https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/Recent content in Drawing Basics on Teddy Rook Bookhttps://teddyrookbook.com/img/share.jpghttps://teddyrookbook.com/img/share.jpgHugoenhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/pencil-grades/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/pencil-grades/H pencils are harder and make lighter lines; B pencils are softer and make darker lines. A bigger number means more of either. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/paper-erasers/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/paper-erasers/Drawing paper has some tooth to grip graphite. A kneaded eraser lifts tone when you press and dab; a vinyl eraser cleans crisp edges. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/pencil-grip/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/pencil-grip/Hold near the point, as for writing, for small, careful details. Hold farther back or overhand, and move from the elbow, for long, loose lines and broad shading. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/other-media/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/other-media/Charcoal is soft, dark and smudgy; ink is permanent; colored pencil builds color in light layers. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/line-weight/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/line-weight/Vary the weight of your lines: heavier for near edges and shadow sides, lighter for far edges and lit sides. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/contour/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/contour/A contour line follows the edges of a form slowly, as your eye follows the object, including the edges inside the outline. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/blind-contour/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/blind-contour/Draw a contour while looking only at the object, never at the paper. It trains the eye and hand to move together. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/cross-contour/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/cross-contour/Lines that wrap across a form, like stripes around a ball, show its roundness. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/gesture/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/gesture/A gesture drawing takes half a minute to two minutes and catches the movement and weight of a pose, not its details. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/negative-space/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/negative-space/Positive space is the object; negative space is the space around and between. Drawing the negative shapes helps you see true shapes. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/shapes-to-forms/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/shapes-to-forms/A shape is flat; a form has depth. A circle becomes a sphere, a square a cube, a triangle a cone and a rectangle a cylinder. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/drawing-boxes/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/drawing-boxes/Draw the nearest corner first. Edges that are parallel on the box either stay parallel or come together as they go back; they never spread apart. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/ellipses/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/ellipses/A circle seen at an angle is an ellipse. It looks thinner near eye level and rounder the farther it is above or below eye level. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/construction/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/construction/Break a complicated object into simple forms (boxes, cylinders, spheres and cones), draw those lightly, then refine. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/value-scale/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/value-scale/Value is how light or dark a tone is. A value scale steps evenly from white to black, often in 5, 7 or 9 steps. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/hatching/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/hatching/Parallel lines make tone. Lines closer together, or heavier, read darker. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/cross-hatching/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/cross-hatching/Layers of hatching that cross at an angle build darker values. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/stippling/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/stippling/Dots make tone: more dots, closer together, read darker. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/smooth-tone/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/smooth-tone/Build smooth tone with light, even layers of small strokes; a blending stump or tissue can soften it. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/contrast-key/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/contrast-key/High contrast puts very light next to very dark. A high-key picture is mostly light values; a low-key picture is mostly dark. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/light-direction/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/light-direction/Choose one light source. Every lit side faces it, and every shadow side and cast shadow points away from it. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/light-on-form/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/light-on-form/Light on a round form runs highlight, light, halftone, core shadow and reflected light, and the cast shadow lies on the ground beside it. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/cast-shadows/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/cast-shadows/A cast shadow falls away from the light. It is darkest and sharpest where the object touches the surface and softens as it goes out. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/shading-sphere/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/shading-sphere/Put the values in order around the ball: highlight, light, halftone, core shadow, reflected light, then the cast shadow. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/shading-planes/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/shading-planes/Each flat side of a box gets one even value: the side facing the light is lightest and the side turned away is darkest. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/proportion/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/proportion/Proportion is how sizes compare. Choose one part as your unit and measure the rest in it: "the bottle is three caps tall." Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/sighting/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/sighting/Hold the pencil at arm's length with the elbow straight, close one eye, and mark a length with your thumb to compare it with others. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/angles-plumb/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/angles-plumb/Hold the pencil truly vertical or horizontal to judge an edge's angle and to see what lines up above or beside what. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/grid-method/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/grid-method/Divide the picture and the paper into matching grids and copy one square at a time. Bigger squares on the paper enlarge the drawing. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/checking/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/checking/Step back, squint to see the big values, and look at the drawing in a mirror to spot crooked or lopsided shapes. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/depth-cues/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/depth-cues/Things in front overlap things behind; farther things look smaller and, below eye level, sit higher on the page. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/horizon-line/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/horizon-line/In perspective, the horizon line is the viewer's eye level. You see the tops of things below it and the bottoms of things above it. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/one-point/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/one-point/Facing a box straight on, its edges that go back from you all meet at one vanishing point on the horizon line. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/one-point-scenes/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/one-point-scenes/Roads, railroad tracks, hallways and rooms seen straight on narrow toward one vanishing point, and equal spaces look shorter as they go back. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/two-point/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/two-point/Turn the box so a corner faces you. Its edges go back to two vanishing points on the horizon, and vertical edges stay vertical. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/three-point/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/three-point/Looking far up at a tall building or far down from one, the vertical edges also meet, at a third vanishing point above or below. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/atmospheric/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/atmospheric/Faraway things look lighter, bluer, softer and less detailed because of the air between us and them. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/rule-of-thirds/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/rule-of-thirds/Divide the picture into thirds both ways; placing the main subject near one of the lines or crossings often looks livelier than dead center. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/focal-point/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/focal-point/The focal point is where the eye goes first. Artists make it with the strongest contrast, the most detail, isolation or lines that lead to it. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/balance/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/balance/Symmetrical balance mirrors the two halves; asymmetrical balance offsets a big, quiet shape with a small, strong one; radial balance spreads from a center. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/leading-lines/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/leading-lines/Roads, rivers, fences, gazes and edges lead the eye through a picture, ideally toward the focal point. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/thumbnails/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/thumbnails/Small quick sketches try out several arrangements and crops before the real drawing; a cardboard viewfinder helps choose the view. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/still-life/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/still-life/Group objects of different heights and sizes, overlap some, leave uneven gaps, and light them from one side. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/texture/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/texture/Texture comes from your marks and the value pattern: short strokes for fur, long ones for wood grain, crisp contrast for rough stone. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/shiny-glass/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/shiny-glass/Shiny things show sharp highlights and reflections with strong contrast; glass shows what is behind it, slightly bent, plus a few bright edges. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/folds/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/folds/Cloth hangs from points of support, and folds spread out from them. Shade each fold like a small cylinder. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/head-proportions/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/head-proportions/On an adult head seen from the front, the eyes are about halfway down, the face is about five eyes wide, and the nose ends about halfway from the eyes to the chin. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/eyes/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/eyes/An eye is a ball in a socket: the lids wrap around it, the upper lid casts a shadow on it, and the upper lid covers part of the iris. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/nose-mouth/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/nose-mouth/Draw the nose with its planes and shadows rather than a hard outline. The corners of the mouth line up roughly below the pupils. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/head-turns/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/head-turns/When the head turns, the center line curves around it and the far eye looks narrower; in profile, the ear sits just behind the middle of the head. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/expressions/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/expressions/Eyebrows, eyelids and mouth change together: raised brows and an open mouth for surprise, lowered brows and a tight mouth for anger. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/hands/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/hands/Start with the mitten shape of the palm and fingers together. The middle finger is about as long as the palm, and the knuckles line up on a curve. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/figure-proportions/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/figure-proportions/Artists measure the body in head heights: an adult is about seven and a half heads tall, and a young child only four or five. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/line-of-action/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/line-of-action/One curved line through the whole pose shows its movement; the head, chest and hips hang on it. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/mannequin/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/mannequin/Build the body from simple forms: an egg for the head, boxes for the chest and hips, cylinders for the limbs and balls at the joints. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/clothed-figure/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/clothed-figure/Draw the gesture and forms first, then hang the clothes on them. Folds pull from the shoulders, elbows, waist and knees. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/warm-ups/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/warm-ups/A few minutes of straight lines, circles, ellipses and value scales loosens the hand before a drawing. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/sketchbook/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/sketchbook/Short, regular practice adds up: draw a little most days, from life when you can, and date every page. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladderhttps://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/life-photos/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://teddyrookbook.com/art/drawing-basics/life-photos/Life drawing shows real depth and light; photos flatten form and can bend near things. Use your own photos or free-to-use ones, and give credit. Drawing Basics · Art & Drawing Ladder