Mark Kistler
Page 5
6. Sketch in the two near lid flaps slanting down in front of the box.
7. Once again, using the bottom of the box angles to guide your line directions, complete the near flaps, aligning them up in direction NE and NW. I will be repeating this idea often: Use the lines you have already drawn as reference angles to draw additional lines. By always referring to the lines you have already drawn and by continually checking your angles against the Drawing Direction Reference Cube, your drawings will look solid, focused, and, most importantly, three-dimensional.
8. Draw the short “peeking” line at the back interior of the box. I am still delighted (after all these years) with the visual power that one little line has on the overall three-dimensional illusion of a drawing. This little peeking line at the back of the box creates the “BAM!” (as Emeril would say) moment in our
drawing—the one precise moment that the sketch
transforms from a two-dimensional sketch into a three-dimensional object.
56
YOU CAN DRAW IN 30 DAYS
Kistler 01_Kistler You Can Draw 10/21/10 12:02 PM Page 57
9. Establish your horizon line and your light source position.
10. To properly draw the cast shadow, use the Drawing Direction Reference Cube as reference. Draw a guide line extending from the bottom of the box line in drawing direction SW. Droop alert! This is the most common point where students tend to droop the cast shadow guide line. Notice how my cast shadow lines up with my guidelines.
Be careful not to droop
your cast shadow like this.
11. Darken under the two front overlapping flaps as I have done, creating the undershadow effect.
Undershadows are terrific little details that successful illustrators exploit to pop out objects, refine detail, and sharpen edges. In this specific drawing, undershadows have the power to really pull the
overlapping lids toward your eye, while pushing the actual box deeper into the picture.
LESSON 5: HOLLOW CUBES
57
Kistler 01_Kistler You Can Draw 10/21/10 12:02 PM Page 58
12. This is the most rewarding step of each lesson. Clean up your sketch by erasing the extra sketch lines, and sharpen the outside edges of the drawing by darkening the outline. This will thrust the image out away from the background. Finish shading the left side of the box and inside the box, away from your light source. I always encourage you to have fun with these lessons by adding lots of extra details, neat little ideas you creatively conjure up to spice up your drawing. I’ve put a few small items in the box, just barely visible. Notice how even these little details add a lot of visual flavor and fun to the sketch.
Lesson 5: Bonus Challenge
Speaking of adding extra details to enhance your drawing, let’s expand on the cardboard box lesson. How about a treasure box overflowing with pearls, coins, and priceless loot? We are all so stressed about the economy, our mortgage payments, and health insurance premiums, so let’s take a reality vacation and draw our own wealth.
1. Beginning with our basic cube, go
ahead and draw in the Drawing Direc-
tion Reference Cube direction lines
for good practice and memory
imprint. Slant the sides in just a bit.
58
YOU CAN DRAW IN 30 DAYS
Kistler 01_Kistler You Can Draw 10/21/10 12:02 PM Page 59
2. Draw two parallel lines slightly opening the top of the treasure chest.
3. Using the lines you have already drawn
(sound familiar?) as reference, draw the top
edge of the lid in the NW direction.
4. Draw the near curving edge of the lid.
LESSON 5: HOLLOW CUBES
59
Kistler 01_Kistler You Can Draw 10/25/10 10:44 AM Page 60
5. Using the lines you have already drawn (am I sounding repetitive?) as a reference, draw the top edge of the lid in direction NW. Notice how I slanted my top edge line a bit more than a direction NW line.
This is because eventually all these NW direction lines will converge on a single vanishing point. I will explain this vanishing-point concept in great detail in a later lesson. For now, just follow my steps and slant your top edge line a bit more.
6. Draw the two inside “peeking” lines.
This is our “BAM” punch-out in 3-D
moment; you’ve got to love this!
7. Detail your drawing. Clean up any
extra lines. Position your light source
and add shading to all the opposite
surfaces, darken the undershadows,
and draw the cast shadow. Enjoy draw-
ing the extra details to this lesson.
Draw overflowing money, jewels, and
pearls to your heart’s content!
60
YOU CAN DRAW IN 30 DAYS
Kistler 01_Kistler You Can Draw 10/21/10 12:02 PM Page 61
Student examples
Take a look at how these students added some great bonus details to this lesson.
By Suzanne Kozloski
By Brenda Jean Kozik
By Ann Nelson
LESSON 5: HOLLOW CUBES
61
Kistler 01_Kistler You Can Draw 10/21/10 12:02 PM Page 62
Kistler 01_Kistler You Can Draw 10/21/10 12:02 PM Page 63
L E S S O N 6
STACKING TABLES
63
Kistler 01_Kistler You Can Draw 10/21/10 4:37 PM Page 64
T his is a fun and rewarding lesson that was inspired by my fifth-grade art teacher, Bruce McIntyre (Mr. Mac). His enthusiasm for teaching kids how to draw had a profound and lasting effect on me. This lesson will gel all of the concepts and laws we have been discussing so far into one very cool three-dimensional drawing. Did I mention this is a really fun lesson? I bet that you will enjoy it so much that you will be stacking cubes on every scrap of paper that happens to be within your reach.
1. Begin with a strong foreshortened square. Remember, I urge you to use the guide dots for all the lessons in this entire book. I know you are feeling very confident with your foreshortened squares, boxes, and cubes. However, humor me and use the guide dots each and every time. There is a solid reason for this, which I’ll explain in detail in a later lesson. Trust me, young grasshopper; all will be revealed in time.
2. Draw two short edges to
create the top of the table.
3. Draw the middle line longer,
using what extremely important
drawing concept?
4. Using the lines you have already
drawn as reference, draw the bot-
tom of this table top in directions
NE and NW.
64
YOU CAN DRAW IN 30 DAYS
Kistler 01_Kistler You Can Draw 10/21/10 12:02 PM Page 65
5. Draw the middle line longer to cre-
ate the near edge of the table post.
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 pic-
ture 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.
LESSON 6: STACKING TABLES
65
Kistler 01_Kistler You Can Draw 10/25/10 10:44 AM Page 66
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 tell
s 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.
66
YOU CAN DRAW IN 30 DAYS
Kistler 01_Kistler You Can Draw 10/21/10 12:02 PM Page 67
10. Using the lines you have already drawn as reference (yes, again!), draw the front edge of the pedestal in directions NW and NE.
LESSON 6: STACKING TABLES
67
Kistler 01_Kistler You Can Draw 10/25/10 10:44 AM Page 68
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.
68
YOU CAN DRAW IN 30 DAYS
Kistler 01_Kistler You Can Draw 10/21/10 12:02 PM Page 69
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!
LESSON 6: STACKING TABLES
69
Kistler 01_Kistler You Can Draw 10/21/10 12:02 PM Page 70
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.
By Julie Einerson
70
YOU CAN DRAW IN 30 DAYS
Kistler 01_Kistler You Can Draw 10/21/10 12:02 PM Page 71
Lesson 6: Bonus Challenge
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.
You can see that I really enjoyed myself with this supertall, curving table tower.
Now take a look at a few student examples of this same exercise.
LESSON 6: STACKING TABLES
71
Kistler 01_Kistler You Can Draw 10/21/10 12:03 PM Page 72
Student examples
Do you have fifteen more minutes to try one of these monster table towers? Sure, go for it! Be sure to note your start time and your end time on your sketch page. I’m fairly certain you’ll end up spending several fifteen-to-thirty-minute chunks of your day doodling these wonderful wacky table towers. Not only are they terrific practice exercises to really nail down the specific skills of foreshortening, alignment, undershadow, shading, placement, size, and proportion; these table towers also are addictively fun to draw.
By Michele Proos
By Steven Pitsch, Jr.
72
YOU CAN DRAW IN 30 DAYS
Kistler 02_Kistler You Can Draw 10/21/10 12:05 PM Page 73
L E S S O N 7
ADVANCED-LEVEL CUBES
73
Kistler 02_Kistler You Can Draw 10/21/10 12:05 PM Page 74
In this lesson I want to build on this pivotal skill of drawing three-dimensional cubes. I want you to be able to have complete control of drawing the cube and the ability to manipulate it into many more advanced shapes. You will soon discover in later chapters that the ability to manipulate the cube will enable you to draw a house, a tree, a canyon, and even a human face. “How can you transform a boring cube into a tree or a human face?” you ask. I’ll tell you . . . later, but first . . .
1. Using guide dots (as you will for all the
2. Lightly draw the sides down, and draw the
lessons of this book, right?), draw a well-
middle line longer (sketch lightly as these are practiced sharp foreshortened square.
just the beginning shape-forming lines).
3. Draw the bottom of the cube using the
lines you have already drawn as reference.
For the purpose of review, go ahead and
extend all of your direction NW and NE
lines out as I have done here.
4. Draw the all-important guide dot just
below the near corner. This guide dot
determines the angle of your foreshort-
ened second layer. If your guide dot is
placed too low, it will distort the layer and
throw the entire building out of alignment.
74
YOU CAN DRAW IN 30 DAYS
Kistler 02_Kistler You Can Draw 10/21/10 12:05 PM Page 75
5. Using the lines you have already drawn for reference, draw the near edges of the second tier in directions NE and NW. When I am drawing my
own illustrations, I still dart my eyes back and forth constantly between my first “primer” compass angles to each line angle I am adding. Think of how many times each minute you glance at
your rearview mirror while driving. You do this without even thinking, because it is so deeply
ingrained in your subconscious. This is exactly the level of comfort, ease, and habit I want you ê
to form with this constant, vigilant reference to your drawing compass angles.
6. Look at your NE angle at the
top foreshortened square of your
box. Now, look at all the NE
drawing compass direction arrows
you drew in step 3. Now, take
your pencil and trace over those
direction lines lightly to embed
the angle of the line into your
hand memory. After a few of these rehearsal
ë
pencil strokes, quickly move your hand to the left of the cube and draw the direction NE line behind the corner. Repeat this same technique to draw
the NW line on th
e other side to create the top of the second layer of the building. I do this
rehearsal shadow drawing all the time, with every drawing I create. I am constantly referring back to my initial foreshortened square source, shadow
drawing the angles again and again before dash-
ing off the lines that build my drawings.
7. Complete the second layer of the building.
Double-check your bottom lines against drawing
compass direction arrows NW and NE.
í
LESSON 7: ADVANCED-LEVEL CUBES
75
Kistler 02_Kistler You Can Draw 10/25/10 10:47 AM Page 76
8. Begin drawing the doors on the top level with two vertical lines on each side. To make sure your lines are actually vertical, straight up and down, look at the edge of your paper. All of your vertical lines should be parallel with the edge of your paper. You should glance at the vertical edge of your paper every time you are drawing a vertical line, or you run the risk of the objects in your picture severely leaning over to one side or the other. Here’s an interesting point to note: The near edge line of each doorway needs to be drawn a bit larger than the far edge line. This uses the important concept of size. The near part of the door needs to be ì
drawn larger to create the three-dimensional illusion that it is actually closer to you. This underscores a fundamental principle of drawing: To make an object appear closer to your eye, draw it larger than other objects in the picture.
9. Curve the tops of both doorways on the top floor of the building.
10. To create the illusion that these doors actually exist as three-dimensional entrances to this building, we need to add thickness to them. Let’s review the simple thickness rule:
If the door is on the right, the thickness is on the right.
î
If the door is on the left, the thickness is on the left.
Memorize this rule, repeat it, and practice it (I teach this rule to my university students as often as I do to my elementary school students). This thickness rule will always apply—to any door, window, hole, or entrance to any object you will ever draw. Knowing this rule by heart will get you out of many a drawing quandary in complicated renderings.