You Can Draw in 30 Days: The Fun, Easy Way to Learn to Draw in One Month or Less (15 page)

6. Draw the sides of the table post as I have done. Notice how each side line is drawn halfway from the far edge to the middle line. Look at my example. This is definitely a case where a picture is better than a bunch of words.

 

 

7. Using the lines you have already drawn as reference (I’m actually going to start cutting and pasting that sentence in each of these steps!), draw the bottom of the table post in directions NW and NE.

8. Draw the horizon line just above the table, and position the light source above and to the right. I’m drawing the horizon line at this stage in the lesson to illustrate an important concept to you. All the drawings we have completed so far have been drawn from an above point of view (point of perspective), looking down at the object. The horizon line tells our eye that the object is below the horizon line, which communicates to our brain that the thickness, shadows, and foreshortening are from this perspective.

The word “perspective” is rooted in the Latin
spec
, meaning “to see.” Think of spectacles, or eyeglasses, as assistance in seeing; a spectator as someone who sees an event; and speculation as the act of seeing possibilities. Perspective is the process of seeing the illusion of depth on our two-dimensional surface. In later lessons I will be teaching you how to draw objects
above
the horizon line with one-point and two-point perspective. For now, just remember that the position of the horizon line is above the object if you draw it in a looking-down point of view.

9. ALERT! Very important step! Place a guide dot directly below the near corner of the table post. Many students forget to use this guide dot during this exercise—to the detriment of their drawings. If you don’t use the guide dot on every stacked table, your drawing may get progressively more skewed and impossibly distorted. A cool visual effect if you are channeling Andy Warhol, but a disaster if you are aiming for a sharp, focused, properly proportioned, foreshortened three-dimensional stack of tables.

10. Using the lines you have already drawn as reference (yes, again!), draw the front edge of the pedestal in directions NW and NE.

11. ALERT! When you draw the back edges of the top of the pedestal, be sure to go behind the corner of the post. These two very short lines need to be lined up with the lines you have already drawn in directions NW and NE. This is the second most common mistake students will make drawing this lesson. Students have a strong tendency to connect these two short lines directly to the post corners. Fight your instinct to connect corners! Draw these lines behind the post.

12. Complete the pedestal, making sure to draw the near corner lower. As always, use the lines you have already drawn as reference angles for drawing the bottom lines of the pedestal in directions NW and NE.

13. Using the lines you have already drawn for reference, extend out the cast shadow direction guide line.

14. Add the cast shadow opposite your positioned light source, shade the table and pedestal, and add the dark undershadows of both sides of the post. Notice how that nice dark undershadow really pushes that post deep under the tabletop. There it is, another BAM moment for our lesson!

Here’s a great way to really get the important points of this lesson. Find a watch, clock, or cell phone that reads a second hand. I want you to time yourself drawing this single table on a pedestal. Try it two or three times with a timer, and see if you can get your completion time down to two minutes. I do this timed exercise with all of my students from elementary school grades all the way up through my university workshops. The purpose of having you draw this image in a specific amount of time is to train your hand to confidently draw these foreshortened shapes and overlapping corners and, most importantly, to embed the drawing compass angles into your hand memory. The angles NW, NE, SW, and SE will begin to have a certain comfortable feel to them. The more you practice this single table with a pedestal, the more comfortable and confident your lines will be in all of the upcoming lessons and all of the drawings you will ever create in the future. This is an excellent drawing exercise to dwell on for several days.

Now, for the really fun level of this lesson. Just how far do you want to stretch your drawing skills today? Take a look at my drawing journal page.