The great thing about teaching is that you learn so much when you do do that. My friend Roy asked how do you get the proportions right in a sketch and for me the easiest way to do that is to show by example. I got some objects that I have been given at work and arranged them as a still life with a strong primary light source so I could always go back to it and work on it..
You’d be amazed at what Microsoft puts its logo on!
I chose these carefully for their texture and shape including and in case you’re wondering the a 2kg green crystal (aka Kryptonite) at the back is what we get for 10 years at Microsoft!
So how to start drawing this?
Step one is composition - I won’t go into details but these were the things I thought about in arranging this:
you don’t want the crystal exactly in the middle of the picture,
I needed another object the mug to create some height to the left of the crystal
I wanted to see the writing on the t-shirt and make it look like a t-shirt without it being to neat and artificial
The next challenge is to capture the 3d composition on 2d paper. To do this find an exact eye position to do the drawing from and note how everything looks from this position so you can return to it. In this case I moved left and right until the left hand side of the letter O is is in line with the right side of my mug and the bottom of the crystal stand is just obscured by the top of the t-shirt the angle of this photo doesn’t quite show that but you get the idea.
Then I start measuring I worked out that from where I was sitting I could simply use the same dimensions to make the study on a sheet of A3 paper - for example in this picture from my position the crystal looks 12cm against my ruler held at arms length and I can use that same measurement on my drawing. It’s essential to do these measurement from the same position each time
I draft the outline of the key shapes by measuring everything from a common point and cross check distances and angles to get a rough sketch with an HB pencil and not pressing too hard so these construction lines can be rubbed out as the work progresses.
To make this outline realistic the objects need to be filled in and my tips for shading would be:
Nearly close your eyes and look at the subject - you should be able to identify the brightest and darkest part of the the subject. This works because everything is out of focus and you can only see the most obvious patches of light and shade .
Work over each area with multiple grades of pencil. For deep shadows 9B is very dark but doesn’t fill the holes in the paper like a harder pencil so going over dark areas with a 2H makes them look darker.
Practice even shading and correct errors with a stump, putty rubber and more shading as needed
The flat surfaces of the crystal are not an even tone, typically they are darker nearer an edge and then get lighter.
note the darker shading denoting the edges of th ecrystal
Finally there is no substitute for practice, and I’d suggest if you are serious about drawing try and do a little every day.
My final sketch is below
