7. Draw the bottom of the leaves with slightly more exaggerated S curves. Notice how I used a bit of curl from the rose lesson to tuck the tip of the leaves behind. Determine the placement of your light source, and darken the nook and cranny shadows. This is the moment when the drawing really pops off the page in the third dimension.
8. To complete the shading, use your blending Stomp to gradually blend the shading from dark to light across the curved smooth surface of the flower.
9. Add a few more lilies to create a delightful bouquet! Hey, here’s a fun idea: Scan your drawing of these lilies, and e-mail the flowers to all your friends! E-mail me a copy too (
www.markkistler.com
).
Lesson 14: Bonus Challenge
Take a look at this simple variation of the rose and the lily. Draw a few of these, and then create a dozen of your very own unique variations.
Note: A book that you must get your hands on is
Freaky Flora
by Michel Gagné. Incredible drawings, inspiring creativity, wonderful shading, I absolutely love this artist’s work. Also take a look at the amazing flowers in Graeme Base’s
Animalia
. They’re just phenomenal.
Lesson 14: Bonus Challenge 2
Take a stroll around your home, garden, or office with your sketchbook, and note/sketch where you see S curves and tapered lines in at least six places/objects.
Student examples
I enjoyed these student examples so much. Take a look and keep inspired to draw, draw, draw every day!
LESSON 15
CONTOUR TUBES
T
o effectively draw curving tubular objects, such as trains, planes, automobiles, trees, people, or even clouds, you need to master contour lines. Contour lines are especially important when you are drawing the human figure. Arms, legs, fingers, toes, and, well, just about every part of the human figure involves the use of contour lines.
Contour lines wrap around a curved object. They give an object volume and depth and define an object’s position. Is the object moving away from or toward your eye? Is the object bending up or twisting down? Does the object have wrinkles, cracks, or a specific texture? Contour lines will answer these questions and many more by giving your eye visual clues regarding how to perceive the object as a three-dimensional shape on your paper. In this lesson we will practice controlling the direction of a tube with contour lines.
1. Draw a Drawing Direction Reference Cube.
2. Using the drawing compass direction NE as a reference, draw a light guide line in direction NE.
3. Draw a guide dot to position the foreshortened circle end of the tube.