Drawing is a skill that can be learned just like learning to play a musical instrument or learning a sport. The first step is to master the fundamentals, and advance these skills with consistent application and practice. Drawing is a global skill like riding a bicycle or driving a car, once you learn to "see" correctly, the skill will stay with you as long as you practice.
Regardless of whether you want to draw realistically, or draw cartoons, the first three fundamentals that need to be mastered are lines, basic shapes and form. In fact, many drawing approaches focus on using basic shapes and forms to develop a realistic drawing. |
Element OneThe first basic element of drawing is line. Line is one dimensional. While the thickness of line can vary, in theory it has only one length. Since it is directional, line can express vertical, horizontal, curved and spiral movement. It is also the first step we take in creating shape or form.
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ElementTwoThe second basic element is shape. Shape is two-dimensional since it has both length and width. Shape is flat and has no depth. It is a plane not a solid. In addition to geometric shapes such as circles, ellipses, ovals, rectangles, squares and triangles, you can make irregular shapes.
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ElementThreeThe third element is Form. Form is three dimensional, as it has length, width, and depth. It is the depth that makes it appear as a solid as opposed to flat. These forms are the building blocks of drawing and the secret to being able to sketch anything is to stretch your mind to see these forms in nature and objects.
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Element FourTone refers to the light or darkness of an object. The tone is the local colour regardless of light and shade. Tone can be light, medium or dark.
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Element FiveThe fifth element is shading. When light shines on the side of a solid object, you can express form through shading. Put simply, shading is the absence of light. By creating the shapes of shading, you create form. Shading is the "secret sauce" of realistic drawing.
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Element SixWhen light shines on an object, it creates a cast shadow on another surface. A cast shadow is like a cross section of the object that it comes from and will be narrower in perspective when seen from the edge. Cast shadows should lie down and hug the surface they fall upon.
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