Drawing

 Drawing and interpreting your scene

What do we do with that photo! That is a great question. A photo can supply you with multiple scenes within a scene to choose for painting. Cropping is key to make this happen. You certainly can copy the photo as a whole, but what fun it would be to find other areas within the photo to make a painting with it. 

Now you have a sketchbook and value view finder lets put it into use. 

What do you want to say

What is it about this photo that attracted you to the scene? Was it the light and shadow pattern? What made you stop and take this picture? What is my focal point? 

    The Focal Point? What is that?

• A focal point is what you pick to be the main area in a painting that you think is the most important part you want your audience to focus on or relate to. 
• Next, is where in the format do you want this Focal Point or FP to be placed in the space of your format.
• A format is the rectangle (in the landscape or vertical frame) or the square.

This is where you start. Typically we will begin with a rectangle and divide your box into thirds like so. This is done in any format you choose.

The 4 circles represent where your focal point might be placed. This grid may also serve to help you with the placement of objects within each square for better drawing accuracy. A photo should at the beginning  be in a black and white exposure to help you determine the shapes of your idea. Here is an example of what that may look like

As you can see I changed the photo to silver tone, placed my grid and identified where my FP will be placed. I also used the L's to breakdown this 4x6 photo I took to a smaller area within it. It is useful at this point to place your idea of this format in your sketchbook. Try and draw a likeness of what you see, making sure you follow the values with your drawing. Remember; not every attempt will be successful. This is true with every artist. Sometimes, we have to abandon ideas until we gain more experience. This is normal. Don't be hard on yourself. Check out my bookclub on drawing. Most of these books are available on Amazon. Draw using this process for multiple objects around the house inside and out. All things are paintable, don't get caught up with trying to find something to draw. Just use any picture or item laying around. (I would stay away from portraits at this point, including pets). However, if you want to do an exercise in placing them within a landscape, don't include detail. Our goal is to look at shapes not things.  The next most important concept is Make no two shapes the same. These two things will be true throughout the painting process no matter how experienced you are.

Next Time

We will talk more about shape identification, how to use that to your advantage and why its important. Also, look in my labels for information on notans. Also, we will start with the cylinder shape and drawing it. We're not done with the photo either, there is so many things to say about it. I want to encourage you to work from life too. It is the very best way to learn to draw.