How To Get Shadows In Still Life Drawings!...

By Anna Meenaghan

Still life drawing is a bit of a puzzle to novices who usually mainly spend their time, say focusing, on the main objects. Really, I would say the shadows in the picture, are just as important.

Shadows can make your drawing, so they are vital to your work. To readily achieve these results you will require the following items. An eraser, your pencils, of course, a sheet of cartridge paper and some mounting board.

The board is needed to create a backdrop for your work. It needs to be large enough to take in the shadows for your work. So now you need to set up your backdrop.

So now you have your backdrop, you can put your chosen objects in front of it. Maybe something like bread and cheese with a plate with a knife on it or even a bunch of bananas. You then need a lamp of some sort to cast shadows, for instance from the right side.

So you are ready to go and you have your backdrop! Take a 2B pencil and draw very lightly squares on to your cartridge paper, one and a half inches. When this is complete, do the same on your backdrop, only in three inch squares and heavier pencil pressure.

Check how the shadows actually fall on the screen. This is easy to see, as they will be dark. However, you need to do this before you start drawing.

The shadows for me are the positive, important element, with the objects being the negative, less important element. Therefore I would always concentrate on the shadows first.

Shadows will make your picture and bring it to life. You need to draw in your shadow outlines with a 2B pencil. Take a look at how the outline will cross your boxes and then draw this on your paper.

You may not get it quite the same, so don't get disappointed. Carry on filling in your shadow outline. It is surprising, the forms your picture takes.

Once you have completed your shadows, you can very lightly rub out some of your boxes that are within the shapes of your shadows. Only rub lightly though, or you will ruin the paper surface.

The dark shadows now have to be filled in, often you will have white spaces in between, but this is nothing to worry about. You have to exercise caution here, as it is all too easy to smudge your work doing this. Use a piece of white paper under your hand to remedy this.

Get out your 6B pencil, you are now going to put it to work cross hatching. That is, you are going to do your filling in, with rows of straight lines across, then straight lines on an angle or upright down over it, quite close together. This is to fill in your shadows.

Use a 2B pencil to outline the objects at the back. Take your time filling in the object outlines, then erase the boxes in which they were contained, giving you both positive and negative shaping. Remember to sharpen your pencil before you start.

Continue now by light hatching the dark areas of your objects with your 2B pencil. Do the edges for instance. Do not do too much.

Bear in mind you need some light tones too in your work. To finish it, use the 2B pencil to light hatch, just don't do too much so that it intermingles with the shadows. Good Luck!

About the Author:

The author of this "How To" guide is contemporary artist Anna Meenaghan. Anna creates amazing contemporary abstract art and operates an online art gallery where you can discover more easy to follow articles about painting techniques. It is also where I display my own art. Comment by Michael Bruckner.

Why You Require Different Papers For Painting?

By Anna Meenaghan

Anyone who is new to art would probably wonder about this. Naturally it is an important consideration, according to the type of paint you use. Watercolour paper can be bought in three varieties. "Not" (Cold Pressed), "HP" (Hot Pressed), and Rough.

"Not" or "Cold Pressed" for starters, when it is made, runs through cold rollers which presses the surface smooth. This would be a good paper to begin with, as it is not loaded with texture.

If you have small detailed work, a textured paper really is what you need. "HP" would be my choice as it is nice and smooth as it has been pressed through hot rollers, like an iron in fact. Washes do not hold very well on this, so I wouldn't even try to do one.

Rough is a very well textured paper which can be very effective as the paint does not always reach the raised surface. Probably not good for a beginner to use though.

Many artists like to stretch their own paper, though if you are a novice, wrinkling could be a problem. You will find that if the paper is wet, it really does stretch, but not necessarily so that it will be even all four ways.

Here I will explain how to stretch paper. This you should always do first. Collect together the following items. A smallish bowl with water in, a natural sponge, scissors, plus brown gummed paper on the roll.

Cut four strips of the gummed paper, making sure that they are longer than the four sides of your paper. Then you need to, with your sponge, wet it completely in the bowl and in turn, wet your paper.

Starting from the middle you need to gradually flatten your work out on a flat surface or board. This can be done with a clean rag or even the side of your hand. All that you need to do then, is to tape the paper down with the gummed strips. You will need the gummed paper moist for this.

This has to now be left to dry out naturally, so that it will not have a wrinkled effect. At this stage, when it is finished, it is what artists call their support. This is the best you can have for watercolouring.

The support plays a big role in watercolour painting, as it affects the way the paint is held on the surface, how the paint responds, or the ease with which the brush moves over the surface.

The aim of your work is for it to have a decent finish to it and the transparency of watercolours can make it a bit puzzling at times to use. In fact, if you have white paper it will always, and you will need to be aware of this, be the lightest part of your work. So yes, the support is vital.

Paper comes in different grades by weight. If the paper is heavy it will take water well, whereas if it is light, it will wrinkle and get distorted. Heavy papers are a joy to work with, but are expensive.

Various choices are are at hand in our shops. Ready stretched pads which have glue all round. Ready perforated and spiralled pads with hard backs, or simply just sold by the sheet. These are what you have to choose from for watercolours.

About the Author:

Want to find more interesting "How To" guides such as this one? Anna Meenaghan, the creator of this guide and also a contemporary artist, runs a online art community where she also provides help for artists and art lovers alike. As a contemporary painter I found it of great benefit to myself. Comment by Michael Bruckner.