Line and Shape Drawing

Objectives: Learn to block in lightly and draw accurately. 

Why: Blocking in is the most important thing you can learn in art. If the art is correctly blocked-in, the shapes, angles, and positions will be accurate.

Standard: Elements and Principals of Visual Art, Create.

Shape drawing (read everything before beginning to draw. Do not trace)

Block-in a line drawing of this artwork. 

It should look like the shapes of this cartoon when you are done. We will finish later so don't put in any details yet. No fingers, eyes, hair, or fine detail, just major shapes. 

                This assignment combines everything we have learned so far.

1. Turn your reference upside down like the one above. Then draw what you see. We all have a tendency to draw what we know instead of what we see.  When it is upside down you will see more of the shapes and how they interact. You will tend to see a circle instead of a head, and a triangle instead of a skirt.  You may turn it over from time to time to see your progress, and to see if it is working, but when you are drawing, I expect the art to be upside down. Draw what you see not what you know. This is an exercise, but it is a useful tool to know.

  When I am having trouble getting a drawing to look the way I want it. I use 5 different tools to see it with fresh eyes and see if it is accurate.

1. I turn it upside down.
2. I move away from it and see what it looks like from a distance.
3. I put it in the mirror, and see what the reflection looks like.
4. Put it away for a little while and come back to it later. 
5. I show it to a friend.

 Much of my personal art, I do all of those things before it is done.

2. Block in the basic shapes to start with. Draw lightly. Do not add in details till later. On this drawing block-in where the heads and bodies will go first. Notice that the heads and bodies do not quite line up, they are different shapes and sizes. Notice the negative space around the heads and bodies. Look at what shapes the space between the arms and legs make. 
3. Lightly draw in the angles and sizes of the objects. Look at what is directly above and to the side. Look at how the size of one object relates to the other.
4. It should look something like the drawing below. There are many errors in this drawing, but the shapes are very close to where they should be and about the correct size. In the next lesson they can be refined so the the drawing looks finished. 

When you are done photograph your drawing and submit in on canvas. The blocking-in part of this drawing should take about 15 minutes. please wait for my reply before starting the next part of the lesson. The grade on this assignment will not be recorded. It will be part of the next lessons grade.