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!
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.
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