Ways of Drawing Assignment | Ways of Drawing

I call this week’s drawing the “Four Hour Value Drawing” because when we do this assignment in the face-to-face class we spend approximately that long on the drawing. You are welcome to spend more than four hours on this drawing of course, but try to work for at least four hours.

This will be a very highly developed drawing. You will spend quite a bit of time on it, trying to push the drawing to the point where the value is described in great detail.

You can use either of the techniques we discussed last week: tonal drawing or crosshatching.

You can use either graphite or charcoal. However, pick one. Don’t mix graphite and charcoal. It’s either a graphite drawing or it’s a charcoal drawing.

Below I’ve posted a series of four videos that describe the step-by-step procedure for the drawing.

Materials: you will need the 9×12 sketchbook, the 18×24 sketchpad, all charcoal or all graphite, erasers, and blending stumps.

Step #1: Set up your Still Life. Use 4-6 objects. Try to use objects of different shapes and sizes and local values. Make sure you have a light shining on the still-life to create a contrast between light and shadow. I discuss setting up a still life in the first video.

Step #2: Begin in your 9×12 sketchbook. You will draw 3-4 preliminary sketches to work out a compositional plan for your drawing. This is also covered in the first video.

Step #3: Switch to your 18×24 sketchpad. This is what you will use for the four-hour value drawing. Start with establishing the gesture drawing. In this stage, you are just establishing the composition of your drawing. Use your chosen preliminary sketch as a guide. Try to establish the basic size, shape, and placement of each object on the page. Don’t draw in great detail. Simplify/generalize the shapes. This is covered in video #2.

Step #4: Once the gesture drawing is established, go through the sighting process to look for mistakes, and make corrections. Use both the measuring technique and the mapping technique. Begin to draw the objects in greater detail. You want to have an accurate drawing in place before you move on to the value description. This is all covered in video #2.

Step #5: Begin to describe the values. This is covered in video #3. You want to use a full range of values throughout your drawing. You want to show differences in local value. You want to eliminate the outline from the drawing. You want to describe the values in every part of the composition, not just the objects. This step will take the longest. Spend a long time describing the values. Really push yourself.