what I want them to do. I want to make sure they are properly placed and accurately reflecting what I see on the subject. Now, of course, no drawing is going to be perfect, but we want to make a good faith attempt at capturing what we see. Now that I'm ready, I'm going to begin darkening these lines. I'll start with the outer contour and then let my pencil dive inside the form as it follows the longitude lines up. I'm looking back and forth from my drawing to the reference subject, trying to capture any small details that I may have missed. Here you can say I'm moving the outer contour out just slightly again. I'm going to slightly move out this latitude line on the left. All of these lines work together to create the illusion of three dimensionality. We really feel each longitude line coming out of this depression at the top and then curving over the surface of the apple as it travels down. We feel each of these latitude lines coming from behind the apple, curving around front, and then disappearing behind the other side of the apple. This is the power of cross contour. It tends to depict aspects of three dimensionality that are simply not possible with inner and outer contours alone. Now, technically, cross contour lines are inner contours, but hopefully you can see how different they operate from other inner contours that we've worked with before. I'll finish this drawing by adding the stem. Just a small extra finishing touch. The stem is, of course, cylindrical. We can see the ellipse at the top. Hopefully, this has given you a sense of how to craft a cross contour drawing. We started with a basic shape of the apple a circle. We then use the blocking technique to craft the outer contour. Then added some curves to the outer contour to make it start to capture the specifics of this individual apple. Next, we drew the longitude lines that run up and down over the surface of the apple and finally, we concluded with the latitude lines that run side to side around the apple. I drew all of these lines lightly first and then darken them once I was ready. Hopefully, you can see what an excellent job this drawing does showing the three dimensionality of this specific apple. Here we see a drawing of a banana viewed from the side. Now one thing I'd like to note is that there are very few indications of three dimensionality in this drawing. In order to communicate three dimensionality in a drawing, we often need to select the right view. The reason this view does not show much three dimensionality is because this part of the banana is the same distance from our eyes as this part. Nothing in this object is closer or further away from us. I also want you to note that the cross contour lines appear very flat. Because we prepared these cross contour lines on the banana, we know that these lines travel all the way around the cylindrical shaft of the banana. But from this point of view, these lines appear straight. Now, this is a technically correct drawing of this banana with cross contour lines. But because it's viewed directly from the side, there are not many opportunities to communicate three dimensionality. Now I'm going to do three additional drawings. In each drawing, I'm going to turn the banana so you can see how it changes as it goes into perspective. Now, when an object like banana goes into extreme perspective, we refer to it as foreshortening. As we turn the banana and our drawings get more and more foreshortened, I want you to keep this drawing in mind. I want you to note the changes the banana is going to go through as we turn it in space. Here we are drawing a banana that is starting to turn. The end of the banana on our left is closer to us than the end of the banana on our right. Here, you can see me simply blocking in the basic shape of the banana. Hopefully, you can see that the basic shape of the banana is a bending oval. I can begin to add more and more details as the drawing progresses. Here's the stem, and here is the ellipse at the end of the banana. Now, this ellipse at the end is important. Notice how we actually start to see the ellipse open up as this part of the banana begins to turn toward us. Now, of course, my first goal in this drawing is to simply construct the outer contour. Remember, we want to construct the outer contour before we add any cross contour lines. Once we've got the basic outer contour drawn in, we can begin to add the cross contour lines. I'll start with the lines that run along the length of the banana. Notice that as this bottom line travels down the length of the banana, it gets closer and closer to the edge until it goes behind the banana. I'm just going to draw these lines in very, very lightly at first. I don't want to darken them until I have properly placed them. We can see this line here curve up and over the spherical end of the banana. I want to pay close attention to how far this cross contour line is away from the outer contour, as well as the other line. Even though this view of the banana is only turned toward us slightly, it still provides more opportunities to communicate three dimensionality. Now I want you to take a look at the lines traveling around the banm. These lines now appear as ellipses. Notice that we can see them curving around the banana. Now they aren't curved much, but they don't need to be. Even these slight curvatures begin to communicate the roundness of the shaft of the banana. Now as we do these drawings, I really want you to pay attention to the moment that they go from being flat to being three dimensional. Hopefully, you can start to see and feel the three dimensionality of this object. Once I'm satisfied with the placement of the cross contour lines, I can begin to darken the drawing. One thing I like to do is to darken the parts of the banana that are closer and to leave the parts that are further away a little lighter and a little softer. This is something we'll talk much more about in the upcoming lessons. I'm going to add a little detail here to the end of the banana. Next, I will darken the cross contour lines. Again, I want this cross contour line to begin to darken as it comes toward us in space. This helps to enhance the illusion of three dimensionality. These drawings do not need to include a lot of detail. The goal of these drawings is to communicate three dimensionality by focusing on the cross contour lines. I think this drawing is starting to work. I'm going to move on to my next drawing where the banana is going to turn a little more. So once again, you can see that I have drawn the very simple shape for this foreshortened banana. It appears once again to be an oval that is bent. But I want you to take note of something. As the banana begins to turn, the tilt of the line between the two ends changes. Notice that on this more foreshortened banana, this tilt is more oblique than this tilt, which is closer to a horizontal. I'd also like you to notice that the width changes as the banana turns more toward us. Take a look at the entire width of this first banana. Let's compare it to our second banana. Hopefully, you can see our second banana is much less wide. There are two more things I'd like to point out that are occurring in this strong. First, we have an overlap. If we follow this outer contour, we can see it dive inside the banana and then travel upward toward the stem at the back. Once again, this outer contour dives inside the form and travels up toward the back end of the banana. To complete the outer contour, we need to begin a new line. The travels up and over. Now, could you feel that moment? As soon as we drew this overlap and this single inner contour, suddenly, this drawing snapped into three dimensions. This basic shape went from being a flat oval to a three dimensional form. Finally, I want you to note that the ellipses of the banana are beginning to open even more. You really see the ellipses starting to curve. Yes. Notice that the ellipses in this drawing are curving much more than the ellipses in our first drawing. Now I'll draw the lines that run down the length of the banana. This one is the most prominent. I'm paying close attention to where it lies in between the contours of the banana, as well as its distance from this inner contour that I drew. I want to start it off very lightly and softly. Just want to map it out first. Now, do you remember this line that disappeared behind the banana at the very back of it? Now we can take a look at this same line and see that it disappears behind the banana much sooner, so much less of this line is visible in this drawing. With the basic forms laid out, I'm now going to complete this drawing. As I add some detail to this end of the banana, I want you to note that this elliptical end has opened up more in comparison to the first drawing. Now with the cross contour lines drawn in, I can add some of the details like the stem at the end. Just like we did in our first drawing, I'm going to draw the stem in a pretty basic way. The reason is that it doesn't have any cross contour lines applied to it and of course, it's further away. By leaving it more simple and drawing it with lighter, softer lines, it will appear further away. Contrast, I can start to darken and harden the lines at the front end of the banana to make it appear as if it's coming toward us. I can do the same thing with the cross contour lines. I can darken them as they come toward us and let them fade out as they travel away from us. Now, I do want to highlight this overlap, so I am going to draw some darker lines where this overlap occurs as a way to call attention to it. Hopefully, this drawing is starting to feel more three dimensional. Hopefully we can really begin to feel this front end of the banana turning toward us while the back end travels away from us. In this final drawing, the banana is turning toward us in a very dramatic way. I want you to take a look at the width of this banana from this extremely foreshortened point of view. It is only a fraction of the width of our first drawing. Once again, the basic shape is a curving oval, but the end of the banana that's closest to us is much larger and it almost appears spherical. The ellipse of the very end of the banana has opened up almost to an entire circle. Take a look at the tilt of the line between the two ends of the banana. Whereas the tilt of this line in our first drawing was closer to horizontal, this line is closer to vertical. I'll take a few minutes and craft the outer contour. Once again, I want the lines that are closest to us to appear darker and as they get further away, they can get lighter. I want to put a lot of emphasis on this overlap. So here you can see this top outer contour dives inside the form before turning and traveling up the length of the banana. To complete the outer contour, we need to start another line that crashes in to the outer contour of the first line. If you remember back to this line, the overlap was very subtle. Both the outer contour and the inner contour curve gently into this line. But here we see this outer contour hitting this line, crashing into it in an almost perpendicular direction. This is a very different overlap. Once again, we can see dramatic curves in the ellipses. These are the most curved ellipses we have drawn yet. We really get a sense that these ellipses are coming from behind the banana and then traveling over its surface. I also want you to note that as this banana has turned, the ellipses have gotten much closer together. Want to use heavy line quality to really communicate that this end of the banana is much closer to us. Now I'll draw the lines that travel down the length of the banana. I want you to note that this cross contour line begins very close to the right edge of the banana, but then as it travels down, begins to get further and further away from this edge until it becomes closer to the opposite edge. This is one of the things that makes cross contour drawing so valuable. It really forces us to understand what happens when objects go into extreme foreshortening. Now I'd like to call your attention to the cross contour line at the bottom. Notice that we see very little of it. It curves and disappears behind the banana very quickly. In for the first time, we see just a hint of the cross contour line on the other side. In this drawing, I am going to just barely suggest the stem. This will help it really fade into the distance. Conversely, I'd like to really darken the cross contour lines and the contour lines at the front end of this banana. I really want you to feel this part of the drawing coming forward. Each of the cross contour lines get a little lighter as they travel back in space. I'll complete this last indication of this cross contour line and I'll wrap this drawing. So hopefully, this demonstration has given you a sense of what happens to an object that is long and curved as it turns in space. I really want you to note how valuable it is to use cross contour lines when studying objects like this. By creating this wire frame around an object, it really forces us to grapple with the three dimensionality. My hope is that when you look at these three drawings together, you not only see but feel this end of the banana getting closer to you as the banana turns and this end getting further away. Cross contour drawings are an excellent way to challenge ourselves to fully understand the three dimensionality of an object. But of course, when we do more naturalistic drawings, we don't want a grid drawn over their surface. Now let's take a look at some drawings of a bell pepper and of some garlic. I want you to see how a cross contour grid can inform the kind of lines and marks we use in a more naturalistic drawing. Here you can see a bell pepper on top of which I have drawn numerous cross contour lines. I want you to note both the longitude lines and the latitude lines. Now, it's easy to assume that this cross contour grid is not useful in an actual drawing. But now I want you to take a look at a more naturalistic drawing. I want you to take a look at these textural inner contours. You can clearly see numerous light, soft lines that follow the latitude lines from the cross contour grid. The more we look, the more we find. These light soft latitude lines help give the illusion of three dimensionality. We can also see numerous interior contours that follow the longitude lines. By understanding how a cross contour grid works on this object, I'm able to draw light, soft naturalistic lines that communicate more three dimensionality. This is an excellent example of inner contours, outer contours, as well as cross contours all working together to describe the form. Here I'm drawing a number of cross contour lines over garlic. Both the longitude lines and the latitude lines help to communicate the bulbous forms that the garlic is made up of. Now, this drawing, it's very clear how these cross contour lines help to communicate the three dimensionality of the form. But now let's take a look at a more finished and naturalistic drawing. I want you to note how all of these small striations on the skin of the garlic worked. I think that a successful drawing of garlic brings to mind that papery feeling of the garlic skin. Now in this drawing, we don't see many latitude lines running around the garlic, but you'll notice that all of these tiny light striations communicating the paperiness of the skin follow the longitude lines. We see these longitude lines over and over again, both in the inner contours of the garlic, as well as in the overlaps. Hopefully this gives you a sense of how we can use cross contour lines in actual more naturalistic drawings. Having a good knowledge and understanding of how a cross contour grid would appear on an object like this absolutely informs our linework. We've covered a lot today. Now, let's get you to your projects. For your project today, you're going to draw a cross contour grid over three different objects. Your objects should be differently shaped. For example, today, you saw me draw a grid over a round apple as well as a cylindrical banana. These forms had very different shapes. Next, we took a look at drawings of garlic and a bell pepper. These two forms have completely different shapes from the fruit. I want you to draw each of these three objects from three different viewpoints. That is nine drawings in total. Again, I think fruit and vegetables work great for this project, but you are welcome to select whatever objects you want. You just have to be okay with covering them with a grid. So if you're feeling brave, here's an additional challenge you can try. Start by drawing an object as you normally would. But instead of actually drawing a grid over its surface, try visualizing the cross contour grid. See if you can work out in your drawing where the grid would be if it were drawn on the object. Now, you'll be drawing the actual object from observation, but you'll be drawing the cross contour grid from imagination. You'll first need to visualize it and then work out its placement over the surface of the object in your drawing. I did this drawing of a mixer from observation. But of course, I did not draw a cross contour grid over its surface. Instead, I'm visualizing where the grid might be. I'm trying to work out in the drawing where the cross contour lines would go if the object were covered in a grid. This is an excellent way to test your three dimensional drawing skills and to see where you may need some additional practice and experience. I absolutely love cross contour drawing. It is so much more descriptive than outer and inner contours alone. Now, so far in each of the three lessons in this course, we've explored line in completely different ways. In lesson one, we tried to define what line is. In lesson two, you learned about inner contours, outer contours, and overlaps. Here in lesson three, you learned about cross contour lines. In the remaining lessons in this course, we are going to bring all of these ideas together. You'll learn to use all kinds of lines and marks to create drawings that are truly compelling to viewers. You'll learn to do drawings that are descriptive and accurate but also expressive and captivating. I will see you back here for Lesson four, where you're going to learn how to draw textures and how to create tactile sensations in your drawings. 6. Tactile & Textural Lines & Marks: Welcome to Lesson four in the Language of line. To start, I'd like to review what we've learned. In Lesson one, we learned what a line is and we explore the different kinds of lines and marks that are possible. In lesson two, we learned how inner and outer contours work together to describe form. We also learned about overlaps where an outer contour dives inside the form to become an inner contour. Overlaps help describe which parts of your subject are in front of others. In lesson three, you learned about cross contour lines. Cross contour lines further describe the three dimensionality of an object as well as its surface characteristics. This lesson, we're going to pull all of these ideas together and you're going to learn how to infuse every outer and inner contour with meaning and purpose. In this lesson, you're going to learn how to create the illusion of texture and tactile sensations. For the duration of this course, you're going to hear me talk a lot about line quality. I wanted to take a few minutes to describe what line quality is. Each and every line you draw is going to have a collection of particular qualities or characteristics. As you learned earlier, lines can be light or dark, thick or thin, hard or soft, or any number of other qualities. In this lesson, you're going to learn how to combine these different characteristics into a single line. For example, a line can be light thin, hard and straight all at once. A different line may be soft, dark, thick, and curved. Now, when we draw these lines on their own, they tend to look abstract. But when they are used in the service of a more finished drawing, they really start to communicate different things to the viewer. In this lesson, you're going to learn how to harness the power of line quality to create different textures and tactile sensations. It's important that you understand that the lines and marks you're going to see me draw today are not necessarily observable on the actual subjects. When we draw, we are not merely copying reality. If your goal is to create a facsimile of reality, get yourself a camera. We want to go beyond what we can observe on the subject to communicate something to the viewer. The line is unique to drawing. Remember, we don't see outlines around subjects in reality and we can use the opportunity line affords us to really communicate with our viewers. Now before we get to the demonstrations, there are two more things I want to talk about. First, I want you to understand that today is not about making good drawings. Today is about exploring and experimenting. When we experiment, we understand that not everything we try is going to work out. In fact, most things we try are probably not going to work out, and that is completely fine. When you're drawing today, I don't want you to worry about whether or not a particular line may work in your drawing. If it doesn't work, it doesn't matter. Remember, we need to try a lot of things before we figure out what will work. So when you're drawing today, don't worry about making good drawings. The demonstrations you're going to see me do are just explorations. Next, I want you to understand that what you'll see me draw today is not necessarily the right way or the best way to do this. I'm exploring and experimenting too. Your goal is to figure out what kind of lines and marks are compelling to you. Drawings you'll see me create today are just some of the plausible things you can do with line. I'm just trying to build a framework, a mental model for how line can be used to communicate different things to the viewer. Your goal is to figure out what you want to communicate with the viewer and what kind of lines will best do that. With all of this in mind, let's get into it. To begin, let's take a look at two balloons. One balloon is going to be filled with helium. The other balloon is going to be filled with water. When we hold the string of a helium balloon, we can feel it tugging upward. But when we hold the top of a water balloon, we can feel it stretch under the weight of the water and we can see the water bulging. These two balloons feel completely different. But in a drawing, we don't have the physical objects to hold in our hands. We have to figure out other ways to communicate these sensations. This is where line quality comes in. We are not merely drawing what we observe. We are using lines and marks to communicate what we know to be true. With that in mind, let's head to the drawing board. The balloon on the left is going to be our helium balloon. We want this drawing to communicate lightness and lifting. I'll begin, of course, with the basic shape for the balloon, starting with a simple circle. I'll tilt the balloon slightly. Just to give it a sense of motion, I'll complete the egg shape of the balloon by rocking a line back and forth. I want to make sure that each half of the balloon is mirroring the other along the central line. I've drawn these lines incredibly lightly. They should be barely visible. I'll quickly sketch in the part of the balloon that's tied off, as well as the string that the balloon is attached to. As I bring this drawing to life, I want every line to communicate lightness. I'll draw the lines darkest at the bottom and have them get lighter as they travel up. This may communicate a lifting sensation. I also want you to note that these outer contour lines are very thin. Thin lines tend to appear lighter than thick lines. As I add some value and dimension to the balloon, I want most of my lines to travel up as I draw them. Note that these lines are light and soft. The upward strokes once again give the sensation of lifting. I want every part of this drawing to communicate a light airiness. In the part of the balloon that's tied off, I'm going to use quick curvaceous strokes. I'm not going to put a lot of detail down here because I don't want it to draw the eye too much. For the string attached to the balloon, I'm going to use a slightly curved line. I want it to feel unattached. I want it to have a floating sensation. Remember, the goal of this drawing is to communicate lightness and airiness. I don't want to darken the drawing too much. I just want to darken it enough to give it some dimension. The more I darken the drawing, the heavier it will appear. I'll add some additional value with some quick, soft lines. These lines are a little darker at the bottom and get lighter as we travel up the balloon. I'm not going to take this drawing much farther. I want to keep it simple. I want the feeling of lightness to persist. I want the outer contour of the balloon to get lighter as it nears the top. This reinforces a sensation of lifting. I'm going to use my eraser to lighten the lines at the top even further. Notice that the darkest lines in this drawing are used in the string. The string is being pulled down by gravity while the balloon lifts up and floats away. Nearly every line in this drawing communicates lightness in floating. I want this drawing to feel as if it could float away. Next, let's contrast this drawing with the drawing of a water balloon. Just like before, we'll begin with a simple circle. The center line for this balloon is going to go straight up and down because the balloon is being pulled straight down by gravity. Next, I'll draw the top of the balloon that's stretching as it comes down. This drawing is all about heaviness. I want this balloon to appear heavy. I want to give the sensation of it being pulled down by gravity. To do this, I'm going to draw dark thick strokes. At the very bottom of the balloon, I'm going to use dark, heavy strokes to really give the sensation of weight. Most of the strokes in this drawing are going to go down. I'm going to draw dark thin lines to communicate the sensation that this part of the balloon is stretched taut, that it would feel tight if we were to touch it. This drawing is using completely different kinds of lines than the drawing on the left. Lines used to draw the water balloon are thick, dark, and heavy. The darker I make this drawing, the heavier it appears. I'm going to continue to add value. The more value we add, the more visual weight the drawing contains. This concept of visual weight is so important. We attach so much meaning to lines. The thicker and darker a line is, the heavier it appears. Even though the flat surface of the page doesn't have gravity, our minds infer gravity. We bring our psychology to the page. Now, I can continue to add more and more value to this drawing, but hopefully you can see that this drawing of a water balloon already appears much heavier than the helium balloon on the left. Watch as I darken the bottom edge of this balloon. Notice that you can feel it become heavier and heavier the more I darken. How we draw things really does communicate with the viewer. For the helium balloon, we use light, quick lines that lift and soar. We used upward strokes to help give a sense of lifting. Every line in this drawing is light. The helium balloon has very little visual weight. It really does appear that it could float away at any moment. By contrast, the water balloon appears heavy. It is created with dark, thick heavy lines. We really feel the weight of the water sitting at the bottom of the balloon. At the very top of the balloon, we use dark thin lines to communicate that the balloon is pulled tight and taut. Remember, none of these lines were actually observed on the subject. Hopefully, at this point, you now have an idea of what I'm talking about when I say that lines can communicate different sensations. Hopefully, you could really feel the lightness and heaviness of these two balloons. Next, I'd like to push this idea further. I'm going to be drawing two different objects, a pillow and a rock. Let's head to the drawing board where you'll see me employ very different kinds of line quality to communicate very different sensations in these drawings. To begin, I'll simplify the pillow into a basic four sided shape. Once the basic shape has been drawn, I can begin to block in the more complex form. I'm paying particular attention to the corners of the pillow. Each corner seems to jut out in a triangular shape. Once I have the basic shape of the pillow blocked in, I can begin adding my tactile lines. I want this drawing to feel soft. I'll be using thick, soft edged lines for the curves increases. There's nothing hard about a pillow, this drawing doesn't need any hard lines. These lines are thick, they're curved, they're soft edged. These qualities work together to tell us something, not just about what the pillow looks like, but what it would feel like to the touch. Nearly every line I'm drawing is curved, even if it's just a little bit. Now, the drawing will darken as I continue, but I don't think many areas of this drawing will end up being a dark black. Remember, darker lines tend to communicate weight for this drawing, we want to communicate softness and lightness. Even as I add value to this drawing, I'm not going to make it too dark. Remember, these kind of drawings today are just exercises. Now, if I were doing a drawing like this for exhibition or display, there are a lot of things I would do differently. This is just an exercise to see how much softness I can communicate with my linework. This drawing has a single purpose of communicating something to the viewer. As I'm drawing, I'm trying to push the idea of softness. I want you to note the overlaps here at the bottom of the pillow. It overlaps this line, which is an outer contour before it dives inside. Once these lines are inside, I can begin to soften them even further. I can also start to use cross contour lines, lines that start to move up and over the surface of the pillow. These cross contour inspired lines start to communicate how the surface of the pillow curves. Remember, in the reference photos for this pillow, we didn't see these soft edge lines at the contours. They looked hard, but that doesn't mean we have to draw them that way. Again, we are using the language of drawing, the language of line to communicate something about the subject. I'm working hard to make sure that every line I draw has a softness and thickness to it. Every line I draw is curved. Hopefully, you can really start to feel the softness in this drawing. Drawings that are crafted entirely out of curved lines feel completely different from drawings that are crafted primarily from straight lines. Now, even though I want this drawing to appear soft and light, I'm still darkening the outer contours at the bottom. You can see that this gives the sensation of the pillow resting its weight on a surface. It may not be much weight, but it does ground the drawing. Hopefully, this gives you a sense of how far you can push these ideas. This is a drawing about making the viewer feel something. I want the viewer to feel the softness of these curves. Again, I'm not worried about crafting a masterful drawing. I'm simply experimenting with line to see how soft I can make this pillow appear. Now, let's contrast the drawing of a pillow with the drawing of a rock. As always, I will begin blocking in the simple shape of the form. No matter what kind of lines I intend to use in the final drawing, I can block in the subject the same way. Once I have the basic shape, I can begin crafting the contour. At this point, I'm still not drawing any lines I want seen by of your. I'm simply giving the shape of the rock more character and more specificity. I'll quickly block in just a few more surface details. I'm paying particular attention to the plane changes on the surface of the rock. Now that I have the basic shapes and contours of the rock blocked in, it's time to start drawing lines that I actually want seen by a viewer. There are three things I want to communicate in this drawing, hardness, heaviness and angularity. To communicate this, I'm going to craft this drawing from dark straight lines. I want these dark straight lines to meet at angles. These angles will help communicate the sharpness of the edges of the rock. I haven't drawn many lines, but already this drawing feels completely different from the pillow. Even my hand moves differently as I make these lines. The pencil moves in sharp jagged strokes. My hand is no longer flowing around the page as it did when we drew curves on the pillow. Now, this drawing of a rock is going to have large areas of dark value. This darkness is going to help communicate the heaviness. Remember, the darker the line, the heavier it tends to appear, and areas of dark value tend to have a lot of visual weight. As I darken the areas of the rock that are in shadow, you may be surprised to see me using softer strokes with the side of my pencil. So far, I've told you that softer lines communicate softness. So why am I using soft strokes in a rock? The first reason is that I'm trying to cover large areas with value. It would take an incredibly long time to use the tip of my pencil to add value to these areas. But the second and most important reason is that we can layer different kinds of lines on top of one another. As I darken the shadow areas, I'm going to switch to the tripod grip so I can bear down on the tip of the pencil without breaking it. Over the soft value lines you just saw me lay down, I can draw harder, darker lines. These hard straight lines drawn with the tip of the pencil take visual prominence over the soft value I lay down. I'm layering different kinds of lines and marks. So it's fine for me to use softer strokes when laying down value as long as those strokes are covered up by sharper, harder strokes. You'll see me go back and forth in this drawing quite a bit from the overhand grip to the tripod grip. Anytime I want to bear down on the tip of the pencil without breaking it, I need to switch to the tripod grip. I'm working hard to not draw any curve lines in this drawing. Even as I'm drawing the small details and the texture of the rock, I'm still using dark, straight lines. Now, of course, not every line in this drawing needs to be dark. I will draw some lighter lines in the areas of the rock that are being hit with more light. But even these lighter lines are straight. Again, I really hope you can see that this drawing appears completely different from the earlier drawings in this lesson. Similar to the balloon, I want this drawing to look heavy, but unlike the balloon, I want this drawing to look as if it has hard edges. Again, I want to make clear that I am not observing these lines on the rock itself. I am using wine quality to communicate detail, texture, and hardness. And as I keep saying, today is not about doing good drawings. If I were working on a drawing that was going to be exhibited or displayed, I would not necessarily draw it like this, but I am attempting to push the feeling of hardness and angularity in this drawing. I'm trying to see how hard I can get this rock to look. When you remove the pressure of doing drawings that need to be finished or displayed, you're more free to experiment. Not all of your line quality experiments are going to work out the way you hope and that is totally fine. Over here in the deepest areas of shadow, I am using the darkest lines that I put down so far. I am bearing all the way down on the tip of the pencil to truly create the darkest black I can. I'm also placing these darkest blacks near the bottom of the rock. Again, this helps weigh down the entire drawing. Even in the lightest areas of the drawing, I'm still creating texture with straight lines. I'm not worried whether or not this is a good drawing. I am simply experimenting with lines and marks. Hopefully you can really see that these kinds of lines and marks really do start to give the rock a hard heavy appearance. The more lines and marks I make, the more craggily the rock appears. Now I could spend quite a bit of time adding detail and texture to this drawing, but I think this is enough for you to get the idea. Straight, hard and dark lines create a sense of weight and hardness in a drawing. If you have large areas of value, you can use softer strokes. But if you want hardness to come through, you need to cover those soft strokes with dark hard lines. Whatever strokes take visual prominence will define the drawing. I'm going to add a few finishing touches just to bring out the angularity of the edges. So hopefully you can see how you draw your lines really matters. You want to take the opportunities you can to communicate with your viewer. There are no hard rules with line quality, but remember, you want to avoid using boring, monotonous lines. Make a decision to say something with your lines. Go beyond what you see and try and communicate something visceral to the viewer. So you've just seen me really try and communicate the idea of heaviness and hardness in that drawing of a rock. Next, I'd like to contrast those kind of lines by pushing the idea of softness and lightness even further. In this next demonstration, you're going to see me draw feathers. Feathers are an excellent subject to draw. They require all kinds of different lines and marks. Feathers are pretty easy to get ahold of and they're small and light enough that you can place them right next to your drawing on your paper if you want. So here we have a completely different kind of drawing. Now these are drawings of feathers and I happen to have the actual feather right here. To do these drawings, I've been picking up the feather and turning it in different ways. Now, I've drawn these bigger than the actual feather to make sure that you can see a lot of detail and texture. Now, when you're doing these kinds of drawings, it's so important to have the actual subject on hand. You want to see what it feels like. Being able to pick up and touch the subject is critical to figuring out what kind of lines you want to use. This feather has a few different kinds of textures. At the base of the feather, we find incredibly soft downy fuzz. In my drawings, I'm using incredibly soft light lines. These lines are almost smoke like. They almost look as if they dissolve as they get further from the center of the feather. Of course, we have the hard spine running up the center of the feather. This is one of the few areas in the drawing where I use darker, harder lines. The spine tends to get thinner as it moves toward the top of the feather. Finally, we have the top of the feather. This area tends to be a little spikier in its appearance. It's not quite as downy soft as the base of the feather. I'm showing you all of this because it's important that you understand that not all subjects require the same lines throughout. To properly capture the different textures of the feather, I need to use at least three different kinds of lines, very hazy and almost smoke like lines, very thin light lines for the top of the feather, and darker hard thin lines for the spine. But no matter what kinds of lines I'm using, I still want to communicate texture. I want to do a drawing that captures how the feather might feel to the touch and different parts of the feather would feel different. Now, each one of these feathers began the same way. I picked the feather up and I tried to figure out which way I wanted to draw it. Once I find a view that I like, I begin lightly sketching the basic shapes. As always, I'm using incredibly light, soft lines. Once I'm ready, I lightly draw in the spine of the feather running down the center, and I can quickly begin crafting the textures. Paying very close attention to the directions of these lines at the top of the feather, and I want to give the ends of the feather a little bit more texture. This isn't quite contour, but it is defining the basic edges of the shape. I want to draw the end of the spine of the feather with darker harder lines. And of course, I'll use the side of my pencil to create the very soft downy fuzz. Now, even though this feather is made from different textures and lines, I still want to communicate softness and lightness all the way through. In fact, my hope is that these drawings of feathers are by far the softest and lightest subject we've drawn so far. I want to give the impression that if we breathe too hard on the paper that the drawings themselves might blow away. These are incredibly fine and delicate drawings. I want to capture the moment that the texture of the feather shifts from the spikier lines to the softer lines. In this drawing, I can still layer lines as well. The soft downy parts of the feather cover some of the spikier parts. As always, there is no concrete right or wrong way to do these kinds of drawings. These are merely experiments in line. But I want to make sure you have examples of many different kinds of subjects before you try this out on your own. Hopefully, you're really starting to get a sense of how powerful wine quality can be and how different kinds of lines and strokes can be combined to create incredible effects. These are lines that capt your viewers attention. They don't simply tell us what the subject looks like, they tell us what it might feel like. When you're doing these kinds of drawings, it can't be unclear sometimes how far to take them. I'm not entirely sure when each of these drawings will feel finished. But once again, I want to remind you that today is not about finishing drawings. Today is about exploring and experimentation. It's okay if your drawings don't appear finished. It's also okay if they appear overdone. If you're going to push a drawing too far, it should be in a practice project like this. This is how you're going to learn by exploring and experimenting. The goal with these drawings is to learn and to gain experience. For our final demonstration in this lesson, I want to show you a drawing that I've been working on. It is a drawing of a warthog. Now, before I did this drawing, I actually went to the zoo and observed warthogs first hand. Now, I didn't get to touch any warthogs, but I got to observe all of the different kinds of textures found on these creatures, the hardness and smoothness of their tusks, the craggy and warty quality of their skin, and the wiriness of their fur. When I see a subject like that, I have to draw it. Now, let's head to the drawing board where I'm going to show you how I use different kinds of lines and marks to draw this astounding collection of textures. So for this final demonstration, I wanted to show you a drawing that was in progress. This is a drawing I've been working on of a warthog. Drawing a warthog is fantastic practice for capturing texture and tactile sensations. Every part of this drawing is trying to communicate something tactile about the subject. I want to take you through some of the lines on this drawing. Now, you'll notice that over here, I have a separate sheet of paper. On this piece of paper, I'm going to show you how to make these different kinds of lines and marks. I'm also going to show you how they're used in a drawing. Let's start with the tusks. For the tusks, you can see that I've used dark curved lines. I want to communicate that these tusks are hard but smooth. You can see that on these tusks, I've drawn what are essentially latitude lines running up. These latitude lines help shape the tusks. At the end of the tusks, I can draw harder, sharper lines. These help to communicate that the ends of the tusks are sharp. So I want to show you what these darker curve lines look like on their own. Using the overhand grip, I am pressing down with my pencil. I want you to note the speed at which I'm drawing these lines. I'm not going particularly slow. You can see me making these kinds of lines here, but I want you to notice that I'm not using the same kind of line all the way around the tusks. These lines are darker and thicker at the bottom, and they get harder and thinner near the tips. Notice that the lines on the bottom of the tusks are darker than the lines at the top. This is something I commonly do to suggest gravity. Now, let's contrast the hard lines of the tusks with the softer lines of the nose. I want the nose of the warthog to feel fleshy. So here, you'll see that I'm using softer edged lines. There are a few harder lines like here. Now, the nose of a warthog is not as soft as a pll. You'll see these lines are not quite as soft as the lines I used in the pillow demonstration. Nevertheless, they have a completely different tactile sensation than the lines of the tusks. For these lines of the nose, I'm using curved soft lines. You'll notice in the drawing that these soft curved lines are often overlapping one another. Next, let's go to the warthog skin. On the skin of the warthog, we find all kinds of warts and cracks. So for different parts of the skin, I'm using different kinds of lines and marks. I want to make sure that this area looks somewhat fleshy, but that the skin also looks somewhat dry and cracked. The skin around the eyes also looks somewhat cracked. I'm using thin strokes to help communicate that texture. These kinds of lines almost look a little nervous. My hand is almost shaking as I'm drawing them. When you look at these lines on their own, they don't look like much. But when we start to add them in the context of a drawing, they really start to give a sense of texture. So much of line quality is all about context. Lines that appear abstract on their own take on a whole new meaning in the context of a drawing. Now, this warthog has large bags under its eyes. I want these bags to feel somewhat flesh. You can see the contours of these bags overlapping one another, but these bags are also covered by cracking skin. For the warts, I'm drawing small curved strokes. I'm making them many different sizes. We can find these warts and bumps all over the surface of the warthogs skin. These lines are curved, soft, and a little bit shaky. Now to suggest the topography of the face of the warthog, I can use cross contour lines. I can use these very subtly to suggest three dimensionality. This is a great way to use layered lines. At the bridge of the ward hogs nose, I want lines to go up and over the form. Here in between the eyes, I want to suggest that the skull scoops in just a little bit. These are cross contour lines applied practically. They're subtle and they almost operate on a subconscious level. You'll note that I'm also folding them into the textures of the ward hog's face. This is such a great way to combine techniques. These are lines that serve multiple purposes. They're conveying texture but also three dimensionality. Drawings like this really challenge us to put everything we've learned into practice. Since we're on the subject of cross contour lines, I want you to note how many places we find them. Take a look at these protrusions on the warthogs face. Here we find ellipses running around these forms. This helps to communicate their roundness, but I can still add texture to these ellipses. Again, these are lines that are doing multiple things at once. We can find the same things here. Notice that these textural marks are built on top of the ellipses. This helps to communicate that these forms are indeed round. These are cylindrical forms. Finally, I want to show you the wiry hair of the warthog. The hair that's on a warthog does not look soft. It looks incredibly coarse and wiry. For these kinds of lines and marks, I'm making them by rolling my pencil just a little bit. Once again, when we look at these lines on their own, they don't look like much. But when I make them in the context of a drawing, they take on new life. When we start to layer them over one another, they really start to bring the drawing of the warthog to life. The more we draw, the more full the warthogs hair appears. Just like the other demonstrations in this lesson, I don't feel I need to finish this drawing. I simply wanted you to give a sense of how to activate your drawings using different kinds of lines and marks. There are so many different kinds of lines and marks in a drawing like this. My hope is that a viewer can get lost in this kind of drawing. I want to create a drawing that you don't only see with your eyes. I want to create drawings that you almost feel in your fingertips. Now, before I wrap up this demo, there's one more thing that I want to discuss. I want you to note that there is no shading in this drawing. I am not relying on light and shadow to create these effects. All of these textures are created with wine alone. I wanted you to see how many different kinds of effects you can create with simple wines. Drawings like this really do showcase wine at work. So hopefully you now see how many different kinds of lines you can put in the same drawing and how these lines and marks can work together to create a compelling tactile experience. Remember, there's no concrete right or wrong way to do this. It's up to you to explore and experiment with line to see what kinds of lines and sensations you can bring to your drawings. This point, you've seen me demonstrate numerous ways you can use line to communicate texture and tactile sensations. Before you do your project, I want to remind you that there is no single correct way to use lines and marks to communicate texture. This is one of the creative aspects of drawing where you get to explore what you want to communicate. The only thing we truly want to avoid in a drawing are bland monotonous lines. We want to excite our viewers. We want to fascinate them. Want our lines and marks to hit them on a visceral level. We not only want people to see our drawings, we want them to almost feel our drawings in their fingertips. As you know, I believe that the quality of a drawing comes down to the quality of the questions you are asking yourself while you draw. With that in mind, while you're drawing, I want you to ask yourself, what do you want to communicate through your drawings and what kind of lines and marks will best do that? So here is your project for this lesson. I want you to find and draw a minimum of three different objects. Each object should have a different set of textural and tactile qualities. I want you to decide what kind of textures or tactile sensations that you want to focus on in your drawings. Next, I want you to explore and experiment to discover how you can do that using lines and marks. Remember, this project is not about making good drawings. This is about exploring and experimenting. Today's demonstrations, I was not concerned about messing up a drawing. I wanted the freedom to make different kinds of lines and marks to see what they communicate. I want you to experience that freedom as well, so let go of any concern about making good drawings. It's all just practice today. Now, go do your project and I will see you back here for the next lesson when you're going to learn how to use line quality to communicate great distances. 7. Atmosphere & Focus: Welcome to Lesson five in the Language of Line. In this lesson, you're going to learn how to increase the illusion of depth in your drawings by using atmosphere and focus. First, you'll learn how to use atmospheric perspective, also known as aerial perspective. Atmospheric perspective occurs over great distances like when you're viewing a landscape. Atmospheric perspective is when particles in the atmosphere begin to obscure the details and clarity of distant objects. Next, we're going to explore the idea of focus in your drawings. In most drawings, the entire picture plane is in focus, but that is not our only option. In this lesson, we're going to learn how to think like a photographer. Like a camera, we can create depth in our drawings by keeping some areas of our subject in crisp focus while other areas are out of focus. In most of the drawings you've seen me do, the background has been left bare. I want to show you how to use lines and marks to address the space around the object. Let's begin by exploring atmospheric perspective. Atmospheric perspective, also known as aerial perspective, creates the illusion of depth in a drawing by depicting distant objects with less contrast, less detail, and a little out of focus. Now let's take a look at each of these in turn, starting with contrast. The best way to observe this phenomenon is over long distances, like in a landscape. Now, I live in Central Oregon where there are gorgeous views of mountains and forests. Take a look at this image. First, I want you to take a look at the foreground, the part of the image that is closest to us. Notice that here near the bottom of the picture plane, you can make out individual trees. In this part of the image, we see vibrant colors and a full range of values. In particular, we see dark values. But as the landscape gets further away from us, the color and darker values diminish. Take a look at the trees just underneath the mountains. Here, the trees appear pale and nearly colorless. Instead of seeing individual trees, the entire forested area blends into one swath of value. The further back we go in the landscape, the less contrast we see. In particular, we lose the darks. Next, let's take a look at the amount of detail. As I mentioned before, in the foreground, we can see individual trees and we can see some detail in these trees. We can make out the shapes of branches and clumps of needles. But once again, look at the trees just underneath the mountains. Here we find very few details. The individual trees seem to blur into a single shape. Finally, we can see that the foreground near the bottom of the picture plane appears to be more in focus than the parts of the landscape in the distance. This occurs because the atmosphere, the air itself contains particles that begin to obscure the distant areas of the landscape. Particles can include moisture, dust or smoke. Similar to fog, these particles begin to create a hazy effect. Now here in Central Oregon, we're at a higher elevation, there's not actually that much moisture in the air. But in an area where you have a lot of fog, this hazy out of focus effect is much more dramatic. Now I'd like to demonstrate how to apply these techniques in a drawing. In just a moment, you'll see a drawing that I've done of a landscape. Now, drawing a landscape is just like drawing any other subject. You start with basic shapes and light lines. I have already drawn the basic shapes and I've started to lay in most of the values. This landscape drawing can be repetitive, I wanted to make sure that I showed you the important parts of this process. Now let's head to the drawing board where you can see atmospheric perspective in action. So here we have a basic drawing of a landscape. I want to focus on three different sections of this landscape. First, we have this lower row of trees. Next, further away, we have a second row of trees, and in the very back we have snow covered mountains. This lower section containing these trees is closest to us. So you can see that this area is fully in focus. Remember, the things that are closest to us are going to maintain a complete range of values. Now, these trees are dark in value, so we don't see a lot of lights, but this area is going to contain the darkest darks in the drawing. This is the area where I'm going to bear down on the pencil and create a full range of values. Now, it's important to note that landscape drawing can be very repetitive. This is why I finished most of this drawing before the demo. But I want you to see that I am drawing individual triangular shapes. These indicate trees. The further away these trees get, the smaller the triangles are. The closer they come as they approach the bottom of the picture plane, the larger they get. Now this is a great example of layering. You can see that I first laid down a wash of value. Over this wash, I'm creating triangular shapes for trees. And then in the very front, I'm bearing down with a tip of my pencil and I'm drawing more details in the trees. The trees in front, you can see individual branches and clumps of needles. Remember, the closer things are, the more detailed they will be. Once I've put down a wash of value and created these triangular shapes for the trees, I can start to add more value with my pencil. This is just for texture. Want to darken this area of trees as well as draw more texture to really give the sense that there are hundreds of trees grouped together. Next, I'd like to call your attention to this second row of trees. This second row of trees is, of course, further away from us, and I want you to notice two things. First is that we no longer see individual trees. There's some texture to this row, but the individual trees blend into one another. In this second row, we see almost no detail of individual trees. The second thing I'd like you to note is that this row is lighter in value. Now in reality, if we were standing within these trees on the second row, they would appear just as dark as the trees in the first row, but they are further away. Remember, the further things get from us, the less contrast they have, and in particular, we lose the darks. To create this section, I've used the side of my pencil to create some simple textural washes. Have drawn some vertical strokes and made a few triangular shapes, but really this is just one area of value. The strokes I'm using in this area are just meant to add texture and value, but I'm no longer discerning between individual trees. Now, you will note that within this second row, there are some areas that are slightly darker. You can make out these slightly darker shapes here as well as here. Overall in this second row, there is very little detail and there are no dark dogs. Finally, we come to the third area of the landscape drawing, these snowy mountains. Now at the base of these mountains, we do see some trees. This area right here is a grouping of trees and starts to climb up the mountain. But because they are further away than our second row of trees, they become lighter. Now let's talk about these snow covered mountains. These snow covered mountains are, of course, mostly white. These darker areas are shadows and areas where the rocks are peeking through the snow. Because these mountains are so far away, they hardly contain any darks. These areas of shadow and rock are not as dark as our second row of trees. Now, in reality, these rocks are nearly black, but because we're seeing them at such a great distance, they no longer appear dark. These white, snowy mountains still contain their lighter values, but it's the dark values that have disappeared. Mountain contains some of the lightest values in the whole drawing. To create these values, I am just barely touching the paper with my pencil. I'm drawing with incredibly light soft lines. You can also see that these mountains contain almost no detail. The jagged rocks peeking through the snow are made with very soft light strokes. Hopefully, this gives you a sense of how atmospheric perspective can be used in a drawing. The bottom section of the drawing that is closest to us contains the most detail and the darkest darks. This middle row of trees does contain some darker values, but not nearly as dark as the row of trees closest to us. In the second row, we can also see all of the trees blend into one area of value and texture. Finally, the snowy mountains contain the least amount of detail and include almost no darks. All values in the snowy mountains are extremely light. Now, this is a very simple landscape drawing, but I'm hoping it gives you a sense of how to apply atmospheric perspective in your drawings. When used well, it can be an astounding effect that really gives a sense of great depth. Hopefully you can see this illusion coming through in this drawing. Now, in reality, atmospheric perspective only occurs over great distances, but we can create the illusion of atmospheric perspective in any drawing. Now, I've actually alluded to this technique earlier in this course. Let's revisit my demonstration on foreshortening. If you remember, I demonstrated how to draw bananas. Now, of course, we would never actually see the effects of atmospheric perspective when drawing a small object like a banana. But we can still use this technique to create a greater sense of depth. I'm using very dark lines to draw the parts of the banana that are closest to us. Now as the banana recedes in space, you can see that I've used softer lighter lines. Hopefully you can really see the illusion of depth this creates. When drawing on the flat surface of the page, we want to use whatever tools we can to create the illusion of depth in our drawings, even if we don't see it in reality. Now if you've gone through the first course in my drawing laboratory series, this drawing should be familiar. The wing on our left is closer to us. It's drawn with darker lines. It also appears more in focus and contains more detail than the wing on our right, which appears lighter, less detailed, and a bit out of focus. Remember, you can use this technique on any subject, not just landscapes. Next, I'd like to further explore the idea of focus. Now, when most people draw, they tend to draw everything in the picture plane in focus. Now there is absolutely nothing wrong with this drawing. Drawing everything in focus is a completely respectable way to draw, but it is not your only option. In photography, there is a concept known as depth of field. Depth of field refers to how much of the picture is in focus. If the entire image is in focus from the objects that are closest in the foreground to the objects that are far away, we say that it has a deep depth of field. But if we open the aperture of the camera, then only certain areas of the subject can be in focus. When we have one area of a photograph in focus with the rest of it out of focus, it has a shallow depth of field. To say what I mean, let's take a look at a photograph of an anvil. In the first photograph, we can see that the entire anvil appears to be in focus. This is how most people tend to draw their subjects. Watch what happens when we open the camera's aperture to change the depth of field. Now, only the tip of the anvil is in focus, the part of it closest to us, the anvil becomes more and more out of focus the further away in space it goes. Now, of course, both of the photographs you've just seen are on a flat screen, but this one appears much more three dimensional. It has a greater sense of depth. Now I'm going to demonstrate how to apply this technique in a drawing. Now for this first part of the demonstration, I'll only be drawing the contours. A quick note, this demo is done on a bluish sheet of paper. Let's head to the drawing board. So here you can see a very simple drawing of an anvil. Here I've just worked out the three dimensional shapes using light wines. Now, this kind of drawing should be familiar to any of you who have taken my drawing in three dimensions course. My goal in this drawing is to make the parts of the anvil that are closest to us appear to come forward in space, while making the parts of the anvil that are further away appear to recede in space. Now in this demonstration, I'm going to do this using wine on its own. At this stage, I'm not going to be doing any shading. So in this drawing, I'll be using dark hard lines to make the parts of the anvil that are closest to us come forward. Remember, the darker, more robust the line is, the more it will come forward in space. Now, these darker, harder lines will appear to be more in focus than the lighter softer lines I'll use in the back. Now the part of the anvil that's closest to us is this tip right here. I want to draw this tip with the darkest lines in the whole drawing. Hopefully you can already see this part of the anvil coming forward in space. Other areas of the anvil that are close to us are this front corner of the block. So you'll see me using dark lines here. You'll notice that as this edge of the block travels away from us, I can make the line get slightly lighter. So it is darker here and a little bit lighter in the back. I can apply this principle to any part of the anvil. Now in the previous lesson, we learned about making things appear heavy and we can start to use all of these principles together. By placing heavy dark lines at the bottom, it will make the anvil appear more heavy in the drawing. When doing this drawing, it's common to run into conflicts. I have to make a choice. Do I want to use the darkest, heaviest lines at the bottom of the anvil to make it appear heavy or do I want to use the darkest, heaviest lines at the tip of the anvil to make this appear closer? Now, there's no right or wrong answer to these questions. You get to choose in your drawing what you want to do. It's also important to note that these are not strict systems. I can make the lines at the base of the anvil heavy as well as the tip and the drawing will still work. Here, once again, you'll see me make this edge darker and get lighter as it goes back in space. Hopefully you're really starting to feel these front sections of the anvil start to pull forward in space. Remember, this is just an illusion we're using, but it can be a pretty effective one. In this drawing, I'm trying to set up a system where the darkest, heaviest lines are near the front of the object, and the lighter softer lines are near the back. Now as your drawing, you don't need to be this systematic in your lines, but I wanted to demonstrate this process. You can see what it really looks like. Now that most of the lines of the anvil have been drawn, I hope you're really starting to see this illusion. I've darkened most of the lines in the drawing, but I've left the furthest parts of the drawing very light. Now I'd like to push this idea even further. At the front of the drawing, I'm going to add a little more detail and texture. I really want this part of the drawing to pull forward in space. I'll darken and thicken the lines at the bottom of the anvil, as well as this tip of the anvil to further bring them forward in space. Now, I'm going to soften the lines at the back of the anvil even further with my eraser. The lines at the very back, I'm going to erase almost completely. Now, this enhances the effect of this part of the anvil coming forward in space even more. Now once these lines at the back of the anvil have been lightened, we can start to play with focus. Rather than keeping these lines crisp, I can start to soften them. I can do this using the side of my pencil. These are very soft lines. No longer do these areas appear sharp and in focus, they start to appear hazy. Once again, I'd like to remind you that in this part of the course, we're not worried about making good drawings. We are exploring and experimenting with line. So now we have the front of the anvil appearing to be in intense focus. It's drawn with dark, hard lines that come forward in space. For the parts of the anvil that are furthest away from us, we have used incredibly light soft lines, making it appear further away and out of focus. Hopefully, in this demonstration, you've seen how line quality on its own can really help create the illusion of three dimensionality. Lines and marks can also be used to create dramatic almost cinematic effects in our drawings, with some parts in intense focus and other parts out of focus and appearing to disappear into the background. Now, it is entirely up to you whether or not you want to use these effects in your drawings. If you want everything in your drawings to be perfectly in focus, that is completely fine. Many masterful drawings are done. But I want you to understand that there are other options. You can play with atmospheric perspective and focus in any drawing, not only drawings of landscapes where you have great distances. Now, here is one more idea I'd like to address. You just learned about atmospheric perspective, but the word atmosphere actually has two different meanings, both of which are relevant to drawing. Now in atmospheric perspective, the word atmosphere refers to the atmosphere of the Earth, the collection of gases and other particles that surround the surface of the Earth. But the word atmosphere does have a second meaning. It can refer to the feeling, tone or mood of a situation or a place. For example, we often talk about the atmosphere of a restaurant or a room. Now, for the most part, the air around our subject is going to be invisible, but we can use lines and mark making to activate this air, to draw it as if it were an actual subject. To show you what I mean, let's head to the drawing board where we are going to revisit our drawing of an anvil. So in this demonstration, I'm going to be adding some atmosphere to this drawing of an anvil. I want to use lines and marks to create a feeling of heaviness and darkness. We're trying to create a very moody drawing. Remember, when we create mood or atmosphere in a drawing, we're activating the air around the subject. We're drawing the air or space around the subject as if it were another subject in and of itself. To me, this almost gives a feeling as if our subject is underwater. We want the air and space around the subject to start to feel texture. This is not merely empty space. It's space we can activate with lines and strokes. Now, this is not a shading course, but I am adding some value to this strong. To create the shadows on this subject, I'm using similar strokes to the ones that I've drawn in the background. Underneath the anvil, I'll draw the dark cast shadow. The more areas of darkness I draw, the moodier the drawing becomes. I do. I as the areas around the anvil become darker, the space itself becomes more of a subject. This flurry of wines and marks absolutely changes the mood of the drank. As I continue to add value, I want to give the sense that the anvil is emerging out of the darkness. This darkness can also start to obscure the surface that the anvil is sitting in. This gives the distinct impression that the space around the anvil is actually consuming parts of it. Now, to add more visual interest, I can start varying my lines and strokes while creating this sense of darkness. This just gives it more of a sense of texture. It gives more character to the space surrounding the anvil. I want to remind you that what you're seeing here is just one way of doing this. You can use nearly any kind of lines or mark making to create a sense of texture or atmosphere in your drawings. Remember, there is no right or wrong way to do this. I'm going to continue to experiment with different kinds of mark making to create different moods and textures in this drawing. Once again, I want to remind you, I am not attempting to make a good drawing here. I am merely experimenting with different kinds of lines and marks to see what I can do with them. This course is all about experimentation to discover what can be done with different kinds of lines and marks. The only way to figure that out is to explore experiment. The best way to explore experiment is when you don't care about the outcome. We just want to see what happens when we use different kinds of wines and marks to create a sense of atmosphere in our drawings. And this kind of drawing does take a while to do because we have a lot of space to fill in. You'll notice that I'm layering lines over and over one another. But very slowly, we do start to see a moody drawing emerge, a drawing where the space around the subject becomes almost as interesting as the subject itself. I'm going to continue to explore and experiment with these lines to see what kind of moods and effects I can create in this drawing. Here you can see I've added a lot of value to the background. My goal with this drawing was to create a different mood. I wanted to give this drawing some texture and atmosphere. Hopefully you can see that by treating the background as a subject in and of itself, it completely changes the feeling of this drawing. This drawing now has a whole new sense of drama and presence. Now you can still see elements of focus at work. The very tip of the anvil that's closest to us is still in sharp focus. It has dark crisp lines. The back of the anvil almost appears to be swallowed up by the darkness. You can see that its edges are barely there. It appears out of focus. It was important to me in this demonstration to show you some different ways to use lines and marks. Now, I could continue to refine this drawing and add more detail. But hopefully, this demonstration has gotten the point across of how you can completely change the mood of a drawing to give it a sense of atmosphere. This can be done by treating the air around your subject, the space that it exists within as its own subject. Creating this atmosphere in a drawing is something I actually do a lot. Now my absolute favorite subject to draw is the human figure. Now, technically, this is not a figure drawing course, but I want to show you how you can use these techniques in a wide range of different subjects. Now, this is not a figure drawing course, but I did want to show you how these techniques can be applied to different kinds of subjects. This drawing has two areas of focus. We have the shoulder and the rib cage, as well as the knee. These two areas have a full range of values. We see very dark darks, as well as highlights. But you'll notice that other areas of the drawing appear to fade away. Here, we can see this leg losing detail, focus, and contrast. Now let's take a look at this arm on the left. This arm is fading into the background. You can see that I've used these atmospheric lines to send this arm into the distance. There's not very much detail and it seems to be almost swallowed up by the lines surrounding the figure. Now, speaking of atmosphere, I want you to take a look at the lines surrounding the figure. I think they add a sense of excitement and drum. They're drawn quickly and prenetically. They give the figure the appearance of emerging out of something. This isn't just a drawing of a figure on a flat blank surface. These kinds of lines give the paper some life and some depth. Now, as with all drawings in this lesson, none of them are finished. I could continue to add small detail in texture for quite some time. But I did want to give you a sense of how all of these tools and techniques can be combined to create a sense of atmosphere and drama. Hopefully, this gives you a sense of what I mean by activating the air around the figure. This drawing has areas that appear very finished and resolved in other areas that appear to just fade out. I've made some decisions on what I want to focus on in this drawing. Drawings like this go beyond what we can observe. They say something unique about our subject. I'd like to take a look at two more figure drawings. This drawing pulls together all of the techniques we've talked about in this lesson. Here, you can clearly see that the arm on the left, which is closer to us is drawn in crisp focus with a full range of values from light to dark. By contrast, the arm on the right appears out of focus, less detailed. It almost appears to be engulfed by the depths of the page. I think that the lines around this figure add a preneetic sense of energy to the drawing. I think they make the page begin to come alive. We can see something very similar in this drawing. I had one viewer say that it almost looked like this figure was in a swirling sandstorm. Maybe you like to look of this technique and maybe you don't, but I wanted you to see that you don't have to leave the background of your drawings blank. We can activate the space around our drawing and create some dramatic effects using lines and marks. We don't have to simply copy what we see. We can be creative with our mark making and start to use it to create all kinds of unique effects. Now, if you're drawing a landscape, you want to be able to use atmospheric perspective. But beyond that, you were never required to use any of these techniques in other drawings. We've covered a lot today. Now let's get you to your projects. Today, you're going to have two projects. First, I want you to draw a landscape that shows the effects of atmospheric perspective. At all possible, I want you to get out into the world. Don't just sit in front of a screen and draw, travel out to a nearby landscape. Try to do this drawing from observation. Drawing outside can be a beautiful experience. Now, if you truly cannot get outside to draw landscape, there are an immense number of landscape photographs you can find online. But if at all possible, really try and get outside so you can see this phenomenon for yourself. Next, I want you to apply atmosphere and focus to a drawing of an object. The parts of the object closest to you should be in focus with a lot of contrast and detail. Further away the object gets, it should have less contrast, less detail, and should appear out of focus. Now, this next part of the project is optional. Once you are done with your drawing of an object, experiment with creating a sense of atmosphere. You can do this by activating the air around the subject with lines and mark making. You can explore an experiment to see how different kinds of lines and marks dramatically change the mood of your drawing. Remember, there is no right or wrong way to do this. Now I want to remind you once again that this lesson is not about making good drawings. Later on in this course, you'll learn how to use these tools and techniques to actually do finished work. But for now, I just want you to explore and experiment. Now that you have your projects, go draw. I will see you back here for the next lesson when you're going to learn how to infuse your lines and marks with emotion. 8. Emotional Lines & Marks: Welcome to Lesson six. In this lesson, you're going to learn how to communicate ideas and emotions through lines and markmking. We as human beings tend to connect with things around us. As we listen to music, we can feel our thoughts and emotions ride the waves of notes as they go up and down. When we read books or watch movies, we tend to merge with the protagonists. We share their experiences and adventures as if they were our own. We can even empathize with inanimate objects that have human or animal like qualities. It is as if under the right conditions, we project our consciousness onto other humans, animals, and even objects. We can even do this with individual lines. Now I'd like you to keep an open mind as we explore this idea. When we draw or even see a line, it is as if our mind says that line is me. We tend to project our consciousness onto each and every line we make and even see. We interpret each line as a representation of ourselves. Now, this is not something we tend to do consciously. We don't know we're projecting ourselves onto lines and marks, but we do tend to respond to lines in surprisingly predictable ways. Now, this has profound implications in our drawings. Now, I was a bit skeptical of this idea the first time I heard it, but I'd like you to bear with me for a few minutes as I unpack it. To start, let's take a look at a single vertical line. When I ask people if this line were you, what would you be doing? Most people say standing. Vertical lines tend to have an assertive quality. Their upright orientation tends to project boldness. With this idea in mind, now let's take a look at a horizontal line. If this line were you, what are you doing now? There are no right or wrong answers here, but most people say that if this line represented them, they would now be lying down. Horizontal lines tend to appear more calm. They seem relaxed. They can even seem a bit vulnerable. Now, these are just simple individual lines. But hopefully, you can already get a sense that viewing a vertical line simply feels different than viewing a horizontal line. One thing vertical and horizontal lines tend to share is a sense of stability. Whether they are assertive or calm, both of these lines seem balanced and predictable. When we put them together, they tend to suggest order and structure. When we use horizontal and vertical lines together, many people tend to find it reassuring. It makes them feel that the world is ordered and things make sense. Even when viewing simple vertical and horizontal lines, some people tend to get very specific about what these lines may represent about themselves. We do not need elaborate arshak shapes to get people to reveal their internal states. Next, I'd like to take a look at an oblique line. Now, here is where things get interesting. If this line were you, what are you doing now? Remember, there are no right or wrong answers here. What kind of answers come to mind? Obliques are fascinating because people have so many different kinds of reactions to them. Now I'll describe some common reactions people have to oblique lines. Hopefully, one of them will be similar to your reaction. Some people say that if this line represented them, they would be running, leaping, or even flying. To these people, oblique lines seem to suggest movement, dynamism, and even freedom. They're breaking free from the things that hold them back. But other people have a very different reaction to oblique lines. Some people feel that if an oblique line represented them, they would be stumbling, falling, or fleeing. To these people, oblique lines represent instability or even danger. So some people feel a sense of excitement when they view oblique lines, while other people tend to feel uncomfortable, almost unsettled. When we group oblique lines together, they feel unpredictable. They tend to represent disorder, even chaos. They tend to bring to mind the unknown. What we've learned is that most people share similar reactions to vertical and horizontal lines. They tend to feel safe, stable, and predictable. But people with different temperaments tend to view oblique lines very differently. Some people view them as exciting, full of potential, while others view them as dangerous or even disturbing. Again, I want to remind you that there are no right or wrong answers here. I'm simply trying to get this idea in your head that we respond to lines in very specific ways. Even an individual line can elicit a strong response from a viewer. Now, it's not as if we experience these emotions acutely. They operate on an almost subconscious level. But hopefully by focusing on this specifically, you can start to experience this yourself. Now, the lines we've been looking at are simple straight lines. But of course, we can do anything we want with lines. Regardless of direction, a straight line drawn with a ruler has a very specific feeling to contrast this with a curve line drawn by hand. Straight lines tend to feel a bit rigid while curved lines tend to feel fluid and graceful. Hopefully, at this point, you accept the idea that we as humans tend to have emotional and even psychological reactions to lines, even simple and abstract lines. Now, this comes with a profound responsibility. This means that every line you draw has the potential to connect with a viewer. Not only that, but every line you draw is communicating something to a viewer, whether you intend it to or not. My goal in this lesson is to give you the tools and techniques you need to understand this principle how you make the individual lines and marks in your drawing can have a dramatic impact on how people view your work. We're going to do something a little different today. I'm going to ask you to participate in a little experiment right now as the video is running. I call it the emotional Line project. Here's how it works. For this project, you will need five sheets of paper and a pencil. You don't need big paper for this project. 8.5 by 11 inch paper or a four paper will work just fine. On each sheet of paper, you are going to draw a line or a collection of lines that represent a specific emotion. You will draw one emotion per sheet of paper. In a few minutes, I will prompt you with an emotion. I'll give you some time to think about it, and then I want you to draw a line or a collection of lines that represent that emotion. For each emotion I give you, before you draw, I want you to take a minute to explore that emotion. I want you to try to feel it in your body before you draw. Although there are no right or wrong responses to these emotions, I do want to ask you to keep your drawings abstract. Here's what I mean by that. If I ask you to draw a happy line, I don't want you to draw a happy face. If I ask you to draw a sad line, I don't want you to draw a frown or a tear. We want it to appear that the lines themselves are experiencing these emotions. Remember, you can draw these lines however you like. Your lines can be drawn light or dark. They can be soft edged or hard. They can be straight and angular or curved. Your lines can fill the entire page or they can be placed off in a small corner. I'd like you to take a moment and gather your materials. Once you're ready, we're going to go through the first emotion together. Get set up to draw with a single sheet of paper. Remember, we're only drawing one emotion per sheet of paper. First, we're going to draw a nervous line. What does it feel like to be nervous in your body? What adjectives would you use to describe this emotion? What might your voice sound like if you were nervous? How can you translate your feelings of nervousness into line? Now, when I feel nervous, I tend to feel jittery, ill at ease. I don't feel clear headed. I tend to feel a bit confused, I don't know quite what to do. There's a shaky tension in my body. I don't feel bold or brave. I feel constrained and small. This is what my nervous line looks. Not right or wrong, but this is what nervousness feels to me. Now my goal with this drawing is that I could show it to somebody and ask them, does this line look nervous or confident? They would be able to tell that this line appeared nervous. Take a moment and draw your nervous line. You can let the video run. I do For each of the following emotional lines, I'm going to give you approximately 1 minute to draw. Now, you don't need to spend the full minute drawing. In fact, I would encourage you to spend the first 30 seconds or so just trying to experience the emotion in your body. I want you to think about how you might communicate your experience of these emotions through line. Now, the time I'm giving you is not important. If you feel like you need more time Feel free to pause the video and then hit play whenever you're ready. Now I'd like you to get a fresh sheet of paper. We're going to go through four additional emotions. Now, from here on out, I'm only going to give you the emotion. I'm not going to talk you through the process. Remember, for each emotion, I want you to take a moment and try to get into that emotional state. Try to feel it in your body and once you do, then draw. Let's begin with a calm line. I want you to try and feel calm in your body. Once you're feeling calm, how might you translate that feeling into line on the page? Remember, your lines can be hard or soft. They can go any direction you want to. You can draw a single line or you can draw multiple lines. There are no right or wrong answers. Whenever you're ready, take a moment and make your calm mind. Next, I'd like you to draw an angry line. I want you to think of something that makes you angry. Feel it in your body. How will your angry line be different from your calm line? Whenever you're feeling ready, take a moment to draw your angry rage filled line. Next, I'd like you to draw a sad line. How would you describe the feeling of sadness in your body? How can you translate that into line? Whenever you're ready, take a moment and make your sad line. I'd like to end this little experiment on a positive note. For your final line, you're going to create a joyous, ecstatic, exuberant line. Think about times where you felt a sense of excitement, where you felt a thrilling sense of optimism. I want you to try and feel a sense of joy and excitement in your body. Whenever you're ready, draw your joyous line. D Once you're done, I'd like you to spread out your drawings in front of you. Ask yourself, if you were to show these lines to somebody and you told them, one line is nervous, O line is calm, O line is angry, one line is sad, and one line is joyous. Do you think they would be able to pick out which line was which? I think the answer is probably yes. Obviously, I'm not there with you. I cannot see the lines you just drew, but I'm about to show you some lines made by other people who have gone through the exact same experience you just went through. I'm willing to bet that you will find some striking similarities between their lines and yours. Just like you, these people were not shown emotional lines beforehand. I tried not to influence them in any so let's take a look, starting with calm lines. When asked to draw calm lines, most people tend to draw their lines lightly and horizontally. These lines tend to curve gently like waves. Can you see any similarities between your own calm lines and the examples from other people? Now, if your calm line looks different, that is completely fine. But I want you to start to look for similarities between your lines and the lines made by other people. Now let's move on to angry lines. Most people draw their angry lines with dark, hard, fast strokes. They almost always appear at angles. They often remind me of either sharp teeth or explosions. I want you to ask yourself how your angry lines are similar to what you're seeing here. I also want you to ask how they're different. Now let's move on to sad lines. Sad lines tend to move downward. They're often light and soft. They're often drawn slowly. They tend to be reminiscent of rain or fog. How are your sad lines similar? How are they different? Finally, let's take a look at joyous ecstatic lines. These lines are usually big with jubilant curves. They often appear to dance and swirl around the page. Of course, I cannot see your drawings, but I'm willing to bet that you are finding many similarities between the emotional lines you just drew and the lines that I'm showing you. Now, even if you are so unique that your lines are completely different from the lines I just showed you, hopefully you can still accept the idea that most people have very similar reactions. I've done this project with hundreds of students and the results tend to be pretty predictable. What does this all mean? Of course, the important question is, how can it improve your drawings? Simply put, the lines that you draw have the power to elicit emotions from your viewers. Viewers can tell if a line looks sad, angry, or joyous and your drawings can actually elicit these emotions from viewers. With all of this in mind, I'd like to take you through a couple of demos. I want to show you how you can use emotional lines in your representational drawings. Now, upon first glance, this looks like a normal drawing of a tree, but look a little closer. Nearly every line in this drawing is very similar to the joyous lines that we drew earlier. These lines are drawn quickly and excitedly. These are not fussy renderings of individual leaves. The entire tree seems to be bubbling with excitement. We can see these lines curve and curl around one another, just like we saw in the emotional wine demonstrations. We can find similar lines in the clouds. Although these lines in the clouds are a little lighter, they are made with the same joyous strokes. The lines in the sky are drawn with soft quick strokes but still have some beautiful curves to them. This is what it means to put line quality into action. The lines and strokes in this drawing are absolutely representing the subject, in this case, a tree, but they are not merely depicting the tree in a passive way. They aim to tell us something about the subject, about the scene. The tree and clouds in this drawing almost appear to be bubbling with excitement. Now, of course, this drawing is not yet complete, but hopefully this gives you a sense of how you can immediately apply these kind of emotional lines in representational drawings. These lines are serving two purposes at once. First, these lines are describing the subject representationally. We can see that this is a tree. We can feel the texture of the leaves. We can discern the sky and the clouds. We can also discern light from shadow. But these lines are also telling us something about the scene. They connect with us on an emotional level. This drawing communicates a feeling. Nearly every aspect of this drawing is created from these joyous lines, and this absolutely has an impact on the viewer, whether they are aware of it consciously or not. Now, let's contrast the drawing of the tree with this drawing of a crow. The lines and marks in this drawing are much closer to the angry lines from our emotional line demonstrations. The lines in this drawing are harsh, dark, angular, they appear out of control. This gives them a threatening appearance as if they might hurt if we touch. There's little about this drawing that appears calming or joyous. It is not simply the subject matter itself. It is the way this drawing was created, the lines that were used that give it this threatening feeling. Now, of course, there are places in this drawing where I have used softer strokes to lay down the value. Remember, you can combine different types of line quality to create different effects in your drawing. But despite some of these softer curve strokes, the predominant lines in this drawing are hard, sharp, and dark. Really hope you can see that a drawing like this simply feels different. It is a different experience to look at a drawing made with these lines. A drawing like this becomes confrontational. It's not friendly, it's not traditionally beautiful. My hope is that when viewers look at a drawing like this, they can sense that the lines are out of control. Drawing like this has a completely different energy. As you've heard me say many times in this course, in a drawing like this, I am not merely copying reality. I am dramatically exaggerating the types of lines and marks that I would see on an actual crow or Raven. I am inventing for dramatic effect. The most important thing I want you to take away from these demonstrations is that your lines are always communicating something to the viewer. Before you do a drawing, I want you to think about what kind of emotions you may want your viewer to experience when looking at your drawing and how can you push them in that direction by using line quality. So hopefully you now have a sense of how you can use emotional lines in your drawings. The way you make your lines has a dramatic impact on how your drawings will be received. Remember, you're communicating with your lines and marks whether you intend to or not, but now you have the opportunity to make decisions about what you want to communicate. This can be incredibly powerful in your drawings. So now let's talk about your project. You've already completed one by participating in the emotional line project in this video. So now that you have some experience with emotional lines, I want you to do two representational drawings of objects of your choice. In this lesson, you saw me draw a tree and a crow. I want you to begin each drawing as you normally would with light lines and basic shapes. But once you're ready, I want you to select an emotion that you want to communicate through line for each drawing. Just as you saw me demonstrate in this lesson, I want you to finish each drawing using emotional lines. Two objects, two emotions. Now, if you have found this idea interesting, you can explore it further by trying to draw emotions that we didn't talk about today. What would a confident line look like versus a shy line? Is it possible to draw an envious line? I don't know. Remember, there are no right or wrong answers here, but my hope is that you have accepted the idea that the lines and marks you draw can and do communicate emotions whether you intend them to or not. Hopefully, this lesson has been illuminated. I think this is such an important idea, but it's one that I rarely see addressed. My hope is that this opens up new avenues for expression for you, go do your project. I will see you back here for the next lesson when you're going to learn how to bring a sense of time and motion into your drawings. 9. Time & Motion: Welcome to Lesson seven. In this lesson, we're going to explore time and motion. Most drawings capture a frozen moment in time. After all, drawings are single static images. But what if we could extend the moment on the page and give our drawings a greater sense of time? In this lesson, you're going to learn how to use lines and mark making to imply the passage of time on the page. And if we can extend the amount of time shown on the page, we can also imply motion. Learn how to show the passage of time and how to imply motion in a drawing, we're going to explore photography. The subjects featured in most drawings and most photographs appear crisp and clear. These images aim to capture a single moment in time, but we're going to take a look at what happens when an object is moving too fast for the camera to freeze in time. Let's take a look at a ball rolling across a surface. This image appears just as we would expect it to. We can see a ball rolling across the surface. But watch what happens when we freeze this movement. Do you see a crisp image of a ball frozen in time? The answer is no. What you see is a blurred and distorted shape. This is called motion blur. Notice here that the ball has no hard edges. The edges of the ball appear soft, almost transparent. You can also see that the shape of the ball has been distorted. It looks round on either side, but the entire shape is elongated showing the path that the ball is traveling. Most people are familiar with the concept of motion blur in photographs. We are surrounded by photographs. But now we want to explore some additional ways to show time and motion in images. Next, we're going to explore after images. One way we could show a ball moving is by using a sequence of three images. Here you can see this ball moving from left to right. When we string them together, it creates an almost stop motion like effect. But now we're going to make each image transparent and layer them over one another. The image containing the ball on the right is on top. Underneath that is the image containing the center ball and underneath both of those is the image containing the ball on the left. The ball on the right is the most prominent. Our brain interprets this ball as being in the present moment. But we get the impression that as the balls travel toward the left, they are getting further back in time. The center ball and the ball on the left almost appear as memories. They show where the ball used to be in the past. Our minds tend to interpret images like this in a very unique way. We tend to think of the present moment as being concrete. But when you think back to what happened yesterday, it is not as clear as the present moment. If you think back to what happened a week ago, it's even less clear. This is the idea that's being depicted in layered images like this. It's as if the ball fades from memory as it rolls through the image. I'd like you to notice that in addition to seeing the ball move from left to right, we also get a sense that it is rolling. Look at the wood grain. It changes position as the ball rolls. Using after images is another way we can imply time and motion in an image. Unlike the motion blur technique, the after image technique keeps each image crystal clear. Each of these techniques uses a very different way to show the passage of time and movement. So now that we've explored some of these ideas through photographs and video, I'd like to show you how you can use these techniques in your drawings. I'm going to begin by demonstrating these techniques using a rolling ball. Once I've shown you how to draw a rolling ball in a few different ways, we're then going to show you how to apply these techniques to more complex subjects. Now, the first demonstration I'm going to do is going to depict a technique that we did not explore in photographs. It's called motion lines. These motion lines are invented. We don't actually see them in photographs or in the real world, but they depict the path an object is moving. So once you're ready, let's head to the drawing board. Here we have a simple drawing of a ball resting on a surface. I've done some basic shading on this ball, including the cast shadow. I've also drawn some of the wood green. Now in this state, it appears that the ball is just resting on a flat surface. Our goal is to make this ball appear as if it is moving across the page. In this demonstration, we're going to explore motion lines. Now, most people are familiar with motion lines. They're used very commonly in comic books. To start, we are simply going to extend the values of the ball to the left. Here, we can see the dark value of the cast shadow underneath the ball. I want you to notice that I'm using very soft edge strokes. In comic books, motion lines are often drawn with hard strokes, but to get the effect that I want, I'm going to use softer strokes. Now, this is already giving the appearance that the ball is moving. So now I want to see how far we can push this effect. I want some of the individual lines to stand out. I'd also like you to note that as these lines get further away from the ball, they tend to get lighter. You can see these motion lines fading out as they move toward the left. Already, this illusion of motion is starting to occur. Now, I've drawn this ball on toned paper. I've addressed some of the shadows, but I haven't yet drawn any of the light. So in white pencil, I'm going to add a highlight. I'm also going to draw some of the light hitting the ball on the top left. So in addition to extending the dark values, I can also extend the lighter values. So you can see that the most prominent motion lines are extending out from that highlight. Now, to my eyes, this drawing no longer appears static. We can almost feel the ball rushing by. We can see the values streak toward the left. I'm going to add some shorter motion lines coming out from the wood grain, just to make sure they're not quite so crisp. So hopefully you can see that this effect really does make it look like the ball is moving across the page. Now, although this drawing is starting to communicate motion, I'm not entirely sure it's communicating that the ball is rolling. To create the illusion that the ball is rolling, we need to use a different effect. This drawing employs a very different effect. In this drawing, we see a sequence of three balls. The ball in the right represents the present moment. The ball in the middle represents where the ball was just a moment ago and the third ball represents further back in time. Because the ball on the right represents the present moment, you can see it is the most detailed and has the most value. We can see that it has deep rich shadows and a bright highlight. Want to accentuate the details in the wood grain. This gives the ball in the right a sense of realism. Each of these balls represents a different moment in time. For the second ball, the ball in the middle, I'm going to draw the wood grain in the shadows lighter and with less detail. I want this drawing to almost have the sense that it's disappearing because that's essentially what it's doing. This drawing of the middle ball is going to have less contrast as well. The darks won't be as dark and the lights won't be as light. And the goal here is to communicate that this middle ball is from the moment in time before the present. I want to make sure the difference between these balls is noticeable. I'm going to bring up the lights on the ball on the right a little more. Now, how this starts to communicate the rolling of the ball is with the wood grain. Here we have this organic shape that we can see in each of the balls. Hopefully you can start to see this organic shape as it turns. This turning of this shape is what gives the illusion that the ball is rolling in addition to moving from left to right. This third ball on the left is going to be just ghosted in. I want it to have very little detail. I really just want it to be suggested. I'll add just the slightest hint of light. I want the shadows to be very subtle. I want this ball on the left to appear as if it is disappearing into the past. So hopefully you're getting a sense of how this technique starts to communicate time and motion. It's a sequence of images collapsed into a single drawing. Now, this technique has a completely different look and feel. To me, this technique communicates the concept of time, but it doesn't give me that visceral sense of motion that the motion line drawing did. Nevertheless, this is a technique I use often, particularly in my figure drawing. There is one additional technique I want to demonstrate using this ball. After that, I'm going to show you how to apply all three of these techniques to different kinds of subjects. Now here we see motion blur. You'll notice that this drawing has no hard edges. It's as if the entire ball was smeared. The values are extended similarly to the motion line drawing, but this entire drawing has a much fuzzier look. In the first demo with the motion line drawing, we got a clear sense of the roundness of the ball. But here, the shape of the ball has been distorted. Even the wood grain appears thick and smeared. To help give the illusion of the ball rolling, I'm going to turn the ends of the woodgran down. My hope is that this communicates that the ball is rolling. I want the wood grain to appear to curve underneath the ball. Again, I want to keep all of these edges soft. Now to help imply the roundness of the ball, I'm going to give just a couple of subtle hints of the left side. Similar to the motion line drawing, the motion blur is going to fade out as it moves toward the left. Once again, we see a completely different technique. Despite the similarities between the motion blur and the motion line technique, hopefully you can see that this drawing looks and feels different. This illusion depends on soft edges. We don't want to see any hard edges in this drawing. The key to creating the effect of motion voler is to make the drawing appear as if it is out of focus. You want your darkest darks and your lightest lights in the area where the ball currently is. Remember, as we move left across the page, we are moving deeper into the past. You can see the contrast decrease as the ball moves toward the right. In your own drawings today, I want you to experiment with how far you can push some of these ideas. Hopefully, this gives you a sense of how you can apply time and motion in your drawings. Now that you have an idea of how to apply these techniques to a simple object like a ball, let's draw some more complex subjects. I'll be demonstrating how to draw a buzzing bee as well as a galloping horse. Now at this stage, I'm assuming that you already know how to do more traditional drawing. I'm assuming that you've already gone through the first two courses in my drawing laboratory series, how to draw a beginner's guide and drawing in three dimensions. I'm going to start these demos with the more traditional aspects of the drawing already completed. If you need a refresher on how to do that drawing, I highly recommend going back and taking my first two courses in the drawing laboratory series. Once you're ready, let's head to the drawing board. Mm. In this demonstration, I'm going to show you how to use motion blur and motion lines. The subject of this demonstration is, of course, a B. You can see that so far I have drawn the body of the bee. Of course, this drawing started off just like any other drawing. First, I broke it down into basic shapes. The head was ovular. This section of the body was circular, and this section of the body was ovular, although it tapered near the end. Next, I figured out the basic shapes for each section of the legs. Once I had the basic shapes laid out, I began to add detail, value, and texture. Now, because this is a course about mark making, I really tried to push the textural qualities of this bee. The fur and fuzziness have been exaggerated. I wanted to show you an incredibly textural experience. This is also a very high contrast drawing. The entire drawing alternates between lighter strokes and darker strokes, light, dark, light, dark. But so far this drawing is static. It doesn't yet imply motion. First, I'm going to draw the wings using motion blur. I want to give the sense that the wings are flapping. Remember, one of the most important attributes of motion blur is using soft lines. I also don't want to get too dark. I'm going to begin by drawing the basic shapes of the wings of the bee, but I'm drawing them much softer than I observed on the actual subject. The range of motion on the wing is going to be greater at the ends. Therefore, the further away the wing gets, the more blurred it's going to be. I'm going to begin by using quick soft lines. The darkest part of the wing is the spine at the top. I'll add a few darker lines to imply that spine. Once again, I want to remind you that the closer we get to the bee's body, the less the wings are going to move and the more in focus they should be. But hopefully, you can start to see how the wings blur as they get further from the body. The wings also start to have a look of transparency. Here this effect is starting to work. Wing in the back, I'm going to draw even more blurred. This is partially because it's further away. In this case, we're actually combining a motion blur technique with the idea that the closer things are, the darker they get, and the further away things are, the lighter they get. The wing on our left here is closer and is slightly darker. The wing on the right is further away and is slightly lighter. I want these lighter lines to imply the full range of the beating of the bees wings. Why I think this is starting to work? The flapping wings have a completely different look than the rest of the bee's body. Here we see a lot of sharp detail in texture, but on the wings, we see a flurry of motion. When you use this technique on your own, you'll be tempted to include more detail, but try and resist that temptation. You can always go back and add more detail later. But first, just see how hazy and soft you can make these lines. Remember, they should appear messy. This is not the time for crisp controlled lines. This is the time for quickly drawn wild strokes. Now that our motion blur and the wings is starting to work, let's move on to motion lines. I want the bee to appear as if it's flying. We need to draw our motion lines in a way that implies the path of the bee. When we drew the motion lines on the rolling ball, they went in a straight line, but the bee does not have to travel in a straight line. Now, the shape of the bee has this wonderful swooping curving quality. I want to emphasize that in the bee's motion. I wanted to look as if the bee was coming up and then forward. I'm going to draw a series of lines that imply that motion. These are lines that swoop around the bee's body. I can even extend these lines beyond the path of the bee to make it look as if the bee was almost careening out of control. Again, I want to note these are not refined and controlled lines. They're a little wild. I can also add subtle hints of after image lines. We'll talk more about those in the next demo. The goal here is to create a flurry of wild lines that start to suggest the path of the bee. Hopefully you can start to see that the use of motion blur and motion lines is pretty subtle. These kinds of lines don't take very long to create. They're soft and they're quick and they are drawn quickly. This is such a critical idea. If you're trying to communicate fast motion in your drawing, then draw fast. If you're trying to communicate slower motion, you can draw more slowly. When a drawing like this, I may come back and add some darker values to the motion blur wings. But again, I think these are starting to work pretty well. To me, these start to look like they are moving and flapping. In this demonstration, I'm going to show you how to use the after image technique. Here you can see that I've already drawn the body and some of the legs of a horse. I've already drawn a good amount of detail. At this stage, you should already be pretty familiar with doing this traditional drawing. Now, I want to make it appear that this horse is galloping. Now, of course, we already get that strong impression simply from the horse's position. The legs in particular are in a galloping pose. But as we've talked about, this drawing appears static. It appears that this galloping horse has been frozen in midair. To use the after image technique, I'm going to draw a second set of legs. Now the second set of legs is going to be drawn lightly, but nevertheless, they are going to be visible. I wanted to appear as if we are seeing slightly back in time, a time when the horse's legs were in a slightly different position. I'm not going to add a lot of detail to these legs. But I do want them to be visible. Already, you can start to see this gives the drawing a completely different feel. I'm using light soft strokes to draw the second set of legs. Of course, we see little to no detail. Hopefully, you can see that despite the lack of detail, the second set of legs does give the distinct impression of the horse's legs moving. Again, these are subtle techniques. They're very easy to add to your drawing. Now, one thing I want to point out is that throughout the process of drawing, throughout the process of just trying to figure out the basic shapes, I already have drawn a number of ghostly contours. Now, these are simply a byproduct of the process of drawing, but I like to leave these contours in there because I feel that it enhances the sense of motion in a drawing. This is why don't encourage you to erase your process lines. I think the process lines add an interesting layer to the drawing. Now that we've drawn some light after images of the horse's legs, let's finish the drawing by adding some additional effects. The tail would be moving and swishing a lot. I'm going to add a motion blur technique to the tail. The base of the tail is going to be a little more in focus, but the rest of the tail, I want to appear wild. I want to draw a flurry of wild lines that appear to swish back and forth. Again, I want these lines to be soft to start to imply the motion. I can do something similar with the horse's mane, where the hair is close to the body, I can use slightly darker and sharper lines. But the further away it gets, I can use softer, lighter lines to really imply a sense of wild motion. To enhance the look of movement in the legs, I can even add a sense of motion blur. These kinds of lines bring a much more dynamic look to the drawing. Again, these are lines that are drawn quickly. Now, I want to note that these kinds of techniques go well beyond traditional drawing. These are not the things we observe with our eyes. We are using unique drawing techniques to communicate motion, but it's not that we actually observe this. Now, it is entirely up to you whether or not you want to use these kinds of techniques in your drawings. Some of you may really appreciate the look and feel of this drawing. Others of you may prefer more traditional kind of drawing, but I want you to understand that these options are out there and that includes bringing a sense of time and motion to your drawings. In this lesson, I've shown you three common ways to depict time and motion in your drawings. But of course, these are not the only ways and drawing is a creative act. When you're drawing, I encourage you to explore and experiment. It's always important to remember that you can use these techniques in very subtle ways or very aggressive ways. It is entirely up to you. Of course, if you don't like these techniques, you never have to use them at all, but I think it's very important that you understand the possibilities that come with drawing. If you want to, you can go far beyond traditional drawing to explore all kinds of ideas and concepts. With all of this in mind, let's get you to your project. For your project today, I want you to select a simple object and do three different drawings of it. In each drawing, I want you to apply a different motion technique. In one drawing, I want you to apply motion lines. In one drawing, I want you to apply motion blur and in the final drawing, I want you to use after images. Now, if you're looking for an additional challenge, once you've drawn your simple objects, you can apply these techniques to much more complex moving subjects. You can even apply these techniques to a still life subject if you want it to look like it's moving. But I think these techniques work best when you apply them to subjects that actually move. In particular, living things. But you can also apply these techniques to any inanimate object that moves. Now in this lesson and in the previous two lessons, I wanted to show you ways that you can go beyond traditional drawing. We've explored how to create a sense of atmosphere in your drawings, how to communicate emotions in your drawings, and how to imply time and motion in your drawings. In the next and final lesson, I'm going to pull all of these ideas together. I'm going to give you a summary of the entire drawing process and how you can use lines and marks to bring your drawings to life. 10. The Power of Line: Welcome to the concluding lesson of this course. In this lesson, I want to pull everything you've learned together and give you a practical process for drawing with descriptive and dynamic lines and marks. Now before we get into the lesson, I want to remind you that in this course, we are exploring what lines and marks can do on their own without any shading. There are two reasons for this. First, you need to understand how powerful line can be on its own. Contours are not merely something you have to get through so you can get to shading. These kind of lines and marks are powerful in and of themselves. The second reason is that establishing contours is a prerequisite to shading. Shading only makes sense once you've worked out the contours of your subject. Once you're ready to shade, all of the line quality and mark making that you're learning about in this course will blend beautifully with light and shadow. At the beginning of this course, I introduced the idea that every line serves two different functions. Now that you're here at the last lesson in this course, I want to revisit this idea. The first function of a line is to describe the characteristics of your subject. To do this, you'll use outer contour lines, inner contour lines, and cross contour lines. These lines describe the physical properties of your subject. Is a more conventional use of line, one that everybody understands. The outer contours establish the outer edge of your subject. The inner contours help to define the three dimensionality of the form, and finally, the cross contour lines help describe the topography of your subject. All of these lines work together to describe your subject in a straightforward way. But this is only one function of line. Second function of line is to communicate some kind of an idea or an emotion. It is critical that you remember that your lines are always communicating ideas and emotions whether you intend them to or not. I'm encouraging you to understand this reality and to take control over your lines. In this course, you've learned how to communicate all kinds of things with lines and marks. You've learned how to draw physical properties and tactile textures like hardness, heaviness, and softness. You've also learned how to express emotions through line, emotions like joy, sadness, calm or anger. You've even learned how to communicate the passing of time. So hopefully I've expanded your idea of what lines can do and be. I think the idea of tone of voice is a perfect metaphor for line. As we speak, the words we use serve the same two functions that line does. The words we use can help describe things, but the tone of voice we use when we speak those words makes a dramatic impact on how they're going to be received. There's a world of difference between a sincere tone of voice and a sarcastic tone of voice. Something we all understand intuitively, but it applies to your lines as well. It is essential that from here on out, you are always thinking about these two functions of line. What are the physical characteristics you want to describe about your subject and what ideas or emotions do you want your lines to communicate? In this course, I'm trying to give you the power to take control of these two functions. They work together to determine the look and feel of every drawing you're going to do. Now I know that most of you in this course are going through my drawing laboratory series in order. At this point, I'm sure you're realizing how many separate skills are required to learn to draw. In today's demonstration, I'm going to pull together the entire drawing process. I want to make sure that you understand how to start a drawing and then how to use dynamic lines and marks to bring it to life. Fourth and final course in the drawing laboratory series will focus on shading. I want to make sure you're prepared for that course. To be ready for shading, you need to understand all of the skills taught in this course as well as the two previous courses. Let's head to the drawing board where I'm going to demonstrate the entire drawing process up until this point. I'll do this by drawing a frog. The first stage of the drawing process is to simplify your subject into its basic shapes. I taught this process in depth in the first course in my drawing laboratory series, how to draw a beginner's guide. In this drawing, we can find a number of basic shapes, including circles seen here for the eyes. We can find ovals both big and small. You can see a large oval here for the frog's body and you can also see smaller ovals for the legs. Also find more complex shapes. This shape here for the head begins as a circle, but it transitions into a curved triangular shape here. Rather than draw the individual digits of the frog's feet, I've simplified each foot into straight edge shapes using the enveloping technique. You can also see that I've enveloped the entire frog. This stage should be drawn incredibly lightly, if possible, with soft lines that can be easily changed or erased if needed. All of the basic forms and proportions of your subject should be worked out in this stage. Once you've simplified your subject and worked out all of the basic forms and proportions, you can move on to the second phase of the drawing process. Here we have phase two. The goal of phase two is to transition the flat forms that you drew in phase one into these more three dimensional forms. You can see that I've added cross contour lines on the oval for the frog's body. This transitions the flat oval into a more three dimensional ovoid shape. You can also see that I've started to use overlaps. Here, we see the outer contour of the frog's face dive inside at the mouth. You can then see that this part of the contour dives inside once again. The outer contour is then taken up by this line which once again dives inside. This creates a hierarchy of overlaps. We can see that this is in front of this, which is in front of this and so on. Now at this stage, none of these lines are yet intended to be seen by a viewer. I'm still using pretty light lines, although this phase is drawn a little darker than phase one. You can see that I've simplified the three dimensional forms for the legs. For this upper portion of the frog's leg, I've simplified it into a cylinder. We have a more spherical form here at the joint and below it, we have another cylindrical form. Goal of this phase is to understand the subject in terms of its three dimensionality. You can also see that I've started to draw using quite a bit more detail. Rather than just the simple straight edge shapes of the block in, I am now drawing with more specific curved lines. This allows me to draw smaller and smaller details. This part of the drawing process helps me transition from lines that are just intended to work out the forms to lines that I want to be seen by a view. As a drawing process continues, many of these lines will simply be left in the final drawing. I have taught this three dimensional drawing in depth in the second course in my drawing laboratory series, drawing in three dimensions. Once you've broken down your subject into its more three dimensional forms, you're ready to move on to the third phase of the drawing process. In this third phase of the drawing process, we are finally starting to draw lines that we want to be seen by a viewer. I've left all of the previous process lines visible on the page. These process lines are often referred to as pentimenti. Now, many people like to erase all of these extra lines, but I think they add some interest, some dimensions, some history to the drawing. I tend to draw right over them. At this stage of the drawing process, we want all of these lines to be seen by a viewer. I can finally draw all of the small overlaps in the frog's anatomy. The frog is resting some weight here on his feet, so I'm going to darken these lines. The frog is also resting some weight on his belly. Once again, I'm going to use some darker lines. I'm also making these lines a little thick and heavy. Frog is also putting weight on these back legs. Once again, I'm going to draw them using heavy lines. You can see that these simple additions alone already add a greater sense of dimension to the drawing. Here at the frog's feet, I'm going to use thinner lines. There are a lot of small little details here. They appear fragile. I want these lines to contrast with these darker heavier lines where the frog is putting weight. Here you can see a series of overlaps where the outer contour dives inside and turns into an ellipse. These lines help give the impression of the roundness of these forms. Now in this drawing of a frog, I'm not that interested in communicating specific emotions. I certainly don't want you to feel that every drawing you do has to communicate an emotion. But I do want you to see that these lines are drawn with confidence. These are not timid lines. They're drawn with a bit of speed and appear free. They move fluidly around the page. These lines tend to communicate a confidence in drawing. Now it's okay if you're still developing your confidence drawing. But remember that confidence comes with practice. The more you practice drawing, the more confident you will become. Here you can see I'm drawing small ellipses. Again, this communicates that the digits of this frog are cylindrical. Remember, all of these forms are three dimensional. We want to give a sense of three dimensionality even in these smaller forms. Once we've drawn the more basic forms, we can start to add texture. In a subject like this, we can find all kinds of small warts and bumps on the surface of the subject. You'll notice here on the frog's back, I'm taking the opportunity to create a series of overlaps. Each of these overlaps starts as an outer contour, dives inside, and then starts to imply an ellipse. These subtle implied ellipses give three dimensionality to the frog's body. I'm not observing these on the actual subject. I'm using the language of drawing to communicate something about it. Of course, the skin of a frog has all kinds of unique textures. I'm using soft lines to add a textural quality. The soft lines help to imply that the frog's skin is soft. All of these soft small lines work together to really create a sense of texture. The frog no longer just appears smooth. Now I'd like to note here that I'm doing all of this through line alone. At this stage, I am not doing any shading. Remember, this entire course is all about line. What can we do using line alone? The answer, of course, is quite a bit. All over this drawing, we see simple lines and marks working together to communicate contours, form, and texture. Everywhere we look in this drawing, we can start to find subtle details that tell us something about the frog. So many of these soft lines that I'm using to create texture are following the cross contour of the frog's body. Here you can see all of these lumps and bumps have been drawn over the ellipses. There's a lot I'm liking about this drawing, but I do want to erase some of the lines I use for the envelope. I feel like these straight lines take away from the organic quality of the drawing. Now I can't get rid of them completely, and that's fine. I just want to knock them back a little bit. This process of adding detail and texture can go on for as long as you want it to. It is really up to you to decide how much detail and texture you want in your drawing. In a drawing like this, we could spend hours adding small textures and details. Or depending on the type of drawing I want to do, I could stop this drawing shortly after finishing the eyes. There's no magic moment when a drawing becomes finished. We want to get our drawings to the point where we've said everything we want to say about the subject. You're under no obligation to include every single detail you observe. Goal is that the drawing appears to be resolved. But just like leaving pentimenti lines can make for more interesting drawing, leaving some areas unfinished can also be interesting. Remember, it is your drawing and you get to decide when you're done with it. Hopefully, this has given you a sense of the process behind drawing. And everything you need to do to get to the point where you're ready to draw lines that are intended to be seen by a viewer. Hopefully, that demonstration give you a strong sense of how the drawing process works up until this point. Now I know that many of you want to learn figure drawing. Now, of course, this is not a figure drawing course, but I want to show you how important lines and marks are when you're drawing the human figure. Mastering line quality is one of the most critical figure drawing skills. Let's head to the drawing board and take a look at some linear figure drawings, figure drawings that have been done using only line without any shading. Here we see a figure drawing with no shading. This drawing is entirely constructed from contours. This figure is seated, so we know that most of the weight is going to be put on the glutes. Here you can see me darkening and thickening these lines where the body comes into contact with the ground plane. This immediately starts to give the figure a sense of weight. I can also use the same technique to add a sense of gravity and weight where the hand is resting on the leg. Now I'd like to bring your attention to the overlaps. All over this figure, we see lines starting off as outer contours and then diving inside the form. As soon as these lines dive inside the form, usually they get lighter and softer. Now, this figure is leaning away from us. We can use overlaps to establish a hierarchy. This part of the body overlaps this part of the body, which overlaps this part of the body. Here we can see the flesh compress as the torso bends to the right. We can capture this once again by using overlaps. I'd also like you to notice that once these lines dive inside, they create ellipses. These ellipses show the three dimensional quality of the rib cage. Now, these are subtle, but you can see that they do make a difference. Overlaps are incredibly common and useful in figure drawing. In drawing the figure, we use them nearly constantly. They really help provide a fleshy quality to our drawings. I'd also like you to note that areas where bones come to the surface, I can use sharp straight lines to imply their hardness and angularity. Here we can see the olecronon process of the elbow right underneath the skin. These lines can then soften as they get further away from the bone. Here we see the bone of the wrist. Here we can see the other bone of the elbow. All over this drawing, I'm using lines in mark making to tell the viewer something about the figure. Everywhere the viewer looks, I want there to be something interesting to catch their attention. Finally, I'd like you to note the use of atmospheric perspective. The parts of the body that are closest to us are drawn with darker and harder lines. As parts of the body get further away from us, they're drawn with lighter, softer lines. You can see the lines of the leg lighten and soften as they get further away from us in space. We see something similar with this leg. It starts off darker, but the further away it gets from us, the lighter it becomes. Everywhere you look in a drawing like this, I've used different kinds of lines and marks to communicate something about the figure. I've also tried to use lines that appear fluid and beautiful. I think these fluid, confident curving lines bring a sense of life to the drawing. So here we see a drawing of a male model who was in his 70s at the time. It was important to him that the people drawing him captured what he referred to as the textures of his skin. I felt that the perfect way to do this was through line quality. Here, I've tried to use harder more angular lines to capture the ribs poking through the skin. I've used softer, lighter lines to capture the muscles showing through the skin. I've used very thin delicate lines to try and capture the paper like quality of some of the areas. Many of these kinds of lines start to follow the cross contour of the surface of the body. My favorite part of this drawing is the crinkled skin around the elbow. I've tried to use fleshy lines, firm but not hard, a little soft but not too soft. I've drawn them just a little darker than many of the other lines to bring attention to them. Really want these lines to stand out to the viewer. Now, once again, I'd like to note that there is no single right or wrong way to use these lines. What you're seeing here is my response to this particular figure. But one thing I really want you to take away from this demonstration is how powerful and descriptive line on its own can be. Remember, there is no shading in this drawing. All of the effects you're seeing are created using line alone. No matter what subject you're drawing, line is going to be an essential component. And hopefully, drawings like this demonstrate just how beautiful and descriptive line quality can be. We are now nearing the end of this course and I'd like to leave you with a few additional thoughts. Many beginners are in a rush to get to shading. They feel that shading is what's really going to define their work. But the reality is that how you use your lines and marks will determine your individual style more than any other aspect of drawing. It's important to remember that once you get to shading, you will be drawing hundreds if not thousands of individual lines to create the illusion of light and shadow. This issue of how you draw your lines and marks compounds exponentially when you get to shading. Giving you the opportunity to figure out what kind of lines and marks you want to use now using contour alone. This is where you're going to truly start to develop your own personal style. I want you to remember, you don't need to try and express an emotion through every drawing you do. When I'm drawing, I'm not concerned with the emotion that each and every line is expressing. However, I do want my lines to appear confident and fluid. Confident and fluid lines are a joy to look at. You don't want your lines to appear timid or as if you're uncomfortable while drawing unless it serves some creative purpose. I like to think about every line I draw as being similar to a word. Words come together to form sentences. Sentences come together to form paragraphs and paragraphs come together to form essays or even novels. Each line you draw just like a word carries meaning. I'm encouraging you to make decisions about what your lines and marks mean. I'm also encouraging you to go beyond mere physical descriptions of your subject. Remember, we are not here to simply copy reality. If you want to copy reality, get a camera, not a pencil. When we draw, we become poets. We're not only giving a technical description of our subject, we are trying to communicate an idea or an emotion. We want to give our drawings meaning. Line quality and mark making are some of the most powerful ways we can do that. Your drawings, just like the best fiction can show us something deeply meaningful and true, even though it may not be factually real. With all of this in mind today, let's get you to your project. Your project today is simple. I want you to put all of these ideas into action. I want you to go out into the world and draw as many unique subjects as you can. Find subjects that have unique tactile qualities, find subjects that carry unique symbolic qualities. Create drawings that are filled with texture, atmosphere, and that communicate with your viewer on an emotional level. From here on out, I want you to make a commitment to create drawings that not only engage the eyes, but that engage the fingertips as well as the mind and your emotions. This aspect of drawing is one of the most overlooked parts of the drawing process, but I want to give you the power and the experience to take control of this essential drawing skill. How you use lines and marks is going to determine your individual style more than any other aspect of the drawing process. Go and discover how you as an individual, want to draw. Go discover what your lines and marks look like. Well, thank you so much for joining me in this course. I really hope I've opened your eyes to new possibilities in drawing. Once you've completed this course, you will be ready for the fourth and final course in the drawing laboratory series where you're going to learn shading.