Drawing without lines
Here’s another thing that art teachers say a lot: ‘There are no lines around things in real life’. They’re right - look at your hand. There’s no thick black line separating it from the background around it. But of course, lines have become an easy convention for us to show edges.
Anyway, whatever - I love lines myself. But for this exercise, you have to try to draw a picture without lines.
The trick is to concentrate on light and shade. If you squidge up your eyes, you can see the dark and light areas of an object more clearly. Use a pencil to fill in the dark bits. Here’s a thirty-second example:
This is actually another really fun exercise once you get the hang of it. A nice dark soft pencil and you’re away.
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I’m officially on holiday, with no internet access! But don’t worry, I’ve lined up posts for the week. I’m relying on you guys to post and to respond to one another while I’m away. Do comment on each other’s work - it’s nice to get feedback!
Posted: June 13th, 2007 under Technique, Loosening up.
Comments: 6
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OK, so I drew my tea mug. There are lines in this, along the edge of the handle and the bottom of the cup, but they were there, in real life, so I drew them.
Note: obviously the lighting is different with the mug on its side, so it doesn’t correspond with the drawing.
Yep - lines that really are there are allowed!
I didn’t like this one! Still, it did make me try something different from usual. Here’s an attempt at my hand. A few rogue lines crept in there…
(er, please excuse the drawing on the back of the page showing through! Whoops.)
Aw, well, I have a post coming up about work you don’t like, and why it’s a good thing. Oh, hmm, that might have been it right there.
If you wear glasses or contact lenses, try taking them out and have a go at drawing - it really makes you aware of the tonal values rather than the linear shapes. Just put your “eyes” back on/in before you have to cross any roads…!