Course Highlights


Seeing Spaces, Shapes and Proportions

The following exercise puts together all of the concepts introduced in this section of the course. The drawing we create will be somewhat simplified and cartoonish in style but rest assured, very soon you will be drawing exactly what you see without need for simplifying form and detailing.

Refer to the following picture of a kitten:



Step 1: Mentally note positive and negative spaces.

Step 2: Identify shapes that combine to form the subject (positive space).

Note: Shapes are approximate, not exact. They might simply resemble an oval, rectangle, or triangle for instance. They also do not have to be standard geometrical shapes but instead can be easily recognized shapes such as a heart, kidney bean, diamond or spade. Finally, remember that shapes can overlap. Do not be trapped by the misconception that independent shapes attach to one another perfectly. They can be geometric shapes with sections missing, attached to and overlapping other recognizable shapes.

Step 3: Note approximate sizes of shapes and proportions relative to one another. Start with largest shape and sketch, keeping in mind overall positioning within frame.

Tip: Do not press too firmly with your pencils because it will become very difficult to make necessary corrections. In most cases, markings will not fully erase and in extreme cases, the paper will become dented and softer pencils will not be able to create the same dark tones on these areas, resulting in unbalanced shading of your subject.

In the first stage of the sketch, you will see that the head is circular, the ears and nose are triangular, and the eyes are egg-shaped.



Step 4: Sketch remaining shapes, one by one, keeping an eye for proportion by visually noting ratios between positive and negative spaces.

When drawing the body of the kitten. Note that the chest resembles an upside-down spade or even a heart shape while it's back end approximates a half circle.



Note: To make sketching easier, we break down the drawing and redefine the negative space. This allows us to form more manageable ratios when drawing smaller shapes and details. i.e. when we draw the kitten's face, we redefine the negative space using the contour of the head and the positive space becomes each of the facial features respectively.

The kitten's legs/paws are somewhat bean-like and it's tail is drawn with a couple of curved lines, narrowing as they approach the tip.



Step 5: Gently erase lines until they are faint but visible. Then, go back over these contour lines, excluding those that act to detach shapes from one another where they should be connected and keep an eye for opportunities to insert greater detail along the way.

In our sketch, we have added some furry contour lines around the head, a few curved lines for the whiskers and paws, and a couple of narrow ovals for the pupils. You will notice that some very basic shading has been incorporated. Feel free to start playing around with this for now, using our sketch as a guide. Shading will be covered in detail in section 4.

Self-Critique:

There will always be room for improvement and self-critiquing will be vital to your development. For example, you will note that the size of the body is disproportionately larger and rounder than the photo. To correct this, the sphere should be modified to be somewhat more elongated and flattened and the spade more narrow. The perspective is also somewhat incorrect. To correct this, the angle of the body should be made a bit more severe. Beyond this, the drawing would be greatly improved with more advanced shading since contour lines have their limitations when it comes to rendering realistic form.

Other pages of interest

The importance of symmetry
Slow down: Don't be too quick to erase
Seeing inherent shapes in your drawings
Seeing spaces, shapes and proportions
How to change your perspective in your drawings




 

Other pages of interest

The importance of symmetry

 

 

 



 

 

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