Achieve a Masterful Drawing - wikiHow

Achieve a Masterful Drawing - wikiHow

How to Achieve a Masterful Drawing

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Some basic rules for creating masterful drawings whilst giving you freedom of expression.

Steps

1. There is no right way to draw, the only way is what suits your needs and what your main objective is. You have many choices which gives you freedom of expression.
   
2. Basically there are only three approaches to a masterful drawing;
   
3. Rudimentary – from specific detailed drawing to general outlines such as contour drawings;
   
4. Academic drawing as seen in the Old Masters where you find detailed drawings of human anatomy and;
   
5. A combination of these first two methods.
   
6. Students must be aware of the value of visual aids: using a plumb line, a framing rectangle with marks to indicate the center and other proportions, and a sighting rod like a pencil to measure. There are many other devices used over the centuries by the old masters to obtain accurate drawings.
   
7. One has to be intimate with how to see things as they are - not what you might think is there which is a common mistake by the beginning student. We tend to scan things from left to right (and right to left in the Muslim world) and our eyes only pause or rest on focal points. When looking at a web pages the eye always tends to look at the pictures on the page first, then the text. This is useful data to know to guide your visitors eyes across your web page. The old masters use this technique with great skill to guide the viewer into and around the painting.
   
8. Ultimately drawing cannot be separated from painting or design – they are an integral part of the overall effect. Talent is a little old fashioned in developing drawing skills. The masters developed their skills from day one by looking closely at the human form and observing how one form interlocks with the overall form.
   
9. The real professionals warm up by quick gesture drawings, 15 – 30 seconds, which is basically scribbling outlines. Rembrandt was probably one of the best for obtaining spontaneity in these quick sketches which somehow came alive under his quill.
   
10. A student can gain confidence by starting with simple gesture drawings by looking at the overall forms and applying unrestrained lines to create a masterpiece. You draw what you feel and see and combine the two for an emotional effect. There should be no effort whatsoever and it has to be a lot of fun--if it's not, your drawing will show it.
    
11. An important part of gesture drawing is to fit it into the picture plane – like a frame or to the outside edges of your paper. Draw a quick rectangular shape and keep the gesture sketch within that frame.
    
12. You see things in three-dimensional form and draw it in two dimensions. Your task would be to make your drawing more towards three dimensions so it has weight and form—it can feel light in some areas and heavy in others whilst the form is projected into deep space. Once you can achieve that you are becoming a master. An easy way of doing this is to get a ball of yarn and wrap it around a friend's torso, leg or arm and observe how the lines of yarn recede into space. Make your pencil lines follow the same contours as the yarn.
    
13. This will give you a basic idea of how the figure is constructed without knowing complex anatomy.
    

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