3 Steps to Observational Drawing

1. Simple Shapes and Size2. Refine Shapes, erase (to make your contour drawing)3. Values and Details

Adapting to drawing from life is a good thing and increases your skill and helps you understand what you are drawing, as it's right there in front of you (not just some shadows and shapes in a photo).

1. Value: The lightness or darkness of tones or colors.2. Shade: In color theory, a tint is a mixture of a color with white, which

reduces darkness, while a shade is a mixture with black, which increases darkness.

3. Shape: In the visual arts, shape is a flat, enclosed area of an artwork created through lines, textures, colors or an area enclosed by other shapessuch as triangles, circles, and squares.

4. Emphasis: Is defined as an area or object within the artwork that draws attention and becomes a focal point.

5. Contour Drawing: Is an artistic technique used in the field of art in which the artist sketches the style of a subject by drawing lines that result in a drawing that is essentially an outline.

6. Medium: Refers to the materials that are used to create a work of art.

Words to Know!

Blind Contour Drawing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoGAXg6m4Gc

First, it improves hand-eye coordination. Hand-eye coordination is important in drawing for obvious reasons. Secondly, blind contour line drawingforces you to look at the object that you are drawing. Perhaps most importantly, it helps the artist to understand that representational drawingis all about observation.

Why are Blind Contour Drawings Important?

Mini Lesson #1

Think back to the video and what we discussed and demo about blind contour drawings. In you

sketchbooks create a blind contour of the arrangement of objects at

you work area.

Contour Drawing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eu9sUWLfGng

Why Contour Drawings?

Contour drawing is an essential technique in the field of art because it is a strong foundation for any drawing or painting; it can potentially modify a subjects' form through variation within the lines. Its objective is to capture the life, action, or expression of the subject.

Mini Lesson #2

Reflect on the video and what we discussed in class about contour

drawings. Draw a contour drawing of the objects at your work area from 3 different

views. This means you will need to physically move your body to another

seat to view it.

Types of Shading

Shading is used in drawing for depicting levels of darkness on paper by applying media more densely or with a darker shade for darker areas, and less densely or with a lighter shade for lighter areas.

To start a anything with a variety of value you can work with an HB (#2 pencil) and a soft pencil like a B. You don’t need a wide variety. Majority of adding value to an image is all about pressure.

Mini Lesson #3

Demonstrate for me, in your sketchbook, how to cross hatch, hatch, stipple and scribbling or random mark shading.

Value and Value Scales

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkHWlXTZFB0

Value Scales measure the amount of black, gray, or white in a drawing.

Value is used to make objects appear three-dimensional, to show color

differences, and to show highlights and shadows.

Mini Lesson #4

I would like for you to create 4 value scales, one using hatching, one using cross-hatching, one with stippling and the final one with random mark or scribbling. Make sure you demonstrate the values from dark to light.

Lets Bring it All Together!

What to focus on- Shapes- Lines- Value- Sizes- Positions- Where the light hits the object- Draw only what you see

Mini Lesson #5Choose what angle you want to draw the objects at your work area. On one full page of your sketchbook observe and draw it. Start simple with shapes/contours. Then refine for details. Finally coming in to add value for color and shadows. Take your time with this.