Contents
We can think of drawing as a language. In this course, we will use that language to describe what we see. However, the goal is not to copy what we see. That would be impossible, since we do not see in images that can be copied. Instead, drawing is more like describing our experience of seeing with marks on a page, the way a writer describes an experience using words. Like a writer, you choose what aspects of your experience to include and what to leave out.
The vocabulary of drawing consists of the visual elements. These are the basic categories that describe the marks, or the absence of marks, that an artist can make in an image. The visual elements are Line, Shape, Value, Proportion, and Color.
Line
A line can be a visible mark or a visual path that guides the eye. It may be created by a tool moving across a surface, by the edge between shapes, or implied by a sequence of aligned elements, such as a dotted line. The value of a line can help to depict light and shadow. Lines also create shapes when they enclose space.
Shape
A shape is a two-dimensional area unified by color, value, or an outline. Shapes may be geometric, like circles or squares, or organic, with irregular curves and edges. Lines and shapes are closely connected: lines can enclose space to form shapes, and shapes can create lines at their edges. In everyday language, “shape” often refers to three-dimensional forms, such as calling a book “box-shaped.” In art, however, “shape” specifically means flat, two-dimensional elements, while “form” describes three-dimensional volume.
Value
Value refers to the range of light and dark within an image, from the deepest black a medium can produce to the brightest highlight, which is sometimes the blank page. Every mark falls somewhere in this range, lighter than some areas and darker than others. Value communicates the brightness and darkness we see, with lighter values representing illuminated surfaces and darker values representing shadow. Value is present in all lines, shapes, and colors, and differences in value are necessary for any element to be visible at all.
Proportion
Proportion describes the relative sizes and distances within an image. For example, the height of a rectangle compared to its width defines its proportions. Every mark in an artwork creates proportion automatically, as it has its own dimensions and its own spatial relationships to the borders of the image and to other elements within it.
Color
Color is our perception of light wavelengths reflected from surfaces. Unlike the other elements, an image can be created entirely without color, while it’s impossible to draw without creating lines, shapes, values and proportions. For this reason we won’t cover color in this course.
Drawing What You See
Understanding a bit about how our visual experience works can help us to better describe it in a drawing. It might seem like our eyes work like small cameras mounted in our heads, sending a live video feed to our brain. However, our visual experience is actually a three-dimensional mental model of our surroundings created by our brain, based on the light our eyes take in. This mental model includes the objects and surfaces around us, along with their positions in space from our point of view. We recognize these objects by their forms and the relative positions of those forms, which is why we can still recognize them even when they look different when viewed from different angles. Because we see through light reaching our eyes, the brightness and darkness of a surface also tells us about its form and position in space.
When we draw, we are describing visual experience. If we can accurately describe our object’s forms, surfaces, and how those forms are positioned in space, then our drawing will look like the object. In other words, it will capture the experience of seeing it.
For example, in this drawing:
- I use lines to show the edges of surfaces.
- I use value to describe how light wraps around the form.
- I use proportion to show the relative positions and sizes of the object’s parts.
Why Photos Are Not Good For Learning to Draw
When we draw from life, we translate our visual experience into the elements of a drawing, such as representing form with lines and light with values. Drawing from a photo, however, is different. Instead of translating what we see, we are simply copying an image from one medium into another. We represent the visual elements of the photo with the visual elements of the drawing.
When drawing from life, we must decide which parts of our experience to describe and how to represent them. When drawing from a photograph we can skip this step. We can simply copy the lines, shapes, and values without thinking about the forms, position, or light that created them. This does not mean you should never draw from photos. It is possible to reinterpret a photo in the same way we would when working from life, but it is much harder if you have not first practiced drawing directly from observation.
There is a trap that artists can fall into by only learning to draw from photographs. They can become skilled at copying the visual elements of the photo into a drawing, and develop control of their medium. Their drawings may look impressive, but they have not developed the ability to translate what they see or imagine into a drawing. Without practicing the translation of three-dimensional form, position, and light, they remain dependent on photos, unable to create without having the work already flattened and translated for them. Because of this, their skill does not transfer to drawing from life or imagination.
Drawing From Imagination
Although this course does not focus on drawing from imagination (my free how to draw book covers that), the skills you gain from drawing from life carry over directly. When drawing from imagination, we translate ideas into visual elements. If we can express our ideas in terms of forms, their positions, and the light that strikes them, we can describe them with the same techniques we use when drawing from life.
For example, to draw this dinosaur, I can express the ideas that make up the dinosaur in terms of forms and the positions of those forms.
The dinosaur has a skull that gives its head its general form.
Its eye is made up of forms as well, such as the eyeball and the lids. Those forms have specific sizes and positions relative to each other that make the subject recognizable.
I can translate these ideas into my drawing by using lines and shapes to represent the forms and proportions to represent their positions. If I want to render my drawing, I can use color and value to represent how light would fall across these forms.
Of course, there is more to expressing ideas in terms of forms, proportion, and light than is covered here in this course, but the skills developed in this course are an important part of the process.
Lesson 2 Assignment
Exercise: Blind Contour
This exercise trains you to observe and draw contours carefully. Contours are the edges of a surface that you could imagine touching.
Begin by focusing your eye on a point along the contour of your subject. Slowly follow that contour with your eye, and at the same time, move the tip of your pen or pencil across the page in the same motion. Imagine the tip of your pen is touching the point you are looking at as your eye moves along the edge. Do not look at your page while drawing. When your eye reaches the end of a contour, choose another one and repeat the process. You may glance at your page only to choose a new starting point for your next stroke. Repeat this as many times as you like.
Your drawing will likely look messy and inaccurate, and that is perfectly fine. The goal is not to make a good drawing but to train your observation. Evaluate your work based on how closely your eye followed the contour and how much it felt like your pencil was following the edge of your subject.
- Spend the first 30 minutes doing the blind contour exercise.
- Spend 50 to 55 minutes drawing your object to the best of your current ability. If you finish before your study session ends, draw it again until your time is up. If you can’t finish within one session, continue working on it in the next. You can also take extra time if you want.
- Reflect on your results and write about what went well and what you could improve next time.
Optional:
- Share your weekly study plan in the #accountability channel on the course discord server.
- Post your exercise results in the #exercises channel if you’d like feedback.
- Share your drawing and photo in the #course-critique channel to get feedback from the community.
If you have any questions about the course, you can ask in the #course-help channel.