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01: Drawing With Shapes

There is one general rule I always try to follow with art, Start Simple! I find that if you let yourself
bocome focused on the details at the wrong times you will ignore the other elements, and the whole
image will suffer. Focusing on details is usually the cause of incorrect proportions, perspective
problems, and all sorts of other things that can ruin your project. So, start simple!
In this lesson we will learn to see the shapes that make up an object, and how using those shapes is
helpful when drawing.

As you can see in the image above I used 2 shapes to draw this
lamp. First I drew a circle, then a triangle, the two most basic
shapes in the object. Next I cut the triangle to make it match the
shape of a lamp shape, and added detail. Everything you will ever
draw consists of these kind of simple shape relationships. You can
also use basic shapes to help with proportions.
As you can see here I used the basic shape of the head to measure
out my superly proportioned guy.
I know he should be about seven heads tall (regular people are more
like 6, but this is a really awesome guy, so we will make him 7 for
added super-hero like coolness), so I laid out 7 heads. I also used
basic shapes (hello cylinders) to place other body parts.
This way I know the proportions are looking correct before
I make him look all muscle-y.
As you can see in this second image I used these basic
shapes to help me finalize the pose. Once again this made
me focus on the proportions and relationship of the shapes
before I got into the details. Once I had this stage complete
I was able to start refining the drawing by removing unneeded lines, and adding detail (see finished image below).
Make sure you understand this principal, especially when
drawing from your head. You need to be able to think in
simple terms to be able to imagine how things should look
when you don't have a good reference to look at. Not only
will it improve your ability to draw and keep things in

proportion, but it will also help when you get to the stage of shading, and other similar things. Next:
Lines

Copyright 2009 Mike Malaska all rights reserved

02: Lines
OK, lines... pretty basic right? Really they are, so let's talk about a few ways to use them effectively.
The first and most basic type of line an artist will use is the contour line. If we were to trace the
outline of something (like in the image below) we would have the most basic form of a contour line.
When drawing these are what separate your objects from the foreground, and from each other.
Contour lines are also used to indicate a turn in the form. Again look at the example below. In the
second drawing you see that I have added basic contour lines to show some basic features of the
face. The nose and jaw aren't separate, but the form of the skin turns, so we indicate that with lines.
That does not mean that we want to draw a complete line (like the third icky looking example). Our
eyes will fill in the missing sections of the line. Also, unfinished lines will add more interest to the
image (unless of course the young man pictured had nasty looking jowels...).

Lines can also be a way to show shading and add depth and form to our drawings. The method I use
mainly is hatching. Hatching is when you draw a series of lines close together to create an illusion
of value (see image below). Cross-Hatching is just a variation where you use crossed lines to create
an added effect of value. One important rule to follow when hatching is to follow the contour of the
object. That means hatching on a sphere should curve with the form, this will add to the sense of
depth and form. As you can see in the example below the cylinder with the straight lines looks a
little flat, whereas the one with the slightly angled/curved hatching looks much rounder.

Last but not least, make sure you start with loose gestural lines when sketching an object. If you try
to be too precise you will likely muck up the whole drawing! When sketching loosely you can

always go over the lines to correct the form, and focus on the entire object, not just a section of the
line. In the last example you can see how I start loose and sketch the entire image before I darken
up the contour lines. I don't want to be commited to anything I am not happy with. Once I have a
solid contour I can define the form a little more, and end up with a decent sketch!

Next we will be going over perspective, then on to the fun stuff, like heads and fingers.... ooh yeah?

Copyright 2009 Mike Malaska all rights reserved

03: Perspective
Perspective is key to making your drawings look real. There are three types of perspective, onepoint perspective, two-point perspective and three-point perspective. All three follow the same
rules, so let's start with one-point. One point perspective is used when an object is facing the point
of view, or looking straight at the viewer. If you were to imagine the paper as a plane it would be
parallel to the face of the object you are drawing. In order to have proper perspective you need to
also start with a horizon line and a vanishing point. The horizon line is where the sky meets the
earth. The Vanishing point is where all of our perspective lines will converge.
In the figure below you will see how I start with the horizon line, add a vanishing point, then draw a
few boxes. After that you simply draw straight lines from the corners of the shapes to the vanishing
point. Go ahead and follow the example below:

What happens when the face of an object isn't parallel to the viewing plane? That's when we use
two-point perspective. With two point perspective we will use two vanishing points instead of one.
Look at the example:

Now three-point perspective is pretty similar as well. We start with a horizon line and two vanishin
points. The third vanishing points are a little different. When vertical elements project towards a
vanishing point in the sky (as if we were looking from the ground up at them) this vanishing point i
known as the "Zenith." When looking from the sky down we would use a vanishing point below th
horizon, called the "Nadir." Often times these points are so far off that we cannot actually draw
them on our paper. When this happens we have to just do it by eye. Below are examples of three
point perspective from the ground and the sky:

As you can see in the second example none of my vanishing points were on the page. This is
actually a very common occurrence, but don't worry, once you have a good handle on how to use
perspective you will be able to draw these lines without a vanishing point. Also keep in mind that
all of your objects aren't necessarily going to share the same vanishing points, they will likely be
facing different directions, so you may need to do each objects perspective separately.

Copyright 2009 Mike Malaska all rights reserved

04: Drawing People


Drawing people is just like drawing anything else, start with simple shapes and draw the details
later. There are allot of rules to use when keeping people looking proportionate, like the average
person is 6-7 heads tall, and other ratios like that. My goal here will not be to teach you that, but
rather to let you observe my method, and then let you go practice it by drawing your own people.
You should always practice by drawing from life, that way you can see how the shapes relate, which
muscles are relaxed and which ones are tense, how people hold their weight when they stand, etc.
First let's look at the entire figure, and my basic process for drawing it:

You will notice that I start with a basic stick-figure drawing. Don't be afraid to draw something silly,

it will make is easier in the long run. Remember, simple! After I have established the pose of the
figure I ad some shapes to see where the areas of mass are, and make sure they look proportionately
correct. Then you can start adding the details. You will also notice that the woman's figure is very
similar to the man's. The main differences are that the shoulders are more narrow, and the hips are
generally wider.
Go ahead and practice drawing each figure until you get it pretty close, and feel free to draw your
own stick figure/pose. Also, look at the third example below, I drew someone from behind, notice
that the stick figure still looks pretty much the same:

Now the arms, hands and legs are always been a difficult area to draw. I have drawn a few examples
of the hand and arm below so you can see how they might look. Pay attention to the muscles.
Notice how I don't draw a big round circle for the biceps. I only draw the outline of the arm, and
some lines to indicate a turn in the form (remember lesson 02?). You can also see the faint lines to
indicate where I drew shapes to help me get the proportions correct.

Now the legs can sometimes be the trickiest part. I just try to keep them simple. Usually focusing
too muck on the muscles really ruins the form of the legs, so focus on the overall shape and make
sure you get that right. the foot also can be hard, but as you can see I use a pretty basic "foot Print"
shape to make sure my feet all look about the same.

These are the basics of drawing people, practice them as much as you can. And don't feel like you
always have to draw all the shapes, but remember that the are there if you get lost or need to correct
something.

05: Drawing The Head


In this tutorial I will give some basic rules to follow when drawing the head and face, and a few
examples of how to draw things from your head. To start, the basic shape of the head is an oval, or
rectangle. I like to start with a circle for the skull, then ad another curve so that it looks like an
upside down egg. Next I draw a line down the center of the head, and one line to intersect it
(roughly in the center as well). The head is roughly 5 eyes wide, so if you divide the horizontal
center line into 5 equal parts you should have proportionate eyes, as well as proper spacing between
each eye, and the side of the head. the nose lies about halfway between the eyes and the chin, and
with my method of drawing a circle first this usually lines up with the bottom of the circle. The
mouth is a little less than halfway between the nose and the chin. The top of the ears line up with
the eyebrows, and the bottom with the nose. Lastly, the hairline usually falls in the top quarter of the
head.
By drawing these lines I have a pretty good guide to help me get the proportions correct. After that
you can add the details. The order isn't really important, and I usually, start by drawing the eyes, but
this time I drew the outline of the head, and the hair. You will also notice that the cheek bones will
line up with and follow the bottom part of the circle (another reason I like to start with it). The
profile (or side) of the head follows the same general rules, but you will notice some differences.
First of course is the jaw line, which will start from the center of the skull and extend to meet the
front of the face. The eyes won't be as simple to got correct, but if you draw a triangle shape that
meets the edge of the circle you should have a good starting point.

Now below is an example of the same method used to draw a woman's face. Notice that I draw the
jaw line a bit softer, thinner eyebrows, darker lines on the eyes (to indicate lashes), lighter nose
features, and of course the lips and hair.

Below is an example of how I draw eyes. You can see that the eye is a sphere, and the eyelids wrap
around the eyeball. The top eyelid will extend a little bit past the point where the lower eyelid
appears to connect. This helps give the illusion of eyelashes without drawing each one (which looks
really bad usually). Also note that the iris and pupil are slightly covered by the top (or bottom)
eyelid. If you don't they eyes will look surprised or scared. From the side the eye takes a triangular
shape, and the eyelids follow the same rules. Once the eyes are too small to draw all the details you
need to simplify it, notice the one example below.

Next some examples of the nose. Some general rules I follow are: Start with the nostrils, only
draw/shape one side of the bridge, don't connect all the lines. Remember, our minds eye will
connect things that look like they should be connected, so just indicate the major turns in the
skin/nose, and let the imagination do the rest.

To finish, here are some examples of how to draw the mouth. When drawing a man's mouth, you
usually only want to draw the upper lip, and maybe hint at a lower lip. A woman's lips should be
drawn out to make them look full. Notice the little things, like the indents at the sides of the mouth,
how the creases lead to the nose, muscles in the frown. Also, when drawing teeth, don't draw each
individual tooth, just indicate the teeth with the gum line, and draw some lines to show the teeth
that turn into the mouth.

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