Topic

Better Living

Subtopic
Arts & Leisure

How to Draw
Professor David Brody
University of Washington

Transcript Book

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David Brody, M.F.A.

Professor of Painting and Drawing
University of Washington

rofessor David Brody has been a Professor

of Painting and Drawing at the University
of Washington in Seattle since 1996. He
did undergraduate work at Columbia University
and Bennington College and received his graduate
degree in painting from Yale University in 1983.
Professor Brody has received numerous awards. He has been a Fulbright
Scholar and a Guggenheim Fellow and has received the Basil H. Alkazzi
Award for Excellence in Painting, a grant from the Elizabeth Foundation
for the Arts, and two fellowships from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
At the University of Washington, he received two Royalty Research Fund
grants and three Milliman Endowment for Faculty Excellence awards.
Professor Brodys paintings and drawings have been shown in close
to 100 exhibitions in the United States and Europe. These include solo
shows at Gallery NAGA in Boston, the Esther Claypool Gallery in Seattle,
Gescheidle in Chicago, and Galeria Gilde in Portugal. His group exhibitions
include shows at the Chicago Center for the Print; the Frye Art Museum
and Prographica Gallery in Seattle; The Museum of Fine Arts at Florida
State University; and The Painting Center, The Alternative Museum, and
Bridgewater Fine Arts in New York City. His work has also been shown at
ARCO Art Fair in Madrid, the RipArte Art Fair in Rome, the Trevi Flash Art
Museum, the FAC Art Fair in Lisbon, and Art Chicago in the United States.
Professor Brodys work has been published and written about in two
monographs and in many articles and reviews. An exhibit at the Esther
Claypool Gallery in Seattle was described by Seattle Weekly as daring,
humorous, and superbly executed. According to Artforum, Brodys
paintings provide a stunning visual punch [and] are rendered
with a bravura that is both compelling and hypnotic. And Art in America
concluded, A highly intelligent artist Brody is absolutely serious about
i

WHFKQLTXH $Q HPSKDVLV RQ QH GUDZLQJ GHOLFDWH VXUIDFHV DQG FDUHIXO
considerations of color and light informs all his pictures. In addition, Brody
has been written about in many other publications, including The Boston
Globe, the New Art Examiner, the Spanish journal Lapiz, and the Lisbon
daily O Pblico.
Professor Brody has lectured or been a visiting critic at Carnegie Mellon
University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, The University of
Chicago, Harvard University, Capital Normal University in Beijing, and the
China Art Academy in Hangzhou.
Professor Brody has had a parallel career in music. He has published
YH ERRNV RQ WUDGLWLRQDO PXVLF LQFOXGLQJ WKH EHVWVHOOLQJ The Fiddlers
Fakebook: The Ultimate Sourcebook for the Traditional Fiddler. He has
performed at festivals in the United States, Europe, and Canada; at Avery
Fisher Hall and Symphony Space in New York City; and on Garrison
Keillors radio show A Prairie Home Companion. He has recorded with the
Klezmer Conservatory Band and other artists on the Rounder, Vanguard, and
)O\LQJ)LVKODEHOV

ii

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION
Professor Biography ............................................................................i
Course Scope .....................................................................................1
LECTURE GUIDES
LECTURE 1
An Introduction to Drawing .................................................................4
LECTURE 2
Drawing Materials for Line ................................................................22
LECTURE 3
Drawing Fundamentals and First Exercises .....................................40
LECTURE 4
Line and Shape: Line and Aggregate Shape ....................................57
LECTURE 5
Line and Shape: Volume and Figure-Ground ...................................72
LECTURE 6
Line and Shape: Positive and Negative Shape ................................90
LECTURE 7
Composition: The Format and Its Armature....................................106
LECTURE 8
Composition: How Artists Compose ...............................................123
LECTURE 9
Line and Shape: Line Attributes and Gesture .................................141

iii

Table of Contents

LECTURE 10
Composition: Shape and Advanced Strategies ..............................159
LECTURE 11
Proportion: Albertis Velo ................................................................176
LECTURE 12
Proportion: Accurate Proportion and Measure ...............................192
LECTURE 13
Creating Volume and Illusionistic Space ........................................210
LECTURE 14
Six Complex Drawing Projects .......................................................230
LECTURE 15
Linear Perspective: Introduction .....................................................247
LECTURE 16
Linear Perspective: The Quad ........................................................266
LECTURE 17
Linear Perspective: The Gridded Room .........................................280
LECTURE 18
Linear Perspective: Ellipses and Pattern ........................................297
LECTURE 19
Linear Perspective: Advanced Topics ............................................315
LECTURE 20
Value: How Artists Use Value .........................................................332
LECTURE 21
Value: Drawing Materials for Value .................................................351

iv

Table of Contents

LECTURE 22
Value: Black and White and a Value Scale.....................................369
LECTURE 23
Value: Eight Complex Drawing Projects .........................................386
LECTURE 24
Value: Side Light and Cast Shadow ...............................................405
LECTURE 25
Value: Oblique Light and Cast Shadow ..........................................420
LECTURE 26
Texture: Mark Making and Optical Value ........................................437
LECTURE 27
Texture: How Artists Use Texture....................................................454
LECTURE 28
Color: Color Theory and Color and Light ........................................471
LECTURE 29
Color: How Artists Use Color ..........................................................490
LECTURE 30
Color: Color Drawing Projects ........................................................507
LECTURE 31
The Figure: A Canon of Proportions ...............................................526
LECTURE 32
The Figure: The Head, Hands, and Feet .......................................544
LECTURE 33
The Figure: Artistic Anatomy...........................................................562

Table of Contents

LECTURE 34
The Figure: Drawing Projects .........................................................582
LECTURE 35
Advanced Concepts: Pictorial Space .............................................602
LECTURE 36
Advanced Drawing Projects ...........................................................621

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL
Additional Activities .........................................................................642
Bibliography ....................................................................................653

vi

How to Draw

Scope:

he 36 lectures in this course are distilled from four decades of study,

studio work, and teaching and communicate the most important and
useful things to know about drawinginformation that will greatly
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The course presents drawing as a language and, as in many language courses,
introduces ideas one at a time to allow you to fully examine each piece of the
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each new idea building on the previous ones. Well start from simple units
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Each lecture or set of lectures deals with a key idea, concept, material, or
technique that has been historically important to artists over the long history
of drawing. As well see, although there have certainly been changes with
time and place, there has also been a great degree of continuity in the
language of drawing across continents and over the millennia that human
beings have been making drawings.
The approach in this course is simple. Each lecture begins by describing
and explaining a new concept or technique, which is then situated it in its
historical context and illustrated with visual examples. The examples include
both masterworks from a range of periods and traditions in art history and
student drawings meant to demonstrate that learning to draw is eminently
attainable. The lectures themselves run about 18 hours, but working through
all the exercises and projects could well keep you occupied for many months.
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3, introduces the long history of drawing, starting with some lines scratched
into a piece of ochre found in a cave in South Africa dating back some 80,000
years or more and bringing us up to the present day. The introductory section
presents the course in broad strokes and quickly gets you experimenting with
the materials youll be using throughout.
1

The second section, Lectures 4 through 14, focuses on the underlying

grammar of drawing, referred to as formal language. Here, youll learn
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construction line, and gestural line. Youll learn how line creates shapes,
both positive and negative, and how you can use simple shapes to draw
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WUDQVIRUPDWVKDSHLQWRWKUHHGLPHQVLRQDOYROXPH
As we begin to draw more complex groupings of objects, well delve into
composition. Well learn how famous artistsspanning the Song dynasty
in China, the Italian Renaissance, the French Impressionist period, and
beyondstructured their drawings in this regard.
In Lectures 12 through 14, well learn how such artists as Leonardo, Drer,
Eakins, and Van Gogh used practical systems to arrive at accurate proportions
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apply these same methods and techniques to your own drawing projects.

Scope

In the third section, Lectures 15 through 19, well learn about linear
perspective. This powerful drawing system, developed during the
Renaissance, radically changed the way future generations around the world
would draw. Its not only at the heart of what Raphael and his Renaissance
contemporaries were able to accomplish but has become ubiquitous in
everything from the contemporary works of such artists as Anselm Kiefer, to
video games and manga, to animated cartoons, such as The Simpsons.
In the fourth section, Lectures 20 through 30, well return to complete our
examination of formal language, learning to incorporate value, texture, and
color into drawings. Youll learn how artists think about palettes of value
and how palettes suggest light and mood. Youll also learn to use value as a
compositional tool and how you can create the illusion of volume, space, and
light through modulations of light and dark. Youll see how you can further
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And youll learn about textural approaches to creating value, including
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Well conclude the fourth section with an exploration of color. Well learn
about color properties and study the basics of color theory. As with value,
well see how artists use these ideas and conceive of color in terms of
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of light and mood. As we did with value, well learn how we can use color
compositionally to create a visual hierarchy with focal areas and focal points.
And youll apply all these ideas in your own drawings to create different
qualities of mood, light, and form.
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VHFWLRQLVJHDUHGWRKHOS\RXGUDZJXUHVIURPERWKREVHUYDWLRQDQG\RXU
imagination. Well start with an examination of canons of proportion. Here,
\RXOOOHDUQKRZWREXLOGDJXUHXVLQJDVHWRIPHDVXUHV:HOOFRPSOHPHQW
this with a study of artistic anatomy, including both the skeletal and muscular
systems. Youll also learn techniques for approaching the foreshortened
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in our study of linear perspective, giving you the tools you need to draw
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Leonardo and Drer did during the Renaissance, and it is the same method
many contemporary animators and game designers use to develop their
characters and environments.
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changes that occurred between the late 19th century and the present. Well see
how Renaissance spatial constructs evolved to include a broader understanding
of pictorial space and how this related to many movements in art, including
Impressionism, Cubism, and abstraction. Well close with a discussion and a
set or projects designed to help you identify the kind of art you want to make
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An Introduction to Drawing
Lecture 1

The Renaissance
Although just about every people and culture has produced beautiful and
expressive artworks, discoveries in 15thFHQWXU\ (XURSH FKDQJHG GUDZLQJ
IRUHYHU %HIRUH WKH 5HQDLVVDQFH QR RQH KDG JXUHG RXW KRZ WR FUHDWH
anything as remotely naturalistic as this watercolor (John Biglin in a Single
Scull) by Thomas Eakins:

Yale University Art Gallery.

Lecture 1An Introduction to Drawing

he ability to draw naturalistically did not come easily to human beings.

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believably seated in a chair, the chair on the carpet, and the carpet on
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GHYHORSHG DQG FRGLHG GXULQJ WKH 5HQDLVVDQFH$QG \RX FRXOG DUJXH WKDW
WKH\ UHSUHVHQW WKH JUHDWHVW VHW RI WHFKQLFDO DGYDQFHV WKH HOG KDV NQRZQ
Many people, when they think about learning to draw, want to develop
just these skillsgetting the proportions right, getting the things to sit on
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$OWKRXJK WKHVH VNLOOV DUH RIWHQ P\VWLHG WKH\ FDQ WR DQ RYHUZKHOPLQJ
degree, be learned, and with practice, you can make the ideas and methods
your own. Those are our goals for this course.

Bits and pieces had been learned and practiced for a period, but local
advances were often swallowed up by time and forgotten. For example,
from about the late 1st century B.C.E. to perhaps the 3rd century C.E., some
Egyptians had their portraits painted on wooden panels, which were then
attached to their mummies when the subjects died. These paintings, known
as Fayum Portraits, are amazingly naturalistic for their time. But after about
the 3rd century, this kind of naturalism would not appear again for hundreds
of years.
,Q(XURSHEHWZHHQWKHVDQGWKHODWHVDJURXSRIDUWLVWVJXUHG
out how to create a believable and proportionate illusion of three dimensions
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techniques developed during the Renaissance and used by Leonardo da
Vinci, Raphael, and others are commonly used today by cartoonists, video
game designers, and animators.
But we mustnt think that people were visually challenged for tens of
thousands of years and then, suddenly, from the Renaissance to the present,
became so exceedingly talented that they were able to render things with
verisimilitude. Instead, its that the knowledge base improved radically.
After the Renaissance, artists who had access to good information and
worked hard to master their craft were able to learn things and draw in ways
that their predecessors had never been able to. Rather than just absorbing a
set of local symbols, these artists had methods for analyzing and drawing
anything they came upon. And, as well learn, they also developed methods
IRUFRQVWUXFWLQJQDWXUDOLVWLFORRNLQJLPDJHVIURPWKHLULPDJLQDWLRQV
Challenges in Learning to Draw
Of course, talent plays a role in making art, but its a much less important one
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someone has before he or she has put in a considerable amount of work,
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Acquiring knowledge and putting it into practice are the two essential keys to
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elements is the willingness to put in a substantial amount of work. Students
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As you practice drawing, dont avoid working on what youre not naturally
good at. You may feel comfortable with line and pencil but not with value
and charcoal, or you may like gesture drawing but not linear perspective.
You will do better if you apply yourself fully to everything and, in fact, apply
yourself with extra energy to the things that you have less of a knack for.
Learning to draw is endless, like learning to cook, to play music, or to write
well. You can be a student of these things for a lifetime, continually learning
more. As you struggle to learn new things, the feelings of uncertainty will
fade away; after a time, youll realize that the struggle itself is enjoyable
and that your efforts are dependably rewarded. How quickly and nimbly you
OHDUQVRPHWKLQJKDVOLWWOHEHDULQJRQORQJWHUPUHVXOWV/HDUQIRU\RXUVHOIDW
your own pace, and for your own sense of mastery.

Lecture 1An Introduction to Drawing

Learning to See
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have to learn to see it as a depth of space. We want to look at the four edges
of the page and see them as the four sides of a window frame. The white
surface becomes a depth, like a room or a landscape, that we transform
through the use of line, shape, mark, and value to suggest volume and space.
Many artists and professors say that learning to draw is all about learning
to see, not seeing things to identify them but seeing them as they actually
appearthe proportions, angles, values, and the real play of light and
color. Thats a much harder kind of seeing. It requires looking analytically
and abstractly. In his book Successful Drawing, Andrew Loomis wrote,
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for. Theres a peculiar paradox here. In order for us to draw things in a
naturalistic or realistic wayin proportionwe must learn to see them
abstractly.
Simple lines can have multiple and complex meanings. Line creates shape,
and shape creates pattern. Shapes can also be arranged to create the illusion
RIWKUHHGLPHQVLRQDOYROXPH7KRVHYROXPHVFDQEHWUDQVIRUPHGWRDSSHDU
like things in the world around us.

Drawing across the Centuries

As mentioned at the beginning of the lecture, drawing took a great leap
forward during the Renaissance, but thats not to say that human beings
werent making interesting and beautiful drawings long before the 1400s.
Anthropologists tell us that modern Homo sapiens showed up somewhere
between 100,000 and 200,000 years ago. And long before we have any
UHFRUGVRIZULWLQJQXPEHUVFRPPHUFHRUQDWLRQVWDWHVZHKDYHHYLGHQFH
of our ancestors making drawings. The oldest known examples, found in the
Blombos Cave in South Africa, go back about 80,000 years or more. They
consist of incised lines on pieces of ochre. These ancient incised lines form a
pattern, and line and pattern are still very much with us today.
Most drawing we know ofat least as measured in yearsis prehistoric
and took place in caves. Youve likely seen examples that feature
mammoths, bison, and horses. The oldest cave drawings date to about
40,000 years ago, and the practice of cave drawing continued in Europe for
about 30,000 years. In contrast, people have been drawing on paper for only
a little more than 2,000 years. Paper was invented in the 2nd century B.C.E.
in Han dynasty China, and its method of manufacture was kept secret from
the West until the 8th century C.E.
During the early historical period, just about every culture or civilization on
every continent practiced drawing in one form or another; there are stunning
examples from every corner of the globe. In fact, many of our earliest written
languages have origins in drawing. Chinese, spoken by more than 1 billion
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back more than 3,000 years, and the modern written language retains many
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Stylization
Many people imagine artists standing in front of a still life, a landscape, or a
model to make a drawing. But looking directly at something and drawing it
is a relatively recent phenomenon, as is the idea of artists making their own
kind of art, for that matter.
For most of time, from Blombos until fairly recently, people werent looking
at what they were drawing while they were drawing it. In most cultures, at
7

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OHVVDJUHHGXSRQV\PEROVWKDWVWRRGIRUWKLQJVVXFKDVDSHUVRQDWUHHRU
an animal. We refer to this as stylization. From the historical record, it would
appear that much of this stylization was determined by local convention,
which also determined what to draw, where to draw, and what materials
to use. Thus, the early cave artists in Europe followed a set of conventions
regarding subject, materials, and technique. Later artistsEgyptian, Greek,
Chinese, and othersfollowed their own conventions.
Yet despite the fact that art has changed over time and place, there has
EHHQDJUHDWGHDORIFRQWLQXLW\$VZHVWXG\GUDZLQJZHOOQGWKDWDUWLVWV
have been using many of the same principles of good drawing and design
for thousands of years. Their command of craft and their use of line, shape,
value, and colorto name a few of the factors we will explorebegin to
explain why these works have stood out and been cherished by people of
diverse backgrounds and beliefs over the centuries.

Lecture 1An Introduction to Drawing

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WKH JDPHFKDQJLQJ GLVFRYHULHV RI WKH 5HQDLVVDQFH EXW ZH ZLOO DOVR OHDUQ
from the work of great artists from a range of cultures covering a broad
swath of time, from the ancient to the contemporary.

Suggested Reading
Mendelowitz, Drawing.
Stokstad, Art History.

An Introduction to Drawing
Lecture 1Transcript
The ability to draw naturalistically did not come easily to human beings.
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FDUSHW DQG WKH FDUSHW RQ WKH RRU ZHOO WKDW WRRN XV FROOHFWLYHO\ WHQV RI
WKRXVDQGVRI\HDUVWRJXUHRXW7KHNQRZOHGJHDQGPHWKRGVZHXVHWRGR
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you could argue that they represent the greatest set of technical advances this
HOGKDVNQRZQ
While just about every people and culture has produced beautiful and
expressive artworks, discoveries in 15thFHQWXU\ (XURSH FKDQJHG GUDZLQJ
IRUHYHU%HIRUHWKH5HQDLVVDQFHQRRQHKDGJXUHGRXWKRZWRGRDQ\WKLQJ
remotely like this. Here, a Hans Holbein; or this, a watercolor by Thomas
Eakins. Bits and pieces had been learned and practiced for a period, but local
advances were often swallowed up by time and forgotten.
For example, from about the late 1st century B.C.E. to maybe the 3rd century
C.E. some Egyptians had their portraits painted on wooden panels. After the
person died, the portrait would be attached to that persons mummy, held
in place over the head with cloth wrappings. These portraits are amazingly
naturalistic for their time.
There was a great show of these works that are called Fayum portraits, at the
Metropolitan Museum in New York back in 2000. I remember stepping into
WKHH[KLELWDQGORRNLQJLQWRWKHH\HVRIWKHVHORQJJRQHSHRSOHDQGWKLQNLQJ
they looked absolutely contemporary and recognizablelike people Id
just seen on the subway. Theres a great deal of knowledge evinced in these
portraits. But after about the 3rd century, this kind of naturalism would not
appear again for many centuries.
Nothing makes the great Renaissance leap clearer than looking at two Last
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from about between 13251330; the second, by Leonardo da Vinci, from
the late 1490s. In a brief 160 yearsa short period to me relative to the
tens of thousands of years our species had been drawinga group of artists,
9

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If youre like most of my students at the University of Washington, its likely
that when you think about learning to draw, youre thinking about being able
to do this: Get the proportions right, get the things to sit on the table, maybe
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WKLVLVRIWHQP\VWLHG\RXNQRZSHRSOHWDONDERXWDUWLVWLFJHQLXVDQGWKH
secrets of the mastersan overwhelming amount of this is readily learnable
if you get solid information about how to do it, and then practice it to make
the ideas and methods your own.
The 19thFHQWXU\%ULWLVKDUWLVWDQGFULWLF-RKQ5XVNLQPDGHMXVWWKLVSRLQWLQ
his book The Elements of Drawing. He wrote:
I have never yet met a person who could not learn to draw there is a
satisfactory and available power in every one to learn drawing just
as nearly all persons have the power of learning French, Latin, or
arithmetic.
Ive found the same thing to be true. The drawing concepts and techniques
developed during the Renaissance and used by Leonardo and by Raphael
here in his School of Athens are commonly used by cartoonists drawing
superheroes, video game designers, and animators. While Plato and
Aristotledepicted in the Raphaelare clearly different from Bart Simpson,
the methodology underlying the drawing in these images is surprisingly
similar. The knowledge is transformative. My beginning students routinely
do drawings that some of the early Renaissance masters, like Ugolino, would
have marveled at. If they could travel back in time and meet him, hed ask,
Ma, come lhai fatto? Sei proprio un genio. How did you do that? You must
be a genius.
My students, most of whom have no prior experience with drawing, would
answer, I took Professor Brodys course; it was pretty good. My drawing
really improved, though I had to work a lot harder than I thought I would in an
art course. Im kidding, but my students are able to do sophisticated things
after a couple of months. And thats because they get good information, and
10

then work very hard to make the knowledge their own. The hard work parts
true. You see, its not that for tens of thousands of years people were visually
challenged and then, suddenly, from the Renaissance to the present, a group
of artistsRaphael, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Degas, Eakins, and my students
at the University of Washingtonwere all so exceedingly talented that they
were able to render things with a surprising degree of verisimilitude.
,WV WKDW WKH NQRZOHGJH EDVH LPSURYHG UDGLFDOO\ 3RVW5HQDLVVDQFH DUWLVWV
who had access to good information and worked hard to master their craft
were able to learn things and draw in ways their predecessors had never been
able to before. Rather than just absorbing a set of local symbols, these artists
had methods for analyzing and drawing anything they came upon. And,
as well learn, they also developed methods for constructing naturalistic
looking images from their imaginations.
While, of course, all the artists I just named were brilliant, they were able to
even begin to imagine making the kinds of drawings they did because of a
depth of knowledge accompanied by hard work. Leonardo, Eakins, and Van
Goghamong many otherswrote about drawing methods and techniques,
and we can consult what they wrote. And they were painstakingly serious
about learning their craft.
Even Degasseemingly one of the most facile artists to have walked the
planetfamously said, I assure you no art was ever less spontaneous than
PLQH:KDW,GRLVWKHUHVXOWRIUHHFWLRQDQGVWXG\RIWKHROGPDVWHUV2I
inspiration, spontaneity, temperament, I know nothing. So the good news
is that all this is very learnable. I suppose the bad news, if you see it that
way, is theres a lot to learn and it requires hard work. Its rewarding and
engrossing, but there arent any shortcuts.
All this leads us to the subject of artistic talent. Im often asked if you can
teach someone to be an artist. Oddly enough, the answer is a simple yes. You
FDQOHDUQWREHFRPHSURFLHQWLQDUWPDNLQJMXVWOLNHRWKHUSHRSOHDFURVVWKH
FDPSXVZKHUH,WHDFKEHFRPHSURFLHQWLQODZPHGLFLQHHQJLQHHULQJDQG
mathematics. I realize, though, that when people ask this question, what they
often mean is: Can you teach someone to be a towering genius, to make a

11

revolutionary contribution to art, to make great art that will be cherished by

generations to come? There, the answer is plainly no.
That cant be taught any more than a law student could be taught to be
an Oliver Wendell Holmes or an Abraham Lincoln, or a physicist could
be taught to be a Galileo or an Einstein. What can be taught and learned
LQ DOO HOGV DUH WKH VNLOOV FRQFHSWV DQG LGHDV WKDW ZLOO KHOS DQ LQGLYLGXDO
mine their gifts to their ultimate depths. Ive met many people who have an
interest in art, but were afraid to even begin to learn how to draw because
they had somehow formed the idea they had to be geniuses sprung from
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things without training or practice. Fortunately, thats not the case.
Of course, talent plays a role, but a much less important one than most
people tend to think. In fact, its very hard to tell how much talent someone
has before theyve put in a considerable amount of work. Thats because its
hard to draw much if you have scant knowledge. Acquiring knowledge and
SXWWLQJLWLQWRSUDFWLFHDUHWKHWZRHVVHQWLDONH\VWRQGLQJRXWKRZZHOO\RX
draw.
After working with hundreds of students over decades, its become
abundantly clear to me that anyone with reasonable intelligence and a good
work ethic can learn a tremendous amount and increase their drawing ability
exponentially. Perspiration wins over inspiration. In fact, perspiration leads
to inspiration. Those who work consistently are generally rewarded with
insights and exciting outcomes. As Matisse is reported to have said, Dont
wait for inspiration. It comes while one is working.
So, how long does it take to learn to draw well? The 19thFHQWXU\%ULW-RKQ
Ruskin, gives this advice:
Supposing then that you are ready to take a certain amount of pains,
and to bear a little irksomeness and a few disappointments bravely,
I can promise you that an hours practice a day for 6 months, some
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faithfully whatever you want to draw.

12

That squares with my own experience. At the University of Washington,

were on the quarter system. Courses last about 10 weeks. Intro drawing
meets twice a week, for a total of six hours. Students who excel report
spending an additional 10 hours a week on homework. Sixteen hours a week
total times 10 weeks; 160 hoursclose enough to Ruskins 150. Students
who engage at this level improve substantially. And when students see the
improvement, they often want to improve even further. They know its
possible. They know its not genius, but time and effort.
The French Impressionist Camille Pissarro wrote, It is only by much
GUDZLQJGUDZLQJHYHU\WKLQJGUDZLQJXQFHDVLQJO\WKDWRQHQHGD\RQHLV
YHU\VXUSULVHGWRQGLWSRVVLEOHWRH[SUHVVVRPHWKLQJLQLWVWUXHVSLULW%XW
its not just a matter of quantity of hours. Ive encountered students who
were passionate about art but hampered their own progress. They were afraid
their creativity and spontaneity might be damaged by too much knowledge.
,YHQHYHUKHDUGRIDQ\RQHHOVHLQDQ\HOGVD\WKLV%XWOHWPHDVVXUH\RX
Ive never seen this happennot once; only the opposite. Theres no piece
of knowledge or ability which, in and of itself, can do you any harm. And
most will do you good. The worst youll do is waste some time, paper, and
ink.
$QRWKHURIWHQUHODWHGPLVWDNHVRPHRIP\VWXGHQWVPDNHLVWRDYRLGZRUNLQJ
on what theyre not naturally good at. They feel comfortable with line
and pencil, but not with value and charcoal; or they like gesture drawing,
but dont like linear perspective; or vice versa. Those who do best, apply
themselves fully to everything; and, in fact, apply themselves with extra
energy to the things they have less of a knack for. The reason why is simple:
All of this knowledge is important. Youre better off knowing morehaving
more craftrather than less.
Andrew Loomis gave his readers some very good advice in his 1951 book
Successful Drawing. He wrote, Since the knowledge is available, why try to
VWUXJJOHDORQJZLWKRXWLW"7KHGLIFXOWLHVRIQRWNQRZLQJDUHDOZD\VPXFK
greater than the effort of learning. The artist Ben Shahn echoed this thought
in The Shape of Contenta compendium of the Norton Lectures he gave at
Harvard in 1956 and 1957. He wrote, Craft is that discipline which frees the
spirit.
13

Ive been developing my knowledge of drawing, my analytic abilities, my

eye, and hand for close to 50 years. I dependably learn new things every
monthevery year. In fact, Ive learned many new things, made new
connections, in preparing this series of lectures. Learning to draw is pretty
endlesslike learning to cook, or learning to play music, or write well. You
can be a student of these things for a lifetime, continually learning more and
more. And those torturous feelings fade away as you struggle with things
that youre trying to learn because after a time, you realize the struggles
UHDOO\ IXQ DQG WKHUHV D VLJQLFDQW DQG JUDWLI\LQJ SD\RII WKDW GHSHQGDEO\
comes with the effort.
The careers of two French artists, Edgar Degas and Paul Czanne, provide
a great example. They were contemporaries, born in 1834 and 1839
respectively. Both Czanne and Degas worked very hard, but they had
different artistic aptitude. Heres an early Degas: a portrait of his grandfather,
completed when the artist was 23. And heres an early Czanne: a portrait of
the artists father, which he painted when he was 26.
They were the archetypical tortoise and hare. Out of the gate, Czanne
crawled along clumsily. Degas sprinted to the applause of a cheering crowd.
Degas was routinely accepted into the Salonthe most important annual
exhibition in Paris. Czanne? No way. He was shuttled into the Salon des
Refusthe show for the rejected. Admittedly, Degas had been honing his
craft longer than Czanne when they painted these portraits. But overall, it
took Czanne a lot longer to put the pieces together than it did Degas. And
Im not aware of a single Degas thats anywhere as near as awkward as what
Czanne produced during his early years. Nor is there a single Czanne that
can match Degas for what most would call grace or elegance.
That said, Czanne is commonly regarded as the more important artist. Hes
often referred to as the father of modern art. Picasso called him the father
of us all. His very struggles with proportion, shape, the illusion of volume,
and depth of space pushed him to discover new ways of drawing; things
that simply would never have occurred to Degas. It pushed him into some
revolutionary territory.

14

Some people get things quicker, others take more time. We dont all
synthesize things in precisely the same way. Learn like Czanne, at your
own pace. Be patient, be doggedly persistent, and have a sense of humor
about the inevitable struggles of getting things right. How quickly and
QLPEO\VRPHRQHOHDUQVVRPHWKLQJKDVOLWWOHEHDULQJRQORQJHUWHUPUHVXOWV
Learn for yourself, for your own sense of mastery. Work consistently, at your
RZQSDFH<RXOOFRQWLQXDOO\QG\RXUVHOILPSURYLQJ
I started out by saying that drawing took a leap forward during the
Renaissance, but thats not to say that human beings werent making
interesting and beautiful drawings long before the 1400s. Anthropologists
WHOOXVWKDWZHPRGHUQ+RPRVDSLHQVVKRZHGXSKHUHVRPHZKHUHEHWZHHQ
100,000200,000 years ago. And long before we have any records of writing,
numbers, commerce, or nation states; we have evidence of our ancestors
making drawings.
%URDGO\GHQHGGUDZLQJVQRWKLQJPRUHWKDQPDUNLQJVXUIDFHVDQGZHYH
been marking surfaces for a very long time. The oldest known examples go
back 80,000 years or morethat would be over 300,000 generations. They
were found in the Blombos Cave, about 185 miles east of Cape Town in
South Africa. These early drawings were made on chunks of ochrethis
one, about three inches long. The ancient incised lines form a pattern, and
line and pattern are very much with us today.
6ROHWVWU\DUVWGUDZLQJH[HUFLVH:HOOJHWWRWKH5HQDLVVDQFHEXWZK\
not start out where we, well, started out? Well retrace what one of our
ancestors drew 80,000 years ago at the very southern tip of Africa. You dont
need anything fancya pencil, eraser, and some paper from your printer will
EHMXVWQH
Start with three evenly spaced horizontal lines. Then place a triangle in the
center. From the center of the base of this triangle, draw two more. One
to the left and another to the right. You want the triangles to cross at the
centerline. Repeat the process in the right and left triangles. You want to
KDYHYHWULDQJOHVLQDOOUHVXOWLQJLQDWHVVHOODWHGSDWWHUQ

15

This is actually quite complex, and it can be read in a number of different

ways. It could be a drawing of three triangles overlapping two other
triangles, or two triangles overlapping three. Alternately, we could see it
as alternating small triangles, or group the small triangles differently to see
hourglass shapes. Conversely, we could see it as tessellated diamonds. These
ODVWWZRLQYHUVLRQVUHSUHVHQWDLSSLQJRIZKDWZHFDOOSRVLWLYHDQGQHJDWLYH
VKDSH6KDSHVWKDWWWRJHWKHUOLNHSX]]OHSLHFHV:HOOSD\DORWRIDWWHQWLRQ
to this idea in later lectures. But returning to this drawing now, we could
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Give it a try.
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the constituent parts are identical in shape and only vary in scalehere,
triangles. This fractals called the Sierpinski Triangle, named after Waclaw
Sierpinski, an early 20thFHQWXU\3ROLVKPDWKHPDWLFLDQZKRZURWHDERXWLW
We could arrive at that same pattern taking a fractal approach. So, try this,
too: Draw a large triangle. On the diagonal sides of the triangle, at the
halfway point, draw a horizontal line across the triangles width. Then from
the right and left ends of this horizontal, draw a diagonal to the center of the
base of the triangle.
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ZLWKLQDELJXSZDUGIDFLQJRQHRUDVWKUHHVPDOOWULDQJOHVWZRRQWKHJURXQG
with a third stacked on top; or as four triangles tightly packed together to
create a larger one. As youll soon see, understanding the possible visual
meanings of a given set of lines or shapes is an essential part of learning to
draw.
Lets take this a step further. Draw a horizontal connecting the halfway
points of the diagonal sides of each of the four new internal triangles. Then
draw diagonals from the right and left ends of these lines to the center of
each of the triangles bases.
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LQ D GRZQZDUGIDFLQJ WULDQJOH DQ XSZDUGIDFLQJ RQH ,I \RX FRXOG PDNH
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16

ODUJHWULDQJOHVGRZQZDUGIDFLQJRQHVDQNLQJWKHRULJLQDORQHDQGWKHQ
draw small internal triangles within the new ones, the Blombos Cave pattern
reemerges.
And heres something intriguing: We can use some of the same lines in our
DWSDWWHUQWRGUDZDWKUHHGLPHQVLRQDOYROXPHDSULVP:HMXVWQHHGWR
select the right lines and well get the illusion of planes in space. Draw along
with me here.
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And then some of the internal lines over here on the left side; do the same.
And then well do the same thing over here on the right. And Ill bring back
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D WKUHHGLPHQVLRQDO SULVP 1RZ LI , JR LQWR WKDW DQG PDNH VRPH HOOLSWLFDO
marks here, we can transform that geometric structure into something
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to show the effects of light. Cast shadow. The illusion becomes that much
richer.
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and the illusion will just get that much stronger. And thats just what Ill do.
Have a little bit of a powder charcoal here with a soft brush. Work that in
with another brush. Make a little bite out of the cheese. Make some of the
HGJHV D OLWWOH PRUH URXQGHG D OLWWOH PRUH QDWXUDO -XVW DGGLQJ VRPH PRUH
value to the side deprived of light. Work that in. And we might want to bring
some value into the light sidego light value. Enhance the darks.
If you drew along with me here, youve already drawn line, shape, pattern,
volume, and light and shade. In the coming lessons, well be studying all of
these subjects in great detail; its central to whats magical about drawing.
:KHQZHZULWHZHWKLQNRIDSLHFHRISDSHUDVEHLQJDW%XWWRGUDZZH
have to learn to see it as a depth of space. We want to look at the four edges
of the page and see them as the four sides of a window frame. The white
surface becomes a depthlike a room or a landscapethat we transform
through the use of line, shape, mark, and value to suggest volume and
space. What we just drew reveals something about how we do thishow
17

VRPHWKLQJDWDQGDEVWUDFWFDQEHQXGJHGWRFUHDWHWKHLOOXVLRQRIGLPHQVLRQ
and representation on the page. Measurement, pattern, abstraction, and
JXUDWLRQDOORZWRJHWKHURQDFRQWLQXXP
Many artists and professors say that learning to draw is all about learning to
see. Not seeing things to identify them like thats a person, thats a tree; but
to see them as they actually appear. To see the proportions, angles, values,
and the real play of light and color; thats much harder. It requires looking
analytically and abstractly. In his book, Successful Drawing, Andrew
/RRPLVZURWH'UDZLQJLVUHDOO\GLIFXOWRQO\WRWKRVHZKRGRQRWNQRZ
what to look for. And theres a peculiar paradox here. In order for us to
draw things in a naturalistic or realistic way, in proportion, we have to learn
to see them abstractly.
If youre seeing a lot more in the humble lines weve been drawing than
ZKHQ \RX UVW ORRNHG DW WKH OLWWOH FKXQN RI RFKUH D FRXSOH PLQXWHV DJR
youre beginning to understand this. Youre beginning to learn to read visual
language at an abstract level. Simple lines can have multiple and complex
meanings. Lines create shapes; shape, pattern. And shapes can also be
DUUDQJHGWRFUHDWHWKHLOOXVLRQRIWKUHHGLPHQVLRQDOYROXPH7KRVHYROXPHV
can be transformed to appear like things in the world around us.
Pattern, itself, has fascinated artists for, well, at least 80,000 years. Well
consider it more fully in a later lecture.
7KH%ORPERVFDYHSDWWHUQHPHUJHVDFURVVKLVWRU\:HQGDYDULDWLRQLQWKH
12th RU thFHQWXU\ PRVDLF RRU RI WKH 'XRPR LQ7HUUDFLQD ,WDO\ DQG DV
the underlying structure of a 1968 painting by Frank Stella called Mitered
Squares. Note the alternating diamond in the center and hourglass shapes
on the right and left. So the ancient pattern we just drew has a distinguished
lineage, and can boast amazing longevity.
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KDSSHQHG WR ORRNXS IURP P\ ODSWRS FRXOGQW KHOS VQDS D VKRW RI WKH
upholstery of the seat back. While drawing has changed over time and place,
theres clearly been a lot of continuity and recycling over its long history. Its
one of the oldest human activities we have any record ofbeen going on
18

for at least 80,000 years. To give some perspective, weve been planting and
harvesting for about 10,000 and reading/writing for a mere three.
And this is mirrored in an individual life. Drawing or scribbling is among
WKH UVW WKLQJV ZH GR ORQJ EHIRUH OHDUQLQJ WR UHDG ZULWH DGG RU VXEWUDFW
And while many people stop drawing as they move out of childhood, many
othersperhaps more than we might initially thinkuse some form of
drawing in their work. Architects, engineers, illustrators, fashion designers,
animators, video game designers, and mathematicians may all use some
IRUPRIGUDZLQJLQWKHLUZRUN(YHQLQWKHUHDOPRIQDQFHDQGEXVLQHVV
communicating with images, charts, and graphs is routine. Collectively,
were great creators and consumers of visual language.
Most of the drawing we know of, at least measured in years, is prehistoric,
and took place in caves. Youve likely seen examples that feature mammoth,
bison, and horses like this one from Chauvet in France. The oldest cave
drawings date back to about 40,000 years ago. Its incredible to think that
it took 40,000 years to get from Blombos to the earliest cave drawings, then
DQRWKHUWRJHWIURPWKRVHWRWKHSUHVHQW6RWKH\UHSUHVHQWWKHPLGSRLQW
in our history of drawing.
This practice continued in Europe for about 30,000 years, with some
caves being used repeatedly for thousands of years by generations of our
Paleolithic ancestors. And there are other examples of early cave drawing
from all over the globefrom India and Southeast Asia to North and South
$PHULFD LQFOXGLQJ VRPH UHODWLYHO\ UHFHQW \HDUROG H[DPSOHV LQ
Tennessees Cumberland Plateau.
So cave drawing wins the longevity contesttens of thousands of years of
it. In contrast, people have been drawing on paper for a little over 2,000.
It was only invented in the 2nd century B.C.E., in Han Dynasty China.
And its method of manufacture was kept secret from the West until the 8th
century C.E. During the early historical period, just about every culture or
civilization on every continent practiced drawing in one form or another.
And there are stunning examples from every corner of the globe.

19

And, in fact, many of our earliest written languages have origins in drawing.
Chinese, spoken by over a billion people today, has its roots in an ancient
SLFWXUHEDVHG ZULWLQJ V\VWHP JRLQJ EDFN WR DW OHDVW WKH 6KDQJ '\QDVW\
thats over 3,000 years ago. And the modern written language retains many
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ORRNVOLNHVWLFNJXUHVOLNHWKHRQHVPRVWRIXVZHGUHZDVNLGVWKRXJK
without the arms and head. If you want to write crowd, just pile up three rn
to get zhng (). The character for wood or tree is m (), and you can see
it depicts deep roots; above it, the ground; and above that, a comparatively
VKRUWWUHHWUXQN,I\RXZDQWWRZULWHIRUHVWGUDZWKUHHWUHHVWRJHWVQ).
Many people today imagine artists drawing in front of a still life, a landscape,
or a model. But looking directly at something and drawing it is a relatively
recent phenomena, as is the idea of an artist making their own kind of art for
that matter. For most of timefrom Blombos, to the Shang, and up to pretty
recentlypeople werent looking at what they were drawing while they
were drawing it. In most cultures, in most times, drawing and the related
DUWVFRQVLVWHGRIXVLQJDVHWRIPRUHRUOHVVDJUHHGXSRQV\PEROVQRWXQOLNH
the Chinese pictographs that stood for thingslike a person, a tree, or an
animaland we refer to this as stylization.
And from the historical record, it would appear that a lot was determined by
local convention. Not just how to draw something, but also what to draw,
where to draw, and what materials to use. Early Homo sapiens drawing
in Chauvet likely learned from the older people and the drawings around
them. They broadly followed a set of conventions regarding subject matter,
materials, and technique. About 3,500 years ago on the island of Crete, a
Minoan would have drawn in a markedly different manner. And 500 years
later, an Egyptian, well, would have drawn like an Egyptian. A 5thHQWXU\
B.C.E. Greek would have followed Attic conventions, and a 12thFHQWXU\
Song dynasty artist, others. And those would be different again for a 12th
FHQWXU\-DSDQHVHH0DNLRUSLFWXUHVFUROODUWLVW2IFRXUVHDthFHQWXU\
Christian Siennese would follow a different set of precepts and procedures.
And an 18thFHQWXU\ DUWLVW IURP ,QGLDV 3XQMDE KLOOV DQRWKHU \HW :KLOH
its evident that art has changed over time and place, theres been a lot of
continuity.

20

While these works are stylistically different, theres also a lot thats shared.
$VZHVWXG\GUDZLQJZHOOQGWKDWDUWLVWVKDYHEHHQHPSOR\LQJPDQ\RI
the same principles of good drawing and design for thousands of years. Their
command of craft, their use of line, shape, value, and colorto name a few
of the factors well be exploringbegins to explain why these works have
stood out and been cherished by people of diverse backgrounds and beliefs
over centuries.
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LQ WKH JDPHFKDQJLQJ GLVFRYHULHV RI WKH 5HQDLVVDQFH %XW ZHOO DOVR EH
learning from the works of great artists from a range of cultures, covering a
broad swath of time from the ancient to the contemporary.

21

Drawing Materials for Line

Lecture 2

his lecture lists the materials well use for the projects in Lectures
4 through 19. Well go into detail about graphite pencils, charcoal,
erasers, brushes and ink, and drafting and measuring tools. In
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ZKLWH GUDZLQJ SDSHU DQG D [LQFK RU [LQFK VNHWFKERRN:HOO
close the lecture by discussing how you should set up your drawing area.
Graphite Pencils
Graphite pencils come in varying degrees of hardness, which is controlled
by the amount of clay that is mixed with the graphite. With less clay, the
graphite is softer; with more clay, its harder.
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letter scale. There are 22 steps in this scale:

Lecture 2Drawing Materials for Line

10B 9B 8B 7B 6B 5B 4B 3B 2B B HB F H 2H 3H 4H 5H 6H 7H 8H 9H 10H
The softest pencil is the 10B, and the hardest is the 10H. Historically, most
people doing general drawing have used pencils in the 4B to 2H range. The
very hard pencils are generally used for more technical drawing and highly
detailed work. That said, its well worth having a set of all 22 pencils.
$ VHFRQG VFDOH FDOOHG WKH$PHULFDQ VFDOH KDV YH GHJUHHV     
7KHRUHWLFDOO\WKHLVHTXLYDOHQWWRD(XURSHDQ%WKHWRDQ+%WKH
to an F, the 3 to an H, and the 4 to a 2H. Neither the European nor the U.S.
scale is standardized; thus, two pencils of the same number from different
manufacturers may vary in their degrees of hardness. Not all brands and all
qualities are alike either. For this reason, choose a set of pencils from one
JRRGPDQXIDFWXUHU0LWVXELVKL+L8QLPDNHVDJRRGFRPSOHWHVHW

22

In addition to using a pencil sharpener, many artists sharpen their pencils

using a utility knife and a sanding block, which allows the pencil to be
formed into a number of different shapes.
Test your pencils by making a single straight line on a page with each one,
noting the pencil youre using. Then, make a series of small lines or scribbles
to get an idea of how each pencil is different. Note, too, that the way a pencil
behaves is affected by the kind of paper you use.
Mechanical pencils are also great tools. The graphite for these comes in four
thicknesses: 0.3 millimeter, 0.5 millimeter, 0.7 millimeter, and 0.9 millimeter.
The graphite used for mechanical pencils ranges from about 4B to 4H.
Charcoal
Along with graphite, charcoal is among the most common drawing materials.
It comes in four basic forms: vine or willow, compressed, charcoal pencils,
and charcoal powder. For our line drawings, well use vine or willow, which
tends to be the most forgiving, that is, the easiest to erase.
This charcoal is called vine or willow because its commonly made by charring
pieces of vines or willow in kilns. Because no binder is usedits just cooked
woodit turns to powder easily. That makes it easy to erase, but then, its also
easy to rub away a mornings work with a careless swipe of your hand.
Vine and willow generally come in four grades: extra soft, soft, medium,
and hard. They also come in a variety of shapes and sizes, from thin to thick,
from cylindrical to rectangular, and even in chunks. For line, the medium
and hard cylindrical sticks work well.
Erasers
Some artists avoid erasing; they want a pristine surface, and heavy erasing
can modify the surface texture of the paper. Many other artists embrace
erasure. Matisse, for example, made erasing very much a part of his drawing.
In this course, erasing will be necessary for many of our projects.
Different erasers modify or erase what you draw in different ways. The
factors involved here include erasing power, precision, ability to handle
23

large areas, amount of smearing, and residual marks made by the eraser
itself. Its probably best to start with three erasers: a kneaded, a Pink Pearl,
DQGDSHQFLOW\SHHUDVHU
Using the kneaded eraser doesnt result in any crumbs, and in fact, the
adhesive quality of this eraser can be used to lift crumbs off the page. Its also
possible to modify the shape of a kneaded eraser. This eraser works well with
vine charcoal and graphite and can be used to modify the darkness of a given
line or area of value by gently pulling it across that section of the drawing.

Lecture 2Drawing Materials for Line

The Pink Pearl eraser has a distinctive wedge shape and a sharp, knifelike
edge. If you draw a line thats too thick, you can use a Pink Pearl fairly
precisely to make the line thinner. To maintain that sharp edge, trim the
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precise erasures. Again, try your erasers with different types of pencils,
charcoal, and paper.
Brush and Ink
Two brushes will work well for drawing line: a small one, about 1/16 to 1/8
inch at the top of the ferrule (the metal piece that holds the hairs together),
and another about 3/8 to 5/8 inches long. These types of brushes are made
from animal hair or synthetic materials. The most expensive are labeled
sable, though theyre generally made using mink or weasel hair. For our
SXUSRVHVV\QWKHWLFVDEOHVDWDIUDFWLRQRIWKHFRVWDUHQH
When you buy your brush, it may feel a bit stiff. Many manufacturers dip the
hairs in light glue to help maintain the brushs shape. Before you use a new
brush, run it under warm water. Gently massage the hairs to remove the glue,
then dry the brush.
Your brush should come with a small plastic cap. After you use the brush,
rinse it, dry it, and replace the cap to keep the brush from getting damaged.
,WVGLIFXOWWRFRQWUROOLQHRUPDUNLIWKHEUXVKVVKDSHEHFRPHVLUUHJXODU
6SHHGEDOO6XSHU%ODFNLVDJRRGTXDOLW\GHHSEODFNLQN7RDYRLGNQRFNLQJ
over the bottle of ink when youre drawing, pour some of it into a small cup.
Experiment with the brush and ink by making a thin line. It can be helpful
24

to brace your hand against the page so that youre not putting all the weight
of your hand onto the brush. Then, try to make a thicker line. Make sure
the brush is adequately charged and apply a little more pressure. Next, try
creating a discontinuous line, allowing the brush to kind of skip along. Also,
experiment with drying out the brush to get lines of varying darkness.
Drafting and Measuring Tools
)RUEDVLFGUDIWLQJDQGPHDVXULQJWRROV\RXQHHGDFOHDUJULGGHGLQFKUXOHU
D7VTXDUH DQG D  WR LQFK FOHDU WULDQJOH<RX DOVR QHHG D WUDQVSDUHQW
JULGDQGDYLHZQGHUZKLFK\RXFDQPDNH\RXUVHOI7KHWUDQVSDUHQWJULGLVD
VKHHWRIFOHDUOPZLWKDLQFKVTXDUHJULGRQLW7KHYLHZQGHUFRQVLVWVRI
WZR/VKDSHGSLHFHVRIFDUGERDUGWKDWKDYHEHHQFDOLEUDWHGLQOLQHLQFUHPHQWV
Youll use this to help frame and compose your drawings.
7KHVLPSOHVWZD\WRPDNHDJULGLVWRJRRQOLQHDQGQGDVLWHWKDWOHWV\RX
generate and download custom graph paper. Enter the desired dimensions
DQGSULQWRUSKRWRFRS\WKHJULGRQWRFOHDUWUDQVSDUHQF\OP
)RU WKH YLHZQGHU \RXOO QHHG D SLHFH RI PDW ERDUG RU KHDY\ FDUGERDUG
WKDWVDWOHDVW[LQFKHV)LUVWOLJKWO\UXOHDLQFKERUGHUDURXQGWKH
UHFWDQJOHZLWKDZHOOVKDUSHQHG+SHQFLO1H[WXVLQJ\RXUXWLOLW\NQLIHDQG
straightedge, cut out the center rectangle and put it aside. Turn the frame
horizontally. From the upper left corner, measure 12 inches toward the
right and make a vertical line. From the bottom right corner, measure 12
inches to the left and make a similar vertical line. Cut along both lines with
your utility knife; you should have right angles that are 12 inches in either
direction. With your 2H pencil and ruler, calibrate both right angles along
WKHLULQQHUHGJHVPHDVXULQJRXWIURPWKHGHJUHHDQJOHDORQJHDFKDUP
0DNHDWKLQOLJKWOLQHDWHDFKLQFKLQWHUYDOWKHQQXPEHUWKHLQFKHV+ROG
WKHYLHZQGHUWRJHWKHUZLWKWZRFOLSV
Setting Up to Draw
If youre making small drawingsabout 12 to 15 inchesyou can easily
draw on a table or with your drawing board supported on your knees and
DJDLQVWWKHWDEOHVHGJH)RUODUJHUGUDZLQJVLI\RXOD\WKHSDSHUDWRQD
table, the page will be in a foreshortened position; it will look like a trapezoid
instead of a rectangle. As you can imagine, this makes controlling shapes
25

DQGSURSRUWLRQVRQWKHSDJHPRUHGLIFXOW)RUWKLVUHDVRQODUJHUGUDZLQJV
should be supported more or less vertically, using an easel.
Set up the easel so that the center of the page is about at the height of your
collar bone. Both the page and easel should be at about 90 degrees to your
line of sight. You should be at a distance of about 18 to 24 inches from the
page to allow you to see as much of it as possible without moving your eyes
RUKHDG<RXVKRXOGDOVRKDYHWRIHHWRIEDFNXSURRPEHKLQGVRWKDW\RX
can step back periodically and look at your drawing from a greater distance.
When youre working on still lifes, youll need a second table positioned
DJDLQVW D ZDOO IRU \RXU REMHFWV$Q DYHUDJHKHLJKW WDEOH DERXW  LQFKHV
with a plain top is best. For many of our projects, white will be ideal for both
the table and the wall behind. If your table and wall are not white, you can
cover them with a large sheet of white paper or foam core.

Lecture 2Drawing Materials for Line

When drawing from observation, its good practice to put the easel or
drawing board parallel to and just to the left or right of what youre drawing.
Ideally, you want to be able to view your drawing and the subject at the same
time without swiveling your head. When you back up, you want to be able to
see both at once in the same planar orientation.
As well see, when drawing from observation, its useful to be able to draw
from different heights. Having a chair or easel that can be lowered or raised
is helpful for this purpose.
)LQDOO\\RXOOZDQWVXIFLHQWOLJKWLQWKHURRPVRWKDW\RXFDQVHHOLJKWOLQHV
and marks on the page. But make sure that the light doesnt throw glare or
cast shadow on the page, both of which can be distracting.

Suggested Reading
Cennini, The Craftsmans Handbook.
Guptill, Rendering in Pencil, chapters 13.
Mendelowitz, Faber, and Wakeman, A Guide to Drawing, Beginners
Media, pp. 1735, and Dry Media, pp. 184207.
26

Drawing Materials for Line

Lecture 2Transcript
Id like to talk about the materials well be using for the projects involving
OLQH :HOO DOVR WDON DERXW KRZ WR VHWXS WR GUDZ 2QH RI WKH JUHDW WKLQJV
about drawing is that the materials are relatively inexpensive. You can set
yourself up with professional quality drawing tools for a very modest sum.
For many of the projects youll need 18 24 inch white drawing paper, so
get a pad. A smaller sketchbook will also be useful. Something thats in the
9 12 or 11 14 range would work very well.
To get started, well be making a test sheet using graphite, charcoal, and ink.
So you need a couple sheets of 18 24 inch white paper and a drawing board
large enough to accommodate the paper. Put two sheets of paper on your
board. The under sheets a buffer; it adds a little more give to the surface. It
also protects your drawing in case there are any irregularities or dirt on the
board itself.
Except for the buffer sheet, you dont want to put any other sheets of paper
underneath the sheet youre drawing on because its easy to emboss lines on
the sheets underneath. If you put value over an area with embossed lines,
youll get white lines where youve embossed, and that can ruin a drawing.
You may want to attach the paper to the board with some clips or tape as you
need to.
Lets start with pencils. Though we commonly call these lead pencils, theyre
actually made of graphite mixed with clay. The root of the word graphite
comes from ancient Greek; it means to write or drawsame root as graph or
JUDIWLZKLFKDUHOLWHUDOO\OLWWOHGUDZLQJV7KHUVWODUJHGHSRVLWRIJUDSKLWH
ZDV IRXQG LQ (QJODQG E\ WKH PLGth FHQWXU\ /DWHU SHRSOH JXUHG RXW
how to turn it into a powder, then reform it into a solid shape and encase it
in wood. Graphite pencils come in varying degrees of hardness, and thats
controlled by the amount of clay that gets mixed with the graphiteless
clay, softer; more clay, harder. The primary scale used for artist grade pencils
is known as a European Letter Scale10Bs the softest and darkest, 10H is
the hardest and lightest.

27

The Numbering systems pretty straightforward; we have 22 pencils in all.

And starting over here at the 10B, we go down to 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, down to
a single B. Then we climb up on the other sidethe hard pencilsfrom H,
2H, all the way up to that 10H. Between the Bs and the Hs, we have an HB;
and between the HB and the H, we have an anomalyan F. Different ranges
have existed at different times, and different manufacturers make different
ranges. Some manufacturers only make an 8B9H. Looking back at some
WH[W IURP WKH PLGth century, it seemed like the common range then was
from 6B9H.
2QHRIWKHUVWWKLQJV\RXZDQWWRGRMXVWDV,YHGRQHKHUHRQP\SDJHLV
to take out all your pencils. Go from the softest to the hardest; make a single
line. Note, of course, what pencil youre using. Make a straight line, then
make a series of small lines, a little area of value, some scribbleswhatever
you want to tryjust to get an idea of what each of your pencils does, and
how theyre different.
The way the pencil behaves is also going to interact with the kind of paper
youre using, and theyre going to look different on different papers.
Historically, most people just doing general drawing have used from about
4B2H. The very high H pencils are used for drafting, and illustration,
DQGWHFKQLFDOGUDZLQJDQGIRUYHU\QHGHWDLO%XWEHFDXVHSHQFLOVDUHVR
inexpensive, its great to have the whole range and to experiment with all of
them.
This is that European scale, going from 10B10H. But, of course, youre
familiar with the famous No. 2 pencil, and thats part of the American scale;
DQGWKDWRQHKDVYHGHJUHHVJRLQJIURPDDQGDDOWKRXJK
you dont see the 3s and the 4s very much. Over here, I have a 1 and a 2.
Technically the 1 is an equivalent to a B, the 2 to an HB, the 2.5 to an F,
the 3 to an H, and the 4 to a 2H; but neither the European or U.S. scale
is standardized. So if you have two pencils of the same number but from
different manufacturerslets say you have two 2B pencilsone may well
be softer than the other; thats pretty common. And not all brands and not all
qualities are alike either. So what a good idea is to get yourself a whole set of
pencils from one good manufacturer, and that way at least theyll correspond
to each other across that manufacturers scale.
28

Of course, there are all kinds of pencilslike this one over herewhich
isnt part of either scale. But all these pencils are great; they can all be used.
Look around your house, see what kind of pencils you have, gather them all
together, and begin to make some marks with them in addition to the ones
you make with your full set. And lets just make a couple marks here. Here
we are with this No. 1 pencil, which is supposedly equivalent to a B, and Ill
put it right under my B over hereand its just a little bit lighter; a little bit
harder. Heres my No. 2, which is supposedly like an HB. And it, too, is just
a bit lighter than the HB that Ive used from this set. Well take thiswhich
is just called a jet black, extra smoothand make a line with that as well.
And you can see thats a very robust dark pencil, even more so than my 10B.
One thing we want to talk about is sharpening our pencils. And, of course,
we can use a standard pencil sharpener to sharpen a pencil, and it gives us a
QLFHQHSRLQWDQGWKDWVYHU\JRRGIRUDORWRIGUDZLQJDQGFHUWDLQO\XVHIXO
for writing. But artists sharpen their pencils in a variety of ways, and the two
tools we call upon are a utility knife and a sanding block. And what we can
do is we can taper the pencil in a number of ways. Im going to take this No.
1 pencil here, and what were going to do is were going to expose a lot more
of the graphite than we normal would with a regular pencil sharpener.
What Im doing is Im holding the utility knife in my right hand. And Im
just keeping it steady in my right hand, but Im pushing it forward with the
thumb of my left hand, and Im trying to cut not at too deep a diagonal. I
want to remove the wood without gouging the graphite itself. I can use the
utility knife to begin to shape the graphite to a gradual point. Im rotating the
pencil in my left hand as Im scraping with the utility knife in my right. I can
combine that with using my sanding block to get a very long exposed piece
of graphite. So now, I cannot only get a nice thin line using the point, but I
can also get a much thicker line using that side plane.
A variation on that is to take that sanding block and to make a wedge
shapekind of a chisel shapeon the pencil. Now I have my edge where
I can make a nice, very thin line; and just by twisting the pencilturning
the pencilI can now move from thin to thick, and back again. A variation
on that is to take that wedge shape and to blunt it, and this way I can get a
continuously thicker lineas thick as the width of the graphite itself.
29

What Id like you to do is to start with your cheap pencils, just some pencils
you have kicking around your drawers of your house, and youll want to
practice sharpening them. Bring them to different kinds of points, and
WKHQSOD\ZLWKWKHPRQ\RXUSDSHU2QFH\RXYHJXUHGRXWDJRRGZD\WR
sharpen them, what you want to do is take two of your good pencilsI have
a 6B here, and a 6H, which Ive sharpened into the wedge shapeand then
you can take these and see how theyll behave differently. Here we are with a
6B on the wedge, back to the point; on the wedge, to the point; on the wedge,
to the point. And youll want to see how that plays out. So that was the 6B.
Here we are with the 6H, a much harder pencil, and Im on the wedgeon
WKHZHGJHEDFNWRWKHSRLQW$QGVR\RXOOQGZLWKDER[RISHQFLOV\RX
can get a great, great variety of line.
As you whittle down your pencils, they get smaller and smaller, of course,
and a good tool to haveand you might want to get a couple of theseare
SHQFLOH[WHQGHUV9HU\VLPSO\WKHVPDOOSHQFLOZLOOWLQWRWKHH[WHQGHUDQG
it just gives you more life out of your pencil.
Another great took are mechanical pencils. They come in four different
thicknesses of lead. We call them lead, again, its still graphite. We have a
.3mm, .5mm, .7mm, and a .9mm. The leads that they make for these come
from about 4B to 4H, so not as extensive as with the graphite pencils.
The way these work iswell have the .3mm hereis that you generally
take off the eraser end and deposit the leads, which are about two inches
long, into the pencil and then click them forward. Here I have a .3mm
thats a very small leadwith a 2H, which is on the hard side; and well
make a line with it. Nice and light; thin. Now lets try that .5mm with an HB
lead, so this is a little thicker and a little darker. Next, a .7mm; a little thicker
\HWZLWK%OHDG$QGQDOO\DPPZLWKD%OHGWKLFNHVWDQGGDUNHVWRI
the group. These will all be useful when we get into perspective and more
technical drawing.
A related tool is the lead holder; and these take leads from 6B to 6H, and
theyre longer, and they generally come in tubes or containerssomething
like this. This, unlike the mechanical pencils, these generally insert from the
front end. These we sharpen with something called a lead pointer. So using
30

WKHOHDGSRLQWHUZHFDQEULQJWKHOHDGWRDQHSRLQW/HWVPDNHDOLQHZLWK
it. I have a 2B lead here. And we can also use our sanding block to bring it
WRDZHGJHVKDSH7KLVZD\,FDQJHWDQHOLQHZLWKWKHHGJHRIWKHZHGJH
and as I rotate, I can get that much thicker line; and I can move back and
forth between the two. So try all your graphite tools. Make lines of various
lightness, thickness, and darkness; try sharpening in various ways; and test
them all out.
Along with graphite, charcoals among the most common drawing materials.
It comes in four basic forms: vine or willow, compressed, charcoal pencil,
and charcoal powder. For our line drawings, well be using vine and
willow. Well talk about the others later as we begin to get into value. Vine
or willows the most forgiving; easiest to erase. Its called vine or willow
because its commonly made from pieces of grape or other vines, or pieces
of willow.
2QHRIWKHUVWZHVWHUQERRNVRQDUWPDWHULDOVIl Libro dellArteThe Book
of Artwas written in late 14thFHQWXU\ ,WDO\ E\ &HQQLQR &HQQLQL$QG KH
gives us a recipe for making charcoal:
Take a nice dry willow stick and make some slips of it the length
of the palm of your hand. Divide these pieces like match sticks.
7KHQ WDNH D EUDQG QHZ FDVVHUROH DQG SXW LQ HQRXJK WR OOXS WKH
casserole.
He goes on to tell us to wrap it up tightly and take it to the bakers at the
HQG RI WKH GD\ DIWHU KHV DOO QLVKHG ZRUN WKHQ OHDYH LW LQ KLV RYHQ XQWLO
morning.
The idea here is to let the wood char at the right temperature and for the right
amount of time; and it has to cook in the absence of oxygen, hence the tight
wrappingoxygen gets in and you get ash instead of charcoal. Today, artists
charcoal is made in kilns. Since theres no binder, just cooked wood, it turns
to powder pretty easily. On the one hand, that makes it very forgivingits
among the easiest materials to erase. But its highly fugitive on the other
easy to rub away a mornings work with a careless swipe of the hand.
31

In fact, Cennini tells us, Take a featherchicken or goose, as may beand

sweep the charcoal off what you have drawn. That drawing will disappear.
Vine and willow generally come in four grades: extra soft, soft, medium, and
hard. They also come in a variety of shapes and sizes from thin to thick, from
cylindrical to rectangular, and even chunks. For line, the cylindrical sticks
work very well.
So, here we have four grades of that cylindrical vine and willow charcoal.
We have an extra soft, we have a soft, we have a medium, and we have a
hard. Lets take a look and see what kinds of lines they give us.
Well start with the extra soft. If we want to get a thin line, we can use that
edgethat rounded edge. And if we want to get a thicker line, we can just
use some more pressurethats very common; its very brittle stuff. And if
you put pressure on it, especially when its very long, it can break. So thats
our extra soft. Heres our soft. Well put some more pressure on that, again,
breaking.
Heres our medium, and you can see Ive sharpened this to a point; and we
can use the edge of it to get something thicker, and we can move from one to
the other so it can get a real variety. And the way this sharpens; very easily.
-XVWSXWLWLQ\RXUSHQFLOVKDUSHQHUDQGZHJHWDSRLQW$QGWKHKDUG$JDLQ
we can sharpen; get a nice point. And we can use the side edge to get thicker
lines as well.
-XVW DV ZLWK RXU SHQFLOV ZHOO ZHDU RXU FKDUFRDO GRZQ VR WKLV FKDUFRDO
holder is another great tool. We can take even our very small little slips of
charcoal and still get some real use out of them.
Next up, erasers. Some artists avoid erasing; they want a pristine surface,
and heavy erasing can modify the surface texture of your paper. Many other
artists embrace erasure. Matisse, for example, made erasing very much a part
of his drawing. So, theres an aesthetic consideration here. For this course,
erasings a necessary part of many of the projects, so dont be timid with
\RXUHUDVHUV,OLNHWRKDYHHYHU\HUDVHU,FDQQG8QOLNHFROOHFWLQJYLQWDJH
automobiles, collecting erasers is a very affordable, if less romantic, pastime.
32

Different erasers modify or erase what we draw in different ways; they all
have strengths and weaknesses. The factors involved include: erasing power,
precision, ability to handle large areas, amount of smearing, and residual
marks made by the eraser itself.
Id suggest getting three different erasers to start: a kneaded, a pink pearl,
and a pencil type eraser. The kneaded is a great eraser. It can erase and wont
give us any crumbs at all. In fact, here I have some eraser crumbs. We can
use its adhesive quality to actually lift the crumbs off of our page. As you can
see, we can modify its shape. So sometimes, when I want to get in and just
get a small amount of something, I can make a little shape on my eraser so
,MXVWJHWH[DFWO\ZKDW,ZDQW,WVWHUULFWKLVLVRXUYLQHFKDUFRDOKHUH
very good for the vine charcoal; takes it right off.
With other things, one of the great capabilities of this is that it really acts like
a volume switch. Lets say I dont want to take it all away, but I just want to
make that gray a bit lighter; I can lightly tap it, and I can lighten my gray.
Similarly, with the graphiteif I take a look at some graphite over here,
and I think its just too dark; if I just tap with the kneaded eraser, I take the
YROXPHGRZQ7KHRWKHUWKLQJDVZHNQHDGLWLWEHFRPHVVHOIFOHDQLQJ6R
thats one of the great qualities of this, it does something that a lot of other
erasers do not.
Our next eraser is the pink pearl. It has that distinctive wedge shape, and its
YHU\ XVHIXO EHFDXVH LW KDV D VKDUS NQLIHOLNH HGJH 6R LI , KDYH VRPH OLQH
where the line is too thick, I can use that in a fairly precise way to make my
OLQHWKLQQHU2YHUWLPHWKDWNQLIHOLNHHGJHLVJRLQJWRZHDUGRZQ6RZKDW
were going to want to do is have a good kitchen knifea sharp knife
available. And if we take these erasers that have worn down, and we can just
FXWLQWRWKHPDQGUHWXUQWRDQLFHNQLIHOLNHHGJH
Next are these pencil type erasers. Again, very useful for making more
precise type of erasures. I want to thin out a line; I can really almost draw
with the eraser, tapering my line as I need to.
Another useful tool is the Chamois cloth. While not an eraserif we
remember, Cennino Cennini tells us that take that feather and you can wipe
33

away the charcoalif I take this and just wipe the charcoal, a lot of it will go
away. So it can be used also as an erasing tool.
7KHUHDUHPDQ\RWKHUYLQ\ODQGUXEEHUHUDVHUV\RXOOQGWKHPDOODW\RXUDUW
VWRUHV7KHUHLQIDFWDUHHOHFWULFHUDVHUVDQGWKHUHDUHHUDVHUVZKLFKZLOOW
on the back of your pencils. All of these are very useful, and theyll interact
with different materials. Each one will interact with different materials and
papers in different ways.
One of the things Id like you to do is to take your erasers and try them with
your different materialswith your different types of graphite; 10B10H,
any other pencils you have around, and with your charcoaland experiment
with your erasers, and see what theyll do.
Youll notice that as Ive been erasing, I have all of these eraser crumbs; and
were going to want to get rid of that as we work. One of the easiest ways is
simply to lift up your page, and were going to take it over the garbage can
and just shake it off. And some of it will come off, but some of it will still
adhere to our page. So what were going to want to do here, as we noted, we
could use that kneaded eraser to take up some of it. We could also just lightly
blow and sometimes that will get rid of the erasure.
Then we have various types of brushes we can use to get rid of the erasure.
Sometimes youll want something rather pointed where I could really get
LQLQDGHOLFDWHZD\$RQHLQFKFKLSEUXVKRUDWZRLQFKFKLSEUXVKFDQ
DOVRZRUNSUHWW\ZHOODQGZHZDQWWRLFNXSDQGDZD\VRZHGRQWVSUHDG
the material off our paper. And of course, as we get into some perspective
drawing, we may want to use a larger brusha drafting brush.
Next, lets talk about ink. Youll want a deep blacka good one is Speedball
Super Black. For line, a small brush about 1/161/8 of an inch at the top of the
ferrulethats the metal piece that holds the hairs togetherand about 3/8 to
5
/8 inches long works very well. These types of brushes are either made from
animal hair or from synthetic material. The most expensive are labeled sable,
though theyre generally made using mink or weasel hair. For our purposes,
V\QWKHWLFVDEOHVDWDIUDFWLRQRIWKHFRVWZLOOEHMXVWQH

34

When you buy your brush, it may feel a bit stiff. Many manufacturers dip the
hair in light glue to help maintain the brushs shape. Before you use a new
brush, run it under warm water, gently massage the hairs to remove the glue,
dry the brush, and youre set. Your brush should come with a small plastic
cap; hold onto it. After you use your brush, rinse it, dry it, and replace the
FDS7KLVNHHSVWKHEUXVKIURPJHWWLQJGDPDJHG,WVYHU\GLIFXOWWRFRQWURO
line or mark if the brushs shape becomes irregular.
6RWKHUVWWKLQJ\RXZDQWWRGRLVWRWDNH\RXULQNDQGSRXUDOLWWOHRIILQWR
a cup. You run the risk of knocking the whole thing over and making a mess
if you just use the ink right out of the bottle. This way we can contain any
problems.
First thing, Id like you to try and do is to make a thin line. It helps if you
brace your hand against the page so youre not putting all the weight of your
hand onto the brush.
Then try and make a thicker line. And, again, we just need to make sure the
brush is adequately charged, and well apply a little more pressure. You can
see that the range of markthe range of line thicknesswe can get with a
little brush like this, is pretty extraordinary.
We can also go from thin to thick to thin again just by changing that pressure.
And we can expand the range by having a couple brushes. These are even
fairly similar in size. I can still get a fairly thin line with one of this size, and
I can get something really quite robust as well.
Another thing you want to try is creating a discontinuous line. Well let the
brush kind of skip along, and well have an even greater quality of lightness
when its discontinuous.
Another thing you can try is drying out the brush so that rather than getting
a full black, or even a dark gray, we can get a very, very light graya real
whisper. Im going to take out a little more ink here. And as we pull more
and more ink out of the brush; well there Ive goneI dont know if you can
even see thatvery, very, very faint, faint gray.

35

Use the rest of the page that you have here to experiment, make some
different kinds of lines, use your graphite, your charcoal, your erasers, and
ink, and see all the different kinds of lines that you can come up with.
1H[WOHWVORRNDWRXUGUDIWLQJDQGPHDVXULQJWRROV$JULGGHGFOHDULQFK
UXOHUOLNHWKLVLQFK&7KUX*UDSK5XOHULVYHU\XVHIXO/LQHXSDJULGOLQH
on the ruler with the vertical edge of your page, and you can draw a good
horizontal. Line up a grid line with the horizontal edge of your page, and you
can draw a vertical.
)RUJUHDWHUDFFXUDF\ZHXVHD76TXDUH0DNHVXUHWKHHGJHVRI\RXUSDJH
are parallel to the edges of your drawing board. Place the T against the
vertical edge of the drawing board to draw a horizontal line. Place the T on
WKHWRSRIWKHGUDZLQJERDUGWRGUDZDYHUWLFDOOLQH3XWWKH7VTXDUHEDFN
in the horizontal position. Take out your clear triangleone thats 1416
LQFKHVZLOOZRUNEHVW3XWWKHEDVHRIWKHWULDQJOHRQWKH7VTXDUH1RZ\RX
can easily draw verticals. Move it out of the way to draw horizontals with
\RXU7VTXDUH7KLVZLOOEHDWLPHVDYHUZKHQZHJHWLQWROLQHDUSHUVSHFWLYH
Ill be using whats called a parallel straight edge drawing board instead of
WKH7VTXDUH ,WV DQ RSWLRQ WR LQYHVWLJDWH LI \RX JHW LQWR D ORW RI WHFKQLFDO
drawing.
$V \RX EHJLQ WR JHQHUDWH D ORW RI OLQHV WKH JUDSKLWH FDQ UXERII RQ WKHVH
tools. If this happens, your tools will begin to spread a gray mist over your
drawing; so keep an eye on this. If your tools begin to get dirty, wash them
with a small amount of light soap and warm water. Dry them well, and youll
be ready to continue drawing.
The last tools in this category youll make yourself. They include a
WUDQVSDUHQWJULGDQGDYLHZQGHU7KHWUDQVSDUHQWJULGVDVKHHWRIFOHDUOP
ZLWK D RQHLQFK VTXDUH JULG RQ LW7KH YLHZQGHUV DUH /VKDSHG SLHFHV RI
cardboard youll use to help you frame and compose your drawings.
Lets start with that grid. The simplest way to make one is to go online.
<RXOOQGDQXPEHURIVLWHVWKDWOHW\RXJHQHUDWHFXVWRPJUDSKSDSHUDQG
GRZQORDG LW -XVW VHDUFK FXVWRP JUDSK SDSHU <RXOO EH DEOH WR HQWHU WKH
36

GLPHQVLRQVDQGSULQWWKLVRUSKRWRFRS\LWRQWRFOHDUWUDQVSDUHQF\OP<RX
FRXOG DOVR GUDZ RQH ZLWK \RXU UXOHU DQG 76TXDUH RU RQ D SURJUDP OLNH
3KRWRVKRSWKHQVLPLODUO\FRS\RUSULQWRQWRWUDQVSDUHQF\OP
)RU WKH YLHZQGHU \RXOO QHHG D SLHFH RI PDW ERDUG RU KHDY\ FDUGERDUG
thats at least 12 14 inches.
)LUVW OLJKWO\ UXOH D WZRLQFK ERUGHU DURXQG WKH UHFWDQJOH ZLWK D ZHOO
sharpened 2H pencil. If you have a ruler like this, which is exactly two
inches wide, you can line it up with the mat boards edge and trace.
Next, using your utility knife and straight edge, cut out the center rectangle
and put it aside. Make sure you do this on some kind of safe surfacea
FOHDQNLWFKHQFXWWLQJERDUGZLOOZRUNQH
Turn the frame horizontally. From the upper left corner, measure 12 inches
toward the right and make a vertical line. From the bottom right corner,
measure 12 inches to the left and make a similar vertical line. Cut along both
lines with your utility knife and you should have right angles, which are 12
inches in either direction.
With your 2H pencil and ruler, calibrate both right angles along their inner
HGJHVPHDVXULQJRXWIURPWKHGHJUHHDQJOHDORQJHDFKDUP0DNHDWKLQ
OLJKWOLQHDWHDFKRQHLQFKLQWHUYDOWKHQQXPEHU\RXULQFKHV
<RXOODOVRQHHGWZRFOLSVWRKROG\RXUYLHZQGHUWRJHWKHU
There are a couple miscellaneous items that will be useful, including
PDVNLQJ WDSH D FRPSDVV VRPH SXVKSLQV DQG D ER[ RU FDUU\LQJ FDVH IRU
your materials.
2XU QDO WRSLFV VHWWLQJXS \RXU ZRUN DUHD ,I \RXUH PDNLQJ VPDOO
drawingssay, not more than 1215 inches in any directionyou can easily
draw on a table, or with your drawing board supported on your knees against
the tables edge. Then arrange your materials and supplies on the table so
theyre conveniently at hand. Larger drawings need to be supported more or
less vertically. An easels a logical choice.
37

+HUHV WKH UHDVRQ ,I ZH OD\ WKH SDSHU DW RQ D WDEOH WKH SDJH LV LQ D
foreshortened position. It will look like a trapezoid instead of a rectangle.
As you can imagine, this makes controlling shapes and proportions on the
SDJHPRUHGLIFXOW,GHDOO\\RXZDQWWRVHWXSVRWKDWWKHFHQWHURIWKHSDJH
is at about at the height of your clavicleyour collarbone. Thats a default
position. Of course, you can raise it and lower it as needed, even rotate your
drawing to make working on a given section more comfortable or natural.
You also want the easel to be at about 90 degrees to your line of sight, and
you want to be 1824 inches from the page. This will, of course, depend on
your arm length, but one of the goals is to draw at a distance from the page
that allows you to see as much of the page as possible without moving your
eyes or head.
When drawing at an easel, many people set up their materials on a table
WRWKHLUVLGHDWDGHJUHHDQJOHWRWKHHDVHORQWKHULJKWIRUULJKWLHVRQ
WKH OHIW IRU OHIWLHV +DYLQJ EDFNXS URRP EHKLQG \RX LV D UHDO KHOS YH WR
eight feets ideal. Thats so that you can walk back periodically and look at
your drawing from a greater distance. Its much easier to see how the various
parts of the drawing are relating with a bit of distance.
:KHQZHUHZRUNLQJRQVWLOOOLIHSUREOHPVGUDZLQJIURPREVHUYDWLRQ\RX
want a second table positioned against a wall for your objects. An average
height table about 30 inches, with a plain top is bestsomething without
any distracting wood grain or pattern. A plain walls best, too. For many of
our projects, white will be ideal for both. If your table and wall arent white,
you can cover them with a large sheet of white paper or foam core.
When drawing from observation, its good practice to put the easel or
drawing board parallel to, and just to the left or right of what youre drawing.
Ideally, you want to be able to view your drawing and the subject at the same
time without swiveling your head. When you backup you want to be able to
see both at once in the same planar orientation.
As well see, when drawing from observation, its very useful to be able to
draw from different heights. These different views can be dramatic and can
make our compositions and drawings much more interesting. Having a chair
38

WKDWFDQEHORZHUHGRUUDLVHGWKDWVDUHDOEHQHW+DYLQJDQHDVHOZLWKD
similar range is equally useful. Even having a small low stool and a sturdy
ER[RUVWHSODGGHUWRVWDQGRQFDQDOOEHJUHDWDGGLWLRQV
<RXOODOVRZDQWVXIFLHQWOLJKWLQWKHURRPVRWKDW\RXFDQVHHOLJKWOLQHV
and marks on your page, but you want to make sure that the light isnt
throwing glare or cast shadow on your pageboth can be distracting. Youre
JRLQJWRDOVRQHHGVRPHVWLOOOLIHREMHFWV<RXOOEHDEOHWRXVHPDQ\WKLQJV
\RXOLNHO\KDYHLQ\RXUKRPH:HOOWDONDERXWVSHFLFVLQWKHOHVVRQVDKHDG
:HOODOVREHGRLQJVRPHVHOISRUWUDLWVVRDIXOOOHQJWKPRYDEOHPLUURUZLOO
be extremely useful.
These materials will get us started. Well talk about additional materials in
future lectures as we need them.

39

Drawing Fundamentals and First Exercises

Lecture 3

Lecture 3Drawing Fundamentals and First Exercises

any people have the idea that artists stand in front of a subject
and draw what they see, but in fact, most of the drawing you have
likely seen is the result of some mix of observation, construction,
and abstraction. Drawing from observation means drawing what we see
before us. Construction refers to methods for drawing that rely on building
what we draw using shapes, geometric solids, and linear perspective.
Abstraction refers to the way we bring abstract visual thinking to bear on
the drawing decisions we make. An example would be thinking about how
ZH GLYLGH D GUDZLQJHVVHQWLDOO\ D UHFWDQJOHLQWR WZR KRUL]RQWDO VXE
rectangles to signify a tabletop and a wall in a still life or the land and sky
in a landscape. Well learn more about these aspects of drawing as we move
through the six sections of this course: (1) introductory materials; (2) line
and formal language; (3) linear perspective; (4) value, texture, and color;
WKHJXUHDQGDGYDQFHGDSSURDFKHVDQGSURMHFWV7KLVOHFWXUHRIIHUV
an overview of the course.
Drawing as a Language
Drawing is a language. Thus, studying drawing can be similar to studying
a new language. We start by learning about different kinds of line
comparable to learning a new alphabet. Next, we use line to draw shape, just
as we use letters to form words. Then, we use shape to construct drawings
of individual objectslike forming words into sentences. And we draw
multiple objects together in coherent compositionssimilar to organizing
sentences into paragraphs.
In drawing, our grammatical parts are line, shape, volume, mark, value, and
color, among other elements. If we want to make sophisticated drawings, we
must understand how these pieces function in the visual realm.
Examples Used in the Course
One art historical clich describes the history of art as a series of advances
through tumultuous breaks from the ignorance or overbearing restrictions
40

of past conventions. Theres also much ink dedicated to showing how one
cultures art is markedly different from that of another. No doubt, art has
certainly changed across time and place, but at the same time, there has also
been a great degree of continuity in the language of art across the continents
and over the millennia of drawing practice.
The reason that many diverse people have used similar visual strategies is
that our eyes and brainsour hardware and softwarehave remained pretty
much the same for a long period. Thus, a large portion of the underlying
visual mechanics of making drawings has remained fairly consistent. This
is one of the reasons that we can look at art made by people who lived very
GLIIHUHQWOLYHVIURPRXURZQDQGQGWKHWKLQJVWKH\PDGHHYRFDWLYHSRWHQW
and beautiful. At a certain level, we get it because these works were crafted
to speak to beings wired like ourselves.
Looking at examples of artworks from a range of periods, cultures, and
geographic locations, well see that artists in different times and places have
used similar visual strategies and techniques. Because their work has stood
the test of time and local bias, its reasonable to suspect that the visual ideas
theyve employed are good ones.
Analyzing Drawings
Looking at drawings is as important to an aspiring draftsperson as listening
to music, tasting food, or watching a game is to an aspiring musician, chef,
or athlete. But its also crucial to make the shift to active analysis. Many
of us drive cars, but our relationship with them ends there. Someone who
loves cars and wants to understand them deeply takes cars apart and puts
them back together again. To be a real student of drawing means that your
relationship with drawing must become analytical. You must take drawings
apart, reverse engineer them, and reconstruct them.
How to Use These Lectures
Each lecture in this course is about 30 minutes long, but it will generally take
you much longer than that to complete the drawing projects in the lectures.
For this reason, you may want to stop and start the lectures as you draw.
Of course, you can also watch each lecture all the way through once, then
JREDFNDQGUHSOD\LWWRGRWKHH[HUFLVHV%HFDXVHRQHRQRQHIHHGEDFNLV
41

helpful in learning to draw, you may also want to watch the lectures with
a family member or a small group of friends who are also interested in
learning to draw. This activity will allow you to offer one another feedback
and constructive criticism on your drawings.

Lecture 3Drawing Fundamentals and First Exercises

Topics to Be Discussed
You can think of these 36 lectures as divided into six conceptual sections.
7KH UVW LQFOXGHV LQWURGXFWRU\ PDWHULDOV 7KH VHFRQG IRFXVHV RQ OLQH DQG
introduces formal language or drawings grammar. The third section provides
an overview of linear perspective. The fourth bring us back to our discussion
RIIRUPDOODQJXDJHWRFRYHUYDOXHWH[WXUHDQGFRORU7KHIWKVHFWLRQIRFXVHV
RQWKHJXUH$QGWKHQDOVHFWLRQGHWDLOVDGYDQFHGDSSURDFKHVDQGSURMHFWV
In general, the progression of topics in these sections will be as follows:

42

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Aggregate shape

2EMHFWJURXQGUHODWLRQV

Positive and negative shape

Composition

Gestural line

Proportion

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WZRGLPHQVLRQDOVXUIDFH

Linear perspective

Value

Mark and texture

Color theory, properties, and palettes

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Advanced concepts and projects.

There is a natural progression in this sequence of study, from concentrating

more on acquiring knowledge, skill, and technique to thinking about how to
XVHVNLOOVLQUHIHUHQFHWRVSHFLFFRQWHQWUHODWHGWR\RXURZQLQWHUHVWV7KH
goal at the beginning is mastery of the breadth of accumulated knowledge.
As you advance, youll be able to apply this knowledge and skill to your
own individual creative vision.
7DNH\RXUWLPHDV\RXPRYHWKURXJKWKHFRXUVH,I\RXGR\RXOOQGHDFK
new piece building on what youve learned in prior lessons, and youll be
on your way to developing a depth of knowledge regarding many of the
ways in which drawings are conceived and made. Whether you choose to
fully work through all the problems or not, simply developing a conceptual
understanding of the ways in which artists think and pursue their work will
fundamentally change the way you see both art and the world around you.

Suggested Reading
-3DXO*HWW\0XVHXPFormal Analysis.
Kennedy Center, Formal Visual Analysis.
Pumphrey, The Elements of Art, pp. 5561.

43

Drawing Fundamentals and First Exercises

Lecture 3Transcript
These lectures incorporate whatafter four decades of study, studio work,
and teachingIve found to be the most important and useful things to know
about drawing. Knowing what I do now, its what Id have wanted someone
to teach me when I was starting out. Many people have the idea that artists
stand in front of a model, a still life, or landscape and draw what they see.
But in fact, most of the art youve likely seendrawing, paintings, and the
likewas arrived at through some mix of what Id refer to as observation,
construction, and abstraction.
Drawing from observation means drawing what we see before us.
Construction, that refers to the methods for drawing that rely on building
what we draw using shapes, geometric solids, and linear perspective. Well
be combining both approaches. Abstraction refers to the way we can bring
abstract visual thinking to bear on the drawing decisions we make. An
example would be thinking about how we divide a drawingessentially a
UHFWDQJOHLQWRWZRKRUL]RQWDOVXEUHFWDQJOHVWRVLJQLI\DRRUSODQHDQGD
wall plane in an interior, or a tabletop and wall in a still life, or land and sky
in a landscape, or water and sky in a landscape or seascape.
The subject matters clearly different in each of these works, and theyre
stylistically different, too. But all four depend on a similar abstract
compositional strategy. Much of what we call the formal language, or the
grammar of drawing, operates at this kind of abstract level; even though the
FRQWHQWVGHVFULSWLYHDQGWKHZRUNPLJKWEHHYHQEHFODVVLHGDVUHDOLVW
7RGUDZDERWWOHLQDVWLOOOLIHRUDJXUHLQDURRPZHUHUHDOO\QRWLQD
VHQVH GUDZLQJ D ERWWOH RU D JXUH DW DOO ZHUH VLPSO\ GUDZLQJ OLQHV %XW
LIZHJHWWKHULJKWOLQHVLQWKHULJKWSODFHVWKHVWLOOOLIHRUJXUHHPHUJHV
That means the lines have to be of a certain type and begin, end, and meet at
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OHFWXUH\RXKDGWRGUDZVSHFLFNLQGVRIOLQHVOLQHVWKDWZHUHKRUL]RQWDO
and diagonal, and some had to be parallel. Drawing these kinds of lines, and
KDYLQJ WKHP PHHW DW VSHFLF SRLQWV LQYROYHV PHDVXULQJ :HOO EH FDOOLQJ

44

on these skills throughout the course, so practicing all this is a good place to
start.
Theres an entry in Leonardos journals titled: De Giochi che debono fare
I disegnaitoriThe Games that People Who Draw Should Play. He begins
by saying, You should always practice such things as may be of use, giving
your eye good practice in judging accurately. He goes on to describe a
competitive measuring game where one person draws a straight line on a
wall. Then all the others, standing at the same distance from the wall, try to
gauge the lines length. Whosever closest wins.
+HUHDUHVHYHUDOJDPHVRUUVWH[HUFLVHV,GOLNH\RXWRWU\7KH\DOOEHQHW
H\HKDQG FRRUGLQDWLRQ DQG ZLOO KHOS \RX ZKHQ GUDZLQJ HYHU\WKLQJ IURP D
VWLOO OLIH WR D ODQGVFDSH WR WKH JXUH ,Q WKDW VHQVH WKH\UH SUHWW\ VHULRXV
games.
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the quarters. Then the eighths. Then try and draw a line thats parallel to the
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parallel vertical lines. And try diagonals, too.
+HUHVDQRWKHUJUHDWUVWH[HUFLVH*LYH\RXUVHOIDSRLQW$QGWKHQDQRWKHU
point. And just connect them with a straight line. You can kind of trace over
lightly what we call phantom drawingjust moving the pencil back and
forth to get an idea of the angle. You can even leave little traces of graphite
as you go. And then when you feel like you have an idea about where that
line is going, let the pencil touch the page and pull your line across.
Lets try another one. Well just add another dot. Again, the same thing
tracing back and forth over the line, over the direction. And as you gain
FRQGHQFHPDNHWKHOLQH
And lets do one more. Make another diagonal. Give yourself another point.
Trace back and forth over the page. Leave small amounts of graphite. And
then make your line.

45

Another exercise is making curved lines. So, so far weve made verticals,
horizontals, and diagonals. We can give ourselves two marks along a line
VHJPHQW)LQGWKHFHQWHUSRLQW$QGWKHQWU\DQGQGDQHYHQFXUYHJRLQJ
from one to the other. Follow the same process. When you feel comfortable,
make the line.
Heres another exercise: Give yourself a vertical. Then cross it with a
horizontal. And then draw the 45s through the centerall this is great aiming
practice. And then try and take an even curve around the whole thing.
Weve been drawing horizontal, vertical, diagonal, and curvilineal lines.
When we draw with line, those are our major directions; those are the major
types of lines well be using. If we practice those kinds of lines, well be in
good shape to do a lot of different kinds of drawing.
Ill make a curved line segment, then another. A vertical, another. Horizontal.
Diagonal. Another diagonal.
If we can associate lines with measure, we can begin to draw all kinds of
complex things: diagonal, diagonal, horizontal. And I think you can see
ZKHUHWKLVLVJRLQJ,OOGUDZDJXUHVWDQGLQJLQDURRP$QGZKDW\RXOO
QG LV WKDW DOO WKH OLQHV , XVH DUH HLWKHU KRUL]RQWDO YHUWLFDO GLDJRQDO DQG
curvilineal lines. Once youve tried this with your graphite, try it with your
other materials, toocharcoal, pen and inkjust drawing lines. And I can
GUDZ D UXJ RQ WKH RRU ZLWK D SDWWHUQ LWV MXVW PDGH XS RI GLDJRQDO DQG
horizontal lines.
7RGUDZDOLJKW[WXUHRQDFHLOLQJDOO,QHHGLVVRPHFXUYLOLQHDOOLQHKHUH
grouped into an ovoid, two verticals, and another curvilineal line segment.
A curtain on a windownothing more than some horizontals, and some
curvilineal line segments.
One of our powerful tools is overlap. If I show that the curtain is securely
overlapping the wall, well feel that its in front and the walls behind. At
the bottom of the curtains, now Im drawing cross contoursand well
learn about those in a coming lesson. They help give us a sense of three
dimensionality when were drawing with line.
46

:H FDQ WDNH DW WKLQJV DQG PDNH WKHP IHHO WKUHHGLPHQVLRQDO E\ DGGLQJ
SODQHV , FDQ WDNH WKH DW VKDSH RI WKH SDLQWLQJ RQ WKH ZDOO DQG PDNH LW
dimensional by giving it a plane too. We can take those simple shapes and
make slight adaptations to make them more resemble things like an arm,
a leg, a breast. Taper them a little more. Round a little here; more angular
theresmall adaptations to some very regular shapes.
Youll learn to control the viewers eye and create focal areas and focal
points by creating hierarchies of value. All else being equal. Where theres
KLJKHUFRQWUDVWZHOOWKDWVZKHUHRXUH\HVJRLQJWRJRUVW
,WKLQN\RXOOQGWKDWVWXG\LQJGUDZLQJVDORWOLNHVWXG\LQJDODQJXDJH:H
just started with some lines; theyre like letters of the alphabet. And, as you
VHHZHFDQXVHWKHPWRGUDZJXUHVDQGDOONLQGVRIRWKHUWKLQJVMXVWOLNH
letters forming words, verbs and nouns, adjectives and adverbs. And soon
well be constructing sentences and paragraphswhole compositions. In
WKLVZD\WKHOHFWXUHVEXLOGFXPXODWLYHO\LQDVWHSE\VWHSIDVKLRQZLWKHDFK
new idea or concept building on the previous ones.
We dont think much about the underlying grammatical structure of the
VHQWHQFHVZHFUHDWHDQGKHDUDVZHJRWKURXJKDW\SLFDOODQJXDJHVDWXUDWHG
day. One exception, of course, is when were speaking a foreign language
one that were not too familiar with yet. And we think, Oh yeah, the verb
needs to go over here. And I need this termination to agree with my pronoun;
and right, the indirect object gets shuttled over there. But as you begin to
master the language, all this becomes more and more automatic and natural.
6LPLODUO\ LI \RXUH OHDUQLQJ WR SOD\ D PXVLFDO LQVWUXPHQW DW UVW \RXUH
K\SHUFRQVFLRXV RI ZKLFK QJHU JRHV ZKHUH %XW DIWHU VRPH SUDFWLFH \RX
think much less about the mechanics and more about the music itself.
<RXOOOLNHO\QGWKHVDPHWKLQJKHUH$ZKROHORWRIZKDWZHFDOOLQVWLQFW
or having even a feel for something, is often really an instance of deeply
engrained learning. Einstein once said, Intuition is nothing but the outcome
of earlier intellectual experience. In drawing, our grammatical parts are line,
shape, volume, mark, value, coloramongst a number of others. If we want

47

to begin to make sophisticated drawings, we have to begin to understand

how these pieces function in the visual realm.
The approach is pretty simple. Ill describe and explain a new concept or
technique, Ill situate it in its historical context, and illustrate it with visual
examples. These will include my own drawings and diagrams, additional
ones created by the very talented team here at The Great Courses, examples
from my students, and masterworks from a range of periods and traditions in
the history of art.
One art historical clich described that history as a series of advances through
tumultuous breaks from the ignorance or overbearing restrictions of the past
conventions. Theres also a lot of ink dedicated to showing how one cultures
art is markedly different from that of another. No doubt, art has certainly
FKDQJHGZLWKWLPHDQGSODFH%XWDWWKHVDPHWLPH,WKLQN\RXOOQGDV
you move through these lecturesthat theres also been a great degree of
continuity in drawings language across all the continents and over millennia
of drawing practice.
Earlier, I showed this watercolor by Thomas Eakinsa 19thFHQWXU\
American. I used it as an example of the way which artists compose. In this
FDVHWKHGUDZLQJVVKDSHDUHFWDQJOHLVGLYLGHGLQWRWZRVXEUHFWDQJOHV
a lower one for water, and an upper one for sky. I could equally have chosen
a 13thFHQWXU\&KLQHVHH[DPSOHWRGHPRQVWUDWHWKHVDPHSRLQW7KLVLVWLWOHG
Mountain Market, Clear with Rising MistE\;Lj*X$JDLQWKHUHFWDQJOHV
divided in half. The lower rectangle contains the near landscape; the upper,
the mountains receding in the distance and sky.
Id suggest the reason why many diverse people have employed similar visual
strategies is because our eyes and brainsour hardware and softwarehave
remained pretty much the same for a very long period. So, a fair portion of
the underlying visual mechanics of making drawings has remained pretty
consistent. Its one of the reasons why we can look at art made by people
ZKROLYHGYHU\GLIIHUHQWOLYHVIURPRXURZQDQGQGWKHWKLQJVWKH\PDGH
evocative, potent, and beautiful. At a certain level, we get it because these
works were crafted to speak to beings who were wired just like ourselves.

48

Ive made it a point in my teaching at the university, and in these lectures

here, to include examples of artworks from a range of periods, cultures, and
geographic locations. My thinking has been that if artists cumulatively
in different times and placeshave used the same strategy or technique
for millennia, and their work has stood the test of time and local bias; its
reasonable to suspect that the visual ideas a good one and has some real
staying power. The examples I use also vary in terms of material or media,
too. Of course, Ive called upon all types of drawings from graphite, to
charcoal, to pen or brush and inkobviously so. But Ive also included
H[DPSOHV IURP GLUHFWO\ UHODWHG HOGVIURP DUW SUDFWLFHV ZKLFK DUH GLUHFW
extensions of drawing per se, like painting and printmaking.
,Q WKH UVW OHFWXUH , GHQHG GUDZLQJ DV PDUNLQJ VXUIDFHV :LWK WKDW LQ
mind, Ive included the incised piece of ochre from the Blombos Cave; as
well as painted ceramics; Chinese brush paintings on silk; and, in a more
contemporary vein, examples from comics and animation. As I noted in
WKH UVW OHFWXUH GUDZLQJ KDV EHHQ DQG LV JRLQJ RQ DOO DURXQG XV LQ PDQ\
shapes and forms. In choosing each example, my main criteria has been that
it effectively illustrates the visual point being made.
Looking at drawing is as important to an aspiring draftsperson as listening to
music, tasting food, or watching the game is to an aspiring musician, chef, or
athlete. But its crucial to make the shift to active analysis. I drive a car, but it
ends there. Someone who loves cars wants to understand them deeply; takes
a car apart and puts it back together againor better yet, several cars. To be
a real student of drawing means that your relationship with drawing has to
become analytical. We have to take drawings apart, reverse engineer them,
and put them back together again.
Ill be helping you develop the abilities needed to understand how a given
drawing has been made and why its been made the way it has. If you can
begin to learn how to do this on your own, youll be well on your way to
becoming a successful draftsperson and autodidact. Studying examples is
very important. Many are available online for download; others, in books on
drawing. Build your own image library so that you can consult them as you
draw.

49

As I noted earlier, Ive supplemented the examples of artworks by

professional artists to include numerous examples by my students. Of
course, Ive chosen very good and excellent examples, but my students do
very good and excellent work on a regular basis. These examples will give
you a clear visual take on possible responses to a given drawing problem.
They should also serve as encouragement and inspiration. What were doing
here is absolutely doable. People just like you learn to draw all the time.
Each lecture is about 30 minutes long. Itll generally take you much longer
than that to complete the drawing projects Ill describe, so you may want to
stop and start the lectures at intervals. That said, if you want to watch the
whole thing through and just listen, and then go back and replay the videos
doing the exercises a second time; wouldnt be doing yourself any harm.
,Q OHDUQLQJ WR GUDZ RQHRQRQH IHHGEDFN FDQ EH UHDOO\ KHOSIXO 6R LI \RX
have a family member; or a friend; or even better, a couple friends who
DUH DOVR LQWHUHVWHG LQ OHDUQLQJ WR GUDZ \RXG OLNHO\ QG LW XVHIXO WR ZRUN
together. You might want to watch the lessons together, or perhaps meet once
a week to get together to critique each others drawings. It can also keep you
motivated. Getting together with others to talk about art and drawing can
also be a lot of fun.
:KHWKHU RU QRW \RX SXUVXH DUW EH\RQG WKLV FRXUVH , WKLQN \RXOO QG
that studying drawing will change the way you experience your own
visual perception. It will literally change the way you see the world, and
VLJQLFDQWO\FKDQJHWKHZD\\RXOOEHDEOHWRDSSUHFLDWHWKHSDLQWLQJVDQG
drawings you see in museums and galleries.
The 36 lectures that make up this course run about 18 hours; but, as I noted,
the drawing projects are another matter. It could well take someone eight
months to over a year to work through all the exercises and assignments.
People are routinely surprised at all the things artists actually consider when
they draw. While they may have some inkling that proportion and light are
important topics, they generally have little exposure to ideas about negative
shape, line weight, or the use of value as a compositional tool.

50

And some students are impatient to get to certain topics, like shading or
WKHJXUH6R,GOLNHWRWDNHDERXWPLQXWHVDQGOD\RXWEHIRUH\RXWKH
progression followed in this course. This way, youll get a sense of how the
parts connect and begin to appreciate how each piece is important to the
whole endeavor.
You can think about the lectures as divided into six conceptual sections.
7KH UVW FRQWDLQV LQWURGXFWRU\ PDWHULDOV 7KH VHFRQG IRFXVHV RQ OLQH DQG
introduces formal language or drawings grammar. The third section provides
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discussion of formal language while covering value, texture, and color. The
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approaches and projects.
Weve actually already started your study if you drew along with me earlier.
Lines foundational, and its actually quite complex. There are many kinds
RIOLQHHDFKZLWKGLIIHUHQWXWLOLWLHVDQGH[SUHVVLYHSRWHQWLDOV$WUVWZHOO
speak about two types of line: contour, and construction line. Well see how
together, they can help us accurately draw simple shapes. And well use
these simple shapes to draw everyday objects like the kinds of things found
in still liveslike this pitcher here. Well learn how by adding a third type
of linecross contour; a line in the inside of the shapewe can create the
LOOXVLRQRIYROXPHDQGWKUHHGLPHQVLRQVLQWKHREMHFWVZHGUDZ
Youre probably already seeing how the drawing exercises we did earlier
will pay off. To draw the pitcher and the block, we have to draw horizontal,
vertical, diagonal, and curving lines. The lines have to relate to one another
LQWHUPVRIPHDVXUHDQGPHHWDWVSHFLFORFDWLRQVLIZHZDQWWRFUHDWHWKH
shapes we need. So keep practicing those lines; theyre fundamental to
everything well do. Well talk about different types of shapes, including
aggregate shape. Now thats a kind of shape that holds all our objects
together compositionally in relation to the shape of the drawing itself.
It will also help us control proportions because it serves as the container
IRU WKH REMHFWV ZHOO EH GUDZLQJ :HOO DOVR OHDUQ DERXW REMHFWJURXQG
relationsessentially, how all the main objects or subjects in a drawing or
painting relate to even larger shapes we call the ground shapes, and youll
51

learn how these shapes construct the shape of the drawing itself. Next, youll
learn about shapes between things, what we call negative shapes. Youll
see how they hold a composition together, and also how they can help you
maintain accurate proportions.
Once you understand negative shapes, youll have a whole new appreciation
for many great 19thDQGthFHQWXU\DUWLVWVIURP%RQQDUGWR3LFDVVRIURP
Matisse to Morandi. Having covered these materials, well be primed for a
detailed investigation of composition. Well talk about the different types of
dynamics in the rectangle, and the latent internal structures of rectangles or
armatures. And well learn how a range of artists have used these geometric
UHODWLRQVKLSVWRFRPSRVHVWLOOOLYHVODQGVFDSHVDQGJXUHGUDZLQJV
This is a drawing by the American artist Richard Diebenkorn. You can see
KRZPDQ\RIWKHYLVXDOHOHPHQWVKHZWRVSHFLFGLYLVLRQVRUPHDVXUHVLQWKH
drawings rectanglethings like the horizontal, vertical, and diagonal halves
and quarters; and then their subdivisions. And youre going to apply these
compositional strategies youve learned to drawings both from observation
and from your imagination.
As were digging into composition, well learn about a fourth type of line:
gestural line. Heres an example by Rembrandt. Note the speed with which
it was drawn. Gestures a powerful tool that does the work of contour, cross
contour, and construction line all at once. And youll learn how to use this
GLUHFW DOOHQFRPSDVVLQJ NLQG RI OLQHJHVWXUDO OLQHWR ZRUN WKURXJK
compositional ideas with great rapidity without having to draw every object
in all its detail. And well speak about the many ways in which line qualities
can be evocative and expressive
After delving into line and composition, well address the crucial problem
of proportion. Well learn how, during the Renaissance, artists began to
GHYHORSVSHFLFWRROVDQGPHWKRGVIRUVROYLQJWKHVHSUREOHPV:HOOOHDUQ
to use the gridded velo of the Renaissance polymath Alberti, depicted
here in a woodcut by Albrecht Drer; well use it to draw a deep interior
space. And I think youll be surprised how the proportions and angles all
become understandable. And well study many other measuring techniques,
LQFOXGLQJKRZWRPHDVXUHGLIFXOWDQJOHVXVLQJWKHPHWDSKRURIFORFNKDQGV
52

Following proportions, well study the principles that govern the creation
RIWKHLOOXVLRQRIWKUHHGLPHQVLRQDOVSDFHRQWKDWDWSDJH:HOOVWXG\WKH
many ways in which artists as diverse as Leonardo and Van Gogh controlled
this in their drawings and paintingsusing diagonal lines, oblique planes,
and geometric volumes, to name a few.
At this point, if youve been working diligently, youll have a lot of the
knowledge youll need to be able to tackle many complex drawing problems.
Youll be able to challenge yourself with complex interior spaces. Youll also
draw a master study focusing on line weight, proportion, volume, and space.
And using what youve learned about line, composition, proportion, and
VSDWLDO LOOXVLRQ \RXOO EH DEOH WR GUDZ JXUHV LQ FRPSOH[ LQWHULRUV IURP
REVHUYDWLRQ LQFOXGLQJ D VHOISRUWUDLWMXVW DV VWXGHQWV GR LQ P\ ,QWUR
Drawing course at the University of Washington.
All these drawings are made with lineshorizontals, verticals, diagonals,
and curved line segments. Youll be applying these skills you hone in
drawing exercises like the ones we did earlier with these kinds of drawings.
All the concepts and methods well use to establish proportion and the
illusion of depth in these projects are referred to as empirical perspective.
Following our study of empirical perspective, well study linear perspective;
its a really powerful tool. Taken together, empirical and linear perspective
enabled artists to create images of astonishing verisimilitudewell beyond
anything, human beings had been able to accomplish prior to their use. The
use of perspective is ubiquitous; its at the heart of so much of the visual
material we consumefrom high art, to animation, to video games.
Well start out with some exercises. Well build a solid, believable, and
complex image without reference to observed reality. Well draw a building
in a landscape, and then well draw furniture and objects in the interior of
WKH EXLOGLQJ DV LI ZH KDG [UD\ YLVLRQ 8VLQJ RQHSRLQW SHUVSHFWLYH ZHOO
create a scaled gridded room. If we imagine that each tile equals one square
IRRWZHOOEHDEOHWRPHDVXUHGLVWDQFHLQWKHWKUHHGLPHQVLRQDOVSDFHRIWKH
drawing. Well also learn how we can create pattern and make those patterns
recede in perspectival space. Once youve understood these basic principles,
53

youll be able to use all this knowledgealong with what wed covered
earlierto draw your own inventions from you imagination
Next, well really up the complexity with discussions of value, texture, and
FRORU,QRQHRIWKHUVWOHFWXUHVRQYDOXHZHOOVHHKRZDUWLVWVFRQFHLYHD
valuesteps of light to dark as a scale, just like a musical scale. Then well
see how artists use different ranges of value to expressive effect in their work.
Here, a drawing on the light end of the scale. Here, a much more robust use
of contrasting values. And well learn how, with each value palettelight,
robust, or even just black and whitewe can create a convincing illusion of
light, space, and volume.
As well as understanding the compositional implications of using value,
youll learn how you can create focal areas and focal points by controlling
relative value contrasts. And youll be able to apply everything you learn
DERXW YDOXH WR GUDZLQJ IURP REVHUYDWLRQWKLQJV OLNH VWLOOOLYHV LQWHULRUV
WKH KHDG DQG WKH JXUH :HOO DOVR H[WHQG RXU VWXG\ RI YDOXH WR VHH KRZ
it interfaces with linear perspective, and youll learn how to project the
shadows of basic forms. This will give you the tools you need to begin to
draw in light and shade from your imagination. Once you understand basic
IRUPV\RXOOEHDEOHWRWXUQWKHPLQWRHYHU\GD\REMHFWVDQGGUDZVWLOOOLYHV
and other kinds of drawings from your imaginations, too.
While we can apply value in a relatively smooth way, theres a whole
ZRUOGWREHGLVFRYHUHGLQPDUNDQGWH[WXUH:HOOVWXG\KDWFKLQJDQGFURVV
hatching, and youll apply it to your own drawings. And well investigate
other ways artists have used mark for centuries, both in the East and in the
West. And well also see how contemporary artists use mark making to great
effect today.
Following mark making and texture, youll learn about color. Well study
the basics of color theory, and learn about color properties. Well also look
at the relationship among the colors and various versions of the color wheel.
0RUH SUDFWLFDOO\ ZHOO OHDUQ DERXW WKH DIIHFWV RI OLJKW DQG FRORU RQ WKUHH
dimensional form in space. Well see how artists use all these ideas and think
about color in terms of palettes. These are groupings, or limitations of color
that help us create qualities of light and mood.
54

)RU H[DPSOH KHUH LQ WKLV 9HUPHHU ZH QG D IDLUO\ QHXWUDO RUDQJHEOXH
complimentary system. While in this Wayne Thiebaud, we see a much more
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red, yellow, and blue. The moods are clearly different, but in both we get
the illusion of form in lightof space and volume. And well learn how we
FDQ FUHDWH IRUP LQ OLJKW LQ YDULRXV PRRGV -XVW OLNH FRPSRVHUV FDQ LQHFW
melodies in different keys or through different types of orchestration.
As we did with value, well learn how we can use color compositionally
to create a visual hierarchy with focal areas and focal points. Youll see
how you can apply all these ideas to your own drawing to create different
qualities of mood, light, and form. Youll apply these ideas to draw both
from your imagination and from observation.
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DSSURDFK WKH JXUH LQ VHYHUDO GLIIHUHQW ZD\V ZKLFK DUH JHDUHG WR KHOS
\RX GUDZ JXUHV ERWK IURP REVHUYDWLRQ DQG IURP \RXU LPDJLQDWLRQ:HOO
start with an examination of canons of proportions, and youll learn how
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:HOOUHODWHWKLVWRDVWXG\RIWKHPDMRUERQHVLQWKHERG\DQGGUDZJXUHV
uniting a canon of proportions with what youll learn about the skeletal
system. Well go through the major muscle groups as well, and youll use
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from your imagination. Well also talk about some specialized drawing
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ZKDWZHYHOHDUQHGDERXWWKHJXUHWRZKDWZHGVWXGLHGHDUOLHULQFOXGLQJ
RXUVWXG\RISHUVSHFWLYHWRGUDZJXUHVIURPWKHLPDJLQDWLRQLQLPDJLQHG
environments.
The last two lectures, 35 and 36, extend into some more advanced concepts
and projects. Well consider changes that affected art in the late 19th century,
including visual ideas that led to greater abstraction. And other forms of
JXUDWLRQ WKDW GHSHQG RQ V\QWKHVL]LQJ DEVWUDFWLRQ ZLWK PXOWLSOH SRLQWV RI
view and imaginative interpolationsmoving into areas involving fantasy
and personal subject matter from the imagination, and from observation.
Well close with a discussion and a set of projects that are designed to help

55

you begin to identify the kind of art you want to make, and some thoughts on
how to go about this.
It took me about 15 minutes to outline the exercises and projects associated
with this course. As I noted earlier, it could easily take a year or more to
work through all this; its equivalent to what youd cover at a university
LQ IRXU DFDGHPLF TXDUWHUV7KH SURMHFWV VXJJHVWHG LQ WKH QDO WZR OHFWXUHV
FRXOGH[WHQGZHOOEH\RQGWKDW
Theres a natural progression in this sequence of studyfrom concentrating
more on acquiring knowledge, skill, and technique; and then thinking more
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interests. The goal at the beginning is mastery of the breadth of accumulated
knowledge. As you advance, youll be able to apply this knowledge and skill
to your own individual creative vision. So take it slow; one piece at a time.
,I \RX GR \RXOO QG HDFK QHZ SLHFH EXLOGLQJ RQ ZKDW \RXYH OHDUQHG LQ
prior lessons and youll be on your way to developing a depth of knowledge
regarding many of the ways in which drawings are conceived of and made.
Whether you choose to fully work through all the problems or not, just
developing a conceptual understanding of the ways in which artists think and
pursue their work will fundamentally change the way you see both art and
the world around you.

56

Line and Shape: Line and Aggregate Shape

Lecture 4

V ZH OHDUQHG LQ WKH UVW OHFWXUH SHRSOH KDYH EHHQ GUDZLQJ OLQHV
and shapes for a very long timeat least 80,000 years. This is also
the way most of us started drawing as children. Because it seems
to come so naturally, drawing lines and shapes is a logical place to begin.
In this lecture, well start by learning about two kinds of line: contour line
and construction line. Then, well see how we can use these to draw simple
shapes. By combining contour line, construction line, and shape, we can
draw all kinds of things, including the kinds of objects commonly found in
still lifes. Well conclude the lecture by discussing a special kind of shape:
aggregate shape. Well see how we can use this to organize the various
shapes associated with objects in a drawing.
Contour and Construction Lines
Contour lines are often used to describe the outer edges of objects or to
outline shapes. An example might be drawing a circle by putting your pencil
on the page, following the circles edge, and returning to the point of origin.
Construction lines (also called diagrammatic lines) are like scaffolding at
a construction site. The scaffolding helps the workers build the building,
but as the project moves toward completion, its removed. In drawing,
a construction line might be a centerline that helps you ensure the object
youre drawing doesnt lean in one direction or the other. Artists may also use
FRQVWUXFWLRQOLQHVWRJXUHRXWUHODWLYHVSDFLQJDQGVL]HVLQDGUDZLQJEXW
such lines are usually erased from completed drawings. Both construction
lines and construction shapes help build more complex objects.
Simple Shapes
As you begin to develop a vocabulary of shapes, you can put them to
use to draw objects. For example, you can draw a wine bottlean object
commonly found in still lifesusing a centerline and four simple shapes:
a large rectangle for the body of the bottle; a triangle for the shoulders;
a smaller, thinner, vertical rectangle for the neck; and a much smaller
57

horizontal rectangle for the collar. You would then erase the centerline and
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Lecture 4Line and Shape: Line and Aggregate Shape

Practicing with Still-Life Objects

Many things in our homes can be constructed using simple shapes, such as
circles, ovals, rectangles, and triangles, especially when theyre in an upright
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candlestick, a coffee mug, and a wine glass. Put one object at a time on your
VWLOOOLIHWDEOHDQGDQDO\]HLW:KDWFRQVWLWXHQWVKDSHVFRXOGLWEHFRQVWUXFWHG
with? Draw a centerline and construct each object using shapes. Check at
each step for symmetricality and proportion. Also try drawing some other
objects, such as a house, car, bicycle, or furniture. Once you understand the
basic principle of using construction lines, contour lines, and shape building
blocks, try drawing from your imagination, too.
Aggregate Shape
So far, weve seen how contour can be used to make shape, and weve seen
how we can use contour and shape, with the aid of construction lines and
shapes, to draw a wide range of things, both from observation and from the
imagination. Often though, were not just drawing a single thing but groups
of things, such as objects and fruit in a still life or groups of trees and other
elements in a landscape. In these cases, another kind of construction shape,
aggregate shape, is useful. Aggregate shape is essentially the container for
the objects in a drawing.

Suggested Reading
Guptill, Rendering in Pencil, chapter 7, Object Drawing in Outline.
Pumphrey, The Elements of Art, chapter 6, Line and Dot, and Shape, pp.
90131.
Sale and Betti, Drawing, Shape, pp. 99106.
Smagula, Creative Drawing, chapter 4, Line pp. 8487.

58

Line and Shape: Line and Aggregate Shape

Lecture 4Transcript
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for a very long time, at least 80,000 years. Its also the way most of us started
drawing as kids. It comes pretty naturally. So its a logical place to begin.
Well start by learning about two kinds of linecontour line and construction
line. Then, well see how we can use them to draw simple shapes. By
combining contour, and construction line and shape we can draw all kinds
of things. Including the kinds of things commonly found in still lives. Well
QLVKXSE\WDONLQJDERXWDVSHFLDONLQGRIVKDSHDJJUHJDWHVKDSHDQGKRZ
we can use it to help us organize the various shapes associated with objects
in a drawing.
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DQG D GUDZLQJ ERDUG :HOO DOVR XVH D EXQFK RI SDSHU 6R   LQFK
SULQWHUSDSHURUDVLPLODUVL]HGVNHWFKERRNZRXOGEHQH<RXOODOVRQHHGD
table positioned against a wall and some objectsa simple bottle, like a wine
bottle, among them. Other useful objects would be things like a pitcher, a
vase, candlesticks, coffee mugs, wine glasses, and the like.
7KLV LV RQH RI WKH GUDZLQJV ZH ORRNHG DW LQ WKH UVW OHFWXUH ,WV E\ WKH
great 19thFHQWXU\$PHULFDQDUWLVWDQGWHDFKHU7KRPDV(DNLQV,WVDVWXG\
for his 1873 watercolor, John Biglin in a Single Scull. This drawing uses
many types of lines including the two were discussing here, contour and
construction line.
Well start with contour. Id like you to draw three shapes: a circle, a
rectangle, and a triangle. Do it now.
To draw the circle most of you probably put your pencils tip on the page and
made a more or less continuous line. You started at a certain point and then
without crossing back over the line youve drawn, you returned to that point
of origin along a continuous curve.

59

Most of that would constitute a reasonable set of instructions for making a

shape of any kindput your pencils tip on your page, dont lift the pencil
from the page, draw a line in any or all directions, dont cross over any
line youve drawn, and then, return to that point of origin. The kind of line
youve used here is called contour. Its often used to describe the outer edge
of something.
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Note the line starting at the top of the head, the one that continues along the
back of the skull. Its not much different than a portion of the circle you just
drew.
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edges of his arms those are also contours. And, as you may have already
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Contour is the primary type of line we use to outline shapes. And, its the
type of line you just used to draw your circle, rectangle, and triangle.
:H DOVR QG FRQVWUXFWLRQ OLQH LQ (DNLQV GUDZLQJ ,WV DOVR UHIHUUHG WR DV
diagrammatic line. Im sure you noticed the many ruled radiating lines
on the rivers surface. You may have guessed that these are perspectival
construction lines.
Eakins uses them to better understand the plane of the surface of the water.
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size of any ripples or wavelets he introduces on the waters surface. The
lines help Eakins draw the things he wants to draw. But, the lines themselves
DUHQWJRLQJWRPDNHLWLQWRWKHQDOZDWHUFRORU
Construction lines are often like scaffolding at a construction site. It helps
the workers build the building, but as the project moves toward completion,
its removed.
Going back to Eakins drawing, youve also likely noticed the strong central
vertical. That drawing is actually made on two pieces of paper joined in the
center. And this may have been reiterated with line as well. In any case, this
60

vertical helps Eakins pin the rower dead center in the page. And, this central
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VXEMHFWUHHFWHG,WVOLNHDJXLGHOLNHWKHOLQHVSDLQWHGRQWKHKLJKZD\WKDW
tell you where to steer your car.
We also use construction shapes. Those are shapes that help us draw
something. Some people use construction lines and shapes instinctively.
And, in fact, you may have used them to draw your circle.
Drawing a decent circle isnt easy. But, try it starting with a construction
shapea square. Cross the diagonals then extend a vertical and a horizontal
through the center point to the squares edges. You could also add a
diamond by connecting the center points of the squares sides. These are all
construction lines and shapes.
Now, like Eakins, you know where to locate your subject. Right here, inside
\RXUFRQVWUXFWLRQVKDSH$QG\RXYHJLYHQ\RXUVHOIYHJXLGHSRLQWVIRXU
along the perimeter and one in the center.
,I\RXSDVVWKURXJKHDFKRIWKHIRXURXWVLGHSRLQWVOLNHLQDFRQQHFWWKHGRWV
drawing, while staying equidistant from the center point youll have given
yourself a real leg up in getting a good circle.
Youll also notice you have four distinct quadrants as you draw your circle,
and you can compare the curvature in each one. You can measure the
curvature against each of the diagonals of the internal diamond too. Now
most of us tend to do better in one quadrant than another. So now, we can
compare them and bring each quadrant up to the quality of the best one. You
PD\QGLWKHOSIXOWRURWDWH\RXUSDSHUDV\RXGUDZ
Were going to be using construction lines and basic shapes to build more
complex things. So, try drawing a circle using a square and construction
OLQHVQRZ,I\RXGOLNHXVH\RXUUXOHURU7VTXDUH7KHQGUDZ\RXUVXEMHFW
the circle, freehand. Youll note that Eakins did just that.
2QHKLQW'UDZWKHFRQVWUXFWLRQOLQHVOLJKWDQGWKLQ7U\DZHOOSRLQWHG+
or 4H pencil. Then use an HB or 2B for the circle itself.
61

Now youre ready to draw more shapes.

6WDUWZLWKDULJKWWULDQJOH7KHQWZRULJKWWULDQJOHVEDFNWREDFN7KHQWKDW
same shape without the center line. Now, make another with its mirror image,
and you get a diamond. Flip it on its side youll to get a parallelogram. Return
to the diamond construction. But, point the triangle down, the lower up, and
you get an hourglass. Back to the triangle: Chop off its top, and you get a
trapezoid. Stack these, a hexagon. You could invert it, and then youd get an
hourglass variation. Take a circle, half it, you get a hemisphere. Condense
a circle to get an ellipse, ovoid, or spheroid. And invert the sides to get a
curvilinear hourglass variation. Were beginning to develop a vocabulary of
shapes. And we can put them to use to draw objects.
People have been using shapes in just this way for a long time. This is a
page from the sketchbook of a 13thFHQWXU\ )UHQFKPDQ QDPHG 9LOODUG
de Honnecourt. Part of the inscription reads, Here begins the method of
representation as taught by the art of geometry.
So, lets adopt this method. Well start with an object often found in still
livesa wine bottle. Well draw it from our imaginations, upright and seen
straight on. Like many things seen this way, its also bilaterally symmetrical.
Imagine from this point of view we can construct it using four simple shapes:
a large rectangle for the body; a triangle for the shoulders; a small, thinner,
vertical rectangle for the neck; and a much smaller horizontal rectangle for
the collar.
Four shapes totalthree rectangles and a triangle. Following Eakins
example, well start with the centerline, and that will help us control the
shapes symmetry. Make your center line however you like, whatever size.
And then, also, give yourself a horizontal to represent the width of the body.
But then, put aside your straight edge. Then what were going to do is we
draw a rectangle for the body.
And then, take a look at it and make any adjustments you need to. Then our
next shape will be a triangle for the shoulders. And then, well take that, and
well turn it into a trapezoid and make a rectangle for our neck. Then you can
62

UHQH\RXUOLQHDVQHHGHG8VHWKHNQHDGHGHUDVHUWRWDNHDZD\VRPHRIWKH
HUDVXUH7KHQZHOODGGDQDOKRUL]RQWDOUHFWDQJOHIRUWKHFROODU
Now, we can erase our centerline, we can erase some of our construction
shape, erase what we dont need. Then we can soften the hard corners, a little
erasing there. And then we can just round through a little bitrounding at
the shoulders, rounding a bit at the collar, at the top of the bottle and on the
other side. And then well just round a bit at the bottomat the baseof the
bottle. And erase what we dont want, and were done.
Now, you might ask, Why not draw a bottle starting at one point and
moving around its edgejust outline it like the way many of you drew your
initial circle.
Heres the problem. When most people just follow the edge of an object,
they run into a routine problem. The object is out of whack. It leans to the
left or to the right, and the left and right sides dont really correspond. While
this can be expressive, if we want a naturalistic result, using a centerline and
constructing with shape can really help.
Instead, by drawing the shape on a centerline we draw the top, and the
bottom, and the sides of the object, or portion of the object, in one fell swoop.
So, its easier to see and control the proportions, the widths and the heights.
$QGZHOOEHPXFKPRUHDZDUHLIWKHUHVDULJKWOHIWDOLJQPHQWSUREOHPRU
if the objects tilting off a true vertical. Drawing with construction lines and
EXLOGLQJEORFNVKDSHVKHOSVXVVHHDOORIWKLVPRUHFOHDUO\$QGFUXFLDOO\ZH
havent invested in precious details. Were just making simple shapes, which
are easily judged, edited, and erased.
We just drew a bottle from the imagination. Lets try it now from observation.
Well be doing this often, relating imagination or construction to observation.
Both are very important ways of drawing. Youll need a simple bottle. More
or less, like the one we just drew, put it on your table and draw it using
the same constructive method we just used. Dont worry about the label, the
bottles contents, or any other details, just the centerline and shapes.

63

We have three goals here: We want the bottle to be truly vertical, no leaning;
truly symmetrical, no bulges; and, proportionate to the bottle youre looking
DW7DNHLWVWHSE\VWHSDQGWDNHLWVORZ
Leonardo Da Vincis, Trattato della Pittura or Treatise on Painting, is a
compilation that was put together by one of his students, Francesco Melzi.
7KLV LV EDFN LQ WKH PLGth century. In this treatise, Leonardo gives this
advice to new students. Ti ricordo che impari prima la diligenza che la
prestezza,UHPLQG\RXWRUVWOHDUQGLOLJHQFHQRWVSHHG
So, take the time to get each step right before going on to the next. Start with
a centerline. Then a rectangle for the body of the object, its just four lines.
Check themmake sure youre centered on that centerline. Then, look at the
height to width proportions. Make sure they correspond to the proportions of
the bottles body. If not, erase and correct, just four lines.
8QGHUVWDQGLQJ WKH ZLGWK WR KHLJKW SURSRUWLRQV PD\ WDNH WLPH DW UVW %XW
youll get better with practice. Youre developing a new skill. Youre seeing
KRZ\RXFDQPHDVXUHZLWK\RXUH\H:KHQ\RXUHVDWLVHGZLWK\RXUUVW
shape, add a truncated triangle or trapezoid for the shouldersthree new
lines. At each step, check for symmetry and proportion.
Now, the thin neck, three more lines. Add a rectangle for the collar. Now a
QDOFKHFNIRUV\PPHWU\DQGSURSRUWLRQ
Part of learning to see involves analyzing what were seeing, and breaking
complex things down into understandable pieces. In this case, simple
constituent shapes.
While the end goal of drawing is often expression, it has its distinctly
quantitative side. Especially if we want the result to be naturalistic, relative
proportions, angles, and distances all have to be carefully determined.
As well become abundantly clear in coming lectures, a lot of this relates
to measure of one kind or another. We put something down. We look
analytically, measuring size, placement, degree of symmetry and a host
of other variables. Then we edit, correct, and adjust. Many would say that
64

drawing is not so much an action as a process. Part of that process involves

coming to a visual understanding of what were seeing or imagining and
drawing. With that in mind, lets up the ante and use our vocabulary of
shapes to construct some more challenging subjects.
This is a still life, a 1996 pencil drawing by the contemporary American
artist, William Bailey. And, its like the Eakins, complex. But, using what
weve learned about drawing construction lines and shapes well be able to
get a pretty good handle on how we might begin to go about drawing the
kind of objects we see in this still life.
$QGGRQWZRUU\LIWKLQJVGRQWFRPHRXWDVSUHFLVHO\DV\RXGOLNHDWUVW
Ive been drawing for decades and often feel the same way. Ill often use
my erasers as often as my pencils, if not more. If you can tolerate a bit of
awkwardness and summon your patience and persistence, youll see real
LPSURYHPHQW7KLVLVMXVWWKHUVWVWHS6WLFNZLWKLWDQGSUDFWLFH\RXOOVHH
\RXUDELOLW\GHYHORS$QGLQWKHFRPLQJOHFWXUHVZHOOEHVWXG\LQJVSHFLF
methods for getting all those proportions to correspond with what we see.
Lets draw the central pitcher. First, well draw a light vertical center
construction line. You might want to use a straight edge, like Eakins. But,
draw the rest freehand. Look at the pitcher. What shape is that body? Not
much more than a slowly tapering trapezoid. So, draw a similar trapezoid on
\RXUFHQWHUOLQHIRXUOLQHV7KHQH\HEDOOWKHUHVXOWUVWLQUHIHUHQFHWRWKH
centerline. Is your shape centered and bilaterally symmetrical? If not, adjust.
1RZ FRPSDUH WKH VKDSH WR %DLOH\V 'RHV LW KDYH VLPLODU KHLJKWWRZLGWK
proportions? Are the diagonals of the sides similar in angle? Adjust again.
Take it slow. Its only four lines.
Next, the spout, what shape is it? Not much more than a small triangle.
Two lines, really. Then, check the placement and scale. Are the lines in the
right place? Are they the right length and diagonal? If they arent, erase and
change anything that looks off.
Well tackle the handle in two pieces using construction shapes. First, well
GUDZ DQ RYDO IRU WKH WRS SDUW DQG D GRZQZDUGSRLQWLQJ WULDQJOH IRU WKH

65

bottom. And if weve gotten our shapes about right, the handle should more
or less fall into place. Again, eyeball the results and adjust as needed.
:KHQ\RXUHVDWLVHGHUDVHWKHFRQVWUXFWLRQOLQHVWKHQVOLJKWO\URXQGVRPH
of the angular edges to make it feel more naturalistic. Last, well add two
light lines for the rim at the top and bottom of the pitcher.
Lets follow the same procedure with the elaborate vase on the right. No
worries, we can boil it down to six simple shapes. And well build it, like a
skyscraper, from bottom to top. Once again, well start with that centerline.
Then, a rectangle for the rounded bottom portionfour lines. This, in part,
will be a guide shape. You want to hinge this rectangle on the centerline and
make sure it captures the height to width proportions of the bottom shape.
Take a moment to eyeball it, then make any corrections you need to.
1H[WURXQGRXWWKHVLGHV,WVPRUHRUOHVVOLNHGUDZLQJDVPLOH\IDFHVPLOH
upended. Many people also turn their paper as they draw. Its often easier
to draw certain things in one position rather than another. So, you could try
that too. On top of the bottom rectangle well add a really small rectangle.
$QGRQWRSRIWKDWDVHFWLRQRIDKHPLVSKHUHZLWKDDWERWWRP(\HEDOO\RXU
UVWWKUHHVKDSHVIRUSURSRUWLRQWKHQDGMXVW:HOOFDSWKHKHPLVSKHUHZLWK
a triangle. These last three shapes taken together should look like a top. The
IWKVKDSHVDQRWKHUUHFWDQJOHDVOLPYHUWLFDORQH7KHVL[WKDQGQDOVKDSH
will be a downward pointing triangle. Check the proportions and all the
shapes alignments with the centerline. Using the top three shapes as a guide
draw the slightly curving sides of the vase. Then, erase the construction lines
and round some of the angles. Last, you could add those decorative stripes.
If it didnt come out quite the way youd like, dont worry, this is a beginning.
Try it a couple times and it will improve. And it would be a great exercise to
draw each of the remaining objects in the still life using the same method.
Many things in our homes can be constructed using simple shapes like
circles, ovals, rectangles, and trianglesespecially when theyre in an
XSULJKWDQGIURQWDORUSUROHYLHZ

66

I asked you all at the beginning of the lecture to gather up some objects. Like
a pitcher, a vase, a candlestick, a coffee mug, or a wine glass. Put one odd
object on your still life table. Analyze it. What constituent shapes could it be
constructed with? Give yourself a centerline and build your object. Check at
each step for symmetricality and proportion, just like we did earlier.
Many other things can be drawn the same way. Houses, cars, bicycles,
IXUQLWXUH IUXLW YHJHWDEOHV HYHQ WKH KXPDQ JXUH DOO RI WKHVH FRXOG EH
analyzed and drawn using these ideas. So, try drawing the things around
you. Once you understand the basic principle of using construction lines, and
contour and shape building blocks, try drawing from your imagination too.
This has its parallel in writing. We can construct all the words in most
ODQJXDJHVZLWKDQLWHVHWRIOHWWHUV(YHQ&KLQHVHZKLFKLVSLFWRJUDSKLF
KDVDQLWHVHWRIYLVXDOXQLWVFDOOHGUDGLFDOVLQDOO,QGUDZLQJZHFDQ
FRQVWUXFWMXVWDERXWDOOWKHWKLQJVLQWKHZRUOGDURXQGXVZLWKDQLWHVHWRI
shapes.
And, we can combine observation with imagination and improvisation. You
could start with a bottle, using it as a model. Draw the body and shoulders
just as you see them. But, you could make the neck much longer or shorter,
or make the body wider. So, we can move from observation, to construction,
to invention. Before moving on with the rest of the lecture, you could take
some time to draw now to practice and experiment with these approaches.
So far, weve seen how contour can be used to make shape. And, weve seen
how we can use contour and shape, with the aid of construction lines and
shapes, to draw a wide range of thingsboth from observation and from
the imagination. Often, though, were not just drawing a single thing, were
drawing groups of things. Like objects and fruit in a still life, or groups of
trees or other elements in a landscape, or a group of people in a room. In
each case, another kind of construction shape, aggregate shape, can really
help us out.
One of the most common problems beginning drawing students encounter
LVWKDWWKH\UXQRXWRISDSHULQRQHGLUHFWLRQRUDQRWKHU7KH\FDQWWDOOWKH
REMHFWVLQWKHVWLOOOLIHLQWKHLUGUDZLQJ2UHYHQZLWKDVLQJOHJXUHWKH\
67

ran out of room for the legs and the feet, or the neck and the head, or both.
They fall off the page. Another common problem is that the objects dont
relate well to one another or to the shape of the drawing itself. And this is
absolutely avoidable if we adjust our procedure.
When most artists draw, theyre not only thinking about the individual
REMHFWV RU JXUHV7KH\UH WKLQNLQJ DERXW KRZ WKRVH WKLQJV JHW RUJDQL]HG
To begin to think this way it helps to start with a large encompassing shape
LQVWHDGRIVWDUWLQJZLWKDGHWDLORUDSDUWRIDQREMHFWRUJXUH
(DUOLHU ZH ORRNHG DW WKLV *UHHN$PSKRUD 7KHUH DUH IRXU XQLTXH JXUHV
But, theyre conceived of collectively. They form an aggregate shape. As
PXFKDVHDFKJXUHKDVDVKDSHLGHQWLW\WKHJURXSGRHVDVZHOO
Traveling 1600 years forward in time, lets take another look at those Court
Ladies Preparing Newly Woven Silk.
+HUH WRR WKH JXUHV IRUP DQ RYHUDOO JURXSLQJD ZLGH UHFWDQJOH WKDW
rhymes in shape with the central rectangle of the scroll itself. Within that, we
QGVXEJURXSLQJV7KHIRXUJXUHVRQWKHULJKWDQGWKHIRXURQWKHOHIWHDFK
form a rectangular grouping.
$QG ZH FDQ FRQFHLYH RI WKH WKUHH FHQWUDO JXUHV ZLWK WKH DGGLWLRQ RI WKH
VPDOO FKLOG RQ WKH OHIW DV IRUPLQJ D KRXVHVKDSHG JURXSLQJD UHFWDQJOH
topped by a triangle. The small child under the stretched silk actually links
WKHFHQWUDODQGOHIWJURXSV:HFRXOGDOVRVD\WKDWWKHIDUOHIWJXUHLQWKH
right grouping helps link that group to the central one, because shes facing
in towards them.
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Last Supper is surprisingly similar to the Song Dynasty Court Ladies, in
WKDWWKHJXUHVIRUPDORQJUHFWDQJXODUJURXSLQJZLWKFOHDUVXEJURXSLQJV
Reading left to right we can see this as a rectangular group of six, a triangle
of one, and a rectangle of six. Or, we could also see it as a group of three,
DQRWKHUWKUHHDRQHDWKUHHDQGDQDOWKUHH

68

And, in the 16th century, Holbein, well, hes thinking similarly. We get a large
rectangular grouping. This time it could be subdivided as a large trapezoid
receding into space, and a smaller rectangle or pentagon of sorts.
0RYLQJIRUZDUGDFHQWXU\RUVRZHQG5HPEUDQGW<RXOOQRWHWKDWPRVW
of the crowd forms an aggregate rectangle with smaller rectangles on the
XSSHUULJKWDQGWKHORZHUOHIW7KHUHDUHDOVRVXEJURXSLQJVRILQWHUORFNLQJ
rectangles and triangles.
And heres a drawing from Rembrandts contemporary, the French, Nicholas
3RXVVLQ7KHJXUHVRQWKHJURXQGJURXSLQWRDZLGHUHFWDQJOHWKHJXUHV
DERYHLQWRDVTXDUHURQHDVGRWKHJXUHVEHWZHHQWKHFROXPQVRIDODUJH
building in the back.
Traveling to the 18th century to India, the Two Lovers form an aggregate
triangle. Next, to 20thFHQWXU\ %RORJQD WKLV LV D VWLOO OLIH E\ *LRUJLR
Morandiknown very much as an artists artist. His still life forms an
aggregate rectangle, here, a vertical one.
And lets return to the Bailey. The objects are grouped, more or less, into a
long rectangle. We could also view that shape as a rectangle framed by two
right trianglesa trapezoid reallyor as two overlapping trapezoids.
One of the things that make all these works so interesting to look at is the way
ZHVHHDYDULHW\RISDWWHUQVRILQWHUFRQQHFWHGJURXSLQJVDQGVXEJURXSLQJV
What they all share is that they unite the disparate individual elements. This
provides connection and solidity. It creates an abstract structure of shape that
makes visual sense in the drawing.
Ive chosen a wide range of examples to make the point that this isnt about
a style or type of art. Its a fundamental visual principle. We started out with
WKHSUREOHPRIIDOOLQJRIIWKHSDJHQRWKDYLQJHQRXJKURRPWRWWKHWKLQJV
intended in the drawing. Starting with aggregate shapes helps to preclude
this and it establishes strong relationships among the shapes, among the
things that we want to draw.
So lets try it now.
69

<RXOO QHHG D SHQFLO DQ HUDVHU DQG D VKHHW RI   LQFK SDSHU:HOO
combine this new idea with what weve already learned. Well start with
a large aggregate shape to locate three objects in the page. Then, use
FRQVWUXFWLRQ OLQHV FRQWRXU DQG EXLOGLQJEORFN VKDSHV WR FRQVWUXFW WKH
objects themselves.
This is what were going to draw. Theres nothing inherently special about it.
Its simply a means to understand a set of procedures.
Well start with the aggregate shapea wedge shape, taller than its wide.
:HOOSODFHLWDELWRIIFHQWHUHGWRWKHULJKWDQGZLWKPRUHZKLWHRIWKHSDJH
below than above. Well work from the back forward.
6RZHOOVWDUWZLWKWKHSLWFKHUE\GUDZLQJDWDOOLVKWUDSH]RLGLQWKHORZHU
right quadrant of the aggregate shape. We want to extend a bit beyond the
horizontal and vertical halves of the aggregate shape and its placement. Take
some time to get it in the right place. Next, add a centerline, then adjust the
trapezoid.
Now, well add the upper trapezoidan inverted oneand a triangle for the
spout. Then the handle, let it extend to the aggregate shapes edge. Do this
freehand, or if you prefer, use a construction shape like we did earlier.
Next, the bottle, well draw it using four shapes. First, the base, aligned
with the aggregate shape on the left, and a bit above it horizontally. Note the
relationship of the height of this rectangle relative to the pitcher. Its just a
bit shorter.
Now, well add a centerline and adjust, then a trapezoid for the shoulders,
a gently tapering neck and a cap extending to the aggregate shapes border.
Well add a thin line under the cap for the collar.
Now, lets turn to the bowl. Well start with a trapezoid for the body. Note
its location, just above the bottom border of the aggregate shape. The tops
above the half of the bottles base. Also, note how far it extends right and
left. When you think youve got it about right, add a center line and adjust
as needed.
70

Starting about halfway down the trapezoid on either side well draw a curve
extending to the center point of the base, then a partial trapezoid for the
bowls base. Add a couple of decorative stripes and were almost there.
6RWKHUVWWKLQJZHOOGRLVWRHUDVHWKHDJJUHJDWHVKDSH$QGWKHQZHOO
want to imagine it in space, so well take our pencil and draw on a couple of
lines to represent the point where the tabletop is sitting against the wall. That
will place it into space.
Now we have a bunch of erasing to do. Why dont we start with those
centerlines, we can get rid of those. In some of the tight places, Ill use my
kneaded eraser. And we can get rid some of the other construction lines and
shapesinternal shapes. And, we can also get rid of the pieces that are being
overlapped. And, we might want to do a little more erasing, especially at
some of those angled edges, sharp edges, places where we want to round.
And then, we can go back in with our pencil and begin to do some of our
round and making things a little more natural. And where weve lost some
line well just reiterate as needed. And were pretty much done.
Heres what Id like you to do next: Gather up the drawings of individual
REMHFWV\RXGLGHDUOLHU/RRNWKURXJKWKHP,PDJLQHKRZWKUHHWRYHRIWKH
objects could be drawn together to form an aggregate shape. Then, draw the
imagined aggregate shape in your page. Using your earlier drawings as a
reference, build your objects into that shape.
$IWHU\RXYHGRQHWKLVWU\LWIURPREVHUYDWLRQ6HWXSWKUHHWRYHVWLOOOLIH
objects on your table to form that aggregate shape. Draw the shape on your
SDJH 7KHQ XVH EXLOGLQJEORFN VKDSHV DQG FHQWHUOLQHV DQG FRQVWUXFW \RXU
drawing.
Next, well further explore how the shapes and objects we draw relate to the
page.

71

Line and Shape: Volume and Figure-Ground

Lecture 5

QWKLVOHFWXUHZHOOOHDUQDERXWDWKLUGNLQGRIOLQHFURVVFRQWRXUDQG
well see how its related to an oblique shape. Well also learn how
oblique shapes are related to geometric solids. We can use this new
NQRZOHGJHWRPDNHWKHREMHFWVZHGUDZDSSHDUWKUHHGLPHQVLRQDO5HODWHGWR
DJJUHJDWHVKDSHZHOOLQWURGXFHWKHFRQFHSWRIJXUHJURXQGUHODWLRQVKLSV
which will help us structure our drawings in a more sophisticated way.

Lecture 5Line and Shape: Volume and Figure-Ground

Cross-Contour Lines and Geometric Solids

Cross-contour lines are those that exist inside contours. They magically
WUDQVIRUP DW VKDSHV LQWR YROXPHWULF VROLGV &RQVLGHU IRU H[DPSOH D
KH[DJRQ GUDZQ ZLWK FRQWRXU %\ LQWURGXFLQJ WKUHH LQWHULRU OLQHVFURVV
FRQWRXUVZHWUDQVIRUPWKHKH[DJRQLQWRDWKUHHGLPHQVLRQDOFXEH

Foreshortened Shapes
%\ GUDZLQJ FURVVFRQWRXUV OLNH WKH RQH LQ WKH H[DPSOH DERYH ZH FUHDWH
a new kind of shape: oblique or foreshortened shape. Such shapes are
DPELJXRXV7KH\ FDQ DSSHDU DW EXW WKH\ FDQ DOVR H[SUHVV D UHFHVVLRQ LQ
space. Thus, theyre useful for creating the illusion of three dimensions on a
WZRGLPHQVLRQDOVXUIDFH

72

Integrating Contour and Cross-Contour

,QWKHVFKHPDWLFGUDZLQJRIWKHFXEHWKHFURVVFRQWRXUDQGFRQWRXUVZHUH
presented as separate. And, at times, they may well be used that way. But its
DOVRFRPPRQWRLQWHJUDWHWKHPWRRZIURPFRQWRXULQWRFURVVFRQWRXU
$VQRWHGHDUOLHUDWDFHUWDLQOHYHOZHUHQRWUHDOO\GUDZLQJVWLOOOLIHREMHFWV
or people; were just drawing lines, and we have to decide where each line
begins and ends. We move from the edge of the form, the contour, to the
LQWHULRURIWKHIRUPWKHFURVVFRQWRXUDQGYLFHYHUVD:HOHWWKHOLQHVFUHDWH
clear overlaps to show whats in front and whats behind. This is one of the
PRVWHOHJDQWZD\VRIFUHDWLQJWKHLOOXVLRQRIWKUHHGLPHQVLRQDOYROXPH0XFK
of the art here involves making subtle choices about how this is done.
Drawing Ellipses
The things we see around us that are circular, such as plates, bowls, clocks,
tires, and so on, are rarely seen from a vantage point where they appear truly
circular. The only view in which these objects actually appear circular is
when theyre seen straight on, as in looking straight down at a plate. In all
other views, we see them as foreshortened circles, or ellipses.
Drawing ellipses is challenging, and given that so many of the things we
want to draw involve ellipses, its a good idea to practice this skill.
When youre drawing ellipses, there are a couple things to check for.
First, every ellipse can be thought of as having a horizontal and a vertical
centerline.

These are referred to as the major or long axis and the minor or short axis. A
true ellipse is symmetrical on either side of each axis. Thus, using centerlines
can help when checking for symmetry.

73

Figure-Ground Relationships
Before we draw more complex still lifes, we need to tackle the concept
RI JXUHJURXQG UHODWLRQVKLSV ,Q D GUDZLQJ WKH JXUH generally refers to
the aggregate grouping or shape of the individual things or objects that we
would commonly identify as the subject of the drawing. The ground is often
ZKDWVGHQHGE\WKHODUJHUGLYLVLRQVRIWKHUHFWDQJOHWKDWVHWVWKHVWDJHIRU
WKHJXUHRUDJJUHJDWHVKDSH:HPLJKWVD\WKDWground refers to the shape
of what some people commonly think of as the background. But its much
more than that. Its the construct of the environment in front, to the sides,
DQGLQEDFNRIWKHJXUH
,Q WKH (DNLQV SDLQWLQJ WKH URZHU DQG VFXOO DUH WKH JXUH DQG WKH
surrounding landscape is the ground. The ground, which is synonymous
ZLWKWKHFRPSRVLWLRQVUHFWDQJOHFRQVLVWVRIWZRVXEUHFWDQJOHVZLWKWKHWRS
rectangle being just slightly smaller. Again, rectangles create the shape of the
drawing itself.

Yale University Art Gallery.

Lecture 5Line and Shape: Volume and Figure-Ground

You should also make sure that the ends of the long axis are continuously
URXQGHGUDWKHUWKDQDOPRQGVKDSHGDQGWKDWWKHORQJFXUYHLVQRWDWWHQHG

74

Here, weve used a horizontal line to divide the rectangles describing the
ground shapes, but we want to avoid thinking about this as just a line. Its
useful to think about it in two seemingly contradictory ways at the same time.
Heres a rectangle divided by a line:

:HFDQFKRRVHWRVHHWKLVDVSXUHO\DWDVWZRUHFWDQJOHVPHHWLQJWRIRUP
a larger oneor we could read it as expressing dimension; it could be a
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)LUVW LW LV DW PDGH RI ODUJH DW VKDSHV PHHWLQJ WR FUHDWH WKH GUDZLQJV
RYHUDOO VKDSH 6HFRQG ZH ZDQW WR WKLQN DERXW WKH JURXQG DV EHLQJ WKUHH
GLPHQVLRQDO7KLQNDERXWLWDVSHUSHQGLFXODURUULJKWDQJOHSODQHVWKDWPHHW
back in space in one of the deepest parts of the drawing.
In a landscape, the major ground shapes or planes would refer to land and
sky; in a seascape, to sea and sky; in a still life, to table and wall; and in an
LQWHULRUWRRRUDQGZDOO,QWHUPVRIWKHXQGHUO\LQJJUDPPDURIGUDZLQJDOO
these situations are similar.

75

Suggested Reading
Chaet, The Art of Drawing)LJXUH*URXQGSS
Curtis, Drawing from Observation, FKDSWHU&URVV&RQWRXU
Norling, Perspective Made Easy, chapter 14, Practical Uses of Cylinders in
Drawing, pp. 131142.
Rockman, Drawing Essentials, Different Kinds and Functions of Line,
pp. 5965.

Lecture 5Line and Shape: Volume and Figure-Ground

Smagula, Creative Drawing, chapter 4, Line, pp. 8890.

76

Line and Shape: Volume and Figure-Ground

Lecture 5Transcript
Now well learn about a third kind of line, cross contour. Well see how
its related to a special kind of shape, oblique shape, and well learn how
oblique shapes are related to geometric solids. Well use this new knowledge
WRPDNHWKHREMHFWVZHGUDZDSSHDUWKUHHGLPHQVLRQDO5HODWHGWRDJJUHJDWH
VKDSHZHOOLQWURGXFHWKHFRQFHSWRIJXUHJURXQGUHODWLRQVKLSVZKLFKZLOO
help us structure our drawings in a more sophisticated way.
<RXOO QHHG VRPH SHQFLOV HUDVHUV DQG VRPH VPDOOHU SDSHU   LQFK
SULQWHUSDSHURUDPHGLXPVL]HVNHWFKERRNZRXOGEHQH<RXOODOVRQHHG
WZRVKHHWVRILQFKZKLWHSDSHUDQGDFRXSOHVWLFNVRIYLQHFKDUFRDO
Youll also be using your still life table and 810 simple objects, things like
we used in the last lecture.
7KH GUDZLQJV ZHYH PDGH VR IDU KDYH EHHQ SUHWW\ DW DQG WKLV OLPLWDWLRQ
leads us to consider our next type of line, cross contour. These are lines that
H[LVWLQVLGHWKHFRQWRXUV7KH\PDJLFDOO\WUDQVIRUPDWVKDSHLQWRYROXPHWULF
solids.
Heres a hexagon. Its drawn with contour. Six lines. By introducing three
interior lines, cross contour, we transform it into a 3D cube. Here, seen from
above. Heres an identical hexagon. To draw a cube seen from below, we
change the cross contours, now were looking up at our cube.
$QG WKLV ZLOO ZRUN ZLWK FXUYLOLQHDU IRUPV DV ZHOO 'UDZ D PRGLHG
rectangle, one with a curving top and bottom. Add a single curved line. This
creates a top plane, and youve got a cylinder seen from above. Invert the
cross contour to create a cylinder seen from below.
5HPHPEHUWKLVJXUHIURPWKHUVWOHFWXUH"7KHEHJLQQLQJVRIRXUSLHFHRI
-DUOVEHUJ7KH LQWHUQDO OLQH LV D FURVV FRQWRXU7DNH LW DZD\ \RX JHW D DW
shape, a trapezoid.

77

Lets draw a circle. Now add a curved line along the horizontal axis and
weve transformed it into a sphere. Draw another over its vertical axis and
the illusion is that much more pronounced.
By drawing our cross contours, weve also created a new kind of shape,
oblique or foreshortened shape. These shapes are ambiguous. They can
DSSHDUDWEXWWKH\FDQDOVRH[SUHVVDUHFHVVLRQLQVSDFH6RWKH\UHYHU\
XVHIXO LQ FUHDWLQJ WKH LOOXVLRQ RI WKUHH GLPHQVLRQV RQ D WZRGLPHQVLRQDO
surface. In fact, before the advent of linear perspective in 15thFHQWXU\
Europe, artists all over the world routinely used these kinds of shapes to
express spatial depth.
This 12thFHQWXU\VFUROOLVDWWULEXWHGWRWKH6RQJ'\QDVW\FRXUWRI(PSHURU
+XL]RQJ7KHGUDZLQJLVIDLUO\DWEXW\RXFDQVHHKRZFHUWDLQVKDSHV
parallelograms and an ovoidhave been used to make certain planes pitch
back into space.
Lets go back to that block we just drew and take it apart. It consists of two
parallelograms with a diamond crown. Try drawing these shapes. They each
UHSUHVHQWDSODQHZKLFKLQWKHUHDOZRUOGZRXOGEHDUHFWDQJOHDOOGHJUHH
angles. But when these planes turn away from us in space, they change shape
and appear like the shapes weve just drawn.
Draw a trapezoid. It behaves similarly. Add three lines below, and its the top
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+HUHVWKHHVVHQWLDOLGHDWDNHDUHFWDQJOHOLNHDRRUWLOH+ROGLWXSDWH\H
level, perpendicular to your line of sight, its a rectangle. But as we tilt it,
even slightly back away from us, it becomes a trapezoid. Tilt it a bit more,
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becomes a straight line. As it tilts away, the base of the trapezoid remains
unchanged. The angles of the diagonals become more acute and the height
gradually diminishes to zero.
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upright position. On each subsequent page, draw the same base in the same
78

place, but successively diminish the trapezoid until it becomes a single line.
Then do the inverse. Flip the book and youll see the tile fall back and then
rise up to its original position.
Triangles also share this quality, and thats not surprising because a trapezoid
is a triangle minus the pointed tip. If we imagine a straight road on a level
surface going back in space to the horizon, it will appear as a triangle, though
in reality, seen from above, its a very elongated rectangle.
Whats the common element? What do parallelograms, diamonds, trapezoids,
and triangles have in common? Diagonals. Shapes with diagonals have a
greater propensity to suggest spatial depth.
Even a cylinder can be thought of in this way. Start with a block. The tops
a curving version of the diamond. The bottom similarly reinterprets the
diagonals of the left and right parallelograms.
Lets return to the block you drew. Imagine its a gift box. Now, wrap it with
a ribbon moving across the center of each surface in two directions. Now,
draw a cylinder. Wrap a ribbon around its center, then cross it vertically and
pull the line over the cylinders top. Draw another circle. This time, wrap it
ZLWKVWULSHVOLNHDEHDFKEDOOUVWVHHQIURPDERYHWKHQVHHQIURPEHORZ
then from the right, and then from the left.
Flat shapes, oblique shapes, and geometric volumes, theyre all related like
members of a family, a very important family. Paul Czanne famously said,
Treat nature by the cylinder, the sphere, and the cone. Because by learning
to draw basic shapes and volumes, were well on our way to being able to
draw many of the things around us.
In the beginning, there were two primary shapes, a rectangle, and a circle.
,WV D DW ZRUOG (DUO\ UHSURGXFWLRQ LV DVH[XDO 7KH UHFWDQJOH DQG FLUFOH
divide to produce more rectangles and circles. But through random genetic
mutation, we begin to see a new generation emerge, foreshortened shapes
that push into space. First, a rectangle emerges, but, with inward pointing
sides, the trapezoid is born. Then others with both sides angling to the right
or left, parallelograms are born. Next, one of these emerges, point down, the
79

diamond joins the clan. Then, a further mutation, a rectangle divides along
DGLDJRQDOWRSURGXFHWKHUVWWULDQJOHV)XUWKHUPXWDWLRQVSURGXFHIXUWKHU
WULDQJXODUYDULHW\6RPHFORVHGFORVHDFXWHRWKHUVRSHQHGZLGHREOLTXH
others, with two equal sides, isosceles; others, with three, equilateral. While
DOOWKLVLVKDSSHQLQJWKHFLUFOHKDVJLYHQELUWKWRDQLQQLWHYDULHW\RIHOOLSVHV
ovoids, and spheroids.
In the next generation, we arrive at sexual reproduction, and that produces
WKUHHGLPHQVLRQDO YROXPH $ UHFWDQJOH PDWHV ZLWK D SDUDOOHORJUDP WR
produce a block. A diamond with a parallelogram, another. Triangles mate
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SURGXFH D IRXUVLGHG RQH$QRWKHU VXFK PDWLQJ SURGXFHV D SULVP$ FLUFOH
mates with an ellipse to produce a sphere, a block with an ellipse to produce
a cylinder, and a triangle with an ellipse to create a cone, and the basic
familys complete.
With what weve learned so far in mind, lets take a look at how artists use
all this. Holbeins drawing of The Family of Thomas More is a great place
to start. Its a tour de force example of the use of contour, cross contour, and
IRUHVKRUWHQHGVKDSH/RRNDWWKHIRRWUHVWRQWKHRRU7KHWRSVFRQVWUXFWHG
just like a block, nine lines, and three planes. Its shape is hexagonal, six lines
with three internal lines, cross contours, creating the volume. Alternately, we
could see this constructed of three shapes, three parallelograms, one large,
and two small.
Note the line representing Thomas Mores headband. It moves around his
forehead, lending volume to his head. Seen with his chin, its structurally
not much more than a cylinder. Also, note the cross contours on Mores feet,
ZKLFKWXUQWKHRWKHUZLVHDWVKDSHVLQWRYROXPHWULFVKRHV7KHFXUYHGOLQHV
creating the collars of the three kneeling women transform their necks from
DWVKDSHVLQWRWKUHHGLPHQVLRQDOYROXPHV&\OLQGHUDQGQHFNVDPHLGHD
And lets take a closer look at the woman in the foreground. We get a
powerful sense of volume in her body, in her neck, chest, shoulders,
abdomen, arms, and down through her folded legs. The volume is expressed
by the wealth of cross contours along both the horizontal and vertical axes.

80

In my schematic drawings of the block and cylinder, the cross contour and
contours were presented as separate and at times, they may well be used that
ZD\%XWLWVYHU\FRPPRQWRLQWHJUDWHWKHPWRRZIURPFRQWRXULQWRFURVV
contour. As I noted in an earlier lecture, at a certain level were not really
drawing still life objects or people at all. Were just drawing lines, and we
have to decide where each line begins and where it ends.
Well move from the edge of the form, the contour, to the interior of the
IRUPWKHFURVVFRQWRXUDQGYLFHYHUVD:HOHWWKHOLQHVFUHDWHFOHDURYHUODSV
to show whats in front and whats behind. This is one of the most elegant
ZD\VRIFUHDWLQJWKHLOOXVLRQRIWKUHHGLPHQVLRQDOYROXPH0XFKRIWKHDUW
here involves making subtle choices about how this is done.
Lets return to the central kneeling woman, to her right shoulder. Theres no
continuous outline here. Instead, we move from the contour, the top of the
shoulder, to the inside of the form. And this repeats six times as we move
from the shoulder all the way down to the forearm.
If we look at the womans bonnet on the far left, we see the same thing. We
move from the right, across the top of the bonnet in contour, and then turn
diagonally down. The line becomes a cross contour much like the lines we
drew earlier over our circles to transform them into spheres.
)UHH]HWKHLPDJHRIWKLVGUDZLQJRUGRZQORDGDKLJKUHVYHUVLRQIURPWKH
ZHE7KHQWUDFHRYHUWKHSOD\RIFRQWRXUWRFURVVFRXQWHUZLWK\RXUQJHU
It will give you a heightened sense of what Holbein was doingput you in
his shoes.
Good ideas tend to be widespread. Heres a detail from a wall painting from
6KLVKpQPLjR7KH:DWHU*RGV7HPSOHLQ6KQ[&KLQD. It was painted in
1324, a world away and over 200 years before Holbein made his drawing.
But its actually constructed of contour and cross contour. Note the sinuous
OLQH RZLQJ YHUWLFDOO\ GRZQ IURP WKH NQHHOLQJ RIFLDOV VKRXOGHUV DOO WKH
way down to his feet. The sensation of volume is enhanced by all the cross
contours moving at an angle to the vertical one, much the same idea as in
Holbeins kneeling woman.

81

And heres that beautiful 18thFHQWXU\GUDZLQJIURP,QGLDV3XQMDE+LOOV,WV

titled Two Lovers Sitting on a Dais with a Water Pipe. Note the series of
cross contours wrapping around from the underside of the mans thigh, as
ZHOO DV WKH RQHV ULGLQJ RYHU WKH WRS ULGJHV RI KLV RZLQJ UREH 7KHUH DUH
many more throughout the drawing. Its also worth noting the elaborate
VWLOOOLIHREMHFWVDQGWKHWDEOHVDQGSLOORZV7KH\UHDOOIDVKLRQHGRXWRIDW
and oblique shapestriangles, trapezoids, and parallelogramsas well as
YROXPHWULFVROLGVPRGLHGEORFNVF\OLQGHUVDQGVSKHUHVDOOGUDZQZLWK
contour and cross contour.
(DUOLHUZHORRNHGDW(DNLQVGUDZLQJRI-RKQ%LJOLQWRXQGHUVWDQGVRPHWKLQJ
about contour and construction line, but hes using cross contour, too. Start
with the sweatband tied around Biglins head. Not at all unlike the hat in the
+ROEHLQUHDOO\FRQYLQFLQJWKUHHGLPHQVLRQDOEXWZKHQ\RXORRNFORVHO\
you realize theres hardly any shading, but we do see several lines. I count
nine. These are cross contours operating inside the contour, crossing over the
WKUHHGLPHQVLRQDOIRUPRIKLVKHDGWRGHVFULEHLWVSODQDUVWUXFWXUH
There are many more cross contours in the drawing. The arm and elbow
get a lot of their volume from the small interior lines. At the shoulder, the
RSHQLQJRI%LJOLQVWVKLUWJLYHV(DNLQVDJUHDWRSSRUWXQLW\IRUDSRZHUIXO
cross contour moving over the deltoid and creating volume there. On the far
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And you may have noticed the several cross contours on the oar. Eakins
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the cross contour into the interior of the oars long handle. We call this
GUDZLQJWKURXJK,WVDXVHIXOWHFKQLTXHIRUKHOSLQJXVIXOO\LPDJLQHWKUHH
GLPHQVLRQDOIRUPRQDWZRGLPHQVLRQDOVXUIDFH
Lets take a look at a more recent example, a 1916 Portrait of Guillaume
Apollinaire by Picasso. Apollinaire was one of the most famous poets of the
early 20thFHQWXU\+HVJHQHUDOO\FUHGLWHGZLWKEHLQJWKHUVWSHUVRQWRXVH
the term surrealism. At the time the drawing was made, Apollinaire had just
returned to Paris from the front. It was World War I, and hed been wounded
in the head by a piece of shrapnel.

82

Like Eakins and Holbein, Picasso uses a cross contour, here describing the
bandage under Apollinaires hat, to express the heads volume. This cross
contour is reiterated by the lines in the hat itself. We can also see cross
FRQWRXUV LQ WKH VKRXOGHUV FKHVW DQG WKURXJKRXW WKH UHVW RI WKH JXUH DOO
create volume. In fact, the long line going down the front of his jacket and
intersecting with the belt as it travels down and along his thigh is behaving
WKHVDPHZD\DVWKHORQJVHUSHQWLQHOLQHLQWKHJRYHUQPHQWRIFLDOVUREHLQ
the Chinese temple painting. Six hundred years and continents apart, but the
visual grammar is much the same.
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spheres, like donuts and tapering cones, all using cross contours to
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Lets draw another bottle, but this time well incorporate what weve learned
about volume with what we learned in the last lecture about line and shape.
Like we did before, well start with a light centerline and some shapes, a
rectangle for the bottles body, a trapezoid for the shoulders, and a slim
rectangle for the neck. Well deal with the collar later. Heres the new part.
Were going to turn the shapes into volumes. The rectangle, were going to
turn into cylinder, the trapezoid into a truncated cone, and the slim rectangle
into a cylinder. For our collar, well go in and just draw a slight bulging
cylinder. We can then go in and begin to erase some of our construction
lines, edit symmetricality. We can imagine the foil wrapping, using the cross
contour we have as a guide. Do a little bite of rounding. Take advantage of
the label as another cross contour. Remembering Holbeins Shoe, we might
add some more internal cross contours, just to express dimensionality. And
we can just edit our curvature to make things feel more natural.
Now, Id like you to try this from observation. Put a bottle on your still life
table and draw following the same steps we used to draw this one from our
imagination. Start with a centerline, then shape, then volume. Then try some
of the other objects you have. Take them one at a time. As we did in the
last lecture, after youve drawn from observation, try combining observation
ZLWKLPDJLQDWLRQDQGLPSURYLVDWLRQ'RQWZRUU\LILQWKHUVWVKRWWKLQJV
dont come out as perfectly as youd like, theres no magic trick, its a matter

83

of concentration and repetition. This part of drawing is like practicing piano,

guitar, or violin.
To draw the bottle, we had to draw a number of ellipses. The things we see
around us which are circular, measurably 360like plates, bowls, clocks,
garbage cans, wheels, tires and the likeare rarely seen from a vantage point
where they appear circular. The only view in which these object actually
DSSHDUFLUFXODULVZKHQWKH\UHVHHQVWUDLJKWRQOLNHORRNLQJVWUDLJKWGRZQ
at a plate. In all the other views, we see them as foreshortened circles or
ellipses.
Drawing ellipses is challenging, and given that so many of the things we
want to draw involve ellipses, its a good idea to practice drawing them.
Here are two great exercises.
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glasses. Print out a number of these images. With a dark pen or marker,
just trace over the ellipses. Another good key word to search is tire dumps.
<RXOOJHWZKROHHOGVRIHOOLSVHVLQDUDQJHRIRULHQWDWLRQV3ULQWVRPHRXW
and trace over these, too. These exercises will give you visual references for
many different ellipses seen from a variety of points of view.
For the second exercise, youll need a tall, clear glass or vase, a simple
cylindrical one is best. Put the vase on a piece of paper on your table. Tape
the piece of paper to the table, then trace the shape of the vases base on the
paper. Its ideal if you can position yourself so your eye level is at about the
YDVHV PLGSRLQW<RX FDQ WHVW WKLV E\ KROGLQJ \RXU SHQFLO KRUL]RQWDOO\ LQ
front of your eyes. Push the pencil straight out away from you so that you
can see its relationship to the vase.
Now, make a careful line drawing of the vase. Start with its aggregate shape,
LWVPRUHRUOHVVVRPHNLQGRIUHFWDQJOH(VWDEOLVKLWVEDVLFKHLJKWWRZLGWK
proportions. All you need are two vertical and two horizontal lines. Note the
back edge of the table. Drawing this is going to help the vase sit down.
Next, concentrate your efforts on the ellipses of the top and the base of the
vase. Since its clear glass, youll be able to see the interior of the ellipses.
84

1RZOOWKHYDVHZLWKZDWHUWRDERXWDQLQFKRUWZRIURPWKHWRS3ODFHWKH
vase back on the table using the outline you drew of its base to return it to the
same location. Now, draw the new ellipse of the water level.
Next, pour off an inch or two of water. Then draw the new ellipse. Repeat
WKLVXQWLO\RXYHHPSWLHGWKHYDVH:KDW\RXOOQGLVWKDWWKHHOOLSVHDWH\H
level is nothing more than a horizontal line, as you move away from eye
level, either up or down, the ellipses become wider and wider.
Here are a couple things to check for. Every ellipse can be thought of as
having a horizontal and a vertical centerline. These are referred to as the
major or long axis, and the minor or short axis. A true ellipse is symmetrical
on either side of each axis, so using centerlines can help when checking for
symmetry.
<RXFDQDOVRWUDFHRYHUDQHOOLSVH\RXYHGUDZQXVLQJWUDFLQJSDSHUWKHQLS
the tracing paper over on top of the original drawing. This is going to reveal
discrepancies in symmetricality.
There are two other things to look for. One is the rounding at the ends of the
long axis. Many people take the two curving lines and have them meet at
DSRLQWOLNHDQDOPRQGVKDSH,WVKRXOGEHFRQWLQXRXVO\URXQGHG$QRWKHU
FRPPRQ PLVWDNH LV DWWHQLQJ RXW WKH ORQJ FXUYDWXUH VR PDNH WKHVH WKUHH
checks as you do this exercise: Check for symmetricality in relation to the
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on the long curve.
Were just about ready to draw a more complex still life, but before we do,
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7KH UVW SDUW WKH JXUH LV UHODWHG WR WKH LGHD RI DJJUHJDWH VKDSH DQG LWV
pretty easy to understand though ground is what a lot of people new to
drawing often miss. In fact, as a student, it took me some time to appreciate
just how important this concept is to constructing a sophisticated drawing,
painting, or design. But once you become aware of the idea, itll begin to
make a big difference in the way you conceive of a drawing.

85

Its by no means a totally foreign concept. A simple business card has a

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color of the card stock the ground.
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DGPLWWHGO\ QRW D FRPSHOOLQJ RQH 7KH UXOHG OLQHV DUH WKH JXUH DQG WKH
yellow page is the ground but if I write several sentences on the page, the
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relative aspect to all this.
,QDGUDZLQJWKHJXUHJHQHUDOO\UHIHUVWRWKHDJJUHJDWHJURXSLQJRUVKDSH
of the individual things or objects that wed commonly identify as the subject
of the drawing. In the William Bailey still life, for instance, the 11 still life
REMHFWVWDNHQWRJHWKHUIRUPWKHJXUH+HUHWKHJXUHLVV\QRQ\PRXVZLWK
our aggregate shape, and this can often be the case.
7KHJURXQGLVRIWHQZKDWVGHQHGE\WKHODUJHUGLYLVLRQVRIWKHUHFWDQJOH
ZKLFK VHW WKH VWDJH IRU WKH JXUH RU DJJUHJDWH VKDSH <RX FRXOG VD\ WKDW
the ground refers to the shape of what some people commonly think of as
the background, but its actually more than that. Its the construct of the
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In the William Bailey still life, it would correspond to the two planes of
the table and the one plane of the wall, three rectangles in all, which in
combination make up the shape of the drawing itself.
Heres another way to think about it. Imagine setting up this still life. The
PXOWLSOHREMHFWVDUHWKHJXUH,I\RXZHUHWKHQWRUHPRYHDOOWKHREMHFWV
everything left there, the table and wall, would be the ground. Though, if
then we made a drawing of the table, it would be the object and the wall
would be the ground. Like I said, its relative.
,QWKH(DNLQVWKHURZHUDQGVFXOODUHWKHJXUHWKHVXUURXQGLQJODQGVFDSH
WKHJURXQGDQGZHQGPXFKWKHVDPHWKLQJDVZHGLGLQWKH%DLOH\7KH
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rectangles, two this time, with the top rectangle being just slightly smaller.

86

,QWKH,QGLDQGUDZLQJWKHPDQDQGZRPDQDUHWKHSULPDU\JXUH&RPELQHG
ZLWKWKHVWLOOOLIHRQWKHRRUWKH\IRUPDQH[WHQGHGDJJUHJDWHJXUHDQG
WKHRRUDQGWKHZDOOIRUPWKHJURXQG$QGZHQGDYHU\VLPLODUVWUXFWXUH
as in the Bailey and the Eakins. Large shapes, again, rectangles, create the
shape of the drawing itself.
In these illustrations, Ive used a horizontal line to divide the rectangles
describing the ground shapes. But we want to avoid thinking about this as
just a line. Its useful to think about it in two seemingly contradictory ways
at the same time.
Heres a rectangle divided by a line. We can choose to see this as purely
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ZHZDQWWRWKLQNDERXWRXUJURXQG)LUVWZHZDQWWRWKLQNDERXWLWDVDW
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We want to think about it as planes, often perpendicular planes, right angle
planes, that often meet back in space in one of the deepest parts of the
drawing.
In a landscape, the major ground shapes or planes would refer to land and
sky; in a seascape, sea and sky; in a still life, table and wall; and in an
LQWHULRURRUDQGZDOO,QWHUPVRIWKHXQGHUO\LQJJUDPPDURIGUDZLQJDOO
these situations are very similar.
So lets put all these new ideas together in a still life, which well draw from
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structure the drawing, and well use cross contours and geometric solids to
create volumetric objects.
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position. And lets use our vine or willow charcoal. Well start out light and
thin, drawing construction lines and construction shapes.

87

7KHUVWWKLQJWRGUDZLVWKHIRUPDWVKDSHRIWKHGUDZLQJ+HUHLWVJRLQJWR
be 16 18 inches. Next, divide this with a horizontal line to create the two
large ground shapes that represent the table top and the wall. Ive put this at
about seven and a quarter inches above the formats border. Then, draw an
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of the page.
Now, using centerlines and simple shapes, well lay out three objects.
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A rectangle for the base, a trapezoid for the shoulders, short edge up, and
one more for the neck, short edge down, extending almost to the top of the
aggregate shape. In front of this, on the right, add a pitcher. You know how
to do this, a trapezoid for the body, touching the aggregate shape boundary,
triangle for the spout, and an ovoid and triangle as guides for the handle. The
handle can extend a bit beyond the aggregate shape. In front on the left, add
a bowl, a trapezoid for the body, and another slim one for the base.
Now, check the shapes using centerlines and make any adjustments you
need to. Then, just like we did with the bottle earlier, turn your shapes into
volumes using ellipses. And use what you learned from the ellipse exercise.
Imagine youre looking down at the still life as if youre standing looking
at it on your table. The lower ellipses will be wider, the higher ones thinner.
Everyone knows the stereotype of the tormented artist. Remember, hes not
tormented because of an existential dilemma. Hes tormented because its
really hard to draw a decent ellipse. But with patience and practice, were
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Now, you can erase some of the construction lines, and you can also do some
editing and rounding to make things more proportionate and natural.
You could also put some liquid in the carafe, and then add some stripes on
some of the objects, as well as other incidental interior lines, all examples of
cross contours being used to bring out more volume. But lets add something
different, something less regular. Lets add two pears, one on the right and
the other one on the left.

88

So, we can do it with a couple basic shapes. Well start with a circle and
a triangle, and well modify them a little bit. And well have this one seen
from the back. Well erase part of the bowl we wont see. And we can move
from our cross contour to our contourmake it a little more angular, a little
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as if these pears going back in space. And if we let the stem of the pear be
overlapped by the tip, similarly give us that projection, and we can create a
small divot.
And on the right, we can do the same thing. Well start with a circle and a
triangle, and then well modify them, a little rounder over here. And this
time, we can change the spatial reading by letting the triangle overlap the
circle. And this time, the tip of the pear will be projecting forward. So we
have contour moving to cross contour, contour moving to cross contour.
Well erase what we dont see. Clear overlap, and in the front, well have the
stem overlapping the tip of the pear, the opposite of what we did earlier. And
we can introduce a couple other little cross contours in here.
Heres a variation you could try right now. A still life like the one we just
drew, but this time working inversely. Begin in the center of a new page so
you have room to expand. Start with individual objects and move up the food
FKDLQWRDUULYHDWVRPHNLQGRIDJJUHJDWHJXUHVKDSH7KHQDGGDKRUL]RQWDO
line to express the edge where the table meets the wall. Then draw your two
ground shapes to create the shape of the drawing itself. You generally want
the lines that are representing the border of the drawing to be light and thin.
1H[WWU\WKLVIURPREVHUYDWLRQ6HWXSVRPHREMHFWVRQ\RXUVWLOOOLIHWDEOH
arranged to bring out different kinds of aggregate groupings. Then draw
following the same set of steps weve used here.
You can play with these concepts in many ways. You can draw from
observation, from your imagination and from your prior drawings of
individual objects. The more you practice, the more it will become your own.

89

Line and Shape: Positive and Negative Shape

Lecture 6

T
Lecture 6Line and Shape: Positive and Negative Shape

his lecture concerns another important kind of shape: negative shape,

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composition itself much more powerful. In addition, its a useful tool for
helping to establish accurate proportions. In this lecture, well also learn to
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analyze shape, select what we draw, and determine the shape of a drawing
using this device.
Negative Shape and Format Shape
When artists draw, theyre not just drawing shapes to represent things. They
also consider and draw shapes that represent the spaces between things
shapes to represent where things are not. Artists are preoccupied with the
relationships between the stuffthe objects they want to representand
WKHQRQVWXIIWKHWKUHHGLPHQVLRQDOVSDFHZLWKLQZKLFKWKHVWXIIH[LVWV
,QGUDZLQJDOOWKHVWXIIRIWKHZRUOGREYLRXVO\EHFRPHVVKDSH%XWWKHQRQ
VWXIIWKH WKUHHGLPHQVLRQDO VSDFH H[LVWLQJ EHWZHHQ WKH VWXIIEHFRPHV
VSHFLFDQGH[SUHVVLYHVKDSHDVZHOO:HFDOOWKHVHVKDSHVnegative shapes.

Format Shape
When you draw a shapea positiveon the page, you actually get at least
two shapesthe positive and its accompanying negative. Often, depending
RQWKHUVWVKDSHDQGLWVUHODWLRQVKLSWRWKHSDJH\RXPD\JHWPDQ\PRUH
negatives.
,Q WKH WZRGLPHQVLRQDO YLVXDO DUWV SRVLWLYH DQG QHJDWLYH VKDSHV WRJHWKHU
create the overall structure and shape of the drawing, painting, print, or
SKRWRJUDSK:HUHIHUWRWKLVQDOVKDSHWKHVKDSHRIWKHDUWZRUNLWVHOIDV
the format shape.

90

8VLQJWKH9LHZQGHUDQG3UDFWLFLQJ'UDZLQJ1HJDWLYH6KDSHV
%HORZDUHDIHZWLSVIRUXVLQJWKHYLHZQGHUFRUUHFWO\
z

)LUVWVWD\LQRQHSODFHLQD[HGSRVLWLRQ,I\RXPRYHEDFNZDUG
or forward or from side to side, even slightly, youll see a different
framing, which translates to a different image.

+ROG WKH YLHZQGHU DW D FRQVWDQW GLVWDQFH IURP \RXU KHDG 7KH
easiest way to do this is to make sure that your arm is always fully
extended.

+ROGWKHYLHZQGHUSHUSHQGLFXODUWR\RXUOLQHRIYLVLRQZKLFKLV
JHQHUDOO\SHUSHQGLFXODUWRWKHRRU,I\RXGRQWWKHRSHQLQJZLOO
not be a true rectangle but a trapezoid.

Finally, close one eyealways the same eye.

When doing the negative shape exercise, keep these tips in mind:
z

Use one sheet of paper, such as basic printer paper, for each
drawing. Center your format shape in the page and outline it with a
2H or 4H pencil. This allows you to modify the format on any side
LILWZLOOEHQHWWKHGUDZLQJ

Turn your page in sympathy with the drawings shape. If the

framing is horizontal, turn your page horizontally. If vertical, turn
the page vertically.

Think of drawing from observation as choosing and framing. Try

to choose and frame visual situations that will yield a drawing with
strong and interesting negative shapes.

Think about what you choose to draw. Spend some time walking
DURXQG ZLWK \RXU YLHZQGHU MXVW IUDPLQJ WKLQJV DV \RX VHH WKHP
around your home. Look for compelling negatives.

91

Plants often have interesting shapes between their stems, leaves,

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In a single tree, notice the spaces between the limbs.

Try to set up still lifes purposefully to bring out the negatives.

2QFH\RXYHQLVKHGDFRXSOHRIGUDZLQJVWDNHDVWHSEDFNDQGDVN
yourself: Do your lines convincingly create negative shape? When
you cover the positives, do the negatives come out forcefully? Are
WKH ODUJH LQWHUVKDSHV RU QHJDWLYH VKDSHV EHLQJ XVHG WR EXLOG WKH
composition and assert the rectangular format itself? Are the large
negative shapes active?

Lecture 6Line and Shape: Positive and Negative Shape

Skill Building
The concepts weve learned so far are all connected:

92

We can make shapes out of contour line.

:HFDQFUHDWHWKHLOOXVLRQRIYROXPHXVLQJFURVVFRQWRXUREOLTXH
shapes, and geometric solids.

:HFDQFRQVWUXFWREMHFWVXVLQJFRQWRXUVKDSHFURVVFRQWRXUREOLTXH
shapes, and geometric solids, often with the use of construction lines.

We can organize the objects in our drawing using aggregate shapes.

Aggregate shapes help us create visual groupings. They contain and
place what it is we want to draw within the drawings shape.

We can conceive of the space around the main objects or subject as

ODUJHDWVKDSHVJURXQGVKDSHV7KHVHVKDSHVIRUPWKHVKDSHRI
the drawing itself.

We can conceive of yet another kind of shape that expresses the

distances and spaces between things: negative shape. Our drawings
ZLOOEHQHWZKHQWKHQHJDWLYHVKDSHVDUHDVWDQJLEOHDQGFRPSHOOLQJ
as the objects themselves. Negative shapes are also useful for
checking the proportions of the positives, or the objects.

7KHSRVLWLYHVDQGQHJDWLYHWWRJHWKHUOLNHSX]]OHSLHFHVWRFUHDWH
the shape of the drawingthe format shape.

Suggested Reading
Curtis, Drawing from Observation, chapter 6, Positive/Negative Shape.
Pumphrey, The Elements of Art, Ground, pp. 4043.
Sale and Betti, Drawing, Positive and Negative Space, pp. 107115.

93

Line and Shape: Positive and Negative Shape

Lecture 6Transcript
This lecture concerns another very important kind of shapenegative shape.
Its also referred to as interspace. When artfully considered, negative shape,
like object/ground relations, makes the things we draw and the composition
itself, much more powerful. In addition, its a great tool that helps us
establish accurate proportions.
,Q WKLV OHFWXUH ZHOO OHDUQ WR XVH RXU YLHZQGHUV :HOO VHH KRZ ZKHQ
drawing observationally, we can analyze shape, select what we draw, and
determine the shape of our drawing, using this device. And, as will become
abundantly clear, this last shape I mentioned, the shape of our drawing, is in
and of itself, a really important one.
The drawing materials well need are: pencils, erasers, sharpening tools,
YLHZQGHUVDQGFOLSVDQGVRPHLQFKSULQWHUSDSHURUDPHGLXPVL]H
notebook. Well also be using eight to ten simple objects like those we used
in the last two lectures. Pitchers, vases, candlesticks, teacups, wine glasses
DOOWKDWVWXIIZRUNVQH$PRQJWKHREMHFWVPDNHVXUH\RXKDYHWZRWDOOLVK
ERWWOHVOLNHWKRVHXVHGIRUZLQHRUROLYHRLODQGWZRVPDOOWRPHGLXPVL]H
bowls. Make sure one bottle is taller and of a somewhat different shape than
the other. It will also be best if one bowl is a little taller than the other. A
group like this one would work very well.
We started out by drawing objects, and, of course, drawing objects is
important, but the obvious stuff is only half the story. So I want to disabuse
you of a commonly held and unsophisticated idea about how you go about
making a drawing. It goes like this. You look at your objects or subject, like
VRPHERWWOHVRQDWDEOHDEDUQLQDHOGRUDJURXSRISHRSOHDWWKHEHDFK
You copy it. Outline it. Put in the details, maybe some shading. Put in a
background. Throw in some artistic feeling, and voil, a masterpiece.
Its actually much more complex than that, as youve already come to see.
In addition to the obvious objects, we have to think about, we also have to
FRQVLGHUDEVWUDFWVKDSHVDQGYROXPHVDJJUHJDWHVKDSHVDQGREMHFWJURXQG
relationships. One of the reasons the ground is so important is that every
94

square inch of the format, that would be the drawings shape, is important. It
has to be considered.
An architect cant just think about the building itself. He or she has to think
about how a particular building relates to a particular site. The building has
to be considered relative to a whole set of factors like the shape of the site,
its topography, the climate, and many others. We, similarly, have to think
about how what we put on the page sits in relationship to the drawings
environment. At a minimum, we have to consider the edges of the page.
Thats our maximum building site. You may have already intuited that when
working with your aggregate shapes, sensing that they have to relate to the
drawings shape, but theres more to it than that. When artists draw, theyre
not just drawing shapes to represent things, or even groups of things. Theyre
also considering and drawing shapes, which represent the spaces between
things, shapes to represent where things are not. And thats because theyre
preoccupied with the relationship between the stuff, the objects they want to
UHSUHVHQW DQG WKH QRQVWXII WKH WKUHHGLPHQVLRQDO VSDFH ZLWKLQ ZKLFK DOO
the stuff exists.
In drawing, all the stuff of the world obviously becomes shape, but the
QRQVWXIIWKHWKUHHGLPHQVLRQDOVSDFHH[LVWLQJEHWZHHQWKHVWXIIEHFRPHV
VSHFLFDQGH[SUHVVLYHVKDSHDVZHOO:HFDOOWKHVHVKDSHVQHJDWLYHVKDSHV
We could make the analogy to music here. Composers and improvisers
are just as concerned with rests, the measured amounts of times where no
sound event occurs, as with the notes themselves. The spaces help create the
sensation of a musical phrase. Without considering the rests, the notes would
become a jumble.
Returning to drawing, lets say I have a rectangular piece of paper, and using
contour, I draw another rectangle centered in it. The minute Ive drawn
the internal rectangle, Ive transformed the remaining part of the page into
a shape, a frame. And, of course, this drawing is ambiguous. It could be a
drawing of a white label on a white wall, or it could be a drawing of a white
FDUGERDUGIUDPHOLNH\RXUYLHZQGHUKHOGLQIURQWRIWKDWVDPHZKLWHZDOO
This is an illustration of object/ground ambiguity. The object could be a
white label on the wall as ground, or, alternately, the object could be a white
frame, in front of a white wall as ground.
95

Lets look at this in a little more depth using a more complex shapea
JXUH 0H :HOO JHW WKH FDPHUD WR ]RRP LQ VR WKDW WKH WRS RI WKH IUDPH
touches the top of my head, the sides of the frame touch my elbows, and the
bottom of the frame touches my toes. Im a shape, and my shape meeting the
frame automatically creates seven other shapes. Altogether, eight shapes that
WWRJHWKHUOLNHDMLJVDZSX]]OHWRFUHDWHWKHLPDJH
2XUSUHSRQGHUDQF\WRZDQWWRVHHWKHJXUHLVVRJUHDWWKDW,GOLNHWROLQH
up the negatives so you can get a good look at them and understand that
each one is a unique shape. If we pull the frame out, the negatives are a little
KDUGHUWRGLVFHUQEXWWKH\UHWKHUHQRQHWKHOHVV:KDWVLQHVFDSDEOHLVWKDW
by making a shape, any shape, within the drawings shape or format, we get
other shapes automatically. And if youre not aware of all the shapes youre
making in a drawing, youre at a disadvantage.
So let me rephrase something I said in an earlier lecture. I offered this set
of directions for making a shape using contour line: Put your pencils tip
on your page; dont lift the pencil from the page; draw a line in any or all
directions; dont cross over any line youve drawn; return to the point of
origin.
And, indeed, you will make a shape, but as we now know, in relation to the
format shape, you actually get at least two shapes, and often, depending on
the object and its relationship to the format, many more.
And here its worth dipping into a bit of Daoism. Chapter 11 of the
'jRGpMQJ, a 6thFHQWXU\%&(FROOHFWLRQRIWKHWHDFKLQJVRI/DR]LLVFDOOHG
wyng. It means worthless. Its a very clever take on the importance of
the negative. The writer tells us that the usefulness of a clay pot depends on
its empty interior. That the windows and doors are only of use because they
FRQWDLQHPSW\VSDFHDQGWKDWLWVWKHVSDFHEHWZHHQWKHZDOOVWKDWGHQHV
the usefulness of a room.
Good artists are clearly aware of all this, just as composers and improvisers
are keenly aware of the relationship between notes, or other sound events,
DQGUHVWVZKLFKVHSDUDWHWKRVHVRXQGV7KHSRVLWLYHDQGQHJDWLYHWVQXJO\

96

together, like pieces of a puzzle, to create, in one case, the overall shape of the
drawing, in the other, the overall structure of time in a musical composition.
In both, taking all the positives and negatives together gives us the full
VKDSHRIWKHZRUNLQTXHVWLRQ,QWKHWZRGLPHQVLRQDOYLVXDODUWVSRVLWLYH
and negative shapes together structure the overall shape of the drawing,
SDLQWLQJ SULQW RU SKRWRJUDSK$QG ZH UHIHU WR WKLV QDO VKDSH WKH VKDSH
of the artwork itself, as the format shape. Were now ready to move beyond
these abstractions and look at some examples.
So, lets return to Eakins watercolor. Now I know, to the uninitiated, it may
look like he was just faithfully representing what he saw, but hes doing a lot
PRUHWKDQWKDW)LUVWZHOO]RRPLQRQWKHJXUHMXVWOLNHZHGLGZLWKPH
Lets look at the shape between his arm, chest, and knee, or the shape under
his bent knee, or the shape between his hand, oar, leg, and the boat. And
when we zoom out, we see the larger negative shapes are just as thoughtfully
considered. Look at the big shape starting on the right of the page, climbing
in steps along the top of the boat, moving up to his back, neck, and head,
moving back to the right along the edges where the water meets the land.
The shapes between things, the negative shapes, are highly rendered. In
other words, theyre not left over after drawing the objects, after drawing the
JXUHRUWKHERDWRUHYHQWKHUHHFWLRQEXWWKH\UHGUDZQZLWKDVPXFK
FDOFXODWLRQDVWKHJXUHLWVHOI
I want to take a look at a couple other examples from different places and
times. I want to make it clear that this is not about a style, or even a type of
art. Its an underlying principle, which diverse peoples have been using all
over the world for millennia. Why? Because you get better results if you pay
attention to this.
+HUHVRXUSOXV\HDUROG*UHHNDPSKRUD<RXFDQVHHKRZFDUHIXOO\
HDFKRIWKHVKDSHVWKDWH[LVWEHWZHHQWKHGDQFHUVDUHZHLJKHGDQGGHQHG
Theyre given as much attention as the dancers themselves. Here are our
Court Ladies from 12thFHQWXU\ &KLQD /RRN DW WKH VKDSH EHWZHHQ WKLV
womans sleeve, dress and the fabric shes holding. Or this, between the
womans head and the wooden tool she holds. And the larger shapes function
97

the same way. Look at the large shape in the upper right corner. The negative
made by the two women on the right as they relate to the edges of the format
shape. Or the shape that occurs between the woman in the blue dress and the
JUHHQFDUSHW$OOYHU\VSHFLFDOO\WDLORUHGVKDSH
And heres the Poussin. Note the tautness of the many shapes on the ground
SODQH EHWZHHQ WKH JXUHV DQG WKH JXUHV VKDGRZV DV ZHOO DV WKH ODUJH
ZHGJHVKDSHGQHJDWLYHVLQWKHVN\DERYHWKHFHQWUDOEXLOGLQJ+HUH\RXOOJHW
a sense of how being able to see the negative becomes even more important
when we work with value. If I want a light building to emerge from a darker
sky, I have to be able to form the negative shape around it, draw the negative
shape. And, if I want a pillar to emerge from the darkness behind it, I have
to draw the dark negative abutting it. To make light positives emerge, as
Poussin does here, you have to draw the negatives.
,QWKH3XQMDE+LOOVGUDZLQJZHQGDVLPLODUDWWHQWLRQWRQHJDWLYHVKDSH
1RWHWKHVKDSHEHWZHHQWKHPDQVSUROHDQGDUP2UWKHVKDSHEHWZHHQWKH
WZRORYHUVWKHPVHOYHVDQGDVZH]RRPRXWWKLVEHFRPHVSDUWRIWKHODUJH
negative shape of the screen that sits behind them.
And heres a 1910 drawing by Egon Schiele, titled, Schiele With Nude Model
Before the Mirror. Note the large central negatives between the models
VLGH DQG DUP DQG UHHFWHG KLS 7KHQ QRWH WKH RQHV IRUPHG E\ WKH IRUPDW
shape, starting on the upper rightformat shape to hat and shoulder, format
shape to underarm, rib cage, hip and down the leg. Next, the triangular shape
EHWZHHQWKHPRGHOVOHJV7KHQWKHRQHEHWZHHQKHUOHJWKHUHHFWLRQRI
KHUOHJDQG6FKLHOHVIRRW1H[WWKHUHFWDQJXODURQHEHWZHHQWKHLUUHHFWHG
legs. Then, the skinny right triangle formed by Schieles leg, arm, and the
HGJHRIWKHSDJHDQGODVWO\WKHYHU\ODUJHVKDSHVWUDGGOLQJDOOWKUHHJXUHV
and closed by the pages edges.
-XPSLQJ WR WKH ODWH th century in California, we have an example from
5LFKDUG 'LHEHQNRUQ ,WV D JXUH GUDZLQJ GRQH IURP REVHUYDWLRQ ,I ZH
glued that drawing to a piece of masonite, we could neatly cut it up into a set
RILQWHUORFNLQJSX]]OHSLHFHV

98

In much of the late 19th century, and throughout the 20th century, many artists,
both in Europe and in the U.S., were very interested in ambiguous depictions
of space. People like Bonnard, Vuillard, Cezanne, Picasso, Matisse, and
Philip Pearlstein, to name a few, all played with this in their paintings,
drawings, and prints. And a lot of this interest in ambiguous depictions of
space, centered on the play between positive and negative shape. Pretty
natural. Remember, earlier, we noted how a drawing of a label on a wall
FRXOGLSWREHFRPHDGUDZLQJRIDIUDPHLQIURQWRIDZDOO
One of the peculiarities of drawing, and of the page, is that whats in front
and whats behind, can easily shift back and forth before our eyes. And crafty
draftsmen can, and do, lean on their drawings so that they do just this. Were
going to talk about all this at much greater length towards the end of this
FRXUVH %XW WKH GUDZLQJ ZH ORRNHG DW HDUOLHU E\ *LRUJLR 0RUDQGL W\SLHV
this approach. You can see how hes set things up so that theres a rhyming of
shape between the two bottles on the right and their negative. And the bottles
on the far left and the right dematerialize into the back wall. Or, we could see
this as the back wall advancing into the objects. And, of course, this drawing
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GUDZLQJ WKH UHFRQVWUXFWLRQ RI WKH  \HDUROG LQFLVHG SLHFH RI RFKUH
from Blombos Cave. Shape sits against shape. Positive to negative. And, as
ZHVDZLQWKHUVWOHFWXUHWKHSRVLWLYHWRQHJDWLYHVWUXFWXUHFDQEHPDGHWR
LSEDFNDQGIRUWK7KHHVVHQWLDOLGHDKHUHLVWKDWWKHSRVLWLYHVDQGQHJDWLYH
shapes taken together form the shape of the whole drawing.
Morandis drawing provides a good segue to our next drawing project. It
involves using some simple still life objects to begin drawing positives, and
their accompanying negatives. Well need the four objects I mentioned at
the top of the lecturetwo bottles and two bowls. Make sure one bottle is
taller and of a somewhat different shape than the other, and that one of the
bowls is a little taller than the other one, too. Id like you to line your bottles
up so that theyre pretty close to, and equidistant from, the wall. Then, take
your tall bowl and put it underneath your shorter bottle, and balance your
shorter bowl on top of your taller bottle. Best if both constructions are about
the same height. Now, Id like you to make sure that you have about two
to three inches separating the two structures. That would be at their closest
point. It should look something like this. The next step is to frame your still
99

OLIHLQ\RXUYLHZQGHU3RVLWLRQ\RXUVHOIVRWKDW\RXUHORRNLQJVWUDLJKWRQ
The tables back edge should appear as a true horizontal. It should be parallel
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space, some wall and table, above and below the objects. You also want some
space between the objects on the right and left sides like this. Once youve
JRW WKLV VXFFHVVIXOO\ IUDPHG FOLS \RXU YLHZQGHU WRJHWKHU 7KHQ OLJKWO\
with a 2H pencil, trace the shape of the format in the center of your page.
Now, before we get further into the drawing, I want to give you some tips
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position, just like with a camera. If you move backward or forward, or from
side to side, even slightly, youll see a different framing each time. That means
DGLIIHUHQWLPDJH<RXDOVRQHHGWRKROGWKHYLHZQGHUDWDFRQVWDQWGLVWDQFH
from your head. Its easiest to make sure your arm is always fully extended.
7KDW ZD\ DOZD\V WKH VDPH GLVWDQFH$QG \RX KDYH WR KROG WKH YLHZQGHU
perpendicular to your line of vision. Thats generally perpendicular to the
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trapezoid. Last, close one eye. Always the same eye.
Now, Id like you to draw two light centerlines, one for each of the two
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/RRN RXW WKURXJK WKH YLHZQGHU DQG WU\ WR JDXJH ZKHUH WKH FHQWHUOLQH RI
each object would register in relationship to that top horizontal of the
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worry if its not perfect. Dive in and make the best guess you can. We have
to start someplace.
Now, analyze the objects in term of constituent shape. Then, draw the bottles
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Use contour to draw simple shapes to construct the objects. And dont bother
with any details. If therere labels, or lettering, ignore them. And dont
bother with any shading. Its just going to get in the way. We only want to
use contour line and shape. When you need to, erase and correct your lines
as you go along. All of this takes repetition and practice. It doesnt have to
EHSHUIHFWWKHUVWWLPH$Q\ZD\LWVMXVWFKHDSSDSHUDQGDELWRIJUDSKLWH
Theres really nothing much at stake. Its a good idea to always keep Degas
100

advice in mind. You must do over the same subject ten times, a hundred
times. And, you know, he was Degas.
When you feel your proportions are about right, youre ready for the next
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vertically so that youre cropping the tops and bottoms of both sets of
stacked objects. Now, with a 2H pencil, trace the new format shape on top of
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<RXVKRXOGVHHYHVKDSHV6WDUWLQJIURPWKHOHIWDOWHUQDWLQJSRVLWLYHDQG
QHJDWLYH DQG WWLQJ WRJHWKHU OLNH SLHFHV RI D MLJVDZ SX]]OH 7R PDNH WKH
negatives more present, take a 2B pencil and trace over your three negative
shapes. Make sure to draw the whole shape. On the right and left, it should
include portions of the vertical edges of the format shape itself. In all three, it
will include the horizontal portions of the format shape. Next, on a separate
piece of paper, copy each of the negative shapes. Dont worry about their
SRVLWLRQUHODWLYHWRRQHDQRWKHU-XVWWU\WRPDNHDUHDOVWXG\RIHDFKRQH
The goal is to draw each negative shape intentionally.
On a new sheet of paper, redraw the negatives in their proper scale and
position. You can analyze them and build them out of their constituent
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magically, youll see the positives reemerge, even though you werent
drawing them at all.
Now, lets take the whole thing again, but this time draw the negatives from
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the left stack to the right. Also, take the taller bowl and put it on top of the
shorter bottle. Take the shorter bowl and put it underneath the taller bottle.
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theres room on the right and left sides of the stacked objects. But, the top
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YHVKDSHVWZRSRVLWLYHVDQGWKUHHQHJDWLYHV
Now, on a new sheet of paper, lightly, with a 2H pencil, trace the shape of
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and analyze the three negatives. What kind of shapes are they? If you want to
101

add a step here, make a study of each negative. On a separate sheet of paper,
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than what weve done before because these shapes are less regular and less
symmetrical than a bottle or bowl. Either way, analyze what youre looking
at. When you feel you have a grasp of it, take out an HB or 2B pencil and
EHJLQWRGUDZ\RXUWKUHHQHJDWLYHVDVWKH\DSSHDULQ\RXUYLHZQGHU
Remember, each negative shape will be made of at least four line segments.
Make sure you go over the vertical and/or the horizontal edges of the format
shape itself to draw the complete negative. Once youve done this, check
your proportions. Are the heights to widths of each negative about right?
Compare the three negatives. Are they all drawn to the same scale? Lastly,
do the objects, your bottles and bowls, emerge in their correct scales? Its
very common for things to be off. No worries, just erase and make your
shapes wider or thinner as needed, and use the negatives to help do this.
In coming lectures, well talk at length about the methods we use to arrive
at accurate proportions, and negative shape is one of them. If were trying
to get the positive to come out accurately, we can use the negatives to check
and correct them. Similarly, when drawing the negatives, we can use the
positives to do the same. But the negatives, oddly, tend to be easier to see
clearly. Thats because we know we dont know what they look like, at least
before we actually study them. With objects, like bowls, bottles, or people,
we have preconceived ideas about what they look like. With negative shapes,
we have no preconceptions. We cant, because theyre not things. Theyre
just shapes and each one is different. So, we know we really have to analyze
this. And this helps us trick ourselves into seeing clearly, seeing without bias.
As they say, learning to draw is all about learning to see.
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MLJVDZSLHFHV(DFKH[DFWO\FXWWRWWKHRWKHU,QWKHDJJUHJDWHWKH\H[WHQG
to the boundaries of the puzzle itself to create the drawings shape. Its also
OLNHWKDW\LQ\DQJV\PERO7KHWZRODUJHVKDSHVSUHFLVHO\PHHWDQGFUHDWH
the larger circular shape of the symbol itself.
Lets return to our drawing project. Our next step is to do the inverse of what
ZH GLG HDUOLHU:HOO RSHQ XS WKH YLHZQGHU WR PDNH WKH YHUWLFDO RSHQLQJ
102

larger so that we can now see the tops and bottoms of our stacked objects.
Again, with a 2H pencil, well trace the new format shape on top of our
existing drawing. Then, with the 2B pencil, well draw both a top and a
bottom negative shape. On the top shape, well reiterate the bottom line just
above the existing one, doubling it, so that we get clear shape delineations.
Well do the same thing with the lower shape, but here, reiterating the
top line for the same reason. Once youve done this, you could try these
variations. Though, for variety, you might want to get some more objects
candlesticks, vases, pitchers and the like.
For one variation, we could include the horizontal edge where the table meets
WKHZDOO$QG\RXPLJKWZDQWWRGRWKLVUVWZLWKWKHYLHZQGHUDGMXVWHGVR
that youre cropping both the tops and the bottoms of the objects. When you
do this, double the line representing the edge where the table meets the wall.
It will help you distinguish between the bottom shapes that represent the
table, and the top shapes that represent the wall, doing this will give you six
QHJDWLYHVLQVWHDGRIWKUHH7KHQRSHQXSWKHYLHZQGHUDQGDGGWKHWRSDQG
bottom shapes, just like we did in the previous drawing.
Next, you could repeat this, again, maybe changing the objects. But, this
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QHJDWLYHVKDSHVWKRXJKWKHVHFDQEHDOLWWOHKDUGHUWRVHHDWUVW$IWHUGRLQJ
these exercises, youll likely be seeing negative shapes all over your house
RU RIFH EHFDXVH QHJDWLYH VKDSHV DUH DOO DURXQG XV:KHUHYHU \RX KDYH D
space between one object and another, you have a negative shape. The more
you study them, frame them and draw them, the more theyll become an
everyday part of the way you see and draw. And, after doing the preliminary
exercise weve talked about, thats just what you want to do.
+HUHDUHVRPHQRWHV\RXPLJKWQGXVHIXODV\RXZRUNWKURXJK\RXURZQ
drawings as homework projects.
Use one page for each drawing. Basic printer paper works great for this.
Center your format shape in the page and outline it with a 2H or 4H pencil,
DKDUGSHQFLO7KLVZLOODOORZ\RXWRPRGLI\WKHIRUPDWLILWZLOOEHQHWWKH
drawing.

103

Turn your page in sympathy with the drawings shape. If the framing is
horizontal, turn your page horizontally, if vertical, then vertically.
Think of the drawing from observation as choosing and framing. Try to
choose and frame visual situations that will yield a drawing with strong and
interesting negative shapes.
Think about what you choose to draw. Art teachers often assign drawings
of folding chairs because interesting and complex negative shapes emerge
between the legs, and from many points of view.
But, actually, what you can draw is pretty unlimited. So spend some time
ZDONLQJDURXQGZLWK\RXUYLHZQGHUMXVWIUDPLQJWKLQJVDV\RXVHHWKHPLQ
\RXU EHGURRP NLWFKHQ RIFH EDWKURRP RU RWKHU URRP 3ODQWV RIWHQ KDYH
very interesting shapes between their stems, between leaves, and between
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single tree between the limbs themselves. Also, as we did here, try setting
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the right thing to draw for a given project. By looking analytically, youll
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EDFNDQGJLYH\RXUVHOIDVHOIFULWLTXH
Here are some good questions to ask yourself: Are your lines convincingly
creating negative shapes? When you cover the positives, do the negatives
FRPH RXW IRUFHIXOO\" $UH WKH ODUJH LQWHUVKDSHV RU QHJDWLYH VKDSHV EHLQJ
used to build the composition and assert the rectangular format itself? Are
the large negative shapes active?
Here are some excellent examples of negative shape drawings from my
VWXGHQWVDWWKH8QLYHUVLW\RI:DVKLQJWRQ,QWKHUVWH[DPSOH\RXFDQVHH
how one bottle has been stacked on top of another object, and the negatives
are beginning to emerge. You can also see that their horizontal lines within
the negatives. These are sub divisions to try to analyze the negative. In the
next drawing, you can see the negatives emerging even more strongly. The
UVWRQHKDVDZLGHUVHFWLRQDWWKHWRSDQGQDUURZVWRWKHERWWRPDQGWKH
bottle begins to emerge between those two shapes. In the next example, we
have a lamp, which is emerging very strongly. But, if you really look at the
104

drawing carefully, youll see that its made of four negative shapes, and we
can peel those shapes away, and lets just line them up so we can see each
of those shapes clearly. And heres an even more complex lamp, a lamp with
four heads. The lamp seems to come very much to the fore, the object comes
very much to the fore, but again, lets peel those negative shapes away and
just line them up so we can see that the drawing is really clearly made of
those negatives.
$WUVWWKH\WULFN\RX<RXWKLQNWKHSHUVRQKDVGUDZQWKHREMHFW%XWZKHQ
you crop the positives, you see that what has been drawn has indeed been the
negative itself.
Lets sum up what weve learned. Its all connected. We can make shapes
out of contour line. We can create the illusion of volume using cross contour,
oblique shapes, and geometric solids. We can construct objects using contour,
shape, cross contour, oblique shapes, and geometric solids often with the
use of construction lines. We can organize the objects in our drawing using
aggregate shapes. Aggregate shapes help us create visual groupings. They
contain in place what it is we want to draw within the drawings shape. We
FDQ FRQFHLYH RI WKH VSDFH DURXQG WKH PDLQ REMHFWV RU VXEMHFW DV ODUJH DW
shapes, ground shapes. These shapes form the shape of the drawing itself.
We can conceive of yet another kind of shape, which expresses the distances
and spaces between things. We call these negative shapes. Our drawings are
JRLQJ WR EHQHW ZKHQ WKH QHJDWLYH VKDSHV DUH DV WDQJLEOH DQG FRPSHOOLQJ
as the objects themselves. And those negative shapes are also useful for
checking the proportions of the positives, the objects.

105

Composition: The Format and Its Armature

Lecture 7

Lecture 7Composition: The Format and Its Armature

eve been working our way up in degrees of complexity. We

started at the microcosmic level with line. We then moved on
to shape, then a single object, then several objects. Next, we
turned shape into volume and drew multiple volumetric objects, considering
DJJUHJDWH VKDSH DQG REMHFWJURXQG UHODWLRQV )LQDOO\ ZH OHDUQHG DERXW
positive and negative shape. These last ideas took us well beyond drawing
isolated objects and gave us a more sophisticated idea about how the parts
of a drawing relate. Though we didnt name it, we were starting to talk about
composition, which is really nothing more than organizationorganizing
parts of a drawing into a coherent whole. In this lecture, well talk about the
underlying structure of rectangles because thats the shape of most of the
drawings we make. Artists refer to this structure as the armature.
Drawing the Armature
Most drawings have a rectangular shape made of constituent shapes that
UHODWHWRWKHUHFWDQJOH'UDZLQJVEHQHWZKHQDOOWKHLQWHUQDOVKDSHVKDYHD
relationship with the shape of the drawing itself.
To understand the rectangle a bit more, put a sheet of paper on your drawing
board in the landscape position. Then, draw a rectangle thats 9 x 12 inches
in the center of the page.

106

Start by connecting opposite corners with diagonal lines.

The intersection of these two lines creates the center of the rectangle, which
suggests two more lines: a horizontal and a vertical through the center point.

From here, we have many potential points to connect: the diagonals of the
vertical halves, the diagonals of the horizontal halves, and the diagonals
of the four quadrants. Ultimately, these lines create what artists call the
rectangles armature.

107

6RPHDUWLVWVHQYLVLRQDPRUHVFDOHGEDFNYHUVLRQRIWKHDUPDWXUHDQGRWKHUV
a more complex version. And of course, not all artists draw armatures in their
rectangles, but doing so in a range of different rectangles is useful, especially
if you pay attention to the shapes and relationships that emerge as you add
each new line. Drawing armatures is a great way to develop sensitivity to the
underlying structure of the formats shape.

Lecture 7Composition: The Format and Its Armature

Ratios in Rectangles
7KHHVVHQWLDOFKDUDFWHURIHYHU\UHFWDQJOHLVGHQHGE\WKHUHODWLRQVKLSRI
its verticality to horizontality. That relationship can be expressed by a ratio.
A rectangle with a 1:1 ratio is a square; it feels solid and stable. A rectangle
with a ratio of 1:2 feels expansive and panoramic.

You may have heard of something called the golden rectangle, which is
based on the golden ratio. It goes back more than 2,000 years to the Greek
PDWKHPDWLFLDQ(XFOLGZKRZDVDPRQJWKHUVWWRGHQHLW7KHUDWLRLWVHOILV
DQGLVUHSUHVHQWHGE\WKH*UHHNOHWWHUSKL
In the golden rectangle, the relationship of the height (b) to the overall
width (c) is the same as the relationship of a to the height, a being the
remainder if we subtract the height from the width. Mathematically, this is
written as: a/b = b/c, or 0.618/1 = 1/1.618. To put it more succinctly: a is to
b as b is to c.

108

b=1

b=1

a = .618
c = 1.618

0DQ\ KDYH VWXGLHG WKH JROGHQ UHFWDQJOH LQ VLJQLFDQW DUFKLWHFWXUDO DQG
artistic works, from the Parthenon in Athens to Hagia Sophia in Istanbul,
from Leonardos Mona Lisa to Mondrians abstract paintings. But scholars
disagree about the extent to which artists have relied on it. After exploring it,
you should decide for yourself whether its in any way special to you.

Suggested Reading
Aristides, Classical Painting Atelier, chapter 2, Composition, pp. 1943.
Curtis, Drawing from Observation, chapter 9, The Golden Mean, pp. 93114.
Hamm, Drawing Scenery, Introduction to the Basics of Scenery Drawing,
pp. 115.
Loomis, Creative Illustration, pp. 2728, 3539, and 47.
Pumphrey, The Elements of Art, Format, pp. 4049.
Rockman, Drawing Essentials, The Golden Section, pp. 3945.

109

Composition: The Format and Its Armature

Lecture 7Transcript
Weve been working our way up in degrees of complexity. We started at the
microcosmic level with line, then shape, then a single object, then several.
Then we turned shape into volume, and drew multiple volumetric objects
considering aggregate shape and object/ground relations. Finally, we learned
about the positive and negative shape. These last ideas took us well beyond
drawing isolated objects, and gave us a more sophisticated idea about how
the parts of a drawing relate. Though we didnt name it, we were really
starting to talk about composition.
Compositions nothing more than organizing. Its about organizing parts in a
coherent whole. The Italian word disegnare means both to draw and to
design, and the two are intimately connected.
In 1890, in a work titled 7KH'HQLWLRQRI1HR7UDGLWLRQDOLVP, the French
artist, Maurice Denis, wrote We should remember that a picturebefore
being a war horse, a nude woman, or telling some other storyis essentially
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Hes saying Sure, you see a war horse or a nude woman, but artists cant
just think about horses and nudes. Artists have to consider the abstract stuff,
the formal elementsline, shape, volume, and colorand how theyre
organized.
In this lecture, well talk about the underlying structure of rectangles because
thats the shape of most of the drawings we make. Artists refer to this as the
armature.
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FRPSDVV D VKHHW RI   LQFK SDSHU 0RVW GUDZLQJV KDYH D VKDSH
generally, a rectangleand its made of constituent shapes that relate to
that rectangle. That follows from what we learned about aggregate shape
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relationship with the shape of the drawing itself. These relationships have a

110

fair amount to do with geometry because our starting point, a rectangle, its
a geometric shape.
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sense of them in terms of the abstract geometry of the rectangle. You can
see how both are organized in relation to halves, quarters, diagonals, and
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artists across a great swath of history, culture, and artistic convention have
routinely composed in just this way.
Many of the great artists of the Renaissance, like Leonardo and Drer, were
fascinated by abstract geometry and its application to drawing. In fact, you
could say that drawings very nature is abstract. The English word abstract
comes from the Latin abs trahere. Abs is a preposition meaning from.
Trahere is a verb that has several meanings, including to draw. Abs
trahere, or to abstract, is literally to draw out from.
If youve studied a Romance language, youll likely note that trahere
ORRNV DQ DZIXO ORW OLNH D YHUEDQ LQQLWLYH :H KDYH D URRW WUDK DQG
then a Romance verb termination, ere. The root, trah, survives in
modern Italian. Tratto means line, and ritratto means portrait. Theres a
connection between trah and draw, both four letters with the same two
central lettersr and aand they sound alike: trah, draw, trah, draw.
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try it: T, D, T, D. For T, the tongues slightly more forward when it hits the
roof of the mouth. In phonetics, theyre both called alveolars; means the tip
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behind the teeth.
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Again, give it a try: H, W, H, W. These are referred to as approximants. Both
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h for w, trah is draw.
In English, to abstract retains its abs trahere meaning of to draw out
from. An abstract of an article refers to the main idea or ideas drawn out
111

from the article as a whole. A track, like one you might run on, is like a line
drawn on the earth.
A related word, tract, as in a tract of land, is a piece of land thats been
abstracted or drawn out and set apart from all the surrounding land. That
tract itself could be created with a tractor. In this sense, a tractors just a
big drawing tool. And artists have indeed drawn with tractors and similar
tools, marking the surface of the earth at a large scale. You may have seen
LPDJHVRI-DPHV7XUUHOOVRoden Crater, or works like this oneSpiral Jetty
by Robert Smithson.
Many people, when they hear the word abstract, immediately think about
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abstraction does have this meaning, too. But here, were not talking about a
kind of art, but about concepts that apply to all kinds of art.
Both Eakins and Diebenkorn are abstracting. Theyre pulling out a particular
rectangles worth of visual event, and theyre organizing it relative to a given
rectanglethe drawings shape. And as youve done, theyre using abstract
shapes to draw with, to create large ground shapes, aggregate shapes, and as
building blocks to construct the things in their drawing. So our challenge, to
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rectanglein an order that makes visual sense.
Every rectangle, even before we make a mark on it, has a latent visual
structure buried just beneath the surface, and this structure affects the way
our eyes traverse the blank page.
Take a piece of paper and put two dots on it. Your eyes go back and forth
between them. Were drawn to connect them on a linear path. If I add a third
dot, youll likely connect them as a shapehere, a triangle.
Its just what many ancient peoples did looking up at the night sky. They saw
points of light, stars, and connected them, seeing lines and shapes. Thats
our operating system at work. Were wired to connect the dots, and this has
direct bearing on composition.

112

Lets get into this a bit. Put a sheet of paper on your drawing board in the
landscape position; then draw a rectangle thats 9 12 inches in the center
of your page. Take a hard look at your rectangle. Are there any points to
connect? Is there a line implied by the rectangle itself? Youre probably
getting the idea.
You could connect the corners with a diagonal. The way our eyes react to
the rectangles corners is similar to the way they react to two random dots
on a pageor stars in the night sky. Our eyes will move automatically from
corner to corner on an otherwise blank page.
Our next implicit line is the other diagonal, so draw that, too. The intersection
of these two lines has created a new pointthe center of the rectangle. Its
an important and strategic location. While it doesnt give us two points to
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center point; the second, a vertical through the same point. These two lines,
in a way, echo or rhyme with the four lines of the rectangle itself. The central
horizontal echoes the top and the bottom. The central vertical, the right and
the left sides.
Now your choices really open up. So many potential points to connect. Lets
start with four diagonalsthe diagonals of the vertical halves. These create
WZRODUJHLQWHUVHFWLQJWULDQJOHV(DFKRQHVDQNHGE\DVHWRIULJKWWULDQJOHV
pointing in opposite directions. It also creates a symmetrical diamond pattern
reminiscent of the Blombos Cave etched piece of ochre.
Lets add another four diagonalsthose of the horizontal halvesand a
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in the rectangle. Artists refer to this as the rectangles armature. Some artists
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WKLV JXUH IDVFLQDWLQJ WR ORRN DW :KLOH RVWHQVLEO\ DW LW DOVR EHJLQV WR
DSSHDUWKUHHGLPHQVLRQDOOLNHDIDFHWHGWUDQVSDUHQWFU\VWDORUGLDPRQG

113

Its worth noting we really didnt invent anything here. Were just listening
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rectangle, but it gives us a lot of information about the rectangle.
Notice these points of intersection. Theyre intersections of the diagonals of
the vertical and horizontal halves. They indicate our vertical and horizontal
quarters. Lets draw those in. The rectangle now has two underlying grids.
We already had a grid giving us the rectangles quadrants. We now have an
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rectangles4 columns and 4 rows. Theres a fractal quality to this.
7KHUHDUHDFRXSOHPRUHLQWHUHVWLQJSRLQWVRILQWHUVHFWLRQ7KHUHVWKHWKUHH
way intersection of the diagonals of the rectangle, the diagonal of the vertical
half, and the diagonal of the horizontal half. This reveals the rectangles
vertical and horizontal thirds. Lets add these in, too. This gives us a grid of
thirds.
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and horizontal halves. These reveal the rectangles horizontal and vertical
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units, a 3 3 with 9 units, a 4 4 with 16, and a 5 5 with 25. All together,
we get this.
Theres a clear correlation with music here, in particular, rhythm. We can
think about the page like a musical measure. It could be left empty, divided
LQ WZR LQ WKUHH IRXU RU YH DQG LQ PDQ\ RWKHU ZD\V WKDW FRPSRXQG RQ
these simple divisions. As in music, we could juxtapose these divisions
creating complex visual polyrhythms.
The Mandarin word hu means painting or drawing. The modern character
looks like this: It depicts a rectangle framed inside a rectangle with divisions
at the horizontal and vertical halves. There are also stresses at about the
quarters. In many ways, this character is like the horizontal and vertical
aspects of the armature weve constructed and a blueprint for a common
compositional strategy.

114

That Chinese has such a wonderfully distilled character like hu isnt wholly
surprising. An attribute of good Chinese handwriting is that the strokes for
each character balance within an imaginary square. Whether the character
consists of 3 or 30 strokes, the strokes have to relate to that square.
When learning to write Chinese, students practice their characters within a
square grid. There are several types, but a very common one looks like this.
Familiar, isnt it?
$VZHYHGLVFXVVHGZULWWHQ&KLQHVHLVDSLFWRULDOEDVHGODQJXDJH+RZGR
you practice making pictures? Well, its a good idea to do it in relationship
to the major stresses, or armature, of the rectangle. Those would be the
horizontal, vertical, and diagonal halves.
When you look at Chinese characters, you can see how theyre organized
around the major stresses, or major thoroughfares, in the rectangle. Some
characters are quite simple and symmetrical, while others are quite complex
and asymmetrical. But the characters, little drawings really, are composed in
relationship to that imagined rectangle and its armature.
Coming back to our rectangle, its worth noting that all we did was follow
some simple proceduresa game of connect the dotsand weve learned a
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did all this without a ruler.
:HFRXOGJRRQOLNHWKLVLQQLWHO\:HQRZKDYHVFRUHVRISRLQWVWKDWFRXOG
be connected. We also have all the new rectangles in our four sets of grids.
That would be 54 rectangles. Each one of these has all the same relationships
that we found in our primary rectangle. So if we could draw small enough
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You might want to take this further to see what kinds of relationships you can
EULQJRXW7KHUHVDJUHDWGHDORIFRPSOH[LW\LQDOOWKLV,QG,FDQVWDUHDW
WKHVHJXUHVIRUDORQJWLPHDOONLQGVRILQWHUHVWLQJYLVXDOPHDQLQJVHPHUJH
,FDQUHDGOLQHVDQGDWVKDSHVRQWKHVXUIDFHRU,FDQUHDGGDUNHUOLQHVDV
coming forward in space, and lighter ones moving behind, receding into the

115

distance. I can read the lines as constructing planes twisting in space, as well
as 3D crystalline structures.
One of the ways Ive come to think about the armature is that it reveals
that not all paths through the rectangle are equal. There are the equivalent
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RSHQHOGV'HYHORSLQJDVHQVHRIWKHUK\WKPRIWKHODQGVFDSHRIWKHSDJHLV
central to composing well.
Im not claiming that all artists have drawn armatures in their rectangles.
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work, paying close attention to the compositional strategies that are
deployed. Well be doing this, too.
But drawing the armature in a range of different rectangles is useful,
especially if you pay attention to the shapes and relationships that emerge
as you add each new line. Its a great way to develop a sensitivity to the
underlying structure of the formats shape.
7KHHVVHQWLDOFKDUDFWHURIHYHU\UHFWDQJOHLVGHQHGE\WKHUHODWLRQVKLSRI
its verticality to its horizontality. That relationship can be expressed by a
ratio. A rectangle with a 1:1 ratio its a square. It feels very solid and stable.
A rectangle with a ratio of 1:2 feels different, expansive, panoramic. Simply
rotating this shape so that its now 2:1, produces a rectangle that feels much
less stable than either the square or the 1:2 rectangle; no doubt this has to do
with the way we experience gravity.
The rectangle you just drew is 9 12 inchesa 3:4 ratio. A next step is
to experiment with different ones. Try a 1:3, a 1:4, a 2:3, and a 2:5, and
then rotate them 90 degrees; note how they feel in their portrait orientation.
Getting to know rectangles is like playing scales and arpeggios for a
musician. You begin to develop a feel for the terrain and the measure among
the intervals.
Theres one rectangle youve likely heard of: the golden rectangle. Its based
on the golden ratio, also known as the extreme and mean ratio, the golden
section, the golden mean, and the divine proportion. Its had a long history.
116

The idea that there are certain ratios or proportions that are beautiful or
harmonious goes back at least 2,500 years to the Greek mathematician and
philosopher Pythagoras. A couple hundred years later, his countryman and
IHOORZPDWKHPDWLFLDQ(XFOLGZDVDPRQJWKHUVWWRGHQHWKHJROGHQUDWLR
Youll remember, many of the Renaissance heavyweights were enamored of
geometry, and both Pythagoras and Euclid are thought by some art historians
WR EH DPRQJ WKH JXUHV LQ 5DSKDHOV School of Athens. Some scholars
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ideas about measure and proportion would turn out to be very important to
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Many ideas about ideal proportions made their way to 15thFHQWXU\,WDO\YLD
the 1stFHQWXU\ %&( 5RPDQ DUFKLWHFW DQG ZULWHU 9LWUXYLXV +H DXWKRUHG
De Architectura, translated as The Ten Books of Architecture. In it, he
wrote about many things, including pulleys, water clocks, and surveying
instruments. But he also coined what have come to be known as the
Vitruvian Virtues. He describes how a structure should be utlitas, frmitas,
and venustasutilitarian, solid, and beautiful. He related this last virtue,
beauty, to proportion, and he applied this not only to architecture, but also to
WKHKXPDQJXUH
Fourteen hundred years later, Leonardo da Vinci would pick up on this and
make his famous drawing based on Vitruviuss ideals of measure and beauty.
Its no accident that Leonardo became familiar with Vitruvius. His writings
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number of Italians of the period. Notable among them was Leon Battista
Alberti, who wrote his own book on architecture, modeled on Vitruviuss,
'H5H$HGLFDWRULDOn the Art of Building. Alberti also wrote a seminal
treatise on painting, titled De Pictura. Well speak about that book when we
delve into proportion.
Albertis contemporary, Luca Pacioli, was a friar, a mathematician, and one
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wrote a text called De Divina ProportioneThe Divine Proportion. This text
concerned itself with artistic proportion and the golden ratio in particular.
Both he and Leonardo, at the time, were enjoying the patronage of Ludovico
117

Sforza, the Duke of Milan. Pacioli asked Leonardo to illustrate his text, and
the two collaborated on the project.
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artistic worksfrom the Parthenon in Athens to Hagia Sophia in Istanbul,
from Leonardos Mona Lisa to Mondrians abstract paintingsand theres
some consensus among scholars and some disagreement about how much
artists have indeed relied on it.
Theres even a paper, written in 2008, titled Golden Section and the Art
of Painting, by a Romanian scientist, Agata Olariu. In it, she claims to
have measured and tabulated the ratios of the rectangles of 565 paintings by
Caravaggio, Czanne, Delacroix, Goya, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, and others.
She reports that the average rectangle used by these artists was far from a
golden ratio rectangle. In fact, she reports that very few of the rectangles
used by the artists in her sample were golden.
In any case, its so famous that Id be remiss if I didnt explain how to
construct it, and Ill leave you to decide for yourself if its in any way special.
Lets start with that ratioEuclids ratio. The basic idea is this: We have
a line segment made of two constituent line segments of unequal length.
And heres the key: The ratio of the shorter line segment to the longer line
segment must be the same as the ratio of the longer line segment to the entire
line segment.
I know thats a bit dense, so let me repeat it. The ratio of the shorter line
segment to the longer line segment must be the same as the ratio of the
longer line segment to the entire line segment.
To do this, make a line segment. Using the segment as a base, draw a square.
From the center of the base, draw a diagonal to the upper corner of the
square. Here weve gone to the right. Now take a compass, and put the point
on the center of the base, and draw a portion of a circle from the upper corner
of the square to a point where it would intersect with the base; then extend
your base to intersect with your circle. The ratio of your two line segments is
now a golden ratio.
118

7KHUDWLRLWVHOILVDQGLWVUHSUHVHQWHGE\WKH*UHHNOHWWHU7KLVLVLQ
honor of the 5thFHQWXU\%&(VFXOSWRUDQGDUFKLWHFW3KLGLDVZKRVWKRXJKW
by some to have used it in his Parthenon statues.
Now onto our golden rectangle. Well retain the height of the square,
and construct a new rectangle on the golden ratio base. Thats it. So this
is our 1.618 rectangle, meaning the height is 1 to a width of 1.618. What
makes this rectangle special? We want to keep Maurice Deniss idea about
composition in mind. Things have to be arranged in a particular order. And
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the relationship of the vertical to the horizontal aspect of the rectangle. That
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feel like they belong together.
A jacket and a pair of pants are clearly different things, but we can make
them relate, make them feel like they belong together, when we, literally,
make them from the same cloth. We get a suit.
The vertical and horizontal could be identical twins. Thats a very strong
relationship. It produces a square. But some might say squares are too
predictable, not interesting enough. So we could design a rectangle where
one measure was clearly related to the other measure, but not identical.
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times as long or 1 times as long, which, incidentally, according to the
Romanian scientist, is the most popular ratio for rectangles used by the artists
she sampled. Over 400 of the 568 rectangles exhibited ratios around 1:1.25.
That would look like this. In the golden rectangle, theres a real relationship,
but its somewhat complex.
The height, bs relationship to the overall width, c, is the same as as
relationship to the height, b. And a is the remainder if we subtract the height,
b, from the total width c. So theyre intimately connected. Heres the math:
a divided by b, which is 0.618 divided by 1, is equal to b divided by c, or 1
divided by 1.618. The quotients are identical0.618. Put more succinctly, a
is to b as b is to c.

119

Another permutation is the root rectangle. Its constructed similarly to the

golden rectangle, but instead of drawing the diagonal from the center point
of the base of the square, we draw it from one of the lower corners.
Lets try it. Draw a square. From the lower left corner, draw a diagonal to the
upper right corner. Place the compass point on the lower corner, and draw
a portion of a circle from the upper corner of the square to a point where it
would intersect the base. Extend the base to intersect the curve. Retain the
height of the square, and construct a new rectangle on the longer base. Thats
a root two rectangle. Repeat this procedure on the new rectangle to produce
a root three rectangle, and repeat it again for a root four rectangle.
If youre interested in making circular drawingswe call them tondosor
elliptically shaped drawings, the same ideas can apply. As weve noted, the
circle has a strong relationship with the square, and many of the squares
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discovering the ellipse. Many of the rectangular structures weve discovered
in the rectangle can be turned into curvilinear structures to rhyme with the
outer edges of the circle or ellipse, and these curving lines can even be used
in a rectangle.
If youre interested in other shaped drawings, regular or irregular, the same
idea holds: Understand the internal structure of the format shape, and relate
the divisions and shapes in the interior to the whole.
Earlier Id said that a good way to develop a feeling for composing is to
draw basic geometric divisions into a range of different rectangles. This will
acquaint you with their underlying structures. I also mentioned that its very
useful to pay close attention to what emerges as you add each new line. Lets
return to where we started todayto that single diagonal crossing the page.
Even something this simple will reward our attention.
By making that one line, Ive actually accomplished quite a lot: Ive divided
my rectangle in half; Ive created two shapestwo triangles; Ive created
contrast; Ive created a new directiondiagonalthat contrasts with the
format itself, which is made up of two vertical and two horizontal lines; Ive
120

created asymmetry where, earlier, thered only been symmetry; and while
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actually begun to create an object/ground relationship and the illusion of
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Add a tree and a stump, and its a sloping hill. Add a couple more humble
marks, and we see the ocean, and the sun, and the clouds above. In this case,
the lower triangle is forward in space, and the upper triangle represents the
space behind it. This is an object/ground relationship with the lower triangle
as object and the upper as ground.
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,KDYHDVWLOOOLIHRQDWDEOHZLWKWKHRRUEHORZLW1RZWKHXSSHUWULDQJOH
is objectthe lower one, ground. We could also interpret this single line as
a drawing of a cardboard box seen at an angle, or a pitched roof seen from
DERYHRUDZDOOPHHWLQJDRRU
Coming back to the diagonal itself, if it were a hill, its one with a relatively
gently sloping riseabout 37 degrees. We could hike up to the top without
too much trouble. And if we chose to ski down? Well, it wouldnt test our
skill; its a beginners slope. But turn your piece of paper to the portrait
position, and now that slopes over 50 degrees. Walking up would be a real
hike. And skiing down? Well, youd want to be sure you knew what you
were doing. And that translates to drawing: The greater the slope, the greater
the sense of activity and instability.
Lets add that second diagonal. Weve now created four shapestriangles.
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we could be lying on our backs inside the pyramid, staring up at the ceiling.
Equally, we could be looking into a deep room or tunnel.
And this relates directly to Frank Stellas Mitered Squares, which we looked
DW EULH\ LQ DQ HDUOLHU OHFWXUH7U\ ORRNLQJ DW WKH OHIW UHFWDQJOH DQG VHHLQJ
it as a deep room. Simultaneously, try to see the right panel as a pyramid
viewed from above; then switch. Then try and see them as two rooms. Then
two pyramids from above. Mazelike, no?
121

Coming back to lines, one way to think about drawingline drawingis

that what were really trying to do with every line we make is to transform
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VRPH LOOXVLRQ RI WKUHHGLPHQVLRQDO VSDFH 6R LWV D JRRG LGHD WR VWDUH DW
the lines you draw and ask yourself how theyre changing the white of the
paper or a portion of it, making it bulge, or dip, or shift into an oblique plane
orientation.
Youll note that all the lines weve drawn in this lecture fall into one of
three categories: horizontal, vertical, or diagonal. Our feelings about these
directions in drawings parallel our experience of them in everyday life, and
WKLVOLNHO\JRHVEDFNWRRXUYHU\UVWDQFHVWRUV
Imagine a young Homo sapiens. Hes walking along and comes upon a
sleeping Neanderthal. The Neanderthals got his club lying beside him
all horizontal. Thats not a big deal. But if the Neanderthal were standing,
vertical, with his club held up vertically, well, you can imagine the youth
would pay a lot more attention to that. And if that Neanderthal were lunging
with his club, everything all diagonal? The early H. sapiens who didnt pay a
lot of attention had a very low probability of passing on his genesprobably
not one of our ancestors.
Horizontals are like a calm sea; verticals less so, but nothing like diagonals,
which are active, unstable, and grab our attention. And the greater the pitch,
the greater the feeling of action and instability.

122

Composition: How Artists Compose

Lecture 8

hoosing the right kind of rectangle for a given drawing is crucial. The
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choose to orient the format in sympathy with the subject. Although
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the subjects lying down. Most people make the same choice instinctively
when they take snapshots. Generally, artists want the various parts of a
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RXWRIWKHSDUWV7KXVZHOORIWHQQGWKDWWKHODUJHVWVKDSHVWKHREMHFWDQG
ground and the aggregate shapes, relate to the drawings armature. In this
lecture, well look at some of the ways in which artists apply an understanding
of the underlying structure of the rectangle to their drawings.

Yale University Art Gallery.

Low, Mid, and High Horizons

One of the most common compositional strategies we see is a division of
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watercolor, this division occurs near the midpoint. Other works may use
a thinner rectangle below and a wider one above (low horizon) or a large
rectangle below and a smaller one above (high horizon).

123

Other Divisions
Of course, the primary divisions in a drawing dont need to be horizontal.
Artists also make use of vertical divisions. And in some cases, you might want
to think in terms of dividing the rectangle into thirds, diagonals, and quarters.
Yet another compositional strategy is to slightly skew the main division in
the ground. In other words, the division sits along a diagonal that divides the
rectangle into two wedge shapes, something like the blade of a guillotine.
Focal Point, Focal Area, and Compositional Shapes
This discussion of large compositional shapes leads naturally to the subject
of focal area and focal point.

Lecture 8Composition: How Artists Compose

Theres a reason that most people arent aware of the ground when they look
at a drawing: Artists purposely construct their drawings so that we focus on
the objects. But the artist must pay a great deal of attention to both the focal
point and the ground so that the viewer experiences the hierarchy of visual
HYHQWVLQDVSHFLFZD\
In Eakinss watercolor, the focal point is clearly Biglins head and upper
torso. The focal area is Biglin in his scull. Why? First, Biglin and his scull
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HYHQWV$OOHOVHEHLQJHTXDOZHOOORRNDWWKHODUJHWKLQJUVW1H[W%LJOLQLV
LQWKHFHQWHU$OOHOVHEHLQJHTXDOZHOOORRNWRWKHFHQWHUUVW
Direction also plays a role here. Not all directions attract the same
attention. All else being equal, horizontals are sleepiest; verticals, a bit
more energetic; and diagonals, the most dynamic. If we eliminate Biglin
and his boat, what remains is very horizontal, with a couple of minor
verticals and tiny diagonals. The result is sleepy. Biglin supplies the
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in the compositions center.
Many drawings and paintingseven stylistically different onesuse these
and similar abstract strategies to create focal points and focal areas in a
composition.

124

Balance and Visual Weight

Weve seen that the center of the format is an important place. Of course,
artists dont always locate their focal point in the center, though drawings
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compositional concept.
We can imagine the bottom horizontal of the format as a plank sitting on a
fulcrum. Every line or mark we make has what we refer to as visual weight,
and just about all the artworks you know are structured to balance in one
way or another. You wont see the plank tipping too much in one direction
or another.

Yale University Art Gallery.

There are many options in structuring balance. In the Biglin watercolor,

Eakinss strategy is based on centering, complemented with counterweights
to the left and right. Biglin occupies the center; hes balanced. The thrust
of his arm on the left is counterbalanced by the oar on the right. In the
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WKHUHDUHHTXDOFRXQWHUZHLJKWUHHFWLRQVWRWKHOHIWDQGULJKW2QWKHZDWHU
behind him, we get a portion of a cropped scull and the long scull on the
left. Thats countered by the two sailboats on the right. The events in the
landscape and sky balance out, as well.

125

Arranging Furniture
Everything weve discussed so far has to do with ordering and balancing
things in relation to a given rectangle. In that sense, composing a drawing is
similar to arranging furniture, which we do in relation to the proportions of a
given room. How we arrange the furniture depends on the room itself. What
kind of rectangle it is? How long? How wide? We also create aggregate
groupings and relationships when we arrange furniture. In your living room,
for instance, you position the area rug, sofa, coffee table, and armchair so
that the individual objects form a grouping.
Most drawings, prints, and paintings are rectangles, and most artists structure
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in most cases, as with the works weve seen, they dont end up looking
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to the underlying structure of the given rectangle. The structure generally
remains hiddenunless you look for it.

Lecture 8Composition: How Artists Compose

Self-Critique Questions
There are several key points to consider when working on compositional
problems like the ones weve covered in this lecture:
z

Choose what you draw carefully.

Take time to select a point of view and framing.

Think about the large planes and planar divisions, such as the
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and sky in a landscape.

Relate observed reality to large geometric shapes and draw through

the format in sympathy with this.

Here are some questions you can ask yourself as a guide in critiquing your
own work:
z

126

Is the whole format activated?

Are there dead areas?

Does the composition balance?

Does the drawing feel alive and fresh?

Is there a unique perception or point of view?

Does this perception come to life on the page?

Does the drawing have a focal point and a focal area?

Is there a strong sense of design in the composition that directs the

viewer to move through the drawing in a particular order?

Have you looked at what youre drawing closely and with an

intelligent and analytic eye?

Do your objects sit convincingly in relation to the large planes?

Are you creating space and volume convincingly?

Have you been attentive to clarifying overlap situations?

Suggested Reading
Loomis, Creative Illustration, pp. 2934 and 4753.
Mendelowitz, Faber, and Wakeman, A Guide to Drawing, chapter 8,
Composition, pp.138160.
Pumphrey, The Elements of Art, chapter 5, The Organizational Components
of Art, pp. 62 89.
Rockman, Drawing Essentials, The Principles of Composition, pp. 2238.

127

Composition: How Artists Compose

Lecture 8Transcript
Lets take a look at some of the ways artists apply an understanding of the
underlying structure of the rectangle to their drawings. As we analyze their
work, youll have the opportunity to put these concepts into practice. For
your drawings, youll need: pencils, sharpening tools, erasers, a drawing
ERDUG<RXOODOVRQHHG\RXUYLHZQGHUVRPHSULQWHUSDSHURUDVNHWFKERRN
of a similar size, some very simple still life objects. For this project, the
simpler the better.
Choosing the right kind of rectangle for a given drawing is crucial. The
GUDZLQJVEDVLFFKDUDFWHUZLOOEHDYRUHGE\WKDWFKRLFH*HQHUDOO\DUWLVWV
choose to orient the format in sympathy with the subject. While theres no
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0RVWIXOOOHQJWKSRUWUDLWVDUHYHUWLFDOH[FHSWZKHQWKHVXEMHFWVO\LQJGRZQ
Most people do this instinctively, even when theyre taking a snapshot.
Unlike a snapshot, we can decide exactly how vertical or horizontal to make
a drawing.
In the examples, youll note that each drawing uses a unique rectangle, some
more vertical, some more horizontal, some more square. Each makes use
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want the various parts of the drawing to relate to one another, and they want
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largest shapes, the object and ground, and the aggregate shapes, relate to the
drawings armature.
Heres a drawing by Rembrandt. Youll note the uniquely shaped rectangle.
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subject is a landscape, the underlying compositional strategy is to divide
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rectangle below and a much taller one above. We could refer to this as a low
horizon.

128

This is a 12thFHQWXU\6RQJ'\QDVW\GUDZLQJE\;Lj*X:HORRNHGDWLWLQ
an earlier lecture. The format shapes vertical to the Rembrandts horizontal,
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constituent rectangles. In this example, it occurs at the formats horizontal
half.
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abstract compositional structure, division at the horizontal half. This isnt
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Heres Vincent Van Gogh employing the same idea as his countryman,
Rembrandt, but inversely. Here we have a large rectangle below, about
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horizon. And note the gentle way the topography is divided or stressed, at
about the half and the quarter, both slightly diagonal.
Ive seen many students try to imitate Van Goghs drawings. Theyre
generally attracted to the mark making. Its very beautiful and its a real
hallmark of Van Goghs work. But they miss the underlying structure. This
grid of horizontals and diagonals related to the format shape, which hold all
those marks together.
Now, I dont think anyone looking at these six drawings would say that
they look particularly geometric, but in each case, the ostensible contenta
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underpinnings of a given rectangle, a format shape.
So heres a useful exercise to do at this point. Its all about using a range of
different rectangles and horizontal ground divisions related to the armature
129

of the rectangle. Doing this helps you begin to develop an intuitive sense
about composition. Youll be making a number of small compositional
studies.
So keep the objects simple, a bottle, a coffee mug, a saltshaker, or the like.
We want to concentrate on the large compositional shapes. We dont want to
spend a lot of time drawing intricate objects. In fact, many of the drawings
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same objects repeatedly will heighten your awareness of how much the
compositional decisions contribute to the drawing, that as opposed to the
objects.
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compositional divisions with the object. That can work, but its generally
much stronger if you can do this with the large planes, the ground shapes.
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land and sky in a landscape.
Lets start with a low horizon, someplace around the horizontal quarter or
third, like the Rembrandt. You want to get in a position so that the division
of the table and wall will be a true horizontal, not a diagonal, so you see a
smaller rectangle below and a larger one above.
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RI\RXUYLHZQGHURQ\RXUSDJHZLWKD+RU+SHQFLO7KHQPDNH\RXU
drawing with a somewhat softer pencil, a B or a 2B.
Start with the two ground shapes, your tabletop and wall, and then give
yourself a centerline, relating the placement of the object to the large
divisions. Then build your object using shape. Check your proportions
using your centerline and your negative shapes. Dont worry about shading
or shadows, we just want to concentrate on moving through compositional
strategies so this sense of ordering shape is embedded in the way we see
130

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drawing, do a high horizon.
Each time youll have to think about: How you pose the object or objects,
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7KHYLHZQGHUZLQGRZVVKDSHZLOOEHWKHVKDSHRI\RXUGUDZLQJ6RIDU
its likely that your object or objects have been in the lower rectangle or
straddling the two rectangles.
Heres a challenge. How could you get the object in the upper rectangle? We
have Freuds example to contemplate. You may have to move around a bit,
but if you look up at your table from below, so that the front edge of the table
forms the horizontal division, youve found one solution to the problem. Or
we could look down at an object on a bed, or on a low table. So try another
three drawingslow, mid, and high horizonsbut this time, with the object
or objects occupying the upper rectangle.
Of course, our primary divisions dont need to be horizontal. Heres a
drawing by the American artist Norman Lundin. Its from 1974 and its titled
Model Standing Before a Blackboard. Note the division along the vertical
half. Its accompanied by stresses at the vertical quarters. Also, note the
projection of light on the blackboard, pretty much parallel to the rectangles
diagonal.
Most of the artists weve talked about here are long gone, but Norman
Lundins someone that Ive had the great good fortune to know and call a
friend for close to two decades. He was my colleague at the University of
Washington before retiring a couple years ago. I interviewed him in 2006 for
a piece that was published in a catalog on his work
This is what he had to say about composition in painting, of course, it applies
to drawing, too:
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diagonals relate to the overall rectangle is an important concept.

131

When I compose, I consciously relate the rectilinear aspects of the

imagery to the edges of the painting.
So lets try this, too. How could you get a vertical half? Ill give you three
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bottle, a big bottle, in the foreground, and then put a shorter bottle in the
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We could also look down at a table and frame so that its edge creates the
half. Moving from still life into an interior, we could frame so that a door
opening onto an adjacent room acts as the vertical half.
Another motif involves thinking of the page in terms of quadrants. Here,
Leonardo locates the woods in the upper right. This kind of decision impacts
the way we read the illusionistic space in the drawing. Locating the woods,
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we traverse to reach the trees. Had he drawn the woods in the lower left, the
woods would appear right in front of us.
So try this, too. Set up an object or objects and locate the drawing in the lower
left quadrant. Repeat in the upper right quadrant, then note the difference in
the way the spatial illusion appears.
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the white drape rides the horizontal quarter.
Heres a drawing attributed to someone in Rembrandts circle. Here we have
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falls into the diagonal of format.
And heres a drawing by Rembrandt himself. The drawings divided
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horizontal and vertical halves.
And Picasso not only gives us vertical thirds but sixths as well, not to
mention the stress at the vertical half, the horizontal thirds, the diagonal of
the format in both directions, and the diagonals of the vertical halves.
132

I want to be clear here. This isnt about style, period, or country. Here is from
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Like Picasso, he ties his composition to the rectangles armature. Theres a
division along the horizontal half, stresses at the horizontal quarters, another
along the diagonal of the format, along the diagonal of the horizontal half,
along the bottom two horizontal quarters, and subtle stresses along the
vertical half and quarters.
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format, others along the diagonal of the bottom horizontal halves, and a light
accent at the vertical half, too.
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thirds, vertical thirds, the diagonal of the rectangle, quarters. Try this out
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stimulate your imagination. So here are a couple examples.
We can get horizontal thirds by framing so that the top of the table is the
center third, the area below it the lower third, and the wall the upper third.
We can get vertical thirds by framing a door with equal amounts of wall on
either side. You can get a diagonal by viewing your still life table from an
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diagonal of the rectangle itself.
It really helps to pay attention to the large planes, like tabletops, walls,
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the drawing by Richard Diebenkorn we looked at earlier. This isnt just a
drawing of a couple of nude models. It involved a very careful consideration
of three interrelated things: the position of the models and the furniture,
choosing the point of view, choosing the framing and format shape. The
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have stresses, things lining up, at both the vertical and horizontal halves, at
the vertical and horizontal quarters and eighths, along the formats diagonals
and along several of the diagonals of the horizontal halves, and diagonals of
the vertical halves.
133

This composition also evinces a strategy of the main division in the ground
being slightly skewed. It sits along a diagonal that divides the rectangle into
two wedge shapes, kind of like a guillotine blade.
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The drawings hinged on the vertical center, dividing the nose and lips in
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pegged to the vertical quarters. One arm rides the center of the right quarter,
while the other chair leg echoes it on the other side, riding the center of the
left quarter, one side balancing out the other.
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Doe at Home. We also get stresses along the horizontal half, the vertical half,
and along several of the vertical and horizontal quarters.
None of the drawings weve looked at would be considered geometric
drawings, but they all have a strong geometric underpinning. They all rely
on large shapes, usually in the ground, that are related to and construct the
format shape of the drawing.
So, try composing using two wedge shapes. Try a vertical version, like the
Picasso, and another horizontal version, like the Lundin. You could also try
varying the relative amounts of the wedges. Start with both about equal.
Then try one small on top, big on the bottom, then the inverse. Like the
artists weve been looking at, you could compliment the primary wedge
division with a vertical half or diagonal half, or some other measure. Mix it
up, and remember to consistently vary that rectangle.
You can draw just about anything with this approach, still lifes, interiors,
landscapes, cityscapes, all of it. If you have someone who can pose for you,
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mirror itself can be used structurally in the composition.
Another good way to develop a feel for this aspect of composition is to get
reproductions of some of your favorite drawings and paintings. Put a piece
of tracing paper over the reproduction. Trace the shape of the rectangle.
Measure the rectangle and note the ratio of height to width. Then remove
134

the acetate or tracing paper and draw an armature into the rectangle. You
dont need every line we drew in the last lesson, but give yourself the most
important ones. Then put the tracing paper back on top of the reproduction.
Note what lines up with or echoes the important divisions and directions.
Most drawings are constructed with some kind of hierarchy in mind, and
our discussion of the armature and large compositional shapes leads quite
naturally to a discussion of focal area and focal point. Theres a reason
why most people looking at a drawing arent even aware of the ground. Its
because artists purposely construct their drawings so that we focus on the
object. But the artist has to pay a lot of attention to both so that the viewer
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In Eakins watercolor, the focal point is Biglins head and upper torso. The
focal area is Biglin in his scull. Weve noted that the two large rectangular
ground shapes hinge near the horizontal half. The drawings also clearly
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a rectangle. Our main character sits into a central triangle within this. Eakins
has positioned Biglins shoulder and arm directly below the formats center
so that they echo the pages diagonal. Hes also placed the oar parallel to the
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of diagonals in this part of the image.
The reasons clear. Biglins a focal point. Eakins also wants to express energy
and movement. The guys an athlete. Hes rowing. So the choice is not only
rational but expressive of the content.
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landscape events. This sits into a rectangle as well, a smaller one, more
horizontal one. The major stresses are more horizontal and vertical, very
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boats. This helps to make them more compelling than the even quieter
landscape beyond.
In the Indian drawing, the man and woman are the focal point. They form
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is hinged at the center. The place where the two lovers touch hands is
135

dead center, with their arms paralleling the vertical and diagonal centers
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into a square centered in the large rectangle. The still life objects form a
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The Rembrandt follows a similar strategy. The focal point is Saskias head
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it related to? A triangle. Picasso follows suit. The models the focal point.
Shes placed in the center. Shes constructed using sets of triangles.
The Rembrandt, the Punjab Hills drawing, the Eakins, and the Picasso are
all stylistically different, but they follow similar underlying compositional
strategies, similar abstract strategies. In these cases, that means locating
the focal point and focal areas in the center, and hinging these to diagonals
associated with the rectangle.
That brings us to the next set of drawing projects. The idea is to extend on
what we did in the last set of compositional exercises. Youll introduce more
complexity in terms of the objects and their relationships. The goal is to:
select objects, pose them, select a point of view. Frame them so that theres a
natural hierarchy to the organization.
This means that, relative to the large ground shapes, youll have a focal point
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youve done this observationally, try it again from your imagination. You
can invent objects of differing shapes and sizes so that they create a natural
hierarchy relative to the ground in the drawing. You can also go back and
consult your earlier drawings, both from life and from your imagination, and
begin to composing, using them as source material.
Weve seen that the center of the format is a very important place. Thats
not to say that artists always locate their focal point in the center, though
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compositional concept. We can imagine the bottom horizontal of the format
as a plank sitting on a fulcrum. Every line or mark that we make has what we
refer to as visual weight. Thats another important compositional concept,
and just about all the artworks you know are structured to balance in one
136

way or another. You wont see that plank tipping too much this way or too
much that way.
There are many options in structuring balance. In the Biglin watercolor,
Eakins strategy is based on centering, complimented by the use of
counterweights, left and right. Biglin occupies the center. Balanced. The
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behind him we get the portion of the cropped scull and the long scull on the
left. Thats countered by the two sailboats on the right. The events in the
landscape and sky balance out as well.
In this drawing by Norman Lundin, we get a balance which is symmetrical
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symmetricality can be monotonous, but managed artfully it can serve as a
strong basis for a composition. The obvious symmetricality is offset by the
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away. Thats complimented by the differences in the position of the arms and
the feet.
While not as symmetrical as the Lundin, this Rembrandt is by no means
asymmetrical. Its still a drawing where the visual weights are balanced out,
right and left. The big division in the ground occurs at about the horizontal
third. That gives us a small rectangle below and a larger one above, about
twice as big. The large tree sits just off center with the limb on the right tied
to the formats diagonal. The right side of the tree balances with the left. The
bifurcated buildings, divided by the trees trunk, balances out left and right,
as do the buildings on the left with the horse and the cart on the right.
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too, we get balance from the center, but the hierarchy is inverted. The focal
points are on the right and left. The foreground landscape grouping on the
right is counterbalanced by the colophon and the distant mountains on the
left.

137

Lundins Model Standing Before a Blackboard embraces a greater degree of

asymmetry. The drawing hinges along that vertical half. The full weight of
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notations and play of light on the chalkboard.
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This other drawing by Eakins is more asymmetrical, but not without
balance. The two rowers and most of their scull weigh down on the left,
as does the small boat in the upper left. To balance this out, Eakins adds a
second long scull, horizontal and straddling the center, and a tugboat and
large paddleboat anchored on the right. Its worth noting here that the large
division is a variation of the high horizon, dividing the rectangle into two
primary rectangles, a larger lower one, about two thirds, and a smaller higher
one, about one third.
Everything weve discussed so far has to do with ordering and balancing
things in relationship to a given rectangle. In that sense, composing a drawing
is a lot like arranging furniture, which we do in relation to the proportions
of a given room. How we arrange the furniture depends on the room itself.
What kind of rectangle it is. How long. How wide.
We also create aggregate groupings and relationships when we arrange
furniture. In your living room, for instance, you position the area rug, sofa,
coffee table, and armchair so that the individual objects form a grouping.
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generally a hierarchy here, too.
Most drawings, prints, and paintings are rectangles, and most artists
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chosen. Though in most cases, as with the works weve been looking at, they
dont end up looking geometric. But the act of composition seeks to tie the
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structure generally remains hidden, that is unless you look for it. Kind of
138

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of us dont tend to think about them much, but theyre really holding all the
stuff we see on the surfacethe wallpaper, moldings, paneling, mirrorsits
holding all of that together.
Learning to draw is a bit like learning to juggle. You have to keep a number
of balls in the air at the same time. Theres the choice of a particular
rectangle, the format shape. Then, there are the large ground divisions. Next,
we have to think about the internal aggregate shape or shapes and how these
relate to the armature. All of the above is often related to a consideration of
focal point and focal area, and now we have to start to think about structural
balance.
This leads us to our next drawing exercise. The goal is to pose your still life
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symmetry, but it shouldnt be truly symmetrical. Last, structure a composition
thats clearly asymmetrical, but also balanced. Once youve done this from
observation, try it from your imagination using the constructive methods
weve covered earlier.
There are a couple key points to consider when working on compositional
problems like the ones weve covered in this lecture. You want to choose
what you draw very carefully. Take time to select a point of view and
framing. Think about those large planes and planar divisionsthe tabletop
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large divisions of land and sky in a landscape.
Relate observed reality to large geometric shapes and draw through the
format in sympathy with this. And here are some questions you can ask
yourself as a guide in critiquing your own work: First, is the whole format
activated? Are there dead areas? Does the composition balance? Does the
drawing feel alive and fresh? Is there a unique perception or point of view?
Have you taken care to bring this perception to life on the page? Is there a
focal point and focal area? Is there a strong sense of design in the composition
that directs the viewer to move through the drawing in a particular order?
Have you looked at what youre drawing closely with an intelligent and an
139

analytic eye? Do your objects sit convincingly in relationship to the large

planes? Are you creating space and volume convincingly? And, have you
been attentive to clarifying overlap situations?
All these questions will help you identify problems in your work and
improve the results.

140

Line and Shape: Line Attributes and Gesture

Lecture 9

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to look more closely, it reveals a surprising degree of complexity.
There are quite a number of choices to make when using line and a
great deal of art involved in making those choices. So far, weve discussed
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lecture, well dig deeper. Well learn about the attributes of line that directly
bear on its function and expressive potential, and well learn about a new
kind of line, gestural line.
Types of Line and Their Attributes
The visual attributes of various lines account for the way a drawing feels
its expressive quality. Major attributes of line include the following:
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Value: light versus dark

Width: thick versus thin

Continuity: continuous versus discontinuous

Length: long versus short

Direction: horizontal, vertical, or diagonal

Shape: straight, angular, or curvilinear

Degree of closure: a range running from straight with no closure to

curving and fully closing in on itself, making a shape

Speed: drawn quickly, slowly, or at any speed in between

Texture: smooth versus rough.

141

Value and Width

Line value can be controlled by pencil choicea soft pencil produces a
darker line than a hard oneand pressure applied when drawing.
Line width is controlled by pressure (increased pressure results in increased
width), the way in which the pencil comes into contact with the page (point
versus side), and the way in which the pencil is sharpened (sharp edge
YHUVXVDWZHGJH

Lecture 9Line and Shape: Line Attributes and Gesture

7KHVH UVW WZR IDFWRUV OLQH YDOXH DQG ZLGWK DUH RIWHQ WDNHQ WRJHWKHU
and referred to as line weight. The greater the line weight, the greater the
contrast to the page. And, all else being equal, the part of the drawing with
the greatest line weight will function as a focal point and draw the viewers
eye to that section. This is a primary means for creating a hierarchy in a line
drawing.
Continuity
Some lines are discontinuous or fragmented (sometimes referred to as implied
lines), while others are continuous. Highly continuous lines present things in
sharp focus, while discontinuous lines may create the appearance of broken
edges and things seen peripherally. Greater line weight and continuous line
create focal zones and, all else being equal, tend to pull forward in space.
Lighter, thinner, and discontinuous lines receive less of the eyes attention
and, all else being equal, recede in space.
Length
Related to continuity and discontinuity is line length. Varying line lengths
can be used to create rhythm in a drawing, just as in music, where varied
durations or lengths of notes create audible rhythm.
Direction
Another factor affecting line is direction and stability. As weve noted,
horizontals are stable, at rest; verticals are less so; and diagonals are the
most dramatic lines.

142

Shape, Degree of Closure, and Speed

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to a lines shape is its degree of closure. Some lines in a drawing may be very
open; they make no move toward closure. Others, however, close to make
clearly delineated shapes. In some cases, lines may exhibit degrees of closure.
They begin to suggest shape but dont fully close in on themselves. Lines are
also imbued with character by how quickly or slowly they seem to be drawn.
Texture
Line texture is often the product of the way the line interacts with the papers
surface. Not surprisingly, a smooth surface yields smooth lineslines that
are consistent in value, both internally and along the edges. But a textured
paperone with a noticeable tooth, such as many charcoal or watercolor
papersresults in rougher lines. Such lines have irregularities both internally
and along their edges.
Combining Attributes
Overall, you can think about each of these attributes as existing on a sliding
scale. You can increase or decrease any of the factors and make a fairly
unlimited number of line types by combining diverse attributes. For instance,
you could make a thick, light, short, straight line, drawn slowly, with a lot
of texture. Or you could make a dark, thin, long, curved line, drawn quickly
and smoothly. In the end, these types of choices contribute to the way we
experience a drawing emotionally.
Line attributes are also affected by the artists choice of materials. Different
tools and papers or surfaces have different intrinsic qualities and personalities
that will create different opportunities and limitations. In addition, line
attributes are affected by how you physically draw. To test this out, try
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shoulder. Youll see that each of these choices can affect the lines you draw.
Gestural Line
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planes, gestural lines describe the approximate location and character of
things. Gestural line generally has the attribute of speed and some quality of

143

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contour lines weve seen in Eakins.

Photos.com/Thinkstock.

Photos.com/Thinkstock.

Lecture 9Line and Shape: Line Attributes and Gesture

In the example below, although its clear whats being depictedan older
man holding a small childthe lines are abstract and scribbled. If we zoom
in on the mans head, we see that a line whips from the back of the skull over
the ear to a point and back into the ear itself. The lines dont necessarily hew
to the edges of objects or parts of objects, and theyre certainly removed from
the idea of outlining. With the gestural approach, we often note the wildness
and speed of the lines and multiple lines that result in the approximate
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A useful way to think about gestural line is that it combines the work that
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And it does all that much more rapidly than you could do with contour,
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approximation, not certainty.
In using gestural line, you want to skip over the surface in a discontinuous
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directions, and amounts through a series of repeated tests and probes.
144

As you probe for visual data, ask yourself these questions:

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Where will the drawing begin and end?

What will be the format shape?

Where are the large divisions?

What are the farthest points to the right and left of the aggregate
shape?

What are the farthest points up and down?

How would you describe the negative shapes between the objects?

How far does your eye travel from one side of the arrangement to
the other?

What are the widths and heights of the objects?

Suggested Reading
Brown and McLean, Drawing from Life, chapter 4, Line.
Curtis, Drawing from Observation, chapter 4, Intuitive Gesture.
Sale and Betti, Drawing, chapter 2, Learning to See, pp. 3371.
Smagula, Creative Drawing, chapter 4, Line.

145

Line and Shape: Line Attributes and Gesture

Lecture 9Transcript
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more closely, it reveals a surprising degree of complexity. There are quite a
number of choices to make when using line, and theres a great deal of art
involved in making those choices.
So far, weve talked about three kinds of line: contour, cross contour, and
construction line. Now, well dig deeper. Well learn about the attributes of
line that directly bear on its functions and expressive potential, and well
also learn about a new kind of line, gestural line.
Here are three drawings weve looked at before: The Holbein, the Schiele,
WKLV5HPEUDQGW(DFKRQHVSULPDULO\DOLQHGUDZLQJRIPXOWLSOHJXUHVEXW
in each case, line is used in a somewhat different way.
Well take a close look at these drawings as well as several others, to help
us understand how and why artists use different kinds of line. Youll need:
pencils, erasers, sharpening tools, brush, and ink. Youll also need some
LQFKSDSHURUDPHGLXPVL]HVNHWFKERRN
Edgar Degas not only drew, painted, and made sculpture, but also wrote
poetry. He was once speaking to the poet Stphane Mallarm and said,
<RXUPpWLHU\RXUHOGLVKHOOLVKO\GLIFXOW,PQHYHUDEOHWRUHDOO\JHWDW
what Im going for and yet Im so full of ideas. Mallarm responded, My
dear Degas, one doesnt make poetry out of ideas. You make poems out of
words.
This applies to drawing, too. As weve noted, we cant really draw a person
sitting in a room. We can only draw lines that create the illusion of a person
sitting in a room, and we can accomplish this with many different types of
lines.
Many people beginning to draw, though, often have trouble even seeing the
lines. Thats because theyre so intent on what the lines construct, fruit in a

146

still life, trees in a landscape, or a model on a model stand. To bring the point
home, heres a detail of a drawing.
Unlikely, youd be able to tell me what it is, but clearly, these are marks
on a surface. Theyre medium gray lines on a neutral orange paper. Neutral
orange means its like an orange, but the saturation or orangeness is turned
down a bit.
Heres the drawing in its entirety. Its the Schiele. The personality of the
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Many people wouldnt even pay attention to the lines themselves.
But if we do, it becomes evident that the drawings constructed of some very
particular lines, and these lines actually account for the way the drawing
feels. The kinds of lines used have everything to do with the drawings
expressive quality.
Going back to Degas and Mallarm, we cant really make a neck, shoulder,
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the various lines has a lot to do with the feel of the drawing.
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to talk about nine: valuethat refers to how light or dark a line is; width
that refers to how thin or thick; continuitythatll refer to how continuous
or discontinuous a line is; lengthhow long or short; directionthatll refer
to how horizontal, vertical, or diagonal; shapethat refers to qualities like
straight, angular, and curvilinear; degree of closurelines run the range from
straight with no closure to those that curve and fully close in on themselves,
making a shape; speedyou can draw a line quickly, slowly, or any place
in between, and this will really affect the way they look; texturelines can
have textural qualities from smooth to rough.
Lets start with value. When we speak about value, were referring to the
lightness or darkness of a line. Here, some lines are light and some are
much darker. In fact, theres a range of line value throughout the drawing. In
addition, some line segments shift from light to dark or vice versa.
147

7KHUH DUH WZR PDMRU ZD\V WR FRQWURO OLQH YDOXH 7KH UVW LQYROYHV SHQFLO
choice. Take out your softest pencil, the highest B number, and also your
hardest pencil, the highest H number. Make a line with each. As we noted in
an earlier lecture, the B produces a darker line than the H.
The other factor affecting line value is pressure. Again, using both your
softest and the hardest pencil, exert the least amount of pressure possible
and produce a line, then up the pressure. The lines going to get dependably
darker. The softer the pencil, the greater the range of value; the harder, the
less range you have.
So experiment with that full range of pencils. Following Schieles example,
try drawing a range of lines from light to dark. And then try moving from
light to dark and dark to light in a single line.
Next, theres line width. Some lines in the drawing are comparatively thin
while others are thicker, and we see some segments shift from thin to thick.
7KHUHDUHWKUHHPDLQZD\VWRFRQWUROWKLV7KHUVWLVRQFHDJDLQSUHVVXUH
more pressure, thicker; less pressure, thinner. In fact, as you upped the
pressure earlier, you likely noticed an increase in width as well as darkness.
As with line value, as far as pressures concerned, the softer the pencil the
greater the range of widths. So try this with a couple of your pencils to get a
feel for how they behave.
The second factor is how the pencil comes into contact with the page. We
can control this by how we hold the pencil. With a pointed pencil, holding
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comes into contact with the page, we get a thicker line.
As we saw in an earlier lecture, another factor is how we sharpen our pencils.
We can expose more of the graphite with a utility knife, and then shape the
pencil into a wedge shape on our sanding block, and this will give us a sharp
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block to get a dependably thicker line without increasing pressure.

148

Now youre ready to draw lines of varying width and value. Try thin lines
that are light, medium, and dark. Now try the same on the thick side, light,
medium, and dark. Now try to get a thickness between your thin and thick
line and repeat with three different values, light, medium, and dark. Next,
move gradually from thin to thick and back again. Now try to do this while
also moving light to dark, and then, dark to light.
Lets take another look at this detail. Notice the line that moves from the
upper right, down at a diagonal and then turns 90 degrees and cuts down at
a diagonal in the opposite direction. Youll likely have a sense how Schiele
went about this. Start more on the point or sharp edge for the thin segment,
then rotate to the side or wedge for the thicker one. You can also see how
hes changed pressure. Note the slight dig right after the change of direction.
7KHVH UVW WZR IDFWRUV OLQH YDOXH DQG ZLGWK DUH RIWHQ WDNHQ WRJHWKHU DQG
referred to as line weight. The greater the line weight, the greater the contrast
to the page. And all else being equal, the part of the drawing with the greatest
line weight will function as a focal point and draw the viewers eye to that
section. This is a primary means for creating a hierarchy in a line drawing.
So in this sense, line weight functions compositionally, and this is an abstract
visual phenomenon. It has nothing to do with what youre drawing. It applies
to everything.
Heres a thin, light diagonal line. It attracts your eye and becomes a focal
point because its the only thing on an otherwise blank page. Now, lets
add another diagonal line but a bit darker and thicker. Youll note that your
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weight. The focal point predictably shifts. Well add one more line, darker
and thicker yet. We have four distinct line weights, and they direct you to
move through the drawing in a particular order.
Artists apply this principle routinely. Lets say I want you to go to the apple
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table and wall fourth. One way to achieve this is to stack my line weights.
This functions the way relative volume does in music. Well generally pay
more attention to the wailing guitar above the accompanying keyboards and
149

drums, or the trumpets in the high range above the accompanying violins.
You can think about line weight as visual volume.
The reason that this works is that its precisely the way we see. Weve
already noted that when we focus on something we see more of its detail.
Additionally, when we focus on something, say me, as the cameras doing
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increases. We can create just this visual sensation by manipulating our line
weights on the page.
In Schieles drawing, some of the highest value contrasts are located in
both the models and Schieles eyes, and thats a good choice because the
drawings all about looking. Shes posing in the mirror, checking herself out,
appears to be quite pleased with what she sees. And hes deeply involved in
studying her. Hes knitting his brows, pursing his lips, and trying to make
drawing sense out of what hes seeing. Through the use of value, were made
to look at them looking. Abstraction orchestrates the narrative.
Our next factor is continuity. Some lines are discontinuous or fragmented,
and some artists refer to these as implied lines, while other lines are
continuous. We can relate continuity and discontinuity to focus, too. Highly
continuous lines present things in sharp focus. Thats because when we focus
in on something, its edges appear clear. When we see something out of focus,
say in our peripheral vision, its edges appear somewhat broken.
Discontinuous line can create just this sensation. Take a look at the long
continuous line moving down the models rib cage, and also down her pelvis
and thigh. Compare Schieles arm and elbow. The long continuous line
creates a sensation of focus. In contrast, Schieles arm and elbow are drawn
as if were seeing them in our peripheral vision.
In fact, the way the models right arm fades out and the line breaks up a bit
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visions focused into the center of the drawing where we get our greatest
accumulation of long continuous lines.
150

Picassos portrait of Apollinaire represents another great example of

contrasting line weights and continuous versus discontinuous line.
Apollinaire is mostly drawn in robust weights and continuous line, but when
we get to the shelf and objects behind him, the line becomes lighter, thinner,
and discontinuous. This cements our focus on Apollinaire and also fosters
the illusion of spatial depth.
Greater line weight and continuous line will create focal zones, and all else
being equal, tend to pull forward in space. Lighter, thinner, and discontinuous
lines will receive less of the eyes attention and will, all else being equal,
recede into space.
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line segments that are relatively short and others that are relatively long.
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music, where varied durations or lengths of notes create audible rhythm,
here we can create visual rhythm.
Here are some lines of different lengths. Can you feel the rhythm? Its almost
audible. I based the example on the William Bailey still life. So this not only
applies to line length but measure in general. Can you feel the rhythm in the
objects?
Another factor effecting line is direction and stability. As we noted earlier,
horizontals are stable, at rest, verticals less so, and diagonals the most
dramatic.
In the Schiele, a dramatic drawing to be sure, there are few horizontals to
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head, and indeed this is the place of rest in the drawing. The remainder of the
drawings all verticals and diagonals makes things feel dynamic.
Contrast that with the Bailey. Its peaceful, at rest. The format shapes a
stable horizontal to Schieles gangly vertical. And not surprisingly, its full of
repeated horizontals, no dramatic diagonals to speak of.

151

Another factor affecting line is the shape quality of the line. Here, we have
lines that are relatively straight, others are angular, and others curvilinear
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express their different characters, male versus female, artist versus model.
Related to a lines shape is its degree of closure. Some lines here are very
open. They make no move toward closure. Other lines or sets of lines close
and make clearly delineated shapes. Others yet, exhibit some degree of
closure. They begin to suggest shape but dont fully close in on themselves.
Next, theres the attribute of speed. Lines are imbued with character by
how theyre actually made. Here, some were clearly drawn very quickly,
while others were drawn much more slowly. Though its not functioning
prominently in this drawing, we can also speak about line texture.
This is often the product of the way the line interacts with a papers surface.
A smooth surface will give us smooth lines, lines that are consistent in value,
both internally and along the lines edges, like the lines in the Schiele. But a
textured paper, one with a noticeable tooth, like many charcoal or watercolor
papers, will give us rougher lines, lines with irregularities both internally
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drawing material into the recessed parts of the surface. And were going to
speak more about this factor more fully when we talk about texture later on.
Overall, you can think about these nine attributes like sliding scales. We can
increase or decrease any of these factors and make a pretty unlimited number
of line types by combining diverse attributes. For instance, we could make
a thick, light, short, straight line, drawn slowly with a lot of texture. Or we
could make a dark, thin, long, curved line, drawn quickly and smoothly. Or
we could do this last line again, but shift gradually from very light to very
dark along the lines length, applying greater pressure as we went. Like I
said, it gets complicated pretty quickly, and were not even talking about
drawing objects, just lines in the abstract.

152

Its a lot like the range of choices you have when you play a note. For each
note, theres the duration, attack, and dynamics, among other variables. For
instance, you could play a given pitch as a 16th note or a whole note, and
you could also play it legato or staccato, and pianissimo or fortissimo. And
these, among many other choices, affect the way we hear the pitches being
played. In the end, all of this contributes an enormous amount to the way we
experience the music emotionally.
We also affect line attributes by our choice of materials. Different tools and
papers or surfaces have different intrinsic qualities and personalities that will
create different opportunities and limitations and were going to learn more
about this later.
We can also affect the attributes of line by how we physically draw. To test
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arm, then your shoulder. Youll see that each of these choices can affect the
lines you draw, and that can be compounded by how you hold the drawing
implement and by the decision to sit or stand.
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Schieles drawing and look at the wiggly line describing the sloping part
of the models hat or the lines describing Schieles arm, we would classify
these lines as gestural.
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planes, gestural line describes the approximate location and character of
things. It generally has the attribute of speed and some quality of wildness,
much less sober and orderly than the kind of contour or cross contour weve
seen in Eakins or Holbein.
To get a better sense of this, lets take a look at the Holbein in relationship to
the Rembrandt. Both drawings are largely line drawings, both depict a group
of people, but Holbein and Rembrandt are using line very differently.
How long do you think it took to make the Holbein? Got to be hours. And
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countable, 10 in the front room, two in the back. In the Rembrandt, its not so
153

clear. As we move from that central grouping to the far right and left, well,
just hard to say.
If I zoom in on just about any detail in the Holbein, its pretty clear whats
being depicted. If I do the same in the Rembrandt, its much less clear. The
lines are more abstract. Theyre more scribbled. They dont necessarily hew
to objects or parts of objects. Theyre certainly removed from the idea of
outlining.
Different kinds of drawings have different utilities, different goals, or
purposes, and different approaches solve different kinds of drawing
problems. Artists choose to draw one way or another depending on the type
of problem theyre trying to solve.
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He wants to identify where things are and about how large they are, one
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drawing language, one thatll allow him to move through multiple
compositional permutations, multiple drawings, in rapid succession.
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move through 5, 10, or 15 different compositional ideas for a given drawing.
Adopting Holbeins language would consume all my time. But if I could
work through my ideas using Rembrandts language, well, itd be a real time
saver. Once having found a strong compositional structure, I might then
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While many people grasp that drawing is about expression, to get to that
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problem is to identify a winning composition.
There are other reasons why artists choose a gestural approach. Not
everything stays still. Clouds in the sky, passengers on a train, boxers in
the ring, theyre all in motion. Many things you may want to draw will be,
too. Working from observation, we dont always have the luxury of drawing
154

slowly, so we need to develop an approach that allows us to note things

quickly.
Lets take a look at a couple more examples of gestural drawing. Youve
likely seen Sargents painting Madame X. This is a drawing of the same
woman. And heres a Delacroix. And this by Daumier, one of the greats
associated with gestural line.
In each case, youll note the wildness and speed of the lines, the small marks,
and bits of line associated with longer line segments, and often, the multiple
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What Holbein does involves a great deal of skill and artistry, but the
approach, using contour and cross contour, comes pretty naturally to most
people. On the other hand, what these artists are doing, gesture, that can be
KDUGWRJHWDWUVW6WXGHQWVRIWHQVWUXJJOHZLWKLWEHFDXVHLWVMXVWVRGLIIHUHQW
than following the edges and plane changes in objects in a linear way. But
give it a shot. Theres nothing to lose, just pencil and paper.
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drawings, the ones of the circle, square, and triangle. These are more or less
in Holbein language. Well use them as models with the goal of translating
Holbein into Rembrandt, to the language of gesture.
Lets start with that circle. First, in preparation, without drawing anything,
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across its width, quickly moving back and forth and up and down, as if your
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your eyes continue to move rapidly over your prior drawing, let your pencil
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The pencil should move across the intended circle shape like an electron
around the nucleus of an atom. Were at the top, were at the bottom, were
at the side, skipping across its diameter. At this point, begin to touch down
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We might even leave some bits of line in the middle of our circle as we feel
the distance from one side to other. Were getting in touch with its measure.
155

Each time we touch down on the page, we leave a bit of line. In the aggregate,
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might be. Lets take this one more step, and its already suggested by some
of the internal marks, bits of cross contour. Lets use more of these internal
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A useful way to think about gesture is that it combines the work that contour,
cross contour, and even construction line each do separately. And its doing
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cross contour, and construction line separately. But the emphasis is on
approximation, not certainty.
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contours function. Were diagramming its measure, pulling our pencil
across its height and width. Thats a construction line function. And were
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drawing through as its called as if our object were transparent. Thats the
cross contour function.
One of the common hallmarks of gesture drawing are small marks or bits of
line that dont really appear to be attached to anything. I understand these
as probing marks, as initial attempts at locating the edge of a form, but as
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of visual events. And longer line segments appear above or below, or to the
right or left of those initial marks.
Now that youve drawn a sphere with gesture, try it with your rectangle
and triangle. Follow the same steps, then add adjacent planes and turn the
rectangle into a block, the triangle into a pyramid.
Its going to take some practice to get this going, so take out a dozen of
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or compositional drawings you did. Using the same method we just used,
translate these drawings into gesture drawings.

156

$QGWU\WKLVZLWKEUXVKDQGLQN,WOOIHHODOLWWOHOHVVFRPIRUWDEOHDWUVWEXW
EHFDXVHLWVDOHVVIDPLOLDUWRRORQH\RXFDQWFRQWUROOLNHDSHQFLO\RXOO
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drawing with gestural line.
Start with a fairly dry brush. Dip the brushs tip into the ink and dry some
off. You should get a light gray mark. Knowing you cant erase will push you
to search out the approximate position of things with bits of line rather than
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back and forth across the page, not moving sequentially along a line. Your
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series of repeated tests and probes.
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of line and mark to note what your construction lines, armature lines, and the
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You want to note the large aggregate shape of your objects. And this is very
important, you want to measure the negative shapes between your objects
with your probing gestural marks and lines. Gesture can do all of this at
once.
It will help you out to do these drawings with a timer, two minutes each.
Once youve done some gestural drawings based on your earlier drawings,
try this directly from life, too. Set up three simple objects on your still life
table. Think about their aggregate shape as you set them up. Next, frame
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\RXUSDJH7KHQSXWDVLGHWKHSHQFLODQGWKHYLHZQGHUDQGZLWKEUXVKDQG
LQNGRDWZRPLQXWHGUDZLQJ
Heres a helpful technique. Some refer to it as rehearsal drawing or phantom
drawing. The idea is this, before actually drawing, close one eye and hold
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air to familiarize yourself with where things are and with the relationship
among the objects, the ground, and the negative shapes, and also the space
they will sit in.

157

Youre probing and searching for visual data. Where does the drawing
begin and end? What would be the format shape be like? Wheres the large
division? Where does the back of the table meet the wall? Whats the farthest
point to the right? What is the farthest point to the left of the aggregate
shape? Whats the farthest point up? Whats the farthest point down? What
are the negative shapes like between the objects? How far do we have to
travel from one side to the other? What are the widths of the objects? Their
heights?
Once youve done your phantom drawing, set the timer. This time, give
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light marks, mere approximations. Youre giving yourself positioning marks
in answer to the questions were asking about where things occur and where
they dont. Absence and presence are equally important. As you begin to be
more certain of the locations, use a bit more pressure, a darker and somewhat
more continuous line.
When youre ready, try gesture drawing with more challenging subjects. Try
the interior of your home or other building. Try a landscape or cityscape.
Draw while watching TV and this is really great practice because the scene
is constantly shifting. It pushes you toward speed. Its the same with drawing
at a playground, or at a sporting event, or on the subway, any situations
where the world is not standing still for you. All these experiences will help
you expand your abilities with gesture.
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and calligraphy. I see it with my students all the time, it just takes some
persistence.
Next, well expand our understanding of how artists think compositionally.
And very soon, were going to be putting all these pieces together to make a
very complex drawing.

158

Composition: Shape and Advanced Strategies

Lecture 10

n this lecture, well conclude our investigation of composition. Well

start by looking at some of the major attributes of shape. Then, well
dig deeper into the compositional strategies that artists use in their work.
Now that weve studied gestural line, we can also apply it to test out these
new compositional structures.
Types and Attributes of Shape
Different kinds of shapes, like different kinds of line, have different attributes
or qualities. And most of us associate different feelings or sensations
with shapes because of these differences. Attributes of shape include the
following:
z

Geometric (including rectilinear and curvilinear) versus organic.

Degree of symmetry.

Degree of complexity. All else being equal, we generally reward

complexitya source of visual excitementwith our attention.

Personality. Rectilinear and symmetrical shapes generally appear

serious and sober; curvilinear shapes can appear elegant and
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Degree of closure. Open shape equals gentle overlap and continuity;

closed shape indicates emphatic overlap and discontinuity.

Degree of stability.

All these are important compositional factors and, ultimately, affect the
expressive quality of a drawing.

159

Compositional Strategy: The Target or Bulls Eye

With all this in mind, lets return to some examples of compositional strategies
used by artists. A balanced strategy related to the use of symmetrical shape is
what we might call the target or bulls eye. It uses centered rings or successive
units of framing to bring the viewer into the center of the drawing.

Compositional Strategy: Repetition, Variation, Pattern, and Visual

Rhymes
Repetition and variation are key compositional concepts in their own right.
Musical composition can revolve around this structural idea, as well. A Bach
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Choruses repeat, and verses vary, generally, with the same melody but new
lyrics. This would indicate that we like a certain amount of repetition, but
too much is monotonous.
We can see this idea of repetition with variation in the Eakins watercolor.
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water, other sculls, wavelets in the water, the landscape in the distance, and
striations in the sky. This is often referred to as visual rhyming. Shapes and
directions are repeated rhythmically to create relationships among the parts.

Yale University Art Gallery.

Lecture 10Composition: Shape and Advanced Strategies

Several compositional factors can be used to bring the viewer into the
targets center, including contrasts of shape, contrasts in degree of density
and complexity of line or mark, and contrast of direction. All these factors
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rings later. We prompt the viewer to attend to the parts of the drawing in a
certain order, which is one of the goals of composition.

160

Spatial Considerations: Bas-Relief and Three Depths of Space

So far, weve looked at relationships that occur on the surface of the
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theyve chosen. Weve also seen that theres a relationship between the
main things being depictedthe ostensible subjectand the environment
in which they sit.
In addition, weve noted that we must think in two ways simultaneously.
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edges and armature. Second, we have to think about how they relate to any
illusion of depth. Inextricably related to both of these considerations is the
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Shallow spatial depth is referred to as bas-relief (low relief). Think here
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Deeper spatial organization may be achieved through the use of three depths.
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a depth of space with a number of supporting events occurring in and around
the horizon. This approach to composition is often accompanied by placing
the main subject in the topographical center of the page.
Composition and Narrative
The way we pose things and organize them on the page in a drawing can
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the father might be elevated over the other family members to highlight his
position as head of the family. In a modern advertisement, a political leader
might be posed in the center of his advisors.
Uncomposed Drawings
Not all drawings are composed in the ways weve discussed in this
lecture, primarily because not all drawings are intended as complete or
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with problem solving; others function as exercises to explore perspective,
pattern, or color relationships; and others are done as studies in preparation
161

for more involved works. The choices we make regarding how we draw are
often based on the goal we have for the drawing in question.

Suggested Reading
Curtis, Drawing from Observation, chapter 9, Composition, p. 279.
Guptill, Rendering in Pencil, chapter 10, Composing Your Drawings,
p. 110.

Lecture 10Composition: Shape and Advanced Strategies

Smagula, Creative Drawing, chapter 7, Composition and Space,

pp. 150167.

162

Composition: Shape and Advanced Strategies

Lecture 10Transcript
In this lecture, well conclude our investigation of composition. Well start
by looking at some of the major attributes of shape, and then well dig
deeper into the compositional strategies that artists use in their work. And
now that weve studied gestural line, we can apply it to test out these new
compositional structures.
Different kinds of shape, like different kinds of line, have different attributes
or qualities, and most of us associate different feelings or sensation with
them because of those differences. Lets look at both the Holbein and the
Indian Punjab Hills drawing in this regard.
In both, we can see a range of shapes deployed. Some are geometric.
Among those, some are rectilinear while others are curvilinear. And some
are not geometric but organic. Some geometric and some organic shapes are
symmetrical while others are asymmetrical. And related to symmetry, some
shapes are simple, while others are complex.
All else being equal, well generally reward greater complexity, a source of
visual excitement, with our attention. That explains why, in both drawings,
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organic, complex, and asymmetrical. It also explains why the drapes hanging
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These same factors, geometric versus organic, and the level of symmetry,
also communicate personality. Some shapes appear serious and sober.
Rectilinear and symmetrical shapes generally have this quality. Curvilinear
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organic shapes can seem humorous. Superheroes like Superman, Batman,
and the like are constructed using symmetrical and relatively angular shapes.
Homer Simpson, in contrast, is much less symmetrical. Hes curvilinear to
the point of being bulbous.

163

Forgetting about a given plot, the dialogue, or the expressions on an

animated characters face, their silhouettes alone, their very shapes, will
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OLIH DV ZHOO 1HWZRUN H[HFXWLYHV WHQG WR KLUH VREHUVKDSHG SHRSOH WR VHUYH
as news anchors. These jobs generally require symmetrical features, strong
angular jaws, and an upright posture. Think Charlie Rose.
Men like Danny DeVito or Louis C.K., however brilliant, are unlikely to be
given these kinds of opportunities. You could say that many of us, in terms
of shape, are biased. Were predisposed to certain conclusions about an
individual based on their shape. Put another way, shape, at an abstract level,
can foster an emotional response in us. All of these considerations relate to
composition and expression.
Earlier, we noted that lines can have different degrees of openness or closure.
The greater the degree of closure the more the line appears to be a shape.
Lets take a look at a rectangle. Well draw one side, clearly not a shape.
Draw another side, again, not yet a shape. But as we begin to draw the third
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its looking pretty much like a shape. We can try this with a circle too. As
we begin to move past the halfway point, it begins to feel more and more
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close enough to the point of origin, we begin to read shape, even though its
not completed.
In the Holbein, we see these implied shapes in many places. For instance, in
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yet they feel very much like shape. These two feel like triangles though the
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ZHVHHUHFWLOLQHDUDQGWULDQJXODUVKDSHOLNHHQWLWLHV%XWWKHVHDUHDOVRRSHQ
though they clearly imply shapes. The Punjab Hills drawing yields similar
results in both the mans and the womans drapery and in the drapery hanging
behind them.
The reason why shapes are left somewhat open is often for practical reasons.
Its done to create the sensation of continuity. The overlaps of the pleats
in Mores robe are gentle. Were meant to move from one pleat to another
164

and feel that theyre all part of the same piece of continuous fabric. We can
contrast this approach with the one taken in Mores fur collar, or the wide
sleeve on his left arm. Both are closed and read as strongly overlapping the
rest of the robe. Theyre discontinuous.
Open shape equals gentler overlap and continuity. Closed shape indicates
emphatic overlap and discontinuity. When drawing, ask yourself, how
discretely or emphatically do you want a planar junction to read? If we look
at the footstool in this regard, we see that the shapes are about 90 percent
closed and the planes read emphatically.
Shape stability is directly related to what weve already noted about
line direction and line stability. A shape, like this rectangle resting on its
horizontal base, projects stability. A triangle resting on the same size base
appears a bit less stable, its those active diagonals; a triangle with a smaller
base, well, less so. Now rotate the triangle 180 onto its tip, and were much
less stable. And tilt the triangle so it sits on a diagonal and theres very little
sense of stability at all.
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director changes a cameras angle relative to what we know should be
horizontal and vertical in the shot. Floors and walls and the things that sit
on them, or trees and houses in a landscape, go all diagonal. Without anyone
saying a word we know somethings amiss.
Lets try it here. As the camera tilts, I look less in control and authoritative,
more like a passenger on the Titanic. All the shapes have shifted from stable
horizontals and verticals to less stable ones. Everythings pitching diagonal.
The factors weve just discussedhow geometric or organic our shapes are;
how open or closed; their degree of symmetry, complexity, and stability
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expressive quality in a drawing. With all this in mind, lets return to some
examples of compositional strategies used by artists in their drawings.

165

A very balanced strategy related to the use of symmetrical shapes is what I

call the target. It uses centered rings or successive units of framing to bring
you into the center, or bulls eye. Its what Rembrandt uses here.
The positive shape of the doghouse turns the aggregate negative shape
bounded by the drawings border into a framing outer ring. The doghouse
itself becomes the next ring. The dark interior around the dogs body the
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Its clear that the focal area is the sleeping dog; the focal point, the dogs
head.
There are several compositional factors, which lead us to read the drawing
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well, just a rectangle, and an ellipse is an ellipse. But put a rectangle next to
an ellipse and we tend to feel their rectilinear and curvilinear qualities in a
heightened way.
The second type of contrast has to do with sameness, or repetition and
difference, or uniqueness. If we have one rectangle and one ellipse, well pay
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well pay more attention to the ellipse. Well generally pay more attention to
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Speedo walking down Madison Avenue, and to the guy in the suit and tie
playing volleyball at the beach.
The way this plays out here is that the drawings shape is rectilinear. The
internal frames representing the doghouse are rectilinear, too. Only the dog
is curvilinear, so itll get more attention.
A third and related type of contrast has to do with geometric versus organic.
The rectilinear elements are relatively geometric, the curvilinear ones
relatively organic.
A fourth type of contrast has to do with the degree of density and complexity
of line or mark. This is often related to detail.

166

Heres the principle. The more dense and complex the marks in a given part
of a drawing, relative to the drawing as whole, the more well often pay
attention to that part. Here, the dogs head gets the densest and most complex
marks, and that translates as detail. And that, once again, mimics the way we
see. When we focus on something, we literally bring out the detail in what
were looking at.
As weve seen already, when the camera focuses on me, my detail emerges
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Lets note Rembrandts choice of rectangle and its divisions. The rectangle
itself is more horizontal than vertical, expressive of sleeping. And lets look
at the divisions. We get a stress along the horizontal half and quarters. We
also get a stress along the vertical quarters. In addition, a number of things,
including the dogs head, line up along one of the rectangles diagonal.
Similarly, we get the ears and a number of other things lining up with the
contrasting diagonal. And remember, diagonals are our most powerful,
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versus horizontal and vertical. The dog gets the most powerful diagonals.
Most of the rest of the drawing is constructed using horizontals and verticals.
And the most prominent diagonals not related to the dog, those on the top of
the doghouse, are mitigated by being close to vertical.
So there are multiple compounding abstract factors, compositional factors,
that make us read the drawing the way we do. We see its a drawing of a
dog in a doghouse, but without anyone telling us anything, we know the
sleeping dogs the star of the drawing, and we zoom in on the dogs head.
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been visually manipulated, and thats a very good thing. Thats just what
composition does.
Rembrandts made us read the drawing this way because he chose a
horizontal rectangle communicating stasis, rest, and sleep. He constructed
the drawing like a target, putting the dogs head in the center, in the bulls
167

eye position. He not only puts the dog in the topographical central position,
but also in the middle depth of space. In other words, theres a foreground,
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directions. The dogs association with the diagonals is in marked contrast
with the rest of the drawing, which Rembrandt constructs primarily out of
horizontals and verticals. He also makes the dog different from most of the
rest of the drawing. The dogs curvilinear in contrast to the rectilinear; the
dogs organic in contrast to all the geometric elements. The treatment of the
dogs head exhibits more dense and complex marks, more detail. That draws
us in and causes us to focus. It seems like a simple little drawing of a dog
sleeping, but as you see, theres really quite a bit of abstract visual thinking
involved.
So Id like you to try a drawing using the target strategy. Walk around
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treatment. Here are a couple of ideas to stimulate your imagination. You
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scarf in a rectangular drawer. Again looking down, you could pose an apple
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around it on all sides. There are many other possibilities. Its a matter of
engaging your curiosity and imagination to uncover some possibilities.
Try to follow Rembrandts model. Choose a format shape, objects, and a
point of view so that you get a variety of contrasts. Think about: contrast
of direction, contrast of the curvilinear with the rectilinear, contrast of the
organic with the geometric, and contrast of complexity and density of line
with simplicity and paucity of line.
Do the drawings that accompany this lecture with gestural line. Youll move
through the drawing problems much more quickly than with contour or cross
contour. And as you work through each drawing, use a range of line weights
and qualities: from thin to thick, light to dark, slow to fast, from angular to
curved, from short to long, and from open to closed.

168

In our analysis of Rembrandts sleeping dog, we noted a number of instances

of repetition and variation, and these are key compositional concepts in
their own right. Most of the drawing is built on a repetition of vertical and
horizontal stresses, all geometric. The dog introduces variation through
the use of diagonals, curvilinear directions, and organic shape. A lot of
composing deals with repetitions and variations on those repetitions.
Musical composition can revolve around this structural idea as well. A
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songs, choruses repeat; verses vary; generally same melody but new lyrics.
This would indicate that we like an amount of repetition, but too much is
monotonous. A simple grid would likely be too simple for most. An intricate
pattern based on that grid would probably be more interesting to look at.
What pattern proposes is similarity, we get the same grid unit, but different
units get different structures or visual event, repetition with variation.
We see this in the Eakins watercolor. We have lots of horizontal events. Start
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sculls, by the wavelets in the water, by the landscape in the distance, and by
the striations in the sky, repetition with variation.
This is often referred to as visual rhyming, shapes and directions that get
repeated rhythmically to create relationships among the parts. The triangles
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and spheroid shapes, completed and implied, in both the positives and the
negatives.
And the Morandi rhymes the bottle shapes with the negatives that occur
between them. The negative between the two bottles on the right is an
inverted and contracted version of the bottles themselves. The large,
aggregate negative between the bottle on the left and the bottle to its right is
an inverted and contracted version.
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169

the positives. Another dependable way to get rhymes is to pose something

in front of a mirror. Or look for objects that have similar structures, rounded
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with the ground they sit in. And, like Morandi, pay a lot of attention to those
negatives.
So far, weve looked at relationships that occur on the surface of the drawing,
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chosen. Weve also seen how theres a relationship between the main things
being depicted, the ostensible subject, and the environment in which they sit.
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Weve already noted that we have to think two ways simultaneously. First,
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armature. Second, how they relate to any illusion of depth. Inextricably
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the drawing. Now, I want to think if you can imagine seeing the space in a
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depth indeed. And using the same subject and the same rectangle, well wind
up with very different compositions depending on that spatial organization.
Here in the studio, the camera could zoom in, cropping me at the nose and
hips. Or zoom out so theres real space in front of me. It might even include
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staircase, and windows behind me in the background, three depths of space,
just what we saw in the Rembrandt of the sleeping dog. Of course, you do
this all the time when you compose a snapshot, you zoom in, and you zoom
out. And youll be missing a lot if you dont consider spatial depth when
composing a drawing.
In Norman Lundins Model Standing before a Blackboard, the space is
shallow, were zoomed in right up next to the model. There are only several
inches behind her before we get to the blackboard. We refer to this kind of
space as bas-relief, literally low relief, like Lincoln on a penny.
170

One way of beginning to open the depth of space is to use an entry space.
The white at the bottom of the page below the womans dress is not inert
paper. Its serving to push the woman, Saskia, back in space. Through
the entry space, Rembrandt creates a space in which she can exist. Shell
appear more volumetric than otherwise, and this without a lot of shading.
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compositionally.
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cropping is a form of zooming in. The more severe the crop, the more we
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Eakins drawing Biglin Brothers Turning the Stake has an expanded depth
relative to Rembrandt, its a much more zoomed out view. And we have
three depths of space. As well see, thats a very common motif. Here we
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background. We note the same spatial organization in his watercolor, water,
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and theres a depth of space with a number of supporting events occurring in
and around the horizon.
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construct the background, three depths of space.
This School of Rembrandt, A woman ill in bed, is set up similarly though
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line to be sure. We dont know what it is, it could be a bedpost, could be a
door opened into the room, could even be a bathrobe hung on the wall. So
we dont know what it is, but we do know where it is, its the out of focus
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in the background is implied by the pillows.
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171

7KHQXGHRXUPDLQVXEMHFWLVLQWKHPLGJURXQG7KHUHVWRIWKHURRPLVLQ
our third depth of space.
In our Punjab Hills Two Lovers ZH QG WKH LGHQWLFDO VWUXFWXUH 7KH
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very common motifthree depths of space with the most important event
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the Picasso, and the Rembrandt, its often accompanied by placing the main
subject in the topographical center of the page as well.
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and on the front part of the bed. The arm, chest, head, pillows, back of the
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RIWKHRRUDQGWKHZDOOHVWDEOLVKRXUWKLUGGHSWKRIVSDFH
Picasso uses a similar idea in his portrait of Apollinaire. The front leg and
hand establish the foreground. The rest of the body, head, and chair establish
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same spatial organization in Sesshu Toyos autumn landscape, foreground,
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and it also puts the greater focus on the foreground.
There are other important ideas about composition and space. Many are at
WKHKHDUWRIPXFKRIWKHDUWRIWKHODWHth century to the present, and well
be discussing them in greater detail in later lectures.
But now youre ready to try a couple of drawings using different spatial
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other similar object, on your table an inch or so from the wall. Frame it very
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wide. Follow this by making a drawing where youre cropping the bottle at
the top and the bottom. Then make two more variations at intervals between
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important a decision this is. Theres a very strong correlation between the
172

sensation of space and volume in the subject and the amount of surface we
have between the object or aggregate object and the drawings edges.
A next exercise would be to set up a still life using a shallow bas-relief
space, and then another with three depths of space. And you can try this
with the interior of your home and outdoors, too, in a landscape. The more
you look at the world around you for instances of compositional opportunity,
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compositionally becomes second nature.
Last, once youve done this observationally, try it from your imagination.
Draw with shapes and volumes, construct your compositions with reference
to these strategies weve discussed.
The way we pose things and organize them on the page can have narrative
import as well. Heres a portrait of The Stamaty Family drawn in 1818 by the
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many of the compositional devices weve already spoken about. Theres the
division at the vertical and horizontal halves and a strong use of the diagonal
half. Though a shallow space, we still have three depths. The foreground
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wall. The composition is asymmetrical but balanced.
But theres something new going on here, too. The composition has a
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about the family. The fathers top dog, elevated. The elder son comes next,
hes posed jauntily above his mother. Then we get the two women, mother
just a bit above the daughter, and the child last. While the father, son, mother,
and child form a solid subgrouping, the daughter is off by herself. Why?
Well, shes of marriageable age, shes on the way out. And to make the
point that youd be lucky to grab her, shes posed as the mirror image of her
mother, a visual rhyme. Shes ready to take on her mothers role, produce

173

children. Even better, she plays piano. Youll have children and the home
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And, of course, professionals in illustration and advertising, and people
choreographing political campaigns use these visual strategies all the time
to make their products or candidates look more appealing. Think presidential
candidates who argue about podium height before a debate or jockey to be
photographed with military hardware.
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ZRUNQH3RVH\RXUREMHFWVVRWKDW\RXKDYHGLVWLQFWJURXSLQJVKLHUDUFKLHV
and personalities. As in the Ingres, you could try one against four. You could
DOVRWU\RQHWDOOREMHFWYHUVXVVHYHUDOVKRUWRQHVRURQHDPER\DQWREMHFW
versus several conservative ones, or a skinny object versus several fat ones.
And, of course, we can try the inverse of all of these. Later, youll be able to
WU\DOOWKHVHVDPHLGHDVDQGDSSO\WKHPWRWKHJXUH
Weve covered a lot of material on composition. Making it your own takes
time and practice. All these distinct pieces that were practicing individually,
one by one, will become more and more interconnected. Theyll often act
LQ FRQFHUW <RXOO QG \RXUVHOI DSSO\LQJ WKHVH SULQFLSOHV LQWXLWLYHO\ RQFH
youve practiced them for some time. Einsteins quoted as saying, Intuition
is nothing but the outcome of earlier intellectual experience. Like learning
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becomes automatic.
A note on this, as you look around at drawings, youll see that not all
drawings are composed in the ways weve been discussing here. Thats
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in their own right. Different kinds of drawings have different goals. For
instance, some drawings concern themselves with problem solving, or with
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Leonardo often used drawing as a tool to help himself understand the
physical world. In this drawing of a fetus, he wasnt setting out to make
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174

drawings function as exercises. Drer made hundreds of diagrammatic

drawings investigating human proportions. He used them to gain a greater
understanding of proportions in all their variety. And, this Michelangelo is a
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gathering information, so theres no need to compose in the way weve been
talking about. Other drawings might target studying perspective, pattern,
value, relationships of color, or other kinds of relationships.
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work, and its also about learning something, but its about learning
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WKHVHGUDZLQJVZLWKWKLVRQHE\1RUPDQ/XQGLQZKLFKLVPHDQWDVDQLVKHG
work in its own right.
The compositional choices we make regarding how we draw are often based
on the goal we have for the drawing in question.
Next, Id like to introduce some very effective ways for controlling
proportions. Combining these new techniques with what youve already
learned about line, shape, volume, and composition will give you the basics
to make some pretty sophisticated drawings.

175

Proportion: Albertis Velo

Lecture 11

Lecture 11Proportion: Albertis Velo

ere now ready to turn our attention to proportion and

measurement. In this lecture, well learn about the discoveries
and methods that led to some radical changes in 15thFHQWXU\
European art. These discoveries would spread over the globe and are still
YHU\ PXFK ZLWK XV WRGD\$V PHQWLRQHG LQ WKH UVW OHFWXUH KXPDQ EHLQJV
have been drawing for more than 80,000 years, but until the European
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span of time, a little more than 100 years, artists were able to create this
illusion. In this lecture, well work with some of the tools that enabled this
leap forward in naturalistic representation.
Early Explorations in Proportion
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DUWLVWLFGLVFRYHULHVDERXWSURSRUWLRQZDVDQ$UDEVFKRODU,EQDO+D\WKDP
popularly known as Alhazen. In Europe, he was followed by Leon Battista
Alberti, Luca Pacioli, Piero della Francesca, Filippo Brunelleschi, Leonardo
da Vinci, and Albrecht Drer. The latter were all interested in the intersection
of optics, mathematics, and art, and they enlarged on Alhazens and one
anothers discoveries. A number of them published their own seminal works
describing newfound systems, tools, and methods.
Around 1490, Leonardo described a method for drawing accurately.
It involved placing a pane of glass perpendicular to the artists line of
vision and drawing what was seen directly on the glass. The availability
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naturalistic representation.
In his later book Instruction in Measurement, Albrecht Drer wrote, There
is yet another method of copying an object and it is more practical than

176

using a glass pane. Drer was talking about a device called the velo, or
veil. The device had also been discussed about a century earlier by the
Renaissance polymath Leon Battista Alberti. Essentially, the velo was a grid
of threads stretched on a frame that allowed anything seen through it to be
transcribed on paper by noting the xy coordinates.
Drawing Proportionate Foreshortened Figures
For most of history, people drew things in their iconic positions. In this
position, the silhouette of the object would tell us what it is. This also
happens to be the position where the long axis of the subject is perpendicular
or parallel to the ground. Think of an upright person or a bottle; that position
is perpendicular to the ground. A person lying down horizontally would
be parallel to the ground. In Egyptian art, the avoidance of other positions
accounts for some of the distorted anatomical depictions, with the head in
SUROHFKHVWIDFLQJIRUZDUGDQGOHJVDQGIHHWRQFHDJDLQLQSUROH%\DQG
large, people avoided other views of objects for about 80,000 years.
All the millennia of avoidance indicate the challenges of drawing objects
in certain positions, such as a limb projecting outward from the picture
SODQH$OEHUWL DQG 'UHU WHOO XV KRZ WR WDFNOH WKLV GLIFXOW SUREOHP E\
measuring. Find grid coordinates. Note where and in which grid unit on
the vertical picture plane all the important points are located. Then, mark
these same points on the second picture plane, the page. Measure carefully
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fundamentally changed drawing.
The essential idea behind using the velo is the same as tracing on glass or
VWXG\LQJDUHHFWLRQLQDPLUURUIRUWKDWPDWWHU7KHWKUHHGLPHQVLRQDOZRUOG
YLHZHGRQDYHUWLFDOSODQHKHUHWKHJULGGHGSLFWXUHSODQHORRNVDW7KDW
PDNHVLWSDUVHDEOH:LWKWKHvelo, we have the added aid of xy coordinates.
We dont even have to worry about drawing a complicated object. We just
have to place the coordinates.

177

Suggested Reading
Alberti, On Painting.
Brown and McLean, Drawing from Life, Learning to See, pp. 4445.
da Vinci, A Treatise on Painting.
Drer, Underweysung der Messung (1525).
, Underweysung der Messung (1538).
, The Painters Manual.
Eakins, A Drawing Manual, Linear Perspective, pp. 4754.

Lecture 11Proportion: Albertis Velo

Hockney, Secret Knowledge.

178

Proportion: Albertis Velo

Lecture 11Transcript
Were ready to turn our attention to proportion and measurement. In this
lecture, well learn about the discoveries and methods that led to some of
the radical changes in 15thFHQWXU\ (XURSHDQ DUW 7KHVH GLVFRYHULHV ZRXOG
spread over the globe and are still very much with us today.
As Id mentioned in the introductory lecture, human beings have been
drawing for over 80,000 years, and there are beautiful examples from just
about every place and period. But until the European Renaissance, no one
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VSDFHRQDWZRGLPHQVLRQDOVXUIDFH
Then, over a relatively short period of time, artists were able to make the
move from works like this, circa 1325, to works like this, by Leonardo, in
the early 1490s. All of a sudden plates sat down on tables, tables receded
into 3D space of the room, and the rooms themselves had depth. How did
this happen? Why, after 80,000 years? After hundreds of thousands of
JHQHUDWLRQVRIQRRQHEHLQJDEOHWRJXUHLWRXW"
Remember, learning to draw is all about learning to see. And there came
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and certain technologies were evolving, too. And well learn how those
innovations may have played a part, as well.
2QHRIWKHUVWLQGLYLGXDOVLQYROYHGZDVDQ$UDEVFKRODU,EQDO+D\WKDP
popularly known as Alhazen. In Europe, he was followed by Leon Battista
Alberti, Luca Pacioli, Piero della Francesca, Filippo Brunelleschi, Leonardo
da Vinci, and Albrecht Drer. The latter were all interested in the intersection
of optics, mathematics, and art, and they enlarged on Alhazens, and each
others, discoveries. A number of them published their own seminal works
describing newfound systems, tools, and methods.
Around 1490, Leonardo wrote down the following method for getting
accurate proportions,

179

Have a piece of glass as large as half a royal folio paper and set
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DEUDFFLDWKDWZRXOGEHDERXWLQFKHVIURPWKHJODVV[LQJ
your head with a machine in such a way that you cannot move it at
all.
He goes on to tell us to shut one eye and draw upon the glass what you
see beyond it. He suggests transferring the drawing to paper and ends by
writing, paint it if you like, using aerial perspective carefully.
This is a drawing from one of Leonardos notebooks of an artist using just
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UHJDUGLQJXVLQJDWJODVVOLNHVXUIDFHVKHZULWHV<RXVKRXOGWDNHWKHPLUURU
as your master, because on its surface objects have similarities to painting in
many respects.
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the 3D world onto a 2D surface. That goes a long way toward solving the
central problem of understanding the way three dimensions should appear
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XQGHUVWDQGDEOH'YHUVLRQ7KHQ\RXMXVWFRS\WKHWUDFLQJRUUHHFWLRQRQWR
your paper or canvas.
Now, I mentioned the role of evolving technologies. It may well have been
the availability of affordable plate glass, both in transparent and mirrored
form that opened peoples eyes to what had been going on, well, right in
front of their eyes, for so many millennia.
In his book Daily Life in the Middle Ages, Paul B. Newman writes, By the
15th century, and thats what were talking about here, the 1400s, while
less prosperous people continued to make do with cloth, many could afford
glass windowpanes. So this may have been the single technological
development that enabled human beings to make the enormous leap into
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DWVXUIDFH

180

Albrecht Drer, who many of you may know from his iconic drawing of
praying hands, also wrote a remarkable and very technical book on drawing.
Part 1 was published in 1525, followed by part 2 in 1538. It was titled
Underweysung der Messung or Instruction in Measurement. Drer offers
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quadrangular frame. Now draw whatever you wish. It goes on longer than
that, but thats the gist, draw on the glass. And Thomas Eakins suggests the
same method in his 1880s drawing manual.
Given Leonardos, Drers, and Eakins endorsements, try it now. Use a
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ZLQGRZLQ\RXUKRPHRURIFH%XW\RXZDQWWRPDNHDVPDOOWHVWUVWVR
you can clean it up after without too much trouble.
Choose a window that has something interesting going on outside, something
challenging to draw. For instance, looking out at the backyard you might see
a table and chairs. Or out front, a car in the driveway or on the street. Maybe
a neighboring home with a complex pitched roof. That would be especially
interesting if youre able to look down at it from above.
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and sidewalks, some parked vehicles. All of these situations will contain
examples of foreshortened planes, precisely the things people had real
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The procedures simple enough though it takes a bit of getting used to. You
have to close one eye. You also have to stay still. You cant move right or
left. Maintain a constant distance from the glass. Start by choosing one thing
to draw, a table, a chair, a car, a truck, and work out from that one object.
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proportionately. So go ahead, try it now.
If youve just done your glass drawing, youre probably seeing the world a
bit differently as a result. Its not that after this discovery, everyone drew on
glass, but the procedure enabled people to understand how to translate three
dimensions into two.

181

Arthur Guptill offers a nice variation on this in his book Rendering in Pencil.
He suggests placing a piece of glass on top of a sheet of white paper. Then
draw what youre looking at on the glass. When you think youre done,
close one eye, and raise the glass up before you. He writes, When the glass
has been shifted to just the right position, the lines of the drawing should
coincide with those of the object. If they dont, you know your proportions
DUHRII7KHJODVVPDNHVWKHVSHFLFVREYLRXVDQG\RXFDQFRUUHFW
Theres a key concept behind all this. Drawing on the window is, in drawing
parlance, drawing on the picture plane. Heres an illustration by Eakins that
he made for his book. It depicts the picture plane.
The early pioneers of optics theorized that when we see an object, what were
DFWXDOO\VHHLQJDUHUHHFWHGOLJKWUD\VFRQYHUJLQJWRZDUGVRXUH\H$QGZH
should note that these methods depend on a single eye. Remember, Leonardo
instructs us to close one eye. This is monocular seeing and drawing. If we
introduce a transparent plane between the object and our eye, well note
the convergence of the rays on that plane, and we call that plane the picture
plane.
You likely noticed, when drawing on the window, that the drawings are
much smaller than the objects themselves. You may have also noticed that
the closer your eye was to the picture plane, the smaller the object appeared
on the glass, the farther, the larger. All of this is evidence of converging rays.
Heres an illustration from Drers second volume of his book Instruction in
Measurement. He writes, There is yet another method of copying an object,
and it is more practical than using a glass plane.
Drers talking about a device called the velo, or veil. It was described a
century earlier by the Renaissance polymath, Leon Battista Alberti, in his
1435 book De Pictura, On Painting. Alberti wrote, attention should be
devoted to circumscription, that means outlining, And to do this well,
I believe nothing more convenient can be found than the velo. It is a veil,
divided up by threads into as many parallel square sections as you like
and stretched on a frame. I set this up between the eye and the object to
be represented, so that the visual pyramid, that would be those converging
182

light rays we saw in the Eakins illustration, so that the visual pyramid
passes through the velo.
In Drers woodcut, we actually have two picture planes, the vertical one,
thats the one where we can study what we see, and a second one, the sheet
of paper. Thats where we transcribe what we see. To this day, artists refer to
the piece of paper they draw on, or the canvas they paint on, as the picture
plane.
There are a number of important things to note in the woodcut. The grids
on the paper and velo are identical. Anything seen through the velo can be
transcribed to the page by noting x and y coordinates. Leonardos advice
for drawing on the glass applies here, too. Keep one eye shut; always the
same one. The tall object, like a statuette of the Washington monument,
lets the artist know where his eye should be. For accurate and coordinated
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Heres Eakins on the negative effects of moving, If he moved his head
upwards, the tracing would go down too low; if downwards, the tracing
would go too high. If he stepped back, his tracing would be too small; if he
went forwards, his tracing would be too large.
Returning to Drers woodcut, a couple other things to note: The artists
eye is coincident with the horizon in the landscape, and that coincidence is
no coincidence. Thats because the horizon is not a location in nature, its
a function of eye level. Next time youre looking out at a landscapea
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horizontally level in line with your eyes. Youll note that the horizon is
coincident with your pencil. Bend your knees so that youre lower down, and
repeat, or climb up on top of something. The horizons always right there
at eye level. And this is a notion well come back to when we study linear
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same Renaissance individuals weve been discussing.
Lets take a look at the model in Drers woodcut. For most of history, people
drew things in their iconic positions. Thats the position where the silhouette
of the object would tell us what it is, men dancing, for instance. This also
183

happens to be the position where the long axis of the subject is perpendicular
or parallel to the ground. Think a person or bottle upright, perpendicular to
the ground, or laying down horizontally, parallel to the ground. By and large,
people avoided other views of objects for about 80,000 years.
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birds head. The shoulders, chest, and abdomen are depicted frontally, iconic
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Now, I love both these works, but artists at this point in time had limited
options. Why? Well, if I asked you to draw my arm held out like this,
laterally, not too hard, but if I put my arm in this position its a lot trickier.
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Renaissance example of a limb depicted projecting out towards the picture
plane. As some of you have no doubt guessed, we call this type of position a
foreshortened one, because the limb appears shorter in this view.
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extremely foreshortened position, one where her distinctive human silhouette
is all but lost.
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grid coordinates. Note where and in which grid unit on the vertical picture
plane all the important points are located, then mark these same points
on the second picture plane, the page. Measure carefully and plot enough
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Remember Drers book title, Underweysung der Messung, Instruction in
Measurement$QGLWZDVWKLV[DWLRQZLWKPHDVXUHPHQWWKDWIXQGDPHQWDOO\
changed drawing.
As youll soon learn, the velo is but one of a number of tools we can bring
to bear to solve problems of proportion and measure, but its a really good
184

one to start with. The essential idea behind using the velo is the same as
tracing on glass or studying a mirror. The 3D world viewed on a vertical
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With the velo, we have the added aid of xy coordinates. We dont even have
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have to place coordinates.
Over the centuries, this tool has been used by many artists and students. Van
Gogh went to great expense to make just such a device for himself. Heres
his sketch, which he included in an August 1882 letter to his brother, Theo.
He wrote, Ive just come back from the blacksmith, who has put iron spikes
on the legs and iron corners on the frame. It consists of two long legs. The
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Note the extra holes in the frame. You see, he could string it up as in his
sketch, using the diagonals and cross, a simple armature, like the ones used
to practice Chinese characters, or he could string it as a grid, like Drer.
He goes on to tell his brother that the frame and lines provide a clear
guide, so that one can make a drawing, setting out the broad outlines and
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lengthy practice, it enables one to draw at lightning speed. The frame has
become an excellent piece of equipment. It has cost me a pretty penny, too.
Theres no turning back now. He signs off, Adieu, old chap. So, were in
good company here, following in the footsteps of Alberti, Leonardo, Drer,
Eakins, and Van Gogh.
$ JUHDWUVW SURMHFWXVLQJ WKH velo is to draw a deep, foreshortened space,
something like a hallway. Here are a couple of examples from my students
at the University of Washington, and Id like you to try this, too. Well
be calling on many of the things weve already studied, and adding new
procedures. Were really building in complexity now.
Youll use a range of pencils and line weights. Use lighter pencils for
construction lines, darker pencils for the drawing itself. Youll use four types
185

of line: gestural line, construction line, contour, and cross contour. Youll use
gestural compositional sketches to identify a strong composition. Youll need
to think about the drawings rectangle, its format shape, and its armature, as
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Youll scale up from perceived size to a larger dimension and retain
proportionate relations, then use grid coordinates to layout accurate
proportions, and use negative shapes as a further aid toward this goal. Youll
build your drawing moving from large visual events to greater detail.
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plane.
Heres the question. How many points or coordinates do you need to draw
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coordinates for the corners of the back wall, and another four where the
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coordinates, connect the dots, and youll have drawn the walls, ceiling, and
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dots underpinning for a proportionate drawing. These intersection points are
the places where one direction meets another. This could be in the subject
Im drawing. It could also be where an edge in the subject encounters an
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A second premise is to work from the large to the small, from the general to
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only see the nameable objects. Some people want to start with a clock on the
wall, or a door, or a chair, and they totally ignore the large planes. Draw the
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in your drawing. You want to think in architectural order. Before you hang a

186

clock or install a door, you have to build the wall. Before you put a chair in a
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thats not too complicated, you dont want a highly ornamented interior or
one thats cluttered with furniture for this project. The drawings all about
determining accurate proportions and measurements. We dont need any
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Were going to proceed in three distinct steps.
First, make three compositional gesture studies. Next, scale up from the
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steps making the drawing itself. Lets go through each of these steps in
detail. Youll need: pencils, erasers, and sharpeners; a pen or brush and ink;
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compositional sketches on smaller paper. Like Rembrandt, draw directly with
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drawing. The idea is to quickly give yourself several compositional options.
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you to begin to see and understand whats before you. As you repeat this
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Throw yourself into it, theres nothing to fear.
Im asking you to do three distinctly different studies, each from a different
point of view, each using a different format shape. The large drawings are
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and framing before committing.
Walk through the room or hallway looking and framing with your
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187

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simplify the math when scaling up.
As you try different format shapes, note how the large internal divisions
relate. Think about the armature and composition. When youve found
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the page. If your format shapes horizontal, turn you page horizontally, if
vertical, vertically.
Remember, youll always want to keep that same eye closed, keep your head
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from your eye. Holding it at arms length is a very good way to go.
Now, with pen or brush, make a quick gestural study. Call on the exercises
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encompassing way. Establish the major compositional relationships between
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to the large events on those planes, windows, doors, furniture, et cetera.
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As your brush darts across the surface, be attentive to the positive and
negative shapes. The negatives measure the distances between the positives.
Work quickly; youre drawing with gestural line. These drawings really
shouldnt take more than a couple of minutes. If you dont like a drawing, try
it again. Nothing to worry about, its a couple minutes, cheap ink, and paper.
If youre attentive to what youre looking at, youll see and understand more
with each repetition. The little drawings are going to improve.
Once youve made at least three gestural studies from three different points
of view, take a look at them and select the best one. This act of selection, or
curation, is an essential part of learning to draw. As you practice doing this
and work with the results, this skills going to improve, too.
188

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into the smaller dimension of our paper, 18, four times, giving us 16 inches.
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same factor, four, to get to 23. The scaled up rectangle would be 16 23. If
the larger dimension turns out to be larger than 24 inches, start by dividing
24 by the larger dimension.
Once youve calculated the rectangles dimensions, lay out the format shape
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to get into the habit of centering the format shape in the page. This way you
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the top or the bottom if you need to.
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everything will line up, and youll do that with the other arm as well. If
anything doesnt line up, that means you have to check how youve drawn
your inches or how you did your grid.
Next, once weve done that, we can just turn this over and well line up our
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and secure this in place. With that done, well just put our other arm of our
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tape, and were ready to go.
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grid is one inch by one inch. To draw a corresponding grid on your page,
youll scale that measure by the same factor you used to scale the formats
dimensions. In the example, we multiplied the formats measure by a factor
of four. So wed do the same with the grid unit. Since the acetate grids one
by one, the grid on the page will be four by four.
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the grid units measure with small marks. Connect the marks with horizontal
and vertical lines to create the grid. These are construction lines, best if
theyre light, thin, and precise. Now, like the artist in the Drer, you have a
189

gridded velo to look through and you have a proportionate gridded horizontal
picture plane to draw on.
Youre ready to make your drawing. First, put away the small gesture
drawing, its served its purpose. Youll be looking directly at your
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transpose that position to the page. Make a very small light dot at each
coordinates location, the larger the dot, the less precise.
When youve placed these eight coordinates, connect each set of points with
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Were drawing for proportion and measure, so you dont want to make a lot
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Drer can guide us here. This drawing concerns itself with human
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goal of the drawing is to establish clear and accurate proportions. Gestural
lines dont achieve this.
So locate your eight points and draw your lines to create your major planes.
Now, take a look at your shapes. Eyeball them. Does the back wall youve
drawn resemble the back wall youre looking at? Does it have the same ratio
of height to width? Do the other major planes look about right? If not, erase,
take another look at the coordinates, and redraw.
Earlier Id said that the goal is to move from the large to the small, from the
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190

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themselves. For each negative shape, we need four points. Eyeball your
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measure. Then we go to the aggregate shapes of the corkboards. Then the
aggregate shape of the recycling bins. Then I ask my students to eyeball and
check. Next, we might locate the moldings and doorways. Last, we move to
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to the papers surface.
Your own drawing will no doubt be somewhat different. The essential thing
is to follow this procedure. Remember, youre not drawing things, youre
establishing coordinates then connecting those coordinates using clear lines.
As you draw, dont forget to consider line weight. Varying the line will help
create the sensation of receding space. It will also create focal areas and focal
points. Use a range of line from dark to light, thick to thin, and continuous
to discontinuous. Using a range of pencils is really going to help and be
attentive to managing your pencils point.
Next, well continue our discussion of proportion. Youve already learned
about seven tools that help us get things right. Well add another six. Soon,
youll have a professional repertoire of techniques to bring to bear on
complex drawing problems.

191

Proportion: Accurate Proportion and Measure

Lecture 12

I
Lecture 12Proportion: Accurate Proportion and Measure

n this lecture, well concentrate on the tools we use to arrive at correct

proportions. Well start by reviewing the tools weve already discussed:
WKH FHQWHUOLQH EXLOGLQJEORFN VKDSH ODUJH JURXQG VKDSHV DJJUHJDWH
shape, eyeballing, negative shape, and Albertis velo. Then, well add some
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measure, level lines and plumb lines, and the method of sighting the half.
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yourself combining them seamlessly in your own way. Theyll become part
of the way you naturally draw.
Tools for Accurate Proportion and Measurement
The tools for accurate proportion that weve already discussed include the
following:

192

Centerline, a type of construction line that helps establish an

objects placement within the drawing and helps maintain the
subjects direction. The centerline also serves as an aid in drawing
shapes proportionately in relation to the objects center.

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DQGULJKWVLGHVDQGWKHZLGWKWRKHLJKWSURSRUWLRQVRIDQREMHFWRU
part of an object.

Large ground shapes, which set up proportions for the whole

drawing.

Aggregate shape, or the simple shape that contains the subject

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proportions in a drawing.

Eyeballing, that is, looking at the shape youve drawn and asking
yourself if it corresponds to what youre seeing.

Negative shape, which we tend to see more accurately than positive

shapes because we have no preconceptions about what they look
like. This allows us to see them in a purely visual and analytic
manner. Taken together, a group of negative shapes will reveal the
silhouette of an object in accurate proportion.

David Brody.

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to the one shown below. Follow the steps outlined, concentrating on the
large ground shapes and negative shapes, as well as the other tools weve
discussed so far. As a second exercise, see how you can apply the grid to
the box drawing.

Determining Angles with the Clock-Hand Method

Our next tool represents a means for quantifying tricky angles. To understand
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your left hand, vertically, point up. Closing one eye, rotate the pencil so that
it comes into line with the angle of the box. Then, take a second pencil in
your right hand and place it pointing straight up from the eraser end of the
UVWSHQFLO

193

 David Brody.
David Brody.

Lecture 12Proportion: Accurate Proportion and Measure

Now, imagine that the pencils are hands on an analog clock face, and tell the
time. Here, we have about 13 minutes to noon. This method represents a way
to quantify and remember an angle.

We just read this angle as an acute one, but we could equally read it as
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or the other may be more comfortable.
Once youve practiced this method a couple of times, you can imagine the
hour hand, and youll need only a single hand and pencil to measure the
angle. The most important thing to remember here is to hold your pencil
194

parallel to an imaginary picture plane, as if it were held against a glass

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space.
A Standard Unit of Measure
Weve all seen images of an artist, standing in front of an easel, holding out
his arm, closing one eye, and looking out over his thumb. This is a version
of another tool we can use to create accurate proportions: a standard unit
of measure. Here, you identify some part of what youre seeing to be used
to measure everything else. In choosing the unit of measure, there are two
factors to keep in mind: its orientation and its scale. Regarding orientation,
you want something that is parallel to the picture plane, not anything that
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unit and is vertical or horizontal. Regarding scale, the unit you choose cant
be too big or too small.

David Brody.

David Brody.

In the case of the box, the front edge may be a good choice. Although its a
couple degrees off true vertical, it will work for the purposes of this drawing.
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outstretch your arm fully, and align the pencils tip with the top of the
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at the base of the standard unit. This allows you to capture the unit on your
pencil, which you can then use to measure across the picture plane.

195

 David Brody.

Lecture 12Proportion: Accurate Proportion and Measure

Level Lines and Plumb Lines

Yet another tool is either a horizontal level line or a vertical plumb line. Turn
your pencil horizontally and line it up with any point, say, the far left inside
corner of the box. Then, look to see if anything to the right lines up with it.
In this case, there doesnt seem to be perfect alignment, but we can tell that
the far right inside corner is just a bit higher than the left.

Of course, you can also use this technique vertically to create a plumb line.
Both toolsthe level line or the plumb linecan be used to see how things
line up and to understand how different points or edges correlate.
With these new toolsclock hands for angles, a standard unit of measure,
and level and plumb lines to locate positionsmake a second drawing of
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as you would a recipe, but once youve worked with them for a period of
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Our method here is to break down the processes into understandable pieces,
but as you use them, theyll become natural, embedded in the way you scan
everything you see.

196

Sighting the Half

Related to some of the tools weve studied is an approach called sighting
the half. This is another method to help you imagine an even grid over your
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that help you draw proportionately.
Drawing as an Interrogative Process
As youre beginning to realize, drawing can be an interrogative process. We
ask one question after another: How does the picture plane divide? Whats
the largest shape? Whats the angle of that diagonal? How long is it? A
drawing can represent the sum of an artists responses to these questions.

Suggested Reading
Curtis, Drawing from Observation, chapter 7, The Perceptual Grid,
pp. 6174, and chapter 8, Proportion, pp. 7592.
Loomis, Figure Drawing for All Its Worth, The Visual Survey Process,
pp. 8889.
Mendelowitz, Faber, and Wakeman, A Guide to Drawing, chapter 3,
Learning to See Deeply, pp. 3856.
Rockman, Drawing Essentials, pp. 422.

197

Proportion: Accurate Proportion and Measure

Lecture 12Transcript
In this lecture, well concentrate on the tools we use to arrive at correct
proportions. Theyre not all new to you, youve studied seven of them
already. Well start by reviewing the ones weve already discussed and
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own way. Theyll just become part of the way you draw naturally.
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Well be drawing a cardboard box. The one Ive used in the examples is
14 10 8 inches. To get a similar view, youll want to be standing up,
looking down at the box. Well get a lot of interesting angles from this
viewpoint, so its likely best to set up with your drawing board on your easel.
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FHQWHUOLQH:HYHVHHQ'UHUXVHLWLQKLVJXUHVWXGLHVDVZHOODV(DNLQV
in his drawing of John Biglin in a Single Scull, and weve used them to
draw still life objects. They help establish an objects placement within the
drawing and help maintain the subjects direction, here, vertically. Last, they
serve as an aid in drawing shapes proportionately in relation to the objects
center.
Our second tool is constituent or building block shape. We often use these
kind of shapes with a center line or other construction line. Using these kind
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of proportions of an object or part of an object.
Our third tool is another type of shape, large ground shapes. These set up
proportions for the whole drawing. In the drawing well be doing here, well
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create the overall proportions of our drawing.

198

Next is aggregate shape. We look at our subject and imagine a simple shape
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As we study our aggregate shape, we can even trace over it in the air to get a
sense of its proportions, and then draw it on the page. This set of construction
lines tells us where our subject should be located and how large it should be.
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the overall proportions in our drawing.
Using these concepts helps us avoid running out of space for what we want
to include in our drawing. It also helps us to work from the general to the
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that saves us time and exasperation because were able to avoid drawing
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proportion or theyre in the wrong location.
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it as eyeballing. We look at the shape weve drawn and ask ourselves if it
corresponds to what were seeing. This could be applied when evaluating
part of a still life object, like the body of a vase or bottle, or it could be
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did in the hallway project, or as well be doing assessing aggregate shapes in
this drawing.
Our sixth tool is negative shape. We tend to see these more accurately than
the positives because we have no preconceptions about what they look like.
This allows us to see them in a purely visual and analytic manner. In this
drawing, well have a large upper negative and a large lower negative. Taken
together they reveal the silhouette of the object in accurate proportion.
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your pencil against a negative, arm extended, one eye closed, you can break
it up into more memorable pieces. This transforms a complex shape into two
simpler shapes, one on the right, and another on the left. Easier to remember
like this, and if a shapes easier to remember, its going to be easier to draw.
We can also use our pencil horizontally.

199

S, lets make a drawing of the box combining these techniques. If you pose
your box similarly to the way Ive posed mine, it will help you follow the
directions. In this example, were looking down at the box, and its framed so
that theres space on all sides, above, below, left, and right. This guarantees
that the box will sit back in space.
The point of view is such that the back edge of the table meets the wall along
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pointing down. This offers a range of angles to deal with.
The format shape in the example is three to four; its a 3:4 rectangle,
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your two largest planes, the table, and the wall. Draw this with a single line
at the appropriate height. Eyeball your large division. Then look back out
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Next, gauge the aggregate shape of your box. How wide is it? How tall?
Lightly draw a rectangle to express this. Now eyeball the rectangle and look
back out at your box. Trace a rectangle over it in the air. Then look back at
your page. Ask yourself if theyre the same. If not, adjust. Look back and
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window, trace around the upper negative in the air, then the lower one.
Now work your way around the box. Break the complex negatives into
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at each step. By following this method, youll construct your boxs silhouette.
Once complete, eyeball all the pieces, and make any changes necessary to
bring it closer to proportionality.

200

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Now, one last line to express the change of plane in the interior of the box.
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as needed. When you feel youre in pretty good shape, erase any of your
construction lines in the negatives, do a little more eyeballing and correcting,
and you should have a reasonably proportionate drawing of your subject.
These tools are all useful. With practice, they can provide us with good
results, but theyre rather general. Our next set of tools allow for greater
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7KHUVWRIWKHVHLVWKHJULGGHGSLFWXUHSODQHWKHvelo of Alberti. As weve
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this drawing problem.
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sharpened 4H pencil, wed draw the format shape and an identical grid on our
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eight points to construct them. Here, we have 10 planes, two in the tabletop
and wall and another eight in the box. Wed need 21 points of intersection
to make this drawing. Wed place a small mark on our gridded page for each
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make any changes needed, and connect the dots. If you like working with the
grid, you could use it to check the drawing you just did using negative shape.
6RWKRVHDUHRXUUVWVHYHQWRROV7KHQH[WVHWZDVGHULYHGIURPZKDWDUWLVWV
came to understand by analyzing what they were seeing using tools like the
velo.
And that brings us to our next tool, number eight. It represents a means for
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RQHV DUH EHVW 7DNH WKH UVW DQG KROG LW RXW LQ IURQW RI \RX ZLWK \RXU OHIW
hand, vertically, point up. If the screen youre using is vertical, you can hold
WKHSHQFLODWDJDLQVWWKHVFUHHQWKHUVWWLPH
201

Now, closing one eye, rotate your pencil so that it comes into line with the
angle of the box, like the pencil here. Now take a second pencil in your right
KDQGDQGSODFHLWSRLQWLQJVWUDLJKWXSIURPWKHHUDVHUHQGRI\RXUUVWSHQFLO
Now Id like you to imagine your pencils are hands on an analog clock face.
Then tell the time. Here, about 13 minutes to noon. And that represents a
way to quantify and remember an angle; makes it much easier to draw.
We just read this angle as an acute one. We could equally read it as obtuse.
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RWKHU PD\ EH PRUH FRPIRUWDEOH VR OHWV KROG WKH UVW SHQFLO LQ RXU ULJKW
hand, but instead of holding it against the screen, hold it a couple inches
away, but make sure its vertical, point straight up. Close one eye, then rotate
it so that it comes into line with the angle. Hold the second pencil up to 12
in your left hand. Imagine that clock face. Ask yourself what time it is. Here,
about 12:18. Once youve done this a couple times, you can imagine the hour
hand, and youll only need a single hand and pencil to measure the angle.
/HWVWU\LWWKDWZD\QRZ/RRNDWWKHDQJOHRIWKHDSRQWKHIDUULJKW5RWDWH
your pencil to coincide with the angle. Imagine another pointing to 12. Then
the clock face. And read the time. About seven minutes after the hour.
You might want to practice this a bit without drawing at all. Walk around
\RXUKRPHRURIFHORRNDWDQJOHVLQ\RXUFHLOLQJVZLQGRZVGRRUVNLWFKHQ
cabinets, tables, anything that angles forward or back in space, and quantify
it. Practice doing this with one pencil, its going to make it much easier
when youre actually working on a drawing if youve done some rehearsal.
The most important thing to remember is to hold your pencil parallel to an
imaginary picture plane as if it were held against a glass plane perpendicular
WRWKHRRURURQDDWFORFNVIDFH<RXGRQWZDQWWRWLS\RXUSHQFLOLQWR
space.
Youve likely seen an actor portraying an artist doing this, holding out his
arm, closing one eye, and looking out over his thumb. Thats a version of our
next tool, number nine. It allows us to measure vertically and horizontally
across the picture plane, and it will help us measure proportions, amounts,
and distances. This is how it works.

202

We want to identify some part of what were seeing to use to measure

everything else. We call this a standard unit of measure. In choosing the unit,
there are a couple factors to keep in mind.
First is orientation. We want something thats parallel to the picture plane.
We dont want anything thats tilting back into space. Anything receding will
EHOHVVFOHDULQWHUPVRIPHDVXUH,QIDFWLWVEHVWLIZKDWZHFKRRVHLVDVHOI
contained unit and is vertical or horizontal.
Theres a second factor to consider, scale. Measuring a persons height in
feet and inches makes all the sense in the world, but for the distance between
New York and L.A., feet and inches are too small. And while light years are
good for measuring across the universe, theyd be too large for New York to
L.A., so we use miles. The point here is that for any unit of measure to be
useful, it cant be too big and it cant be too small.
Looking at our box on the table, the front edge of the box may be our best
bet. While its a couple degrees off true vertical, it will still work for our
purposes.
7KLVLVZKDW,GOLNH\RXWRGR7DNHDZHOOSRLQWHGSHQFLOKROGLWYHUWLFDOO\
point up, with one eye closed. Outstretch your arm fully. Align the pencils
WLSZLWKWKHWRSRIWKLVVWDQGDUGXQLWRIPHDVXUH:LWK\RXUWKXPEDQGUVW
QJHU KROG WKH SHQFLO DW WKH EDVH RI WKH VWDQGDUG XQLW RI PHDVXUH<RXYH
now captured the unit on your pencil, and you can use it to measure across
the picture plane. Heres how.
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QJHUOLIW\RXUDUPVWUDLJKWXSVRWKHWKXPEDQGUVWQJHUFRPHOHYHOZLWK
the inside corner of the box. That would be the top of our standard unit.
Weve stacked our measure on top of the unit itself. This reveals that the
SRLQWDORQJWKHEDFNDSGLUHFWO\DERYHWKHIURQWFRUQHURIWKHER[LVMXVW
a little less than one standard unit above the unit itself. Wed also note that
WKHSRLQWZKHUHWKHSHQFLOWUDYHUVHVWKHKLQJHRIWKHDSLVDELWRYHUKDOID
measure from the top of the corner.

203

We can sum up what weve discovered about these locations. The top of the
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We can also turn our hand 90 degrees and measure right and left across the
picture plane. Lets measure, from the standard unit, our boxs corner out to
WKHQHDUFRUQHURQWKHOHIWDS7KLVUHYHDOVWKDWWKHGLVWDQFHLVDOLWWOHOHVV
than 40 percent of a unit.
The core idea is that, once weve placed our standard unit of measure in our
drawing, we can measure from it to locate any other point we might need.
Were going to elaborate on this method when we get into the drawing itself.
Our 10th tool is a straight line, either a horizontal level line or a vertical
plumb line. Heres how they work. I can turn my pencil horizontally and line
it up with any point, say, the far left inside corner of the box. Then I look to
see if anything toward the right lines up with it. No perfect line up here, but
what I do learn is that the far right inside corner is just a little bit higher than
the left. So I can use this tool, a level line, to see how things line up and also
to understand how different points or edges correlate.
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KLJKHU$SSO\RXUOHYHOOLQHZHQGWKDWWKHIDUOHIWFRUQHULVKLJKHU
We can also use this vertically as a plumb line. We dont have any clear
vertical line ups in this setup, but placing my pencil vertically along the front
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just off to the left, and I should have a large shape to the right and a much
smaller one to the left.
We now have all the tools well need to make our second drawing of the
box. Clock hands for angles, and a standard unit of measure, and level and
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LQFKZKLWHSDSHU<RXZDQWWRGUDZIURPD[HGORFDWLRQZLWKWKHVDPHH\H
closed, and when taking measurements, extend that arm fully, so its always
LQWKHVDPHSODFH7KHGLUHFWLRQVKHUHDUHYHU\VSHFLFPXFKOLNHDUHFLSH

204

Ive put it together this way so youll be able to follow the steps in clear
succession.
In practice, once youve done this a couple times, youll be able to work
with the basic ideas with clock hands, a standard unit of measure, and level
DQGSOXPEOLQHVLQDPXFKPRUHXLGDQGRUJDQLFZD\<RXOOQGWKDWWKHVH
same procedures can be used in all kinds of drawings to draw just about
anything. They can also be incorporated with the other tools weve studied.
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EHLQFKHVVRPDNHVXUH\RXUYLHZQGHULVRSHQLQWKHVDPHUDWLR
DQ\UDWLR7KHPRVWFRQYHQLHQWRQHVZRXOGEHWKUHHE\IRXULQFKHVIRXU
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Once again, note the aggregate shape of the box, a rectangle that we imagine
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footprint, how much width does it have to its height. You can even do a
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the box itself. Do it a couple of times with the goal of getting a clear sense of
that shape. Youll also want to note the negative shape, the amount of frame
between the edges of your aggregate shape and the edges of your paper.
6LQFH\RXUYLHZQGHULVVFDOHGLQDUDWLRMXVWOLNH\RXUSDSHU\RXFDQ
draw the rectangular aggregate shape lightly on the page. Then check the
shape and its negative, a bit of eyeballing here. Ask yourself if it looks like
ZKDW \RXUH VHHLQJ WKURXJK \RXU YLHZQGHU 0DNH DQ\ FKDQJHV WKDW DUH
necessary.
Once you have your aggregate shape, you want to add your standard unit of
measure. To do this, we have to know where to put it. Looking through your
YLHZQGHUDVN\RXUVHOIZKHUHDORQJWKHERWWRPKRUL]RQWDORIWKHDJJUHJDWH
shape does the unit appear? Is it toward the center, the right, the left, and
by how much? In my example, it intersects towards the right. It divides the
horizontal with about 60 percent on the left and about 40 percent on the
right. Once youve made this determination, make a small mark with your
charcoal at this location on the page.

205

The next step is to draw the standard unit of measure in the drawing. Were
going to do this in two steps. First, take the measure of your standard unit
with your pencil, then draw that measure with your charcoal at the location
youve noted. The second step is to scale the measure.
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LQFKHV \RXU GUDZLQJ LV ODUJHU E\ D IDFWRU RI VL[ LI IRXUDQGDKDOI E\ VL[
inches, by a factor of four; if six by eight inches, by a factor of three; and if
LQFKHVE\DIDFWRURIWZR0\YLHZQGHUVRSHQIRXUDQGDKDOIE\
six inches, so my drawing is larger by a factor of four, and Ill scale up the
standard unit of measure in my drawing by a factor of four. You should do
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Youre now looking at your unit of measure scaled up to your page.
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pencil, point up, in the other. As we did earlier, locate the standard unit of
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WKHVWDQGDUGXQLWRQWKHER[WRWKHWRSRSHQLQJRIWKHYLHZQGHURQHXQLW
and about 80 percent of the unit. Now lets measure below. There we get half
a unit. Even though were drawing with charcoal, its easier to measure with
a pencil. The irregular shape of the charcoal simply makes it less precise.
So now, lightly with your charcoal, draw these units on your page. If you
dont have enough room for 1.8 units above and half below, it means youve
drawn your standard unit too large for the page. If theres too much room, the
standard units too small. So take a little time to check for accuracy before
moving on to the next step.
With our vertical measure in place, we want to add a horizontal one, too.
$JDLQORRNRXWWKURXJKWKHYLHZQGHUPHDVXUHIURPWKHWRSRIWKHVWDQGDUG
unit out to the left. About two and a little over half a unit; 2.6 units all told.
Then out to the right. Here we get one unit and a slightly larger fraction of
a unit than on the left, about 1.7 units in all. Lets draw this on our page as
well.
While more complex, this is similar to what we did when we drew a square
and other construction lines to help us draw a circle. In essence, we created a
206

structure that would help us see and draw a form. And you may be thinking
that what we have here on our page resembles a partial grid, a partial velo,
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EDVHGRQVWDQGDUGXQLWV-XVWH[WHQGKRUL]RQWDOVDQGYHUWLFDOVRXWIURPRXU
existing intersections.
Ill let you try that in another drawing. For our purposes here, well continue
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ZRQW QHHG WKH YLHZQGHU DQ\PRUH IRU WKLV SURMHFW VR OHWV SXW LW DVLGH
Instead, well use the clock hand technique next.
Lets look at the bottom right diagonal of the box. Close one eye. Make sure
the pencil is parallel to an imagined perpendicular picture plane and turn
your pencil to line up with the angle. Its about seven minutes after the hour.
And well draw a line at this diagonal moving out from the bottom of our
standard unit. We havent yet determined how long the line should be, so
well turn to our standard unit of measure for an answer.
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pencil horizontally, with the pencils point lining up with the boxs front
edge. Now, you want to ask yourself, how far do you have to travel to the
right to reach the back corner of the box? About half a unit.
So return to the drawing and measure out half a unit to the right to intersect
the diagonal, and you can erase anything extra. Then, repeat these steps on
the other side. First, use the clock hand technique to determine the angle.
Then, you want to use your pencil to measure its termination point in
standard units. Last, draw the diagonal out to the left to accord with your
measure.
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ZHOOXVHWKHFORFNKDQGWHFKQLTXHWRQGWKHDQJOHWKHQWKHVWDQGDUGXQLWRI
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Next, well do the same thing on the other side.

207

Now, theres a little divot connecting the two sides, but we can eyeball that
and just draw it in. Since we have our standard unit stated in the drawing
UHSHDWHGO\ZHFDQHUDVHRXUUVWVWDQGDUGXQLWDQGGUDZWKHVOLJKWO\DQJOHG
line to express the front edge of the box.
This would be a good time to check the far right and far left corners using the
level line. Check the lower ones, then uppers. In both cases, the right should
be a little higher than the left. If anythings off, measure again using the three
new tools and erase and correct.
Now well move to the boxs open top and follow the same method we used
for the base. Well use the clock hand tool for the diagonals angles, and use
the standard unit of measure to calculate the length. As we did at the front
corner, we can eyeball the divots where they occur.
Next, well add the line that creates the two interior planes, and were ready
WR ZRUN RQ WKH DSV :HOO VWDUW ZLWK WKH IURQW ULJKW GLDJRQDO FORFN KDQG
tool for direction, standard unit for length, then the rear diagonal, and next,
the connecting one. Lets locate the point along this last diagonal where it
intersects the back edge of the table and draw a horizontal here.
1RZ ZHOO UHSHDW WKHVH VWHSV ZLWK WKH IURQW OHIW DS /HWV XVH WKH SHQFLO
as a horizontal level to check the alignments of the corners. Make any
adjustments you need. Were almost done, just another six angles to measure
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FRQVWUXFWLRQ OLQHV DQG WKH OLQHV ZH GUHZ WKURXJK$QG ZHOO PDNH D QDO
level line check to make sure the corners correlate. And do the same thing
with our vertical plumb line. Make any necessary changes and youre done.
Take a breath. Weve covered a lot of material and I know its a lot to absorb.
:HYH EHHQ GRLQJ WKLV LQ D YHU\ VWHSE\VWHS HYHQ PHFKDQLVWLF ZD\ DOO
about breaking down the processes into understandable pieces. But as you
use them, they become more natural and theyll be embedded in the way you
scan everything you see.
And I want to assure you, that this isnt about a style of drawing. With
practice, it just all gets absorbed, and the knowledge lets you draw freely and
208

JHVWXUDOO\:KHWKHU\RXUHGUDZLQJVOHHS\JXUHVLQDURRPOLNH'HJDVRUD
river and landscape like Monet, it just takes time and practice.
Theres a related approach to what we just did, and you can try it at your
leisure. Essentially, we start by using our pencil to sight and measure the
height of the object, and were doing that in relationship to its width. And
ZH GUDZ D YHUWLFDO ,EHDP WR UHSUHVHQW WKH KHLJKW DQG D KRUL]RQWDO RQH WR
represent the width. In essence, this expresses the objects aggregate shape
and locates it in the page.
Next, wed calibrate the axes at the quarters. Depending on what were
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would be very common to do this along the vertical axis if were drawing
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an even grid over our subject. Holding our pencil so that we capture the
measure of the half or quarter of the vertical or horizontal axis, we can
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draw proportionately. As with Albertis velo, these points dont have to line
up with the grid units, we just have to know where they are in relation to the
units.
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gets this mention. But, youll soon learn its a really powerful tool for
understanding proportion.
As youre coming to see, drawing can be an interrogative process, we ask
one question after another. How does the picture plane divide? Whats
the largest shape? Whats the angle of that diagonal? How long is it? The
drawing represents the sum of our responses.
Next, well talk about 12 principles that can guide us in creating the illusion
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going to be primed to tackle a range of interesting and complex drawing
projects.

209

Creating Volume and Illusionistic Space

Lecture 13

Lecture 13Creating Volume and Illusionistic Space

central theme in our discussions about proportion revolved around

the challenges of translating three dimensions into two. In this
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DQG VSDFH 7KH VXUIDFH ZH JHQHUDOO\ GUDZ RQD SLHFH RI SDSHULV DW
In addition to controlling proportions, we often want to create the illusion
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differentiate between two types of dimensionality: the volume of an object
itself and the dimensionality of the environment that the object occupies
the space. Putting these two pieces together, we get volumetric form in
space; well explore that process in this lecture.
Creating Illusionistic Space: 12 Principles
As weve noted, learning to draw is related to learning to understand what
we see. A number of factors govern the way we perceive depth of space in
the world around us, and these same factors correlate with ways we depict
space on the page. The 12 primary factors are as follows:

210

Overlap

Diminishing size

Position along the pages vertical axis

Position relative to the formats edges

Diagonals creating spatial depth

Foreshortened shapes

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Value, light, and shadow

Value and atmospheric perspective

Level of detail

Color and atmospheric perspective

Subject matter of recognizable size.

Overlap
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person partially conceals the second from view. Not surprisingly, overlap
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Diminishing Size
A second factor here is relative scale. We look out into the world and see two
things that we know are the same size. If one looks smaller than the other,
we know that the smaller one is farther away. Similarly, if we see two things
in a drawing that we know to be similar in size but one is drawn smaller than
the other, we will, all else being equal, feel that theyre in different spatial
locations. This creates a volume of space between the two.
Position along the Pages Vertical Axis
Another factor affecting the sensation of depth of space is position along the
vertical axis of the format.
In looking at a naturalistic drawing or a painting, as your eyes move up the
vertical axis of the page, you are most often moving back in space. This
imitates our experience in life. Look down at your feet; then, keeping your
eyes focused downward, lift your head and allow your gaze to travel away
from your feet into increasingly greater depth, until you hit the back wall of
the room youre in.

211

Lecture 13Creating Volume and Illusionistic Space

On reaching the back wall, if you continue to lift your head, youll
eventually reach the ceiling. Then, you begin to return back toward
\RXUVHOIQDOO\UHDFKLQJDSRLQWRQWKHFHLOLQJGLUHFWO\DERYH\RXUIHHW
right where you started.

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interior and in certain landscapes.
Position Relative to the Formats Edges
The next factor has to do with the subjects relationship to the formats
edges. Figures or objects that intersect the edges of the format shape can
appear closer to us in space.
Diagonals Creating Spatial Depth
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edge of an object or part of an object that is parallel to the picture plane and
those that create the illusion of a recession in space.
212

It took human beings a long timemost of the 80,000 years that our species
has been drawingfor someone to realize that a diagonal could also create
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Foreshortened Shapes
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contain diagonals, which can pitch us back into space. Weve referred to
these kinds of shapes as foreshortened shapes.
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Or that same triangle could read as the top plane of a prism receding in space
or a road receding back to the horizon.

Trapezoids, which are essentially truncated triangles, function in the same

way, as can parallelograms. The ellipse, a curvilinear shape, acts similarly.
Cross-Contours
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Value, Light, and Shadow
Value can affect our understanding of space and volume in a number of
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dimensional form and indicate volume. If theres no light, we dont see any
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of form. But a strong directional light gives the best evidence of volumetric
213

structure. The planes of an object turned toward the light will appear lighter,
and those turned away will appear darker. The shift from light to dark is
evidence of the underlying planar shift, which translates to volume. The use
of varying degrees of light and dark to simulate the passage of light over
form and create volume is referred to as chiaroscuro.

Lecture 13Creating Volume and Illusionistic Space

In drawing, we speak about two kinds of shadow: object shadow and cast
shadow. Object shadow, as the name implies, refers to the shadow on the
part of an object that is turned away from the light and, as weve said, reveals
form. Cast shadows describe the planar surface on which they fall and, thus,
can reveal form, too.
Value and Atmospheric Perspective
Another way that value affects our perception of depth is through atmospheric
or aerial perspective. This is what we experience when we see a distant
mountain or building. The distant object looks less clear than when were
close to it. The darks get lighter, and many of the bright lights get dimmer.
The object appears to fade somewhat into the atmosphere. Another way of
saying this is that value contrasts can appear to diminish with depth. This is
accompanied by changes in the way edges appear. Up close, theyre clear
and precise, but from a distance, they appear fuzzier. The use of atmospheric
perspective not only gives us space but can also create the illusion of airiness
or atmosphere on the page.
Level of Detail
The next principle is related to atmospheric perspective. It concerns the
amount of detail were able to see at any given depth. Clearly, we see more
detail up close and less as something recedes from sight.
Color and Atmospheric Perspective
The next factor is color. Well discuss this in much greater depth later in the
FRXUVHEXWIRUQRZVXIFHLWWRVD\WKDWGLVWDQFHDIIHFWVFRORUVLPLODUO\WR
the way it affects value.
We think of color as having three attributes: (1) hue (the colors blueness,
yellowness, or redness), (2) saturation or intensity (the colors level of purity
versus neutrality), and (3) value (lightness or darkness). Look at the water
214

 Yale University Art Gallery.

in the foreground of the Eakins watercolor and note the saturation. Now,
compare that with the saturation of the water in the area behind Biglins scull,
extending to the horizon. The difference is marked: The color is much more
saturated in front and much more neutral as we recede. Unsurprisingly, this
is accompanied by a shift in value contrast, as well. There is more contrast in
the foreground and less as we recede.

A second effect regards the type of color, warm or cool. All else being equal,
warm colors will tend to advance, and cool will tend to recede. However,
greater saturation generally trumps the effect of warm advancing and cool
receding. In other words, a saturated blue bowla saturated cool color
will advance easily against a neutral warm color, such as a beige wall or
table. High value contrast can often override high saturation, too.
Subject Matter of Recognizable Size
7KHQDOSULQFLSOHKDVWRGRZLWKVXEMHFWPDWWHU6SDFHLVPRUHPHDVXUDEOHLI
it contains something that has a more or less recognizable measure. If we see
a boat on the ocean from a distance, we may not be able to tell its size, but if
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and the space that contains it.

215

Suggested Reading
Pumphrey, The Elements of Art, chapter 7, Space.
Rockman, Drawing Essentials, 7KH,OOXVLRQRI6SDFHDQG'HSWKRQD7ZR
Dimensional Surface, pp. 4651.

Lecture 13Creating Volume and Illusionistic Space

Sale and Betti, Drawing, Part II, Spatial Relationships of the Art Elements.

216

Creating Volume and Illusionistic Space

Lecture 13Transcript
A central theme in our discussions about proportion revolved around the
challenges in translating three dimensions into two. In this lecture, Id like to
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differentiate between two types of dimensionality. The volume of an object
and the dimensionality of the environment the object occupieswhat we
refer to as space. Putting these two pieces together, we get volumetric form
in space.
As weve noted, learning to draw is related to learning to understand what
were seeing. There are a number of factors governing the way we perceive
depth of space in the world around us. These same factors correlate with
the ways we depict space on the page. There are 12 primary factors well
discuss: overlap, diminishing size, position along the pages vertical axis,
position relative to the formats edges, diagonals creating spatial depth,
foreshortened shapes, cross contour, value, light, and shadow, value and
atmospheric perspective, level of detail, color and atmospheric perspective,
subject matter of recognizable size.
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of depth, is overlap. We know one person is in front of another because
they partially cover the second person, concealing part of that person from
viewnothing subtle about it at all. Not surprisingly, it was one of the very
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in cave paintings going back tens of thousands of years. In this example,
dating from about 31,000 years ago, its known as The Panel of the Horses
from the Chauvet Cave in France, we see four horses heads overlapping like
dominos.
Now, whether this was intended as overlap with the goal of created space is
another question. This could have resulted from a single individual drawing
217

all four heads, just as we see them today. Or, it could have resulted from one
person drawing a single head. And, then later, someone else, or several other
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JUDIWLRFFRUV6RKHUHZHFDQWVD\IRUVXUH
Our Egyptian stele, which goes back close to 3,000 years ago, is clearer in
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foot overlaps the object behind it. And we get our most developed sense of
space where the kneeling harpists arm overlaps the harp and strings, which
then, in turn, overlap his other arm.
In the early 12thFHQWXU\ &RXUW /DGLHV KDQGVFUROO RYHUODS LV RQH RI WKH
primary tools used to create a sense of space. The girl in white overlaps the
stretched silk, which, in turn, overlaps the woman in the orange robe. And on
the right side of the scroll, the woman in white, green and orange overlaps
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structure then overlaps the woman in pink and white.
In Two Lovers, there are many complex overlaps. The serpentine hose
of the water pipe makes its way from the foreground into the midground
overlapping the platform. Then, it twists back on itself so that the mouthpiece
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in turn, overlaps the mans right arm. His arm overlaps his leg, which, along
with the womans hand, overlaps the back edge of the platform.
And in the Schiele, the very structure of the drawing depends on overlap.
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Schieles. This creates a cascading depth of space.
In Norman Lundins White Doe at Home, the recession of space is
dramatic. The womans lower leg overlaps her thigh. The thigh overlaps
her arm, which partially overlaps her rib cage and chest. The chest overlaps
the collarbone to the point of obscuring it. As well as partially overlapping
the neck. The head overlaps the pillow. The pillow overlaps the bed. The
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overlap, and not coincidentally, a lot of space.
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What weve seen in these six images, spanning 31,000 years, is an evolution
of the use of overlap. We started out in prehistory where intention is unclear.
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overlaps become more pronounced, the space opens up accordingly.
Our second factor is relative scale. We look out into the world and see two
things that we know are the same size, but one looks smaller than the other.
So, we know the smaller ones farther away.
Similarly, if we see two things in a drawing that we know to be similar in
size but ones drawn smaller than the other, we will, all else being equal, feel
that theyre in different spatial locations. The bigger one closer, the smaller
farther awayand, this creates a volume of space between the two.
This seems natural to us, but it may be learned. The anthropologist, Colin
Turnbull, tells an interesting story in his book, The Forest People. Its about
the Mbuti Pygmies, forest dwellers, in whats now the Democratic Republic
of Congo.
He recounts a hike to the top of the mountain with a Mbuti tribesman named
Kenge. Living in the forest, Kenge had never experienced a vista that
stretched out and away for miles and miles. In the distance, he saw a herd
of buffalo and he asked Turnbull what kind of insects they were. Turnbull
explained that they were buffalo, far off in the distance. He records Kenges
reaction, he roared with laughter and told me not to tell such stupid lies.
Well, learned or not, we see scale at play in many drawings from diverse
cultures. This is a section of a Yuan Dynasty, circa early 14thFHQWXU\
handscroll. Its by Zhao Mengfu and its titled, Twin Pines, Level Distance.
Look at the scale relationship between the large trees on the right, and the
much smaller ones in the center, as well as the scale relationship between the
central hills and those to the left. We see something similar in the Holbein,
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IDUULJKW7KHJXUHVEHKLQGKLPDUHQRWRQO\RYHUODSSHG%XWLQUHODWLRQWR
him, theyre diminutive, signaling our senses that theyre well behind him.
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Holbeins using multiple spatial signals to compound the illusion of depth.

Here, overlap and scale work together. And well see this repeatedly. In the
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uses the same principle in his 1888 drawing of La Crau, though in a different
way. The large divisions in the landscape diminish in scale as we move from
the bottom of the page to the top.
Linear perspective, which well discuss in detail later, provides a method for
precisely determining how much a set of equal measures should diminish
as they recede in space. And this is just what we see in Eakins preparatory
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represent the same amount of surface but in different locations. And, this
system will tell us exactly how the horizontal widths should diminish.
The distance represented by the lower line has to shrink to the size of the
line above to represent an equal distance at that depth. In Schieles drawing,
as in the Holbein, overlap is accompanied by diminished scale. The woman
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compounding the sensation of spatial recession.
Now, if we dont recognize the subjects as being more or less equal in size,
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pink robe in The Court LadiesWRWKHPXFKODUJHUJXUHWRWKHULJKW
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Its also worth taking a look at how scale plays out in the four horses from
the Chauvet Cave. The horses heads actually get bigger as they overlap
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Another factor affecting the sensation of depth of space is position along
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artists compose. In this drawing by Leonardo the woods are located high in

220

the page and feel distant. By repositioning the woods lower in the page, we
change the sensation of depth. The mass of trees becomes much closer.
This imitates our experience in life. If you look down at your feet, well,
theyre pretty close to you. Keeping your eyes focused downward and as
you lift your head, your gaze travels away from your feet into increasingly
greater depth. That is, until you reach a wall. And this is just what we see
in Two Lovers. As we move up the vertical axis of the page, we move back
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what we experience in the Holbein. And its exactly what we see in Lundins
White Doe at Home.
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higher up along the vertical axis of the page we encounter the base of an
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Our two landscapes, the Zhao Mengfu and the Van Gogh function similarly.
You move back in space as you vertically ascend the page. In both drawings,
the sky acts like an atmospheric back wall.
Heres a variation on the theme. If, on reaching the back wall, you continue
to lift your head, youll eventually reach the ceiling. Then you begin to
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in many works where were looking into an interior, like this drawing by
Antonio Lopez Garcia.
Or, like some of the examples I showed of my students hallway drawings.
Its also the case in certain landscapes. Here, instead of the ceiling, the
sky returns from the horizon and hovers over the land below. Like in this
Rembrandt drawing, or this watercolor by Winslow Homer.
Even in the Eakins, once you reach the sky at the horizon, as you continue to
travel vertically up the page, the sky returns forward toward Biglin and the
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we can have a fore sky, a mid sky, and a back sky.

221

The next factor has to do with our subjects relationship to the formats
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are cropped. Both intersect the edges of the format shape with the result they
feel very close to us in space. Biglin is much farther away from us than the
model on the Lundin. His scull is just gently cropped on the left. In contrast,
Homers sailboat is much farther away in space. Its located well within the
page with space around on all sides.
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We dont have to do anything to the way theyve been drawn. We simply
create more distance between them and the edges of the formats shapewe
zoom out. And, inversely, we could bring Sir Thomas More forward in space
by closing the distance between him and the formats edgesjust zoom in
and crop.
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edge of an object or part of an object thats parallel to the picture plane. And,
those that create the illusion of a recession in space.
The Egyptian stele has a number of diagonals. Theres the angle of the
harp. And, both the harpists arms and thigh have diagonals. But, theyre all
parallel to the picture plane, nothing tipping back in space.
It took human beings a very long time, most of the 80,000 years that our
species has been drawing, for some keen soul to realize that a diagonal
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must have been a great day. That guy must have been drawing diagonals
for everybody showing off his new trick. The earliest really convincing
examples I know of come from Pompeii and date back about 2,000 years.
We could draw the front face of the table, its width, and height, using two
more or less horizontal and vertical linesnothing new here. This could be
Egyptian. But, once we draw its depth with diagonals, and then add the rear
horizontal and verticals, we get a palpable illusion.
Being able to do this amounted to a major advance in drawings history. And
we see it put to work in the Song dynasty Court Ladies Preparing Silk. From
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left to right we note the diagonals of the long white piece of silk. Then, the
diagonals of the stool the central womans sitting on, then in the green mat
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WKHULJKW:HQGWKHVDPHWKLQJLQRXUTwo Lovers. The small table among
the still life objects in the foreground and the side plane of the dais are
constructed much the same way as the Pompeian table. And Holbein is using
a similar convention to draw the footstool we looked at earlier. Though, here,
the diagonals are no longer parallel, they converge toward a point beyond
it. And this as well soon learn, is at the heart of linear perspective. The
window and ornate doorway on the right are constructed using diagonals that
converge toward a point too.
Eakins uses multiple converging diagonals to help him understand the
receding planar surface of the river. And the diagonals need not be linear
or obvious. In the Rembrandt, theyre soft and gestural. Yet, these implied
diagonals serve to create the illusion of depth in the landscape.
Though the feel of the Rembrandts different than the feel of the Lopez
Garcia, the use of diagonals to construct the depth of space is remarkably
similar.
Removing diagonals can reveal how important they are. Heres one of my
students drawings of our librarys staircase, very good sensation of depth of
spacedramatic, even.
Heres what happens if we crop to a section of the staircase with no diagonals.
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those that contain diagonals. Because diagonals can pitch us back into space.
Weve referred to these kinds of shapes as foreshortened shapes. A triangle,
well, can simply be a triangle. Flat as the piece of paper its drawn on. Or,
that same triangle could read as the top plane of a prism receding in space, or
a road receding miles back to the horizon.
Trapezoids, essentially truncated triangles, function the same way. Theres
one representing the small tabletop in the foreground in our Punjab Hills
drawing, though this one expands in scale as it recedes in space. And the

223

/RSH]*DUFLDLVFRQVWUXFWHGRIIRXUODUJHWUDSH]RLGVGHQLQJWKHZDOOVRRU
and ceiling of the rooma very common compositional device.
Parallelograms can function similarly. In Court Ladies, both the white piece
of silk and green carpet pivot back in space. And, there are a number of
shapes in the Van Gogh, which are related to trapezoids and parallelograms.
Triangles, trapezoids, and parallelograms are all angular. The ellipse is a
curvilinear shape that acts similarly. In Court LadiesWKHUHSLWVHOOLSWLFDO
In Zhao Mengfus Twin Pines, Level Distance, the rocks in the foreground
and the receding hills are all constructed using foreshortened shapes to create
a planar structure suggesting volumetric form. And in the Two Lovers, there
are multiple ellipses indicating the objects spatial orientation.
As we discussed at length in an earlier lecture, cross contour can be
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volume. We also noted how artists, in a single line section, move from
contour to cross contour and vice versa. The cross contour describes the 3D
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can be organized to overlap one anotheranother example of compounded
spatial signals.
Well speak at length about value later in the course. For the purposes of
this discussion, its important to mention several ways values affects our
understanding of space and volume.
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the ways we know an object has volume is because of the way light plays
on its surface. If theres no light, if its pitch black, we dont see anything,
theres no 3D form. With a little light, we begin to see a modest amount of
form. But a strong directional light gives the best evidence of volumetric
structure. The planes of an object turned toward the light will appear lighter.
Those turned away, darker. The shift from light to dark is evidence of the
underlying planar shift. The planar shift means volume.

224

This is referred to as chiaroscuro, its Italian. Chiaro, from the same Latin
root as our word clear, means light, oscuro means dark, like our word
obscure. So, we can use varying degrees of light and dark, or chiaroscuro,
to simulate the passage of light over form and create volume.
In drawing, we speak about two kinds of shadowobject shadow and cast
shadow. Object shadow, as the name implies, refers to the shadow on the part
of an object thats turned away from the light. Weve just seen how object
shadow reveals form. But cast shadows can reveal form, too. They describe
the planar structure of the surface they fall on.
Here, in Norman Lundins drawing, the object shadow on the left side of the
arms, the breast and the rib cage and abdomen create the sensation of volume
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acts like a cross contour to reveal the volumetric shifts along that axis.
The cast shadows similarly inform our sensation of volume. The shadow
of the left arm falling over the pelvis and abdomen reveal their undulating
form. And the large shadow of the wall and windows reveal the contrasting
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Another way that value affects our perception of depth is through what we
term atmospheric or aerial perspective. Its what we experience when we
see a distant mountain or building. The distant object looks less clear than
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dimmer. It appears to fade into the atmosphere. Another way of saying this is
that the value contrasts diminish. And this is accompanied by changes in the
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fuzzier.
Its one of the major guiding principles in the spatial recession in this 13th
century ink painting by Xia Gui. The landscape elements in the lower
horizontal half have the highest contrast and darkest values. This diminishes
in the upper right quadrant. And the most distant craggy peaks in the upper
left appear as a whisper. Monet applies the same principle in his view of
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foreground. Our next highest contrasts are in the midground. Right and
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buildingsthat would be Rouenthe contrasts diminish. Receding to the
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gray clouds close to the top of the image gains in contrast relative to the
lower clouds. Why? Because these are moving forward in space relative to
those close to the horizon.
The basic principle could be summed up like this. Greater contrast and
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edges equals farther away. The use of atmospheric perspective not only gives
us space, but can also create the illusion of airiness or atmosphere on the
page.
In this portrait, Ingres is using the same principle and applying it to line. He
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atmospheric depth. The lines get progressively lighter and thinner.
He accompanies this with a compositional use of value, striking his highest
value contrast in and around the head, and next around the hand grasping the
elaborate hat.
As we noted in an earlier lecture, Picasso, a great admirer of Ingres, uses
a similar principle in his portrait of Apollinaire. Hes also combining a
compositional use of value to create focal areas in the head and forward
hand. He uses diminishing line weights and discontinuous line in the far
hand, shelf, and the objects and wall to push these into greater depth and
deprive them of focus.
Artists will even use this same idea in a single head to make us feel that the
eyes, nose, and front plane of the head are closer and the ears and hair toward
the rear of the skull are farther away. While this isnt applied uniformly in
this portrait by Ann Gale, I think youll see what I mean. Do you see how the
top plane of the head fades back into the distance just like Xia Guis craggy
cliffs?
This is what Norman Lundin had to say on the subject in an interview I did
with him that was published in a catalog on his work:
226

When I compose, I consciously relate the rectilinear aspects of

the imagery to the edges of the painting. But Im interested in
breathable air. So, I use geometric relationships in combination
with atmospheric perspective.
Atmospheric perspective can give us that very sense of air.
The next principles related. It concerns the amount of detail were able
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something recedes from our sight.
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we may not be able to tell whether its text or an image. Farther away yet,
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further remove, we wouldnt be able to tell what the person was wearing.
This principles on display in Zhao Mengfus landscape, the events in the
foreground have the greatest detail, less in the midground, and least in the
hills in the distance.
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the backroom considerably less so. And if we look at the Eakins watercolor,
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We can tell just what Biglins wearing. We see the play of light on his body
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count the number of people in the boat, we cant tell much more than that.
Theyre specks without dimension.
Our next factor is color. Well discuss this in much greater depth later in
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the way it affects value. We think of color as having three attributes. The
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second, saturation or intensityreferring to the colors level of purity versus

227

neutrality. The last is the colors value. And this refers to its lightness or
darkness.
Look at the water in the foreground of the Eakins and note the saturations.
Now, compare with the saturation of the water in the areas behind Biglins
scull extending to the horizon. The difference is markedmuch more
saturated in the front, much more neutral as we recede. Unsurprisingly, this
is accompanied by a shift in value contrast as wellmore contrast in the
foreground, less as we recede.
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saw in the Monet. At the horizon, the sky is at its most neutral, as we move
higher in the page Eakins creates the illusion that the sky is moving forward
toward the picture plane by increasing the saturation of the blue.
We could sum this up as follows: More saturated equals closer; less saturated
equals farther away.
A second effect regards the type of color concerned. One way in which we
categorize color is as either warm or cool. Warm colors are those associated
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The cool colors are those associated with nature, water, sky and the like
green, blue, and violetlike most of the palette in the Homer watercolor.
The principle here goes like this, all being equal, warm will tend to advance
and cool recede. But theres a caveat here. Greater saturation will generally
trump the effect of warm advancing and cool receding. In other words, a
saturated blue bowl, a saturated cool, will easily advance against the warm
thats neutral enough. Say, a neutral orange, or beige, wall and table. And,
high value contrast can often override high saturation, too. Its important to
remember these arent rules, theyre principles.
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on a page. We can imagine it located on the surface of the page. And we can
equally imagine it in the depth of space of the page.
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Swap a planet of the same size for the circle and the space becomes
palpablemiles and miles, could be hundreds of thousands, like from the
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the interior space of the page, we could grab it, its at arms length. Finally,
swap the marble for a penny and most people will read the penny as sitting
on the surface of the page.
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wed feel space, no doubt. Therere many factors working to foster that
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more or less recognizable measure.
Lets recap our 12 factors. They include: overlap; diminishing size; position
along the pages vertical axis; position relative to the formats edges;
diagonals creating spatial depth; foreshortened shapes; cross contour; value,
light, and shadow; value and atmospheric perspective; level of detail; color
DQGDWPRVSKHULFSHUVSHFWLYHQDOO\VXEMHFWPDWWHURIUHFRJQL]DEOHVL]H
Using what youve now learned about proportion and space youre ready to
take on some pretty complex drawing problems.

229

Six Complex Drawing Projects

Lecture 14

Lecture 14Six Complex Drawing Projects

hus far in the course, weve seen how line can make shape; how basic
shapes, along with construction lines, can be used to construct objects;
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WKUHHGLPHQVLRQDO YROXPHV :HYH DOVR OHDUQHG DERXW FRPSRVLWLRQ :HYH
seen how we can create strong structures for drawings by relating the
negatives to the positives and by relating large aggregate shapes to the even
larger ground shapes that create the shape of the drawing itself. In addition,
weve seen how artists relate what they draw to the armature of the format
shape. Weve learned how to use gestural line to do the work of contour,
FURVVFRQWRXU DQG FRQVWUXFWLRQ OLQH :HYH DOVR H[SORUHG  PHWKRGV IRU
arriving at accurate proportions and learned another 12 principles that can
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surface. In this lecture, well take on some challenging drawing projects to
begin to synthesize this knowledge.
Drawing Projects
To make the concepts and techniques weve discussed so far your own, in
this lecture, youll apply what youve learned to a number of intriguing and
increasingly complex drawing projects: a still life of boxes, a still life of
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VWDLUFDVHDJXUHLQDQLQWHULRUDQGDVHOISRUWUDLWLQDQLQWHULRU$V\RXZRUN
WKURXJKWKHVHSURMHFWVDVN\RXUVHOIWKHIROORZLQJVHOIFULWLTXHTXHVWLRQV

230

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Is there a large aggregate shape that makes sense in the format?

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Are you composing well? Are you relating what youre drawing to
the formats armature?

Do all the planes read convincingly in space?

Are you using line weight spatially? Are you able to use line weight
to make some things appear nearer and others farther away?

Are you using line weight compositionally? Are you able to use line
weight to create zones of greater and lesser focus?

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ground?

Are the proportions accurate?

Is the whole drawing activated? Are there dead areas?

Proportions
In each of these projects, youll be working to arrive at accurate proportions.
If something is eluding you, apply the tools weve learned to see if you can
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Centerline

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Large ground shapes

Aggregate shape

Eyeballing

Negative shape

The gridded picture plane

231

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A standard unit of measure

Level lines and plumb lines

The technique of sighting the half.

Lecture 14Six Complex Drawing Projects

Common Spatial Problems

Beyond proportion, much of the challenge in these drawing projects is
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recall the 12 principles weve discussed related to spatial illusion:

232

Overlap

Diminishing size

Position along the pages vertical axis

Position relative to the formats edges

Diagonals creating spatial depth

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Value (light)

Value (aerial perspective)

Amount of detail

Color (aerial perspective)

Subject matter of recognizable size.

Pitfalls in Drawing Naturalistic Space

There are a number of pitfalls to avoid when trying to draw naturalistic
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formats shape. Many beginning students position the subject or some part
of it so that it lines up with an edge of the format. The result is generally a
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shapes to position your subject at the outset and work from the general to
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components relative to the drawings shape.
Another common problem is drawing what we know, not what we see. Our
preconceived shape ideas of most things are limited and differ from how the
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common error to draw the top planes of objects, such as tables and beds, too
large; we know that these are relatively expansive surfaces, but from many
common points of view, they can shrink to an oblique sliver. The way to
avoid this is to use a standard unit of measure to gauge the vertical distance
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of these kinds of planes.
Another common problem involves inaccurate diagonals and even
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FDQ KHOS DV FDQ ORRNLQJ RXW WKURXJK WKH JULGGHG YLHZQGHU7KLV DOORZV
you to check the diagonal in reference to the horizontals and verticals of
the grid. If something still eludes you, remember Leonardos advice about
tracing on a piece of glass, or do a phantom trace in the air. You could even
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the screen.
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FURVVFRQWRXUV DV KRUL]RQWDOV 7KLV DSSOLHV WR HYHU\WKLQJ IURP WKH FXUYLQJ
top of a bowl to stripes on a shirt curving around an abdomen. It also applies
to facial features, such as lips, that naturally follow the curving plane of the
head. When drawing your own features, close one eye, look in the mirror,
DQGWUDFHRYHUWKHFXUYHZLWKDSHQFLORU\RXUQJHU'RWKLVVHYHUDOWLPHVWR
get a good feel for the form.

233

Line weights are also crucial. Many beginners dont pay attention to the
actual lines theyre drawinghow light or dark or how thick or thin the
lines are. And they dont pay attention to how lines relate to one another on
the page. Take a look at your drawing and ask yourself which line or lines
grab your attention. Which ones advance in space and which ones recede?
-XVWORRNDWWKHOLQHVWKHPVHOYHVDEVWUDFWO\7KHQDVN\RXUVHOIZKLFKOLQHV
should be creating focal points and focal areas and which ones should be
advancing and receding. Edit your drawing accordingly.
In addition to line weights, also pay attention to line overlaps. A line attached
to something in the background that overlaps something in the foreground
will confuse the spatial reading.
A last and common problem is something we might consider as the opposite
of overlap. This occurs when something in one spatial locationsomething
in the foreground, for instancelines up with something in another spatial
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Lecture 14Six Complex Drawing Projects

Suggested Reading
Review as needed Suggested Readings for Lectures 5 through 14.

234

Six Complex Drawing Projects

Lecture 14Transcript
Youre now acquainted with many of the basic concepts related to drawings
formal language. And youve learned about many of the essential techniques
we use to draw a wide range of subjects. By taking on some challenging
drawing projects, youll begin to synthesize what youve learned.
Before we move ahead, I want to review the major topics weve covered.
Weve seen how line can make shape; how basic shapes, along with
construction lines, can be used to construct many of the things we want to
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WKUHHGLPHQVLRQDOYROXPHV:HYHOHDUQHGDORWDERXWFRPSRVLWLRQ:HYH
seen how we can create strong structures for our drawings by relating the
negatives to the positives; and by relating large aggregate shapes to the even
larger ground shapes that create the shape of the drawing itself. In addition,
weve seen how artists relate what they draw to the armature of the format
shape.
Weve learned how we can use gestural line to do the work of contour, cross
contour, and construction line. And weve seen how this can really help us
move through compositional ideas at an accelerated pace. Weve learned
about 12 different methods for arriving at accurate proportions. And weve
learned about another 12 principles that we can apply to creating the illusion
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In earlier lectures, we drew a deep room and a box. In many ways, these
are the same form. A room is a box seen from the inside; a box, a room
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a box may seem a minor thing, things like this eluded human beings for the
overwhelming portion of our history on the planet. And, these are precisely
the kinds of things that no one understood until people like Alberti, Drer,
/HRQDUGREHJDQJXULQJWKHPRXW
In fact, Leonardos Last SupperDEVHQWWKHJXUHVERLOVGRZQWRDER[LQ
a room, just like the example weve been looking at. And Van Goghs The
Night Caf is a permutation on the same themea room with a box of sorts
235

inside. The box we drew was sitting on a table that was pushed back against
a wall. The table and wall are perpendicular planes, like the interior of a box,
RUOLNHWKHRRUDQGZDOOLQ/HRQDUGRVLast Supper, or Van Goghs Caf.
But close up, it would look like this. Which, at an abstract level, is like many
of the artworks weve looked at, including this Eakins.
Coming to an understanding of this basic template gives you the tools to
draw many diverse subjects because so many of things we want to draw
involve a volumetric subject in a volumetric space. An interior, like a living
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PRGLHGYHUVLRQVRIEORFNV$EDUQLQDHOGRUDFDUSDUNHGRQDFLW\VWUHHW
is just another permutation of volumetric subject in volumetric space. And,
as we saw in the last lecture, a gestural landscape can share elements of box
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is a preparatory drawing for a last supper by Luca di Cambiaso. Like the
Leonardo, he constructs his scene with a table in a rooma block inside a
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But now your goals to make the concepts and techniques weve discussed
your own. Internalize them; personalize them so that they become second
nature. And this takes practice, but, at this point, the practice should be
fun. Youll be applying what youve learned to a number of increasingly
intriguing and complex situations. The projects that follow vary. Some are
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about making a complete drawinga sophisticated work of art.
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ability to measure complex angles. Its excellent practice for what well do
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the project. Its best if you have a variety of sizes.
Let some rest on their bases. Tip others up at angle. This will give you a
range of problems to solve. Set the boxes on your table in front of a wall.
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236

QGDIRUPDWVKDSHDQGFRPSRVLWLRQ3D\DWWHQWLRQWRZKHUHWKHHGJHRIWKH
table meets the wall. Ask what kind of ground division will this make.
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LQFKSDSHUDQGIROORZWKHVWHSVZHXVHGLQWKHER[GUDZLQJWRVHOHFW
and scale your standard unit of measure. Freely combine the proportion tools
weve studied. Checking with multiple tools is one of the best way to move
toward accuracy.
Dont worry about anything written on the boxes. Getting in the proportions
and the angles accurate is plenty. Here are some questions you can use to
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GHQHG",VWKHUHDODUJHDJJUHJDWHVKDSHWKDWPDNHVVHQVHLQWKHIRUPDW"$UH
the large positive and negative shapes well organized? Are you composing
well? Are you also relating what youre drawing to the formats armature?
Do all the planes read convincingly? Are you using line weight spatially?
Are you able to use line weight to make some things appear nearer and
others farther away? Are you using line weight compositionally? Are you
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this caseread convincingly in relation to the ground? And of course, are
the proportions accurate?
Heres a permutation on the still life of boxes: A still life of books. Its
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VHDUFK HQJLQH DQG \RXOO QG PDQ\ H[DPSOHV IURP WKH th century in the
Netherlands to contemporary ones. For this drawing, follow the same steps
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instead of the table.
This next projects an excellent one, both for understanding composition and
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into a line drawing. The focus is on using line alone to convey the essential
character of a complex visual situation. You want to translate what value and
color are doing in the painting into contour and cross contour line. Select a
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JXUHVORFDWHGLQDFRPSOH[HQYLURQPHQW%HVWLIWKHJXUHVDUHQRWFURSSHG
237

and best if its not a cast of thousands. Choose something naturalistic. Works
by Botticelli, Vermeer, Velzquez, Ingres, Degas, Sargent, and Eakins all can
give you good results. There are many other artists that would also work
very well for this project. Heres one example based on Renoirs The Large
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JLYHV\RXPRUHURRPWRZRUN&KRRVHDSDSHUZLWKDQRWWRRVRIWDVXUIDFH
itll take erasure better.
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to retain the relative proportions of the original. The next step is to study
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rectangles divided into large ground shapesthe large constituent shapes
that form the format shape. Next, Id like you to analyze the aggregate shape
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relation to the ground.
Start your drawing by drawing the ground shapes then the aggregate shape
or shapes. Do this lightly with a 2H or 4H pencil. These are all construction
lines. Then you can check for proportionality and adjust. Next, you want to
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environment where theyre located. Again, check proportions and correct.
Now, you want to begin to measure more precisely. Choose a standard
unit of measure and use plumb and level lines to make sure youve located
everything correctly.
If the proportions elude you, try this: Get a sheet of tracing paper and put
it over your reproduction. Trace the format shape. And then with a straight
edge, draw an armature or grid in the format. Lightly draw the same grid or
armature on your drawing. This will let you compare placements.
Once the shapes and divisions are laid out proportionately youre ready to
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erase your construction lines as you go. Remember, contour makes shape,
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her tricep is contour. As we move into the armpit, the line becomes a cross
238

contour, overlapping the breast. The breast starts out as contour, but becomes
cross contour as it moves back in to overlap the rib cage. The rib cage repeats
this, returning to overlap the abdomen.
There are many internal cross contours as well. All contribute to the
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lines can be thin or thick, light or dark, short or long, fragmented or
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line would best express the form in any part of the painting.
So use a range of pencils, and use line weight to translate the focal hierarchy
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cetera. Also use line weight to translate the space and volume in the painting.
In this example youll note how the line weights take you to the central
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WKHIRUHJURXQG7KHQWRWKHZRPHQDQGODQGVFDSHLQWKHPLGJURXQG$QG
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lines in the distant landscape create depth. This represents a combination of
the scale of line and the principle of atmospheric perspective. This example
embodies an excellent use of line qualities to establish compositional
hierarchy and spatial depth.
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thats structurally interesting, large, and ornate. You could try this project
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a library, a university, or some other place you might draw where theres a
grander, more intricate staircase, it would be well worth your while. Now,
a staircase is like a set of blocksone stacked on the next. And staircases
sit in a volume of space bounded by walls and a banister or balustrade, kind
of like a box. Some are quite dramatic; some highly ornamented. Many are
comprised of complex planes that twist and turn in space.
This project will require you to: Use small compositional gesture drawings
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measure relative widths, lengths, and heights of planes in space; use contour
to create shape; use cross contour to create volume.

239

Lets take a look at a couple examples of my students drawings of the

staircase at the Suzzalo Library at the University of Washington. The
overall goal is to create an exciting drawing, so Id encourage you to frame
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compelling one that brings out spatial movement and planar change. Then
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point of view and which framing will produce the best result. Once youve
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locate the scaled format shape in the center of the page.
As weve done previously, lay out the drawing in large ground and aggregate
shapes: a large shape for the stairway; another for the wall; another for the
balustrade. And now, at this point, check your overall proportions before
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ground shapes, aggregate shape, eyeballing, negative shape. Determine your
angles with the clock hand method. Make sure you use that standard unit of
measure. And use those level lines and plumb lines.
You could also use the velothe clear gridded picture planeinserted into
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line weight has to be considered, both so that it applies to spatial illusion and
to focal hierarchy.
Herere some helpful questions to use critique your own drawing: Is the
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the planes read convincingly in space? Are the line qualities used spatially?
Are the line qualities being used to create zones of greater and lesser focus?
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At the University of Washington I pose the model in a complex interior with
furniture and a number of other objects. In most homes, a living room should
worka sofa, chairs, a coffee table, as well as paintings on the wall will all
be interesting to draw. Youll need a family member or a friend to model for

240

you. They can be reading a book or watching TV. Keep it simple, natural.
Make sure your models comfortable so that its not too hard to keep still.
Its not a bad idea to use masking tape to mark their position. Put tape marks
where parts of their bodies touch a surfacean arm or thigh on the sofa,
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back in position. You could also take a snapshot to use for the same purpose.
We use nude models at school. No need for this at home. But simple dress
will be easier to manage than something with extravagant folds. Now,
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trap. You may forget everything youve learned and practiced having to do
with composition, proportion, measurement and the importance of abstract
thinking.
Instead, you may start by drawing some detail. And then draw your idea of
what that body part looks like rather than measuring. You may start with
your idea of the nose, or a breast, or a leg. Little sense of measure, lots of
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relations abandoned. This will throw you back to where you started.
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the model. Decide where the model will eventually be. Ask someone to
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Once you have the environment clearly established in proportion, invite
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procedures you used to draw your boxes and your stairway.
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HQYLURQPHQWDQGVLWVEHOLHYDEO\LQVSDFH7KHJXUHVDSSURDFKHGWKHVDPH
way the chair or other objects approached, through measure. And thats the
goal for this drawing: to create a believable interior environmenta depth of
VSDFHDQGWKHQWRORFDWHDQGUHODWHDJXUHWRWKDWHQYLURQPHQW

241

$IWHU\RXYHGRQHWKLVUVWJXUHGUDZLQJWU\DVHOISRUWUDLW7KHJRDOKHUH
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as an opportunity to portray something about yourself because theres a
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literary sense.
Pay particular attention to where you pose yourself. Consider how place
and the surrounding objects can be expressive of personality; how place and
objects portray character. Similarly, consider hairstyle, wardrobe, and stance.
To activate the larger planes, its useful to have something on the wall or
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there are formal considerations as well in how we set this up. At best, these
choices serve double duty. They can function both formally and narratively.
This time, start with yourself in the environment, but Id caution you to
analyze the spatial situation in the same abstract way you would with an
interior or still life. Find the large ground planes. Identify large aggregate
shapes. Measure the positives and negatives. A common trap here is the face
and features. When beginners get to their faces, instead of measuring, and
constructing things using planes, theyll often draw childlike symbols for
eyes, nose, and mouth. So think about the difference between a face and a
KHDGKHDGVWKUHHGLPHQVLRQDO
This is a planar head. Its used to help art students understand the planar
structure of the human head. You should also try tracing over your face and
head with your hands. Feel the top plane, side plane, front plane, back plane.
Feel the depth of the eye socket and the swell of the cheekbone. Feel the
planes of the nose. Feel the planes of the lips. Try to forget youre drawing
features. When drawing the head, these planes, angles, and distances should
be stressed.
As in the other drawings weve done to date, the goal is to use line alone.
'RQWFRORULQ\RXUH\HVRUKDLUQGDZD\WRGUDZWKHPZLWKOLQH$QGRQFH
again, we want to be attentive to that line weight; it will assert hierarchy and
space.

242

$VEHIRUH,RIIHU\RXDOLVWRIVHOIFULWLTXHTXHVWLRQV,VWKHIRUPDWGHQHG"
Does it make sense with the composition? Is the whole drawing activated?
Are there dead areas? Is there a strong positive and negative shape structure?
Are you composing well? Are the proportions accurate? Do the planes
read convincingly in space? Are you using line weights and qualities to
create space and volume? And are you using line weights and qualities to
FUHDWH IRFDO DUHDV DQG IRFDO SRLQWV" 'RHV WKH JXUH UHDG FRQYLQFLQJO\ LQ
relationship to the ground?
In each of these projects youll be working to arrive at accurate proportions.
If somethings eluding you, its a good idea to have the list of tools weve
FRYHUHG DW KDQG 7KH\ LQFOXGH FHQWHUOLQH EXLOGLQJEORFN VKDSH ODUJH
ground shapes, aggregate shape, eyeballing, negative shape, Albertis velo
that gridded picture plane. We can determine angles with the clock hand
method. We can measure distances with a standard unit of measure. And,
well put those level lines and plumb lines to work. And we also have that
method of sighting the half. If you apply one after the other, youll likely
QGDVROXWLRQWRWKHSUREOHPIDFLQJ\RX
Beyond proportion, much of the challenge in these drawing projects is
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its worth talking about some of the common problems and pitfalls. Again
here, its a good idea to have a list of the 12 principles related to spatial
illusion. This way, when the sensation of space is not reading well, you can
run the list. Ask yourself if the overlaps are clear, or if youve positioned the
subject relative to the formats edges in a sensible way, or if youre taking
advantage of diagonals and cross contours. Heres the full list: We have
overlap, then diminishing size, position along the pages vertical axis, the
subjects position relative to the formats edges, diagonals creating spatial
GHSWK IRUHVKRUWHQLQJDW VKDSHV WKDW DOOXGH WR SODQDU VWUXFWXUHV FURVV
counter, value and light, value and aerial perspective, amount of detail, color
and aerial perspective, and subject matter of a recognizable size.
A lot of the art here is in applying the principles, well, artfully. We dont
need to use everything on the list in every drawing. Like in cooking we have
WKHYHWDVWHVHQVDWLRQVVZHHWVRXUVDOW\VDYRU\DQGELWWHU0DNLQJVXUH
that each dish has them isnt necessarily going to make delicious food. A
243

lot of the art is in judging when to use what, and how much of it to use. But
there are a number of pitfalls to avoid when trying to draw naturalistic space.
7KH UVW KDV WR GR ZLWK FDUHIXOO\ SRVLWLRQLQJ \RXU VXEMHFW LQ WKH IRUPDWV
shape. Many beginning students will position their subject or some part of
it so that it lines up with an edge of the format. The result is generally a
DWWHQHG LPDJH 7R DYRLG WKLV WKLQN FRPSRVLWLRQDOO\ 8VH ODUJH DJJUHJDWH
shapes to position your subject at the outset and work from the general to the
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components are located relative to the drawings shape.
Another common problem is drawing what we know, not what we see.
Thats because our preconceived shape idea of most things is limited, and
GLIIHUHQWIURPKRZLWDSSHDUVIURPDVSHFLFDQGRIWHQREOLTXHSRLQWRIYLHZ
You may do what Ugolino does in his Last Supper. Now, I love this painting,
EXWLWVDWRWDOVSDWLDOPDVKXS7KHSODWHVDUHVHHQDVLIZHUHRDWLQJLQWKH
air and looking straight down at them; the table as if were looking down
at an angle; and the small bowls as if we were seated. Its a common error
to draw the top planes of objects, like tables and beds, way too big. Thats
because we know theyre relatively expansive surfaces. But, from many
common points of view, theyll shrink to an oblique sliver.
The way to avoid this is to use your standard unit of measure to gauge the
vertical amount, and the clock hand tool to gauge the diagonals of these
kinds of planes. Another common, and often related problem, are inaccurate
diagonals, and even diagonals going in the wrong direction. Again, using
the clock hand tool can help us out here. Looking out through our gridded
YLHZQGHUFDQKHOSWRREHFDXVHZHFDQFKHFNWKHGLDJRQDOLQUHIHUHQFHWR
the horizontal and verticals of the grid.
If something still eludes you, remember Leonardos advice about tracing on
a piece of glass. You can also phantom trace in the air, or even take a picture
RIWKHSUREOHPDWLFDQJOHDQGWUDFHRYHULWZLWK\RXUQJHURQ\RXUVFUHHQ
Theres no cheating, just learning. Were trying to help our eyes and brains
understand whats going on out there. You use training wheels for a while,
then you get rid of themits a process.

244

7KHUHVDVLPLODUSUREOHPZLWKDWWHQLQJREMHFWVE\GUDZLQJWKHLUFXUYLOLQHDU
cross contours as horizontals. This applies to everything from the curving
top of a bowl, to stripes on a shirt curving around a chest, or abdomen, or
rib cage. Its also applies to facial features, like lips, that naturally follow the
curving plane of the head, and are not simply horizontals. So when trying
to draw something like your lips, take it slowly, close one eye, look in the
PLUURUDQGSKDQWRPO\WUDFHRYHUWKHFXUYHZLWKDSHQFLORU\RXUQJHU'R
this several times to get a good feel for the form, it will help you visualize
the nature of the curve.
Line weights are also crucial. Many people when theyre beginning to
draw dont pay attention to the actual lines theyre making. They dont pay
attention to how light, or dark, or thick, or thin they are. And they dont pay
attention to how they relate to other lines on the page. Take a look at your
drawing and ask yourself which line or lines are saying, Look at me, look
at me. Its always obvious. Ask yourselves which ones are advancing in
space and which ones recedingjust the lines themselves, abstractly. Then
ask yourself which lines should be creating focal points and focal areas, and
which ones should be advancing or receding. And then edit your drawing
accordingly.
In addition to line weights, you want to pay great attention to line overlaps.
A line attached to something in the background overlapping something in
the foreground will confuse the spatial reading. A last and very common
problem is something we might consider as the opposite of overlap, and it
FDQUHDOO\DWWHQWKHVSDFHLQDGUDZLQJ,WRFFXUVZKHQVRPHWKLQJLQRQH
spatial locationsay the foregroundlines up or hooks up with something
in another spatial zonesay the background.
There are actually a couple instances of this in the Ugolino Last Supper.
-HVXVIRRWVLWVRQDUDLVHGZRRGHQRRU7KHVLGHSODQHRIWKHRRUFRQQHFWV
horizontally with the side plane of the disciples bench, which is above and
LQIURQWRILW7KDWWKH\FRQQHFWDORQJDKRUL]RQWDOFDXVHVWKHRRUWRSXOO
up and forward, and the bench to pull back and down. When our goal is a
naturalistic depiction of space, this is something we want to avoid. Wed
want the diagonal edge of the bench to clearly overlap the horizontal of the
245

UDLVHGVLGHHGJHRIWKHRRUSODQH:HVHHVRPHWKLQJVLPLODUZKHUHWKHEDFN
HGJHRIWKHEHQFKFRQQHFWVZLWKDKRUL]RQWDOHGJHRQWKHRRUFUHDWHGE\
a change in color from a lighter to a darker earth tone. Here, either having
the benchs edge overlap the change in color, or having a negative shape
separate the two would solve the problem.
Its very common for this to happen when something in the background
KRRNV XS ZLWK VRPHWKLQJ LQ WKH IRUHJURXQG FDXVLQJ VSDWLDO DWWHQLQJ
And thats just what we see in Morandis still life, though here, its quite
intentional. The back of the table hooks on the edge of the bottle. The line
RI WKH ERWWOHV FDVW VKDGRZ FRQQHFWV WR WKH EDVHV RI WKH UVW WZR REMHFWV
WKHQWUDYHOVXSWKHVLGHDQGDURXQGWKHWRSRIWKHVHFRQGDQGQDOO\KRRNV
up with the edge of the pitcher behind. On the right side, the back of the
table attaches to the right side of the bottle. Then it loops around, pulling
the negative forward. Hes interested in a kind of space that only exists in
drawings and paintings, a purely pictorial space. One where foreground,
PLGJURXQGDQGEDFNJURXQGFDQRSHQDQGFORVHOLNHDQDFFRUGLRQ
And, as well see, playing with pictorial space has been one of the main
threads in drawing and painting for well over a century. In the William Bailey
still life he does just what I suggested you not do. Youll notice that all of his
objectsall vessels which, in the real world, would be roundterminate at
their bases and tops with horizontal lines. The stripes or bands on the objects
are similarly horizontal. Like Morandi, hes playing spatial games with us.
He insists on naturalistic proportions, and naturalistic space through his use
RIRYHUODS+HFRQUPVWKLVLQKLVXVHRIYDOXH,WLQGLFDWHVWKHSOD\RIOLJKW
PRYLQJRYHUFXUYLQJSODQHV%XWKHFRPSUHVVHVWKHREMHFWVLQWRDEDVUHOLHI
by denying them curvilinear cross contours.
So we can create or reinforce the illusion of space through the use of one
RUPRUHYLVXDOVLJQDOVDQGVLPXOWDQHRXVO\LQVLVWRQDWQHVVXVLQJRWKHURU
VHYHUDORWKHUVHWVRIYLVXDOVLJQDOV:KHQERWKGHSWKRIVSDFHDQGDWQHVV
are suggested simultaneously, we call this an instance of ambiguous space
or equivocal space. Well look at this more fully much later in the course.
Having an understanding of this will likely change the way you see and
understand much of the art thats been created since the late 19th century.

246

Linear Perspective: Introduction

Lecture 15

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learn to apply many of the most important concepts and techniques
related to perspective that artists have used over the centuries. Linear
perspective calls on us to use our analytic abilities, and many people enjoy
learning about it. But others believe that art should be all about emotion.
For those people, its important to bear in mind that even a seemingly
spontaneous watercolor, such as Eakinss John Biglin in a Single Scull, is the
result of deep thought about perspectival spatial construction. Even Vincent
van Gogh, often mistakenly portrayed as running on manic genius, took great
pains to learn perspective. He understood that it would free his expressive
ability. In this section of the course, well cover many technical aspects of
drawing, but the underlying ideas are all applicable to freehand sketching;
they will help you understand what youre seeing much more rapidly and
with greater clarity.
'HQLQJPerspective
The methods weve studiedusing plumb lines, units of measure, and other
visual tools to create a convincing sensation of proportion and depth of
spaceare referred to as empirical perspective and nonlinear perspective.
Empirical perspective relies on observation, rather than a set of rules. And it
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refers to overlap and to manipulations of clarity of edge, value, or color to
create the illusion of spatial depth.
Our area of study, VFLHQWLFOLQHDUSHUVSHFWLYH, is a method of drawing that
relies on geometric principles. It uses a set of rules regarding the way lines
recede to vanishing points. Linear perspective enables us to create form in
space and control proportions.
Linear perspective isnt new to you. You experience it every day, whether
youre walking down a city street or staying at a resort hotel.
247

 bobbidog/iStock/Thinkstock.

ppl58/iStock/Thinkstock.

Our experience of linear perspective is generally unconscious, but its at

the heart of the way we understand and navigate our way through space.
Becoming conscious of what you understand intuitively will be invaluable in
helping you learn to draw.

Lecture 15Linear Perspective: Introduction

History of Perspective
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Alhazen, who wrote on many subjects, including optics and visual perception.
His book, titled the Book of Optics, was translated into Latin in the late 12th
or early 13th century and was later translated into other European languages.
Many scholars point to this text as a foundation for the development of linear
perspective in Europe.
Lorenzo Ghiberti, the Renaissance Florentine who designed the ornate
doors of the Baptistery next to the Duomo, cited Alhazen frequently. And
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LV JHQHUDOO\ FUHGLWHG DV EHLQJ DPRQJ WKH UVW WR GHPRQVWUDWH KRZ OLQHDU
perspective worked. The knowledge then spread across Europe and, indeed,
around the world and would maintain an enduring presence in art.
Terms to Know
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unmoving eye is called the station point.
The most common forms of linear perspective also assume that the single
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the center line of sight.
248

Another key concept in linear perspective is the horizon. Thats where the
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nothing, such as mountains or buildings, blocked the view. Note that the
height of the station point, or eye level, of the person drawing is the same as
the horizon. As eye level is elevated, the horizon rises and the ground plane
appears to increase in area. As eye level is lowered, the horizon follows and
the ground plane becomes foreshortened.
There are three basic types of perspective: one point, two point, and three
point. The basic conceptual unit used to understand perspective is the block.
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plane, and all the horizontal edges receding away from us as diagonals
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the faces of the block are angled away from the picture plane. The edge of
the block is closest to the picture plane, and the edges of the blocks planes
appear to converge to two different pointsone on the right and one on the
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parallel to the ground plane, that is, were looking up or down. In addition
to a right and left vanishing point, a third point placed below the object
produces a sensation of looking down or a third point placed above results in
the sensation of looking up.
One-Point Perspective Basics
One of the things the early developers of perspective noted was that we see
different views or planes of an object depending on its height and lateral
position. As an object moves along a vertical or horizontal axis, the planes
we see shift.
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describe width; verticals describe height; and diagonals describe depth.
In Leonardos Last Supper, we see this at play. Horizontals and verticals
describe the front plane of the table; diagonals describe its depth. The height
and width of the back wall are described by horizontals and verticals, while
the depth of the room is described by diagonals.

249

Leonardos painting has a mid horizon. The vanishing point is located on

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Photos.com/Thinkstock.

Lecture 15Linear Perspective: Introduction

We see the same thing in Raphaels 16thFHQWXU\School of Athens. Here,

the horizon and vanishing point are a bit lower and coincide with the two
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up at them.

In both of these cases, linear perspective is used compositionally, as well as

spatially. All the receding diagonals point to the main subject or subjects:
-HVXVLQThe Last Supper and Plato and Aristotle in The School of Athens.
Van Gogh uses a higher horizon in The Night Caf, which gives us the sensation
of looking down at the pool table and room. He also places the vanishing point
off to the left, giving us a larger right wall and a smaller left one.

250

 Yale University Art Gallery.

Summing Up One-Point Perspective

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z

Its used to describe blocks that have one face parallel to the picture
plane. To draw these kinds of objects, we use horizontals to express
width, verticals for height, and diagonals converging to a vanishing
point to express depth.

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parallel to the picture plane.

Opaque objects straddling the horizon reveal neither a top nor a

bottom plane.

Objects below the horizon reveal a top plane, and objects above the
horizon, a bottom plane.

Objects to the right of the vanishing point reveal a left side, and
objects to the left of the vanishing point, a right side.

251

Objects on a vertical axis straddling the vanishing point reveal no

side planes.

As planes get closer to the vanishing point, they appear more

foreshortened; as they move away, they appear lengthened.

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is relatively close to the vanishing point. When objects are placed
too far away from the vanishing point, they begin to distort.

Suggested Reading
Norling, Perspective Made Easy, pp. 130.

Lecture 15Linear Perspective: Introduction

Rockman, Drawing Essentials, pp. 140151.

252

Linear Perspective: Introduction

Lecture 15Transcript
7KH QH[W YH OHFWXUHV OD\ RXW WKH EDVLFV RI OLQHDU SHUVSHFWLYH:HOO FRYHU
many of the most important concepts and techniques that artists have used
over the centuries. And well see how we can apply perspective to draw, both
from observation and from our imagination.
Linear perspective calls on us to use our analytic abilities. And artists
like Leonardo, Piero, Drer, and Eakins are proof positive that honing
these faculties bear fruit. Many students really enjoy perspective. Things
that seemed like theyd require artistic genius, become a simple matter of
knowledge and patience.
But, Ive encountered some students who believed that art is all about
emotion. And felt that studying perspective didnt really have a bearing on
what they wanted to draw. If you list in this direction, Id ask you to give this
a chance. Because perspectives such a powerful tool.
In his book Successful Drawing, Andrew Loomis gives this advice, It may
be hard to see the connection between planes and vanishing points and
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anything you draw is related to a horizon and vanishing points.
Many people looking at a fresh and seemingly spontaneous watercolor
like Eakins Biglin in a Single Scull, would be surprised to learn that
it was arrived at through methodical study. A lot of thought was given to
the perspectival spatial construction. Vincent Van Gogh, often mistakenly
portrayed as running on manic genius, took great pains to learn perspective.
He understood it would free his expressive ability. In an 1880 letter to his
brother, Theo, he wrote, There are laws of perspective, which one must
know in order to be able to draw well; without that knowledge, it always
remains a fruitless struggle, and one never creates anything.
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always much greater than the effort of learning.

253

In this section well be getting into many technical aspects of drawing.

But the underlining ideas are all applicable to freehand sketching, because
youll be able to understand what youre seeing much more rapidly and with
greater clarity.
The word perspective has a number of different meanings, so lets start with
DFRXSOHGHQLWLRQV
The methods we just studiedusing plumb lines, units of measure, and
other visual tools to create a convincing sensation of proportion and depth
RIVSDFHWKRVHDUHDOOUHIHUUHGWRDVHPSLULFDOSHUVSHFWLYHDQGDOVRDVQRQ
linear perspective. Empirical perspective relies on observation, not a set of
UXOHV$QGLWZRUNVQHZKHQGUDZLQJPDQ\WKLQJVREVHUYDWLRQDOO\1RQ
linear perspective refers to overlap. And to manipulations of clarity of edge,
or value, or color to create the illusion of depth of space. That would include
atmospheric perspective.
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drawing that relies on geometric principles. It employs a set of rules
regarding the way lines recede to vanishing points.
Linear perspective enables us to create form in space and control proportions.
And we can do this and draw from our imaginations. Taken together,
HPSLULFDOQRQOLQHDUDQGOLQHDUSHUVSHFWLYHHQDEOHGDUWLVWVWRFUHDWHLPDJHV
of astonishing verisimilitude. Well beyond anything human beings had been
able to accomplish prior to their use.
Linear perspective isnt new to you. You experience it waiting for the
VXEZD\ZDONLQJWKHVWUHHWVRIDFLW\OLNH%HLMLQJRUDWDVHDVLGHSDOPWUHHG
resort. We experience it daily. Though, generally, unconsciously. But, its at
the heart of the way we understand and navigate our way through space.
Becoming conscious of what you understand intuitively, will be invaluable
in helping you learn to draw.
Though some scholars claim the Ancient Greeks knew about linear
perspective, there are no extant artworks showing its use.

254

The Grove Dictionary of Art tells us, The word perspective derives from
the Latin perspectiva, which in the middle Ages came to denote the whole
VFLHQFHRIRSWLFVLQFOXGLQJWKHVWXG\RIWKHH\HUHHFWLRQVDQGUHIUDFWLRQV
It was during the late middle Ages and the early Renaissance that the pivotal
ideas began to gel.
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Haytham, or Alhazen. He was born in Basra in 965, and lived most of his life
in Cairo. He studied Euclid and Ptolemy, among others, and wrote on many
subjects including optics and visual perception. His book, titled the Book of
Optics was translated into Latin in the late 12th or early 13th century and was
later translated into other European languages. Many scholars point to this
text as a foundation for the development of linear perspective in Europe.
Lorenzo Ghiberti, the Renaissance Florentine who designed the ornate doors
of the Baptistry next to the Duomo, cited Alhazen frequently. And Ghibertis
sometimes colleague, sometimes competitor, Filippo Brunelleschi, is
JHQHUDOO\ FUHGLWHG DV EHLQJ DPRQJ WKH UVW WR GHPRQVWUDWH KRZ OLQHDU
perspective worked. Sometime around 1413, he made a small painting of the
Florence Baptistry on a panel, using linear perspective. He drilled a hole in it
at the central vanishing points location.
To demonstrate the paintings accuracy hed have someone stand across from
the Baptistry in the doorway of the uncompleted Duomo. Hed have them
hold the unpainted side of the painting with the hole to their eye. Looking
through the hole theyd see the Baptistry. While they were looking at the
Baptistry, hed slide a mirror into their line of sight so his little painting of
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Brunelleschi would go on to design and build the monumental dome of the
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architect, mathematician, and engineer. In any case, while his little painting
of the Baptistry didnt survive, the illusion was apparently quite convincing.
And the fallout from his demonstration radically changed the way artists
would paint and draw ever after. As weve noted, before the advent of
perspective, images like this were commonplace. After its discovery, images
like this became much the norm
255

Later in the 15th century, there were a number of treatises written on

linear perspective. And they contributed to the spread of these new ideas.
Among the best known were those by two of Brunelleschis Florentine
contemporariesDe pictura by Leon Battista Alberti and De Prospectiva
pingendi by Piero della Francesca. Later, in the early 16th century, Albrecht
Drer published his own work, Underweysung der Messung, also known as
the Four Books on Measurement.
8VLQJOLQHDUSHUVSHFWLYH5DSKDHOZDVDEOHWRSURSHUO\VFDOHKLVJXUHVDQG
construct the elaborate architecture in The School of Athens. And Canaletto
used the same principles in his painting of the Piazza San Marco in Venice.
The knowledge would spread across Europe, and indeed, across the world
and maintain an enduring presence.
As weve seen, Eakins used it in the 19th century. And its use wasnt limited
to highly naturalistic artists like Leonardo, Raphael, Canaletto, or Eakins.
Daumier uses it in this quick gestural drawing. Van Gogh used perspective in
The Night CafDVGLGWKH([SUHVVLRQLVW-DPHV(QVRULQZRUNVOLNHWKLV(YHQ
Munchs The Scream depends on a vanishing point and receding diagonals.
These same 15th century ideas are found in contemporary art. Here, in this
1970s drawing by Anotonio Lopez Garcia. The use of linear perspective is
XELTXLWRXV0DQ\DUWUHODWHGSURIHVVLRQVHPSOR\LWLQP\ULDGZD\V,WVEHHQ
used routinely in comics, from their earliest days to the present.
The Simpsons animators use it to construct, well, just about everything.
+RXVHVURRPVIXUQLWXUH\RXQDPHLW3DWWHUQRQWKHRRULQWKH5DSKDHO
DQGRQWKHRRULQWKH6LPSVRQVVDPHPHWKRG$QGYLGHRJDPHVOLNH*UDQG
Theft Auto wouldnt exist without linear perspective. All these examples rest
on the same core principles.
So, lets begin to learn about them.
And well return to one of the early pioneers of the subject, Albrecht Drer,
and his woodcut of an artist using Albertis velo. When we looked at this
earlier we noted that the artist closes one eye. The open eye remains in a
[HG SRVLWLRQ /LQHDU SHUVSHFWLYH VLPLODUO\ GHSHQGV RQ D [HG PRQRFXODU
256

YLHZ RI WKH ZRUOG /LNH ORRNLQJ WKURXJK WKH YLHZQGHU RI D FDPHUD 7KH
position of that one unmoving eye even has a name. Its called the station
point. The most common forms of linear perspective also assume that the
VLQJOHH\HLVORRNLQJVWUDLJKWDKHDG3DUDOOHOWRDDWJURXQGSODQH:HFDOO
this the center line of sight.
All of this was new. Its in marked contrast to the world of Ugolino. Here,
plates and food are seen from way above. The table from a lower vantage
SRLQWDQGWKHJXUHVORZHU\HW
Now, theres an irony here. We really dont see the way linear perspective
assumes we do. We generally look out at the world with two eyes, and
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UHDOLW\ ZHUH RIWHQ H[SHULHQFLQJ D PDVKXS RI SRLQWV RI YLHZ OLNH LQ WKH
8JROLQR,PHDQHYHQZKHQZHZDQWWRVWD\VWLOOLWVGLIFXOW7KDWVZK\
photographers need tripods. But our operating software creates the illusion
that were seeing something akin to a tidy still image.
Another key concept in linear perspective is that of the horizon. Thats where
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nothing, like mountains or buildings, blocked the view.
In the Drer, youll note that the height of the station point, or eyelevel, of
the person drawing is the same as the horizon. This will always be the case.
As eyelevel is elevated the horizon rises and the ground plane will appear to
increase in area. As eyelevel is lowered the horizon follows and the ground
plane will become more foreshortened.
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point. The basic conceptual unit that we use to understand perspective is the
block. And, well use it here.
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plane. And all the horizontal edges receding away from us as diagonals
would appear to meet at a single vanishing point. Looking at the inside of
a block is like looking into a room. The back wall is parallel to the picture
plane and the diagonals of the side walls recede to the vanishing point.
257

,Q WZRSRLQW SHUVSHFWLYH WKH IDFHV RI WKH EORFN DUH DQJOHG DZD\ IURP WKH
picture plane. The edge of the block is closest to the picture plane. And
the edges of the blocks planes would appear to converge to two different
pointsone on the right, another on the left. If were looking into a room,
the walls are angled to the picture plane and the diagonals of the walls recede
to two different pointsright and left. And the corner of the room is located
at the greatest depth.
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parallel to the ground plane. Situations where were looking up or down.
In addition to a right and left vanishing point, an added point placed below
the object produces a sensation of looking down, or a third point above, the
sensation of looking up.
One of the things the early developers of perspective noted, was how we
see different views or planes of an object depending on its height and lateral
position. As an object moves along a vertical or horizontal axis, the planes
we see shift.
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describe width, and verticals for height. Together they create a rectangle,
a face thats parallel to the picture plane. Last are diagonals receding to a
vanishing point to express depth.
To get a sense of how this works lets draw nine blocks in various locations
relative to the horizon and a central vanishing point.
This is what well draw. Well end up with three bocks above the horizon,
three straddling the horizon, and three below. Vertically, well have three
blocks centered on the vanishing point, three to the right, and three to the
left. Youll want a range of pencils and/or mechanical pencils, and a sheet of
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your drawing board. Well start by drawing a horizon line in the center of
the page, nine inches from either horizontal edge. Then, a central vanishing

258

point. I use crosshairs. Its more precise than a dot. Well need some
construction lines. Im using a 5H pencil.
Measure three inches to the right of the vanishing point and draw a vertical
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construction line, same length.
Now, one inch below the horizon, draw a long horizontal construction line
across the page. Then, another one, an inch above the horizon. Were ready
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B.
Look to the right of the vanishing point youll see that your construction
lines form a rectangle straddling the horizon. Draw over this rectangle with
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camera angle, this looks like an elongated rectangle on your screen, but its
a true square. Now, using the 5H, half an inch to the left of the blocks face,
Ill add another long vertical construction line.
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point, then draw a line back at a diagonal, stopping at the new construction
line. Then, do the same thing from the lower left corner. And go over the
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In situations where you dont, you might be tempted to draw a line all the
way back to the vanishing point. Its a good idea to avoid this. Get in the
habit of stopping an inch or so short of it. If you touch the vanishing point,
youll make it bigger. As it gets bigger your drawing will be increasingly less
accurate because youll be drawing to different points within the vanishing
point.
Lets draw a block on the left like the one on the right. Add a vertical
construction line three inches to the left of the vanishing point. Then, another,
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259

So we can draw the blocks face. Then, add another vertical construction line
half an inch to the right of the of the blocks face. And complete the blocks
side plane.
Lets note what weve got. For blocks to the right and left of the vanishing
point that are straddling the horizon we see a front and side plane. But neither
top nor bottom. To the right of the vanishing point we see a left side plane.
To the left, a right side. Lets add some blocks below the horizon.
Well start with a horizontal construction line two inches below the blocks
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verticals, so we can draw a front face for a block directly below our right and
left blocks.
Lets complete the block on the lower right. Line up the upper right corner of
the face with the vanishing point, and draw a line back to the construction line.
Do the same on the lower left. Now, connect the diagonals with a vertical.
We can estimate where a horizontal from this last point would intersect a
diagonal receding to the vanishing point from the upper right corner of the
face, and make a small mark. Then draw a horizontal to that point. Last, the
diagonal from the upper right corner to intersect the horizontal. You get the
idea. You can complete the block on the left following the same steps as on
the right.
Here, below the horizon we see top planes. Lets add some blocks above the
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WZR LQFKHV DERYH WKH UVW EORFNV WKHQ DQRWKHU WZR LQFKHV DERYH WKH RQH
we just drew. And well draw the front faces. One on the left. Another on
the right. Lets start on the left. Line up the lower right corner of this face
with the vanishing point and draw a line back to the vertical construction
line. Repeat from the upper right corner. Then connect the diagonals with
a vertical. Again well estimate where our horizontal from this last point
would intersect a diagonal receding to the vanishing point from the lower
left corner, and make a small mark. Then draw horizontal to that point, then
a diagonal from the lower left corner toward the vanishing point to intersect
the horizontal. Do the same on the right. What do we see above the horizon?
A bottom plane.
260

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HLJKWKV RI DQ LQFK WR WKH OHIW RI WKH YDQLVKLQJ SRLQW$GG DQRWKHU VHYHQ
eighths of an inch to the right. Draw the front faces.
Lets complete the block above the horizon. From the bottom corners draw
diagonals receding towards the vanishing point. Then line up your straight
edge with the bottom rear of the blocks on the right and left and draw
horizontal connecting the diagonals. Use this same method to complete the
block below the horizon.
And what do we learn here? Well, blocks located along the vanishing points
vertical axis dont reveal their side planes. And a block that straddles the
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complexity. Well imagine that these blocks are transparentmade of
glassand well draw their interiors. Itll help to control the illusion, if you
use a thinner, lighter line for this. Im going to use an H pencil.
Lets start below the horizon with the block on the right. Well draw a
diagonal back from the lower right corner toward the vanishing point in
the boxs interior. Well intersect this with a horizontal line starting at the
left rear corner and moving to the right. Last, from this point of intersection
well draw a vertical to the top rear right corner.
Lets do the same thing above the horizon on the left. From the upper left
corner, draw a diagonal back toward the vanishing point. Intersect this with
a horizontal from the rear, upper right corner of the block. Where these two
intersect, well draw a vertical down to the rear lower left corner of the block.
Worth noting here that if we draw transparent blocks, well see all six planes
of each block in each location.Try the rest on your own. Remember, if you
get stuck, were only using three kinds of lines. Horizontals for width,
verticals for height, and diagonals receding to the vanishing point, to express
depth.
Once youve constructed all nine transparent blocks, we can take this another
step. Well put a smaller block inside each of the transparent blocks we just
drew.
261

Like the table in the room in Leonardos Last Supper, or the tables, bar and
pool table in Van Goghs The Night Caf. Though, I should point out that
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WHUPVRIGUDZLQJDURRPVMXVWDWUDQVSDUHQWEORFN$EORFNWXUQHGLQVLGH
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or another.
By drawing blocks inside of blocks were getting the tools well need to
draw all manner of subjects.
Well need some additional construction lines. Well begin below the horizon
by drawing a long horizontal a quarter of an inch above the bottom horizontal
of these lower blocks. And well draw another an inch above this. Lets start
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measure in a half an inch from the receding diagonal on the left and make
a mark. Do the same on the right. Extend long verticals up the page from
these points. Use these new construction lines to draw the rectangular front
face of a small block inside the larger bottom transparent block. Repeat this
procedure to draw a similar rectangle in the blocks to the right and left.
1RZZHOOQHHGDQRWKHUFRQVWUXFWLRQOLQHWRGHQHWKHGHSWKRIWKHVHQHZ
blocks. Well draw a horizontal quarter of an inch above the rectangles for
this purpose. Well draw lines from the top corner of the blocks towards the
vanishing point and reiterate the connecting horizontal with a darker line.
To complete the right and left blocks well draw a vertical down from the
last intersection and meet this with a diagonal from the inner bottom corner
aimed at the vanishing point. Lets move to the blocks above the horizon.
First, well draw a new construction line a quarter inch below the front
bottom edge of the block. And another, one inch above this. Use these
construction lines to draw the front faces of the three small blocks above the
horizon. Return to the small block below the horizon on the left. Project the
rear vertical up as a construction line through the blocks above. Do the same
on the right.
Now, lets return to the small block above the horizon on the left and draw
diagonals from the right corners to intersect this new construction line. Then,
262

reiterate the vertical connecting them with your darker line. From the bottom
intersection draw a horizontal to the left to intersect with a diagonal from the
lower left corner aimed at the vanishing point. Then repeat this on the right.
Project the depth from the right to the center to complete that block.
Moving to the center row well need a horizontal construction line to
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foreshortened. So well place this
of an inch above the bottom edge of
the larger blocks. Draw another horizontal an inch above this. Then use your
construction lines to draw the blocks. All three straddle the horizon. The
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only see a front and side plane.
You could take this a couple steps further. You could draw the interiors of
the small blocks. You could also create separate variations on this drawing
by moving the horizon up or down and moving the vanishing point left and
right. But now, lets look at some artists works in relation to what we just
drew.
As weve noted, Leonardos Last Supper is essentially a box in a box. We
have our same three primary directions. Horizontals describe width, verticals
height, and diagonals recede to the vanishing point to create depth. We
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height.
Horizontals and verticals construct the front plane of the table parallel to the
picture plane. Diagonals converge to the same vanishing point, describing
the tabletop moving back into space. We see the same thing in Raphaels 16th
century School of Athens. Here the horizon and central vanishing point are
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Aristotle on the right. Were looking up at them.
Fast forward to the 18th century and Canalettos having a bit of fun with this.
The buildings on the right vanish to a point on the right, right of center. The
buildings on the left, to a point left of center. And the pattern on the central
263

pavement to a point in between. There are a couple other vanishing points as

well. Goes to show that, if you know what youre doing, you can bend the
rules quite a bit and still come out with a naturalistic result.
In each of these cases, linear perspective is being used compositionally as
well as spatially. All those receding diagonals are serving to point to our
main subject or subjects. In the Last Supper-HVXVLQThe School of Athens,
Plato and Aristotle, and in the Canaletto, the main points all point to the
faade of Saint Marks Cathedral. In the 19th century Eakins we have much
the same thing, though with a somewhat higher horizon.
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just drew.
Van Gogh gives us a higher horizon in The Night Caf. This gives us the
sensation of looking down at the pool table and room. Van Gogh also placed
the vanishing point off to the left. This gives us a larger right wall and a
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block we drew.
Ensors crowd also vanishes to a point a bit left of center and almost
coincident with the top of the format itself. And Munchs bridge vanishes
on the visible horizon, to a point we see all the way on the formats left
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receding diagonals of the table in the front to the point where theyd meet
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right. And hes also playing a game or two, curving what would normally be
drawn as horizontal lines expressing the tiles widths.
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Garcia. The bookcases are like side walls. In the Raphael, Canaletto, and
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same in the Leonardo and Simpsons still, though in these two, the gridded
pattern is on the ceiling.
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one point perspective. First, its used to describe blocks that have one
264

face parallel to the picture plane. To draw these kinds of objects we use
horizontals to express width, verticals for height, and diagonals converging
to a vanishing point to express depth.
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parallel to the picture plane. Opaque objects straddling the horizon will
reveal neither a top nor a bottom plane. Objects below the horizon will
reveal a top plane. Objects above the horizon, a bottom plane. Objects to the
right of the vanishing point, a left side. Objects to the left of the vanishing
point, a right side. Objects on a vertical axis straddling the vanishing point
will reveal no side planes. As planes get closer to the vanishing point theyll
appear more foreshortened. As they move away, the inverse.
I should note, there are limitations to the system in this regard. Youll
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If you hold your arms out to the sides and look straight ahead youll likely be
able to make out your hands in your peripheral vision. That would indicate
a cone of about 180 degrees, ninety degrees on either side of your centerline
of sight. In linear perspective, if we want to avoid distortion, were limited
to a much smaller cone of vision. Most texts advise a cone of not more than
4560 degrees. Practically, what this means is that when objects are placed
too far away from the vanishing point theyll begin to distort.
In this example, extending forward from the back of the room, all the planes
look pretty good. But, as we move forward in space, farther away from the
vanishing point, we get some distortion. The tiles closest to us on all the
planes appear to bend.
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relatively close to the vanishing point. Thats not to say that warping or
distortion cant be visually interesting in a work of art. But you want to be
aware of the fact. To get a sense of how this plays out you could add more
blocks to the drawing we just did. Some on the far left or right, and some
high or low in the page.
265

Linear Perspective: The Quad

Lecture 16

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well use it to create a solid, believable, and complex architectural
landscapea drawing of two buildings on a ground plane. Then,
well move inside the buildings and draw furniture in the interiors. Youll
also have the opportunity to take what youve learned and add other things
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VZLPPLQJSRRO2QFH\RXJHWDJRRGJUDVSRQXVLQJRQHSRLQWSHUVSHFWLYH
you can create all kinds of things out of your imagination.

Lecture 16Linear Perspective: The Quad

Pointers for the Quad Exercise

In any complex perspective drawing, there are a number of points to keep
in mind. For example, its common to generate many construction lines
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managing all these lines so that the drawing doesnt turn into a jumble. Keep
the construction lines light and thin.
Keep in mind, too, that small inaccuracies in measurements become
exponentially problematic as these kinds of drawings unfold. Take your time
with the drawing. If something doesnt line up, erase and redraw. Doing so
will save you time in the long run.
Finally, you need to learn to manage your graphite, which can easily get
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periodically, and if anything is getting dirty, give it a quick wash and dry.
The Quad
Our subject for this drawing is two similar buildings separated by a rectangular
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is made of two simple shapes: a rectangle and a triangle. The building itself
is made of two simple volumes: a block for the base and a prism for the roof.
We will construct all this starting with line, turning line into shape and shape
into volume. Although our goal may be to draw things that feel convincingly
266

real, we make those things out of abstract elements: lines and shapes. We cant
actually make a building. All we can draw are lines.
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and work through the construction of the second on your own, following
the same steps. Working through those steps repeatedly will allow them to
become second nature to you. For your reference, heres what the exteriors
of the two buildings should look like:

Once weve completed the exteriors, well add three equally spaced
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foreshortened and receding planes facing the quadrangle. Well then go
inside the buildings and begin to construct some furniture. By the end of the
lecture, your buildings should look like this:

267

Suggested Reading
Auvil, Perspective Drawing.

Lecture 16Linear Perspective: The Quad

Montague, Basic Perspective Drawing.

268

Linear Perspectives: The Quad

Lecture 16Transcript
1RZWKDWZHKDYHDXQGHUVWDQGLQJRIRQHSRLQWSHUVSHFWLYHZHOOXVHLWWR
create a solid, believable, and complex drawing of two buildings. This is a
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artist and professor at Dominican Universitytold me about.
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the edges of the paper are parallel to the edges of the drawing board. Well
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the exterior and the interior of the buildings. To do this, well need three
line weights: One for the construction lines, these should be the lightest and
thinnest; one for the buildings exteriors, these will be the most robust; and a
medium line weight, somewhat in between, for the interiors of the buildings.
Well be drawing with graphite. If you use pencils, sharpen them regularly
to maintain similar line thickness. Many people prefer to use mechanical
pencils for this type of drawing; saves on the sharpening. If you want to go
with mechanical pencils, it would be useful to have both a .3mm and .5mm.
The .3mm for construction lines, and the .5mm for the drawing itself. Either
way, draw construction lines with a harder lead, 2H4H, and the main lines
using HB2H leads. Youll need your erasers; Id suggest a pencil type, a
pink pearl, and a kneaded. The last, as weve seen, is excellent for turning
down the volume on a given section of line. Your drafting brush or a one
to two inch chip brush and a kneaded erase will also be useful for all those
erasure crumbs.
Before we get started, here are a couple tips. Well be generating a lot of
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Part of the craft here is managing all of this so it doesnt turn into a jumble.
Small inaccuracies in measurement become exponentially problematic as a
drawing unfolds, so take time and care. If something doesnt line up, erase
and redraw; its going to save you time in the long run. We also need to
manage the graphite. Its easy to pick it up on the sides of your hands, on the
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JHWWLQJGLUW\JLYHLWDTXLFNZDVKDQGDGU\7KHUHOOEHDORWRIVWHSE\VWHS
269

directions here. While this lecture is about 30 minutes, it can take longer
than that to complete the drawing.
Well be drawing an architectural landscapetwo buildings on a ground
plane. Then well move inside the buildings and draw furniture into the
interiors. Youll also have the opportunity to take what youve learned and
add other things to the drawing like a kitchen, or a bedroom, or even a ping
pong table or swimming pool. Once you get the hang of it, you can create
all kinds of things out of your imagination. Well be drawing two similar
buildings separated by a rectangular open space. You could conceive of
it as something akin to a universitys quad. Quad is, of course, short for
quadrangle; literally four anglesbasically a rectangular open space or
courtyard surrounded or partially surrounded by one or more buildings.
When you think about it, its a lot like Canalettos San Marcoa piazza
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So lets get started. Paper in the landscape positionthats horizontal. irst,
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WKHSDJH:HUHJRLQJWRFHQWHUWKDWLQWKHLQFKZLGWKRIWKHSDJH6R\RX
should have about seven inches on either side of that line. This will be the
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thin. And give yourself a tiny vanishing point on this line; put it right in the
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SLQ SRLQW RU D FURVVKDLU9DQLVK WKH WZR HQGV RI \RXU ERWWRP OLQH WKH 
inch line, back toward the central vanishing point. Remember, dont actually
touch it; stop an inch or so away before reaching your vanishing point. If
we continually touch it, it will become larger and largerthat means less
preciseand that will negatively affect all of our angles.
Now, four inches above the bottom line, or six inches from the bottom of the
page and parallel to both, draw a horizontal line connecting your converging
diagonals. If you have some extra diagonal receding beyond this, erase what
you dont need. You now have the quadrangle, represented by a trapezoid
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270

the Simpsons. Next, well draw the front face of the building on the lefta
rectangle to start off. Make this 10 inches tall and 4 inches wide. Now well
make a small light horizontal mark to note the height of the triangular roof
that will extend above the rectanglemines four inches above.
We have our roofs height. But to draw a triangular roof, we need to locate
a point centered above the rectangle at that height. Of course, we could
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dont depend on using our rulers. Thats because we wont be able to use our
rulers to measure into the depth of the page, into the illusionistic space of the
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Lets take a detour. If I gave you a rectangle and asked you how to locate
its center without measuring, Im guessing youd have no problem. Youd
cross diagonal and say, Voil, center found. So, youre probably beginning
to see how this applies here. Our buildings bottom section is a rectangle. If
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extend this up vertically to the roofs height, youd be right. And heres a
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SRLQWLVDFRPPRQVWDUWLQJSRLQWWRQGLQJDQDQVZHUWRDSUREOHPKDYLQJ
to do with measure in linear perspective; this will apply to trapezoids and
parallelograms, too.
On another note, heres a tip on minimizing construction lines. Often we
dont need to draw the whole line to get the information we need. In this
case, we can just line up the straight edge with a rectangles corners and
draw two small crossing line segments near the center. Similarly, when
we extend the center line up vertically, we only need position our straight
edge on the center point; then draw a bit of line intersecting the horizontal
associated with the roofs height. Once we have this point, we can extend
diagonals from the upper corners of the rectangle to the center point to create
the front face of the buildings roof. We can get rid of our construction lines
at this point, and brush away any erasure crumbs.
Now, lets shift to the building on the right. Using our straight edge or
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271

buildings rectangular section. Then intersect this point with a line from
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section of the building. We want the building on the right to be equal in
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right extension of our second building without measuring? Is there a way to
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Ill give you a hint: It will involve intersecting diagonals.
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we did with the blocks, well do this using our vanishing point. We already
have the receding bottom edge of our building; its synonymous with the
receding left edge of the trapezoid of the quadrangle. We can complete the
receding face of the building in two steps. First, well make a line from the
top of the vertical representing the height of the buildings base and take
this back towards the vanishing point. Again, dont touch the vanishing point
itself. Second, well extend a vertical line upward from the back corner of the
quadrangle to meet the receding diagonal, and well erase any line segments
that extend beyond their intersection.
Our next steps to complete the roof. Well start by taking a line from the
top of our triangle back toward the vanishing point. But where do we stop?
We know we have to connect the back upper corner of the buildings base
to the roof, but to what point exactly? Now, the back face of the building is
exactly the same as the front face except that its zoomed back in space, so
we should be able to apply the same set of procedures we used to construct
the front to construct the back.
Think back to what we did earlier. We found the center of the bottom
UHFWDQJOH WKHQ H[WHQGHG D YHUWLFDO VWUDLJKW XS WR QG WKH ORFDWLRQ RI WKH
center of the roofs apex. While we dont have the back rectangle or wall,
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vision, as if it were a building made of glass; like we drew the blocks in
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surface, making ourselves believe wholeheartedly in the illusion; thats part
of the magic.

272

If you have a take on drawing the interior of the building, take it as far as
\RXFDQ)LQGWKHRRUFHLOLQJEDFNZDOOQGWKHFHQWHURIWKHEDFNZDOO
and all the pieces will fall into place. Once you begin to get a sense of how
this works, it unfolds like the solution to a puzzleeach subsequent move
naturally suggested naturally by the prior one, and it begins to be a good
deal of fun. But I also know this can get confusing, so Im going to take you
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same horizontal as the back edge of the quad, so well pull this line over into
our building. And remember, were now in the interior, so we want to modify
our line weight relative to what we used on the exterior. It should be a bit
lighter and/or a bit thinner, but not as light and thin as our horizon or other
FRQVWUXFWLRQOLQHV7RQLVKWKHRRUZHOOWDNHDOLQHIURPWKHEXLOGLQJV
lower left corner and recede toward the vanishing point, stopping where we
intersect the horizontal line representing the bottom edge of the back wall.
Then, erase any extra line.
Heres a tip to make the exterior/interior illusion a bit stronger. Therell be
places where the external lines overlap the internal lines; I often make the
internal lines discontinuous at these junctures. If youve already drawn these
as continuous lines, experiment with erasing a bit of the internal line at the
point of intersection. It can often heighten the sense of overlap and depth of
that space. Well draw the ceiling following a similar set of steps.
Well start at the back of the building at the upper right corner of the
buildings base, and draw a horizontal into the interior of the building. Next,
well jump to the front to the top left corner of the buildings base and draw
a line receding toward the vanishing point, but well stop where we intersect
WKHKRUL]RQWDOOLQHZHMXVWPDGH:HQRZKDYHDQLQWHULRURRUDQGFHLOLQJ
:HOODGGRQHPRUHOLQHDYHUWLFDOFRQQHFWLQJWKHOHIWFRUQHUVRIWKHRRU
and ceiling. That will complete the interior of the base.
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Using your straight edge, carry this measure up vertically to intersect the line
representing the roofs peak, and youve found where the roof ends. Last,
connect the upper left and right corners of the back of the buildings base to
273

this point and youll have completed the basic form of the building. At this
point, you might want to get rid of any unnecessary construction lines, any
bits of diagonals or vertical extension lines; but make sure you leave the
internal structurethe glass building viewbecause were going to use it
later.
There are a couple things worth noting here. The front face of the building
is made of two simple shapes: a rectangle, and a triangle. The building
itself is made of two simple volumes: a block for the base, and a prism for
the roof. We constructed all this starting with line, turning line into shape,
and then shape into volume. While a goal may be to draw things that feel
convincingly real, we make it out of abstract elementslines and shapes.
We cant actually make a building, all we can draw are lines. Its like the
novelist who arranges abstract elements, letters, into words and sentences
on a page. And yet, we as readers come away feeling like weve experienced
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SX]]OH RI WKH VHFRQG EXLOGLQJ +RZ FDQ ZH QG LWV ZLGWK" +RZ FDQ ZH
predict this using diagonals? Im sure many of you guessed right. Heres the
thinking underlying the solution:
The shape formed by the interior vertical walls of the two buildings is a
rectangle. The shape which will be formed by the external vertical walls will
also be a rectangle, and it will be centered on the internal rectangleyoure
seeing where this is going. Both rectangles will share the same center point.
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that center point to construct the external rectangle. I can do this by lining
up my straight edge with the upper left corner of the left buildings base,
and following this through the rectangles center point to the place where it
intersects an extension of my ground line. Then draw a vertical line up from
that point, and then a horizontal across the top to complete the rectangular
front face of my second building.
If youre working along with me, this would be a great place to pause the
lecture and work through the construction of the second building on your
RZQ-XVWUHSHDWWKHVWHSVZHWRRNLQGUDZLQJWKHUVWEXLOGLQJWKLVZLOOKHOS
cement what weve just done. Its by doing these things repeatedly that they
become second nature; instinctual; part of what becomes automatic in our
274

seeing, thinking, and drawing. For your reference, heres what you should
end up with, and then we can take it the next couple steps.
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HTXDOO\VSDFHGRRUVDERYHWKHJURXQGRRU:HOOVWDUWZLWKWKHEXLOGLQJRQ
WKHOHIWDQGSXWDRRULQWKHFHQWHURIWKHVWUXFWXUH5HPHPEHUWRFRQWUROWKH
line weights; were going to end up with lots of lines crossing one another.
Controlling the relative weights will really help you see it all clearly. Once
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receding into space. Well start at both right and left sides of the horizontal,
and draw lines back toward the vanishing point. Well stop at the intersection
with the vertical lines representing the back of the building. Connect the
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eighth of an inch on the front face of the building, then vanish back. Well
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a horizontal, vanish it back, and add the same thickness.
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lines back toward the vanishing point. Then draw the underside of this plane.
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WKHLUWRSSODQHV7KLVODVWRRUVDERYHWKHKRUL]RQVRZHVHHLWVXQGHUSODQH
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Now were just about ready to add windows to the receding plane of our
building. But before we do, and since were talking about space, lets do
a little more work on managing line weights to make the drawing more
compelling; more clearly readable. As weve seen before, the kneaded eraser
will do a good job of incrementally diminishing a lines weight. We can
drag it over certain lines, or sections of lines, varying the pressure to control
how much graphite we remove. The twin keys are thinking spatially and
hierarchically at the same time; balancing the two is where a lot of the art
comes in. Thinking spatially, thinking in terms of atmospheric perspective,
275

and applying this to line, tells us to adjust the things farthest away so they
have the least contrast.
The contrast here is that of the line relative to the white of the paper. The
lighter the line, the more similar to the paper, the less contrast; this equals
farther away. The darker the line relative to the paper, the closer. We have
to integrate this way of thinking with thinking hierarchically. The higher the
contrast of line to paper, all else being equal, the more it will attract the
viewers eye; higher contrast gets more attention. Part of the question here
is what should be more prominent and what less so based on spatial and
hierarchical considerations? So take a look at your drawing. Ask yourself are
any of the lines too prominent? Are any not prominent enough? And you can
make adjustments back and forth.
Now were ready to construct our windows. Well create four vertical
bays for windows in the long foreshortened and receding plane facing the
quadrangle. And well make a brief detour to learn how to draw regularly
repeating shapes that appear to diminish in size as they become more distant
from the viewerthings like the tiles on the ground in the Raphael, or the
windows in Canalettos painting of San Marco.
Heres the basic principle; hold off drawing here. We know that we can
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diagonals. What really helps us in linear perspective is that this will also
work in a foreshortened shape, like the side plane of our building. Crossing
diagonals will yield the perspectival center of the shape. So to create four
vertical bays of windows, we could draw a vertical through the center point
and repeat on either side to create quarters; and voil, four bays for windows.
But theres a more sophisticated way of doing this, which will open up a
range of further possibilities. Lets come back to our front view again. If
we have a rectangle divided along the horizontal half and traverse it with
the rectangles diagonal, the point of intersection will similarly be the center
point of the rectangle. And this will also work in foreshortened shapes like
trapezoids; it will locate the perspectival center.
Now, back to the rectangle. If it were divided into four vertical sections or
stripes, the rectangles diagonal would traverse these lines at four quarters
276

the half included. And this will work in perspective, too, if the trapezoids
divided into regular horizontal intervals. Theyre diagonals, of course,
receding into a vanishing point, but they represent what would be horizontals
VHHQIDFHRQ6RDOOZHQHHGWRGRLVGUDZDGLDJRQDOIURPFRUQHUWRFRUQHU
and the points of intersection will indicate where our divisions should be;
and thats how you get all those receding windows in the Canaletto.
Now, lets return to our building and apply this. The side plane is already
divided in quarters, so well draw the diagonal. In the example, I drew
the diagonal all the way across, but all you need in your drawing are the
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intersections, and erase any extra construction line to reveal the four bays
for windows.
Its a good idea to check your drawing at this point. Ask yourself if the four
vertical bays are getting predictably smaller as they move back in space. If
the third bays the same size or larger than the second youll want to retrace
your steps. Its easy to get confused and draw the wrong diagonal; take care
to extend it across the whole trapezoid. Another common error is to draw the
vertical in the wrong place. We have lots of intersecting lines to choose from,
its easy to make an error.
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windows or, like Canaletto, 14 bays of windows? How do I do this? No
problem, its all about how we divide the vertical axis. Its a function of how
many stripes we start out with. Four initial divisions of stripes give us four
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windows, and 14 stripes would yield 14 columns.
So lets play with this a bit. We have a second building to experiment
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youll need your ruler. We want to divide the vertical axisthats the front
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PDNH VPDOO PDUNV DW LQFK LQWHUYDOV /LJKWO\ YDQLVK WKHVH EDFN MXVW OLQH
XS WKH WLFN PDUNV ZLWK WKH YDQLVKLQJ SRLQW WR PDNH YH UHFHGLQJ VWULSHV
Place the straight edge on the diagonal, corner to corner over the receding
plane, then make tick marks where this diagonal traverses the receding lines.
277

At the points of intersection, draw your verticals. Get rid of some of your
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check to make sure that each receding bay is smaller than the preceding one.
We can apply what weve learned, and further cement the idea, to draw
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of the total height and width. Start by dividing the vertical edge of the bay
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vanishing point, and position my straight edge across the diagonal. Now, I
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where each window will begin and endfront and back. So Ill make two
tick marks, then two verticals. I now have the placement for my windows,
and I can erase my construction lines.
Now, well give the windows dimension. Lets start with the window closest
to us in space. You can decide for yourself what kind of thickness you
want here and draw a vertical to indicate the amount. Next, well draw a
horizontal from the windows bottom corner to intersect that vertical. Some
people have a tendency to want to draw a diagonal here; make sure you stick
with a horizontal. Remember, most of our lines will be horizontal, vertical,
or diagonals going back to our vanishing point.
This point of intersection between the horizontal and verticals important;
it will let us carry the measure to the other windows. Well line this point
up with our vanishing point and draw a construction line forward and back
across all four windows. We now know where the interior edge of the
window recess is, and we can erase any extra diagonal linewe only need
it where the windows will be. To get the same measure in the rest of the
windows, we draw a horizontal from the corner to the receding diagonal and
a vertical up from their intersection; and well draw a horizontal from the
corner at the top of each window to intersect the vertical, then a diagonal
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own speed.
But now, lets go inside the building on the right and construct some
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278

Well start by drawing the side view of the beds basea rectangle. Vanish
the corners back toward our vanishing point. Then draw another horizontal
and vertical to indicate the far edge of the bed. Then do a little erasing to get
rid of the extra bits of diagonal going back into space, and to eliminate the
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Next, well put a mattress on top of the base. Start with two verticals and a
horizontal. Then vanish back the corners. Then draw another vertical and
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through lines to make our bed more solid. And to begin to make things more
naturalistic, we can add a blanket folded down.
Thats all we have time for in this lecture; weve gotten a good start on
this project. Youre employing many of the basic procedures used in linear
perspective. Well learn some new techniques and take this drawing a couple
PRUHVWHSVLQWKHUVWSDUWRIWKHQH[WOHFWXUHDVZHFRQWLQXHRXUH[SORUDWLRQ
of linear perspective.

279

Linear Perspective: The Gridded Room

Lecture 17

n this lecture, well focus on perspectival grids. First, well draw one
into the quad we started in the previous lecture. Well also talk about
further possibilities for that drawing. Then, well look at some of the
ways we can use grids to measure the depth of space in a drawing.

Lecture 17Linear Perspective: The Gridded Room

Drawing a Receding Grid in the Quad

Well begin this lecture by adding a grid in the open space of the quad drawing
from our previous lecture. From there, we might add a path and doors.

Working through the quad drawing will give you a grasp of many of the
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by spending more time with this drawing, repeating and embroidering
on the procedures weve used. For example, you can add more interior
furnishings. On the exterior, you could construct volumetric doors or
create windows of varying sizes, thicknesses, and types. On a grander
scale, you could extend out on either side of the buildings weve
constructed or extend from the buildings and quad both forward and
backward in space.

280

Using a Grid in Perspective

For our next project, we will take the perspectival grid a bit further. If we
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in space. This can be particularly helpful in drawing from the imagination.
It allows us to scale all the elements we want to draw. We can easily place
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URRP :H FDQ GUDZ D IRRWWDOO PDQ VWDQGLQJ RQ WRS RI WKH WDEOH DQG
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RIIWKHRRU
Weve seen how we can create a grid on a receding plane, such as a wall. We
used this to create bays for windows and to construct a gridded pattern in the
quad. Although this method allows us to control the number of receding grid
units, it doesnt allow us to control their shape.
With this method the grid units shapes are a function of the larger trapezoid
they sit in and the number of receding diagonal divisions. Having fewer
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units. Having more divisions results in more foreshortening.

If we want to determine the number of grid units along the ground line and
want to control the shape of the grid units, we must adjust the procedure for
creating the grid.
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wed make it shorter.
281

Lecture 17Linear Perspective: The Gridded Room

Then, wed draw a diagonal, very light and thin, through the opposite corners
of one of the bottom foreshortened squares and carry that diagonal across
our receding lines.

Next, wed draw a horizontal at each of the points where this diagonal
traverses those receding to the vanishing point.
282

Drawing a Gridded Room

Our next project is to draw a gridded room. As we work through the drawing,
keep in mind that all the lines here are construction lines. In other words,
were drawing the grid so that we can locate other things later, and were using
construction lines to create the grid itself. Youll want the horizon line and the
construction lines used to generate the grid to be the lightest and thinnest. As
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thickness. And take time with each step; small errors can compound, resulting
in major headaches.
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a box. Youll use what youve learned about perspective to make the objects
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Suggested Reading
Mendelowitz, Faber, and Wakeman, A Guide to Drawing, Perspective and
Forms in Space, pp. 161171.
Norling, Perspective Made Easy, Dividing a Surface, pp. 144154.

283

Linear Perspective: The Gridded Room

Lecture 17Transcript
In this lecture, well focus on perspectival grids. First, well draw one into
the quad we started and talk about further possibilities for that drawing. Then
well look at some of the ways we can use grids to measure the depth of
space in a drawing.
Lets return to Raphael, Canaletto, and The Simpsons animators. In all three
examples, a pattern based on a grid recedes along the ground plane. Well
add one now in the open space of the quad.
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inch increments. Next, well vanish these back. Try adjusting the pressure as
you draw these linesgreater line weight forward, less as you recede.
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tick marks where the diagonal traverses the receding lines. Then, draw a
horizontal at each one and erase the tick marks. You now have a receding
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quad by erasing the central vanishing line and the horizontal line segments
within the path. Well create a second path, intersecting this, by erasing the
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on the left. Carry the vertical lines up from where the path intersects the
building. And, lastly, erase the prior vertical.
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perspective. Youll really make it your own by spending more time with this
drawing. Its all about repeating and embroidering on the procedures weve
used.
You could do a lot more with the interior furnishings. Take the bed further.
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tables on either side of the bed. And, put a painting on the wall. If you do,
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284

the bed. Slightly softening the hard corners of the bed, and other objects, will
lend them a much more naturalistic feel.
Moving through the buildings you could construct a range of things. Desks,
chairs, bookshelves, a sofa, kitchen counters, a sink, stove, a refrigerator,
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construct volumetric doors. You could also create windows of varying
sizes, thicknesses, and type. Some might be recessed and others protrude
with a ledge. Others, yet, might have additional molding. You could also
try drawing some benches or additional elements outside in the quad. On
a grander scale, you could extend out on either side of the buildings weve
constructed. And extend from the buildings and quad both forward and
backward in space.
Its important to know, though, that its possible to run into distortion as I
mentioned in an earlier lecture. But, were experimenting here. So, if you
do, just take note of it. Distortions built into the perspectival system. It
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to the right or to the left, or above and below, things will eventually distort.
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spatial ambiguity purposefully. M. C. Escher comes readily to mind. The
essential factor is to be aware of the fact.
In any case, over the coming days, pay attention to all the things you see that
you could use in your quad drawingbuildings, furniture, mailboxes, street
lamps, utility poles, and the like. Also, pay attention to paintings, drawings,
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ubiquitous. And, theyll suggest things to ignite your imagination.
You just constructed a perspectival grid. And, Id like to take this further
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LQFKVTXDUH/HWVLPDJLQHLWVDGUDZLQJRIDIRRWZDOO,ZDQWWR
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off the ground, and centered in the wall. No problem. I know the scale, one
inch equals one foot. I measure with my ruler and draw my window. Lets
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RRUDQG,ZDQWLWVIURQWHGJHRQHIRRWIURPWKHSLFWXUHSODQH$QG,ZDQW
285

the carpet itself to be eight feet wide by seven deep. Well, now, Ive got a
problem. I cant measure into the illusionistic space of the drawing with my
ruler.
/HWVUHWXUQWRRXUEDFNZDOO,ILWKDGEHHQWLOHGZLWKRQHIRRWVTXDUHWLOHV,
wouldnt have needed the ruler. Count tiles, or grid units, and I can draw the
window. And this solves the carpet problem. We cant push a ruler through
the picture plane. But, we can draw a perspectival grid that will serve the
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space throughout the drawing. And this is very useful, particularly when we
draw from our imaginations. It allows us to scale all the elements we draw.
3ODFHDWDEOHWKDWVWZRDQGDKDOIIHHWWDOOWKUHHIHHWZLGHDQGVL[IHHWGHHS
three feet from the picture plane in the center of the room, no problem. Draw
a man, seven feet tall, standing on top of the table, again, no problem. And,
if we want a woman, six feet tall, 15 feet behind him thats all doable. We
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RDWLQJVL[IHHWRIIWKHRRULWVIRXUIHHWEDFNIURPWKHSLFWXUHSODQHDQG
two feet from the left wall. So, this is very useful when you draw from your
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proportion and measure.
Our next project involves drawing a gridded room similar to the one in the
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measure. And, each will be drawn in a precise location in space. For this to
work, the grid units just cant be any kind of foreshortened rectangle. They
have to look like foreshortened squares. So, well have to dig a little deeper
into grid construction.
Before we do, lets recap what weve learned so far. We can grid a receding
SODQH OLNH D ZDOOUVW ZH GLYLGH LWV YHUWLFDO HGJH LQWR HTXDO XQLWV DQG
vanish these divisions back to a vanishing point.
Then, we draw a diagonal line across a plane from one corner to its opposite.
Where this diagonal traverses the receding lines, we draw verticals. This
286

produces a grid with as many receding divisions as thered been divisions

along the walls front edge. Four divisions along the vertical edge mean
well get four receding units.
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plane, we had 10 divisions along the horizontal axis, receding into space,
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WRFRUQHUWUDYHUVLQJWKHSODQH:HQRWHGWKHSRLQWVRILQWHUVHFWLRQDQGGUHZ
a horizontal at each traverse, then, erased the construction lines to reveal a
proportionate diminishing grid.
While weve been controlling the number of receding grid units by
controlling the number of divisions on the axis, we havent controlled their
shape. Instead, this was the result of the number of original divisions on the
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RIWKHSODQH7KHRRURUZDOOLWVHOI
Lets compare our two examples. Ive rotated the wall 90 degrees to make
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taller grid units. To isolate the effect of the number of divisions on the ground
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Whatever the degree of foreshortening of the original plane, fewer divisions
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more divisions, more foreshortening.
So, if I had 20 divisions along the ground line, the individual grid units
would all be even more foreshortened.
Heres the point. I want my receding grid units to look like receding squares.
If I want to determine the number of grid units along the ground line and also
want to control the shape of the grid units, Ill have to adjust the procedure.
To help make this clearer, lets imagine a grid10 10 squares centered
and paralleled to the picture plane. Now, lets add a second grid on top of the
UVWDQGORZHULWGRZQWRWKHJURXQGSODQH7KHGLDJRQDOVRIWKHVHFRQGJULG
are now receding to a central vanishing point on the horizon. That equates
with eyelevel. In this case the height of the center of the cameras lens. Take

287

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gridsmaller, got to be, theyre foreshortened.
Now, lets raise the camera. The horizon and vanishing point move up, too.
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less foreshortened, though still less than the upright grid.
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foreshortened. As we lower eyelevel on the horizon, the grid units get
smaller and smaller. More and more foreshortened.
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WKH JURXQG OHYHO ZHG VHH WKH RRU DQG WKH JULG FRPSUHVVHG LQWR D VLQJOH
lineitd disappear.
And this is the key well use to construct a grid that feels like a square. Well
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height of the horizonhigh horizon, taller, low horizon, shorter.
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JRDORIFUHDWLQJDSHUVSHFWLYDOJULGRIVTXDUHVJRLQJEDFNLQWRVSDFH$QRQ
foreshortened square would be two by two inches. If I had a high horizon,
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DQGWKUHHTXDUWHULQFKHVDERYHWKHJURXQGOLQH,I,KDGDPLGKRUL]RQ,G
WU\DQLQFKWRDQLQFKDQGDTXDUWHUDERYHWKHJURXQGOLQH$ORZHUKRUL]RQ
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,QHDFKFDVHH\HEDOOWKDWUVWUHFHVVLRQWRPDNHVXUHLWORRNVOLNHDVTXDUH
in a foreshortened view. And, as mentioned earlier, be alert to distortion that
may occur as you move far right and far left as well as when youre projecting
well forward in space. My students get good results using this intuitive
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part of whats termed mechanical perspective. It involves drawing a plan, a
view seen from above. You locate both whats being drawn and the location
of the person drawing it. Thats that station point. Were not going to cover
WKLVPHWKRGKHUH%XWLI\RXUHLQWHUHVWHG\RXOOQGWKLVH[SODLQHGVWHS
E\VWHSLQPDQ\ERRNVRQOLQHDUSHUVSHFWLYH
288

Weve now gone over most of what well need to know to move forward
ZLWKWKHGUDZLQJ6RWDNHRXWDQHZVKHHWRILQFKSDSHU[LWWR
your drawing board in the vertical, or portrait, position. One caution: All
the lines in our gridded room are construction lines. In other words, were
drawing the grid so that we can locate other things later. But well also be
using construction lines to generate the grid itself. So we have a couple
layers of construction lines.
Youll want your horizon and the construction lines used to generate the grid
to be the lightest and thinnest, say, 4H. The grid could be H or 2H. This
leaves you a lot of room, from F to 10B, to draw things later. As we did in
the quad drawing, keep your pencils well sharpened to control line thickness.
Or, use mechanical pencils. And check your hands and tools for graphite
residue. Wash and dry as needed.
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above the bottom of the page. This will also be the bottom edge of the
drawings format shape.
Next, draw a horizon line 10 inches above the ground line. Locate a central
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1RZ ZHOO GLYLGH WKH JURXQG OLQH LQWR WZRLQFK LQFUHPHQWV 0DNH WKHVH
marks as small as possible.
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grid were tilted up from the ground plane so that it was pressed up against
the picture plane, wed see that each grid unit, each square, measured two
by two inches. And, the only place that this true measure will reveal itself
will be on the picture plane, or at the edge of the format shapesame thing,
really. Take time with each step. Small errors can compound resulting in
major headaches.
1RZZHOOOLQHXSWKHVHPDUNVZLWKWKHYDQLVKLQJSRLQWDQGGUDZUHFHGLQJ
lines. As we did before, change pressure, meaning line weight with spatial
depth. This will lend a sense of atmospheric perspective to the lines and aid

289

in the illusion of depth. Remember, dont touch the vanishing pointkeep it

pristine.
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RQ\RXUJURXQGOLQH$QGZHUHUHDG\WRVHWWKHUVWKRUL]RQWDOUHFHVVLRQLQ
our grid.
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quarter inches above the ground line.
Eyeball it to see if these look like foreshortened squares. I think theyre
pretty good.
Were ready to draw the grid. But here, our situation is different than it was
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and used the diagonal of the whole plane to locate the recessions. Here,
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rows of tiles. But we dont know yet where the back of the 12th row will be.
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SRVLWLRQDWDJDLQVWWKHSLFWXUHSODQHLWOOKHOSXVXQGHUVWDQGZKDWZHQHHG
to do.
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PHDVXUH WZRLQFK LQFUHPHQWV DOO DORQJ WKH YHUWLFDO D[LV DQG FRPSOHWH WKH
grid. But theres another way that doesnt entail measuring. Think about it
for a moment, you might want to pause here.
Many of you likely got it. The solution involves drawing a diagonal through
the opposite corners of one of the bottom squares, and then projecting that
diagonal across the vertical lines. We note where the diagonal crosses the
verticals, and draw a horizontal at each traverse to create the grid. And this
will work precisely the same way in the foreshortened position. We draw
a diagonal, very light and thin, through the opposite corners of one of the
bottom foreshortened squares. We carry that diagonal across our receding
lines. Actually, its better not to draw the whole line. Ive done it to make the
example clearer. But, you can just make small marks on each receding line

290

where the diagonal would traverse it. It saves some erasing. At each traverse,
draw a horizontal. Make the lines lighter and thinner as you recede.
Were at a crucial point here. Check your grid and make sure each of the
horizontals is really horizontal, not angled. Also, check to make sure that
each successive row is smaller than the one preceding. When everything
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We have eight rows equaling 8 feet of depthwe want 12. So, well use the
diagonal again to get four more receding rows. Project the diagonal across
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diagonals.
You may have noticed that our two diagonals appear as if they would intersect
if they were extended. And, they would. Theyd meet on the horizon at a
place called the right diagonal vanishing point. If wed drawn our diagonals
from right to left, these diagonals would have terminated at a left diagonal
vanishing point. All the diagonals we could draw through opposite corners of
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theyre off the page. But they can be useful for checking to make sure that
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four more horizontals, then check for accuracy. Erase the tick marks on the
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Nows a good time to check your line weights. Were trying to achieve a
sense of atmospheric perspective to enhance the effects of linear perspective.
The lines should be getting lighter and thinner as they recedecloser, more
contrast, farther away, less.
Complicating matters and due to foreshortening the lines representing the
more distant tiles wind up closer together. This has the optical effect of
making the overall line grouping seem darker than it would be if the lines
were spaced farther apart.

291

You can use your kneaded eraser to great advantage to lower the volume on
individual lines and groups of lines that are too dark. Pull the eraser across
with a small amount of pressure to adjust the contrast. Repeat as needed.
Check everything one more time. If it looks good, this parts done.
Well add a right wall, left wall, back wall and a ceiling. Each new plane
should go more quickly because well be able to carry information from one
plane to the next. Assuming what youve got so far is accurate.
Well start with the right wall. From the bottom right edge of the ground line,
GUDZDQLQFKYHUWLFDOOLQH7KLVZLOOGHQHWKHULJKWHGJHRIWKHIRUPDW
shape. This, like the ground line, is on the picture plane. This means we can
use our ruler to measure here, just like we did with the ground line. Mark off
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ZDOOZLOOHQGGUDZDYHUWLFDOWRGHQHLWVIDUHGJH:HFDQYDQLVKWKHWZR
inch increments back toward the vanishing point. This time we know where
they should end, at the walls back edge.
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up along the right wall. Line up your straight edge along the diagonal of
the bottom foreshortened square, then, mark the traverse of the extended
diagonal on the receding diagonals. Once again, Ive used a continuous line
so its easier to see.
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to draw the vertically receding rows of tiles. They should agree. When you
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four recessions. These two diagonals would meet directly above the central
vanishing point that would be the upper vertical diagonal vanishing point.
And, as you may have guessed, if wed drawn the diagonals in the other
direction, upper right to lower left, theyd have met at a point below the
horizon that would be the lower vertical diagonal vanishing point.
Finish this wall and erase any extra construction line. Using your kneaded
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equal depths. If youve been conscientious, itll get pretty easy now.
292

Follow the same steps to build the left wall.

As youre making your way through this, check to make sure that the left
side is level with the right. Pick two points that should correspond. Use your
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to adjust line weights on the left. If all this is right, drawing the back walls
simply a matter of connecting horizontals from the two sidewalls, then
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Now, we can identify the viewers eyelevel. We just count up the back wall
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adjust the line weights on the back wall.
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though, we can pull placement information from the three planes that abut,
and are already completed. Using the diagonals provides another way to
check that were getting our lines in the right places. You dont actually have
to draw the lines, just line up your ruler and make sure things are falling
where they should. The ceiling diagonals should vanish to same point as
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line weights all around. At each depth of space, there should be a general
correspondence. Congratulations, youve drawn a gridded room.
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:HOOGUDZDGRRUDEXOOHWLQERDUGDOLJKW[WXUHDQGDER[RQWKHJURXQG
Well block these in with simple shapes to mark the locations. Then, turn
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First, lets draw a six by three foot door in the right wall. Well locate this at
a depth of four feet from the picture plane. Where the right wall meets the
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PDUNWKHQEDFNWKUHHDQRWKHUPDUNDQGGRZQWRWKHRRU/LJKWO\RXWOLQH
the doors location.
Lets draw a bulletin board next. Well make it three feet tall and eight feet
wide. Thats eight feet receding into the room. Well put it on the left wall at
a height of four feet, and a depth of two feet from the picture plane.
293

Start at the left edge of the ground line. Count up four feet, then two feet in.
Make a mark. Now, up three feet. Make a mark. And back eight feet. Make a
mark, down three. Last mark, and then you can draw the boards shape.
1H[WZHOOGUDZDOLJKW[WXUHWKDWVVL[IHHWZLGHDQGWZRIHHWGHHS:HOO
put it in the center of the ceiling. Itll straddle the sixth and seventh rows of
tiles.
/DVWZHOOGUDZDER[RQWKHRRU7KHER[LVIRXUIHHWWDOODQGWZRIHHWLQ
both other dimensions. Well locate it at a depth of one foot from the picture
plane and two feet from the left wall.
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need to draw a series of construction lines to understand the boxs placement.
First, well draw its footprinttwo feet by two feet. Locate this two feet
from the left wall and one foot in from the picture plane.
Next, on the left wall, at a depth of one foot from the picture plane, note the
boxs four foot height with a vertical line.
Now, carry the height measurement over the footprint with a horizontal
construction line. This locates the boxs front face and you can draw it in.
Then, erase all the construction lines except for the footprint.
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top corners. Then, bring a vertical up from the footprints rear left corner. Let
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Now you can draw the back edge of the top of the box. And erase the last
construction lines.
You may have noted the unusual position of the right side of the box. It falls
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of the top plane is not a diagonal. Even though its receding to the vanishing
point, its a vertical. The same is true of the bottom right edge of the box.
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294

are identical to the vertical right side of the boxall fall in line together.
Generally, when artists are trying to create an unambiguous depth of space
theyll avoid lining things up like this. On the other hand, many artists,
especially in the west starting in the late 19th centurylike Bonnard and
Matissewere interested in playing spatial games, and would embrace this
kind of alignment.
This vertical is part of a larger xy axis that straddles the room. Lets look
at the central grid line, which passes through the vanishing point. First, it
appears to recede from the ground line to the back wall. Then climbs up the
EDFNZDOODQGQDOO\FRPHVIRUZDUGLQVSDFHDORQJWKHFHLOLQJUHWXUQLQJWR
the picture plane.
The grid line that passes horizontally through the vanishing point has a
similar quality. It appears to recede into space back along the left wall. At
the back of the room, it traverses the back wall, then, returns forward to
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nothing more that straight linesa vertical and a horizontal making a big
plus sign on the surface of the picture plane. But, they also appear to pivot
into the 3D space of the drawing. Thats a clear ambiguity.
Returning to our drawing, what weve done so far is to create a base for a
drawing.
Heres one of my students drawings. Though, the proportions of the room,
the horizon height are slightly different, you should have something akin
to this on your own drawing board. The goal now is to work into this.
Embroider. Use what youve learned about perspective to give everything
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given thickness and dimension and projected into the space of the room. The
door has a volumetric doorknob and volumetric hinges, too, built out of little
cylinders. The corkboard has both internal and exterior planes. Youll also
note that the objects standout from the construction lines. Thats because
theyre handled with a stronger line weight.

295

+HUHZHJHWVRPHQRWLFHVSRVWHGRQWKHFRUNERDUGDPDWRQWKHRRUDQGD
volumetric bench.
And, here, we get a recessed door, a palpable handle, and other details. We
also get a corkboard with notes posted on it, as well as an elaborate light
[WXUH$QGHYHQDVWDLUFDVHOHDGLQJWRDVHFRQGGRRU
You now know how to create the illusion of depth using many of the same
tools Raphael, Canaletto, and professional animators use. And youll be able
to experiment with all this to draw from your imagination.

296

Linear Perspective: Ellipses and Pattern

Lecture 18

our next major project will be a complex drawing from your

imagination using perspective, but before you undertake that, well
add to our knowledge base. Well begin with a further discussion of
vanishing point placement. From there, well learn how to draw curvilinear
forms and pattern in perspective. Youll then begin drawing an imagined
room, putting together many of the ideas weve discussed, including format
shape, composition, line weight, and space and volume.
Moving the Vanishing Point: The Quad
The same frontal view will produce different drawings as we position the
vanishing point at varying heights and in different positions laterally. For
H[DPSOHWKLVLVDIURQWIDFHYLHZRIWKHTXDG

The horizon height and central vanishing point we used produced this result:

297

Leaving the front face but elevating the horizon gives us a different view,
as does lowering the horizon or moving the vanishing point to the left or
right. Thus, the vertical and lateral placement of the vanishing point is an
important choice.
Curvilinear Forms in Perspective
As noted earlier, certain shapes are ambiguous. Ellipses are like trapezoids
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Lecture 18Linear Perspective: Ellipses and Pattern

An ellipse could be the shape of a mirror hanging on the wall or the shape
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parallel to the picture plane. In contrast, an ellipse could be the shape of a
cars tire or a round table seen at an angle. Both objects represent a plane
receding in space.
We have many circular things around uscups, plates, bottles, clocks, tires,
coins, and so onbut we rarely see them as circles. Most of the time we see
them foreshortenedas ellipses. Thus, learning to draw ellipses is useful.
Here are a some points to keep in mind as you practice drawing ellipses,
whatever their size, shape, or position in space:
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Theyre symmetrical along each axis.

Their quadrants are identical.

To get started, draw four different rectangles with simple internal armatures,
then draw each rectangles ellipse. Here are some tips for this exercise:

298

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it helpful to rotate the page as you draw. Thats also a good way to
refresh your view and check proportions.

Make sure to check the rounding at the end of the long axis. It
shouldnt be pointy.

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Symmetricality is vital. Use the negative shapes in the rectangle as

aids; they should be identical.

If you get stuck, make a tracing of the ellipse and rotate the tracing
above the original drawing. That will give you a read on symmetry.

The Foreshortened Ellipse

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But an ellipse thats representing a foreshortened circle can also be thought
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In other words, if we draw ellipses into trapezoids that represent squares in

perspective, well produce perspectival circles. We can use the same kinds
of construction lines that we used to draw a circle in a square to help us
construct an ellipse in a foreshortened square.
Note that in the foreshortened view, the major axis divides the ellipse into
perspectival halveslarger below and smaller above. The reason for this is
that equal halves do not appear equal in a foreshortened view. The half thats
closer looks larger, and the half thats farther away looks smaller.
Cylinders, Cones, and Spheres
Paul Czanne once wrote: Treat nature by the cylinder, the sphere, [and]
the cone, everything in proper perspective so that each side of an object
or a plane is directed towards a central point. Although Czanne was
a revolutionary artist, the sentiment he expressed here is traditional. Hes
saying that we should draw using basic geometric volumes and that we
299

need to relate them to a vanishing point. Following Czannes advice, well

build on the ellipse to draw the basic curvilinear building blocks (the cone,
cylinder, and sphere) in perspective.

Photos.com/Thinkstock.

Lecture 18Linear Perspective: Ellipses and Pattern

Pattern and Perspective

As mentioned at the beginning of the course, our ancestors enjoyed the
beauty of pattern tens of thousands of years ago. To this day, we have pattern
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With the advent of perspective, artists found that they could adapt pattern to
perspectival grids, as Raphael did in the ground plane of The School of Athens.

Beyond its aesthetic appeal, one of the reasons artists use pattern in
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orientation. There are three main reasons for this:
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300

Pattern consists of repeating units. In perspective, these units

diminish in size as they recede, giving the viewer a clear depth
signal.

Pattern placed in perspective either has or implies diagonals, which

create spatial depth.

A pattern wedded to a perspectival grid exhibits foreshortened

shapes.

Patterns can range from highly repetitive and regular to extremely varied.
Generating patterns becomes complex very quickly, but looking at some of
the basic methods can stimulate your imagination. After generating patterns,
you can also tessellate them, that is, put one patterned tile next to another. In
addition, assigning value or color to a grid or pattern will bring out different
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some pattern studies by drawing on graph paper.
Transferring a pattern to a perspectival grid is a matter of remembering the
steps you took to generate the pattern and repeating them in the foreshortened
grid. Once youve created some patterns, return to your drawing of the
gridded room. Look through the pattern studies you just did, and apply the
best ones to the different planes of the room.
Drawing Project: A Constructed Space in One-Point Perspective
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SRLQWSHUVSHFWLYHWRFRQVWUXFWDEHOLHYDEOHDQGPHDVXUDEOHVSDFH7KHXQGHU
drawing here will be a fully gridded room, with grid units that are foreshortened
squares. The lines that structure the drawing will be of three primary types:
horizontals to express width, verticals to express height, and diagonals to
express depth. Of course, you could use curvilinear structures, too.
As you work on this drawing, keep in mind the topics we have discussed
previously, including the importance of the format shape, of thinking
compositionally, and of paying attention to line weights. Begin with some
quick gestural drawings of an imagined room. Think about the major planes
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rectangle they form; this will be the format shape. Then, consider your grid
unit and scale, but again, work quickly and gesturally. You can work out the
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301

Suggested Reading
Rockman, Drawing Essentials, 7KH,OOXVLRQRI6SDFHDQG'HSWKRQD7ZR
Dimensional Surface, pp. 51187.

Lecture 18Linear Perspective: Ellipses and Pattern

Stevens, A Handbook of Regular Patterns.

302

Linear Perspective: Ellipses and Pattern

Lecture 18Transcript
Youre headed toward your next major project: a complex drawing from
your imagination using perspective. But before we get to it, lets add to our
knowledge base. And well start with a further discussion of vanishing point
placement.
Well use the quad as an example. The same frontal view will produce very
different drawings as we position the vanishing point at varying heights and
in different positions laterally. This is the front face view of the quad. The
horizon height and central vanishing point we used produces this result.
Leaving the front face but elevating the horizon gives us this view; and
lowering it, this one. Moving the vanishing point to the left gives us this;
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they looked markedly different. And thats all tied to the vertical and lateral
placement of the vanishing point, so its an important choice.
So far, weve drawn rectilinear forms in perspective. Lets take a look at how
we can draw curvilinear forms using this system. Objects, like these tin cans
with a circular end parallel to the picture plane, will appear truly circular.
Here, theyre shown lined up horizontally, but it would be much the same
thing along a vertical axis. So circles parallel to the picture plane dont pose
a problem. But a circle viewed perpendicular to the picture plane will never
appear circular.
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vase with water, and drew the shape of the top plane of the water. Then you
repeatedly poured off an inch or two of water, and successively drew the
new shape. This exercise is designed to bring out a crucial recognition about
the relationship of circles that are perpendicular to the picture plane and their
relationship to eye level.
The shape of the top plane of water in a cylindrical vase is a circle. But
viewed perpendicular to the picture plane, that circle will appear as an ellipse.
Theres one exception. You may have noted that at eye level, the ellipse was
reduced to a single horizontal line. As the ellipse diverged from eye level,
303

either up or down, it got progressively fatter the greater the distance. Below
eye level, the front edge of the ellipse became more and more of a smile;
above eye level, more and more of a frown. If we could have rotated the vase
90 degrees without losing the water, wed have seen the same thing. The
circle thats centered in our line of vision would look like a single vertical
line, as we diverge from the center the circles would become progressively
wider ellipses as their distance increased from our central line of vision.
So, lets draw some ellipses. As we saw in an earlier lecture, we can use a
square and its armature to construct a circle. Ellipses are circle relatives, and
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draw the horizontal and vertical center lines and, we have four points to use
as guides. The ellipses widest point should touch each side of the rectangle
at its center point.
The circle and ellipse share the quality of being continuously curvilinear.
But on a circle, every point on the circumference is equidistant from the
center. On an ellipse, every point in each quadrant is located at a unique
distance from the center. Both evidence a high degree of symmetricality; this
echoes the symmetricality of the underlying rectangle. A square is vertically
symmetrical, horizontally symmetrical, and its horizontal half is identical to
its vertical half. The circle shares this.
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symmetrical, but the horizontal and vertical halves are not. And ellipses share
thisvertically symmetrical, horizontally symmetrical, but the vertical and
horizontal halves are not equal. Though, like the underlying rectangle, and
circle, and square, all quadrants are equal.
The ellipses center lines are termed axes. Theyre referred to as the major
or long axis, and the minor or short axis. The major and minor axes meet
at a 90 degree angle in the ellipses center. These principles govern all
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rectangles, theyre symmetrical along each axis, their quadrants are identical.
Being aware of these attributes helps in drawing them. To get started, draw
four different rectangles with simple internal armatures. Then draw each
rectangles ellipse. Here are some tips: Make sure youre touching the proper
304

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good way to refresh your view and check proportions. Make sure to check
the rounding at the end of the long axis; it shouldnt be pointy. And make
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continuously curving. Symmetricality is vital. Use the negative shapes in the
rectangle as aids; they should be identical. If you get stuck, make a tracing of
the ellipse and rotate the tracing above the original drawing; thatll provide
a read on symmetry.
Theres several mechanical ways to draw a perfect ellipse. And while
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many books on perspective and online.
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can also appear dimensional, angled to the picture plane. Ellipses, like
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could be the shape of a mirror hanging on the wall or the shape of a serving
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picture plane. In contrast, it could be the shape of a cars tire or a round
table seen at a angle; both objects representing a plane receding in space.
We have many circular things around uscups, plates, bottles, clocks, tires,
coins et ceteraall are all measurably circular, 360 degrees. But we rarely
see them as circles; most of the time we see them foreshortened as ellipses,
so learning to draw ellipses is very useful.
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rectangle. But an ellipse thats representing a foreshortened circle can be
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square with a circle and the circles construction lines. Its presented parallel
to the picture plane. Lets leave its left vertical edge where it is and rotate the
right one back in space 15 degrees, then 30, then 45. Both the square, now
a trapezoid; and the circle, now an ellipse, become progressively slimmer,
more foreshortened. Now well lets go 60 degrees, then 75, and at 90 its all
reduced to a single line.

305

And lets try that again, but this time well keep the tiles bottom edge
anchored to the ground and angle the top edge back. Again, 15 degrees, then
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we draw ellipses into trapezoids that represent squares in perspective, well
produce perspectival circles. And we can use the same kinds of construction
lines that we used to draw a circle in a square to help us construct an ellipse
in a foreshortened square.
So lets try this on a clean sheet of paper in the landscape position. Start
with a nine inch horizontal line centered in the page and two inches from
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inches from the bottom of the page. Now, vanish the two ends of the nine
inch line back toward the vanishing point. Locate the back of the trapezoid
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the diagonals, and add the horizontal. Then line up the center of the tile with
the vanishing point, and draw a line through the tile. Here it will be vertical
because were centered on the vanishing point. We have four points and a
guide shape; use both to draw an ellipse.
Its important to note in the foreshortened view, the major axis divides the
ellipse into perspectival halvesbig below, small abovethats because
equal halves do not appear equal in a foreshortened view. The half thats
closer looks bigger; the half thats farther, smaller. So, here the quadrants
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VKRZV WKH\UH LGHQWLFDO 6R HYHU\WKLQJ ZHYH OHDUQHG DERXW GUDZLQJ D DW
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and the shape should be symmetrical along each axis, and each quadrant
should be identical.
In an earlier lecture, I shared part of a quote from Paul Czanne about
cylinders and spheres. The complete quote goes like this: Treat nature by
the cylinder, the sphere, and the cone, everything in proper perspective so
that each side of an object or a plane is directed towards a central point.
While Czanne was a revolutionary artist, the sentiment hes expressing
here is very traditional. Hes saying we should draw using basic geometric
volumes and that we need to relate them, like Leonardo, to a vanishing
306

SRLQW,IQRWZHOOZLQGXSZLWKDPDVKXSOLNHLQWKH8JROLQR8VLQJWKH
ellipse weve just drawn, well do just that. Well draw a block; then inside;
a cylinder; next a cone; then a cube; and last a sphere.
Through this exercise youll learn how to draw basic curvilinear solids in
perspective. Ive included this preview because well be generating a lot
of construction lines, so itll be important to control your line weights as
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mechanical pencil, and be conscious of line weights as you draw.
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of the front corners of the tile. Vanish these lines back toward the vanishing
point, and make these lines a little lighter and thinner as they recede. Then,
well draw verticals up from the back corner of the tile to meet the diagonals.
Erase any extra line, and draw a horizontal to connect the corners. Add a
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Now well use the ellipse and block to construct a cylinder. As youve
likely guessed, well need to draw an ellipse on the top plane of the block.
Well start with some construction lines. Cross the diagonals, and draw the
horizontal and vertical perspectival halves. Then draw the ellipse. Then erase
the construction lines, but leave a small mark at the center point; were going
to use this very soon. After erasing, check your ellipse for symmetry. When
youre ready, add a vertical on either side to connect the two ellipses at their
widest points. Then adjust your line weights; if you lighten what would be
the interior of the cylinder the illusion will be strengthened.
The cones next. Well use the center point in the top ellipse and draw
diagonals to meet the right and left extremes of the lower ellipse. Thats
three down, two to go.
Next up, the cube; well draw it in the center of the block. The front of our
tile is nine inches, so draw a horizontal line two and a half inches above
the bottom of the block and another two and a half inches below the top
of the block. This will create a nine inch square centered on the face of
the block. Then, vanish the top and bottom front corners back toward the

307

vanishing point. This time we know where to stop, at our back wall. So draw
horizontals to complete the cubedone.
To draw our last solid, the sphere, well need to place an ellipse in the center
horizontal of the cube. To draw that ellipse, well need the central horizontal
plane of the cube. To draw that, we need to locate the horizontal midpoint
of the cube. And to get the midpoint, we need to cross some diagonals.
Well do this on the cubes rear plane. Then, extend a horizontal through
the center. Now, erase the diagonals and project the halfway measurement
forward along the right and left planes. And well complete the midplane
with a horizontal connecting the two front points.
Next, we need an ellipse in this plane, but you know how to do that
construction lines, then ellipse. Then erase the construction lines to reveal an
ellipse thats the center plane of the sphere. Well use the width of the ellipse
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construction lines. Youre done.
One note here: If you want to draw a hemisphere, its often helpful to draw
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If youd wanted to draw a lower hemisphere, you could do just as we did and
then erase the top portion. If youd wanted an upper hemisphere, youd do
the inverse.
Our next topics really a lot of fun: pattern and pattern in perspective. Youll
remember this etched piece of ochre from the Blombos Cave in South Africa.
Our various ancestors enjoyed the beauty of pattern for tens of thousands
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drapes and wallpaperits ubiquitous.
With the advent of perspective artists found they could adapt pattern to
perspectival grids, like the ground plane in Raphaels School of Athens, or
the pattern in the Piazza San Marco, or in Antonio Lpez Garcias drawing,
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youll have a good idea about how you go about doing something like this.
Even The Simpsons kitchen gets adorned with a pattern, though a much
humbler one than in the Van Eyck.
308

Beyond its aesthetic appeal, one of the reasons artists use pattern is that it
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a ground plane sit down; and a wall, well, feel like a wall. Therere three
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diminish in sizeclear depth signal. Second, the pattern either has, or
infers, diagonals which create spatial depth. And third, a pattern wedded to
a perspectival grid, exhibits foreshortened shapes. So patterns in perspective
do a lot of work.
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instruction and analysis at great length. Patterns can range from highly
repetitive and regular, to extremely varied. Here well look at some of the
basic ways we can generate patterns. It becomes very complex very quickly,
even with a couple brief moves, but I think itll stimulate your imagination.
Weve actually already done some of the groundwork for this when we drew
the rectangles armature. Lets look at some of those same relationships
inside a square. Perhaps the simplest pattern is one based on the repetition of
the square itself at diminishing scalesa grids really a fractal in this case.
If wed divided our square along diagonals, wed approach a version of the
Blombos Cave pattern. We could superimpose a square on the diagonals,
then draw a large central triangle facing up, and repeat rotating 90 degrees
each timethats getting interesting. But we could also remove some of the
lines to reveal a sparser star shape.
Lets go back to our simple armature, and take it in another direction by
drawing a central diamond. Next, by removing the squares and some of
the diagonals we get a very common patterna diamond in a square. If we
add back in the lines we took out, were back to this pattern. If we add the
vertical and horizontal quarters, essentially a 4 4 grid, we get this. And if
we add the missing diagonal to each small square, we get this. By removing
the horizontals and verticals, we get a pattern of small diamonds. And we
might draw staggered squares within this grid of diamonds. By repeating
the squares in the corners at a diminished scale, the pattern gets even more
elaborate.
309

Putting tiles one next to the other is referred to as tessellation, and we can
tessellate any of these patternsfrom a fairly simple one like this to a more
complex one, like this. All we have to do is to repeat the lines in each grid
unit. With certain patterns, some lines may go through multiple grid units.
Once you get a sense of how the pattern works over a 2 2, 3 3, or 4 4
group, you can often draw across the grid units to create the pattern in a
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it to say here that assigning value or color to a grid or pattern will bring out
different groupings of shapes and different object and ground relationships.
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color to the more complex one. Here, the linear pattern is the same, but Ive
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The red centers now project more; thats because the blue central squares are
more like the ground color. Thats foreshadowing a discussion well have
about the importance of color contrast in reading visual hierarchies.
We can make one shape or group of shapes feel more like a positive, and
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through a consideration of value and color. Incidentally, since our simpler
and more complex patterns are based on the same underlying grid, we can
superimpose one on the other to get an even more complex one. Here, the
light color version; here, the darker. Like I said, it can get complex pretty
quickly.
Stripping out the value and color for the moment, what weve done so far is
nothing more than connecting points within a squarelike when we drew
the armature of our rectangle. A good way to get started with pattern is to
draw on top of simple gridded graph paper. If you dont have any around the
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search engine and look at the image results. Drag some to your desktop, print
them out, and youre set to go. Either way, draw some patterns now. And if
you cant help yourself, and want to throw in some value or color, go ahead.
For color, colored pencils are great; so dive in. And since you know how to
draw circles and ellipses, you could try curvilinear shapes like these in your
patterns, too.
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Transferring a pattern to a perspectival grid is a matter of remembering the

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connected points in an upright square. Now well connect the same points
in a foreshortened square. For the simpler pattern, Ill use four grid units as
construction lines to draw the central diamond in the pattern. I note that the
diagonals of the diamond will extend over multiple grid unitsthis means
I dont have to draw each diamond individually. Instead, I can draw long
diagonals cutting across underlying grid.
If I were doing a value drawing I could follow my basic plan here, then Id
erase my construction lines to reveal my pattern in perspective. If I wanted
to use the more elaborate pattern overlaid on the simpler one, Id draw it in
the same way. Itd take some time and care, but it involves nothing more
than connecting lines within the perspectival grid. And I could apply color,
too.
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value and color in relation to the drawings overall hierarchy. Id also be
thinking about atmospheric perspective in this regard. Id likely want to tune
down both the value contrasts and the saturations as we moved back in space.
Once youve created some patterns, take out your drawing of the gridded
room. Look through the pattern studies you just did; apply the best ones to
different planes of the room. And dont be shy about drawing ellipses.
Youre just about ready to take on a complex drawing projectits a
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measurable space. The underdrawings a fully gridded room, the grid units
are foreshortened squares. The lines which structure the drawing will be
of three primary types: horizontals to express width, verticals to express
height, and diagonals to express depth. Of course, you could use curvilinear
structures, too.
Lets take a look at some excellent examples from my students at the
University of Washington. Before we do, I should note that planning went
into these drawings. We used small gestural compositional studies to move
through compositional ideas before starting the larger scale drawings. And

311

ZHOOWDONDERXWWKDWDVSHFWRIWKHSURMHFWDELWODWHU%XWUVWOHWVWDNHDORRN
at the drawings, themselves. I think it will whet your appetite for the project.
Some individuals take this as an opportunity to construct a version of
a normative roomhere a kitchen, or a bedroom. Others build a more
imagined kind of room. This example takes real advantage of the way
pattern can enliven plane. In this drawing, we have both an interior and an
exteriora seascapewhere you see the horizon. Heres another, a bit more
fanciful, where we also get the open water and our horizon through windows
on both the right and left walls. Others yet, combine diverse elements. Here
again, we have pattern melded with the grid. We have curvilinear structures,
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and a basket of full of laundry.
You can construct all kinds of things. Here, arched windows and doorways,
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connecting rooms on both the right and the left. This is an interpretation of
the project that takes us outdoors and imagines the space in an alley. The
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back all the way to the vanishing point. And in this very playful response,
ladders take us up and, down and in and out through space.
Even though were into a new topic, perspective, we want to hold onto all
the things weve already studied. Youll note that each of the drawings here
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is consciously composed. So you want to ask yourself where your drawing
begins and ends. What kind of rectangle is it? How does it relate to your
subject? Here, we get a peaceful and orderly bedroom. Beds the focal point.
Horizontal format expresses rest and stability. Good choice. Here, we get
dynamic ladders popping in and out in space; the vertical format makes
perfect sense.
And you want to remember to employ a compositional strategy. Give
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relate to the particular rectangle, and give consideration to the depth of the

312

constructed space. Here, we have a relatively shallow space in the room;

here, a very great depth indeed.
Youll also want to consider line weight. Youll have to make many
construction lines, and you wont want them gumming up the works. And
youll also want to make sure to use line to reinforce the sense of spatial
depth, and to create a hierarchy of focal points and focal areas. And just
because were using perspective; doesnt mean the lines should retain a ruled
quality. Here, the cushion is drawn with a line quality that expresses the
cushions irregular form. No reason not to use different line attributes, they
can be very expressive.
Remember, everything is made up of planeswindows, door handles,
pictures on walls. There are lots of small planes, and they relate to the
vanishing point just as the large planes do. Here, a window has multiple
planes, all seen from below. All the boring things in our lives have planes.
Here, wall molding seen from above, and door jambs, and bed and table legs
have planes too.
So for you to get started, I want to show you how we can integrate quick
gestural drawing with what weve learned about linear perspective. We want
to be able to use gesture so we can move through different compositional
ideas rapidly, just as weve done in prior drawings, like Rembrandtno
pressure there.
Well imagine a room, but this method could equally be applied to a
landscape, cityscape, or other spatial situation. First we want to imagine
WKHPDMRUSODQHVLQWKHURRPEDFNZDOORRUFHLOLQJDQGWZRVLGHZDOOV
Then, imagine the rectangle they formthe format shape. For example, I
FRXOGURXJKLQDIDLUO\WDOOEDFNZDOO7KHQZLGHGLDJRQDOVIRUWKHRRUSODQH
These diagonals project to my vanishing point. The vanishing point reveals
the top angles of both side walls. At this point, I could begin to approximate
the shape of the drawing itself. Youll notice, Im thinking perspectively, but
Im drawing gesturally.
Now, I might want to look at some variationsa wider back wall and a
higher vanishing point, or the inverse, or I could equally try moving the
313

vanishing point to the left or right. While Im doing this, Im thinking more
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WUHHVDGRRUZD\DFDUSHWDFHLOLQJ[WXUHDODPSDERRNFDVHDSDLQWLQJ
hung above the bookcase; molding on the walls; and maybe a desk in the
middle of the room; and on the desk, a laptop; a trash can, and a stool by the
desk.
And Id begin to think about my grid unit. In the last drawing we moved
from the ground line back into space, you could equally start at the back
wall. Ask yourself how high the horizon is. Is it three feet? Six feet?thats
the viewers eye level. Once youve made this determination, you divide
the vertical distance between the horizon and the edge where the wall meets
WKH RRU LQWR WKLV QXPEHU RI XQLWVWKDWV \RXU VFDOH 'R WKLV IUHHKDQG
JHVWXUDOO\ GRHVQW KDYH WR EH SHUIHFW \RXOO ZRUN RXW WKH VSHFLFV ZKHQ
you scale up. You can also divide the bottom edge of the back wall into these
units, and project them forward to the ground line using the vanishing point.
7KDWVDERXWDOOZHKDYHWLPHIRUZHUHJRLQJWRQLVKWKLVGLVFXVVLRQLQWKH
next lecture.

314

Linear Perspective: Advanced Topics

Lecture 19

n this lecture, well conclude our discussion of gesture drawing applied

to compositional studies using perspective. Youll also learn how you
can relate your knowledge of linear perspective to drawing freehand,
from observation. In this course, we separate topics, such as perspective, in
order to be able to study them closely. But each artist synthesizes all the
pieces weve been learning in his or her own way. Also in this lecture, well
LQWURGXFH WKH EDVLFV RI WZRSRLQW SHUVSHFWLYH PHWKRGV IRU GHDOLQJ ZLWK
VORSLQJSODQHVDQGWKUHHSRLQWSHUVSHFWLYH

Applying Gesture Drawing to Compositional Studies

The goal in using gesture drawing in compositional studies for the constructed
space drawing project is to run through a number of different ideas with the
JRDORIQGLQJWKHEHVWFRPSRVLWLRQ,QVXFKVPDOOGUDZLQJV\RXGRQWQHHG
much detail, but you should be able to answer several key questions:
z

:KDWLVWKHURRPOLNH":KDWGRWKHYHPDMRUSODQHVORRNOLNH"

Where is the horizon? Is it high, mid, or low?

Wheres the vanishing point? Is it right, left, or centered?

What is the drawings format shapehorizontal, vertical, or square?

Whats the approximate scale of the grid measure at the baseline?

Once youve answered these questions, measure your compositional sketch

and scale up the important measures, including the format shape, the position
of the horizon, and the vanishing point. Follow the procedures outlined
earlier to grid the drawing, and youre ready to make the drawing itself.
,I \RX ZDQW WR XVH VSHFLF NLQGV RI ZLQGRZV GRRUV IXUQLWXUH RU RWKHU
objects in your drawing, search in books or online for images and data. Then,
315

project what youve learned about the planar nature of the objects into the
VSHFLFSHUVSHFWLYDOSRVLWLRQDQGLQWKHVSHFLFVFDOH\RXZDQW
Drawing from Observation Using Linear Perspective
For most of this section on linear perspective, weve been plotting things out
ZLWKWULDQJOHDQG7VTXDUHEXWZHYHMXVWVHHQWKDWZHFDQDOVRLQFRUSRUDWH
perspectival thinking with gestural drawing from our imaginations. Such
thinking can be useful when applied to freehand drawing from observation
and for a range of subjects, including still lifes, interiors, and landscapes.
It helps you quickly see and understand whats going on in complex visual
situations.

Photos.com/Thinkstock.

Lecture 19Linear Perspective: Advanced Topics

$ JRRG ZD\ WR SUDFWLFH WKLV DW UVW LV WR SLFN VXEMHFWV WKDW KDYH D FOHDU
perspectival recession. Next time youre on a plane or train, take out a
sketchbook. Notice how the seats and overhead bins are all united by
diagonals moving toward a vanishing point. Or try sketching outdoors,
looking down a street. Youll see how the cars parked along the curb relate to
the same vanishing point as the curb, sidewalks, and other elements.

Find your eye level in the drawing; thats the horizon. Try to see how all
the things around you could be conceived of as blocks, prisms, cylinders,
cones, and spheres, all related to a ground plane and the horizon. Locate the
316

vanishing point or points. Draw with horizontals, verticals, and diagonals

related to those points. Start with large structures and move from the general
WRWKHVSHFLFDV\RXUEDVLFPHDVXUHVDUHVHW
Two-Point Perspective
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great for describing a receding hallway or a room where the back wall is
parallel and the side walls are perpendicular to the picture plane. Its equally
useful for describing such objects as blocks in a similar spatial orientation,
with a face that is parallel to the picture plane and other surfaces that are
perpendicular. Vertical lines describe height; horizontals describe width;
and diagonals, receding to a common vanishing point on the horizon,
describe depth.
But if the object is positioned so that it no longer has a face that is parallel
WRWKHSLFWXUHSODQHRQHSRLQWSHUVSHFWLYHZLOOQRWZRUN9HUWLFDOVZLOOVWLOO
express the height of the room or block, but the horizontals are gone. We
are left with diagonals shooting back in two different directions: one to a
ULJKWYDQLVKLQJSRLQWDQGRQHWRDOHIWYDQLVKLQJSRLQW,QRWKHUZRUGVRQH
DQG WZRSRLQW SHUVSHFWLYH GHVFULEH REMHFWV WKDW DUH SRVLWLRQHG GLIIHUHQWO\
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SRLQWSHUVSHFWLYHZHOOUHSHDWDQH[HUFLVHZHGLGIRURQHSRLQWSHUVSHFWLYH
drawing nine blocks.
Sloping Planes
8VLQJ RQHSRLQW DQG WZRSRLQW SHUVSHFWLYH ZHUH DEOH WR GHVFULEH REMHFWV
with planes that are parallel, perpendicular, or angled to the picture plane.
We can also describe an object that is parallel or perpendicular to the ground
plane. But if we tip the object at an angle, we need a new set of procedures.
The tipped plane of an object is called a sloping or incline plane.
Weve actually already drawn an object with multiple sloping planes, though
we didnt speak about it in those terms. This was the open box we drew in an
earlier lecture. Well draw a similar box now, but this time, instead of relying
on observation, well use what we know about linear perspective and sloping
planes to construct the drawing.

317

Lecture 19Linear Perspective: Advanced Topics

Three-Point Perspective
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DKHDGWKDWKLVRUKHUFHQWHUOLQHRIYLVLRQLVSDUDOOHOWRDDWJURXQGSODQH,Q
FRQWUDVWWKUHHSRLQWSHUVSHFWLYHDVVXPHVWKDWWKHYLHZHULVWLOWLQJKLVRUKHU
head, looking up or down.
$VZLWKWZRSRLQWSHUVSHFWLYHLQWKUHHSRLQWSHUVSHFWLYHZHKDYHULJKWDQG
left vanishing points to express width or depth. But we also have a third
vanishing point expressing height. Well practice this form of perspective by
drawing a block as if were looking down at it.

Suggested Reading
Loomis, Successful Drawing, Perspective the Artist Should Know,
pp. 2966.
Mendelowitz, Faber, and Wakeman, A Guide to Drawing, Perspective and
Forms in Space, pp. 171183.

318

Linear Perspective: Advanced Topics

Lecture 19Transcript
Well start off here with the conclusion of our discussion regarding applying
gesture drawing to compositional studies using perspective, the kinds of
studies necessary to make drawings like the student examples we looked at
in the previous lecture. Youll also learn how you can relate your knowledge
of linear perspective to drawing freehand from observation.
We separate things out, like perspective, in order to be able to study them
up close, but each artist synthesizes all the pieces weve been learning about
in his or her own way. Lastly, in this lecture, Ill introduce the basics of
WZRSRLQW SHUVSHFWLYH KRZ ZH GHDO ZLWK VORSLQJ SODQHV DQG JLYH D EULHI
LQWURGXFWLRQWRWKUHHSRLQWSHUVSHFWLYH
6R OHWV QLVK XS RXU GLVFXVVLRQ RI JHVWXUDO FRPSRVLWLRQDO VWXGLHV IRU
perspective drawings. The idea is to run through a number of different ideas
IRUDGUDZLQJZLWKWKHJRDORIQGLQJWKHEHVWFRPSRVLWLRQ,QWKHVHVPDOO
drawings you dont need much detail, but you want to answer several key
TXHVWLRQV:KDWVWKHURRPOLNH":KDWGRWKHYHPDMRUSODQHVORRNOLNH"
Wheres the horizon located? Is it high, mid, low? Wheres that vanishing
point? Is it right, left, or in the center? Whats the drawings format shape?
Is it horizontal, is it vertical, is it square? Whats the approximate scale of
the grid measure at the base line? And, of course, you want to determine the
subject of your drawing. All the other considerations should relate to this.
Once youve answered these questions, you measure the compositional
sketch you made and scale up the important measures. Start with your format
shape. Do the same with the positions of the horizon and vanishing point.
Next, you could draw the back wall: Using a ruler, divide the vertical
distance between the horizon and the bottom edge of the back wall into units.
These units represent the eye height of the viewer in feet. You now have your
scale and you can grid the back wall. And, remember, we want to keep the
grid light and thinthis is all construction line. Its generally preferable to
adjust the back walls shape so you dont come out with fractional grid units

319

on either axis. Then, you can now project your diagonals forward along the
ground plane.
<RXFDQDVVHVVWKHUVWURZRIJULGXQLWVIURPWKHEDFN7DNHLQWRDFFRXQW
the square grid on the back wall and the height of the horizon in making
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IRUZDUG LQ VSDFHWR QG VXFFHVVLYH URZV ,WV RIWHQ SUHIHUDEOH WR PRGLI\
the exact placement of the ground line or bottom edge of the format shape to
DFFRPPRGDWHDQDOIXOOURZRIWLOHV
Once you have these two planes, project your sidewalls and ceiling, then
grid the rest of your drawing. With a completed grid, youre ready to make
WKHGUDZLQJLWVHOI,IWKHUHDUHVSHFLFNLQGVRIZLQGRZVGRRUVRUIXUQLWXUH
or other objects you want to use in your drawing, search in books or online
for images to get data. Then, project what you learn about the planar nature
RIWKHREMHFWVLQWRWKHVSHFLFSHUVSHFWLYDOSRVLWLRQDQGLQWKHVSHFLFVFDOH
you want.
You now have the tools to dig into this project and create a believable
environment from your imagination. You may want to go back and take
another look at the student examples for this project. You could even make
small gesture studies based on those drawingsit will sharpen your sense
about how gesture relates to linear perspective.
For most of this section on linear perspective, weve been plotting things
RXWZLWKWULDQJOHDQG7VTXDUHEXWZHYHMXVWVHHQWKDWZHFDQLQFRUSRUDWH
perspectival thinking with gestural drawing from our imaginations. And it
can also be really useful applied to freehand drawing from observation, and
for a range of subjectsstill lifes, interiors, landscapes; its useful for all of
this. The knowledge helps you quickly see and understand whats going on
in complex visual situations.
$ JRRG ZD\ WR SUDFWLFH WKLV DW UVW LV WR SLFN VXEMHFWV WKDW KDYH D FOHDU
perspectival recession. Next time youre on a plane or train, take out a
sketchbook. Youll see how all the seats and overhead bins are all united
by diagonals moving toward a vanishing point. Or try sketching outdoors

320

looking down a street. Youll see how the cars parked along the curb all
relate to the same vanishing point as the curb, sidewalks, and other elements.
Find your eye level in the drawingthats the horizon. Try to see how all
the things around you could be conceived of as blocks, prisms, cylinders,
cones, and spheres, all related to a ground plane and the horizon. Locate
the vanishing point or points; draw with horizontals, verticals, and diagonals
related to those points. Start with large structures and move from the general
WRWKHVSHFLFDV\RXUEDVLFPHDVXUHVDUHVHW
<RXOOUHPHPEHUHDUOLHU,EULH\LQWURGXFHGOLQHDUSHUVSHFWLYHDVWKHQDO
tool that would help us understand proportions. Well, lets take one of the
observational drawings we did and see how we could have applied linear
perspective to do just that.
In an earlier lecture we drew a deep room using Albertis velo using grid
FRRUGLQDWHV :H FRXOG HTXDOO\ KDYH DSSURDFKHG WKLV XVLQJ RQHSRLQW
perspective.
This is one of the hallways I use for this project at the University of
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FODVVURRPZKHUH,WHDFK,IZHXVHGOLQHDUSHUVSHFWLYHWRGUDZWKLVRXUUVW
goal would be to locate the vanishing point and the horizon, and thats easy
enoughany two receding diagonals will yield this information.
Heres how. Using our clock hands tool, we can measure a diagonal receding
in space. Then, either by eyeballing or using a standard unit of measure, we
can place the angle in our drawing. Well make sure to extend it back beyond
the end of the wall, because thats where this angle will reveal the vanishing
points location.
Using the same method well add a second diagonal. Where the two
diagonals intersect is the vanishing point, and that reveals the horizons
height. We can check for accuracy by holding a pencil horizontally in front
of our eyes with one eye closed, well look at the alignment of the horizon
in the drawing, and compare it with what we see in the hallway. Looking at

321

the negative shape that occurs between the horizon and the two diagonals is
a good test, too.
The vanishing point will reveal all the angles of the receding diagonals on
the right wall. To draw them, all we have to do is locate their point of origin
along the right edge of the drawings format. To do that, we could eyeball
the distances in relation to the horizon, or we could use a standard unit of
measure.
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termination of the diagonals. Alternately, we could have drawn the vertical
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terminations of the diagonals and, lining these points up with the vanishing
point, bring lines forward to the formats edge.
Once we have one wall, we could use level lines to identify the placement
of events along the vertical axis of the second wall. The vanishing point, in
combination with points of origin or termination, will give us the information
we need to draw the receding diagonals. We can proceed the same way to
locate the lights on the ceiling, and the tiles on the ceiling, and even the
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drawing. Redrawing the room you did using the grid could be a good place
to start. Another good subject is a road, either in the country or a city, going
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perspectival view. This will really solidify your ability to use perspective in
a wide variety of ways.
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great for describing spaces like a receding hallway or room where the back
wall is parallel to the picture plane and the walls are perpendicular to the
picture plane, and its equally useful for describing objects like these boxes.
Like the room, they each have a face parallel to the picture plane and other
surfaces perpendicular, all at right angles. Vertical lines describe their height,

322

horizontals their width, and diagonals receding to a common vanishing point

on the horizon their depth.
But, lets rotate the block on the left. In contrast to the block on the right,
theres no longer a face parallel to the picture plane, and we wont be able to
GUDZLWXVLQJRQHSRLQWSHUVSHFWLYH9HUWLFDOVVWLOOH[SUHVVWKHEORFNVKHLJKW
so thats the same, but the horizontals are gonenow we just have diagonals
shooting back in two different directions. Lets see where they go.
One set of diagonals, three in all, vanish back to the right. That would be
the right vanishing point. The other three go back to the left. That would
EHWKHOHIWYDQLVKLQJSRLQW$QGWKLVDV\RXYHOLNHO\JXHVVHGLVWZRSRLQW
perspective. We use it to describe planes that are angled to the picture plane.
Both of the vanishing points are located on the already existing horizon, and
thats no surprise. Remember, the horizons not a place; its a function of
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perspective objects at the same time, and thats perfectly normal. We have
two boxes in different orientations: One is showing a face, the other an edge.
:H H[SHULHQFH WKLV DOO WKH WLPH <RX ZDON LQWR VRPHRQHV RIFH IRU D
meeting, youre looking straight ahead at them at their desk, you see the base
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perspective. Someone comes along and opens the refrigerator doorwhile
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Right now were seeing an equal amount of both the right and left sides of the
box. Lets rotate it slowly to the left. As we do, youll note that were seeing
less and less of the right face. And, as this happens, the diagonals and the two
vanishing points are being pulled to the left along the horizon. If we keep
JRLQJ WKH ULJKW SODQH GLVDSSHDUV DQG ZHUH EDFN LQ RQHSRLQW SHUVSHFWLYH
323

Rotate the other way, around to the right, and well see the inverse. We see
less and less of the left face. The diagonals and vanishing points move to
WKH ULJKW DORQJ WKH KRUL]RQ DQG QDOO\ WKH OHIW IDFH GLVDSSHDUV DQG ZHYH
UHWXUQHGWRRQHSRLQWSHUVSHFWLYH
Theres a factor I should mention that affects where the vanishing points will
be. As you move closer to an object the vanishing points move in toward the
object; as you move farther away, the opposite.
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room and the two boxes all share a common vanishing point: All the vertical
edges are parallel, all the horizontal edges are parallel, and all the diagonals
receding to the vanishing point represent edges that are parallel.
Now, lets rotate both the room and the box on the right to the left, and well
keep them parallel as they rotate. Youll note that they share right and left
vanishing points, and heres the principle: Objects that are parallel in nature
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WZRSRLQWSHUVSHFWLYH
Lets leave the room where it is but begin to rotate the box to the left. Now
its diagonals and vanishing point move to the leftwe see less of its right
plane and its no longer parallel to the walls in the room.
Finally, lets take the box on the left and rotate it so that we see more of its
right plane and less of its left plane. Now, none of the objects are parallel
each is angled differently and each object has its own set of two vanishing
points. If we reposition the boxes so that theyre parallel to the walls, all will
share the same two points.
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ORFDWLRQYLVjYLVWKHKRUL]RQLVPXFKOLNHZKDWZHHQFRXQWHUHGLQRQH
point. Here, we have two boxes below the horizon and we see a top plane
and two side planes. Throw another two identical boxes above the horizon
and now we see the bottom planes instead of the tops. Throw two more on
the horizon and all we see are the side planes.

324

So far weve been seeing the boxes as opaque structures. Lets make them
transparent and see whats going on inside. A box or block has 12 edges
four describe its width, four its height, and four its depth. Drawing with
OLQHZHQHHGOLQHVHJPHQWVWRGHVFULEHDWUDQVSDUHQWEORFN,QRQHSRLQW
perspective, vertical lines describe height, horizontals width, and diagonals
depth. And this is just what we see in Leonardos Last Supper.
,Q WZRSRLQW YHUWLFDOV VWLOO GHVFULEH KHLJKW EXW GLDJRQDOV FRQYHUJLQJ WR D
vanishing point on the right describe depth or width on the right side of that
object; diagonals converging to a point on the left, depth or width on that
side. And that accounts for most of the furniture in Van Goghs The Night
Caf.
The key to remember is that edges that are parallel in nature converge to
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WZRSRLQW:HOOGUDZQLQHWUDQVSDUHQWEORFNVWKUHHDERYHWKHKRUL]RQWKUHH
straddling the horizon, and three below.
Put a new sheet of paper on your drawing board in the landscape position.
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YDQLVKLQJSRLQWLVJHQHUDOO\ORFDWHGZLWKLQWKHIRUPDWVKDSH,QWZRSRLQW
its common for one or both points to be located outside the format shape. If
the points are too close together, you get distortion. This can mean doing a
smaller drawing in a larger page so that you can locate the vanishing points
outside the format shape. Another strategy is to attach several sheets on a
long drawing board or on a wall.
For this exercise, well place the right and left vanishing points at the far
ULJKWDQGOHIWHGJHVRIWKHKRUL]RQDWWKHYHUWLFDOHGJHVRIWKHSDJH,QWZR
point perspective, the closest part of a block to the picture plane is its edge,
so well start by drawing three vertical lines on the horizon to represent three
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WKHFHQWHUDWWKHLQFKPDUN:HOOSXWWKHRWKHUWZRYHLQFKHVDZD\RQ
either side. And well add three more verticals two inches above these, then
DQRWKHUWZRLQFKHVEHORZ/LJKWO\RQHDQGRQHTXDUWHULQFKHVWRWKHULJKW
and left of each of these three stacked verticals, well draw a long vertical
construction line.
325

Lets start with the vertical on the lower right. Turn this into a block.
From both the top and bottom, well draw diagonals back toward the right
vanishing point and stop at the vertical construction line. Then, draw the
vertical. Now, well repeat these steps going to the left vanishing point: top
WR YDQLVKLQJ SRLQW ERWWRP WR YDQLVKLQJ SRLQW DQG GHQH WKH GHSWK ZLWK D
vertical. From the top of the second vertical, well draw a line back toward
the right vanishing point, and from the far right vertical well draw one
going back to the left vanishing point and intersect the line we made in the
last step. We have an opaque block.
Lets turn it transparent. Remember to draw the interior with a lighter and
thinner line. From the right lower corner, well draw a line back toward
the left vanishing point. From the far left corner, well draw a line back to
the right vanishing point. If weve been accurate, a vertical extended from
their intersection should connect to the back corner of the block. With that
introduction, youre ready to draw the remaining blocks yourself. This is
what it should look like.
8VLQJRQHDQGWZRSRLQWSHUVSHFWLYHZHUHDEOHWRGHVFULEHDQREMHFWZLWK
planes that are parallel, perpendicular, or angled to the picture plane. We can
also describe objects that are parallel or perpendicular to the ground plane.
Now, thats a bit abstract, so lets take a look at an animated sheet of plywood
and see what this means.
Face forward, its parallel to the picture plane and parallel and perpendicular
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Now, were at an angle to the picture plane but still parallel and perpendicular
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LQRQHSRLQW5RWDWHDQGVWRSDQ\ZKHUHDQGZHOOEHLQHLWKHURQHRUWZR
SRLQW:HFRXOGDOVROD\LWDWRQWKHJURXQGURWDWHLWLQDQ\ZKLFKZD\DQG
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orientations of form in space, but the moment we tip the plywood up at an
angle, or down for that matter, we need a new set of procedures. We call
these kinds of planes sloping or incline planes. We encounter them as streets

326

going uphill or downhill, or pitched roofs, or ramps. These are all examples
of sloping planes.
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perspective. We can see its vanishing points on the horizon, right and left.
Lets leave the left front edge of the plywood on the ground but lift the rear
right edge up a bit. It becomes an ascending incline planeits sloping
upward to the right. Since it ascends to the right its sides will now vanish to
a point along a vertical line extending straight up from the right vanishing
point. This lines called a vertical trace. The point where the lines meet is
called the vertical trace point or vertical vanishing point. The back edge of
WKHVKHHWRISO\ZRRGZLOOVWLOOEHGHQHGE\WKHOHIWYDQLVKLQJSRLQW
As we lift the sheet of plywood further off the ground, the point where
its sides converge on the vertical trace moves higher and higher, and this
changes the diagonals of the edges of the plywood sheet. This will continue
until the sheet is perpendicular to the ground plane and were no longer
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continue past the vertical, we begin to descendwere sloping down. Were
far from the ground plane, so the sides of the panel will converge to a point
on the vertical trace way below the horizon. As the panel returns closer to the
ground, the vertical trace point climbs up the vertical trace until we return to
the ground plane and all vanishing points return to the horizon.
If we were to lift the rear left edge, the panel would now be sloping upwards
toward the left and its edges would converge on a vertical trace going through
the left vanishing point. As we continue to lift and then rotate the panel, we
see the same relationships play out here as we did when we inclined the
plane to the right.
Youve actually already drawn an object with multiple sloping planes, though
we didnt speak about it in those terms. It was the open box we drew in the
lecture that centered on proportion. Lets try something similar here. This is
what well draw, but this time, instead of relying on observation, well use
linear perspective to construct the drawing.

327

Start with your page in the landscape position and draw a horizon line seven
inches from the bottom of the page. Then, add right and left vanishing points
about a quarter of an inch from the right and left edges.
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RQHDQGWKUHHTXDUWHULQFKHVEHORZWKHKRUL]RQOLQH2QHDQGDKDOILQFKHV
to the right of this, draw a vertical to represent the width of the box on this
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back toward the right vanishing point. Stop at the vertical. Erase anything
you dont need.
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Then, from the centerline, draw the top and bottom edges of the left side
of the box receding toward the left vanishing point and stop at the vertical.
Erase anything extra. From the far right corner, vanish left. From the far left
corner, vanish right. And, again, erase anything you dont need. To complete
the boxs base, add a vertical in the boxs interior.
Now for our sloping planes. First well draw vertical traces above the right
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a vertical trace point six inches above the left vanishing point. Then, draw
from the rear left corners toward that point. We can eyeball the width and
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/HWV PRYH WR WKH IURQW ULJKW DS$GG D YHUWLFDO WUDFH SRLQW WKUHH LQFKHV
above the left vanishing point and project lines out to the left from the boxs
corners. Again, eyeball the width and draw a line to the right vanishing point
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the box, it would vanish to a point on the vertical trace below the horizon.
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also vanish to a point below the horizon.
/HWVPRYHWRWKHUHDUULJKWDS,WKLQN\RXJHWWKHLGHD$GGDYHUWLFDOWUDFH
SRLQWHLJKWLQFKHVDERYHWKHULJKWYDQLVKLQJSRLQWDQGGUDZWKDWDS$GG
DQRWKHUIRXULQFKHVDERYHWKHULJKWYDQLVKLQJSRLQWDQGGUDZWKHQDORQH
(UDVHZKHUHWKHDSVRYHUODSWKHER[DQG\RXUHGRQH

328

If you want rigorous results, drawing the horizon, the vertical traces, and
all the horizontal and vertical vanishing points will do the trick. But, once
youve done this a couple times, youll likely have a reasonable grasp of the
underlying principles governing these kind of planes, and for many purposes,
you can dispense with all the ruled construction lines. As you begin to get a
feel for this, you can eyeball where given edges should vanish. For many
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You could practice this by setting up a still life of two to three boxes with
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compositional sketches, decide on a point of view and format shape, then
make the drawing itself. Start with empirical perspective to get the essentials
located. Then, apply what weve just covered, but this time dont actually
draw all the construction lines, just try to imagine where theyd be, and draw
the edge of the boxes in relation to these imagined lines.
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viewers looking straight ahead, that the viewers center line of vision is
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our head looking up or looking down. Like in this early Superman cover.
Here, its as if were tilting our heads down, looking down from above.
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7KUHHSRLQWZRQWEHWRWDOO\IRUHLJQWR\RXLQIDFW\RXYHDOUHDG\GUDZQ
DQ REMHFW LQ WKUHHSRLQW SHUVSHFWLYH WKRXJK , GLGQW GHVFULEH LW WKDW ZD\
Its the box we drew in the lecture on proportion. We were looking down
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right and left vanishing point to express width or depth, but wed also have a
third vanishing point expressing height. In this case, the boxs vertical edges
appear to angle down toward a common point way below.
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block as if were looking down. Start with the page in the landscape position.
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Well draw a horizon one inch from the top of the page. Then, add vanishing
points about a quarter of an inch from the pages edges. Well make a small
329

mark two and a half inches below the horizon, centered in the page. This will
be the top front corner of the block.
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represent the boxs height. One and a half inches on either side of this, well
draw a light vertical construction line. From the blocks top front corner,
well draw diagonals back toward both the right and left vanishing points,
stopping at the vertical construction lines. Then, erase your construction
lines. From the line on the right well draw a diagonal toward the left
vanishing point and from the left to the right vanishing point.
Next, from the center bottom of the block, well draw lines back to the right
and left vanishing points. Now we need our third point. Well locate this
vanishing point one quarter of an inch from the bottom of the page and
centered in its width. From each corner well draw a diagonal down toward
the third vanishing point, stopping where we intersect the lower diagonal.
Youre done. And if you rotate your page 180 degrees, youll have an
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You could take some time to play with this page. Try blocks to the right
and left and, of course you could turn them into buildings or other objects.
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RUWZRSRLQWSHUVSHFWLYHDQGSODFHWKLQJVDERYHRUEHORZWKHKRUL]RQ$QG
historically, thats what many artists have done. In fact, I dont know of any
drawings by Leonardo, Raphael, Drer, Canaletto, Ingres, or Eakins that use
WKUHHSRLQWSHUVSHFWLYH$QGWKHUHDUHVRPHSUHWW\GUDPDWLFXVHVRIRQHSRLQW
perspective to achieve this, like this 17th century ceiling fresco in Florences
Pitti Palace by Agostino Mitelli.
Youve now done three major perspective drawings: the quad, the gridded
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to draw curvilinear forms and pattern in perspective. In this lecture, you
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all three drawings to apply your new knowledgeit should be a good bit of
fun.

330

This lecture concludes our investigation of line and youve learned a

tremendous amount about its complexities, but Im sure youre anxious to
learn about value, and light, and shade, and thats just where were going to
turn next.

331

Value: How Artists Use Value

Lecture 20

ll the drawings weve done thus far have been line drawings,
primarily because its easier to learn about proportion, measurement,
composition, and linear perspective when were just dealing with
line. But now, were ready to draw into all the areas between the lines. Well
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and color. Many people, when they think about value, think primarily about
shading. Although shading is one of the things that value is used for, its
only one among many. In this lecture, well take a comprehensive look at the
ways artists think about and use value.

Lecture 20Value: How Artists Use Value

A Nine-Step Value Scale

Value refers to neutral or achromatic tone. Chroma means color; thus,
achromatic means no color. These achromatic tones extend from the
brightest white, through intermediary grays, to black. The word value is also
used to describe the relative lightness or darkness of a color.
We know what black and white are. Gray, though, is a much grayer subject
area. Although we might describe something as light gray or dark gray, we
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JUD\E\XVLQJDYDOXHVFDOHVXFKDVWKHQLQHVWHSVFDOHVKRZQEHORZ

Value Palettes and Mood

Using the concept of a value scale, we can think about a drawing as existing
LQDVSHFLFUDQJHRIYDOXHDvalue palette. Drawings with values on the
light end of the scale are said to have high-key value; those with values on
the dark end are said to have low-key value; and those with values in the
332

central range have mid-key value. Of course, some drawings also use a full
range of value.
The choice of a tonal palette literally sets the tone for the drawing. It creates
the governing mood, sense of light, and time of day. Its at the heart of how
we experience the drawing on an emotional level.
The greater the value range in a drawings palette, the greater the opportunity
for high contrast. A palette of white and black will generally feel strong
and aggressive. The tighter the value range, the lower the opportunity for
contrast. A palette of four dark grays will feel much more subdued. A drawing
with white, black, and many of the steps in between can result in some high
contrast areas balanced by others that have much more gentle transitions.
Compositional Value
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of the importance of value as a key compositional tool. Value can divide
the page into large constituent compositional shapes. We can control the
viewers eye and create focal points and focal areas through value contrast.
All else being equal, viewers will focus on the area of highest contrast
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tools of drawing, including value contrast, to lead the viewer through your
composition. In other words, let your use of value reiterate what youve done
through placement, direction, choice of subject matter, and narrative intent.
Relative Value and Simultaneous Contrast
In looking at the value scale, you may have noticed that each square appears
to be a little darker on its left edge and a little lighter on its right edge.

This is an optical illusion and an instance of what is referred to as simultaneous

contrast. The left edge appears darker because its next to something lighter;
333

the right edge appears lighter because its next to something darker. White
will also appear brighter as its ground becomes darker and brightest when set
against black. Black will appear darker as its ground gets lighter and darkest
when set against white.
We experience value relatively, which means that we wont know how any
value really appears until we see it in contextnext to all abutting values.
Imagine that youre drawing a still life of two bottles on a table in front of a
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much more sense to look at the central area, where we see the interior sides
of the bottles and where those two sides meet the intersection of the wall and
table. If you can give an indication of what happens at this set of intersections,
youll be able to understand how the different values affect one another.

Lecture 20Value: How Artists Use Value

Developing such a key area can give you a clear idea of the overall value range
or value palette in a drawing. Based on this, you can lay in general values for
the back wall, table, and bottles. In this way, you see all the value relatively
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Another good practice is to work from the back to the front in a drawing
because whatever is behind the main subject or objectssuch as a wall
must be overlapped to truly feel as if it is behind. The same thing is true
for whatever is underneath the main subject or objects, such as a table; it
must be overlapped to feel underneath the objects. This means that the actual
graphite or charcoal marks and smudges that the bottles are drawn with
should overlap the graphite or charcoal of the wall, not vice versa. Beginners
who dont do this often wind up with a halo of light around their objects.
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because theyre afraid to mar the edges of what theyve drawn, they stop the
value of the wall or table short of the objects edge. This makes the wall and
the spatial environment feel unbelievable and discontinuous.
In most cases, if you develop the habit of working from back to front, the
overlaps of edge will work to your advantage. Once youve found the general
value palette by putting value into a juncture where key edges meet, go to the
largest plane in deep space, such as the wall, then address the tabletop, and
334

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DGGLWLRQWKHZDOOVWDEOHVRRUVDQGVLPLODUODUJHSODQHVRIWHQDFFRXQWIRUWKH
ODUJHVWVKDSHVLQWKHGUDZLQJDQGLWVPXFKHDVLHUWRDWWHQGWRWKHLUYDOXHVUVW
Space: Atmospheric Perspective
In an earlier lecture, we spoke about atmospheric or aerial perspective. We
saw how, on a light to mid ground, dark marks and shapes tend to advance in
space, while lighter, fainter marks and shapes tend to recede from the picture
plane. Another way to say this is that events of greater value contrast will
tend to project forward in space. Those of lesser contrast will tend to recede.
As with line, much of the art here involves balancing a compositional or
hierarchical use of value with a spatial one.
The Effects of Light on Nominal Value
Weve spoken about many of the big picture uses of value in drawing and
can now turn to value as it relates to objects. When we look at things around
us, we identify some as lighter and others as darker. Wed likely agree that
a white shirt is lighter than a black shirt. This is true under what might be
termed normal light conditions. An objects value under these conditions
is called its nominal value.
However, light affects nominal value. Put the same black shirt in front of a
strong light, and the planes receiving the light will become light gray. If the
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even appear close to white. Thus, although objects have a given nominal
value, their actual value is a function of light, and thats compounded by
the objects surface qualities. Because of this dependence on light, the range
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contributing to perceived value in this regard are the strength of the light
source, its distance from the object, and its angle and direction.
The Direction of Light
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dimensional is light. Ambient and diffuse lighting reveals little planar
change. Similarly, a light source directly behind a subject produces a
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335

front of the subject also tends to minimize the appearance of planar changes
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Lecture 20Value: How Artists Use Value

David Brody.

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breaks the object into distinct planes: light ones facing the light and darker
ones turned away from the light. Light coming from the side produces
chiaroscuro OLJKWGDUN :KHQ REMHFWV KDYH ERWK OLJKW DQG GDUN SODQHV
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dark to imitate the effect of light is a dependable way to create the illusion of
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Artists generally describe the passage of light over form in steps, such as the
nine listed below:

336

Highlight: the brightest area

Light: a broader light area surrounding the highlight

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Penumbra: the beginning (lighter part) of the form shadow

Core of the shadow, or umbra: darkest part of the form shadow

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onto the object

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onto itself

Cast shadow: occurs when the object blocks light rays from
reaching a plane behind it

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Artists dont always use nine steps of value. Some use fewer, and some use
even more gradations. However, thinking about these nine steps gives us a
reasonable reference for analyzing whats going on with light on objects in
nature. Its also a useful template for analyzing value and light in drawings
and paintings. And its extremely useful conceptually when drawing from
your imagination.
When we draw observationally, we wont always see light and shadow
divided up into these nine steps. That will depend on the light source or
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Cast shadows can be extremely varied. In strong sunlight, for instance,
shadows appear uniformly dark, but in very diffuse light, shadows can
be dim. The appearance and quality of cast shadow also depend on the
height of the light source, its direction, its intensity, and its proximity to
the object.
Weve seen how light plays out on a sphere, an object with a continuous
surface. In contrast, a block is discontinuous, giving us clear edges at each
plane change. Note that each of the planes has a much greater uniformity
of value than the continuous plane of the sphere, though the side plane
evidences a clear shift from lighter to darker as it recedes from the light
source.

337

 David Brody.

Lecture 20Value: How Artists Use Value

Steps of Light in Drawings and Paintings

If we understand the way light moves over a continuously curving surface
and the way it moves over a faceted surface, we have the basics to apply to
most of the things we see around us. Spheres and spheroid objects, such as
eggs, bowls, and breasts, take light in a graduated way. When we draw these
kinds of forms, we modulate the value with greater continuity. In contrast,
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with chiseled features, retain a much greater consistency of value within
each plane. Many artists actively use these kinds of geometric forms as a
means of conceiving of the way light affects the things they want to draw.

Suggested Reading
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DQGVKDGH
Pumphrey, The Elements of Art, Value and Color, pp. 147161.

338

Value: How Artists Use Value

Lecture 20Transcript
Congratulations, youve made it to Lecture 20 and now have a solid
grounding in many of the most important aspects of drawing, things like
proportion, measurement, composition, and linear perspective. And youve
also had a great deal of experience using line. In fact, all the drawings weve
GRQHVRIDUKDYHEHHQOLQHGUDZLQJV7KDWVEHFDXVHLQWKHVHUVWVWDJHVRI
learning to draw, were trying to understand many thingseverything weve
covered so farand its easy to do this with line. Much simpler to move a
couple lines around than large, dark masses of charcoal or areas of color.
But now youre ready to draw into all the areas between the lines. Well do
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QDOO\ZLWKFRORU
Many people, when they think about value, think primarily about shading.
And while shadings one of the things values used for, its only one among
many. In this lecture, well take a comprehensive look at the ways artists
think about using value.
6ROHWVGHQHWKHWHUP9DOXHUHIHUVWRQHXWUDORUDFKURPDWLFWRQH&KURPD
means color. So, achromatic means no color. These achromatic tones extend
from the brightest white, through intermediary grays, to the darkest black.
The word values also used to describe the relative lightness or darkness of
a color. For example, a yellow lemon has a relatively light value; a purple
eggplant, a dark one.
We all know what black and white are. Gray though is, well, a much grayer
subject. While we might describe something as light gray or dark gray, we
GRQWXVXDOO\JHWPXFKPRUHVSHFLFWKDQWKDW%XWDUWLVWVTXDQWLI\WKHJUD\
They do this using a value scale, like this one. We have two givens, our
end points: white and black. Theres nothing lighter and nothing darker. Our
grays exist between these two limits. In this example, we have seven equal
steps, nine steps of value in all.
If youve studied music, the idea of a scale will be familiar. We could
start on a C and arrive at a C one octave up in many different ways. We
339

could traverse the distance in 7 notesa diatonic scaleor in 12 tonesa

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6LPLODUO\WKHUHDUHGLIIHUHQWYDOXHVFDOHV,YHVHHQVWHSVFDOHVDQGVWHS
scales, among others. All will work. But Ive found that 7 steps is a little
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scale for many years. Right now, its enough to grasp the concept of a value
scale. Later, well draw one.
Using the concept of a value scale, we can think about a drawing as existing
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the values on the light end of the scale. We call this high key value.
This drawing by William Bailey is a good exampleall very light. By
removing the color, we realize that the lightest valuethe value of the wall
above the objectsis between a one and a two on our value scale. And the
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WKLVGUDZLQJVFRQVWUXFWHGXVLQJWKUHHDQGDKDOIVWHSVRIYDOXHRQWKHOLJKW
end: high key.
Conversely, we could imagine the same drawing using values on the dark end
of the scale. That would be an example of low key value. Or, we could stay
mostly on the dark end, but with an event or two of light, like this drawing
by Seurat. This drawings also on toned paper, so the value on the light end is
limited here, too. We could also make a drawing using only the values in the
central range. That would be called mid key value. Or, we could use a full
range of value, like in the Lundin.
The choice of the tonal palette literally sets the tone for the drawing. It
creates the governing mood, sense of light, and time of day. Its at the heart
of how we experience the drawing on an emotional level. If you begin to pay
attention to this, youll see this principle used in everything from greeting
cards to advertising to movies. The musical corollary extends here, too. If
I compose a piece of music using a major scale, it will have one emotional
quality. Use a minor scale, another. High in the treble clef, one quality; low
in the bass, another.
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Well discuss this aspect of value at greater length down the road. Here, Id
like you to note that the same subject and composition, even a simple block,
will feel markedly different in different tonal palettes. The greater the value
range in the drawings palette, the greater the opportunity for high contrast.
A palette of white and black will generally feel strong and aggressive. The
tighter the value range, the lower the opportunity for contrasta palette of
four dark grays will feel much more subdued. A drawing with white, black,
DQGPDQ\RIWKHVWHSVLQEHWZHHQFDQUHVXOWLQDGUDZLQJZLWKVRPHKLJK
contrast areas balanced by others that have more gentle transitions.
This means shading individual elements has to be considered contextually
within a given palette. And as well see next, to make visual sense, this has
WRKDSSHQLQUHODWLRQWRWKHIRFDOKLHUDUFK\RIWKHGUDZLQJ:KLOHPRVWQRQ
artists are aware of shading, theyre generally unaware of the importance
of value as a key compositional tool. Lets see how this works, how value
divides a page into large constituent compositional shapes.
Squint for a moment at this Rembrandt. The touch of the brush is beautiful
and there are many subtle changes of value in the landscape and sky. But
there are two large shapes of value that structure the drawing, more or less
like an envelopea light one above, a darker one below. We control the
viewers eye and create focal points and focal areas through value contrast.
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primary focal area in this drawing is located where the light shape meets the
dark onewhere the trees meet the sky.
Heres a drawing by Francois Boucher. Its called Les Crpesthats what
the womans cooking. Theres a lot going on here compositionally. We
have a long format with stresses at the vertical thirds. Theres a stress at the
horizontal half, at the top of the womans head; another at the vertical half,
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7KHJXUHVDUHJURXSHGLQDPRGLHGWULDQJOH7KLVKXJVWKRVHDOOLPSRUWDQW
center diagonals that cross at the main charactersthe womanshead:
dead center.

341

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is dominant because the value contrast is compounded by other factors: Its
in the center, both topographically and in spatial depth; it also gets those
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more attention to people than windows.
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and this is a good way to start thinking about using value compositionally.
Determine whats most important and use the tools of drawing, including
value contrast, to lead the viewer through your composition. Let your use
of value reiterate what youve done through placement, direction, choice of
subject matter, and narrative intent.
Lets take a look at the curtain and cupboard at the back of the room. Plenty
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life on the cupboards shelves, but this is all low contrast. These are all close
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to seven range.
By using value contrast hierarchically, we can lead the viewer through a
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so on. This is the same principle you applied to line weight and line contrast
earlier in the course.
While looking at the value scale earlier, you may have noticed that each
square appears to be a little lighter on its right edge and a little darker on its
left. This is an optical illusionits an effect called simultaneous contrast.
The left edge appears darker because its next to something lighter. On the
right, it appears lighter because its next to something darker. White will
appear brighter as its ground becomes darker, and brightest when set against
black. Black will appear darker as its ground gets lighter, and darkest when
set against white. We experience value relatively. We wont really know
how any value appears until we see it in context, until we see it next to all
abutting values.
342

Lets say were drawing a still life: two bottles on a table in front of a wall.
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Given values relative nature, it makes much more sense to look at the
central area where we see the left side of the bottle on the right, the right side
of the bottle on the left, and where these two edges meet the intersection of
the wall and the table.
If you can give yourself an indication of what happens at this set of
intersections, youll be able to understand how the different values affect
one another. Developing a key area like this can give you a clear idea of the
overall value range or value palette in the drawing. Based on this, you can
lay in general values for the back wall, table, and bottles. Now youre seeing
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from a solid base.
Another good practice is to work from the back, forward. Thats because the
thing behind the objects, the wall, has to be overlapped to really feel behind
the objects; same for the table to feel underneath the bottles. This means that
the actual graphite or charcoal marks and smudges that the bottles are drawn
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Beginners who dont do this often wind up with a halo of light around their
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stop the value of the wall or table short of the objects edge. This makes the
wall and the spatial environment feel unbelievable and discontinuous.
In most cases, if you develop the habit of working from back to front, the
overlaps of edge will work to your advantage. Once youve found the general
value palette by putting value into a juncture where key edges meet, go to
the largest plane in deep spacein this example, the wall. Then address the
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for the largest shapes in the drawing, too. Values relative, so attend to their
YDOXHUVWPXFKHDVLHUWKDWZD\

343

In an earlier lecture, we spoke about atmospheric or aerial perspective. We

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space, while lighter, fainter marks and shapes tend to recede from the picture
plane.
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View of Rouen in this regard. Though separated by 600 years, and based in
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greater value contrasts and clearer edges in the foreground, progressively
diminish the value contrasts and clarity of edge as the space recedes.
As with line, a lot of the art here involves balancing a compositional or
hierarchical use of value with a spatial one. And, remember, a light form
like a sphere will tend to advance in illusionistic space, especially on a mid
to dark ground. We could sum up this principle this way: higher contrast,
closer; lower contrast, farther away. But, if I have three depths of space and
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Weve spoken about many of the big picture uses of value in drawing and
can begin to focus on value as it relates to objects. When we look at things
around us, we identify some as lighter and others as darker. Wed likely
agree that a white shirt is lighter than a black shirt. And this is true under
what might be termed normal light conditions. Well call this the objects
nominal value. But, that same white shirt will appear dark in a dark room.
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dark surrounding it. Put the black shirt in front of a strong light, and the
planes receiving the light will become light gray. If a black shirt has a
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close to white.
So, while objects have a given nominal value, their actual values a function
of light, and thats compounded by the objects surface qualities. This is a
photo of a white sphere on a white tabletop in front of a white wall. But,
almost nothing is white. The range of values that a given object might display
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the light source, its distance from the object, and its angle and direction.

344

Lets start with direction. Fashion designers drawings are generally pretty
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see the shape of a body, they want you to see the outline shape of the dress
theyve designed.
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designers drawings. The photos bring out shape over volume. One of the
factors affecting this is lighthere, ambient and diffuse. Lighting like this
reveals little planar change. Similarly, a light source directly behind a subject
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directly in front of the subject will also tend to minimize the appearance of
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the object into distinct planes: light ones facing the light, darker ones turned
away from the light. Walk into the drawing and painting studios at most
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produces whats called chiaroscuro. Its often associated with artists like
Caravaggio. The words Italianchiaro is like our word clear, oscuro like
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a 75/25 split. And, of course, the light could be put anyplace in between.
The essential points that when objects have both light and dark planes, we
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dimensionality in a drawing.
Lets see how this works using a simple object: a white sphere on a white
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directional light. Since everythings white, we get a clear sense of lights
contribution to shifts in value. The basics are clear: planes or portions of
planes closer to and facing the light receive more lighttheyll be lighter;
345

planes or portions of planes farther away and turned away from the light get
less lightdarker.
You can see how this affects the ground planes. The lights directed
downwards, so the tabletop gets more light than the wall. Overall, its
lighter. And, being closer to the light source, both planes get more light on
the right. This gradually diminishes as we move to the left. Both planes get
progressively darker.
Now, Id like you to squint at the sphere on the table. Squinting eliminates
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groupings.
Artists generally describe the passage of light over form in steps. I use nine.
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Here, its in the interior of the sphere. In drawing a spherical object, if you
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sphere, the highlights generally that part of the sphere closest to the light
source.
Step two is the light. This represents a broader light area surrounding the
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the true shadow side of the object.
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referred to as the objects form shadow. Thats to distinguish it from the cast
shadow. Step four is the beginning of the form shadow, called the penumbra.
Pen is the anglicized Latin for almost; umbra means shadow. So, this is the
almost shadow, the lighter part of the form shadow. Five is the darkest part:
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are produced directly by the light source, and we refer to them as the effects
of direct light.
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light. This occurs when light hits a surfacehere, the tableand bounces
back onto the object. This is most pronounced when the surfaces are
346

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GDUN2QDJUHHQVXUIDFHUHHFWHGJUHHQ:KHQZHVSHDNDERXWFRORUZHOO
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You may have noticed that the light doesnt move in a purely gradual
way across the spheretheres a high contrast edge, sometimes called the
terminator or the hump, where the penumbra transitions to the core of the
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internally, making this edge the zone of highest contrast on the sphere. The
effects of simultaneous contrast exaggerate the effect. Eliminating most
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transition from penumbra to core of shadow gauzier, more gradual, and the
zone of highest contrast shifts to the right edge of the sphere in relation to the
black ground.
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strength of the light source, the presence of any secondary light sources that
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Next, step eight, is cast shadow. This is nothing more than the object blocking
light rays from reaching a plane behind it. Depending on light conditions,
cast shadows can appear divided into regions of different value. When this
occurs, the darkest part, and the part closest to the object, is termed the
umbra; the lighter middle section, the penumbra. These are the same terms
used for the similar areas in the object shadow. The light tail of the shadow
disappearing into the surface is called the antumbraante meaning before
so, this is a section before we get into the real cast shadow.
We wont always see a shadow divided up like this. In strong sunlight, for
instance, shadows will appear uniformly dark. And in very diffuse light,
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Shadow length depends on the light sources height. If we start with a light
source at the objects height, we get a long shadow. As we raise the light
source, the shadows length diminishes and reaches its smallest size when
347

the light source is directly overhead. If the light source continues in an arc
over the object, the shadow begins to lengthen, this time in the opposite
direction. This is the same progression we note when we look at the suns
passage in relation to a sundial.
The angle of the shadow is a function of the lights direction: light coming
directly from the side creates a shadow at 90 degrees to the object; from
directly in front, a shadow receding directly behind the object; from oblique
angles in the front, shadows receding along diagonals; from directly behind,
a shadow projecting in front of the object; from oblique angles in the rear,
shadows projecting forward along diagonals.
The light sources intensity and proximity to the object will affect the quality
of the cast shadow. Cast shadows can be very gentle and hardly visible,
powerful and stark, and anything in between. An intense and close light
source will create deep shadows with clear edges. A more distant and less
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edges. If theres a secondary ambient light source, the shadows will be
diminished in strength.
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out on a sphere, an object with a continuous surface. Though we can have a
hump, there are really no sharp breaks. That imitates the form of the sphere
itself.
In contrast, lets take a look at a white block. The blocks discontinuous, so
we get clear edges at each plane change, and each of the planes has a much
greater uniformity of value than the continuous plane of the sphere, though
the side plane evidences a clear shift from light to dark as it recedes from the
light source.
If we understand the way light moves over a continuously curving surface
and the way it moves over a faceted surface, we have the basics to apply to
most of the things we see around us. Spheres and spheroid objects like eggs,
bowls, and breasts take light in a graduated way. When we draw these kinds
of forms, we modulate the value with greater continuity. In contrast, blocks
348

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features retain a much greater consistency of value within each plane. Others
take part of both. A banana or a human arm can seem at once cylindrical and
faceted.
Many artists actively use these kinds of geometric forms as a means of
conceiving of the way light affects all the things they want to draw, even the
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weve just learned actually plays out in a number of drawings and paintings.
In analyzing the sphere, we listed nine steps of value, but artists dont
always use ninesome use fewer, and some use even more gradations. But,
thinking about these nine steps gives us a reasonable reference for analyzing
whats going on with light on objects in nature. Its also a useful template
for analyzing value and light in drawings and paintings, and its extremely
useful conceptually when drawing from your imagination.
At the most basic, to create the illusion of dimension, all we really need are
two values: one to play the role of the light, one to play the role of the dark.
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could serve as a dark in relation to a lighter gray or as a light in relationship
to a darker grayall relative.
Heres a drawing by Daumier. While theres some minor variations, its
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the chiaro; the charcoal the dark, the oscuro. The color of the paper is about
a four on our value scale, and the darkest dark like a number eight.
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a plane break, light to dark, between the top of the chest, abdomen, and legs,
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shoulder. His forward leg does the same on the rear leg.
In Lundins Model Standing Before a Blackboard, we get a much more
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rib cage, and arms are treated like cylinders, and the breasts like hemispheres.
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349

value in this drawing create the illusion of volume or space. With our new
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The upper arm on the right, moving from right to left, shows a light tone,
about a three on the value scale. As we move in toward the center of the
arm, we get a bit lighter. At the center, we get the lightest tone, between a
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get a sliver of cast shadow falling over the breast and rib cage. This goes to
about an eight. So, here we have about seven steps of value taking us around
the form. Looking at the breast on the left, we see a similar passage, but
executed in a broader range of value.
There are many other common step structures used to modulate form
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over the form.
In addition to formal concerns, we have many cultural associations with
both light and dark. In the west, ideas associated with these opposites have
included good and bad, Apollonian/Dionysian, Heaven and Hell, the known/
the unknown, order and chaos, pure and impure, life and death, and day
and night. But its not all so, well, black and white. We also read dark as
elegantthink sleek black limo or tux and black cocktail dress. And, of
course darkness can conjure the mysterious and romantic.
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most ancient Chinese texts, the ,&KLQJ<uMQJ, or Book of Changes, black
is associated with Heaven, while more broadly in Chinese culture, white is
associated with death.
In the next lecture, well revisit materials with a focus on drawing areas of
value.
350

Value: Drawing Materials for Value

Lecture 21

o draw with value, well need to expand on our use of materials. This
lecture reviews some of the materials weve been using, including
graphite, charcoal, and erasers, and covers additional materials
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paper in detail and learn how to make test sheets to understand how different
papers, materials, and techniques interact.
Graphite
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the next to a point, and so on. This will give you a good range of tools for
both line and value.
As mentioned earlier, graphite also comes in solid sticks. Most are soft, in
the range of 2B to 6B. Such sticks can be sharpened into wedge or square
shapes to to make different kinds of lines or areas of value.
When using your sanding block, save the graphite powder. You can apply it
with a brush or other tool to create smooth areas of value in your drawings.
Charcoal
Vine charcoal will not create a deep black; for this, you need compressed
charcoal, which is made by mixing charcoal powder with varying amounts
of binder and clay. Some manufacturers add black or dark pigments to
enhance the color. The proportion of binder and clay to powder determines
the charcoals hardnessmore clay for harder charcoal and less clay for
softer. Compressed charcoal is commonly labeled soft, medium, and hard or
with a system similar to that used for pencils. As with pencils, the grading of
charcoal varies from one manufacturer to the next.

351

Charcoal pencils are useful for more detailed work. These pencils are made
of compressed charcoal encased in wood. Some manufacturers label them
extra soft, soft, medium, and hard. Others label them similar to graphite
pencils, with grades ranging from 6B to 2H. You can sharpen charcoal
pencils with a sharpener or a knife and sandpaper, but be gentle. These
pencils are more brittle than graphite. A near relative of the charcoal pencil is
the carbon pencil. It, too, gives deeper blacks than vine or willow charcoal,
but like compressed charcoal, it is harder to erase.

Lecture 21Value: Drawing Materials for Value

Again, save the powder you produce when sharpening your charcoal.
Blending, Spreading, and Applying Value
A number of tools can be used to blend, spread, and apply material, including
a chamois cloth for large areas and tortillons and blending stumps for small
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of rolled paper. Tortillons are small and pointed at one end; stumps vary in
size, are denser, and are pointed at both ends. Brushesfrom stiff bristle
brushes to softer onesare also useful for blending. Many artists also use
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your skin can mix with graphite or charcoal and discolor it. These oils may
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Erasers
Its a good idea to experiment with different erasers to see how they work
with your various drawing tools. For example, kneaded erasers tend to smear
the darkest materials, such as charcoal and charcoal pencil when theyve
been applied heavily.
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tool to draw light lines, marks, or shapes into areas of value. To make a thin,
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Some artists use a tool called an erasing shield. This is about the size of a
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of different shapes and sizes. You can place the shield over a part of your
drawing and erase through the opening to control the erasure.

352

Fixative
Fixative is a spray varnish that artists use to protect their drawings. It
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youve done any blending or erasing you might want before spraying. When
you spray, aim for a light, even coat. A single spray is often enough for light
to medium graphite. For heavy pencil and charcoal, you may need two to
three coats. For successive coats, alternate the direction of application and
make sure to wait until each coat is fully dry before spraying again.
Fixative can darken tonal values if oversprayed, and it can change value,
chroma, and saturation, especially with delicate pastels. Its always a good
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instructions on the can and the material safety data sheet (MSDS) before
using.
Pen and Ink
Dip, or nib, pens are excellent drawing tools. Dip pens consist of a nib and
holder. Nibs vary in size and shape, from very small crow quills to larger,
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and shapes. Also, get one holder for each nib.
Some manufacturers use a protective coating on nibs to prevent rust, but the
FRDWLQJFDQLPSHGHLQNRZ7RUHPRYHLWVFUXEQHZQLEVJHQWO\ZLWKDQROG
toothbrush, warm water, and dish soap. Make sure to rinse and dry your nibs
after each use, as well.
*HWWLQJULGRILQNLVPXFKPRUHGLIFXOWWKDQJHWWLQJULGRIFKDUFRDO6RPH
manufacturers make ink erasers, although these work best for small areas.
You can also try scraping away ink with a utility knife. Again, this wont
work on large areas or with lightweight papers.
353

Paper
As we begin to explore value, texture, and color, paper choice becomes
increasingly important. A number of variables and specialized terms are
associated with drawing papers.
Perhaps the most obvious variable is color. Papers run the full range of
color and value. Most of the time, we draw on white paper, but even papers
FODVVLHGDVZKLWHH[KLELWGLIIHUHQFHV1RWDEO\VRPHZKLWHVDUHZDUPHU
while others are cooler. Such differences can have a real effect on the way
a drawing feels. For example, a portrait of a doctor drawn on warm white
paper might convey caring and empathy, while one done on cool white paper
might feel more analytical and clinical.

Lecture 21Value: Drawing Materials for Value

Probably the second most obvious paper characteristic is texture or surface.

Papers can be very smooth, very rough, or anywhere in between. Different
manufacturers use a host of terms to denote surface quality; some of these
are listed in the table below:

Very
Smooth
Ultra smooth
Plate surface
True plate
High surface

Smooth
Smooth
surface
Hard
QLVK
Hot
pressed
(HP)

Light- to
MediumTextured
Fine tooth

Medium
Medium surface

/DLGQLVK

Regular surface

Textured
surface

6HPLWRRWK
Vellum surface

Rough
Rough
surface
Coarse
surface
High tooth

Kid surface
Cold press (CP)

Another factor affecting surface in some papers is grain direction, though

not all papers have a pronounced grain. When the grain is parallel to the long
dimension of the paper, its referred to as long grain. When parallel to the
short dimension, its short grain.

354

Some papers also have a starch, glue, or similar synthetic material applied to
the surface, referred to as size or sizing. This coating creates a barrier between
WKHSDSHUVVXUIDFHDQGLWVEHUVKHOSLQJWRSUHYHQWXQZDQWHGEOHHGLQJZKHQ
using wet media. It can also make a paper more easily erasable.
Another important paper factor is thickness. The thickness of a piece of
paper is referred to as its caliper. This is generally measured in thousandths
of an inch or in millimeters. Another measure of thickness is ply. One
WKLFNQHVVRURQHVKHHWLVRQHSO\7ZRSO\PHDQVWKDWWZRVKHHWVKDYHEHHQ
glued together to create a thicker sheet. The word bristol is also used to refer
WRPXOWLSO\SDSHUV
3DSHUVDUHDOVRFODVVLHGDQGRIWHQQDPHGE\ZHLJKW7KHZHLJKWUHIHUUHGWR
is known as the basis weight. Thats the weight of a ream of a given paper at
its basis size. Note that the basis size is not always the same as the sheet size.
)RUH[DPSOHWKHSRXQGSDSHUIRU\RXUSULQWHULV[LQFKHVEXWWKH
industry basis size for this kind of paper is 17 x 22 inches. This means that a
ream of this paper, with sheets measuring 17 x 20 inches, would weigh in at
20 pounds. The basis size for most watercolor papers is 22 x 30 inches, and
for drawing papers, 24 x 36 inches.
7KH EHVW DUWLVWJUDGH SDSHUV DUH PDGH RI FRWWRQ OLQWHU 7KHVH DUH WKH VKRUW
EHUVWKDWFOLQJWRWKHFRWWRQVHHGDVLWVJLQQHG+HPSDQGZRRGSXOSDUH
also commonly used to make papers.
Another important consideration with paper is permanence, and the enemy
of permanence is acidity. For this reason, many papermakers add alkaline
substances, such as calcium carbonate, as a buffer. Acidity and alkalinity are
measured on the pH scale, which runs from 0 to 14. Low pH is acidic; high
pH is alkaline; and 7 is neutral. Archival papers generally score in the 7.5 to
9.5 range.
As you attempt more ambitious drawing projects, you should experiment
ZLWK EHWWHUTXDOLW\ SDSHUV %X\ VLQJOH VKHHWV RI  GLIIHUHQW SDSHUV FXW
each into 6 pieces, and label each piece on the back with the papers name.
With 5 of each of the 6 pieces, make yourself a small sketchbook. With
the remaining 10 pieces, make some test sheets using a variety of different
355

materials, including soft and hard pencils, graphite sticks, different types of
charcoal, pens, and brushes and ink. Try blending and erasing on these test
sheets. Youll learn a tremendous amount through this activity. As you touch
each of your materials to each sheet of paper, youll immediately feel the
GLVWLQFWLYHLQWHUDFWLRQRIDJLYHQPDWHULDOZLWKDVSHFLFSDSHU
Although papers are labeled for different uses and materials, such as drawing,
charcoal, pastel, watercolor, etching, and so on, any paper can be used for
any purpose, though, the labeling is not meaningless. For clear, articulated
line drawings, a smoother, harder paper is generally desirable. Charcoal and
pastel papers tend to have more tooth, or texture. Watercolor papers tend to
be stiffer and more textured, while printmaking papers tend to be smoother.

Lecture 21Value: Drawing Materials for Value

Portfolios
3RUWIROLRV UDQJH IURP VLPSOH LQH[SHQVLYH FDUGERDUG W\SHV WR PRUH KLJK
end versions with zippers and other enhancements. For storage at home,
WKH LQH[SHQVLYH FDUGERDUG RQHV DUH QH ,I \RXUH FDUU\LQJ \RXU GUDZLQJV
around, something more protective and durable may serve you better over
time. Make sure to bring a portfolio when you go out to buy paper and leave
the paper in the portfolio for storage.
Lights
Finally, for a number of the projects done from observation using value, you
ZLOOQHHGDOLJKWIRU\RXUVWLOOOLIHWDEOH(LWKHUDRRGOLJKWRQDVWDQGRUD
FODPSOLJKWDWWDFKHGWRWKHYHUWLFDOVXSSRUWRIDRRUODPSZLOOZRUNZHOO

Suggested Reading
Chaet, The Art of Drawing, chapter 4, Media and Materials.
Guptill, Rendering in Pen and Ink, chapters 13.
Mendelowitz, Faber, and Wakeman, A Guide to Drawing, Wet Media, pp.
208227.

356

Value: Drawing Materials for Value

Lecture 21Transcript
To draw with value, well need to expand on our use of materials. Lets start
with graphite. We can make areas of value with the point or sharp edge of a
ZHGJHVKDUSHQHGSHQFLOEXWLI\RXZDQWDPRUHHYHQJUDGDWLRQXVHWKHDW
face of the wedge. I have lots of pencils, but if you only have one set with
WRSHQFLOVVKDUSHQWKHUVWWRDZHGJHWKHQH[WWRDSRLQW&RQWLQXH
alternating sharpening stylewedge, point, et ceteraacross the set. This
way, youll have a good range of tools for both line and value.
Graphite also comes in solid sticks. Most are on the soft side: 2B to 6B. This
is a round sharpened to the wedge shape. You can make linear value with the
edge and a more even tone using the wedge. This piece is a square shape;
\RXFDQGUDZZLWKWKHHGJHRUDWIDFH<RXFDQDOVRVKDUSHQLWWRDZHGJH
Youll get more linear value using the edge and more even value with the
wedge.
Save the graphite powder when using your sanding block. You can apply
it with a brush or other tool to create smooth areas of value. You can also
buy jars of graphite powder. So, take some time to create value using your
graphite tools.
Next, charcoal. Weve been using the point. We can also use the side to get
an area of value. In addition to cylindrical sticks, charcoal comes in thicker
rounds and rectangular pieces. Vine wont create a deep blackfor rich
blacks we need compressed charcoal. Its made by mixing charcoal powder
with varying amounts of binder and clay. This gets compressed into round
or rectangular shapes. Some manufacturers add black or dark pigments to
enhance the color. The proportion of binder and clay to powder determines
the charcoals hardness.
<RXOOFRPPRQO\QGFRPSUHVVHGLQVRIWPHGLXPDQGKDUGRU+%%
%%DQGVRPHWLPHV\RXOOQG%$VZLWKSHQFLOVWKHJUDGLQJYDULHV
from one manufacturer to the next, so get a couple different grades from the
VDPHPDQXIDFWXUHUDQG\RXOOEHJLQWRQGRXWZKDW\RXOLNH

357

Heres a soft square shape, makes a rich black. Like the graphite sticks, you
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point. The points great for line and smaller areas of value. You can use the
side for larger areas.
For more detailed work, charcoal pencils are very useful. Theyre made of
compressed charcoal encased in wood. Some manufacturers label them extra
soft, soft, medium, and hard, others label them like graphite pencils with
grades ranging from 6B to 2H. You can sharpen these with a sharpener or
knife and sandpaper, but you want to be gentle, theyre much more brittle
than graphite. The twisting motion of a dull sharpener can crack them, and
you want to avoid dropping them on the ground, that can shatter the material
inside.
Some charcoal pencils are encased in paper. Here, you want to unwrap the
paper to expose the charcoal. If the wrapping tears, make a small incision
with a utility knife and itll continue to unravel. The exposed charcoal can
then be sharpened with your knife and sandpaper. This is an extra soft
charcoal pencil. Ill make a line, then an area of value. This is an extra
hardIll do the same. When charcoal pencils get too small, we can use
pencil extenders here, too.
A near relative of the charcoal pencil is the carbon pencil, and you may want
to try these out as well. Again, here, Ill make a line and an area of value.
This is a soft, very similar to the charcoal pencil.
Compressed charcoal, and charcoal and carbon pencils, give us deeper
blacks than vine or willow. The downside is that theyre harder to erase. You
want to save the powder you produce when shaping your charcoal. Some
artists keep vine and compressed powder separate, others mix them. Youll
see what works best for you. Ill apply an area of powder here with a brush.
As with graphite, charcoal powders also available commercially.
Our next tools are those we use to blend, spread, and apply material. Each
ones a bit different. Well talk about a couple now and return to this when
we discuss texture.

358

The chamois or shammy cloth is a common large blending tool. I have

one for graphite and another for charcoal. It does a good job blending and
spreading graphite but with vine it can act like an eraser, removing a lot of
the material. Even with compressed, it removes a fair amount of the material.
Once you have material on the chamois you can use it to apply value. You
can also pick up material from a test sheet and apply it in a drawing. Or, rub
DPDWHULDORQWKHFKDPRLVRUYLFHYHUVDDQGDSSO\
For smaller areas, artists use tortillons and blending stumps. Both are made
of wound paper. Tortillons are small and pointed at one end; stumps vary
in size, are denser, and are pointed at both ends. Ill use a tortillon on the
graphitefor the charcoal, a stump. Both the tortillon and stump produce
darker values than the chamois. Like the chamois, you can use the tortillon
and stump to apply material, too.
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softer ones. Ill use a stiff one on the graphite, creates a smoother value
than the tortillon, and Ill use a soft bristle on the charcoal, it removes more
material than the stump.
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QJHUVDOOWKHWLPHDQGJHWQHUHVXOWVDQG,PJRLQJWRXVHPLQHKHUHEXW
some artists caution against thisits common for the oils in our skin to mix
with graphite or charcoal and discolor it, and the oil can make the material
GLIFXOWWRHUDVHRUEOHQGVR\RXZDQWWRVHHZKDWZLOOZRUNZHOOIRU\RX
Youll note that each of these swatches look somewhat different. As we
begin to work with value, blending, and smudging, the range of possibilities
opens up exponentially. So, take some time to experiment with blending,
spreading, and applying areas of value.
Lets take another look at erasers. Try erasing some of the graphite with the
kneaded, then the vine: no problem. Erasing the compressed charcoal and
FKDUFRDO SHQFLOV PRUH GLIFXOW 7KH NQHDGHG ZRQW GR PXFK JRRG ZLWK
WKHGDUNHVWPDWHULDOVWHQGVWRVPHDUWKHP7KH3LQN3HDUODQGSHQFLOW\SH
erasers will do a better job.
359

$V\RXJHWLQWRYDOXH\RXOOQGWKDWWKHHUDVHUVQRWRQO\DQHUDVLQJWRRO
its also a drawing toolits how we draw light into dark. Try the Pink Pearl
DJDLQVWDVWUDLJKWHGJHWRPDNHDWKLQOLJKWOLQH7KHQWU\\RXUSHQFLOW\SH
erasers to make light lines and shapes.
Another tool you can use with your eraser is the erasing shield. Now, I dont
XVHWKHVHPXFKEXWVRPHSHRSOHQGWKHPXVHIXO0RVWDUHDERXWWKHVL]H
RIDFUHGLWFDUGDQGPDGHRIWKLQPHWDO7KH\KDYHDQXPEHURISXQFKHGRXW
openings of different shapes and sizes. You place the shield over a part of
your drawing and erase through the opening, and that controls the erasure.
You could, of course, make your own using a utility knife and a piece of thin
cardboard and any cutout shape you want.
We now have a sheet of paper covered with value. Its been manipulated,
erased, smeared, and blended, and all that stuff is delicate. The lines and
marks could be smeared if you touched it accidentally. To prevent this, artists
VSUD\WKHLUGUDZLQJVZLWK[DWLYHDSURWHFWLYHVSUD\YDUQLVK7KHUHDUHWZR
EDVLF W\SHV ZRUNDEOH DQG QDO 8VH ZRUNDEOH LI \RX LQWHQG WR GUDZ DIWHU
VSUD\LQJXVHQDOZKHQ\RXUHGUDZLQJVQLVKHG
7KHUHDUHDQXPEHURIUHDVRQVZK\SHRSOH[GUDZLQJVPLGSURFHVV2QH
is that they need to transport the drawing, as my students do, back and
forth from class. Another common reason is that the artist has roughed out
the drawing and wants to work in further detail, but doesnt want to risk
disturbing whats already done.
When working with color, pastel for example, you might want to apply
one color over another. Ordinarily, the two colors would mix together, but
lets say you dont want actual mixing, you want the second color to appear
WUDQVSDUHQWO\ RYHU WKH UVW ZKDW ZH FDOO RSWLFDO PL[LQJ 7KHQ \RXG XVH
ZRUNDEOH[DWLYH
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wont be able to change what youve sprayed, so make sure youve blended
or erased anything you might want before spraying. Fixative is available in
GLIIHUHQWQLVKHVWUDQVSDUHQWPDWWHDQGJORVV7UDQVSDUHQWVWKHGHIDXOWLW
shouldnt change the surface in any visible way.
360

7KHUH DUH VDIHW\ FRQFHUQV ZLWK [DWLYH $VN IRU WKH 06'6 WKDWV WKH
Material Safety Data Sheet, for the product you buy. Read it, along with the
instructions on the can, before you start spraying. Generally, these are the
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VPRNLQJQHDUDKHDWVRXUFHRURSHQDPH,WVDOVRWR[LF<RXRQO\ZDQWWR
VSUD\\RXUGUDZLQJVLQDZHOOYHQWLODWHGSODFH2XWGRRUVDZD\IURPRWKHU
people, is good. And, of course, you want to avoid inhaling the fumes. Some
instructions suggest wearing a protective respirator. This should also be
listed in the MSDS for the product you buy.
So, try spraying your test sheet. First, clean the surface of any erasure
crumbs and loose graphite or charcoal dust. Then, take your drawing to
D ZHOOYHQWLODWHG SODFH 0DNH VXUH WKH DUHDV FOHDQ GXVWIUHH DQG WKH
humiditys relatively low. Shake the can for a couple of minutes to mix the
cans contents. Set your drawing upright and slightly tilted against the wall
or other support. Hold the can about 12 inches from the drawing and start
just off to the sideyou want to make sure you get the whole pageand
QLVKRIIWRWKHRWKHUVLGH7KHQUHWXUQLQWKHRWKHUGLUHFWLRQ
The goals a light, even coatyour drawing shouldnt look wet. If you go
too slowly, youll get liquid dripping down the surface; move too fast and
you wont get adequate coverage. After spraying, let the drawing dry. Itll
WDNHDERXWWKUHHWRYHPLQXWHV
A single spray is often enough for light to medium graphite. For heavy
pencil and charcoal, you may need two to three coats. Test your drawing
WRXFKLWZLWKDFOHDQSLHFHRIWLVVXHSDSHURU\RXUQJHU,I\RXUHSLFNLQJ
up material, give your drawing a second coat then test again. For successive
coats, alternate the direction of application, and make sure and wait until the
drawing is fully dry each time before spraying again.
When youre done, clear the nozzleturn the can upside down, point the
QR]]OH DZD\ IURP \RX DQG VSUD\ IRU IRXU WR VL[ VHFRQGV $IWHU WKH UVW
couple seconds, youll only get propellant coming out of the nozzle. This
helps clear sticky residue that might cause a clog.

361

)L[DWLYHFDQGDUNHQWRQDOYDOXHVLIRYHUVSUD\HGDQG[LQJGHOLFDWHSDVWHOV
can be tricky, it can change a colors value and saturation, so its always a
JRRGLGHDWRGRVRPHWHVWVSUD\VEHIRUH[LQJDGUDZLQJXVLQJDQHZPDWHULDO
RUSDSHU6LPLODUO\LI\RXSLFNXSDEUDQGRI[DWLYHGRVHYHUDOWHVWV
/HWVWXUQWRLQN,QDGGLWLRQWR\RXUVPDOOURXQGSRLQWHGEUXVK\RXOOZDQW
D PHGLXPVL]HG EUXVK IRU ZDVKHV DQG ODUJHU DUHDV <RX VKRXOG DOVR WU\
some dip, or nib, pens. The earliest versions go back many centuries. In his
book, Rendering in Pen and Ink, Arthur Guptill wrote, Bronze pens were
excavated at Pompeii, and we have other instances of their Roman use.
Dip pens consist of a nib and holder. Theyre not all interchangeable, so
make sure you get the right holder for your nib. Nibs vary in size and shape,
from very small crow quills to larger more robust shapes. Some are pointed;
RWKHUVURXQGDWRYDORUREORQJ7RVWDUWJHWRQHH[LEOHSRLQWHGQLEDQG
a couple others of different sizes and shapes. Also, get one holder for each
nibchanging inky nibs while drawings a real hassle. Some manufacturers
coat nibs with a protective coating to prevent rust. The coating can impede
LQNRZVRULQVH\RXUQHZQLEVZLWKZDUPZDWHUDQGGLVKVRDS6FUXEELQJ
them with an old toothbrush can also help remove the coating.
Some nibs are made of a single piece of metal; others are made of two
pieces. The latter are made so that theres a reservoir between the two pieces.
:KHQ\RXGLSWKHSHQWKLVLVZKHUHWKHLQNJHWVVWRUHG,WOORZWRWKHWLS
as pressures exerted. Now careful calligraphers, fearful of a large blot, dont
dip their pens. Instead, they load the reservoir with an eyedropper or small
URXQGSRLQWHGEUXVK<RXFRXOGWU\WKLVWRRWKRXJKPRVWDUWLVWV,YHVHHQ
dip their nibs directly in the ink.
So, take out your pens and nibs. Starting with a simple pointed nib, make the
thinnest line possible. Then, adding pressure, make the thickest. Then, move
from one to the other. Try making other kinds of marksfast and slow,
continuous and skipping, and whatever else comes to mind. Then, try any
other nibs you have, making similar experiments. When youre done, rinse
the nibs and dry them to prevent rusting. These tools are related to fountain
pens and technical fountain pens. If you have any of these, you may want to
experiment with them, too, to see how they contrast with the dip pens.
362

1RZJHWWLQJULGRILQNLVPXFKPRUHGLIFXOWWKDQJHWWLQJULGRIFKDUFRDO
but therere a couple things worth mentioning. There are ink erasers, like
these, and theyll work on thin, light lines. You can also try scraping with a
utility knife. Using both the knife and an eraser can help you get rid of lines
and marks that are a bit heavier. Best to try this on thicker paper, you can
easily tear through a lightweight one.
As we get into value, texture, and color, paper choice will become more and
more important for a whole set of reasons. At the most basic, if you try to
HUDVHDODUJHDUHDRI FRPSUHVVHGFKDUFRDORQ DVWDQGDUGVKHHWRI
inch white bond paper, its not hard to rip or wear a hole in the surface.
So, you may want something more robust and durable, but there are quite a
number of factors to consider when choosing a paper.
Papers an endlessly useful material. Its worth noting how recently it came
into our lives. Our word paper derives from the Ancient Greek word for
papyrus. First Dynasty Egyptians were making writing surfaces out of this
plant as early as about 5,000 years ago. Theyd split the stem into lengths,
OD\ WKHVH DW QH[W WR HDFK RWKHU WKHQ SXW D VHFRQG OD\HU RQ WRS7KH VSOLW
stems were wet and sticky, so you could smash them together to form
a single sheet like a laminate, kind of like plywood. The sheets would be
dried and polished and, voil, one sheet of papyrus. It didnt have the most
uniform surface but it held up well enough in dry Egypt, but it didnt do so
well in more humid climes.
In many places, the ancient surface of choice was parchment or velum,
which was basically a stretched and dried sheep, goat, or cow skin. While
this was very sturdy, it was expensive.
7KH LQYHQWLRQ RI SDSHU LV FUHGLWHG WR D +DQ G\QDVW\ &KLQHVH RIFLDO D
eunuch named Ci Ln. We even have a date for his invention: 105 C.E.
We know this because he made a formal report to the emperor about his
GLVFRYHU\ %HIRUH SDSHU RIFLDOV LQ &KLQD ZURWH RQ ERQH RU VWULSV RI
bambooit was clumsy. Silk was also used but silk was expensive, so paper
was an extraordinary and welcome discovery.

363

7RPDNHSDSHU\RXEUHDN\RXUPDWHULDOGRZQLQWRLWVEHUVDQGPL[LWXS
ZLWKZDWHU&jL/~QUHSRUWHGO\XVHGWUHHEDUNUDJVKHPSROGVKQHWVDQG
PXOEHUU\ 7KLV RDWPHDOOLNH PDVK JHWV ODLG RXW LQWR DW VKHHWV DQG GULHG
Now, scholars dispute Ci Lns claim to his invention because paper dating
back to about 250 years before his purported discovery was found in Gansu,
China. But, its a great story.
Whatever the case, Ci Ln didnt enjoy his fame for long. He got involved
in court intrigue and the emperor sentenced him to prison. When he learned
of his fate, he took a bath, dressed in an elegant silk robe, and drank a cup
of poison. But, that didnt prevent the court from valuing the discovery
far from it. Papermaking was considered a state secret. The knowledge was
highly protected and the Chinese did a good job of preventing leaks. It took
DERXW\HDUVIRUWKHNQRZOHGJHWRPDNHLWVZD\HDVWWR-DSDQYLD.RUHD
And paper didnt even begin to make its way west until 751 C.E. Thats
when the Tang Chinese, expanding westward, fought the Arab Abbasid
Caliphate in the Battle of Talas. The precise location isnt known but it was
probably around the border area of whats now Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
In any event, the Tang army was defeated and Chinese prisoners were taken.
The story goes that among them were a couple skilled papermakers. Shortly
WKHUHDIWHU SDSHUPDNLQJ ZDV RXULVKLQJ LQ 6DPDUNDQG D FHQWUDO ORFDWLRQ
along the Silk Road. The knowledge soon spread through the Middle East,
from Baghdad to Damascus to Egypt.
By the 11th century, paper was being made in the Iberian Peninsula. Over the
next 400 years, the knowledge would spread over much of Christian Europe.
,WVXVHZRXOGEHUPO\HVWDEOLVKHGE\WKHPLGth century, reams stacked
and ready for Guttenbergs press.
There are a number of variables and some vocabulary associated with
drawing papers. Perhaps the most obvious variable is color. Papers run the
full range of color and value. Most of the time, we draw on white paper,
but even among white papers there are real differences between the whites
DYDLODEOH1RWDEO\VRPHZKLWHVDUHZDUPHUPRUHWRZDUGWKHRUDQJH\HOORZ
while others are cooler, more toward the blue. And these differences can
have a real effect on the way a drawing feels.
364

Imagine youre drawing a landscape, its a warm summer day. Warm white
would be a good choice. Now imagine drawing a cold, snowy day. Well,
the cool white would likely be a better choice. Or, imagine youre doing a
SRUWUDLWRIDGRFWRULQKHURIFH&KRRVHWKHZDUPZKLWHVKHOOOLNHO\IHHO
more caring and empathetic; choose the cool, and shell feel more analytic
and clinical.
Perhaps the second most obvious paper characteristic is texture or surface.
Papers can be very smooth, very rough, or anyplace in between, and there
are a host of terms used by different manufacturers to denote surface quality.
Broadly speaking, very smooth papers are generally labeled ultra smooth,
plate surface, true plate, or high surface. Smooth papers are labeled smooth
VXUIDFHKDUGQLVKDQGKRWSUHVVHGRU+37KLVODVWKRWSUHVVHGSDSHULV
rolled through heated cylinders which, like a hot iron on a shirt, take out the
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WRRWKKHUHPHDQVWH[WXUHODLGQLVKWKLVW\SHRISDSHUKDVKRUL]RQWDODQG
vertical lines impressed in the sheet; and textured surface. Medium surfaces
DUH JHQHUDOO\ ODEHOHG PHGLXP VXUIDFH UHJXODU VXUIDFH VHPLWRRWK YHOOXP
surface, kid surface, and cold pressed, or CP.
Another factor affecting surface in some papers is grain direction, though
not all papers have a pronounced grain. When the grain is parallel to the long
dimension of the paper, its referred to as long grain. When parallel to the
short dimension, you guessed it, short grain.
Some papers also have a starch, glue, or a similar synthetic material applied
across the surface. This is referred to as size or sizing. It creates a barrier
EHWZHHQ WKH SDSHUV VXUIDFH DQG WKH SDSHUV EHU 7KLV KHOSV SUHYHQW
unwanted bleeding when youre using wet media. It can also make a paper
more easily erasable. Some papers have the same kind of starch or glue
mixed into the pulp. This is called internal sizing and it can improve the
longevity and strength of the paper.
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some softer. All else being equal, the softer the paper, the less well it will
take erasure. Youll notice that many good quality papers have uneven edges.
365

These are called deckled edges. This light feathering occurs as the pulp is
pressed and its spread out.
Many manufacturers put their name or logo on each sheet through the use of
an embossed watermark along the edge or in the corner of the sheet. Holding
the sheet up to the light makes the watermark easily visible. When the letters
of the watermark are in their proper orientation, it means youre looking
at the top, or felt side, of the sheet. When the letters are reversed, youre
looking at the underside, or wire side, of the sheet.
Another important paper factor is thickness and weight. The thickness of
a piece of paper is referred to as its caliper. Thats generally measured in
thousandths of an inch or in millimeters. Another measure of thickness is
SO\2QHWKLFNQHVVRURQHVKHHWLVRQHSO\7ZRSO\PHDQVWKDWWZRVKHHWV
have been glued together to create a thicker sheet. The word bristol is also
XVHGWRUHIHUWRWKHVHPXOWLSO\SDSHUV
3DSHUVDUHDOVRFODVVLHGDQGRIWHQQDPHGE\ZHLJKW7KHZHLJKWUHIHUUHG
to is known as basis weight. Thats the weight of a ream, or 500 sheets,
of a given paper at its basis size. Now, this can be a bit confusing because
the basis size is not always the same as the sheet size. For example, the 20
SRXQG SDSHU IRU \RXU SULQWHU LV  E\  EXW WKH LQGXVWU\ EDVLV VL]H IRU
this kind of paper is 17 22. This means that a ream, or 500 sheets of this
paper, measuring 17 20 would weigh in at 20 pounds. The basis size for
most watercolor papers is 22 30; for drawing papers 24 36. While some
manufacturers refer to weight in pounds others refer to weight in grams per
square meter. Thats often labeled g/m2.
Since the time of Ci Ln, people have been making paper out of all kinds
RI EHUV7KH EHVW DUWLVWJUDGH SDSHUV DUH PDGH RI FRWWRQ OLQWHU7KHVH DUH
WKHVKRUWEHUVZKLFKFOLQJWRWKHFRWWRQVHHGDVLWVJLQQHG+HPSDQGZRRG
pulp are also commonly used to make papers. Newsprint, for instance, is
made of wood pulp.
Another important factor is permanence. The enemy of permanence is
acidity, so many papermakers add alkaline substances like calcium carbonate
as a buffer. Acidity and alkalinity are measured on the pH scale, which runs
366

from 0 to 14. Low pH is acid, high pH is alkaline. Seven is neutral. Archival

papers generally score in the 7.5 to 9.5 range.
When companies label their papers as archival, theyre assuring you that
their papers are safely alkaline. As noted, the best papers are made of
cotton. Papers made from wood pulp or a mix of wood pulp and cotton
can be archival if the pulp has been properly buffered. Newsprints highly
impermanent because its made of untreated wood pulp.
Soon well be getting into some ambitious drawing projects with value. Id
suggest using better quality papers for these projectsmost are sold in single
sheets. To begin to acquaint yourself with the range of paper, and whats
available, Id suggest buying 10 different papers to start off.
Youll see paper labeled as drawing paper, charcoal paper, pastel paper,
watercolor paper, etching paper, et cetera, et cetera, but any paper can be
used for any purpose, though the labels not meaningless.
For clear, articulated line drawings, a smoother, harder paper is generally
desirable. Charcoal and pastel papers tend to have more tooth or texture
thats what causes the charcoal or pastel to abrade and deposit itself on the
surface. The texture also keeps the material on the surface. Watercolor papers
tend to be stiffer and more textured. Printmaking papers tend to be smoother.
To get started, buy a selection of these different kinds of papers. Make sure
some are smooth, others textured, some hard, some soft, some thick, and
some thin. Cut each sheet into six pieces. If the papers 22 30, a common
size, youll get six pieces that are 10 11 inches each. Label each one so
youll know what it is. Set one of each aside and put the other 50 sheets
together. Now you have a sketchbook of interesting papers to experiment
with.
But before you do, take the 10 pieces you put aside and make tests on each
one like Ive done here. I imagined a grid with eight divisions in the page. In
each one I tested a different material.

367

In unit one, I tested my softest pencil, a 10B, line above and an area of value
EHORZ7KHYDOXHVGDUNHVWRQWKHIDUOHIWDQGPLGWRQHIRUWKHUHVW7KHQ,
blended both line and value on the right, and erased through the center. In
unit two, I tried my hardest pencil, a 10H. In three, a graphite stick. In four,
YHDQGVL[YLQHFKDUFRDOFRPSUHVVHGFKDUFRDODQGDFKDUFRDOSHQFLO,Q
each, I made the same tests I did in unit one. In seven, I tried two nib pens:
RQHWKLQRQHWKLFN,QHLJKW,XVHGEUXVKDQGLQNUVWOLQHWKHQDZDVK,
repeated this on each paper.
Youll learn a tremendous amount doing this. As you touch your pencil to
each sheet of paper, youll immediately feel the distinctive qualities of each
VXUIDFH<RXOOQGWKDWWKHKDUGHVWSHQFLOZLOOEHDOOEXWLQYLVLEOHRQVRPH
papers, clearly visible on others. Some papers will suck in wet media, others
will let it pool on the surface. And save those test sheetsyoull begin to
create an invaluable library.
When buying paper, you want to make sure you get it home without folding,
denting, or otherwise bruising it, so its best to bring a clean, rigid portfolio
for transport. Then, leave the paper in the portfolio in a dry, safe place until
youre ready to use it. I advise my students to store their paper and drawings
DWXQGHUWKHLUEHGV
Its useful to have several portfolios on hand for storing paper and drawings.
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KLJKHQGYHUVLRQVZLWK]LSSHUVDQGRWKHUHQKDQFHPHQWV)RUVWRUDJHDWKRPH
WKH LQH[SHQVLYH FDUGERDUG RQHV DUH QH ,I \RXUH FDUU\LQJ \RXU GUDZLQJV
around a lot, something more protective and durable will serve better over
time.
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EXW D FODPS OLJKW DWWDFKHG WR D YHUWLFDO VXSSRUW RU D RRU ODPS FDQ ZRUN
tooanything thatll approve strong directional light.

368

Value: Black and White and a Value Scale

Lecture 22

n an earlier lecture, we learned how artists use value to create mood,

space, and the illusion of light on form. Artists also consider the way
the overall arrangement of light and dark creates pattern or rhythm at
an abstract level. This is true no matter what the value palette iswhether
its white and black or a full value scale. Values are not simply copied from
observation but are considered holistically in their interactions. This is
related to the way we think about shape. Although a given shape may relate
to the shape of an object, it should also relate to the negative shapes with
which it connects. Together, the positives and negatives combine to create
the shape of the drawing. In this lecture, well learn how to create both
positive and negative shapes of value.

MariaTkach/iStock/Thinkstock.

Yin and Yang

7KH -DSDQHVH ZRUG notan literally means shade and light. It refers to
principles of design governing the interaction and patterning of dark and light
shapes. The idea is that the dark completes the light and the light completes
the dark. Together, they create the whole. The Chinese \Q\iQJ symbol
GHPRQVWUDWHV WKLV SULQFLSOH DQG WUDQVODWHV VLPLODUO\ <Q PHDQV RYHUFDVW
or shady, the negative principle. <iQJ is the sun, the positive principle.
Together, the dark negative and light positive shapes forge the whole, with
nothing left over.

369

We see this at play in many paintings and drawings. In many cases, the light
tones are not drawn but created by surrounding dark tones. For this reason,
we need to learn how to create both positive and negative shapes of value.
Creating the dark ones feels natural. The light ones are a bit more challenging
because we draw them indirectlyby creating dark negatives around them.

Lecture 22Value: Black and White and a Value Scale

'HQLQJ(GJHVZLWK9DOXH
$VZHYHVHHQOLQHGRHVDJUHDWGHDORIZRUNIRUXV$PRQJWKHUVWWKLQJV
ZH QRWHG DERXW OLQH LV WKDW LW FDQ FUHDWH VKDSH E\ GHQLQJ WKH HGJH RI
VRPHWKLQJVXFKDVDFLUFOHRUDERWWOH,WFDQDOVRGHQHWKHHGJHZKHUHWZR
SODQHVPHHWVXFKDVDWDEOHWRSRURRUPHHWLQJDZDOO,QDGGLWLRQWRXVLQJ
OLQHZHDOVRZDQWWREHDEOHWRGHQHHGJHVZLWKYDOXH
In the value scale, youll note that there are no linesjust value shapes. We
read the tones as shapes because where they meet, the values are different;
these differences establish the edges of the shapes. We can do the same thing
in a drawing, that is, establish edges with changes in value, doing the same
work that we might have done earlier with line.

Creating Volume and Light with Black and White

After you have practiced drawing positive and negative shapes with value
LQVWHDGRIOLQHWKHQH[WVWHSLVWRFUHDWHWKUHHGLPHQVLRQDOIRUPLQOLJKWXVLQJ
EODFNDQGZKLWHVKDSHV:HOOGRWKLVUVWE\LPDJLQLQJVRPHEDVLFIRUPVLQ
light, then working from direct observation. Working only in black and white
can help you think about using value compositionallythat notan notion
of the play of lights and darks across the surfacewhile also creating the
illusion of light. Keep these steps in mind when working from observation:
z

370

8VH \RXU YLHZQGHU WR QG D SRLQW RI YLHZ FRPSRVLWLRQ DQG
format shape that interests you.

Pay particular attention to the large positive and negative shapes

DQGKRZWKH\WLQWRWKHIRUPDW\RXYHFKRVHQ

Also pay attention to the large groupings of light and dark caused
by planar changes and cast shadows.

As you did with single objects drawn from your imagination, rule
out the format on your paper with a light pencil. Then, translate
all the values you see into either white or black shapes. You want
to make this translation or reduction based on choices that will
maximize the illusion of depth and volume.

Returning to the Value Scale

Weve now seen that we dont have to copy every value to get a convincing
sensation of light, space, and volume. In fact, we can translate those values
into just two: black and white. But now, were ready to use a fuller range.
One exercise to help you begin thinking about the range of values is to create
\RXURZQQLQHVWHSYDOXHVFDOHXVLQJFKDUFRDO)RUWKLVH[HUFLVHGRQWWU\WR
copy the values from the scale shown above. Start on the outside and work
toward the center, imagining and adjusting the values as you go.
After you complete the exercise, ask yourself:
z

Is 5 accurately gauged as the midpoint between 1 and 9?

Are 3 and 7 accurate as midpoints between 1 and 5 and 5 and 9,

respectively?

Are 2, 4, 6, and 8 gauged accurately as midpoints between their

neighboring values?

$UHWKHUHDQ\VXEJURXSLQJV"$UHWKHUHDQ\VTXDUHVWKDWIHHODVLI
they group more with some than others?

Gestural Value Sketches

Before we move onto more complex value drawings, its a good idea to
incorporate value into your quick gestural compositional studies. As we saw
371

earlier with line, it can be helpful to try out several different compositional
strategies before committing to a drawing. And as we get into value,
completing a drawing can demand an even greater investment of time. You
can save time and frustration by doing some preliminary value sketches.
Using any materials you like, make some quick drawings that use different
value palettes compositionally, allowing them to structure the hierarchy in
your drawings. Start with some simple forms from your imagination and
WKUHHYDOXHVDOLJKWDPLGWRQHDQGDGDUN7KHQWU\GLIIHUHQWYDOXHSDOHWWHV
1H[W VHW XS VRPH VWLOOOLIH REMHFWV DQG UHSHDW WKH H[HUFLVH ([SHULPHQW
with the light source, too, varying its direction, height, and distance from
the objects. Then, try making gestural value sketches using an interior or a
landscape as your observational source.

Lecture 22Value: Black and White and a Value Scale

Suggested Reading
%RWKZHOODQG0D\HOGNotan.
Mendelowitz, Faber, and Wakeman, A Guide to Drawing, chapter 6, Value
and Color, pp. 96114 .

372

Value: Black and White and a Value Scale

Lecture 22Transcript
In an earlier lecture, we learned how artists use value to create mood, space,
and the illusion of light on form to create volume. Artists also consider the
way overall arrangement of light and dark creates pattern or rhythm at an
abstract level, and this no matter what the value palette, whether its white
and black or a full value scale. Values arent simply copied from observation
but theyre considered holistically in their interactions.
This is related to the way we think about shape. While a given shape may
relate to the shape of an object, it should also relate to the negative shapes
it connects with because, together, the positives and negatives combine to
create the shape of the drawing.
7KHUHVD-DSDQHVHWHUPnotan. Literally, it means shade and light. It refers
to principles of design governing the action and patterning of dark and light
shapes. The idea is that the dark completes the light and the light completes
the dark. Together, they create the whole. The Chinese \Q\iQJ symbol
demonstrates the principle, and translates similarly. <Q means overcast or
shady, the negative principle, and yang is the sun, the positive principle.
Together, the dark negative and the light positive shapes forge the whole
nothing extra, nothing left over.
:H VHH WKLV DW SOD\ LQ WKH %RXFKHU 7KH YDOXHV W WRJHWKHU OLNH SX]]OH
SLHFHV /RRN DW WKH OLJKWHVW WRQHV RI WKH UH 7KH\UH QRW GUDZQLWV WKH
surrounding dark that creates them. We see the same thing in the womans
right shoulder and left breastits the surrounding dark negatives that create
the light positives. We see a similar treatment in this Poussinthe pillars in
both the center and right buildings are created by the abutting dark shapes.
7KHJXUHVDUHFRQVWUXFWHGVLPLODUO\
And we see the same thing in this Picasso. The central nude is created by the
dark shapes that surround her. The small light window framing the woman at
the easels head is created by the large dark shape that surrounds it. In fact,
this drawings like a visual essay on the way we can draw something as dark
against a light, like the womans face against the window and the horse and
373

vase above her. Or as light against a dark, like the central woman, the light
vase behind her, and the tabletop on which it sits.
So, in working with value, we have to learn how to create both positive and
negative shapes of value. Creating the dark ones feels natural. The light ones
are a bit more challenging because we draw them indirectly; we draw them
by creating dark negatives around them.
And this brings us to the importance of edges. As youve learned, line does
DORWRIZRUNIRUXV$PRQJWKHUVWWKLQJVZHQRWHGDERXWOLQHLVWKDWLWFDQ
FUHDWHVKDSHE\GHQLQJWKHHGJHRIVRPHWKLQJOLNHDFLUFOHRUDERWWOH,W
FDQDOVRGHQHWKHHGJHZKHUHWZRSODQHVPHHWOLNHDEORFNVIURQWSODQH
PHHWLQJLWVVLGHSODQHRUDWDEOHWRSRURRUPHHWLQJDZDOO
Now, we want to be able to do this with value. In the value scale youll
note theres no line, just value shapes. We read them as shapes, as squares,
because where they meet the values are different.
:H QG WKH VDPH WKLQJ LQ WKH /XQGLQQR RXWOLQHV (YHQ WKH OLWHUDO FKDON
lines on the blackboard arent really lines, theyre drawings of lines, and
making a drawing of a line is different from drawing a line. These lines are
UHQGHUHG WR KDYH WKH VSHFLF VKDSH DQG FKDUDFWHU RI FKDONERDUG OLQHV LQ D
VSHFLFOLJKWVLWXDWLRQ1RWHWKHFKDQJHLQYDOXHZKHUHWKH\IDOOXQGHUWKH
walls shadow. In this sense, theyre thin shapes that have been modulated in
value and texture.
All the other edges in the drawing are formed by one value meeting
anotherthere are no outlines. The light from the window on the blackboard
is created by a value meeting a distinct and different value at an edge. The
same applies for the model in relation to the board. It also applies to her hip
on our left overlapping her arm, and to the arm on our right overlapping her
hip. In each case, a value meets anotheranother different valueand this
establishes the edge of the form. This does what we would have done earlier
with a line.
Also note that not all edges are the same. Contrast the far right shadow on the
blackboard with its diagonal continuation on the lower left. On the right, the
374

edges between the shadow on the blackboard and the light on the blackboard
are softer and the value contrast is softersofter light. On the left, the edges
between that shadow on the blackboard and the light are harder and the value
contrast greaterharder light. So, with value, the edges of a shape are doing
what contour did previously. And there are internal edges as well, and these
are doing what cross contour did in the world of line.
The edges of the womans watch act like a cross contour, making the wrist
IHHO WKUHHGLPHQVLRQDO 2Q ERWK DUPV WKH ORQJ YHUWLFDO HGJHV ZKHUH WKH
darker value meets a lighter one behave like cross contours to bring out the
form, as does the shadow meeting the light on the breast on the left. The
OLJKWDUHDVDUHVKDSHVGHQHGE\HGJHVWKHJUD\DUHDVDUHVKDSHVGHQHGE\
edges, and the dark areas follow suit.
So, lets start out by making some shapes with value. Like Boucher, Poussin,
and Picasso, lets use: brush and ink; well also need some printer paper or a
VNHWFKERRNYLHZQGHUVD+SHQFLOVRPHZKLWHVWLOOOLIHREMHFWVDQGERWK
a light and a dark ground or drape for the still life we set up.
Many people, when they start using value, assume that they should outline
HYHU\WKLQJUVWDQGWKHQOOLQWKHYDOXH:KLOHWKLVFDQZRUNLWVRQO\RQH
way to go about things. Often, making a shape directly, without outlining
DQGOOLQJLQFDQIHHOOHVVVWLIIOHVVFRORUHGLQ,QIDFWLQERWKWKH3RXVVLQ
and the Picasso, the ink is brushed in directly creating shapeanything but
fussy. The brush is a great toolby applying pressure, you can get the full
length of the soft bristles onto the page: This creates a shape. By pulling the
brush, you can control the shape.
/HWV PDNH VRPH EDVLF VKDSHV UVW OHWV GUDZ D FLUFOH ,QVWHDG RI VWDUWLQJ
with an outline, well start with shape moving out from the center of the
shape to its edges. Then a rectangle, then a triangle, and a trapezoid, and last
a diamond.
Now, lets draw negativesrectangles with cutouts. Again, no outline, and
we want to produce these same shapes. We can also try a pattern, alternating
black and white shapes. Lets try a checkerboard, just rectangles, then
triangles, and diamonds.
375

Lets up the complexity with compounded shapes like an hourglass, then the
negative of an hourglass, and a simple house shape, then its negative.
Now, lets try a more complex positive/negative situation. Well start with
a single bottle made of three constituent shapes: a rectangle with a curving
base, a hemisphere, and a rectangle for the bottles neck. Then another
ERWWOHVDPHKHLJKWEXWGLIIHUHQWVKDSHVSDFHGWRWKHULJKWRIWKHUVW:HOO
make this out of four constituent shapes: a trapezoid with a curving base,
WKHQ WZR PRUH WUDSH]RLGVWKH UVW WDSHULQJ GRZQ WKH VHFRQG XSDQG D
small rectangle for a cap.
Now well draw a border around the bottles so theres space on the right
and left but the border will touch both the tops and bottoms of both objects.
Now, lets break down the complicated negatives into simpler building block
shapes. Then, redraw the two bottles starting with the negatives to construct
them as light objects on a dark ground.
Play out other variations on your own. Construct other objects like the
RQHV \RX UVW PDGH XS ZKHQ ZH VWDUWHG GUDZLQJ ZLWK OLQH DQG VKDSH
candlesticks, bowls, wine glasses, et cetera. Do them singly as positives,
then as negatives, and then do two or three together like we just did with
the two bottles, and do this a number of times, varying the objects. Once
you begin to feel comfortable creating a variety of shapes with the brush, try
this from observation. The steps will be very similar to those we used when
GRLQJWKHUVWQHJDWLYHVKDSHGUDZLQJVHDUOLHULQWKHFRXUVH
Place two objects of similar height on your still life table. The shapes
will appear clearest if you have white objects and place them on a dark
groundyou could use a dark drape or black foam core. Frame them in
\RXUYLHZQGHUVRWKDWWKHUHVVSDFHRQERWKWKHULJKWDQGOHIWEXWOHWWKH
YLHZQGHU WRXFK ERWK WKH WRS DQG WKH ERWWRPV RI \RXU REMHFWV 7UDFH WKH
format shape lightly in the center of your page and draw the shape of the
objects with your brush. Now, on a new sheet of paper, retrace the format
shape and this time draw the negatives.
1H[W RSHQ XS WKH YLHZQGHU VR WKDW \RX KDYH DQ DPRXQW RI VSDFH DERYH
and below the objects and add this to the drawing. Remember, both complex
376

positives and negatives can be constructed using constituent shapes. Try this
DFRXSOHWLPHVZLWKGLIIHUHQWREMHFWV7KHQWU\VWDUWLQJZLWKWKHYLHZQGHU
in the open position so that you have some space all around the objects.
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Now you should have a handle on drawing positive and negative shapes
ZLWKYDOXH/HWVWDNHLWDQRWKHUVWHSDQGFUHDWHWKUHHGLPHQVLRQDOIRUPLQ
light using black and white shapes. For this drawing everything has to be
either black or whiteno grays. This can really help us think about value
compositionally, that notan notion of the play of lights and darks across the
surface, while also creating the illusion of light.
It also helps us simplify. Many beginners try to copy every instance of shift
in value they see, but sometimes the changes have to do with local color,
surface texture, or even a stain or spot of dirt. None of these will help us bring
RXWDVHQVDWLRQRIWKUHHGLPHQVLRQDOIRUPDQGRIWHQWKH\OOOHDGWRWKHGLUHFW
opposite and the form collapses. We want to think like Poussin, Boucher, or
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WKHLOOXVLRQRIWKUHHGLPHQVLRQDOIRUPLQOLJKW)RUWKLVGUDZLQJZHOOVWDUW
with line, just to get the ideathe others well do directly with shape.
Lets imagine a table and wall seen straight on. Compose this in a longish
horizontal rectangle; make a horizontal line and youve got a tabletop and
wall. On the table, in our central line of vision, well imagine a block in
RQHSRLQWSHUVSHFWLYH:HVHHLWVIURQWSODQHLWZLOOEHDUHFWDQJOH3ODFHLW
so its right edge is about at the vertical half. Well draw the front face so that
it extends up above the edge where the table and wall meet. Were looking
down, so well also see the blocks top plane: a trapezoid.
Now youre ready to think about light. Id like you to imagine that the light
is coming from above left. That means the tabletop will get more light than
the wall. The tabletop will be lighter; the wall, darker. Everything has to be
either black or white, no grays, so the tabletop stays white, the wall goes
black.
$VZHYHQRWHGEHIRUHWDEOHDQGZDOODUHQRWKLQJPRUHWKDQDQLQVLGHRXW
version of a block. The block has a top plane parallel with the tabletop. Like
377

the tabletop, it receives more light, it stays white. The blocks front face is
parallel to the wall; it gets less light than the top plane and has to go black,
DQGZHOHWWKHEODFNRIWKHEORFNRZLQWRWKHEODFNRIWKHZDOO6LQFHWKH
light is coming from the left, well have a cast shadow moving out to the
right. It will of course be black to the tabletops white.
Take a look at your drawing. How many shapes are there? Well, its
somewhat open to interpretation. We could say three: one large black shape
and two whites. We could say four: the black ground shape, the black face of
WKHEORFNDQGLWVVKDGRZDQGWKHWZRZKLWHVKDSHV:HFRXOGDOVRVD\YH
three black and two white. However you count it, its a lot like a still life
version of the \Q\iQJ symbola black half and a white half with a white
shape in the black and a black shape in the white.
Now, try redrawing this but without line. Try shape with your brush as we
did in the prior exercise. Start by making the back wall but leave the negative
of the top plane of the box. Then, add the front plane of the block with its
shadow.
1RZOHWVWU\DQRSHQER[LQWZRSRLQWSHUVSHFWLYHVLWWLQJRQDWDEOHLQIURQW
of this wall, but this time well start with value shapes. Well imagine it lit
from the left, but not from 90 degrees; well imagine the light source as
being a bit more frontal. Heres where well end up.
Well start with the back wall with the negative of the boxs silhouette. Next,
well add the boxs side plane thats in shadow, then the cast shadow, and
QDOO\WKHOHIWLQVLGHSODQHRIWKHER[DOVRLQVKDGRZ:HOOOHDYHDVOLYHURI
white for the thickness of the top edge.
Now lets try a cup. This time well imagine the light coming from the right.
The cup will resemble the box but will be curvilinear. Start with the ground
VKDSH WKHQ WKH VKDGRZHG VLGH SODQHOHDYLQJD ELW RI ZKLWHIRU D UHHFWHG
light, then the cast shadow, and the small inner plane thats also in shadow.
Lets try a cone. Well start with the wall, then the shadow side of the cone.
/HDYHDVOLYHURIZKLWHIRUWKHUHHFWHGOLJKWWKHQWKHFDVWVKDGRZ

378

Now, get several simple objects and your light and try this from observation.
Best if everythings white: the object, the tabletop, and the wall. Put a single
object on your still life table. Start by lighting the object from above and
from the side or a side angle. This should give you clear chiaroscuro and a
cast shadow.
When you begin drawing, you have to make broad generalizations about
light and dark. Think about which planes are getting more light and which
one are being deprived of light. You want to see past all the small gradations,
and you want to connect what you observe about light on the object, table,
and wall to composition, to the overall organization of shape and value in
WKHIRUPDWVKDSH8VH \RXUYLHZQGHUWRKHOSGHWHUPLQHWKHIRUPDW7KHQ
lightly trace this with pencil on your paper before starting the drawing.
After youve tried a number of individual objects from observation, put
some objects together to form a still life. Here are some examples from my
students at the University of Washington.
/HWVORRNDWWKHODUJHSODQDUVWUXFWXUHUVWWKRVHODUJHJURXQGVKDSHVWKDW
create the shape of the drawing itself. Here we get a large white shape for
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beyond.
Here, we have horizontal stripes: a thin black one for the tables front plane,
a white one for the tabletop, and a black one for the wall.
This composition uses the guillotine strategy for the two ground shapes.
Thats where the two ground shapes meet on a diagonalexcellent planar
analysis in the pitcher.
+HUHLWVZRUWKQRWLQJKRZWKHVKDGRZRIWKHER[KHOSVWRGHQHWKHIURQW
plane of the tall pyramid.
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the right edge of the object in the center. The central objects shadow then
KHOSVWRGHQHWKHEORFNRQWKHOHIW

379

As you did with the single objects you just drew, lighting is key. Spend
some time getting the objects and light to work together to bring out the
planes and form. Follow these steps to do your own version of this exercise:
8VH\RXUYLHZQGHUWRQGDSRLQWRIYLHZFRPSRVLWLRQDQGIRUPDWVKDSH
that interests you. Pay particular attention to the large positive and negative
VKDSHVDQGKRZWKH\WLQWRWKHIRUPDW\RXYHFKRVHQ3D\FORVHDWWHQWLRQ
to the large groupings of light and dark caused by planar changes and cast
shadows. As you did with the single objects, rule out the format on your
paper with a light pencil. Then translate all the values you see into either
white or black shapes. You want to make this translation or reduction based
on choices that will maximize the illusion of depth and volume.
Once youve had some experience with this method of working with white
and black, you can try it with a variety of subjects from landscape to the
JXUH
Youve now seen that we dont have to copy every value to get a convincing
sensation of light, space, and volumewe can translate it. In the last set of
drawings, you took what you were seeing in a full range of values and boiled
it down to two: black and white. Now were ready to open things up to a
fuller range. To get you up to speed in creating these values, well start by
GUDZLQJDQLQHVWHSYDOXHVFDOHOLNHWKHRQHZHORRNHGDWLQWKHODVWOHFWXUH
This exercise will really help you develop a conceptual map for thinking
DERXWYDOXHDQGLWZLOOJLYH\RXKDQGVRQSUDFWLFHFUHDWLQJWKHGLVWLQFWYDOXHV
\RXOOQHHG,WKLQN\RXOOQGWKLVDQLQWHUHVWLQJDQGFKDOOHQJLQJSURMHFW
,GVXJJHVWGRLQJWKLVUVWZLWKFKDUFRDO\RXOOEHXVLQJLWDORWLQ\RXUYDOXH
drawings. Doing the value scale will help you get a better sense of how to
work with this material. Youll need a sheet of white paper, at least 18 24.
The brighter the white, the betterit will give the scale a greater value
range. You want to create even areas of value, so best to avoid papers with
any prominent texture. Centered in the sheet, rule out a rectangle 2 inches by
18 inches with a pointed piece of vine charcoal.
Now, many people are tempted to use a graphite or charcoal pencil to rule
this outdont. At the end we want to see nine distinct shapes of value
without any line circumscribing or dividing them. If you use graphite or
380

charcoal pencil, youll never be able to get rid of the line, itll always be
visible, and thats going to spoil the scale.
So get a good point on a piece of medium or hard vine charcoal. Draw as
WKLQO\DQGOLJKWO\DVSRVVLEOHWRRXWOLQHWKHWZRLQFKE\LQFKUHFWDQJOH
Next, draw a series of very light vertical lines to divide the rectangle into
QLQHWZRLQFKE\WZRLQFKVTXDUHV$ERYHWKHVTXDUHVOLJKWO\QXPEHUWKHP
one through nine.
,YHDVNHG\RXWRSXWWKLVWZRLQFKE\LQFKUHFWDQJOHLQWKHFHQWHURI\RXU
page. Thats so youll have the challenge of keeping the rest of the page
white while you work with charcoal in this central area. Im not trying to
torture you here, but we often want to preserve the white of our page in some
areas while working in others with charcoal, so this is good practice.
The basic method is to start on the outside and work towards the center. One
is an absoluteits white and thats a given; its the original value of the
paper. Nine is also an absoluteits the darkest dark we can make. Well
get our darkest dark with compressed charcoal, so, using the compressed
charcoal, make square nine the deepest black possible. Make sure you extend
to the edges and keep the value even across the whole of the square. Now,
put aside the compressed charcoalwell be using vine for the next set of
steps.
7KHFHQWHUVTXDUHVTXDUHYHLVQH[W7U\WRLPDJLQHWKHJUD\WKDWZRXOG
be halfway between your black and white. And a note here: Go through this
without looking back at the value scale Ive used as an illustration. Youll
get more out of it if you try to imagine the values and then adjust them as
you move forward. Trying to copy the gray on your monitor will defeat the
purpose; you want to develop your eye in judging values relatively. Copying
D YDOXH ZRQW KHOS PXFK LQ WKLV UHJDUG 6R LQ VTXDUH YH FUHDWH DQ HYHQ
value, edge to edge, of a central gray.
2QFH\RXYHJRWWKLVJRWRVTXDUHWKUHH,WVKDOIZD\EHWZHHQRQHDQGYH
Try to imagine what this gray would look like, then create a value halfway
EHWZHHQ ZKLWH VWHS RQH DQG PLGJUD\ VWHS YH 1H[W LQ VTXDUH VHYHQ
FUHDWH D YDOXH KDOIZD\ EHWZHHQ PLGJUD\ VWHS YH DQG EODFN VWHS QLQH
381

With the darker values you may need to use a mix of vine and compressed
FKDUFRDO 2QFH \RXYH QLVKHG VHYHQ H\HEDOO \RXU IRXU YDOXHV DQG PDNH
any changes you think are necessary, then turn your attention to steps two,
four, six, and eight. Gauge them as half steps between the values on either
side of them.
Once youve got all this blocked in, check to make sure that all the squares
PHHW FOHDUO\ HGJHWRHGJH YDOXH WR YDOXH <RX VKRXOGQW VHH DQ\ OLQHV
anywhere, and you shouldnt see any white except in square number one.
$VN \RXUVHOI LV YH DFFXUDWHO\ JDXJHG DV WKH PLGSRLQW EHWZHHQ RQH DQG
QLQH"$UHWKUHHDQGVHYHQDFFXUDWHDVPLGSRLQWVEHWZHHQRQHDQGYHDQG
YHDQGQLQHUHVSHFWLYHO\"$UHWZRIRXUVL[DQGHLJKWJDXJHGDFFXUDWHO\
as midpoints between their neighboring values?
Lets take a look at a couple of examples from some past students. This is
DYHU\JRRGUVWVKRWLWOOJLYH\RXDVHQVHRIVRPHWKLQJVWRORRNIRU$VN
yourself, are there any subgroupings? Are there any squares that feel like
they group more with some than others? Another way of asking is this: Do
you get a break anyplace?
,QWKLVUVWH[DPSOH\RXOOQRWHRQHWZRWKUHHDQGIRXUJURXSWRJHWKHUWKHQ
YHVL[DQGVHYHQWKRXJKVL[DQGVHYHQEUHDNRIIDELWIURPYHDQGHLJKW
DQGQLQHIRUPDQDOVXEJURXS:KDWWKLVWHOOVXVLVWKDWWKHUHVWRRJUHDWD
jump at these steps. Some of the darkness has to be shared down the scale.
+HUHV DQRWKHU YHU\ JRRG VFDOH WKRXJK \RXOO QRWH KHUH WKDW IRXU DQG YH
form a subgroup, as do seven, eight, and nine.
<RXOOOLNHO\QGVRPHVXEJURXSVLQ\RXURZQGUDZLQJVRXVHERWKFKDUFRDO
and erasure to adjust the valuesthe malleable kneaded works well here.
Its often easier to see a problem after a break, so put your drawing aside
for a couple days and take another look, then make any adjustments needed.
Then, after doing some of the value drawings described in the next lecture,
take another look at your value scale. Youll likely see discrepancies you

382

hadnt noticed before, and thats not a bad thing at all, its a mark of enhanced
perceptual skill.
Its a great idea to try this with pencil, too. Youll want to get good wedge
shapes on your pencils before trying thisits the best way to get an even
gradient. Start with your very darkest pencil to get step nine; work with a
ZLGHUDQJHRISHQFLOVWRJHWWKHRWKHUYDOXHV%XWRQFH\RXYHQLVKHGWKLV
UVWYDOXHVFDOH\RXUHUHDG\WREHJLQWRSXWDZLGHUDQJHRIYDOXHWRZRUN
Before we get into the complex value drawing projects well be doing itll be
a good idea to incorporate value in your quick gestural compositional studies.
As we saw with line, it helps to try out several different compositional
strategies before committing to a drawing. And, as we get into value,
completing a drawing can be a real investment of time, so you can save on
time and frustration by doing some preliminary value sketches.
Weve already seen some examples of quick compositional studies
done in valuethe Daumier is one. The subjects the death of the Greek
mathematician and engineer, Archimedes. He was killed by a Roman soldier
during the siege of Syracuse in 212 B.C.E.
As weve noted, we have two basic values in this drawing. They provide a
general compositional map for the drawing. We get large alternating shapes
of light and dark in the ground. The arm and sword of the Roman soldier
are light and stand out in contrast to the dark ground behind. The soldier,
centered in the page, splits light and dark. This creates a focal area here, and
Archimedes head, like the sword, is contrasted against a dark ground. So, the
organization of light and dark contrasts tells us what to pay attention toit
advances the narrative.
The Poussin also shares this quality, though here there are four values: the
FRORURIWKHSDSHUDOLJKWLVKWRQHDPLGWRQHDQGDGDUNWRQH7KHJXUHV
get the greatest contrast; the papers against the dark tone. The buildings
JHWOHVVFRQWUDVWE\DQGODUJHWKH\GRQWJRGDUNHUWKDQWKHPLGWRQH:H
pay most attention to the highest contrast, so well pay most attention to the
JXUHV

383

These drawings have a similar quality to the studies we did in black and
white. In both the Daumier and Poussin, theres little detailno fancy
shading. Its all about hierarchy, shape, plane, and light.
Rembrandt did hundreds of quick compositional drawings. This was
probably done in a matter of minutes. The screaming kids the star; the
woman holding him is second in importance. Hes central and the shadow he
casts on the woman represents the largest high contrast area in the drawing.
The woman gets the next highest contrast, the older woman behind her the
next, the architecture and the two kids in the doorway follow.
Heres a Degasobviously, quickly done. We get a stress at both the
vertical and horizontal halves. The woman and the man ride one diagonal.
As a counterbalance, the table straddles the diagonal that formats central
horizontal quarters, creating two mirrored wedge shapes: top and bottom.
Value contrast tells us that the womans head and neck are the focal point,
and that her body is the focal area.
So, give this a shot. Use any materials you like: pencils, charcoal pencils,
pen and ink, brush and ink, ballpoint pen, felt tip marker. Keep the drawings
on the small endyou want to be able to move through them quickly. Try
putting some of these ideas together. You want to make quick drawings that
use different value palettes compositionally to structure a hierarchy in the
drawings.
First draw some simple forms from your imagination as we did earlier. Use
blocks, cones, cylinders, and spheresimagine them as still lifes. Make sure
youre using value holistically, and dont ignore the wall and tabletop. Start
ZLWKWKUHHYDOXHVDOLJKWDPLGWRQHDQGDGDUN7KHQWU\WZROLJKWVWZR
PLGWRQHVDQGWZRGDUNV<RXFDQWKLQNRIWKLVDVDVL[VWHSVFDOHDWKLUGRI
ZKLFKLVOLJKWDWKLUGPLGWRQHDQGDWKLUGGDUN
7KHQ XVH \RXU VWLOO OLIH REMHFWV WKUHH WR IRXU ZRXOG EH QH ([SHULPHQW
with your light sourcevary the direction, the height of the light, and its
distance from the objects. Then try a range of subjects: interiors, cityscapes,
and landscapes are all great. If a family members watching TV or sleeping,
WKDWV D JUHDW RSSRUWXQLW\ WR GUDZ WKH JXUH /LNHZLVH FRIIHH VKRSV
384

SXEOLF WUDQVSRUWDWLRQ DQG OLEUDULHV DUH DOO JUHDW SODFHV WR GUDZ JXUHV LQ
environments. Concerts and sporting events work well too. Knowing that
people could move at any moment will push you to draw quickly.

385

Value: Eight Complex Drawing Projects

Lecture 23

eve now looked into the ways in which artists think about value.
$QG\RXYHJRWWHQVRPHKDQGVRQSUDFWLFHFUHDWLQJYDOXHVKDSHV
the illusion of light and volume with black and white, and steps of
value. In this lecture, well outline eight drawing projects that are designed
WRJHW\RXVWDUWHGXVLQJYDOXHZLWKDUDQJHRIVXEMHFWV:HZLOODOVREULH\
recap some of the major topics weve covered in order to relate them to the
new projects using value.

Lecture 23Value: Eight Complex Drawing Projects

Review
/HWVEULH\UHFDSVRPHRIWKHPDMRUWRSLFVZHYHFRYHUHG

386

First, we can use gestural line, quickly and incisively, to do the

ZRUNRIFRQWRXUFURVVFRQWRXUDQGFRQVWUXFWLRQOLQHDQGZHFDQ
add value to gestural line drawings. Such drawings are helpful for
QGLQJWKHEHVWFRPSRVLWLRQIRUDFRPSOH[SURMHFW

We can construct many things we want to draw using contour and

basic shapes as building blocks, often using construction lines as
an aid.

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GUDZ IHHO WKUHHGLPHQVLRQDO :KHQ ZRUNLQJ ZLWK YDOXH FRQWRXU
DQGFURVVFRQWRXUOLQHVFDQDSSHDUDVHGJHVZKHUHRQHYDOXHPHHWV
another.

Its important to think compositionally and organize disparate

objects into large aggregate shapes related to the ground shapes.
These aggregate shapes generally create the shape of the drawing
itself.

The shape of the drawing has an underlying abstract structure.

Earlier, we saw how we could create strong compositions by

relating negative shapes to positives. Weve now seen that those

negatives and positives can be created out of value shapes, and
these can be organized to form visual pattern within the format.
z

We studied 12 methods for arriving at accurate proportions and

another 12 principles that can be applied to create the illusion of
YROXPHDQGVSDFHRQDWZRGLPHQVLRQDOVXUIDFH

We also learned about linear perspective. Were aware that which

planes and how much of any given plane we see depend on eye
height and point of view.

In recent lectures, we learned that we can think about value as

occurring in steps from white to black. And weve seen how we can
create mood by being selective in our choice of value palette.

By controlling contrasts, we can create a visual hierarchy with

cascading zones of focus. And we can create volume and space
within the palette and within the hierarchy by showing the effects
RI OLJKW DV LW PRYHV DFURVV D WKUHHGLPHQVLRQDO IRUP DQG E\
modulating value to create atmospheric perspective.

Tips for Value Drawings

Here are some suggestions that apply globally to the projects in this lecture:
z

First, analyze the value situation you see. Squint at the scene in
front of you to cut down on the amount of detail youre able to
discern. An effect of this is to diminish many of the smaller value
changes so that you see the larger changes that have the greatest
impact.

Make small, quick compositional studies with broad generalizations

DERXWYDOXH)LQGWKHODUJHYDOXHJURXSLQJVUVW

If you want to analyze a particular instance of value, try this trick:

&XW D VPDOO KROH LQ WKH FHQWHU RI D PLGJUD\ SLHFH RI FDUGVWRFN

387

Lecture 23Value: Eight Complex Drawing Projects

/RRN RXW DW \RXU VXEMHFW VR WKDW WKH YDOXH RU FRORU OOV WKH KROH
youve made, and read the value against the viewer.

388

When youre looking at the effects of light, try to understand whats

FDXVLQJWKHVSHFLFHIIHFW,VLWWKHUHVXOWRIGLUHFWOLJKWRUUHHFWHG
light? Its much easier to draw something if you understand why it
looks the way it does.

A common pitfall is to try to copy every detail of light and shade

without understanding whats producing those details. The result
can be an incoherent pattern that doesnt succeed in representing
what youre trying to draw.

Analyzing what youre seeing is important, but remember, nothing

KDVD[HGYDOXH7KHYDOXHRIDQREMHFWGHSHQGVRQRXUIRFXV,I
you copy the value of everything you see while you focus on it,
\RXZLOOLQDWHDOOWKHYDOXHFRQWUDVWV7U\IRFXVLQJ\RXUH\HVRQ
the most important place, the focal point. Note how you see all the
other visual events while focusing on this point. Theyll have less
FRQWUDVWDQGWKHLUHGJHVZRQWEHDVZHOOGHQHG

Think hierarchically. Dont copy value; organize it. In a still life,

you generally want less contrast between the wall and tabletop and
more associated with the objects in relation to one another and to
their environment.

:RUNIURPWKHJHQHUDOWRWKHVSHFLF:KHQDSSOLHGWRYDOXHWKLV
means putting in large areas that approximate the overall values in
the drawing. This approach allows you to see the drawing whole at
an early stage. Then, lighten and darken within the approximation
as needed.

A practical way to begin a drawing that will have a fairly full range
RIYDOXHVLVWRXVHDOLJKWWRQHDPLGWRQHDQGDGDUNWRQH%XWQRWH
that the light shouldnt be white and the dark shouldnt be black.

,WVQRWDKDUGDQGIDVWUXOHEXWLI\RXUHVHUYHWKHRFFXUUHQFHRIWKH
darkest dark against the lightest light for the intended focal point,
youll be well on your way to having it assert itself as such.

:KHQGUDZLQJZLWKFKDUFRDOXVHYLQHRUZLOORZWRQGSURSRUWLRQV
and block in general value. Once this has gelled, use compressed
charcoal and charcoal pencils to deepen the darks and work in
greater detail.

You may want to try one or more of these projects as a reductive

drawing. This type of drawing involves lightly outlining the
format shape on the page with vine charcoal, then creating an even
PLGWRQH WR OO WKH VKDSH <RX VKRXOGQW VHH DQ\ RXWOLQHMXVW D
UHFWDQJOHRIPLGJUD\IRUWKHIRUPDWVKDSH(UDVHWKHPLGWRQHWR
create lights and darken it to create darks.

Choose one of the suggested projects for this experiment: Try

interpreting the same subject, lit in the same way, as an overall light
drawing (high key) and an overall dark drawing (low key). Then
FUHDWH D YHUVLRQ UHVWULFWHG WR PLGYDOXHV 7KLV H[HUFLVH ZLOO JLYH
you a sense of how much freedom you have to modulate a subject
in different tonal keys and how these keys pay off in terms of mood
and emotion.

Take time and care setting up and lighting your subjects. Use your
YLHZQGHU(YDOXDWH\RXUVXEMHFWIURPDYDULHW\RISRLQWVRIYLHZ
If you think compositionally when setting up and in locating the
best point of view and format shape, the drawing will make sense
much more readily.

.HHSVRPHZKLWHIRDPFRUHRQKDQGWRUHHFWOLJKWEDFNRQWR\RXU
VXEMHFW7KLVFDQHQKDQFHWKHUHHFWHGOLJKWRQWKHVXEMHFWVVXUIDFH
DQGKHOSPDNHLWIHHOPRUHWKUHHGLPHQVLRQDO

Finally, give yourself different light situations. Try different

intensities of bulbs or set up a still life by the light of a window on a
bright day, a cloudy day, and at night. If you draw outside on a day
389

when the sun is strong, youll note strongly delineated shadows.

Return to the same scene on an overcast day, and youll see that the
shadows are much more minimal.

Lecture 23Value: Eight Complex Drawing Projects

Working with Colored Objects

Although we are not yet drawing with color, below are some tips for drawing
objects that have color:

390

Color has three attributes: hue (the attribute that gives the color
its name), saturation (the colors level of purity), and value (the
lightness or darkness of the color).

For the projects in this lecture, focus on the colors value. The idea
here is to learn to see the value as distinct from the colors hue and
saturation. You want to be able to see the world as if you were a
EODFNDQGZKLWHFDPHUD

As weve already noted, you want to establish a mood, a hierarchy,

and the sensation of light and space. Essentially, you have to
translate color into value, keeping all this in mind.

When setting up a still life, if you want the objects to dominate,

make sure the two ground colors have less contrast, one to the
other, than the objects have to the ground and to one another.

Start with three or four objects at the most. In choosing them, think
about how theyll affect one another hierarchically. Two darkish
objects placed against a dark ground will group together with the
ground. Imagine, for example, two bottles of red wine against
a violet drape of similar value. Theres not much contrast in that
VFHQH ,I \RX DGG D OLJKW FUHDPFRORUHG YDVH XSVWDJH \RX ZLOO
JHWFRORUDQGYDOXHZRUNLQJWRJHWKHUFRPSRVLWLRQDOO\7KHFUHDP
colored vase will be the focal point.

You might also try starting off with colors that are closely related.
For example, you could choose objects and grounds that are all in the
\HOORZRUDQJHIDPLO\6WDUWZLWKOLJKWHUPRUHQHXWUDOWRQHVIRUWKH

ground; then, use a couple of objects that are somewhat darker and
more saturated but still light. They will read as more important than
the ground. Light the scene from the side to produce chiaroscuro,
and all the objects will gain in contrast. Finally, add a red object as
the focal point. This object will be the darkest thing in an otherwise
light environment and will have the greatest light/dark contrast.

Suggested Reading
Aristides, Classical Drawing Atelier, chapter 4, Value, pp. 5265, and
Sphere Drawing, pp. 124125.
Loomis, Successful Drawing, Complex Forms in Light, pp. 8995.
Smagula, Creative Drawing, chapter 5, Value, pp. 108131.

391

Value: Eight Complex Drawing Projects

Lecture 23Transcript
You now know about many of the ways artists think about value. And youve
DOVR JRWWHQ VRPH KDQGVRQ SUDFWLFH FUHDWLQJ YDOXH VKDSHV FUHDWLQJ WKH
illusion of light and volume with black and white, and in creating steps of
value.
In this lecture Ill discuss eight drawing projects that are designed to get you
started using value with a range of subjects. But before we do, Id like to
recap some of the major topics weve covered to date. There are quite a few
of them. And you want to hold onto them and relate them to the new projects
using value.
First, we can use gestural line quickly and incisively to do the work of
FRQWRXUFURVVFRQWRXUDQGFRQVWUXFWLRQOLQH$QGZHFDQDGGYDOXHWRRXU
quick drawings. We want to use these quick compositional drawings to help
XVQGWKHEHVWFRPSRVLWLRQIRUDFRPSOH[SURMHFW
We can construct many things we want to draw using contour and basic
shapes as building blocks, often using construction lines as an aid. We
VDZ KRZ REOLTXH VKDSHV DQG FURVVFRQWRXU FDQ PDNH WKH WKLQJV ZH GUDZ
IHHOWKUHHGLPHQVLRQDO:KHQZRUNLQJZLWKYDOXHWKRVHFRQWRXUDQGFURVV
contour lines will now appear as one value meeting another along an edge.
We want to remember to think compositionally and organize disparate
objects into large aggregate shapes related to the ground shapes. These large
aggregate shapes will generally create the shape of the drawing itself.
The shape of the drawing has an underlying abstract structure. Earlier, we
saw how we could create strong compositions by relating negative shapes
to the positive. Weve seen that those negatives and positives can be created
out of value shapes. And that these can be organized to form visual pattern
within the format.
We studied 12 different methods for arriving at accurate proportions. And
another 12 principles that we can apply to create the illusion of volume
392

DQG VSDFH RQ D WZRGLPHQVLRQDO VXUIDFH :H ZDQW WR XVH HYHU\WKLQJ ZH
now know about illusionistic space including what we learned about linear
perspective. Were aware of eye height and point of view and how were
actually seeing an object.
In recent lectures, we learned that we can think about value as occurring in
steps from white to black, and weve seen how we can create mood by being
selective in our choice of value palette. By controlling contrasts, we can create
a visual hierarchy with cascading zones of focus. And weve learned that we
can create volume and space within the palette and within the hierarchy by
VKRZLQJWKHHIIHFWVRIOLJKWDVLWPRYHVDFURVVDWKUHHGLPHQVLRQDOIRUPDQG
by modulating value to create atmospheric perspective.
Here are some suggestions that apply globally to these projects. First,
analyze the value situation you see. It can really help to squint at what youre
looking at. Squinting cuts the amount of detail youre able to see. An effect
of this is to diminish many of the smaller value changes so you see the larger,
greater impact changes. Make small quick compositional studies with broad
JHQHUDOL]DWLRQVDERXWWKHYDOXH)LQGWKHELJJURXSLQJVUVW
If you want to analyze a particular instance of value, heres a trick. Take a
PLGJUD\SLHFHRIFDUGVWRFN&XWDVPDOOKROHLQWKHFHQWHU/RRNRXWDW\RXU
VXEMHFWVRWKDWWKHYDOXHRUFRORUOOVWKHKROH\RXYHPDGH5HDGWKHYDOXH
against the viewer.
When youre looking at the effects of light, try to understand whats causing
WKHVSHFLFHIIHFW,VLWWKHHIIHFWRIGLUHFWOLJKWRUUHHFWHGOLJKW"$QGZKDWV
its source? It makes it much easier to draw something if you understand why
it looks the way it does.
A common pitfall is to try to copy every detail without understanding whats
producing these details. The effect can be an incoherent pattern that doesnt
succeed in representing what youre trying to draw. Analyzing what youre
VHHLQJLVYHU\LPSRUWDQWEXWUHPHPEHUQRWKLQJKDVD[HGYDOXH7KHYDOXH
of an object depends on our focus. As we saw in an earlier lecture, when the
camera focuses on me, my contrast is high. But when the camera focuses on
-DLPHHP\SURGXFHUEHKLQGPHP\FRQWUDVWVGLPLQLVK
393

If you copy the value of everything you see while you focus on it, youll be
LQDWLQJDOOWKHYDOXHFRQWUDVWV7U\IRFXVLQJ\RXUH\HRQWKHPRVWLPSRUWDQW
placethe focal point. And note how youre seeing all the other visual
HYHQWVZKLOHIRFXVLQJRQWKLVSRLQW7KH\OOKDYHOHVVFRQWUDVWDQGOHVVZHOO
GHQHGHGJHV
7KLQN KLHUDUFKLFDOO\ 'RQW FRS\ YDOXH 2UJDQL]H LW ,Q D VWLOOOLIH \RX
generally want less contrast between the wall and tabletop and more
associated with the objects in relationship to one another and to their
environment.
:RUN IURP WKH JHQHUDO WR WKH VSHFLF :KHQ DSSOLHG WR YDOXH WKLV PHDQV
putting in large areas that approximate the overall values in the drawing.
This allows you to see the drawing whole at an early stage. See how all
the parts are relating. Then, lighten and darken within the approximation as
needed. The problem of working detail to detail is that you wont see how
the parts relate until late in the game. And things can get considerably off.
A practical way to begin a drawing that will have a fairly full range of values
LVWRXVHDOLJKWDPLGWRQHDQGDGDUNWREHJLQZLWK%XWWKHOLJKWVKRXOGQW
be white, and the dark shouldnt be black. Reserve the white and black. Why?
Leon Battista Alberti tells us why in his Renaissance treatise, De Pictura:
You have to remember that no surface should be made so white that
you cannot make it a great deal whiter still. Even in representing
VQRZZKLWH FORWKLQJ \RX VKRXOG VWRS ZHOO RQ WKLV VLGH RI WKH
brightest white. For the painter has no other means than white to
express the brightest gleams of the most polished surfaces, and only
black to represent the deepest shadows of the night.
$QG WKDWV HFKRHG E\ -RKQ 5XVNLQ LQ KLV  ERRN The Elements of
Drawing. He wrote However white an object may be, there is always some
small point of it whiter than the rest. You must therefore have a slight tone
of grey over everything in your picture except on the extreme high lights.
While not a rule, if you reserve the occurrence of the darkest dark against
the lightest light for the intended focal point, youll be well on your way to
394

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once this has been achieved because theyre harder to erase.
You may want to try one or more of these projects as a reductive drawing.
This entails lightly outlining the format shape on the page with your vine
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DQ\RXWOLQHMXVWDUHFWDQJOHRIPLGJUD\IRUWKHIRUPDWVKDSH
6WDUWWKHGUDZLQJXVLQJWKUHHWRQHVDOLJKWDPLGDQGGDUN7KHPLGWRQH
that whats already there covering the format, so you erase to create your
lightsall the planes or parts of planes that are generally light. Leave the
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An additional idea you could apply to any of these projects that follow is to
interpret the same subject lit the same way as an overall light drawing high
key, then as an overall dark drawing low key. And then a version restricted to
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to modulate a subject in different tonal keys. And it will give you a handle on
how this pays off in terms of mood and emotion.
Theres a real parallel to music here. We can take a given melody which
starts on middle C and reconstruct it starting on different pitchsay A above
middle C. We keep the internal relationships consistent and wind up with a
modulated version of the original melody. We can shift the whole drawing
up or down on the value scale. And we could also compress the range or
expand it.
Take time and care setting up and lighting your subjects. Use your
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and format shape, the drawing will make sense much more readily.
Have some white foam core on hand, and that can really be useful. You
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5HHFWHG OLJKWV FDQ UHDOO\ KHOS PDNH WKLQJV IHHO WKUHHGLPHQVLRQDO $QG

395

lighting considerations go beyond the formal. Now that youre engaged with
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$Q RIW XVHG WURSH LQ KRUURU OPV LV WR OLJKW IURP EHORZ 7KLV UHDUUDQJHV
normal readings of light and shadow. For instance, it can result in large
shadows cast upward onto walls. And all of this is unusual so it helps to
contribute to the sensation of anxiety or fear.
If youre a theater or opera fan, lighting plays a big part here too. So much of
what we experience as in mood and emotion is related to the use of lighting
in these art forms. And it plays a large role in many of the visuals we see in
advertising.
Give yourself different light situations. Try different intensities of bulbs. Try
setting up a still life by the light of a window too. And try bright days and
cloudy days, and also at night.
Draw outside on a day when the sun is strong. Youll note strongly delineated
shadows. Return to the same scene on an overcast day. The shadows will be
much more minimal. Back indoors if you want something like a corner to
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top and two sides and youve got a corner. You can paint these a range of
values or colors. And this will give you a variety of grounds for your still
lives.
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white sphere on a white table top in front of a white wall. The second, a white
block. Same situation. We want everything white so that the effects of light
are not obscured by other factors. This will give you clear insight into the
way value and light play on a curvilinear and rectilinear surface respectively.
If you dont have a white sphere or box, you could use any ball or box
sprayed white. If the wall or tabletop is not white cover them with paper or
foamcore.
The goal in these drawings is to use steps of value to create the illusion of the
VWHSVRIOLJKWWKDWZHOHDUQHGDERXWLQWKHUVWOHFWXUHRQYDOXH6ROLJKWWKH
396

object and environment carefully to bring out as many of these nine steps as
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WKHQ RXU KDOIWRQH WKHQ WKH SHQXPEUD WKHQ WKH XPEUD WKHQ WKH UHHFWHG
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from the object into the shadow.
Do this drawing with charcoal on white paper. Repeating this project with
pencil will help you learn to create gradations with graphite.
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QH$JDLQWDNHWLPHWRVHWXSDQGOLJKWLW%HDWWHQWLYHWRWKHKLHUDUFK\RI
value shapes. Do as much as you can to organize things compositionally in
WKHVHWXS
Youll note in this example that theres a visual hierarchy. The central chalice
is pretty dominant. Why? Its central. Its not overlapped or cropped. It has
among the highest value contrasts, and it has high contrast of shape. Its the
curvilinear thing among the mostly rectilinear things.
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with one event of white. Once youve completed a white still life, youre
ready for color. I dont mean drawing with color. Thats up ahead. But, were
going to draw things that have color using a range of value.
So, lets talk a bit about the relationship of color to value. For present
purposes its important to understand that every color can be understood as
having three attributes or qualities.
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name. Its redness or blueness. The next attribute is saturation. This refers to
the colors level of purity. For instance, we have versions of blue all along a
spectrum stretching from very gray at the achromatic end to the most intense
blue at the saturated end. The third attribute is the colors value. The same
blue could be made lighter or darker. These variants represent three values of
the same color.
397

For now, we want to focus on this last attribute. We need to learn to see a
colors value as distinct from its hue and saturation. We want to be able to
see the world as if we were black and white cameras. Here are four clearly
different colors: a red, a blue, a green, and an orange/brown. If I were to take
a black and white photo of the red it would look like this. The blue would
come out the same as would the green and the brown.
Now, imagine Im doing a charcoal drawing of a lime in a red bowl on a
brown table in front of a blue wall. And the colors are like the colors in the
example, and its very evenly lit. If I draw the values accurately, I wouldnt
have much contrast. My drawing wouldnt capture the very real obvious
differences among the four colors. So, copying values can be a problem. We
use what we see, but we also have to structure the value in each drawing.
As weve already noted, you want to establish a mood, a hierarchy, and the
sensation of light and space. Essentially, you have to translate color into
value keeping all this in mind. Now, there are no hard and fast rules here. Its
about making judgments in relation to the formal and content concerns of the
drawing. The arts in balancing all this.
A couple basic principles: If you want the objects to dominate, make sure
your two ground colors have less contrastone to the otherthan the objects
have to the ground and to one another. And start with three or four objects
tops. In choosing them think how theyll affect one another hierarchically.
Two darkish objects placed against a dark ground will group together. Im
thinking like two bottles of red wine against a violet drape of similar value.
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got color and value working together compositionally. The light vase will
dominate.
Another way of starting off is to try colors that are closely related, say objects
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neutral tones for the ground, then a couple still light but somewhat darker
more saturated objects. Theyll read as more important than the ground. If
you light from the side youll get chiaroscuro, and all the objects will gain
in contrast.
398

Finally, add a red object as the focal point. All else being equal, the red will
dominate. Itll get the attention. Its special. And itll be the darkest thing in
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Or you could do the inverse; ground dark red. Most of the objects similar
red or orange, not too different. And one light yellow object. It will be the
focal point. At the outset, it will help a great deal to think about these formal
relationships as you select, pose, and light your objects.
Having understood something about the complexities of translating color to
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ZLOOFDOORQWKLVNQRZOHGJH7KHUVWSURMHFWLVDQLQWHULRU,WVDIRUPWKDW
doesnt always get its due, though it presents many interesting opportunities.
For this project, I send my intro drawing students to the architecture
buildingGould Hallon campus. It has a clear planar structure. But any
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right format shape, and a strong value structure.
In drawing like this, youll want to use your eraser as a drawing tool,
particularly where you have light shapes in front of darker ones. For instance,
look at the light handrail in front of the dark steps. Its generally preferable
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If you try to draw the steps just meeting the handrails edges, you can run
into two common problems. First, they dont feel overlapped so they come
forward in space. Second, theyll often feel discontinuous. The right side
wont really relate to the other along a continuous edge.
The pencil type erasers are particularly good for this. As are the sharp edges
of the pink and white pearls, they can be used against a straight edge to great
effect.
We can apply the same kind of thinking to a landscape or cityscape. As you
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great places to draw.

399

Were used to thinking about natural pristine landscapes and seascapes or

bustling city streets as appropriate subject matter for drawings. And sure,
they can provide great material. But any place can be made interesting if
the visual structure of the drawing is compelling. So dont rule out a simple
backyard, a residential street, or even a strip mall.
One of the major differences between a still life and a landscape is that
when were drawing in nature or a city things will change. The light will
likely change over the hours and clouds, birds, cows, people and vehicles
will all move. So its even more important to think about the large structural
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shape structures to hold the details in his drawings and paintings. Here, the
horizontal format is divided into two simple shapes that contain everything
elsea large lower rectangle and a smaller upper rectangle.
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divisions make use of linear perspective that he worked so hard to master.
You can see how hes lining up his road and several of the fences with a
vanishing point toward the right edge of the format on the horizon. Other
fences vanish off to the left.
He understands the principle involved. He doesnt have to use linear
perspective rigidly ruling out lines. But armed with the concept, he can
organize the shapes and space in the drawing. So, its a good idea to start
with these kinds of large structural elements; the ones that dont move.
Youll note that the Van Gogh is composed of three main values: a light, a
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shape has a value identitylight, mid, or dark.
Some subjectslike the pathhave a pretty consistent value. Others like
some of the thin trees on the left, they vary. Youll notice that lower down,
theyre light shapes against the darker ground of the fence. As they rise up
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400

Other elementsthe ones that move and change like the cast shadows or the
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the large structure has been drawn and been established. And you can relate
these kinds of elements to the larger structure as you decide what to include
and how to include them.
Another project involves combining an interior with an outdoor space.
Choose an interior with a window looking out at a something that you can
relate compositionally to whats occurring inside the room. Once the basic
architecture of the drawing is laid out, its interesting to proceed from the
depth of space forward. Helps in generating clear overlaps. Its also a great
opportunity to work with atmospheric perspective. Really leaning on the
contrasts and the qualities of edges to stretch the sensation of depth.
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several different ways. First, try dramatic lighting. Heres one example: a
drawing of a head moving out of the darkness into the light.
Remember to think about planes when drawing the head. The human head
shares qualities with both the block and the sphere. It has a top plane, front
plane, two side planes, a rear plane, and a bottom plane. The last would be
the underside of the chin and jaw. The plane changes are like something
between the delineated angles of a block and the continuous curve of a
sphere or cylinder.
We looked at this planar head in an earlier lecture. The plane changes are
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analysis of the form. This is particularly important when drawing the visual
events on the front plane of the head. Many people whove studied drawing
revert to childlike symbols here.
A noselike the head itselfhas a top plane, side planes, and a bottom
plane. Its a lot like a block or prism. Noses would also share roundness with
cylinders or spheres. Chins and cheeks can be thought of in the same way.
The eye sockets are like concave spheres. The eyeslike convex ones
sunken into concavities.
401

The lips have planes too. Generally, the upper lip angles down toward the
lower lip, and the lower lip generally has a visible top plane and front plane.
In most cases, the center of the lips sit on the front plane of the head, but
the right and left extremes curve onto the side planes. When you look at the
meeting of your upper and lower lips, ask yourself which one is overlapping
the other at any given point.
Everything depends on a cogent analysis of the form. This drawing has a
quiet mood, and that suits the subjecta woman reading in her bed at night.
Notice the compositional use of value. Highest contrasts in the head. Next
in the body and cast shadow. Next in the bed. Then the painting on the wall.
And, last, the walls themselves.
The light comes from below left. It creates clear plane breaks in the head,
arm, chest and legs. But the modulations occur within the value palette for
that area.
Heres another drawing where we have value being used hierarchically,
compositionally, and to modulate the form. We see the greatest contrast in
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the room. Different parts of the drawing are handled in different palettes
different ranges of value.
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space and drama. Notice how we move back in space from the bottle to
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is also linked to the diagonal of the format.
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landscape; has a very strong mood.
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402

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WKUHHRUIRXURQWKHYDOXHVFDOH%XWLQWKHJXUHZHJHWWKHIXOOUDQJHRQH
to nine. This creates a clear focal hierarchy.
Theres great planar analysis in both the light switch and head. The planar
analysis of the switch and nose are very similar. Also, note how the eraser is
being used as a drawing tool particularly in the hair.
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The framing of the light shape of the head in the dark of the hair makes this
the focal area. The high contrast and level of detail in the eyes make them the
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so that it sits in this plane.
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beyond drawing a head or a head and shoulders which will generally be
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And lets take a look at how this is composed. The ground consists of two
rectanglesan upper and lower one. The upper one is then divided along
a vertical, very abstract. The woman, book, and pillow form an aggregate
shapea triangle. Very good articulation of the large planes in this drawing.
The planes of the walls convincingly pivot due to the change of value. The
lights coming from the right. The small side plane of the wall gets a fair
amount of light. The wall at 90 to this goes darker. The 90 turn puts us
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move away from the light source, the light diminishes.
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403

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Theres very good control here of value palettes. We see the light plane of
the womans head against the dark of the table behind her. This gives us a
very high contrast event here; helps to cement the head as the focal point.
While we have some real lights on the right side of the drawing in the wall,
theyre not associated with strong darks. Also, note how the pictures on the
wall and on the table are drawn as if in peripheral vision. The edges are
blurred and the contrasts less pronounced.
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depth. The head is the focal area because of its dominant value contrasts and
edge clarity. Within the head, the eye on the left is the focal pointbright
white against black.
As we move into the hoody, pants, and sandals, the contrasts become more
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contrasts diminish further.
This last group of projects all called on you to translate color to value. The
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painting into a value drawing. We did this once before with line. Here, youd
follow the same basic steps, though youd map out the value as discussed
earlier in this lecture.
Its a great exercise thatll help you understand how an artist you admire
uses value. It will also give you great practice in thinking strategically about
translating color into value.

404

Value: Side Light and Cast Shadow

Lecture 24

n the past few lectures, weve concentrated on the use of value in

drawings done from observation, but we also want to use value in
drawing from the imagination. Learning something about projecting
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done with many problems, well build from simple geometric forms. The
goal is to wed your knowledge of geometric solids and perspective to ideas
about value to create believable objects in light and shade drawn from
your imagination. Because this topic is really part of linear perspective, its
often termed the perspective of shadows,WLQYROYHVVWHSE\VWHSVFKHPDWLF
procedures, but like the rest of linear perspective, once you understand the
underlying principles, you can apply it freely, basically eyeballing how you
want to construct light and shade in your drawings.
Cast Shadow Variables
As weve already seen, a number of variables affect the way we see the form
of an object and the cast shadow it produces. The strength of the light source
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Sunlight is different from moonlight, which is different from an incandescent
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lightsay, bright sun on a cloudless dayare different from those created
by diffuse light on a gray and overcast day.
The position of the light source relative to the objectboth its distance
and its angleis another important variable. Imagine that youre looking
directly at an object. Light could come from any direction in relationship to
that object. If it came from directly in front, the result would be a partially or
fully obscured shadow because the shadow will be overlapped by the object
itself. Light coming from directly behind the object leaves it in silhouette;
here, the cast shadow projects out toward the viewer. Light could also come
from the right or left side and from any of the oblique angles in between
405

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either the right or left side or from a right or left oblique angle, well get the
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naturalistic works are lit in this way. This lighting brings out the form of the
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or other large planes.
Further, the shape and spatial orientation of the object producing the shadow
have a measurable effect on the cast shadow. Similarly, the planar orientation
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Lecture 24Value: Side Light and Cast Shadow

All these factors combine to increase the complexity of drawing cast shadows.
However, as weve done in the past, well start with a simple situation and
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build from this base and learn how to project cast shadows of blocks and
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compound surfaces receiving shadows and inclined planes throwing them.
In the next lecture, well look into light coming from oblique angles, both in
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Important Principles of Side Light
As we move through the drawing exercises in this lecture, keep these
principles in mind:
z

In linear perspective, we consider all light rays coming from the sun
as being parallel.

To draw the shadow of a vertical thats perpendicular to the ground

plane, extend a horizontal from the base of the vertical to meet the
ray of light.

With side light, the shadow of a horizontal edge recedes to the same
vanishing point as the edge itself.

As youre working through variations on the drawing exercises in this

lecture, try changing the variables. For example, try a given situation with a
low horizon, then a high horizon. Keep in mind that the lower the horizon, the
406

more oblique the shadow, and the higher the horizon, the wider the shadow.
You might also try different locations and angles for the light source, which
will translate to different shadow lengths. If you go through the exercises
methodically several times, youll begin to develop an instinctive feel for
how the shadows should relate to one another, to the point of view, and to the
time of day.

Suggested Reading
Auvil, Perspective Drawing, chapter 8, Cast Shadow, pp. 5974.
Norling, Perspective Made Easy, chapter 16, Shade and Shadow,
pp. 155166.

407

Value: Side Light and Cast Shadow

Lecture 24Transcript
So far, weve concentrated on the use of value in drawings done from
observation. We want to build on this so that youll be able to draw from our
LPDJLQDWLRQWRR7KHUHVDSLHFHWKDWZLOOKHOS\RXJDLQJUHDWHUFRQGHQFH
in drawing from your imagination with value. And, thats learning something
about projecting cast shadows.
As weve done with many problems, well start with simple geometric forms
and build on this. The goal is to wed your knowledge of geometric solids
and perspective to ideas about value, to create believable objects in light and
shade drawn from your imagination.
Since this is really part of linear perspective, its often termed the perspective
RIVKDGRZV,WLQYROYHVVWHSE\VWHSVFKHPDWLFSURFHGXUHV%XWOLNHWKHUHVW
of linear perspective, once you understand the underlying principles you can
apply it very freely. Basically, eyeballing how you want to construct light
and shade in your drawing.
As weve already seen, there are a number of variables that affect the way
we see the form of an object and the cast shadow it produces.
The strength of the light source is a primary one. All else being equal, the
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The type of light is another. Sunlights different from moonlight, which
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And the shadows created by a strong focused lightsay, bright sun on a
cloudless dayis different from diffuse lightsay, the shadows wed see on
a gray and overcast day. The position of the light source relative to the object
is another important variable. Both its distance and angle.
So, lets imagine were looking directly at an object. Light could come from
any direction in relation to that object. It could come from directly in front.
In this case, the object this would produce a partially, or fully, obscured
shadow because the shadow will be overlapped by the object itself. Light
408

could come from directly behind the object. This leaves the object in shadow,
in silhouette. And, the cast shadow will project out towards us. Light could
also come from the right or left side, and from any of the oblique angles in
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With a concentrated light source coming from either the right or left sides, or
from right or left oblique angles, well get the effects of chiaroscuro, as well
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the spatial orientation of the ground or other large planes.
Next, the shape and spatial orientation of the object producing the shadow
has a measurable effect on the cast shadow.
Similarly, the planar orientation of the surface receiving the shadow will
OLNHZLVHLQXHQFHWKHFDVWVKDGRZVVKDSH6RZLWKDOOWKHVHIDFWRUVLWFDQ
get complex. But, as weve done before, well start with a simple situation
and build from there.
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this base and learn how to project cast shadows of blocks and curvilinear
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surfaces receiving shadows and inclined planes throwing them. In the next
lecture, well look into light coming from oblique angles, both from in front
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light bulb hanging from the ceiling.
In linear perspective, we consider all light rays coming from the sun as
being parallel. For drawing purposes, the suns so far away that any slight
differences arent germane. Thats different from the way we conceive of
a naked bulb in a room. There, as well see, we conceive of the light rays
as radiating out from a central point. But, for our purposes here, it all stays
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as parallel.
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the sun at a low elevation, the cast shadow is quite long. But, as the sun
409

continues to rise, the shadow progressively shortens until we get to midday

when the shadow disappears. Past noon the shadow begins to extend in the
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the shadow is short. But as we progress through the afternoon, the shadow
lengthens. As the sun sets we, once again, get very long shadows. Of course,
this is what we experiencelong dramatic shadows at dawn and dusk,
minimal shadows at midday. We get shadows pointing west in the morning,
east in the afternoon. If the viewer is looking north, shadows go left before
noon and right after.
So, you can draw whatever length of cast shadow you want, whatever suits
your expressive purpose. A key point is that when youre drawing from your
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and direction.
Draw along with me here. Even though this involves linear perspective,
you could follow along that way approximating the anglesa pencil and a
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So, were out in the desert. We have a horizon. And we have a post stuck
in the ground. Its a sunny afternoon. One of the suns parallel light rays
glances the top of the pole and extends down toward the ground plane. To
draw the shadow of the pole, we extend a horizontal out from the poles base
to meet the ray. And, thats our second principle: With side light, to draw the
shadow of a vertical thats perpendicular to the ground plane we extend a
horizontal from the base of the vertical to meet the ray of light. Well use this
idea over and over again. Its the basic concept behind projecting all kinds of
more complex cast shadows.
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SROH %XW LWV ORFDWHG EDFN EHKLQG WKH UVW RQH )LUVW ZH SODFH WKH SRLQW
where the second pole meets the ground plane. Then we extend a diagonal
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continue to the horizon. And, thats our vanishing point. From this vanishing
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a vertical line from the base of the second pole to meet the diagonal. Now
410

we have two poles of equal height. And we can get rid of some of the
construction lines. To construct the shadow of the second pole well repeat
what we did earlier. All light rays coming from the sun are parallel. So, well
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base of the pole to intersect the ray. Weve got our shadow.
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top and bottom. Draw the lines connecting them. Thats the wall. These
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shadow. As youve likely guessed, all we have to do is connect the ends of
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up with the vanishing point. And thats our third principle: With side light,
the shadow of a horizontal edge recedes to the same vanishing point as the
edge itself. At this point, you could shade it in if youd like.
Now, lets imagine were not just building a wall, but were building a block
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KDYH LWV VKDGRZ )RU D EORFN WKDWV VWUDGGOLQJ WKH KRUL]RQ LQ RQHSRLQW
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the shadow of the blocks side plane.
Lets do another. But this time well start by drawing a block, a transparent
one. And well put it below the horizon. And well make it closer to us in
space. Start with the front face on the right side of the page. Take a line from
each corner of the rectangle back toward the vanishing point. Well use the
same one we used for the other block, draw the back face and weve got
our block. Ive asked you to draw this transparently because well need the
internal structure to generate the blocks cast shadow. The blocks vertical
edges will function like the vertical posts we drew in the last drawing. Parallel
light rays will glance their tops and continue to the ground plane. To mix
things up a bit, well change the rays angle more towards the vertical. Make
it a little earlier in the afternoon. As we did before, well extend horizontals
from the verticals bases to create the cast shadows of these edges.
Next, well connect these with a diagonal to create the shadow of the top
right receding edge of the block. Then, erase the rays and the three lines
representing the blocks interior. Since this is a solid block, well only see
411

the triangular portion of the shadow emerging to the right of the blocks right
edge, so erase the part of the shadow we wouldnt see. Heres what it would
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is that, depending on the point of view, we may need to draw through the
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Then, erase the parts we wouldnt see.
You may have guessed that there was a less complicated way to get this. We
could have drawn one ray of light glancing off the far right vertical edge.
Drawn the shadow of that edgea horizontal out to meet the rayand then
drawn a line from that intersection back toward the vanishing point. That
represents the shadow of the receding top edge of the block. Thats our third
principle at work. The shadow of an edge vanishes to same vanishing point
as the edge itself.
But lets take this in another direction. Get into some additional complexity.
Take what you have and erase three things: the triangular cast shadow, the
front bottom horizontal, and the left bottom receding diagonal.
Well imagine this as a surface suspended on four posts. Like a table or a
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if you like.
Now for the cast shadow. For each post we draw a ray of light, all parallel
from the bases, horizontals to intersect. This gives us the posts cast shadows.
Now, we need the tabletops shadow. We connect the ends of the shadows of
the two posts on the right, then the same thing on the left. These diagonals
represent the shadows of the two receding edges of the tabletopthey lineup
with the vanishing point, no surprise, third principle. The shadow of an edge
vanishes to same vanishing point as the edge itself.
We have the shadows of the table legs and the receding top edges. Were
missing parts of the shadows of the horizontal edges of the tabletop. These
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in the gaps. Well draw in a line, starting at the cast shadow of the left edge

412

of the tabletop, toward the right leg both in the front and the rear. Shade it in
to up the illusion.
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Draw a horizon. Then, locate right and left vanishing points at the pages
edges. Start with a single post or table leg. Lightly carry both top and bottom
back toward the vanishing points. Next, add a right and left leg. From the left
leg, well recede to the right, from the right to the left. At their intersection,
draw the rear leg. Connect these to construct the top plane of the table. Now
for the shadow. Well start with four parallel rays of light, imagining late
afternoon, rays with acute angles to the ground plane producing relatively
long shadows, and then intersecting horizontals from each of the legs.
Well connect the front legs shadow to the shadow directly behind it. This
line represents the shadow of the tabletops right front edge. Then draw a
line from this point to the rear table legs shadow. This is the shadow of
the tables back edge. Youve got the idea now. From here, connect to the
shadow of the tables far left leg. And, back to where we began.
If we assign value to the cast shadows shape, it helps complete the illusion.
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leg creating a compound shadow. We could equally allow the table legs
shadow to be subsumed in the shadow of the tabletop. Whether wed see
this or not would depend primarily on the strength of the light source. Once
again, the shadows of the tabletops edges recede to the same vanishing
points as the edges themselvesprinciple number three. The long edges of
the table and their shadows vanish to the right, the short edges, and their
shadows to the left. Good to remember this, its a good check if you get
confused.
If this table were a solid block, wed need to project the cast shadows of the
WKUHHULJKWPRVWYHUWLFDOHGJHV
Start with a transparent block. Project light rays glancing the tops of the
three right vertical edges. Draw intersecting horizontals from the bases.
Connect the ends of the horizontal shadows. Now to edit get rid of the light
rays. Then the internal structure of the block, and the parts of shadows we
wouldnt see. Add some value, and youre done.
413

Id suggest repeating everything weve done a number of times for practice.

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perspective. Change the variables in your drawings. Try a low horizon then a
high horizon, the lower the horizon the more oblique the shadow, the higher,
the fatter. Try locating the light source on the right. Try different angles
of light. These translate to different shadow lengths. Try different types of
blocks, some tall, and some squat.
Then up the complexity. If the table we drew were an actual table, the legs
would have planes as well. Each table leg is really an elongated block.
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itselfblocks within blocks. Then try a stack of boxes. Try it freehand,
approximating the angles.
For most purposes, youll want to be able to adapt the core principles to
freehand drawing. As you do this more and more it will become very natural,
part of the way you see and think visually. Youll be able to draw more
quickly. And itll help you see how you could apply this to your sketching
from your imagination.
Lets try some curvilinear solids. Well start with a transparent cone sitting on
a table in front of a wall. This time light from the right. Draw a ray glancing
the cones point. We can sketch a trapezoid around the cones elliptical base.
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to intersect the light ray. Erase any extra line. Draw diagonals to this point
from the close and far edges of the base. Erase the construction lines and
those in the cones interior. Edit as needed. Reduce the lines strength. Then,
add value to the tabletop and wall. And to the cone and cast shadow. Next a
cylinder. Now for a sphere. Well add parallel light rays glancing the widest
points on each side. Then a horizontal line connecting these where the sphere
touches the ground plane. Well draw an ellipse on the centerline and youve
got your shadow. Again, edit. Erase back the line. And treat everything with
value.
You might ask, How did you determine how wide to make the ellipse? The
short answer is I made it up. So, heres the long answer. We dont know

414

how fat the ellipse of the shadow should be because we havent established
eyelevel.
When we look at a block, a cone, or a cylinder, what we see of each of these
forms is dependent on eyelevel. If we see a block or a cylinder from high
above, well see a lot of its top plane. As our eyelevel is lowered, we see
less and less. If we imagine these solids as transparent, the same would hold
true for their baseswider shapes from high above diminishing to a line at
eyelevel. When we drew the blocks, the cone, and the cylinder, one plane
of each of these objects was sitting on the ground plane. The width of that
shape indicated eyelevel. And, we projected the cast shadow from the width
of that shape. Drawing lines out from points where the form met the ground
planefront back, left and right. Using this system, a block seen from high
above will produce a wider shadow, one closer to eyelevel, a thinner one. Its
built into the system. The spatial orientation of the object was captured by its
base and translated to the cast shadow.
Spheres are special. They have no plane that coincides with the ground
plane. They look identical from any point of view. So when we draw a
sphere from our imagination, it, in and of itself, tells us nothing about its
spatial orientation. So we have to make this up.
Heres a sphere with a cast shadow seen from three different heights. Higher,
the shadow wider, lower, thinner, lower yet, thinner yet. But the shape of the
sphere is identical in each case.
So, when we draw the shadow of a sphere we need to set eyelevel. If there
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VKDGRZVDVDJXLGH,IQRWDQG\RXZDQWJUHDWHUVSHFLFLW\GUDZWKHFXEH
the sphere would inhabit and use its bottom plane as an indication.
Another point here. This isnt just, or even primarily, a technical problem.
When artists draw from their imagination, they think about the expressive
difference between long thin shadows that dissipate slowly and short hard
shadows that end at an abrupt edge. Generally, we want the technical to
follow the underlying expressive intent.

415

Up next, cast shadows on compound surfaces. And this is a good bit of fun.
Youll need a new sheet of paper. Start with a post in the desert, with a wall
to the right. Then a ray of light glancing the posts top. Draw a horizontal
toward the ray of light. But, where it hits the wall, climb up vertically until
it hits the light ray. Erase the ray. As the sun sets, the shadow lengthens
and climbs farther up the wall. Lower light, longeror in this casetaller
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Then add a wall to the right. Draw angled rays of light glancing the blocks
top right corners. From the right vertical edges of the block draw horizontals
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up with the vanishing point. Thats principle 3 once again. With side light,
the shadow of a horizontal edge recedes to same vanishing point as the edge
itself. Add some value and youve got the cast shadow.
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ray of light. The other two will end at the wall. From the ends of each of the
latter, draw a vertical to intersect the ray.
Now, for the shadows outline. Start with the line representing the blocks
long top edges shadow. Do this by drawing a line from the end of the
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far right vertical. Stop at the wall. From here, draw a line to the point of
intersection of the far right edge with its light ray. This is the same point
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internal structure of the block, the light rays, other construction lines, and the
part of the shadow outline we wouldnt see. Erase back the outline, add some
value, and youve drawn the cast shadow.
Lets do this now with our curvilinear volumes. Draw a tallish transparent
cone like this one. Then the trapezoid suggested by the cones base. Cross
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left. This will help us place the wall well draw next. Vanish the trapezoid
416

EDFNWRQGWKHYDQLVKLQJSRLQWDQGKRUL]RQ)URPWKHYDQLVKLQJSRLQWZHOO
draw a wall to the left of the cone, then a light ray. From the point where the
horizontal we drew earlier meets the wall well draw a vertical to intersect
the ray on the walls surface.
From both the front and back of the elliptical base of the cone, well draw
lines toward the intersection of the ray with the cones centerline on the
ground plane. And well stop at their intersection with the wall. From these
two points, well draw diagonals to meet the intersection point on the wall.
You can erase the construction lines, edit as needed, and add value at your
leisure.
Next updraw a transparent cylinder. Then, draw the trapezoid of the
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IURPWKHFHQWHURXWWRWKHULJKWSURMHFWOLQHVWRQGWKHYDQLVKLQJSRLQWDQG
horizon. Using the vanishing point draw a wall to the cylinders right. Next,
a central light ray from the cylinders lip. Now, a vertical up to intersect the
light. Two more light rays from the widest parts of the top ellipse. Then the
horizontals from the wide points of the base out to meet them. But, stop at
the wall.
Draw verticals up to intersect the light rays. And, a curve to connect the
three points of intersection. Erase and edit, and add some value to all the
planes. Next, draw a sphere like this one. Well imagine light from the right
and draw two light rays and a long cast shadow, then a trapezoid for the
shadows shape. Project a vanishing point and the horizon.
Lets locate a separate vanishing point on the horizon for the wall. And draw
the wall. From the center of the base of the sphere, well draw a horizontal
toward the light ray and stop at the wall. Then draw a vertical to intersect
the light ray on the wall. Where the contours of the cast shadow hit the wall
well draw a curve arching up to the point of light ray intersection on the
wall. Again, erase and edit. And you can treat the drawing with value.
Our last topic concerns the cast shadows of incline planes. Start by drawing
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Next, draw two light rays glancing the top corners.
417

Now, well need to draw horizontals out from the base of the vertical heights
of the corners. So, we have to extend a vertical line down from the top
corners of the incline plane to the ground plane. But, we dont know where
the ground plane should be. In other words, we need to know where the
incline plane would lie if it were lowered down to the ground.
There are a number of ways to do this. If we want real accuracy, wed start
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vertical trace and a trace point above one of the left vanishing point, wed
draw the incline plane. Then, simply drop the verticals down to meet the
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is to start by constructing a triangular prism that would produce a similar
incline plane. The third way is to eyeball the ground planeimagine the
prisms structure, its vanishing point and trace point. For most purposes,
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the long way. Youll begin to develop a sense of what looks right.
So, one way or the other, we have verticals dropping to the ground. From
their bases, draw horizontals out to meet the rays of light.
Now for the cast shadow. First, draw a line from the lower left corner of
the plane to meet the lower horizontal line. This represents the shadow of
the planes left edge. Next, a diagonal line from this point to the horizontal
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line from this point to the planes lower right corner. This is the inclined
right edges shadow. Erase the rays and construction lines to reveal the
shadows shape. Erase the portion we wouldnt see. And you can treat the
shadow shape with value.
Try this a couple more times. Try different kinds of incline planes, different
directions of plane, and directions of light. Like most of the things weve
done, getting a grasp of this comes with repetition and variation.
When most artists draw from their imaginations, they dont plot all this out
with a ruler. Though, of course, some do. But, they use the principles and
procedures to ballpark things so theyll be convincing.

418

As with many things in drawing, youll begin to develop a feel for what these
kinds of cast shadows should look like if you go through this methodically
several times. Youll begin to have an instinctual feel for how the shadows
should relate to one another, to the point of view, and to time of day.

419

Value: Oblique Light and Cast Shadow

Lecture 25

n this lecture, well complete our discussion of cast shadows. Well cover
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light, multiple light sources, and a method for determining shadows of
irregular forms. Well then discuss a number of drawing projects that will
allow you to apply the knowledge youve gained about value and about
constructing cast shadow.

Lecture 25Value: Oblique Light and Cast Shadow

Oblique Light
With oblique light coming from the front, cast shadows will recede into
space. With oblique light coming from the rear, cast shadows will project
forward into space. In this lecture, well walk through several exercises
that explore how we project cast shadows in oblique light. Key points to
remember include the following:

420

A cast shadow has two major components: angle, or direction, and

length. The light rays intersection with the angle, or direction, of
the shadow determines length.

To project the shadow of an object in oblique light, we need a new

kind of vanishing point: a shadow vanishing point.

We also need a shadow trace point. This is a point where light rays
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point.

All shadow directions from a given light source converge toward

the same point, the shadow vanishing point.

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the shadow trace point, where they intersect shadow directional lines.

With light coming from the front, as we move laterally away from
the shadow vanishing and trace points, the cast shadows get longer
and the angle of the shadow to the vertical edge becomes more
obtuse. As we move closer, the shadows get shorter and the angle
becomes more acute.

With light coming from the back, as we move laterally away from
the shadow vanishing and trace points, the cast shadows get longer,
but the angle of the shadow to the vertical edge becomes more acute
with distance. As we move closer, the shadows get shorter, and the
angle becomes more obtuse.

When drawing from the imagination, the angle of the shadow and
shadow length can be important compositional choices.

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a single light source on the ceiling. Well locate the shadow vanishing point
directly below the light source, on the ground plane. In this situation, the
shadows of objects in front of the shadow vanishing point will project
forward in space. Objects behind the shadow vanishing point will project
back, behind the objects. And objects straddling the shadow vanishing point
will project horizontally away from it. In this exercise, well project the cast
shadows of a block, a cone, a cylinder, and a sphere.
Light and Irregular Forms
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are irregular. For many of these objects, using a bounding rectangle helps
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Summing Up Cast Shadows
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projection. In each case, we built the shadows using vertical heights
associated with an object. To construct the shadows, we determined the
direction or angle of the shadow and its length. The shadows direction or
angle originated from the base of the vertical. The length of the shadow
421

was determined by a light ray glancing the top of the vertical. The point
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the verticals shadow.
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shadow was horizontal to the right. In right sidelight, the direction of the light
and shadow was horizontal to the left. In both cases, the shadows length was
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Lecture 25Value: Oblique Light and Cast Shadow

The third case was oblique light from in front of an object. Here, shadows
of verticals receded behind the object to a shadow vanishing point on the
horizon. The lengths of the shadows were determined by the intersection
of a light ray with the shadow directional line. All the rays converged to
a shadow trace point located on a vertical trace directly below the shadow
vanishing point.
The fourth case was oblique light from behind an object. Here, shadows
projected forward in space from a shadow vanishing point on the horizon.
The lengths of the shadows were determined by the intersection of a light ray
with the shadow directional line. All the rays converged to a shadow trace
point located on a vertical trace directly above the shadow vanishing point.
In this case, the point can be conceived of as being the light source itself.
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outward from the light source. They glanced the tops of verticals and
continued to the ground plane to intersect the shadows angle or direction.
These angles originated in a shadow vanishing point located on the ground
plane directly below the light source. The resultant shadows splay out from
the center.
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shadows of vertical elements must recede to the same shadow vanishing
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intersecting the shadows directional lines. All light rays from a given light
source converge at a shadow trace point located directly above or below the
shadow vanishing point.

422

Multiple Light Sources

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form from the imagination using value to imitate the effects of light. Using a
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But you could certainly experiment with using multiple light sources. For
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weve discussed.
With light coming from every side, the planes become evenly lit. One
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many artists are interested in exploring such forms. Multiple light sources
might also be of interest when the focus of the drawing is not really the
object but the choreography of patterns of light and shadow. You might also
be interested in looking at contrasting light sources, such as outdoor light
from a window combined with interior light from an incandescent bulb. This
situation can be especially interesting if youre working in color.
Continuing Projects
You now know quite a bit about value, light, and shade and about constructing
shadow. With this knowledge, consider trying these drawing projects:
z

'UDZ LQWR WKH FDVWVKDGRZ GUDZLQJV \RXYH GRQH LQ WKLV DQG WKH
previous lecture. Add value to all the planes and to the objects. As
you think about using light and shade to create volume, also think
about overall mood and value palette. And remember to consider
hierarchies of contrasthow you use value compositionally.

Play with projecting shadows onto different kinds of surfaces.

0DNHVXUHWKHFDVWVKDGRZUHHFWVWKHDQJOHRUFXUYHRIWKHSODQH
on which it falls.

Draw geometric solids from your imagination, starting with a

sphere. Practice working with the nine steps of light we discussed in
an earlier lecture. Then try a block, a cone, and a cylinder. Finally,
put a group of solids together in a still life.

423

Invent a room, imagine a window as your light source, and construct

a still life consisting of geometric solids in the room. Include a
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Suggested Reading
Loomis, Successful Drawing, Light on the Basic Forms, pp. 7988.

Lecture 25Value: Oblique Light and Cast Shadow

Montague, Basic Perspective Drawing, chapter 8, Shadows and

5HHFWLRQVSS

424

Value: Oblique Light and Cast Shadow

Lecture 25Transcript
In this lecture, well complete our discussion of cast shadows. Well cover
oblique light coming from both the front and the rear of objects. Well also
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Before we do, lets return to sidelight and a single post in the desert. A ray of
light glances the posts top and continues to the ground. To draw the shadow,
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the ray at ground level. The shadow has two components: angle or direction,
and length. The line coming from the base of the vertical post determines the
direction or angle of the shadow, here 90 degrees. The light ray determines
length. Oblique light gets a little more complicated, but these two principles
apply. Remembering this can stave off confusion.
Lets start with oblique light from the front. This means the cast shadows
will recede into space. Draw along here. Once again, try to put things
approximately where I do, that way youll have room for everything well
draw.
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imagine light coming from the left behind us, so the shadow will recede
at an angle from the posts base to the right. This establishes the light and
shadows direction. If you extend the line of the shadow to the horizon, you
get a new kind of vanishing point: a shadow vanishing point.
Add a light ray. This establishes the angle the light travels from its source.
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lengthsame idea as sidelight. As the angle of the ray rotates toward the
vertical, the shadow gets shorter; as it moves toward the horizontal, longer.
Theres a second new kind of point well use here, a shadow trace point.
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through the shadow vanishing point. Were actually going to draw a block
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425

/HWVDGGDVHFRQGSRVWVDPHVL]HDVWKHUVWEXWIDUWKHUEDFNLQVSDFH7RGR
this, well need a right vanishing point for the posts. Place it to the left of the
shadow vanishing point, then vanish the top and bottom of the existing post
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and erase the two construction lines receding to the right vanishing point.
Then draw the second posts shadow using the shadow vanishing point and
trace point. Draw a line from the base of the new post toward the shadow
vanishing point to establish its angle, then a line from the top of the new post
toward the shadow trace pointthis establishes the shadows length. Erase
the two new construction lines.
Next, well add another post, the back corner of the block. Well need a left
vanishing point. Then vanish the right post back toward that point and add
the post. Erase the construction lines. From the base of the new post, draw its
receding shadow toward the shadow vanishing point. Then draw a ray from
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and length of this posts shadow.
All the shadow directions converge toward the same point, the shadow
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converging toward the shadow trace point.
We need one more post. Well use the existing posts on the left in
combination with the right and left vanishing points to locate this. Erase the
construction lines. We wont need the shadow of the post on the left; itll fall
in the interior of the block and our goal is a solid block with its shadow. If
we were constructing something like a table, wed add this.
Now, connect the posts to get a transparent block. To get the shadow of the
block, we need to draw the shadow of the long edge receding to the right. We
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posts shadow to draw the top right rear edges shadow. Erase the internal
shadow construction line, then the portion of the shadow we wont see if the
blocks opaque. And erase the internal construction lines.
You could add value to all the planes. Good idea to lighten all the lines
UVWHUDVHWKHPEDFNVRWKDWWKH\UHMXVWYLVLEOH7KHSODQHVZLOOIHHOPRUH
426

volumetric if theyre not bound by line. If the lights coming from the left,
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most light. Ill go with the left plane, top next, right plane least.
We also want to think hierarchically. If I want people to pay attention to
the block, I locate the highest contrast in the block and in its relationship to
the ground. I also make sure that the contrast in the two ground shapes is
minimal in comparison. We generally dont want lots of contrast between the
two ground shapes, and minimal contrast between the block and the ground,
and within the block too. Do this and the edge where the ground shapes meet
will pop, and the block becomes an afterthought.
We can accomplish this compositional goal using different palettes. This
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quality. And remember, values relative. Its not the value per se but the role
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Lets rewind what we just did, but instead of starting with a post, well start
by constructing a block using right and left vanishing points.
From the base of one vertical edge, draw an angle or direction for the cast
shadow. This is an artistic choice, a compositional choice. Then, extend this
diagonal to the horizon to establish a shadow vanishing point. The shadow
length is another artistic choice. It could be short, medium, or longup to
you. To establish that length, we need a shadow trace point.
Draw a vertical line through the shadow vanishing point. Establish the length
RIWKHUVWVKDGRZWKHQSURMHFWDOLQHIURPWKHWRSRIWKHYHUWLFDOWKURXJKWKH
shadows end to intersect the vertical trace. The point of intersection will be
the shadow trace point. Then, relate the shadows of all vertical edges to these
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Next, establish a value structure for the drawing, and you want to think about
mood and compositional value and hierarchy.
Its worth noting that as we move laterally from the shadow vanishing and
trace points, the cast shadows get longer and the angle of the shadow to the
427

vertical edge becomes more obtuse. As we move closer, the shadows get
shorter and the angle more acute. Id suggest reinforcing what youve just
learned by playing around with it. Try light from the right, it will work the
same way. You could also modify the object. Try a table, then a block on
another block. And try cones and cylinders, too.
Lets look at oblique light coming from behind the object. This means the
cast shadow will project forward in space. Start with a block, like the one we
drew earlier. Erase the construction lines. From the central verticals base,
draw a line to represent the cast shadows direction and length. Extend this
back to the horizon to locate the shadow vanishing point. Draw a vertical
trace through this point.
From the tip of the cast shadow, extend a line through the top of the central
vertical and continue along this diagonal to intersect the vertical trace. The
point of intersection is the shadow trace point. Line up the shadow vanishing
point with the base of the far left vertical edge. Project a line forward in space
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Then, line up the shadow trace point with the top of the vertical edge and
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Erase your construction lines. Follow the same procedures on the right edge.
Add the lines representing the shadows of the top left and right front edges
of the block, and erase the internal construction line to complete the shadow.
Here, as we move laterally from the shadow vanishing and trace points, the
cast shadows get longer, but in contrast to light from the front, here the angle
of the shadow to the vertical edge becomes more acute with distance. As we
move closer, the shadows get shorter, the angles more obtuse. Play around
with this, too, like you did with light from the front, and play with the system
itself. You could imagine a large light source behind the objects, with rays
projecting both right and left from a central trace point.
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of the various types of light weve studied so far. Well draw an interior, a
room, with a light source, like a light bulb, suspended from the ceiling. Well
locate the shadow vanishing point directly below the light source, on the
ground plane.
428

In this situation, the shadows of objects in front of the shadow vanishing

point will project forward in space in front of the object. Objects behind the
shadow vanishing point will project back, behind the object. And objects
straddling the shadow vanishing point will project horizontally away from
the shadow vanishing point.
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centered in the page. The drawing will be 18 24. The extra space will allow
us to position right and left vanishing points outside the format shape. This
will help us avoid distortion.
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If youre measuring, make it 13 inches off the bottom of the page, or 11 from
the bottom of the format. Add a central vanishing point.
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WKHSDJHDQGVWUDGGOHVWKHKRUL]RQVRWKDWWZRDQGRQHKDOILQFKHVIDOOEHORZ
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the page. All we need is a point, like a vanishing point. Draw a vertical line
through this point. The light source functions as a shadow trace point, the
vertical line as a shadow trace.
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ground plane. From the light source, draw a horizontal along the ceiling
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is the shadow vanishing point. Once youve got this point you can erase the
projection lines.
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perspective, to limit distortion we space the vanishing points far apart.
Ill put mine on the horizon at the edges of the page. Now, construct a

429

WUDQVSDUHQWWZRSRLQWEORFNOLNHWKLVRQH2QFH\RXYHJRW\RXUEORFNHUDVH
the construction lines.
To draw this blocks shadow, we need to project a light ray glancing the top
of each vertical. Next, well project the shadows direction from the shadow
vanishing point through the verticals base to intersect the ray. Then we can
draw the verticals shadowshould all sound familiar.
Lets start with the vertical closest to us in space. Project a line from the light
source through the top. Then, from the shadow vanishing point, through the
base. Do the same with the left vertical, then the right, and then the rear.
Now erase your rays. Starting on the left, outline the shadow, then erase
everything that wouldnt be visible if the block were opaque. Last, you could
add some value to the cast shadow.
Its worth noting how many lines we made to construct the shadows shape.
I count 35 including the horizon. Thats a lot of lines. The good news is that
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pull out a straight edge.
Lets add some curvilinear solids here. Ive added a cone, a cylinder, and a
sphere. Lets try doing this freehand, approximating the angles so you begin
to get a feel for this.
Well start with the cone. First, well draw a perspectival tile around the
elliptical base. Then project a diagonal through the center from the shadow
vanishing point and intersect this with a light ray. Then well draw a line
from each side of the cones elliptical base aimed at the shadows intersection
with the light ray and stop at the wall. From the point where the center line
meets the wall, well draw a vertical to intersect the ray and connect the two
sides. You can erase your construction lines and add some value.
Lets project the cylinders shadow. Start out the same way. Draw a tile.
Find the perspectival center. Project a line from the shadow vanishing point
through the bases center point and out along the ground plane. Where this
line traverses the ellipses edge on the left, draw a vertical up to the top
ellipse. From the light source, project a line through this point to intersect
430

the line from the shadow vanishing point. From the shadow vanishing point,
project another line along the left edge of the cylinders base and continue
forward a bit. Where this line touches the base, draw a vertical up to the top
ellipse. From this point, project a line from the light source to the ground
plane to intersect the line from the shadow vanishing point. Repeat this on
the right side. Once you have these three lines connect them along a curve.
Then erase what you dont need.
Now for the sphere. Start with a circle. Then draw a square tile in perspective
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to the horizon, though this will be well off the page. Now well draw the cast
shadow of the tile, then the tiles simple armature, then the cast shadow of
the armature.
So lets see how we can apply what weve just learned to things wed draw
in a landscape, interior, or still life.
Ive drawn a tree, like an Italian cypress, a door with a glass pane, and a
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or a streetlight on a dark nightand a shadow vanishing point below.
Start with the tree. Well draw a perspectival rectangle encompassing the
cypress. Add an armature. Then project the rectangle and armature onto the
ground plane and draw the trees shadow. The doors already rectilinear. We
can project it directly onto the ground plane. Then draw verticals down from
the glass plane to the doors base and project them along the ground plane.
Now, project light rays through the windows four corners and draw light
passing through the window on the ground plane.
Lets do the pitcher. Draw a rectangle around the pitcher. Project it. Draw
verticals from the top of the body of the pitcher to the bottom of the rectangle.
Project these lines forward and draw the bodys shadow. Project a light ray
from the low point where the spout attaches to the body of the pitcher to the
bodys shadow. Draw the spout. Project a similar point for the handle, and
draw the handle.

431

Using the bounding rectangle works for all kinds of irregular forms in an
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here is that we can apply these concepts in a range of ways, from slow and
precise to fast and gestural.
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In each case, we built the shadows using vertical heights associated with the
object. To construct the shadows, we determined the direction or angle of
the shadow as well as its length. The shadows direction or angle originated
from the base of the vertical. The length of the shadow was determined by a
light ray glancing the top of the vertical. The point where the shadows angle
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the shadow was horizontal to the right. In right sidelight, the direction of
the light and shadow was horizontal to the left. In both cases, the shadows
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direction.
The third case was oblique light from in front of the object. Here, shadows
of verticals receded behind the object to a shadow vanishing point on the
horizon. The length of shadows were determined by the angle of the light
rays. All the rays converged to a shadow trace point located on a vertical
trace directly below the shadow vanishing point.
The fourth case was oblique light from behind the object. Here, shadows
projected forward in space, in front of the object, from a shadow vanishing
point on the horizon. The length of the shadows were determined by the
angle of the light rays. All the rays converged to a shadow trace point located
on a vertical trace directly above the shadow vanishing point. In this case,
the point can be conceived of as being the light source itself.
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outward from the light source. They glanced the tops of verticals and
continued to the ground plane to intersect the shadows angles. These angles
originated in a shadow vanishing point located on the ground plane directly
below the light source. The resultant shadows splay out from the center.
432

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shadows of vertical elements must recede to the same shadow vanishing
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shadow trace point located directly above or below the shadow vanishing
point.
In this section, weve covered single light sources. Our goal has been
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imagination. When most people work from their imagination this is, more
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Thats not to say that multiple light sources are out of the questionyou
could take the ones weve covered and combine them. Draw a single object
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side, the planes can become evenly lit. One potential effect is to make form
feel less solid, less 3D, and this could be made visually interesting. There are
many artists whove been interested in less than solid form.
There are other occasions when multiple light sources might be of interest.
One could be when the focus of the drawing is not really the object, but
instead, the choreography of patterns of light and shadow. Another would
be when a contrast of light source is involved. Youve likely seen someone
sitting by a window. The plane of their head turned into the room is lit by
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blue, lit by cool exterior daylight. Especially if ones working in color, these
kinds of situations can be very interesting to pursue. But, in the latter case, it
would likely be preferable to use direct observation as a starting point rather
than perspectival constructive methods.
You now know quite a bit about light, shade, and constructing shadow. There
are quite a number of interesting projects that you could take on at this point.
First, draw into the cast shadow drawings youve done with this and the prior
lecture. You could add more objects, but certainly add value to all the planes.
Of course, think about how youre using light and shade to create volume but
also think about overall mood and value palette. And remember to consider
the hierarchies of contrast, how youre using value compositionally.

433

Play with projecting shadows onto different kinds of surfaces. We did a bit
of this but there are many engaging possibilities here. Make small gestural
drawings. Remember, once you understand the concept, you dont have to
rule things out precisely. Imagine a series of objects in a row. Here, the small
cone casts its shadow on the ground plane and then climbs up the larger
cone. This, in turn, casts its shadow on the ground plane and climbs up and
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the plane it falls on.
One of the projects described in an earlier lecture on value involved drawing
geometric solidsa sphere and a blockfrom observation. Now draw them
from your imagination. Start with a sphere. Draw a format shape and make
a horizontal division in the format. Youve just drawn a tabletop with a wall
behind it. Draw a circle. Thatll be your sphere. Now, use value to create
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UHHFWHG OLJKW UHHFWHG VKDGRZ FDVW VKDGRZ DQG OLJKW IURP WKH REMHFW
UHHFWHG LQWR WKH VKDGRZ 'R WKH VDPH WKLQJ ZLWK D EORFN DQG D FRQH$
cylinder would be good too. Then try a still life of several of these put
together, all from your imagination. Try lining them up along a horizontal.
Imagine light from the side so that each object casts a shadow on the next.
In terms of compositional value, youll generally want the least contrast
among the large ground shapes and the greatest contrasts in your objects and
their relationship to the ground. Procedurally, its a good idea to attend to the
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cant put a bowl on the table unless you have the table; you cant put fruit in
the bowl unless you have a bowl. While therere no rules, its generally much
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WKHLUVKDGRZVZRUNODUJHWRVPDOOJHQHUDOWRVSHFLF$OVRFRQVLGHUGRLQJ
some of these, or any of these other projects Ill describe here, as reductive
drawings. I described this approach in an earlier lecture on value. Its often a
good way to quickly get value asserted in the whole drawing.
434

After doing these kinds of exercises, I ask my students at the University of

Washington to draw a still life in a complex interior from their imagination.
I ask them to invent a room, at least two walls meeting in a corner. But the
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and a ceiling. I ask them to imagine a window, which is the light source.
In the room, theres also a table. On the table is a still life consisting of
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I also ask them to use value compositionally so that the objects on the table
read as the focal point.
Note here how the still life is dominant in scale, elaborate in shape, contains
zigzagging diagonals, hinges on the center of the format, and has relatively
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Also, note how the walls and cityscape are handledall close value.
Here we get a very clear mood, an old library in moonlight, wonderful stage
setting, all those books, and other items on the shelves. Each book has a
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horizontal, some sloping diagonally. Theres a whole world there and yet its
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to remain the area of focus.
$QGKHUHVDQDOH[DPSOH6RPDQ\UK\PLQJUHFWLOLQHDUVWUXFWXUHVERRNV
tables, and blocks, and gridded pattern, all in contrasting scales. The value
RIWKHJULGGHGRRUSDWWHUQVEHDXWLIXOO\FRQWUROOHG,IWKHFRQWUDVWVKDGEHHQ
WRRKLJKLWZRXOGKDYHEHHQZD\WRDWWHQWLRQJHWWLQJEXWLWVLWVWKHUHDQG
plays its role because it exists in close value. Another thing I really like about
this drawing is how each book has a real shape and size. Some are vertical,
others lean at various angles.
For this project, use a good quality paper. Consider its surface, value, and
FKURPD0DNLQJJRRGFKRLFHVKHUHFDQUHDOO\EHQHWWKHGUDZLQJ
A next project is to invent a still life from your imagination using your
knowledge of basic solids and light and shade to construct the drawing.
The space, here two walls and a tabletop, are easily constructed using linear
435

SHUVSHFWLYH 7KH YH REMHFWV DUH VLPSOH FRPELQDWLRQV RU SHUPXWDWLRQV RI
cones, spheroids, and cylinders. Thats not to exclude observation in any
of the projects Ive just described. If youre drawing the geometric solids
and run into a problem, set something up thats similar, analyze what youre
seeing, then go back to your drawing and apply what youve observed.
With the two other projects, you might want to research a type of room,
IXUQLWXUH ZLQGRZ RU D RRU SDWWHUQ 8VH RQOLQH UHVRXUFHV FRPSLOH \RXU
own photographs of things, and collect the kinds of objects youll need.
When using photographs you want to make sure youre doing just that, using
the photograph, not copying it.
Ill give you an example. I want a particular type of window for my drawing.
,QGDSLFWXUHRIZKDW,ZDQWRQOLQHEXWWKHSLFWXUHKDVWKHZLQGRZLQD
wall parallel to the picture planeI want the window in a side wall. So I
take the data about the window type, molding, thickness, et cetera, and adapt
it to my drawing.
Some of my students draw still lives of invented objects. Once you
understand form and light, you can draw as if you were playing with clay. In
this regard, Id note that William Bailey doesnt generally set up a still life
and make a drawing. Instead, he uses his knowledge of line, shape, volume,
and the illusion of space to construct these drawings from his imagination.
Similarly, to make this pastel drawing, Norman Lundin didnt set up this
table in this room. Instead, he calls on a breadth of knowledge to construct
the drawing.
7KDWVQRWWRVD\DUWLVWVZKRZRUNWKLVZD\ZRQWORRNDWDVSHFLFFXSRU
a pitcher for reference, or the play of light on a wall. But many drawings
people assume are made by direct observation are instead synthesized in the
mind of the artist and are worked out on the surface of the page.
To conclude, we can wed what we studied earlier about geometric solids
and perspective to our knowledge concerning light and shadow to create
believable space and volume drawn from our imagination. Theres a whole
world to explore here.

436

Texture: Mark Making and Optical Value

Lecture 26

n common speech, texture refers to the look and feel of a surface or

material. In drawing, the word texture is used in three distinct but related
ZD\V)LUVWWKHUHVWKHDFWXDOWKUHHGLPHQVLRQDOWH[WXUHRIWKHGUDZLQJ
itself. This encompasses both look and feel and includes the physical texture
of the drawing surface and materials. Next, theres visual texture, which
relates to look only. A crazy scribble and a set of carefully ruled parallel
lines are the same to the touch, although visually, they have a different feel.
This kind of visual texture is connected to artistic approach. The third type
of texture is related to the texture of the subject: Think hair versus skin or
wood versus marble. Some artists take great pains to simulate these kinds of
textures in their drawings and paintings, while others are more interested in
the weave of the drawing itself. In this lecture, well begin to explore texture
and mark making.

alex grichenko/iStock/Thinkstock.

Actual Texture
Today, actual texture plays a much greater role in painting than in drawing, but
LWKDVDVLJQLFDQWSODFHLQGUDZLQJVKLVWRU\%HIRUHSDS\UXVDQGSDSHUSHRSOH
scratched their drawings into rock. Such drawings are called petroglyphs
(rock carvings). One example is the Anasazi Newspaper Rock in Utah.

437

Drawing with incised lines has also been commonplace in ceramics. And
many types of printmaking, such as woodcuts and engravings, depend on
incised mark and line; these can be felt on the blocks used to make the prints,
though not on the prints themselves.

Lecture 26Texture: Mark Making and Optical Value

A number of 20thFHQWXU\ DUWLVWV DOVR XVHG LQFLVHG OLQH DV D GUDZLQJ WRRO
but the most common way we experience actual texture in drawing is in
the paper. As noted in an earlier lecture, paper can be very smooth, very
rough, and any texture in between, and the choice of surface in a drawing
LV VLJQLFDQW )RU H[DPSOH SHQFLO RQ VPRRWK SDSHU DOORZV IRU QH GHWDLO
In contrast, to achieve the kind of optical mixing of value he wanted in his
drawings, Georges Seurat chose a paper with tooth. If youd like to see how
this works, drag charcoal lightly over a rough paper; youll note that the dark
material catches on the high ground, while the recessed part of the papers
texture remains white. Nevertheless, at a distance, our eyes mix the black
and white, and we see gray. The lighter the pressure you use, the lighter the
gray that will result, but if you push the charcoal into the papers crevices,
youll get robust darks.
Visual Texture: Hatching
The second type of texture we encounter is purely visual. So far, in the
drawing projects weve undertaken weve generally applied value in a
smooth and continuous way, but we can also use a wide variety of lines and
marks to create optical value with a range of textures.
For example, one type of mark used to generate tonal value is hatching. This
is made of nothing more than lines. If the lines are drawn close together,
the result is a dark gray. If theyre spaced out, the result is a lighter gray.
Discontinuous line, the number of hatch directions, staggered hatching, line
thickness, and even the speed of execution (deliberate versus gestural) also
affect the kind of value created with hatching.
Another important factor in hatching is the hatchs direction. One common
DSSURDFK LV WR KDYH WKH KDWFK IROORZ WKH IRUP RI WKH VXEMHFW OLNH D FURVV
contour. Value changes that capture the play of light on planes already create
the illusion of three dimensions. Applying the value following the axis or

438

axes of the form compounds this illusion. Hatching may also imitate the
direction of the light source.
Use a nib pen, brush and ink, and graphite to try some hatching. Make some
VZDWFKHVDWUVWYDU\LQJWKHVSDFLQJWKHQXPEHURIGLUHFWLRQVDQGWKHOLQH
continuity. Then draw some geometric solids using hatching.
Heres a review of ways in which hatching can be controlled:
z

Through spacing: Closer spacing equals darker values.

Through continuity or discontinuity of line: More continuous lines

equal darker values.

By varying the lengths of the lines moving into the light: Staggering
line lengths can create the sensation of a graduated value.

By varying the thickness of the line: Thicker lines result in darker

values.

By changing the tonal value of the material: With ink, for lighter
values, dry the brush or add water to the ink; with pencil or charcoal,
use a range from hard to soft and vary the pressure as you draw.

By increasing the number of hatch directions: More directions

result in an increase in darkness and density of the hatch.

:KHQZRUNLQJZLWKKDWFKLQJRURWKHUPDUNPDNLQJV\VWHPVUHPHPEHUWR
think compositionally. Organize the value with the drawings focal hierarchy
in mind.
Other Forms of Mark Making
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FDWDORJ RI KXPDQ PDUN PDNLQJ LV YDVW$PRQJ WKH UVW WRROV RXU DQFLHQW
ancestors used were their own hands, as can be seen in the Cueva de las
Manos in Argentina.

439

 Sohadiszno/iStock/Thinkstock.

Lecture 26Texture: Mark Making and Optical Value

2IFRXUVHXVLQJWKHKDQGDVDPDUNPDNLQJGHYLFHLVVWLOOZLWKXVWRGD\7KH
contemporary American artist Chuck Close, for example, used his thumbprint
DVDPDUNPDNLQJGHYLFHWRFUHDWHDVHULHVRISRUWUDLWV7KHFHQWUDOLGHDKHUH
is that we can use any type of mark to create optical value if we apply the
SULQFLSOHVZHXVHGLQKDWFKLQJ:LGHVSDFHGGLVFRQWLQXRXVOLJKWPDUNVZLOO
read as light value; dense, overlapping, and dark marks will yield a darker
value.
$VDQH[SHULPHQWLQPDUNPDNLQJOLJKWO\RXWOLQHDGR]HQRUPRUHRQHLQFK
squares on a piece of paper. Fill each with a different kind of mark or optical
value. Vary the density, continuity, and pressure to create different tones. If
you get stuck, think adjectively. Try to make textures that are delicate, sharp,
VFUDWFK\EOXQWEXVK\FRDUVHFKRSS\IX]]\MDJJHGDQGXII\<RXPLJKW
HYHQNHHSDVNHWFKERRNRIGLIIHUHQWNLQGVRIPDUNVVLQJOHKDWFKHVFURVV
hatches, curving marks, wavy marks, stippled marks, scribbles, and so on.
In each case, the marks might be thin or thick, light or dark, short or long,
VORZRUIDVWDQGULJLGRURZLQJ<RXFDQDOVRFUDIW\RXURZQPDUNPDNLQJ
WRROVZLWKVWLFNVWRQJXHGHSUHVVRUVDQGRWKHUFRPPRQLWHPV$VDIROORZ
up project, apply these textures to form.

Suggested Reading
Guptill, Rendering in Pencil, chapter 4, Interpreting Natures Tones and
Textures, pp. 3140.
, Rendering in Pen and Ink, chapter 4, Practice in Tone Building,
pp. 2528, and chapter 5, Elementary Steps in Value Study, pp. 2931.
440

Texture: Mark Making and Optical Value

Lecture 26Transcript
Our next topics texture and mark making. The word texture comes from the
Latin textura, meaning weaving. And many textures like this, or this, have
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EHIRUHWKHVHFRQGIURPDQ9DQ*RJKSRUWUDLWRIWKHSRVWPDQ-RVHSK
Roulin. In common parlance, texture refers to the look and feel of a surface
of material. In drawing, we use the word texture in three distinct but related
ways.
First, theres the actual 3D texture of the drawing itselfthats both look
and feel. The surface we draw on can be rough or smooththats physical
texture. And some drawing materials, like oil pastels, leave texture on the
page that you could detect blindfolded.
Next, theres visual texture. This is look only. A crazy scribble and a set
of carefully ruled parallel lines are the same to the touch, though visually
they have a different feel. This kind of visual texture is connected to artistic
approach and, at times, what we might call the artists handwriting. Much of
what weve studied so far has had to do with the nouns and verbs of drawing.
,WVDVSKHUHRUDEORFNRUDJXUHLQDURRP%XWSK\VLFDODQGYLVXDOWH[WXUH
are adjectivalthey qualify the nominal content. Texture can make it a fuzzy
sphere, or a gleaming block on a table or an anxious person in a room, and
all this has a lot to do with the feel of a drawing.
The third type of texture is related to the texture of the subject. Think hair
versus skin or wood versus marble, and some artists take great pains to
simulate these kinds of textures in drawings and paintings while others are
more interested in the weave of the drawing itself. Lets look more closely at
each of these types of texture.
Today, actual texture plays a much greater role in painting than in drawing
EXWLWKDVDVLJQLFDQWSODFHLQGUDZLQJVKLVWRU\QRQHWKHOHVV7KDWYHU\UVW
drawing we looked at from the Blombos Cave is a case in point. This is
real 3D textureyou could close your eyes and feel the drawing with your
QJHUWLSV%XWLWVDOVRYLVXDO7KHHWFKHGJURRYHVFRQVLVWRIGLVWLQFWSODQHV
441

those facing the light appear light, the others dark. The light lines make the
dark ones feel darker and vice versa: simultaneous contrast. So our eyes are
drawn to these high contrast events.
Before papyrus and paper, people scratched their drawings into rock. Theyre
called petroglyphs, literally rock carvings like the Anasazi Newspaper
Rock in Utah. Drawing with incised lines has also been commonplace in
ceramics, and with functional ceramics, the drawn elements are experienced
through both sight and touch. Many types of printmaking, like woodcuts and
engravings, depend on incised mark and line, though, as in the Drer, we
dont see 3D texture in the print, and we would in the block used to make it.
A number of 20thFHQWXU\ DUWLVWV XVHG LQFLVHG OLQH DV D GUDZLQJ WRRO -HDQ
Dubuffet, for instance, drew with incised line in cement. But the most
common way we experience actual texture in drawing is in the paper. As
noted in an earlier lecture, paper can be very smooth, very rough, and
anyplace in between.
This pencil drawing by Lopez Garcia is on a relatively smooth paper.
3HQFLORQVPRRWKSDSHUDOORZVIRUQHGHWDLO1RWHWKHSULVWLQHKDQGOLQJRI
the edges and the very gentle gradations of value in the walls and ceilings.
This wouldnt be possible on the paper Seurat uses here; it has too much
tooth. Youve probably seen some of Seurats paintings like this one, The
/LJKWKRXVHDW+RQHXU. The method he developed, along with Paul Signac,
is referred to as pointillism. You place small dabs of color one next to the
othersay, a red next to a blue. At a distance, theyll appear to combine to
make a violet: optical mixing.
Color printers work the same way using four inksblue, yellow, red and
blackalong with the white of the paper. The wide range of colors we see,
often in very smooth transition, is an illusion. The reality is thousands of tiny
little dots arranged in varying proportions. Now, Seurat wanted this same
kind of optical mixing in his drawings. By choosing a paper with tooth, he
could do this without having to make thousands of little dots. In effect, the
paper did it for him.

442

Drag the charcoal lightly over the surface and the dark material catches on
the high ground. The recessed part of the papers texture remains white.
Our eyes mix the black and white and we see gray. The lighter the pressure,
the lighter the gray; more pressure, darker gray. Push that charcoal into the
papers crevices and you get robust darks. As we begin to consider texture,
surface choice will play a compelling role.
The second type of texture is purely visual texture. So far, weve applied
value in a smooth and continuous way, and many artists, like Antonio Lopez
Garcia or Norman Lundin, often use value just this way. These drawings are
both physically and visually smooth. But we can use a wide variety of lines
and marks to create optical value with a range of textures.
The type of mark used to generate tonal value in the Drer is called hatching.
Its made of nothing more than line. Put the lines closer together for a dark
gray, space them out for a lighter gray. Like Seurats black and white dots,
its a type of optical value. If we look at a section of the back wall and
compare it to the side plane of the gridded picture plane, we see that the
marks themselves are similarly black, but by changing the spacing, Drer
makes the wall appear a dark gray and the side plane of the gridded picture
plane a light gray. Same thing in the womans hair: away from the light,
tighter spacing, darker value; in the light, wider spacing, lighter value.
Looking higher up in the back wall, we note another technique: the use of
discontinuous line to produce lighter value.
Another factor affecting value is the number of hatch directions. On the thigh,
we have a single hatch, tighter spaced away from the light, wider spaced
toward the light. In contrast, look at the calf. Here we have two directions in
the hatch, crosshatches, and this produces a darker optical gray. And he uses
another trick. On the thigh, not all the hatches are of equal lengthsome
end before others. Staggered hatching, the part closest to the light has less
density of line, so it looks lighter.
Another important factor in hatching is the hatchs direction. One common
approach is to have the hatch follow the form like a cross contour. On the
table leg, we get horizontals and verticals, the two axes of the table leg itself;
on the artists arm, two curvilinear directions following the axes of the drape.
443

Value changes that capture the play of light on planes already create the
LOOXVLRQ RI WKUHH GLPHQVLRQV RQ D WZRGLPHQVLRQDO VXUIDFH $SSO\LQJ WKH
value following the axis or axes of the form compounds the illusion. Now,
this isnt a rule, and in fact, Drer doesnt do this everywhere. For instance,
some of the cross hatches in the walls, windows, and in the tables edge, are
diagonals.
Lets take a look at the womans head. Her foreheads lit; her eye sockets in
shadow. The front plane of her heads lit, the underside of her jaw and neck
are in shadow. The top planes of her breasts are lit, the undersides in shadow.
All of this tells us that the lights coming from above left. Looking at the
crosshatching diagonals in the wall above her head, we see that they imitate
the direction of the light, and this is another common practice in hatching
and crosshatching.
-DFRE GH *KH\Q ,, D thFHQWXU\ 'XWFK DUWLVW ZDV D JUHDW SUDFWLWLRQHU RI
hatching and he employs many of the same principles as Drer. We see
discontinuous and continuous hatches, single hatches, crosshatches, hatches
following the axis or axes of the form, and hatches following the direction of
the light. But there are a couple new things here, too.
Most obviously, the range of value and color of the inkwe have both a
OLJKW FRRO JUD\ DQG D GDUNHU EURZQ ,Q WKH JXUH RQ WKH OHIW WKHUH DUH
different concentrations of inks. Parts of the drapery behind the right leg are
like a whisper while theres a much fuller concentration under the left arm.
Now, my guess is that he started out very faint. As he became surer of the
proportions, he darkened the ink, especially in the shadow areas. Similarly,
WKHUHDUHERWKGDUNDQGOLJKWWRQHVRIWKHEURZQLQN1RWHWKHFHQWUDOJXUH
in relation to the one behind her.
A second factor he introduces is line thickness. Lets look at the drape on the
thigh of the woman on the right. The hatches on the shadow side are thicker
and taper as they move into the light.
A third factor is the way speed of execution affects the quality of the hatch.
If we look at the hatches in the central womans abdomen and pelvis, theyre
similar to Drersvery deliberate. But the legs of the woman on the right,
444

RUWKHDUPRIWKHVPDOOJXUHLQWKHUHDUDUHPRUHJHVWXUDO7KLVLVDPRUH
scribbled approach to hatching. As we saw earlier with line, speed can be a
very expressive attribute.
Heres that Van Gogh portrait. Though the feel is different than the Drer or
the de Gheyn, a lot of the underlying grammar is identical. We have single
hatches and crosshatches. We have different kinds of spacing, a variety
of line thicknesses, a variety of solutions of ink, and we often have the
hatch following the axis or axes of the plane concerned. Look at the wall:
horizontals and vertical, the two axes of a wall. Or the top of the cap. Here, a
single hatch pulls around the surface, following the cross contour.
Hatchings extremely versatile. This drawings by one of my recent graduate
students. Many of the hatches are angled or curved following the planar form
of the petals. Others are scribbled and subsume an area in shadow.
This much more aggressive use of hatching is by another recent grad student.
You can see how certain areas are treated with relatively light pressure, like
the wall behind the students drawing, while other areas, like the students
themselves, are really leaned into. This adds up to compositional value.
Whats the subject? Students drawing in a classroom. What gets the highest
contrast? The students in relation to their drawings. What do you look at
UVW"7KH VWXGHQWV GUDZLQJ *RRG YDOXH RUJDQL]DWLRQ7KH GUDZLQJ PDNHV
use of single hatches, crosshatches, and in some places, several other layers
of mark, but often theyre not associated with the axis or axes of the subject.
This use of hatching became common in the late 19th and early 20th century.
0DQ\DUWLVWVZDQWHGWRGHSLFWVSDFHLQDDWWHUZD\WKDQDUWLVWVOLNH'UHU
and de Gheyn. In some of Giorgio Morandis etchings, for instance, youll
see multiple directions of hatching, including directions that have nothing to
do with the axes of the objects. This can create a great deal of density, like a
scrim across the picture plane uniting the surface and also creating a degree
of spatial ambiguity. The value changes in the objects suggest 3D volume,
ZKLOHWKHKDWFKLQJGLUHFWLRQVKDYHDDWWHQLQJHIIHFW
:HQGVRPHWKLQJVLPLODULQWKLVSRUWUDLWE\$QQ*DOH7KHFHQWUDOVFULEEOHG
KDWFKLQJRDWVOLNHDVFULPLQIURQWRIWKHVLWWHUVKHDGZKLOHRWKHUKDWFKHV
445

attach to the 3D form of the head, neck, and shirt, and others yet attach to the
VSDFHEHKLQGWKHJXUH<RXOODOVRQRWHVKHVGUDZLQJKDWFKLQJZLWKKHU
eraser.
So lets try some hatching. Ill use a nib pen. Lets start with a single hatch,
just verticals. Make a small swatch. Now another, but tighten the spacing a
bit. And another with tighter spacing yet.
Lets add horizontals in these swatches to create crosshatches. Well echo
the vertical spacing in the horizontals; the tighter the spacing, the darker, the
greater the effect of optical value. In other words, the tighter the spacing the
more convincing the sensation of tonal value.
To get a lighter sense of tonal value with a tightly spaced line lets try a
discontinuous hatch. Then a discontinuous crosshatch. Now, lets make a
swatch thats lighter at the top and darker at the basea staggered hatching.
Well use a pattern of gradually shorter lengths. Then compound this
with horizontals tighter spaced at the base and opening up and becoming
discontinuous as we move into the light.
And now thick to thin and we can compound this with across, tighter to wider
spaced. Now lets add some speed, verticals, and horizontals zigzagging. And
lets try that with a brush. We could also try thick to thin and then across. To
get a lighter hatch we could add water to the ink, but for now lets make a
lighter value by drying the brush to deplete the ink. Then turn the hatch into
a crosshatch.
/HWVDSSO\DOOWKLVWRGUDZDRQHSRLQWEORFN:HOOVWDUWZLWKDGU\EUXVK
and discontinuous line. Youll remember, when using value, we generally
dont want visible outlines, much less strong ones. Outlines tend to kill the
illusion of three dimensions.
Next, the blocks cast shadow. Well imagine light coming the left side. The
front face will be the lightest, top plane next, side plane darkest. Cast shadow
a bit lighter than the side. Ill do the hatching with the nib pen.

446

Lets start with the dark plane with a tightly spaced vertical hatch, then cross
it with diagonals receding toward the vanishing point, the two axes of the
plane. Make the cast shadow a bit lighter, a bit wider spacedhorizontal one
way, back toward the vanishing point crossing it.
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receding toward the vanishing point. As these move into the light, theyll get
discontinuous. Lets apply a vertical staggered hatching in the front face and
cross this with a horizontal that becomes discontinuous.
Now, lets try hatching with graphite. Well draw a cone sitting on a table in
front of a wall. Start with a light pencil. Make a rectangle, a format shape.
Add a horizontal divisiona table and wall.
Here, lets try a faster, more scribbled hatching. Ground plane, still with light
pencil, horizontals, and then diagonals receding toward the vanishing point.
Draw across the format shape so value extends across the rectangle.
Lets go a bit darker for the wall. You could use a bit more pressure or tighter
spacing or a somewhat softer pencil. Scribbled horizontals and verticals for
the wall, then erase to restore the format shape.
Well imagine light coming from the right and draw with the eraser to create
the light plane of the cone. Now, with a softer pencil, well begin to hatch in
the shadow side of the cone. Two directions: up toward the apex, and around
the horizontal axis in curves. Project the cast shadow and add hatching here,
too. Where you want more dark, add more hatching; where you want things
lighter, draw in with the eraser.
Lets review the ways we can control hatching. First, through spacing. Closer
spacing equals darker; wider, lighter. Next, through the level of continuity
or discontinuity of the lines. More continuous, darker; more discontinuous,
lighter. Then by varying the lengths of the lines moving into the light.
Longer, darker; shorter, lighter. And by varying the thickness of the line
itself. Thicker, darker; thinner, lighter. We can also change the tonal value
of the material. To get lighter values, we can dry the brush or add water to
the ink. With other materials like pencil or charcoal pencil, we can use a
447

range from hard to soft. With all the materials, we can change the pressure
as we draw. Lastly, we can increase the darkness and density of the hatch by
increasing the number of directions.
Another factor to remember is speed. We can hatch slow and controlled or
rapidly, gesturally, or even in a scribbled manner. To enhance the sensation
RIWKUHHGLPHQVLRQDOIRUPZHFDQIROORZWKHD[LVRUD[HVRIWKHIRUPLQWKH
hatch. Another strategy is to let the hatching follow the direction of the light.
Many of these strategies were employed in this students drawing.
We also want the hatching to work compositionally. That means the values
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is the focal point; all the complexity in the mirror and ground are treated
LQORZHUFRQWUDVWLQJYDOXHV,I\RXZDQWHGWRFRPSUHVVRUDWWHQWKHIRUP
multiple directions disassociated from the axis or axes of the objects can be
useful.
One other note here: Many hatched drawings, woodcuts, and etchings are
modest in size. The Drer, for example, is about 3 9 inches, the de Gheyn
DERXWWKH9DQ*RJKE\WKH0RUDQGLE\,QFRQWUDVW
the smooth drawing by Lopez Garcia is 32 by 26.
When looking at examples its a good idea to pay attention to the dimensions.
If youre trying to incorporate something youve seen into your own drawing,
working at a corresponding scale can be helpful in understanding the new
method or technique. Of course, that shouldnt preclude experimentation at
different scales once a method or techniques been understood.
To get more practice with hatching try drawing other geometric forms. Then
invent still lives from your imagination and use hatching to create the light
and value structure. Then try it from observation. Use the subjects weve
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JXUHLI\RXKDYHVRPHRQHWRSRVHIRU\RX
Hatching and crosshatching are important modes of mark making, but the
FDWDORJRIKXPDQPDUNPDNLQJLVYDVW$PRQJWKHUVWWRROVRXUDQFHVWRUV
448

used were their own hands. There are many examples, from The Cueva de
las Manos in Argentina to the Gua Ham cave in Indonesia, to these from the
(ODQGV %D\ &DYH LQ 6RXWK$IULFD$QG XVLQJ WKH KDQG DV D PDUNPDNLQJ
device is with us today. Chuck Close used his thumbprint in a series of
portraits, including this one of the composer, Philip Glass. Much larger than
WKHKDWFKHGGUDZLQJVWKLVLVYHIHHWWDOODQGRYHUWKUHHIHHWZLGH7RJHWD
sense of the scale even in reproduction, well, we know how large a thumb is.
The central idea is that we can use any type of mark to create optical
YDOXH LI ZH DSSO\ WKH VDPH SULQFLSOHV ZH XVHG LQ KDWFKLQJ :LGHVSDFHG
discontinuous light marks will read as light value; dense and overlapping
dark marks will yield a darker one. If you apply sophisticated visual thinking,
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with a different kind of mark or optical value; vary the density, continuity,
and pressure to create different tones. If you get stuck, think adjectively:
make something smooth then rough, hard then soft, loud then quiet. Give
yourself a list of adjectives. Make textures that are delicate, sharp, scratchy,
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IRUP MXVW OLNH ZH GLG HDUOLHU ZLWK KDWFKLQJUVW ZLWK EORFNV DQG FRQHV
and then other objects and subjects. Heres a spoiler alert: Im going to show
some examples of swatches of marks, so see what you can invent before
looking at these.
Arthur Guptill was an artist and illustrator who wrote a number of books
RQGUDZLQJLQWKHHDUO\WRPLGth century. In some of his books, he made
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of what he did in his books Rendering in Pencil and also in Rendering in
Pen and Ink. He played with a variety of hatches and crosshatches and made
other tones of closely spaced lines, dashes, and dots, as well as other, less
regular groupings of marks, and he worked through many of these in a host
of gradations from light to dark. Its a great idea to keep a sketchbook of
different kinds of marks. Start your own catalog; see how many you can
invent.

449

When using pencils, try a wide range from hard to soft, and remember to
vary the sharpening, thisll allow for a greater variety of mark. You could
have single hatches, crosshatches, curving marks, wavy marks, stippled,
scribbled, and irregular marks. In each case, the marks could be thin or thick,
OLJKWRUGDUNVKRUWRUORQJVORZRUIDVWDQGPRUHULJLGRURZLQJ$VZHYH
seen, marks neednt be dark on a light ground. You can use your erasers
to draw light marks on a marked or shaded ground. And try drawing with
several pencils at once.
If youre stippling, a handful of pencils can create a ground of small dots
pretty rapidly. Im using all 22, but if you want it light just use the Hs; for
dark, the Bs. You can do similar things with ink using a bunch of sharpened
chopsticks. And you can make your own mark making tools. This is a tongue
depressor cut to a zigzag. It can hatch, stipple, and make a range of other
marks.
As you invent new textures, marks, and optical values, apply them in your
drawings. It can be an interesting project to do the same drawing multiple
times but using different systems of mark and texture each time.
In an earlier lecture, I recounted the story of Degas meeting his friend,
the poet Mallarme. Degas, who was trying his hand at poetry at the time
UHPDUNHG <RXU PpWLHU \RXU HOG LV KHOOLVKO\ GLIFXOW ,P QHYHU DEOH WR
really get at what Im going for and yet Im so full of ideas. Mallarme
is reported to have responded, My dear Degas, one doesnt make poetry
out of ideas. You make poems out of words. And this applies here. At one
level, drawings are nothing more than a collection of dots, dashes, stipples,
smudges, ticks, blots, splatters, and scribbles.
Id like to return to some of the drawings weve looked at before, as well as
a couple new ones, and pay special attention to how these artists use texture
and mark. Grab a sketchbook or some paper and some pencils, pen and ink,
and a couple brushes of varying size. That way youll be able to try some of
the things you see. Not a matter of drawing the objects, just the squiggles,
blots, and ticks.

450

Rembrandts regarded as one of the most inventive artists in this regard, the
FDWHJRULFRSSRVLWHRIIXVV\DQGUHQGHUHG7KLVGUDZLQJVDERXWVL[DQGRQH
KDOILQFKHVWDOOE\DERXWIRXUDQGWKUHHTXDUWHUVZLGH0\JXHVVLVKHVWDUWHG
with linewild, rapid, darting lines made with a small pointed brush. These
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the more staccato marks in the sleeves and hands.
Now, look at the scale of the large blot of ink moving from the right wall
over Saskias shoulder and spilling over her head and torso. He has a good
linear structure and doesnt think anything of making a crazy blot right
through the center, but it works great. Lights coming in through the window;
her hand and arm get the light and throw shadow back across her head and
torso, which in turn casts a shadow back onto the wall. Id also guess that
WKH PLGJUD\ EORW RI ZDVK ZDV UVW IROORZHG E\ WKH GDUNHU LWHUDWLRQ WKDW
cascades down her arm and hip revealing light glancing the shoulder and
arm. Probably a couple minutes work.
Heres another, its about 7 10 inches. We have both a linear structure
DQGDUHDVRIZDVKWKURXJKERWKWKHDUFKLWHFWXUHDQGWKHJXUHVIROORZHGE\
some instances of rapid scribbled diagonal hatching. The lines, marks, and
blots are wild, but we do get a very clear sense of space, of where things
are: Whats in front and whats behind. And while things are somewhat
JHQHUDOL]HGWDNHDORRNDWWKHVWDQGLQJWXUEDQHGJXUHRQWKHIDUULJKW1R
rendering of drapery, no real anatomyhis hand looks like a mittenbut the
looping calligraphy in the hood draping down the back roughly follows the
cross contour over the shoulder, yielding volume, and overall the stance and
FRVWXPHIHHOVSHFLF
While the mark making in the last drawing was overwhelmingly linear,
here Rembrandt deploys the brush to create value shapes. This drawings
DERXWYHDQGWKUHHHLJKWKVE\VHYHQDQGRQHTXDUWHULQFKHV7KHUHVOLWWOH
rendering to speak of. Instead, brush shapes are posed one against another
to suggest water, trees, and sky. The tree just left of center is a wonderful
invention of rapid, looping, gestural brush strokes. Theres an equally
masterful command of a range of values from light whispers to much more
aggressive darks. Youll learn an enormous amount about using brush and

451

ink by taking this apart and making each shape and value you see in this
drawing.
6SHDNLQJRIEUXVKDQGLQNOHWVWDNHDQRWKHUORRNDW=KjR0qQJIVKDQG
scroll, its about 11 42 inches. Like the Rembrandt, its a treasure trove
RIPDUNPDNLQJ,QWKHUVWOHFWXUH,QRWHGWKDW&KLQHVHKDVLWVURRWVLQD
SLFWXUHEDVHGZULWLQJV\VWHP,QWKHFRORSKRQRIDQRWKHURQHRIKLVSDLQWLQJV
titled Elegant Rocks and Sparse Trees =KjR 0qQJI UHODWHV ZULWLQJ WR
SDLQWLQJ+HDGYLVHVXVLQJ\LQJZKLWHFXUVLYHVFULSWIRUURFNV
1RZ\LQJZKLWHUHIHUVWRDVRPHZKDWGU\EUXVKTXLFNO\GUDZQDFURVVWKH
surface so that the white of the page mixes with the mark: optical value.
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SRHWDQGFDOOLJUDSKHU'R\RXVHHKRZ\LQJZKLWHVDSSOLHGWRERWK"%XW
thats not the only visual connection between the calligraphy and the rock.
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staccato, and contrasts of angular to curvilinear.
7KLV GUDPDWLF FKDUDFWHU LV ]KjQ PHDQLQJ WR JKW ZDU RU EDWWOH 7KLV LV
what the generic character looks likepretty amazing improvisation. The
QRWHGDUWKLVWRULDQDQGIRUPHU3ULQFHWRQ3URIHVVRU:HQ)RQJGHVFULEHG0
Fs character this way, He painted the character by giving free reign to
his brushwork, allowing the stroke to twist and turn sculpturally in space.
Its not hard to see how the character and rock both share calligraphic and
sculptural form.
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VHDOVFULSWE\=KjR0qQJIKLPVHOIWRWDOO\GLIIHUHQWIURPWKHFXUVLYH%RWK
the seal script and the trees are much more uniform in value and thickness,
much less contrast in the marks. And in both, short arms protrude from
longer spines. He goes on to counsel clerical script for bamboo. Heres an
example of clerical script, its a rubbing from a stele from the Eastern Han
dynasty. Thats 25220 C.E. In contrast to the uniform stroke quality of seal
VFULSWKHUH\RXOOQRWHWKHPDQ\GDUWOLNHWDSHULQJVWURNHV
Theres no bamboo in Twin Pines, Level Distance EXW 'qQJ < D
contemporary who followed Zho Mengfus teaching on the subject, shows
452

KRZ \RX FDQ DSSO\ WKHVH SRLQW\ GDJJHUOLNH PDUNV WR VXJJHVW VLPLODUO\
shaped bamboo leaves.
=KjR0qQJIHQGVWKHFRORSKRQGHFODULQJ3HRSOHZKRFRPSUHKHQGWKLV
must know calligraphy and painting are originally the same. And that makes
sense when you have a pictographic language and a long tradition of valuing
WKH SLFWRULDO TXDOLW\ RI ZULWLQJ7KLQNLQJ WKLV ZD\ DOORZV =KjR 0qQJI WR
relate mark to texture on a conscious level.
In the next lecture, were going to conclude our discussion on the ways
artists use texture, mark, and optical value. Well also discuss projects that
will get you using these ideas and techniques.

453

Texture: How Artists Use Texture

Lecture 27

n this lecture, well learn more about how artists use texture, mark, and
RSWLFDOYDOXH:HOOEHJLQE\VWXG\LQJGUDZLQJVE\YHDUWLVWV$VZHOO
see, each drawing has a pronounced textural personality and mood
that are related to formal and material choices. Well then go into detail
about the primary factors that affect texture in a drawing, including paper
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tool, and more. Well close with a look at creating simulated or trompe
loeil textures.

Lecture 27Texture: How Artists Use Texture

Texture and Materials

Seven primary factors affect texture:
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Paper or drawing surface

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Choice of drawing tool

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Application method (e.g., drawing directly on the surface versus

transferring material via a brush)

Physical technique (e.g., hand motion, pressure applied)

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smudging, and erasing).

In combining these seven factors, the number of textural possibilities is

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454

Paper or Drawing Surface

As weve noted, papers span a wide variety of surface patterns, both
regular and irregular, with textures from very smooth to very rough.
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DUHDVRQDEOHFKRLFHEHFDXVHWKHSDSHULWVHOILVVKLQ\DQGUHHFWLYH:LWK
a smooth paper, the light bounces off an even surface, as opposed to a
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directions, reducing shininess. In contrast, using a rough paper could be
a reasonable choice for a landscape featuring a craggy cliff on a stormy
night. The point here is that a given paper can have qualities that relate to
the subject of the drawing.
Surface texture also affects the ease with which you can draw different kinds
of edges. With less tooth to the paper, its much easier to draw clear, crisp
edges and develop small details. This might be desirable for a detailed study
of a branch and some leaves. But to draw the same branch on a tree in a
forested area in the distance, a more textured surface could help to create the
sense of a mass of foliage.
As weve already noted, its also the tooth that pulls the material off the
drawing implement and holds it on the surface, which can affect how dark
the material looks. With the same material and the same pressure applied, a
toothier paper can create a darker value than a smoother one.
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rougher. For example, to make paper smoother, burnish it with the back of a
spoon, the side of a butter knife, or even a dense eraser. To make it rougher,
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Choice of Drawing Tool
Like paper, drawing materials have their own textural characteristics. For
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charcoals is comparatively matte. Again, with a still life of shiny objects, it
would be reasonable to use graphite on a smooth paper. Both the graphite
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a rougher paper could be a reasonable choice. Thats not to say that it would
455

be wrong to draw each of these subjects with different materials. Its just
WKDWWKH\OOIHHOGLIIHUHQWPRUHUHHFWLYHRUPRUHPDWWHVPRRWKHURUPRUH
jagged, crisper or more atmosphericdepending on the tools used. Such
characteristics are at the heart of how a drawing feels.
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drawing tools. For example, earlier, we learned a number of ways to shape a
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creates different textures.

Lecture 27Texture: How Artists Use Texture

In using wet media, you can dilute the ink or partially dry the brush before
applying it to the surface. And you can use different brush shapes and types
of bristle.
Application Method
As weve seen, the method of application also affects texture. Materials
can be applied directly or indirectly to a surface. For example, graphite
or charcoal can be rubbed with a tortillon, a blending stub, a brush, or a
chamois, then transferred to the surface. Powdered graphite or charcoal
could be applied similarly. Artists also use many other tools as applicators,
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sponges.
With wet media, the range of application tools is extremely varied, including
brushes of all sizes and shapes, countless types of nibs, and sponges. Blotter
paper or other absorbent materials can be used to modify wet media on the
drawing surface.
Physical Technique
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of factors, including the position of the surface in relation to the body (on
an easel versus on a desk), the joint of motion (shoulder, elbow, wrist, or
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456

0RGLFDWLRQRIWKH0DUN
Once you have some mark on the surface, you can modify it in many ways.
Indeed, the number of textural possibilities skyrockets as you begin to layer,
combine, blend, smudge, smear, and erase. Exploring the possibilities of
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When you combine materials, you need to be aware of their native
characteristics. Pay attention to how the order of application affects the
way materials appear on a given surface. For example, graphite is slick,
and many materials wont adhere to it well. Its easier to put graphite on top
of charcoal or ink than vice versabut theres no harm in trying unlikely
combinations.
Simulated or Trompe lOeil Texture
Students often ask how to draw the texture of metal, rock, or water, but there
is no single drawing recipe that will work. Metal, for example, can be
shiny stainless steel, rusted iron, or bent aluminum. Rock can be a jagged
cliff or polished marble. And water might be in a pitcher at lunch or in the
ocean at night. Further, the way each material looks is affected by a host
of factors, such as spatial location and light. A distant tree reveals much
less of its barks surface texture than one up close. And well see more or
less texture depending on the position, distance, and strength of the light
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these elements is of limited use.
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the distinguishing visual characteristics of a subject at a given distance
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materials and procedures.
In drawing simulated textures, start simply. Do a study of just one interesting
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interesting grain pattern.

457

Lecture 27Texture: How Artists Use Texture

sirup/iStock/Thinkstock.

First, analyze the material to determine its underlying visual characteristics.

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see the underlying characteristics more clearly. Or try making a rubbing or a
photocopy. A photo, rubbing, or photocopy will each have much less visual
data than the objects themselves, which can work to your advantage in trying
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white photo reveals that you could lay down a fairly consistent ground of
value, then use a darker, nearly vertical mark to draw the echoing grain shapes.

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paint can from the hardware store. Before you start drawing, think about
what material and paper you want to use. On a test sheet, experiment with
blending tools and erasers to approximate the quality of the edges you see in
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H[DFWO\ ZKDW LQ WKH URRP LV EHLQJ UHHFWHG RQ LWV VXUIDFH UDWKHU WKDQ MXVW
copying a random pattern of lights and darks.
You can apply these same methods of analysis to rock, fur, water in a glass,
or anything else that piques your interest.

Suggested Reading
Sale and Betti, Drawing, chapter 6, pp. 193222.
Smagula, Creative Drawing, chapter 6, Texture, pp. 132149.
458

Texture: How Artists Use Texture

Lecture 27Transcript
In this lecture, well learn more about how artists use texture, mark, and
optical value, and well discuss some projects that will get you experimenting
with all this.
/HWVVWDUWZLWKYHGUDZLQJVWKHUVWWKH%DLOH\VWLOOOLIHWKHVHFRQGWKH
Monet, View of Rouen Across the Seine; third, this Van Gogh landscape;
fourth, this Picasso from the Human Comedy VHULHV DQG IWK D .lWKH
.ROOZLW]VHOISRUWUDLW(DFKKDVDSURQRXQFHGWH[WXUDOSHUVRQDOLW\DQGPRRG
and this is related to formal and material choices.
It would be good to have a sketchbook or some paper on hand. If youve
started a sketchbook for mark and texture, use that. Its actually a good
idea to have two sketchbooks for the purpose: one smooth, the other with
a rougher paper. This lets you see how a given drawing tool and technique
interacts with surface characteristics. Again, dont worry about drawing
objects, just the marks.
:KLOH DOO YH GUDZLQJV XVH YDOXH WKH %DLOH\V WKH RQO\ RQH WKDW IHDWXUHV
much of what we might call shading, and although we sense volume and
directional light, its the softest and most reserved. Quiet. No drama. This
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shapes. The directions in the drawing? Mostly horizontals and verticals with
a few gentle diagonals. The papers softly toned, closing down the value
range on the light end. As we saw in an earlier lecture, the drawing exists
EHWZHHQDERXWDRQHDQGDKDOIDQGIRXURQRXUYDOXHVFDOH
Some of the distinctions we perceive at edges are not always differences
of value, some are differences of color; the paper versus a similar value
of graphite. And the mark and texture follow suit: soft, even, without
incident. All the choices, from the choice of materials, to their handling, to
compositional decisions, all work together toward the same end, a feeling of
quiet repose and stability. So, make some soft, light, continuous tones with
your graphite now.

459

7KH3LFDVVRVWKHSRODURSSRVLWHDKRUL]RQWDOUHFWDQJOHLQFKHV
with a seeming endless array of popping and stabbing white, dark gray, and
black shapes. While there are some horizontals and verticals, diagonals rule,
DQGWKHPDUNVPRVWLQKLJKYDOXHFRQWUDVWFRYHUWKHSDJHLQDQDFWLYHKLJK
volume pattern. So, with brush and ink, make some of these Picasso marks.
You could spend some real time with this drawing cataloging the wealth of
brush strokes, from those that create the plants leaves to those creating the
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not so much horizontality and verticality; not as tight a value palette but not
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VLQJOHEODFNZKLWHFRQWUDVW7KHVKHHWRISDSHULVZKLWHOLJKWO\
tinted blue. It has a slight vertical tooth that serves as an architectural support
for the many vertical stresses in the drawing.
The drawing was executed with black chalk in a very free, scribbled hand,
but because many of the marks sit into tonal grounds of mark of similar
value, they dont feel highly contrasted. They give the sense of a gentle
breeze in the air. Even the dark boats are partially subsumed in their shadows
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of the water. With some charcoal or black chalk if you have it, try marks like
thesescribbles and scribbles on top of other scribbles.
The Van Gogh also occupies a place between the extremes of the Bailey and
the Picasso, but its extreme in its own way in the invention and deployment
of mark. The page is about 19 24. The drawing was done with brown ink
in various dilutions over black chalk. Overall, the value and scale of mark
relate to linear and atmospheric perspective. In a letter to his brother Theo,
he wrote: The two views of La Crau are the best things Ive done in pen and
ink. And, indeed, theyre both beautiful drawings. The one were looking
at is in The British Museums collection. The others in Amsterdams Van
Gogh Museum.
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Give yourself some time to go through them. Make every different mark
460

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section like this, theres plenty to unravel.
The Kollwitz is similar in size to the Van Gogh. Its 18 by 25, drawn with
charcoal on a brown laid Ingres paper. Squintyoull see that the head, arm,
and hand all condense into one close value shape. This tells us the value
UDQJH LQ WKH JXUHV WLJKW DV DOO VLPLODU YDOXH LQ WKH PLG DQG GDUN UDQJH
The major value contrast occurs between that big value shape and the paper
itself.
While theres some modeling, it occurs among very proximate values. The
top of the cheekbone is just slightly lighter than the side plane; the whites
of the eyes, all but indistinguishable from the lids, save for the bit of line
separating them. What really distinguishes the arm from the head and hand
is not value but mark making: visual texture. It creates contrast, telling us
that two things are different. The eye and head reveal relatively slow mark
that conveys focus and thought; the mark in the arm, action and movement.
The hand slowed again, though like a hand poised to launch a dart: potential
energy.
The drawings structure expresses an idea about drawing, that it requires a
focused intellect and a steady hand, but also an ability to spring into action.
Also note this single linear stroke describing the page or drawing board
thats a poetic choice. You can see how much shes done with the broad side
RIWKHFKDUFRDO,QIDFWORRNDWWKHVWXEVKHKROGVEHWZHHQKHUQJHUVVDPH
width as the zigzag in her arm. Try some of this mark making now.
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you love. Get the best resolution reproductions you can. Look at what the
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marks. Then use similar materials and surfaces at a similar scale and draw
the marks, lines, and gradations of value. Then apply what youve learned in
your own drawings.
Studying materials and surfaces will really help you learn about texture.
There are seven primary factors: The paper or drawing surface. Then any
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461

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application method. For example, we could draw directly with compressed
charcoal or we could rub a brush against it and transfer the material to a
surface. Next, theres the physical factor, how the marks physically
drawn. That includes the physical position of our bodies and the drawing,
hand position, hand motion, and hand pressure. Last, number seven, is
PRGLFDWLRQ7KLVFDQPHDQFRPSRXQGLQJEOHQGLQJVPHDULQJVPXGJLQJ
and erasing marks. In combining these seven factors, the number of textural
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wide variety of surface patterns, both regular and irregular, with textures
from very smooth to very rough. As we saw with Seurat, the paper can
do a lot of work. Now, Seurats concern was with the visual texture of the
drawing, not with simulating the texture of materials like skin or cloth.
But lets say I want to simulate the textures of objects. This is our third way
of thinking about texture, often referred to as trompe loeil, French for fool
the eye. Well go into more detail about this later. For now, imagine Im
GUDZLQJ D VWLOO OLIH RI VKLQ\ UHHFWLYH REMHFWV $ YHU\ VPRRWK SDSHU ZLOO
help. Not only is the smooth paper, well, smooth, but smooth papers are also
VKLQLHUWKH\UH PRUH UHHFWLYH 7KDWV EHFDXVH WKH OLJKWV ERXQFLQJ RII
an even surface. The surface of a textured paper is made of many different
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other hand, if I were drawing a landscape, a stormy night sky over a craggy
cliff descending into a turbulent sea, a rougher paper might bring out these
physical qualities.
Surface texture will also affect edges: less tooth, much easier to control
edges and small details; lots of tooth, harder to get precise details, but easier
to get fuzzier edges. Lets say Im doing a detailed study of a branch and
some leaves. Smooth paper will readily allow me to be as precise as I want.
But if I were drawing the same branch on a tree in a forested area in the
distance, a more textured surface could well help me create the sense of a
mass of foliage.

462

As weve already noted, its the tooth that pulls the material off the drawing
implement and holds it on the surface, and this can affect how dark the
material will look. With the same material and the same pressure applied, a
toothier paper can create a darker value than a smooth one.
This is willow charcoal on Strathmore 500 Series Bristol Plate, a very
smooth paper. This is the same charcoal on a Strathmore 500 Bristol Vellum,
a much rougher paper. And heres some graphite on the smooth plate. And on
the rougher vellum. The difference in value is apparent.
You can modify a portion of a papers surface to make it smoother or rougher.
To make it smoother, burnish. You can use the back of a spoon, the side of a
butter knife, or even a dense eraser. This is something called a bone folder.
Its used to fold paper in bookmaking and origami; works for burnishing too.
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This is the rougher paper, the Strathmore 500 Bristol Vellum. Do a little
burnishing and you see the effect. You can also roughen a surface. Im using
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on the roughened area.
Along with paper, the textures we get will have everything to do with the
drawing material we use. Each creates unique textures and each material
is complex. With a set of pencils spanning 10B10H you have 22 different
drawing tools right there. Like paper, drawing materials have their own
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carbon and charcoals is comparatively matte.
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on a smooth paper would be reasonable. The materials have that built in.
On the other hand, if I were drawing the stormy night sky over a craggy
cliff descending into a turbulent sea, charcoal on a rougher paper would
be a reasonable choice. Now, thats not to say that it would wrong to draw
each of these subjects with the other set of materials, its just that theyll feel
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or more atmospheric. And these characteristics are at the heart of how a
463

drawing feels, so in choosing materials consider the feel of what youre

going for.
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wedge. Each of these creates different textures. On the wet media side, we
can dilute the ink or partially dry the brush before applying it to the surface,
and we can use different brush shapes and types of bristle.
Then theres the method of application. We can apply material directly or
we can also apply many materials indirectly. Weve already seen that we can
rub the graphite or charcoal with a tortillon, a blending stub, a brush, or a
chamois, and then apply it to the surface.
Artists use many other tools as applicators, like felt, facial tissue, paper
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around the house can be used too; each will create a somewhat different
texture. A variations to apply the material to an intermediary surface, then
rub some felt or similar tool on the intermediary surface and transfer it to the
drawing.
As youve seen, you can also create a powder from some materials and
transfer that to the surface. With wet media, the range of application tools
is extremely varied. There are brushes of all sizes, shapes, and textures,
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wedge shapes, to much larger brushes. And there are countless types of nibs
and even a chopstick, or any stick for that matter, can be used to apply wet
media.
That same stick brushed against an old toothbrush can be used to create
splattering marks. You may want to mask areas when doing this. And no
reason not to draw directly with the toothbrush. Many tools can be used to
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types of textures possible. And blotter or other absorbent materials can be
used to modify wet media on the surface. Not to forget the Eland Cave and
&KXFN&ORVHVSRUWUDLWVKDQGVDQGQJHUVFDQEHSXWWRJUHDWXVHWRR

464

<RXYHOLNHO\VHHQWKHQH[WWHFKQLTXHLQDVGHWHFWLYHOP7KHEDGJX\
receives a call, he writes down a phone number on a pad, tears off the top
sheet, and runs out the door. The detective jimmies the lock, rubs a pencil
over the blank sheet, and the incised telephone number emerges, white
against black.
So lets say you want a thin white edge in an otherwise dark ground, maybe
the highlight on a piece of molding. Put a sheet of tracing paper over the
drawing. With a sharpened pencil or stick, incise a line in the tracing papers
surface with enough pressure to create a groove in the underlying sheet.
Apply value and the white line emerges. Best to know where you want that
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GDUNLVJHWDZHOOVKDUSHQHGYHUVLRQDQGZRUNLWLQWRWKHJURRYHWKHQEOHQG
with a pointed tortillon or stump. You can create all kinds of white on black
patterns this way: hatchings, scribbles, really anything you can draw with
line.
The next factor involves the way the mark is made physically. First off is
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on a desk or other surface, or the page could be in a vertical position on an
easel. The pages position is related to the joint of motion. We can move
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Standing at an easel, shoulder, elbow, and wrist is more common.
Then theres hand position. With the paper on a horizontal surface, we can
hold the hand the way we write or palm the implement for a different range
of movement. With the drawing surface in a vertical position, we can hold
it something like a scalpel or underhand. There are many possibilities. Each
will give us a different range of motion and suggest different kinds of mark
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course, one could hold the implement in ones mouth or between ones toes,
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marks and textures, all worth trying.

465

Our last two physical factors are hand motion and hand pressure. I can
create an area of mark vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. I can use a
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or large increments. I can apply a continuous pressure for an even tone or a
discontinuous pressure for an uneven one.
Once we have some marks on the surface, we can modify it in many ways,
and the number of textural possibilities really skyrockets as we begin to
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hundreds of sketchbooks over many years.
The simplest way to modify a mark is with some kind of compound texture
using the same tool. For instance, I can create a tonal swatch with charcoal,
then, using the same charcoal, mark into it in a contrasting way. Or I could
create a tonal swatch with charcoal, then mark into it with a carbon pencil,
or graphite, or ink, or any of these, and any others, in any combinations.
And I could mark on top of these with an eraser. First a pencil type, then the
kneaded. Its endless.
When we combine materials, we want to be aware of their native
characteristics. Pay attention to how the order of application affects the way
they appear on a given surface. Graphites slickmany materials wont
adhere to it well. Easier to put graphite on top of charcoal or ink than vice
versa, but no harm in trying unlikely combinations. Make swatches; label
them so you know what youve done.
Then theres a whole world to be discovered in blending, smearing, and
smudging. Weve talked about nine tools we can use for the purpose:
the tortillon, the blending stub, brushes, a chamois, a piece of felt, facial
WLVVXHSDSHUWRZHOFRWWRQVZDEVDQGPDNHXSVSRQJHV6RVWDUWZLWKQLQH
swatches of a given material. Here, Ive used vine charcoal. First blend, then
smear, then apply. Now, do the same with each of the remaining tools. You
could also experiment by repeating this same test on a contrasting paper and
you could try using multiple tools on the same swatch.
Theres an unlimited amount to discover here. Each week choose a material,
say an 8B pencil or an 8H; run it through its paces. Over time, youll
466

develop a very intimate sense of what each of your materials does alone, in
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So, lets talk about our third type of texture, simulated or trompe loeil
texture. Over the years, Ive had students ask, how do you do metal? Or
rocks? Or water? Reasonable enough; they all have different textures. But
for most purposes its of limited practicality to learn a recipe for each
theres too much variety. Metal could be shining stainless steel, rusted iron,
or bent aluminum. Rock could be a sheer cliff or polished marble. And water
could be in a pitcher at lunch or in the ocean at night.
The way each material looks is affected by a host of factors, like spatial
location and light. A distant tree reveals much less of its barks surface
texture than one up close, and well see more or less texture depending on
the position, distance, and strength of the light source. And we have to relate
the way we draw anything to the overall compositional hierarchy and mood
of the drawing. So its of limited use to say, for tree bark use a 2B pencil on
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Ive mentioned that many artists and professors say that learning to draw
is all about learning to see, and thats certainly the case here. We need to
determine the distinguishing visual characteristics of a subject at a given
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materials and procedures, well be in good shape to proceed.
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drawing. Dont try to create an entire still life, just one texture that youre
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this on your own, youd want to get a piece of wood with an interesting
pattern of grain.
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characteristics of the subject. With certain textures, a black and white photo
of the object can help you see the underlying characteristics more clearly
or making a rubbing or a photocopy. All three have a lot less visual data

467

than the objects themselves and this can work to your advantage in trying to
distill a principle.
Here, the black and white shows you how you could lay down a pretty
consistent ground of value. Then using a darker, more or less, vertical mark,
draw the echoing grain shapes, all the while paying attention to the spacing
and proportion. And thats pretty much the way Magritte draws his wood
grain in this celebration of texture and mark, though the values are lighter,
more high key. So, give it a try. Try graphite on a fairly smooth paper and
then on a more textured one, and then try different grains.
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Youll need an empty paint can from the hardware store or something similar.
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sharp edges. The less polished the metal, the fuzzier the edges. The can you
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but its much less polished than a mirrorthe edges are gauzier. Whatever
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EHLQJUHHFWHGLQVWHDGRIMXVWWU\LQJWRFRS\DUDQGRPSDWWHUQRIOLJKWVDQG
darks, so lets sort this out.
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into the boxs interior. The bands lighter toward the interior of the can, thats
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back plane of the box. We see something similar on the right side though the
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the light shining from the right. Lets look at the curving edge, yellowish
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468

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would be me, my camera, and tripod.
The next couple pieces are a little harder to see because the contrast is low,
so I put some white foam core inside the box to heighten this. The receding
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too. Knowing whats going on, I think youll be able to make out these
relationships in the original version. It really all boils down to seeing the
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surfaces and did a group of drawings and paintings of a paint canthis, a
very iconic example. Before starting your own drawing, think about what
material and paper you want to use and do some tests. Experiment with your
blending tools and erasers to approximate the quality of the edges in the
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and format shape, then analyze what youre seeing and draw. Its a great
situation to play with and create variations. Other kinds of objects positioned
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7KHQPRYHWKHFDQRXWRIWKHER[RQWR\RXUVWLOOOLIHWDEOHVRLWUHHFWVWKH
room. Dissect whats happening. The box is like a simple room, so you have
some preparation for the complexity of an actual room. Or put the can on
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EDNLQJ VKHHW<RX FRXOG PDNH DOO WKH VXUIDFHV LQ \RXU VHWXS UHHFWLYH 2U
use a piece of patterned materialstripes are interesting. You could apply
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surfaces to rock, fur, water in a glass, or anything that piques your interest.
Varying materials is another way to explore texture. Its a great project to
draw the same thing, same size, composition, lighting, but change the paper
and drawing material. For instance, try graphite on a smooth paper, then on a
rough paper. I think you get the idea.

469

A little foreshadowing here; my grad student who did the paint cans actually
did many of these in color, our next topic, and this will be a great project to
remember and reprise after weve covered some color basics.
Returning to texture, remember, its all about the feel and look, and even the
smell of the piece. Van Gogh was very aware of all of this. He wrote to his
brother Theo in April of 1885 about the painting he was working on, The
Potato Eaters. He wrote this:
Ive tried to bring out the idea that these people eating potatoes by
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they are now putting into the dish, and it thus suggests manual labor
anda meal honestly earned.
He goes on to talk about the texture of the painting in terms of weaving. Id
love to know if he was aware of the etymological connection. He writes:
Ive held the threads of this fabric in my hands all winter long and
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of rough and coarse appearance, the threads have now been chosen
with care and according to certain rules. It would be wrong to
give a painting of peasant life a conventional polish. If a peasant
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of peasant life should not be perfumed.

470

Color: Color Theory and Color and Light

Lecture 28

he next three lectures focus on color. First, well look at some

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how color functions in nature. Finally, well analyze a number of
artists paintings and drawings to see how they actually use color. And youll
have the opportunity to apply what you learn in a range of exercises and
drawing projects.
Pastels
For the drawing projects in our lectures on color, use chalk pastels. These are
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based binder. Theyre relatively easy to use, especially if youve worked
with charcoal.
Pastels run from soft and powdery to hard and brittle. The soft pastels spread
and blend more easily, while the hard pastels can be sharpened to a point
with a knife or razor blade for more precise work. Some manufacturers make
pastel pencils that can also be used for more detailed work.
Pastels can be purchased both individually and in sets. If you purchase them
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violet, red, orange, yellow, yellow ochre, raw sienna, burnt sienna, Van Dyke
brown, white, black, and gray. If you purchase a set, look for a similar range
of colors.
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number these. The darkest version usually gets the lowest number; the purest
grade gets a middle number; and the lightest gets the highest number. A
good way to expand on a basic set is to get three of each color. For example,
choose a green and get the darkest, purest, and lightest versions. Another
way to build on a set is to get three versions of the same color with different
qualities. For example, purchase an iconic blue, another blue toward green,

471

and another toward violet. You might also expand your collection by buying
both soft and hard pastels in similar colors.
As with most of the materials weve discussed, there is no standardization
among manufacturers. Two ultramarine blues made by two manufacturers
may well be different. And there are a wide variety of color names, some
particular to a single manufacturer.

Lecture 28Color: Color Theory and Color and Light

Pastels, like graphite and charcoal, can be hatched, blended, layered, and
manipulated in myriad ways. Pastel papers tend to have a fair amount of
tooth, which serves to abrade the chalk and hold it to the surface.
Color and Light
As you may remember from high school physics, Isaac Newton passed white
light through a prism and observed that it split apart into bands of color. He
described the spectrum he saw as consisting of seven colors: red, orange,
yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. The number of colors derived from
Newtons belief that the color spectrum had an underlying connection with
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Physics tells us that color is determined by the distance between waves
(wavelength) of a given wave of light. This is referred to as wave quality.
Red has the widest wavelength; as we progress around Newtons circle,
wavelengths get narrower.
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of that length and absorbs all others. All else being equal, the lightness or
darkness of an object or substance is determined by the quantity of light waves
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light waves. Black substances, such as ink, absorb most light waves.
The Color Wheel
Newton also showed that he could pass his bands of colored light back
through a prism and get white light, but pigments behave differently. If you
mix seven pastels to match Newtons seven colors, you wont get white but
a darkish mud.
472

For artists, the most basic group of colors consists of a triad: red, yellow,
and blue. These are referred to as primary colors because they cant be
produced by mixing other pigments. The next three colors are known as
secondary colors and are made by mixing the primaries. As most of us know,
yellow and blue produce green, blue and red produce violet, and red and
yellow produce orange. If we mix intermediary steps between any of the six
primaries and secondaries, we get six new colors, referred to as tertiaries.
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to create another 12 hues. As more transitional colors are added, the visual
path around the color wheel becomes smoother.
On the wheel of primaries and secondaries, the colors that are next to one
another are called adjacent or analogous colors. Here, each color shares
something with its neighbor. Orange and yellow both share yellow; orange
and red both share red. These represent smoother transitions than yellow to
red. A general principle in applying color in a given drawing is to use colors
that share common elements where you want smoother transitions.
Colors are also thought of as having temperature. Yellow, orange, and red
are the warm colors, while green, blue, and violet are cool. Like the warm
and cool groups, there are other, more subtle, groups. For example, the three
colors that share yellowyellow, orange, and greenform a group. Note,
however, that not all adjacent colors are equally similar. The temperature
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to a pure green. Although yellow and green share yellow, green contains
blue, a contrasting cool color. Yellow and orange share yellow, and neither
contains anything cool; thus, they share warmth, as well.
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their secondary, or two parents and their offspring, such as yellow, blue, and
green; blue, red, and violet; and red, yellow, and orange.
The opposite of analogous colors are complementary colors. These pairs
of colors sit opposite each other on the color wheel, putting each one as
far away as possible from its opposite. The three complementary pairs are
yellow and violet, orange and blue, and red and green. While analogous
473

colors share a component color, complements have nothing in common. For

example, theres no yellow in violet and no violet (or red or blue) in yellow.
We could say that analogous colors are like two grays. They have contrast
we can tell them apartbut they share some elements. Each has some
amount of black and some amount of white. But complementary colors are
extreme. Theyre like black and white, with none of one in the other.

Lecture 28Color: Color Theory and Color and Light

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violet pair has the greatest value contrast of the three, followed by orange
and blue. Red and green are the most similar in value.
Properties of Color: Hue, Value, and Saturation
In an earlier lecture, we noted that each color has three attributes: hue, value,
and saturation. Hue coincides with the colors name; its the yellow, green, or
blue character of the color. Value refers to the colors lightness or darkness.
(Any color can be made lighter by adding white, known as a tint, or darker
by adding black, known as a shade.) Saturation refers to the colors level
of purity. We can create versions of any color, stretching from very gray at
the achromatic end of the scale to the most intensely saturated at the other.
When you change the value of a color by adding white, black, or some other
neutralizing color, you also lower the saturation.
Color and Contrast
If drawing with value is like playing checkers, drawing with color is like
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or darker. Thus, tonal value in and of itself offers one kind of contrast. With
color, we can have contrasts happening along three scales simultaneously:
hue, value, and saturation. If all three are the same, the color will be
identical, and we wont see any distinction between two shapes. But if we
vary one factor even a bitsay, keep the hue and saturation about the same
but lighten the valuewe get contrast and differentiation. Varying all three
attributes results in high contrast.
As weve seen, warm to cool represents one type of contrast. Another is
contrast of amount. All else being equal, the greater the amount of a given
color, the more dominant that color will feel.
474

Simultaneous Contrast of Hue, Value, Saturation, and Temperature

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surrounded by black will appear brighter, and black surrounded by white
will appear darker. We experience color similarly. Red appears brighter if
surrounded by black and dimmer if surrounded by white. Colors also appear
more saturated as the grounds hue moves from similar to complementary.
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%HFDXVHWKHZD\FRORUUHDGVLVFRQWH[WXDOQLVKLQJRQHREMHFWEHIRUHJRLQJ
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could look all wrong when an abutting color is added.
Color and Content
Its important to note that color has symbolic meaning. Some such
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more widespread. Not surprisingly, the warm colorsred, orange, and
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is particularly associated with heart, passion, and love, but it can also signify
blood, violence, and danger. Green has associations with growth, life, and
freshness, and blue is often construed as calm or sad. In the West, white is
associated with day, reason, calm, and purity. Black has associations with
night, terror, and death but also with elegance and romance. Of course, many
of these associations are matters of local culture. Among the Chinese, white
is associated with death, and red is the color of prosperity.
Light and Color in Nature
Most of what weve discussed so far would come under the heading of color
theory. But in order to use color in drawing, it helps to understand how we
actually see color. We talk about the nominal color of an object as its local
color. But when we look at most things, we actually see many more colors
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factors, including the color of the light source, the direction of light, and the
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These same factors hold true indoors and outdoors, but outdoors, other
factors come into play, as well. For example, the atmosphere lends its color
to what we see. As hills and trees recede into space, they take on more and
475

more of the color of the atmosphere itself. Thats because, with distance,
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sky can tinge everything with golden tones. Other skies might suffuse a
landscape with blue, brown, or gray.
Steps of Light in Color
In the lectures on value, we saw that we could create the illusion of light and
volume using anywhere from two to nine values. With color, the number
of possibilities for modulating form increases exponentially. For example,
volume can be created by modulating a single color from light to dark, from
warm to cool, or from light to dark and warm to cool simultaneously. In the
next lecture, well learn more about how we can use and create form in just
about any kind of color palette.

Suggested Reading

Lecture 28Color: Color Theory and Color and Light

Albers, Interaction of Color.

Mendelowitz, Faber, and Wakeman, A Guide to Drawing, Color, pp. 114
121.
Pumphrey, The Elements of Art, Value and Color, pp. 147187.

476

Color: Color Theory and Color and Light

Lecture 28Transcript
The next three lectures focus on color, a fascinating subject. First, well look
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functions in nature, and well analyze a number of artists paintings and
drawings to see how they actually use color. And youll have the opportunity
to apply what you learn in a range of exercises and drawing projects.
Id suggest using pastelsthe chalky kind, not the oily ones; theyre more
versatile. Chalk pastels are made from pigments ground into a powder and
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especially if youve worked with charcoal. Pastels run from soft and powdery
to hard and brittle. Rembrandt, Art Spectrums, Schminke, and Sennelier are
on the soft side; Prismacolor Nupastel, Cretacolor, Holbein, and Richeson
on the hard side. Some people prefer one type to the other; many artists use
both. The soft pastels spread and blend more easily. The hard pastels can be
sharpened to a point with a knife or razor blade for more precise work. Some
manufacturers make pastel pencils that can also be used for more detailed
work.
You can purchase pastels both individually and in sets. If you purchase
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YLROHWDUHGYLROHWDUHGDQRUDQJHDQGD\HOORZ$QGIRXUHDUWKFRORUVD
yellow earth, like a yellow ochre; an orange earth, like a raw sienna; and a
red earth, like a burnt sienna. Id also suggest getting a darker, less saturated
brown, like a Van Dyke brown or a burnt umber; and a white; black; and
gray.
Many manufacturers make light to dark gradations of their colors. They
number them. The darkest version usually gets the lowest number, the purest
grade gets a middle number, and the lightest gets the highest number.
A good way to expand on the basic group is to get three of each color when
available. For example, choose a green and get three versions: the darkest,
the purest, and the lightest. A further way to build on a set is to get three
different greens, or blues, or reds, ones that have different qualities, like a
477

center iconic blue, another more toward the green, and another more toward
the violet. And you could also expand by buying both softs and hards of
similar colors. Now, you can also purchase a set. If you go this route, look
at the range of colors to see what bases are covered in light of what I just
suggested regarding individual sticks.
As with most of the materials weve discussed, theres no standardization
between manufacturers. Two ultramarine blues made by two different
manufacturers may well be different, and there are a wide variety of names,
some particular to a single manufacturer, so its a good idea to look at the
sticks and not just depend on the names until you know the brand.
Pastel, like graphite and charcoal, can be hatched, blended, layered, and
manipulated in myriad ways. Pastel papers tend to have a fair amount of
tooth, and that serves to abrade the chalk and hold it on the surface.
As you may remember from high school physics, Isaac Newton passed white
light through a prism and observed it split apart into bands of color. This is an
illustration from his 1704 book, Opticks. He described the spectrum he saw
as consisting of seven colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and
violet. The number of colorssevenderived from his belief that the color
spectrum had an underlying connection with the seven note musical scale
and the number of the days in the week, among other things. He arranged
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spokes along the circles circumference show the musical note in scale order
he associated with a given color.
Physics tells us that color is determined by the distance between waves, or
wavelengths, of a given wave of light. This is referred to as wave quality.
Red has the widest wavelength and, as we progress around Newtons circle,
wavelengths get narrower. An object or substance appears to be a certain
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green block looks green because it absorbs all other wave qualities and
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and the red the red. All else being equal, the lightness or darkness of an
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or absorbs.
478

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waves coming at them. Black substances, like the ink we use, absorb most of
the light waves coming at them. Thats related to what we experience with
a white or silver car being cooler than a black one in summer heat, and this
was actually tested at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in 2011.
They found the cabin air temperature of a white or silver car to be 9 to 11
degrees lower, on average, than an identical black one. In any case, here the
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lighter.
Newton also showed that he could take his bands of colored light, pass them
back through a prism, and get white light. Pigments behave differently. Take
seven different pastels, same as his colors, mix them together, you get a
darkish mud. That said, the color wheel is still very much with us today,
though weve adapted it to our own purposes. And this has to do with how
pigments, as opposed to light, are mixed and how colors relate.
For artists, the most basic group of colors consists of a triad: red, yellow,
and blue, referred to as primary colors. Theyre primaries because you cant
make them by mixing other pigments. The next three colors, the secondaries,
are made by mixing the primaries: Yellow and blue produce green; blue
and red, violet; red and yellow, orange. Taken together, this yields a color
wheel of three primaries and three secondaries. To get familiar with all this,
Id suggest drawing along with what well be discussing. Here, you could
lay your primaries and mix secondaries or make a primary/secondary color
wheel.
If we mix intermediary steps between any of the six primaries and
secondaries we get six new colors referred to as tertiaries. These include
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yellow. You could mix these, too. And we could mix each of these 12 colors
with its neighbor to create another 12 hues.
One of the things youll note is that, as we add more transitional colors, the
visual path around the wheel is smoother: more legato, less staccato. For
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479

relationships among the colors, but these same relationships would apply to
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We think of colors as having temperature. Youll likely note that yellow,
orange, and red form a groupthese are the warm colors. Green, blue, and
violet are the cools. With yellow at the 12 oclock position, the color wheel
reveals the warm colors dividing from the cool, from the top right to lower
left, along a diagonal. One side feels like day, the other like night; one like
sunshine and warmth, the other like a cool stream in a dark forest. They
represent different temperatures and different moods.
With yellow at the 12 oclock position, our color wheels reveal the hues
organized from top to bottom, light to dark. As we noted, with fewer
transitional colors, the visual paths choppier; more transitional colors,
smoother. Thats because transitional colors share elements of the hues on
either side. Red and orange both contain red, so they feel similar. Same with
blue and violet; they share blue. And both are smoother transitions than, say,
yellow to red, or yellow to blue. These feel like big jumps because these
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orange to get to red, glide through green to get to bluesmoother.
So when we want smooth transitions, we use colors that share common
elements, and colors that share common elements or qualities will appear to
hang together and form a shape. When we want abrupt transitions and when
we want an area to feel like an independent shape, well do the opposite.
On the wheel of primaries and secondaries, the colors that are next to one
another are called adjacent or analogous colors. Each color shares something
with its neighbor. Like the warm and cool groups, there are other more subtle
groups. The three colors that share yellow form a group: yellow, orange, and
green.
Though, its worth pointing out that not all adjacent colors are equally
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more similar to a pure orange than to a pure green. While yellow and green
share yellow, green contains blue, a contrasting cool color. Yellow and orange
share yellow and neither contains anything cool, so they share warmth as
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480

include the ones that contain two primaries and their secondary, two parents
and their offspring: yellow, blue, and green; blue, red, and violet; and red,
yellow, and orange, already mentioned as the warm group.
The opposite of analogous color is complementary color, also referred to as
opposite color. Thats because these pairs sit opposite one another on the
wheel. That puts each one as far away as possible from its opposite. Our
three complementary pairs are yellow and violet, orange and blue, and red
and green. While analogous colors share a component color, complements
have nothing in common. Theres no yellow in violet and no violet, or red,
or blue in yellow. Theres no orange, or red, or yellow in blue and no blue
in orange. Theres no red in green and no green, or yellow, or blue in red:
nothing in common.
We could say that analogous colors are like two graysthey have contrast,
we can tell them apart, but they share elements. Each has some amount of
black and some amount of white. Theres something different, but something
shared. We get some contrasthow much depends on how much is different
and how much shared. On our value scale, a number seven gray and a
number eight gray share a lot. Not a lot of contrast. Not unlike blue and
violet. On the other hand, a number two gray and a number six gray share
much less, more contrast. Not unlike yellow and green. But complementary
colors are extreme. Theyre like black and white: no white in black, no
black in white; no yellow in violet, no violet in yellow. Nothing in common;
highest contrast.
That said, the three pairs of complements have different personalities. The
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the greatest value contrast of the three pairs. Orange and blue followmost
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In an earlier lecture, I noted that we think of each color as having three
attributes: hue, value, and saturation. Hue coincides with the colors name
its the yellow, or green, or blue character of the color. Value refers to the
colors lightness or darkness. Any color can be made lighter or darker.
A color made lighter by adding whites called a tint. One made darker by
adding black, a shade. Some color wheels plot tints and shades radiating
481

from each hue. White, black, and gray are referred to as neutrals; theyre
considered colorless. When added to other colors, they dont change the hue
of that color, they change its value, making it lighter or darker.
Thats the theory. It doesnt always work that way. Mix black with yellow,
youll get a green, not a dark yellow. Even in the example here, the dark
yellow has a greenish cast. There are also a number of ways of making things
lighter or darker that dont depend on adding white or black. For instance,
you can apply a color transparently, on a light ground itll appear lighter;
more opaquely to make it darker, or apply it to a darker ground. The ground
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blend or not will also affect the colors apparent value.
The third attribute of color is saturation. This refers to the colors level of
purity. We can create versions of all our colors stretching from very gray,
at the achromatic end, to the most intensely saturated at the other. Often,
when we change the value of a color by adding white, black, or some other
neutralizing color, were also lowering the saturation. When analyzing a
color, we want to understand it in relation to these three scales: hue, value,
and saturation.
Again, in theory, you can create all possible colors, all secondaries, tertiaries,
of every value and saturation, using the three primaries and black and white,
but it doesnt work that way with pigments. Well come back to this later.
The essential point here is to begin to be able to read hue in something thats
somewhat neutral. Look at the more neutral versions of the color in these
wheels. Can you still feel the underlying color?
You may have heard it said that you get neutral gray by mixing complements.
Thats not quite true. The actual color you get will depend on several factors.
Theres the material: pastel behaves one way, oil paint another. Then theres
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blues are the same. Lets take a look at how this works.
Here are three pairs of complements. Overlay yellow on violet, then violet
on yellowtwo different colors. So order matters, but neithers a gray,
though both are more neutral than yellow or violet alone. Same thing with
482

blue and orange, or red and green. So far, Ive mixed directly, but if I blend,
I get a different color, and if I apply the color on the swab, its more neutral.
The colors have been more thoroughly mixed. The neutrality will be more
pronounced if I use neutral versions of my compliments to start with. Here, a
more neutral blue and orange.
Were entering into the world of chromatic grays, colorful grays, neutral
versions of their parent colors, and I can make each one a little warmer or a
little cooler. Adding white, a neutral, will not only lighten, it will increase its
neutrality, as will adding a neutral gray. This kind of color is extraordinarily
useful because so many of the things around us are not saturated namable
color and we often need to make subtle distinctions between things.
If drawing with value is like playing checkers, drawing with color is like
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or darker. So tonal value, in and of itself, offers us one kind of contrast. With
color, we can have contrasts happening along three scales simultaneously:
hue, value, and saturation. If all three are the same, the color will be
identicalwe wont see any distinction between two shades.
But if I vary one factor even a little bit, lets say keep the hue and saturation
about the same, but lighten the value, I get contrast and differentiation.
Or instead, I could keep the hue and value about the same and change the
saturation. Or I could keep the value and saturation and change the hue. Or I
could vary all three: hue, value, and saturation. That means a lot of contrast.
With two shades and three variables, there are eight possible scenarios. Hue,
value, and saturation could all be the same or all be different, or any two
could be the same and one different, or any two could be different and one
the same. But there are more than eight possibilities because of the amount
we could vary any of these factors could be anywhere from a little to a lot
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through in a lifetime.
Therere a couple other types of contrast we need to consider. One weve
already mentioned is warm to cool; anothers contrast of amount. All else
483

being equal, the greater the amount of a given color, the more that color will
feel dominant.
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surrounded by black will appear brighter; black surrounded by white, darker.
We experience color similarly. A red surrounded by black appears brighter;
surrounded by white, dimmer.
Here, we have an identical red in three different red grounds. Each time the
central red appears to be a somewhat different color. In the brightest ground,
its the most muted; in the darkest, the brightest. As the ground gets darker
and less saturated, the internal square appears to get lighter, more saturated,
more orange. Not surprisingly, the red squares more saturated in a neutral
ground.
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complement, green. The red appears more saturated as the grounds hue
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in a blue and bluer in a green. The same violet appears redder in a blue and
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in an orange one. You could make some color studies of your own along
these lines.
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Germany at the Bauhaus. Albers would go on to teach at Yale. In 1963, he
published one of the seminal 20thFHQWXU\ ZRUNV RQ FRORU DSWO\ WLWOHG The
Interaction of Color. Of course, artists have been aware of colors relative
nature for some time.
In 1885, Van Gogh wrote to his brother about his painting The Potato Eaters.
He explained that it really needed to be hung on a golden colored wall. He
wrote, it simply mustnt be seen without being set off in this way. It will
not appear to full advantage against a dark background and especially not
against a dull background. Van Gogh understood that a painting on the wall
is very similar to a rectangle of color inside another rectangle of color.
484

In terms of drawing, this means its smart to block in general color overall
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it, and then going on to the next can result in real problems. The color that, at
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situation as with value but more so.
We should note that color has had symbolic meaning. Some of this is local and
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the warm colorsred, orange, and yellowhave been associated with heat,
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also with blood, violence, and danger. Think stop sign.
Green has associations with growth, life, and freshness, and in the U.S.,
money. Blue is often construed as calm or embodying the coolness of water,
and as in the blues, sadness. White, at least in the west, has been associated
with day, the Apollonian, reason and calm, and also associated with purity,
like brides in white. Black has associations with night, terror, and deaths
but also with elegance and romancethink limo, tuxedo, and black party
dress. Of course, a fair amount of this is a matter of local cultural. Among
the Chinese, whites associated with death and reds the color of prosperity.
Most of what weve just discussed would come under the heading color
theory, but in order to use color in drawing it helps to understand how we
actually see color. When talking about objects, like these blocks, we refer to
their greenness, yellowness, or redness as their local color. When we look at
most things, were seeing many more colors than their local colors. In fact,
here are 16 colors that are present in the image of the blocks. The four in the
center are obviousa red, a yellow, and two greensbut some of the others
might seem more curious and a number of these dont really have names.
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by environmental factors.
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right, and we see three main colors associated with this. The top ridge of
the block receives the most light and is the lightest. The side plane gets the
next largest amount of light and its a bit darker. The front plane receives
the least light, its darkest. But the color isnt only getting darker, its also
485

moving from the yellow to the blue. The light to dark shift is accompanied
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observed, Il colore dello alluminato participa del colore dello alluminante.
The color of the object receiving light is affected by the color of the light
source.
We see similar progressions across the yellow and the red blocks planes,
though the right face of the yellow blocks in the shadow of the red block,
so it receives more light from above left. As you may have already noticed,
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Leonardo comments on this, too. Li colori delli obbietti illuminati
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with the green local color on its surface. If we look at the shadow side of
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yellow surface to create a succession of earth tones that contain both yellow
and red. As we move across the yellow plane, the color gets progressively
darker and redder.
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amount of light. The right plane of the yellow is pretty much in shadow, so
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contrast.
There are a couple of other things worth pointing out here. Generally, the
light tone or halftone will have greater saturation than the highlight or
486

shadow side. The very lightness of the highlight subtracts from its saturation,
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appear less saturated.
So while we name colors for convenience thats green, or red, or yellow,
what we actually see is the name color affected by the direction of the light,
the amount of light a given surface receives, the color of the light, and any
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Indoors, under incandescent light, illuminated planes go warmer and
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cooler and the shadows can appear warmer. Had the blocks been lit with blue
daylight through a window, the illuminated planes would go cooler.
Moonlight through a window would be different again. At night, well
often get strong contrasts of light and shadow and strong saturation in an
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a street lamp or a cars headlight, will illuminate some portion of the scene.
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Well, without strong light the saturations all diminish and the contrast of
light and shadow are reduced. We may not even be able to tell the blocks
colors at all.
In this example, the blocks were posed in a photographers studio, indoors.
But these same factors hold true when we move outdoors, and there are a
couple others that come into play as well. In an earlier lecture, I discussed
color and atmospheric or aerial perspective. We noticed that distance affects
the way we perceive color. When things are closer, their colors appear to
have greater value contrast and greater saturation. As they recede, less.
One way of thinking about this is that the atmosphere, like the yellow bulb
on the blocks, lends its color to what we see, and as things like hills and trees
recede into space they take on more and more of the color of the atmosphere
itself. Thats because, with distance, theres more and more atmosphere
between us and what were seeing. Here, we get an admixture of light blue.
Leonardo explains this:
487

There is another kind of perspective which I call Aerial

Perspective In an atmosphere the remotest objects seen
through it, as mountains, in consequence of the great quantity of
atmosphere between your eye and themappear blue and almost of
the same hue as the atmosphere itself.
And when the sky is cool, the shadows of objects in the landscape tend to
UHHFWWKDWFRROQHVV2QWKHRWKHUKDQGDVXQOOHGVN\FDQWLQJHHYHU\WKLQJ
with golden tones. Other skies will suffuse a landscape in brown. A cloudy
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LF\ RQHV /LNH WKH EORFNV PDQ\ VXUIDFHV LQ QDWXUH UHHFW FRORU :DWHU RI
FRXUVHZRXOGEHDQREYLRXVH[DPSOH%XWFRORUVUHHFWLQJLQQDWXUHPRUH
subtly all the time, just like in the colored blocks.
In the lectures on value, we saw how we could create the illusion of light and
volume with as few as two valuesa light and a dark to stand for everything
from highlight to form shadow to cast shadow. Or we could use three: a
light, a half tone, and a dark. Or nine, one each for the highlight, light,
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UHHFWHGVKDGRZDFDVWVKDGRZDQGOLJKWIURPWKHREMHFWUHHFWHGLQWRWKH
shadow.
Whats clear is that theres no right way, but different approaches will yield
GLIIHUHQWUHVXOWV7KHPRUHRUOHVVRQDQGRIIYDOXHRIWKH'DXPLHUKDVRQH
feel, the more modulated approach in the Lundin another. With color, the
number of possibilities for modulating form increases exponentially. In the
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like to look at some of the ways artists modulate form.
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ZDUP WR FRRO DOO LQ D IDLUO\ QHXWUDO FRPSOHPHQWDU\ RUDQJHEOXH UDQJH
Czannes values are much closer and his saturation much greater, but he also
modulates warm to coolhere, analogous yellow to green. Van Gogh also
PRGXODWHVZDUPFRROLQWKHKHDGOLNH9HUPHHURUDQJHEOXHWKRXJKPXFK
more saturated. And Wayne Thiebaud pumps the saturation and compounds
WKLVZLWKKLJKYDOXHFRQWUDVWV:KLOH0RQHWPRYHVOLJKWWRGDUNLQWKHPDQV
head, he stays within the warm, though the form shadow is more neutral.
488

But, in the womans dress, the lights are cool and the form shadow goes
warmer. And lets look at the womans back in this William Merritt Chase
pastel. The highlights are cool, the surrounding light warm. As we move into
the form shadow, we go cooler; into the umbra, warmer.
In the next lecture, well learn more about how we can use and create form
in just about any kind of palette.

489

Color: How Artists Use Color

Lecture 29

n the last lecture, we looked at both landscape photos and artworks

and saw how color creates a quality of light and mood. And mood is
an important consideration in making a drawing; it leads us to select a
VSHFLFSDOHWWH:LWKLQWKHFRQQHVRIDJLYHQSDOHWWHZHFDQFUHDWHDYLVXDO
hierarchy, using color and value to structure focal areas and focal points. We
also saw that we can attend to the illusion of space, volume, and light with
color. In this lecture, well look at the work of a number of artists to learn
KRZWKH\XVHVSHFLFFRORUSDOHWWHV

Lecture 29Color: How Artists Use Color

Working with Color

As you begin to work with color, try to pay attention to your everyday
feelings about it. Many people viscerally feel the difference between a blue
VN\ DQG D FORXG\ RQH RU WKH GLIIHUHQFH EHWZHHQ D HOG RI RZHUV LQ WKH
afternoon sun and a dingy bus station at night. Why do some places feel
uplifting, romantic, scary, or depressing? Analyze whats going on around
you in terms of color and use what you learn in your drawings.
You actually know a lot more about certain aspects of color than you might
think. For example, you coordinate the colors of the clothes you wear every
day, and you know that business attire projects a serious mood through its
fairly neutral palette. With casual clothes or sports clothes, the palette is more
saturated, and the mood is lighter. Similarly, youve likely thought about
PRRGDQGSDOHWWHLQGHFRUDWLQJ\RXUKRPHRURIFH<RXPD\KDYHDEURZQ
study or a yellow bedroom. Each of these palettes projects a different mood.
Were also constantly barraged with the work of professional designers
and illustrators who put color to work to create mood and evoke an
emotional response in order to sell us things. Examples of this can be
found everywhereeven the cereal aisle of your local supermarket. The
sweet childrens cereals are packaged with bright, saturated colors, while
WKH KHDOWK\ ZKROHJUDLQ RSWLRQV KDYH PXFK PRUH QHXWUDO SDFNDJLQJ 7U\

490

to become more aware of how color is used around you by professional

designers and note your reactions.
Palette and Mood
In the last lecture, we saw how a sense of light, mood, and emotion can be
DIIHFWHGWKURXJKSDOHWWHFKRLFH7KHHVVHQWLDOFKDUDFWHURIDSDOHWWHLVGHQHG
through limitation. Artists have used certain common color limitations, or
palettes, for centuries. These palettes include the following:
z

Monochromatic. Working with a monochromatic palette is really

a form of working with value, though hue plays a part. A blue
painting will feel differentcooler and icierthan a warm gray or
an orange painting.

Expanded monochrome. This type of palette admits a bit of color

outside the monochrome.

Dominant hue. Related to both the monochrome and expanded

monochrome palettes is the dominant hue palette. Here, the artist
FKRRVHV D UDQJH RI FRORUV DQG PL[HV D VXIFLHQW TXDQWLW\ RI RQH
other hue to each one to ensure that the one hue will be dominant.

Analogous. A next step in palette complexity is the analogous

palette. This type of palette uses colors that are next to one another
RQWKHZKHHO([DPSOHVLQFOXGHUHGRUDQJH\HOORZRUDQJH\HOORZ
JUHHQDQGJUHHQEOXHYLROHW

Complementary. Another common palette is one based on

FRPSOHPHQWV7KHVHLQFOXGH\HOORZYLROHWRUDQJHEOXHDQGUHG
green.

Split complementary. Related to the complementary palette is the

VSOLWFRPSOHPHQWDU\([DPSOHVLQFOXGH\HOORZZLWKUHGYLROHWDQG
EOXHYLROHW UHG ZLWK \HOORZJUHHQ DQG EOXHJUHHQ DQG EOXH ZLWK
\HOORZRUDQJHDQGUHGRUDQJH

491

Double complementary. This palette is based on two sets of

FRPSOHPHQWDU\ FRORUV IRU H[DPSOH UHGJUHHQ DQG RUDQJHEOXH
The Eakins watercolor weve looked at throughout the course uses
this palette.

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RI SDOHWWH ZDV XVHG TXLWH D ELW E\ 3LFDVVR *HRUJHV %UDTXH -XDQ
Gris, and others during the heyday of Cubism.

Color Application: Flat Color, Open Color, and Gradations

Another set of factors to be aware of in working with color has to do with
the relationship of color to shape. Here, DW FRORU refers to broad areas of
unmodulated color enclosed in a shape. This is the way many of us colored
in pictures as children: Draw the shape of the apple and color it in red. One
of the hallmarks of this use of color is that the colors of individual things
GRQWSDUWDNHRIWKHFRORURIDOLJKWVRXUFHQRUGRHVFRORUUHHFWIURPRQH
object to another. Color remains in its bounded shape.

Lecture 29Color: How Artists Use Color

With open color, we see marks and multiple small areas of color within
VKDSHVDQGWKHHGJHVRIWKHVKDSHVWKHPVHOYHVDUHPXFKOHVVVWULFWO\GHQHG
This approach is common when areas or surfaces are built out of mark and
the sensation of color depends on optical mixing.
Another way in which shapes are treated with color is through gradation,
PRYLQJIURPVD\OLJKWWRPLGGDUNWRGDUN7KLVDSSURDFKLVPRVWFRPPRQ
in naturalistic work, where the goal is to create a convincing illusion of
WKUHHGLPHQVLRQDOIRUPLQVSDFH
Summing Up Color Principles
Here are some important principles weve learned about color:

492

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ZKLFKLQHFWVOLJKWPRRGDQGHPRWLRQWKHRYHUDOODYRURIWKH
work.

Once youve made that decision, the next step is to think

hierarchically and compositionally. Think about relative

contrasts; in other words, consider relative hue, value, and

saturation contextually to move the viewer through your drawing.
Remember, areas of higher saturation and value contrast will
become focal zones.
z

Pay attention to the effects of atmospheric perspective. With

distance, objects take on the color of the atmosphere. When things
are closer to us, their colors appear to have greater value contrast
and greater saturation. As they recede, they have less value contrast
and saturation.

All else being equal, warm colors will tend to advance and cools to
recede, but saturation will generally trump this principle. In other
words, a saturated blue bowla coolwill easily advance against
a backdrop that is a neutral, warm tan.

Suggested Reading
Guptill, Watercolor Painting Step-by-Step, chapters 710, pp. 6598.
Loomis, Creative Illustration, Color, pp. 145179.

493

Color: How Artists Use Color

Lecture 29Transcript
In the last lecture, in both the landscape photos and the artworks, we saw
how color creates a quality of light and mood. And mood is an important
FRQVLGHUDWLRQLQPDNLQJDGUDZLQJ,WZLOOOHDGXVWRVHOHFWDVSHFLFSDOHWWH
(DFKRIWKHLPDJHVZHORRNHGDWKDYHWKLVDVSHFLFSDOHWWHWKDWFUHDWHVD
PRRG:LWKLQWKHFRQQHVRIWKHSDOHWWHZHFDQFUHDWHDYLVXDOKLHUDUFK\
We use color, and value thats part of color, to create focal areas and focal
points and attend to the illusion of space, volume, and light like we did with
a value palette.
As you begin to work with color, its a good idea to pay attention to your
everyday feelings surrounding color palettes and mood. Many people
viscerally feel different between a blue sky and a cloudy one, or the
GLIIHUHQFHEHWZHHQDHOGRIRZHUVLQWKHDIWHUQRRQVXQDQGDGLQJ\EXV
VWDWLRQDWQLJKWLOOXPLQDWHGE\ZHDNXRUHVFHQWV:K\GRVRPHSODFHVIHHO
uplifting, romantic, scary, or depressing? Analyze whats going on in terms
of color and youll have excellent material at your disposal.
You actually know a lot more about certain aspects of color than you might
think. You coordinate the colors of the clothes you wear on a daily basis, shirt
and pants, suit and tie, dress, handbag, and shoes. These are all examples of
coordinating color and projecting mood or setting a tone, based on palette.
Business attire projects a mood through palette: serious, sober. The palettes
fairly neutral, achromatic. Casual business attire projects a different mood.
The color sends a different signal, as does an evening gown, and golf clothes
another, palettes more saturated. Kids clothes are often even more so. And
FORZQVDUHOLNHDZKROHNLGVFORVHWDOOPDVKHGXSNLQGRIDQDUFKLF
Similarly, youve likely thought about mood and palette in decorating your
KRPHRURIFH<RXYHFRRUGLQDWHGWKHFRORURI\RXUZDOOVDQGRRULQJDQG
furnishings. A brown study, a pink bedroom, and a sleek neutral living room
all have different palettes. They project different moods.

494

Were also constantly barraged with the works of professional designers

and illustrators who are putting color to work to create mood and evoke
an emotional response in order to sell us things. Many good examples can
be found in the cereal aisle of the supermarket. The sweet kids cereals are
packaged with bright, saturated colors. The moods upbeat and fun, like a lot
RINLGVFORWKHVWR\VDQGFDUWRRQV+HDOWK\ZKROHJUDLQKLJKEHUFHUHDOV
targeted at adults are packaged in much more neutral boxes. Here, serious
brown ochres dominate, the colors earth and grain, nothing sweet, nothing
DUWLFLDO
Same is true of greeting cards. Next opportunity, compare the kids birthday
cards with condolence cards. The former have a lot in common with kids
cereal boxes. The latter are generally much less saturated, often soft pastels.
6RWDNHDORRNDURXQG\RXUKRPHRURIFH$QDO\]HWKHSDOHWWHVLQLQGLYLGXDO
objects, in clothing, or in entire rooms. Then make swatches of colors to
represent the palette of what youve analyzed.
In the last lecture, we saw how a sense of light, mood, and emotion can
be affected through palette choice. The essential character of a palette is
GHQHG WKURXJK OLPLWDWLRQ /LPLWDWLRQ LV NH\ ,I ZH WKURZ HYHU\ FRORU DW D
drawing or painting, they tend to cancel each other out. If we copy colors
indiscriminately, we lose control of mood and hierarchy. There are certain
common types of palettes that artists have used for centuries. It would be a
good idea as we go through these to make swatches of color to represent the
palette of each work.
Perhaps the most simple color limitation is to use one chroma. We refer
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Ingres. Picassos Guernica is another famous monochromatic work. The
contemporary American artist, Mark Tansey, works just about solely, in
monochromes, from blues to greens to oranges and reds. This is really a
form of working with value though hue plays its part. A blue painting will
feel different, cooler, more icy, and less humid, than a warm gray, much less
an orange painting.
An expanded monochrome palette admits a bit of color outside the
monochrome. Whistler was supremely conscious of color. His painting
495

known colloquially as Whistlers Mother was actually titled, Arrangement

in Grey and Black No. 1+HWLWOHGPDQ\RIKLVSDLQWLQJVWRUHIHUHQFHVSHFLF
palette limitations. While in London, he did a group of color studies of the
Thames at night and in early morning like this one titled Nocturne in Blue
and Silver. It represents a subtle variation on a dark cool monochrome to
incorporate small traces of warm lights.
Degas uses an expanded monochrome on the warm side of the spectrum here.
Looking at these two works, you can really appreciate Leonardos notebook
entries on the subject. Colors of individual things partake of the color of the
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this, the more youll see well beyond the local color of individual objects.
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scene before you.
Related to both the monochrome and expanded monochrome palette is the
dominant hue palette. Lets say I want a palette where yellow is dominant.
I could take a group of colors, like the range of primaries and secondaries,
DQGDGGDVXIFLHQWTXDQWLW\RI\HOORZWRHDFKVRWKDWZKHQWKH\UHSXWLQWR
action yellow will be the dominant hue, or green, or red violet. And you can
do this to varying degrees and vary value and saturation as well. This portrait
E\:KLVWOHUH[HPSOLHVWKHDSSURDFK:KLOHWKHUHDUH\HOORZVHDUWKWRQHV
and darks, which have admixtures of cools, the predominant hue is red.
A next step in palette complexity is the analogous palette. Here Monet uses
DEOXHYLROHWUHGSDOHWWHIRUWKLVSDLQWLQJRIWKH+RXVHVRI3DUOLDPHQW
7KRXJKWKHUHDUHVRPHEOXHVWKHSDLQWLQJKDVDVWURQJYLROHWUHGSUHVHQFH
<RXOODOVRQRWHWKDWWKHYDOXHVRIWKHFRORUDUHDOOSUHWW\FORVHLQWKHPLG
DQG PLGGDUN UDQJH $V ZLWK D QXPEHU RI 0RQHWV SDLQWLQJV WKHUH DUH
multiple versions of this scene. Ive counted at least 19. Each uses a different
set of palette limitations to create the sense of mood, season, time of day, and
atmospheric conditions.
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DQDORJRXVRUDQJH\HOORZJUHHQKHUHWKHYDOXHLVPRVWO\LQWKHPLGUDQJH
Delacroix, in a more neutral range, takes us the next step around the circle
in this watercolor, analogous yellow, green, and into blue. And Monet
496

completes the circle with his view of Waterloo Bridge, London, at dusk,
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OLNHDZKLVSHUEHFDXVHWKHYDOXHUDQJHVVRFORVHPRVWO\LQWKHOLJKWWRPLG
range.
I hope youre beginning to get a feel for the personalities of these palettes.
(DFKKDVDVSHFLFDQGGLIIHUHQWDYRU
Another very common palette is one based on compliments. This Degas uses
D\HOORZYLROHWFRPSOLPHQWDU\V\VWHP7U\WRLPDJLQHLWZLWKRXWWKHJXUHV
Pretty much a yellow painting though most of the yellows are fairly neutral,
listing to tan or ochre, earth tones.
Our earth tones, themselves, are very important. We can mix them with
primary, secondary, and tertiary colors to make them more neutral. Yellow
with yellow ochre or Van Dyke Brown will give us a neutral yellow. The
JXUHVPRVWGUHVVHGQRPLQDOO\LQZKLWHOLVWWRWKHYLROHWOLJKWDQGIDLUO\
neutral. Also note that the door on the left, the central decorative framing of
the doors, and the molding at the top of the walls has admixtures of yellow,
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violet painting, but the violet is warmer, more toward the red and just about
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pumped. Actually, the ground is modest, a light violet. The high saturations
are saved for the malts, excellent hierarchical use of saturation and value
contrast to create a focal area.
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matter, is not one thing. It can be pulled in many different directions, each
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light and mood are tied to palette, whether indoors or outdoors. Its all about
GHQLQJDUDQJHRIYDOXHDQGVDWXUDWLRQZLWKLQDSDOHWWHOLPLWDWLRQ7KHUHDUH
endless permutations within any given palette, whether its monochromatic,
analogous, or complimentary.
Traveling around the globe to the Netherlands, we get Vermeer employing
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and the sliver of abdomen we see is orange. But look at the back edge of
497

WKHWDEOH,WVDQHXWUDORUDQJHDJDLQVWDQHXWUDOEOXHJUD\ZDOO+HUVNLUWV
treated in neutral oranges with shadows that have admixtures of the cooler
blue. The painting, A Last Judgment, behind her is similarly rendered in
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:HJHWDGLIIHUHQWEOXHRUDQJHSDOHWWHLQWKLVthFHQWXU\SDVWHOE\5RVDOED
Carriera. The grounds a neutral, more towards the blue, but with hints of
warm. Why dont the compliments in the ground create a lot of contrast?
Because theyre similar in neutrality and in value, theyve been made to
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Whistler shifts the orange and blues farther into the neutrals. He calls this
Mother of Pearl and Silver.
Youll notice that Vermeer, Carriera, and Whistler all follow the same solid
strategy. Greater saturation and value contrast in the objects, less in the
ground.
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organizational principle. The Canaletto, that weve looked at repeatedly,
DOVRRSHUDWHVLQQHXWUDORUDQJHEOXH7KHVN\DQGWKHGRPHVRI6DLQW0DUNV
Cathedral are mostly cool. The whole bottom section and tower neutral
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into the red. Odilon Redon takes the same palette but pumps the saturation.
And lets look at our last complementary pair, red and green, here decidedly
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WRZDUGWKHUHGEXWWKHHVKLQWKHVKDGRZVJRHVWRZDUGWKHJUHHQ+HUHV
another portrait by Gilbert Stuart, the 18thFHQWXU\$PHULFDQIDPRXVIRUKLV
portraits of George Washington. Here the range is much more saturated. A
lot of it clearly announces itself as red or green. But pay attention to the
white dress. Its primarily rendered in species of green.
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kid. The upper ground shape, green, and the bottom red, both toward the
neutraland squint, both similar in value. Result? Not too much contrast.
498

Give the kid and the objects higher value contrasts and some pumped
saturation. Thats color working compositionally. And well revisit Monet
KHUHLQ9HQLFH+LVJUHHQUHGWDNHVWKHUHGVWRZDUGWKHYLROHW$QGDQRWKHU
permutation, a drawing by Turner, a pinkish ground, all very light, with our
major event, the boat and related sky, receiving the saturation and the value
contrast.
The examples weve looked at so far are all Western, but these palette ideas
are much more widespread. This is a section of a Ming Dynasty late 16th
FHQWXU\KDQGVFUROO,WHPSOR\VDUHGJUHHQFRPSOLPHQWDU\V\VWHPQHXWUDO
UHGEURZQV LQ WKH WUHH WUXQN DQG VLGH SODQHV RI WKH H[SRVHG HDUWK LQ WKH
ground, greater saturation in the seated Lohans robe.
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UHGYLROHWDQGDEOXHYLROHWLVDQH[DPSOHRUDUHGZLWKD\HOORZJUHHQDQG
D EOXHJUHHQ RU D EOXH ZLWK D \HOORZRUDQJH DQG D UHGRUDQJH<RX FRXOG
make some swatches of those palettes.
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Some of the colors obvious, but a lot of the color heres subtle, neutral. At
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skirt. Thats a neutral orange, the upper part of her garment a neutral blue.
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columns a dark neutral blue, the arches above, neutral reds.
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RIRUDQJHWKHWKLQODQGVFDSHDQHXWUDORUDQJHJUHHQWKHZDWHUEOXHJUHHQ
DQG RUDQJH 7KH VNXOOV DUH RUDQJH DQG UHG HDUWKV 7KH HVK LV PRGXODWHG
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This early 15thFHQWXU\ &KLQHVH VFUROO Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute:
The Story of Lady Wenji XVHV D VLPLODU VHW RI SDOHWWH UHVWULFWLRQV UHG
JUHHQRUDQJHEOXH7KHJURXQGVKLIWVIURPQHXWUDORUDQJHWRQHXWUDOJUHHQ
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elements get the higher saturations and greater value contrast to the ground.

499

This late 16thFHQWXU\ ,QGLDQ H[DPSOH IURP WKH FRXUW RI $NEDU WKH *UHDW
HPSOR\VDVLPLODUUHGJUHHQRUDQJHEOXHSDOHWWHDJDLQPRUHQHXWUDOLQWKH
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similar palette, but here the colors much more saturated and the greens are
extending into the yellow, giving it a somewhat acidic feel.
Modigliani dwells mostly in the hot colors goes with the subject, reds in the
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head and chest, the focal area. He uses the deep dark values in the head and
around the neck and chest to further this emphasis.
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1910 portrait of the art dealer Ambroise Vollard. Youll note that the head
is mostly warm, everything else much more neutral and cool. We could also
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system. This type of palette was used quite a bit by Picasso, Georges Braque,
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you dont get much of the warms at all. In others, the warm earths dominate.
In an earlier lecture, we saw how we could mix complements to produce
colors that were more neutral. We also learned how we could use more
neutral versions of the primaries and secondaries to get further neutrality. We
can extend on this using earth colors. Each of the warms has a sister earth
color. You can think about these as less saturated versions of the primary and
secondary colors themselves.
For yellow, we have colors like yellow ochre. For orange, those like raw
sienna. For red, those like burnt sienna. Mix your violet, blue, and green
with their complementary earth and youll get an earth variant of the true
complement. A variant on this is to mix a second earth, a darker neutral earth
with the cool and warm earth. Or with the cool alone. And you can also use
whites and grays to further neutralize these colors.
There are another set of factors we want to be aware of in considering color.
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Broad areas of unmodulated color enclosed in shape, or to put it another
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the tabletops, the mustard green, the side plane of the pool table. This is the
way many of us colored in a picture when we were kids. Draw the shape of
the apple and color it in red.
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the shapesthe sky, the water, the planes of the bridgewe see a range of
colorsgreens, blues, and violets. Here there are marks and multiple small
areas of color within the shapes, and the edges of the shapes themselves
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or surfaces are built out of mark and the sensation of color depends on
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of individual blue and green marks or smudges in an area, or orange when
theres red and yellow, the same idea as in Seurats use of colored dots.
Another way in which shapes are treated with color is through gradation.
Take a look at the upper section of the back wall in this Vermeer between
the orange curtain and the painting. First, theres a gradation from light to a
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GDUN WR D OLJKWHU ZDUP WKDWV WKH UHHFWLRQRI WKHFXUWDLQWKHQ FRROHUDQG
more neutral, getting lighter as we move toward the paintings frame. Were
likely experiencing the effects of simultaneous contrast here. The dark frame
is making the wall seem lighter. The wall is making the frame appear darker.
We feel similar gradations in the womans skin and garments and many of
the other surfaces.
This approach is most common in naturalistic work, like in Vermeer and
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form in space.
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or gradations, some artists and traditions use one approach, others combine
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GLIIHUHQW FRORU LQ WKH RRU DQG VRPHWKLQJ LQEHWZHHQ RQ WKH SRRO WDEOHV
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and the womans hair and eyes.
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cool. Thats because theyre modulated tonally. They get lighter or darker
but within a garments shape, theres no color change. The colors themselves
are repeated rhythmically across the surface. The eye tends to connect the
similar colors and moves us around the table.
Court Ladies Preparing Silk functions in a similar way. Here, too, the ground
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pinks, and greensare much more saturated than the ground. They repeat
rhythmically and move us back and forth through the painting.
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colors of individual things dont partake of the color of a light source. Nor,
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shape.
While theres much more gradation in Raphaels School of Athens, the color
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drapes carry all the saturation and the colors repeat rhythmically across
the surface. For instance, take a look at the light blue drapes and how they
choreograph your movement through the painting.
Breughel was one of the great practitioners of this use of color. Here, in
Childrens Games, the ground is mostly earth tones, pretty neutral. The
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colors move us around the surface. And Mondrian uses color in a similar
way.
502

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choice is palette selection or color limitation, because, that gives us light,
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any number of other things. Once weve made that decision the next step is
to think hierarchically and compositionally, thinking about relative contrasts,
meaning were considering relative hue, value, and saturation contextually.
And this is something you already know something about. You experience it
every day. Why are stop signs red and white? Because theres very little red
in nature, so it will have a lot of contrast to its likely color environment in
the country. And similarly, theres not a lot of saturated red in most cities so
itll get our attention. Why the white? Because its really different than red,
its very light and totally unsaturated so lots of contrast, you cant not notice
the word stop.
The same principles used in advertising all the time. This photos highly
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LQ WKH FHQWHU 7KHQ WKH VXQJODVVHV ORWV RI OLJKWGDUN FRQWUDVW GLPLQLVKLQJ
amounts of saturation and value contrast as we move to the head. And least
saturation and contrast in the ground. Its all neutral. Most people will
dependably move through the photo in that order.
Lets take a closer look at how artists use color hierarchically and in relation
to broader compositional considerations. In this Czanne, the pears are the
focus. Theyre the objects. Theyre in the center and they overlap the table,
partially obscuring it so they win out over the table. And the use of color is
making a contribution, too. The pears are yellow and green, the table orange
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greater contrast because yellow and green are analogous and theres red in
orange and green and red are complements. So whats going on? Well, for
one thing the yellow and green in the pears is more highly saturated than
the orange and green in the tabletop. Why? Because, the green has a bit of
orange in it and the orange has some green. And the green and orange are
also very similar in value. While the yellow and green of the pears has a
higher value contrast. And the value contrast of the pears to the ground is
accentuated by these thin slivers of dark green related to the pears edges. On

503

the underside of the pears, these act as cast shadow. Higher saturation and
value contrast add up to focal zone.
Lets take a look at the Vermeer in this regard. Squint at it, it helps to
suppress details. Notice that the highest contrast is one of light to dark. The
light shape is composed of the womans headscarf, head, and neck, down
to the white fur front of her jacket. The light shape is framed by the similar
darks of the painting behind her, the shadow side of her headscarf and dark
jacket. Theres not a single contrast in the painting that can top this. It makes
sense. The paintings all about her. Shes the focal point. And shes made so
through this juxtaposition. But its not just her head and upper torso. Vermeer
wants to bring attention to what shes doing, using a balance. How does he
do this? Put the hand in the center, on a diagonal, and reward it with high
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hand.
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it falls into the category of the Christian Vanitas, works that, in one way or
another, convey the message that life and its pleasures are transient, that the
more important reality is eternal life. So shes weighing things. Shes poised
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WKHPLUURUUHHFWLQJ\RXWKDQGEHDXW\DQGWKHZLQGRZVOLJKWWKDWOLWHUDOO\
illuminates her. And these are precisely the things that reveal themselves
next, again, through their relative contrast.
Youll note that all the detail in the side plane of the table and the patterned
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contrast, and everythings tied to the geometry of the format. Hes using the
color with the organization based on the armature of the rectangle. We get
stresses on both the vertical and horizontal halves and as weve noted, the
hands center stage. We even get a stress along the diagonal following her
gaze down through the scales to the dark blue drape in the lower left corner.
The David is also highly organized. The men form a rectangular, aggregate
grouping, hinged on the center and full of active diagonals. They get the
504

highest saturations and the highest value contrasts. And this is set up in
relation to the ground. The light arms and swords are framed by the dark
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Put the light thing in a dark environment and well look. Same idea as the
white stop on the red stop sign. Or in the Vermeer, the large light shape in the
womans upper torso set against the dark ground. The women in the David
form a sleepier, more horizontal, group. While the men thrust up, the women
slump down. Their saturation and value contrast follow suit. Move to the
architecture and saturation and value contrasts are reduced even more.
We could sum this up as a principle regarding color and composition. If
you want the viewer to pay more attention to the objects than the ground,
make sure the ground has less contrast of hue, value, and saturation, than
the objects. Thats what David is doing, and Breughel, and Eakins, and
Czanne, and even Mondrian. Weve seen that, with any palette, no matter
the limitations, we can create a visual hierarchy with focal areas and focal
points. Equally, within any palette, and in any range of hue, value, or
saturation demanded by the hierarchy, we can create the illusion of light,
space, and volume.
Earlier, we noted that distance affects the way we perceive color. With
distance, objects take on the color of the atmosphere. And when things are
closer to us, their colors appear to have greater value contrast and greater
saturation. As they recede, less.
A second principal goes like this. All else being equal, warm colors will tend
to advance and cools to recede. But saturation will generally trump the effect
of warm advancing and cool receding. In other words, a saturated blue bowl,
a cool, will easily advance against a neutral warmsay a neutral orange
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We see a lot of this play out in the Eakins. The warms are predominantly in
the foreground. Looking at the water, in particular, the foregrounds more
saturated and has greater value contrast. As we recede, it gets cooler and
more neutral, more like the atmosphere. Especially the way it appears at the
horizon, because, at the horizon the sky is more neutral. As we move higher
in the page and forward in space the saturation of the blue increases.
505

We see a similar application in the David, though as we recede here, we

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saturation and contrast close to the picture plane. More neutral and less value
contrast as we recede. Moving back to the columns and the space behind,
we get even less saturation and value contrast. At an abstract level, the same
thing is happening in the Mondrian. The saturated primary colors advance in
front of the neutral white ground.
In the next lecture, well talk about creating volume and put all this
knowledge into practice in some complex drawing projects.

506

Color: Color Drawing Projects

Lecture 30

e concluded the last lecture with a discussion of atmospheric

perspective and saw that we can create the illusion of spatial
depth using color. Well continue in this lecture with a discussion
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number of drawing projects that use color.
Color and Volume
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But if we make a differentiation in color, we can get dimension.
We can create volume in any palette and in any range of values. We can also
increase the contrast, lighten or darken the value range, or shift into another
hue. And we can accompany a change in value with a change in saturation,
making the color more saturated in the light and less so away from the light.
We can also modulate the hue in this progression across the planes of an
object. We could start with a warm, say an orange, on the plane closest to
the light, and move to a cool, say a blue, on the plane farthest from the light.
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use relative contrasts of hue, value, and saturation to create a visual hierarchy
of focal points. Within the given palette and hierarchy, artists create the
illusion of space, volume, and light. Thus, its reasonable to start a drawing
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If youre working from observation, use the same principles. That means
carefully considering the color and value of all the elements in a still life as
you set it up, including the wall, table, and lighting. When working from a
landscape, it means organizing the color you see and interpreting it in a way
that serves the mood of the drawing.

507

Pastels and Palettes

In these lectures on color, weve outlined different palettes, including
analogous, complementary, and so on. Working with a palette means making
a selection of pastels to use for a given drawing. The goal here is to limit the
number of colors while maintaining a range from light to dark and saturated
to neutral. This yields both cohesion and the opportunity for contrast. For
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cool blue; a warm blue; a saturated orange; an earth orange; a dark, neutral
brown; a gray; and a white. Note that this selection includes a warm and a
cool version of your cool color, a saturated and an earth version of your warm
color, a dark, and two neutrals, giving you the opportunity to mix a great range
of colors. For analogous palettes, follow the same model. For instance, for a
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cool green; a warm green; a dark, neutral brown; a gray; and a white.

Lecture 30Color: Color Drawing Projects

Its a good idea to create test sheets to play with the relationships of the
pastels you plan to use in a given palette before making a drawing. This will
give you options when you approach the drawing.
Palette Exploration: Drawing Geometric Solids
As an exercise for this lecture, well do a series of drawings to explore color
palettes; control hierarchy; and create space, volume, and light. Keep the
compositions here simple. First, divide a rectangle along a horizontal to
yield a tabletop and wall. Then, imagine a block, sphere, cylinder, cone, or
other solid lit by a single light source. Next, think about mood and palette.
Use value and color hierarchically so that the object is the focal point, and
use color within the given palette to create the illusion of volume, space, and
light. Think in four to nine steps of light as you move across the large planes
of the table and wall and the object itself.
For this exercise, use colored paper, which immediately asserts mood and
provides an underlying unifying hue for the drawing. This shared hue allows
you to create smooth transitions where you want them. Where you dont
want smooth transitions, work opaquely so that the paper is less visible. Try
a number of variations of palettes and papers.

508

Monet loved these kinds of experiments. He often repeated the same painting
or drawing over and over again but varied the light, mood, and palette. Look
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Parliament, and Rouen Cathedral<RXOOQGPXOWLSOHYHUVLRQVRIHDFKWKDW
explore color and light.
Color Projects
Once youve made some color studies of geometric objects, try creating a still
life from your imagination. The utility of working from your imagination is
that you cant copy details. You have to think abstractly about the large color
relationships. Start by making small, monochromatic, gestural sketches in pen
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to get ideas about possible palettes to apply to the still life and do a small color
study. This can consist of just smudges of color that relate to the shapes in the
composition. Line up your color studies and take a couple steps back to judge
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used to draw the geometric solids. The goals of this exercise are to:
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Select a range or palette of color and value to create a mood.

Use that palette to create a hierarchical structure that features focal

areas and focal points.

Create the illusion of volume, space, and light within the

hierarchical structure.

As you work, keep in mind these key points from earlier lectures:
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First, make sure youre thinking compositionally. Be attentive to

the format shape and its large divisions and to positive and negative
shapes. Build your objects using shapes and geometric solids.

Be aware of the eye height or horizon, which will indicate how

much of any plane you will see.

Work from the large decisions to the small, adding detail last.

509

Also make sure that your papers color relates to the color system with which
youre working. You might start with fairly neutral colors, which will allow
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resolved, add analogous or complementary colors, working up from lower to
higher saturations.
Follow this exercise with a still life drawn from observation, but take the
same care with the palette. Be prepared to drape a wall or table and be
choosy with your objects and the type and direction of light. Think about
how everything relates in terms of mood, hierarchy, space, and volume.

Lecture 30Color: Color Drawing Projects

Unnamable Color
A common problem people have when starting out with color is that they
conceive of it in terms of namable colorprimaries, secondaries, and the
like. These are all useful, but a command of all the graysand the ability to
see the grays as coloris all but essential.
Similarly, many beginners see a white bowl or a black hat and immediately
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white bowl is rarely white, and the black hat is rarely black. When we look
at something thats nominally white or black, were actually seeing a whole
range of color.
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anything appears to be is directly related to the color and strength of the
light source. Its also tied up with the way in which surfaces share color
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accumulation of multiple factors creating the instance of color. In many
cases, the differences are small. For example, a gray may be just slightly
warmer, cooler, darker, or lighter or more to the yellow and away from the
red. The more you look analytically, the more youll learn to see these small
differences in color.
A good exercise that can help you analyze unnamable color is to draw a still
life of white objects on a white table in front of a white wall. As you work,
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510

Often, students believe that theyre not getting as wide a range of color as
theyd like in a drawing. In response, they may wind up using every pigment
in their kit, resulting in a depletion of mood and hierarchy. In many cases, a
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Remember, color is relative. By changing an abutting color, you can make
an existing color feel lighter or darker, more neutral or saturated, or warmer
or cooler.
Many times, you dont need a new namable color. For example, if youre
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not projecting enough, you can modify the ground rather than adding a new
color to accentuate the central red object. Theres no rule here, but because
most people err on the side of too many random colors, its useful to look for
some less obvious solutions.
Additional Projects
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setting up your still life. Keep in mind that the environment, lighting, point
of view, costume, and palette all combine to create mood and meaning. And
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Next, take a cue from Monet and go outside. Draw at different times of day
under different weather conditions. A sunny day or a gloomy, overcast day
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thrust. After drawing several landscapes from observation, bring your
drawings inside. Use these drawings, as well as your knowledge about
composition, space, and color, to construct a second landscape from your
imagination.
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two different color and light environments in the same drawing can be an
interesting project. One classic way to approach this problem is to use an
interior with a view out a window. Less common, though no less interesting,
is to look from the outside into an indoor space.

511

Suggested Reading
Eagle, Pastel Painting Atelier.

Lecture 30Color: Color Drawing Projects

Enstice and Peters, Drawing, chapter 10, Using Color in Drawing, pp.
216229.

512

Color: Color Drawing Projects

Lecture 30Transcript
We concluded the last lecture with a discussion of atmospheric perspective
and spoke about how, using color, we can create the illusion of spatial depth.
:HOOFRQWLQXHKHUHZLWKDGLVFXVVLRQRIKRZZHPDNHREMHFWVDSSHDUWKUHH
dimensional.
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But make a differentiation in color, here in value, and well get dimension.
We can create volume in any palette and in any range of values. We could
increase the contrast, lighten the range, or darken it and we could shift into
any hue, green, yellow, or red. Or we could move more neutral, to the warm,
or neutral to the cool. Each time weve used one color and changed its value.
But we could accompany the change in value with a change in saturation,
more saturated in the light, less as we move away. We could do this in
the cool range and in the warm. And we could also modulate hue in this
progression. Here, using complements orange and blue, progressively cooler
as we move away from the light. Or we could use adjacent color, here,
yellow, green, and blue, and here accompanied by diminishing saturation.
Czanne modulates his pears from yellow through green and into a darker,
less saturated green. And the grounds less saturated with less internal value
contrast that the pears. In Biglins skin, we move from a light warm to a
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WKH&p]DQQHWKHWZRJURXQGVKDSHVKDYHPXFKOHVVFRQWUDVWWKDQWKHJXUH
The Vermeer, like the Eakins, is naturalistic. The modulation of the womans
skin is similar to Biglins, light and warm, to darker and a bit cooler, to
darker and cooler still, and the ground contains much less contrast than the
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light. Each uses relative contrasts of hue, value, and saturation to create a
visual hierarchy with focal points. And within the given palette and hierarchy
each artist creates the illusion of space, volume, and light. So a reasonable
SURFHGXUHWRIROORZLVWRDVNZKDWVWKHLQWHQGHGPRRGRUDYRU"

513

Remember the photos we looked at in the last lecture. Grass isnt always
green, nor is the sky blue. Make a determination about mood and palette
UVW/HWHYHU\WKLQJHOVHIROORZ,I\RXUHZRUNLQJIURPREVHUYDWLRQXVHWKH
same principles. That means carefully considering the color and value of all
the elements in a still life as you set up, down to the wall, table, and lighting.
When working from a landscape, it means organizing the color you see and
interpreting it in a way that serves the mood of the drawing. And there are
good reasons for leaning on reality even when you want a naturalistic result.
Artists do this all the time. It should be clear that even very representational
artists dont copy whats before them.
In our discussion of value, we noted that focusing on an object rewards
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perceive greater saturation in the object or area receiving the eyes focus.
And this is the visual principle Vermeer uses in his treatment of the womans
head in relation to the painting behind her. He paints the painting as if hes
seeing it peripherally.
Our consideration of color started with what would be termed color theory.
We spoke about color abstractly. We talked about blue and red and said that
mixing the two makes violet. But when we use pigments, like pastel, we
have many blues and reds to choose from, each a different color. And not
all blues and reds make violet. So Id suggest making tests to see how your
pigments actually behave.
Heres one way. Make swatches of your colors running in horizontal rows
across your page. Ive made four rows of 14 colors with space below the
second, third, and fourth row. Ive used a yellow, a center green, a center
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an orange earth, a red earth, a dark brown, a black, a gray, and a white.
Select one pastelIll use yellowand mix it with all the colors in all four
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as is. The second, Ill blend with a cotton swab. Then use the material on the
swab to create a new swatch in the space. In the next row, Ill add yellows
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row, Ill add a neutral gray. And once again, mix and sample to create new
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swatches. Having done this, youll likely think of variations of this test.
For instance, you could try applying a color, spraying it with workable
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pretty endless. Theres an amazing amount youll learn by putting each stick
through its paces.
In these color lectures, Ive outlined different palettes, analogous,
complementary, etc. Working with a palette means making a selection of
pastels to use for a given drawing. The goal is to limit the number of colors
while maintaining a range from light to dark and saturated to neutral. This
yields both cohesion and the opportunity for abundant contrast.
For instance, for an orange/blue complementary drawing I might select a
cool blue, a warm blue, a saturated orange, an earth orangelike a raw
siennaa dark neutral brown, a gray, and a white. For a red/green system, I
could select a cool green, a warm green, a saturated red, an earth redlike a
burnt siennaand the dark brown, gray, and white. And for a yellow/violet:
DEOXHYLROHWDUHGYLROHWDVDWXUDWHG\HOORZDQHDUWK\HOORZOLNHD\HOORZ
ochreand the brown, gray and white.
In each case, you have a warm and cool version of your cool, a saturated
and earth version of your warm, a dark, and two neutrals. This gives you the
opportunity to mix a great range of color. Some might add a light and dark
version of each color for greater value contrast.
For analogous palettes, you could follow the same model. For instance, for a
yellow/green palette I could select a saturated yellow, an earth yellowlike
a yellow ochrea cool green, a warm green, and the brown, gray, and white.
As a variant, I could leave out the cool green and the resulting drawing
would feel warmer. Its a great idea to create test sheets to play through
the relationships of the sticks youd use in a given palette before making a
drawing. This will give you options when you approach the drawing.
Now Id like you to do a series of drawings to explore color palettes, control
hierarchy, and create space, volume, and light. So you can really concentrate
on this, and its plenty, Id like you to compose very simply. Take a rectangle
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and divide it along a horizontal yielding a tabletop and wall. Then imagine a
block, sphere, cylinder, cone, or other solid lit by a single light source.
Then, think mood and palette. Employ value and color hierarchically so that
the object is the focal point. And use color within the given palette to create
the illusion of volume, space, and light. Think in four to nine steps of light as
you move across the large planes of the table and wall and the object itself.
Id suggest using colored paper. The great thing about colored paper is that it
immediately asserts color and mood. It also provides an underlying unifying
hue for the drawing. You can use this to help create smooth transitions where
you want them because you have a shared underlying color. Where you
dont, work opaquely so that the paper is less visible.
A pack of mixed sheets of colored construction paper or a pad of colored
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so Id recommend paper thats at least medium size. Common measures
are 11 14 inches, 12 16 inches, and 12 18 inches. Canson Mi Teintes
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Ill outline 10 palettes to start with and illustrate this with student examples.
A lighter warm paper with analogous color. Here, yellow. To begin a drawing
like this, it makes sense to start linearly with a light yellow. A lighter warm
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RUUHGJUHHQ$OLJKWHUFRROSDSHUZLWKDQDORJRXVFRORU+HUHEOXHWRYLROHW
WRYLROHWSLQN
For the complementary and analogous drawings use the palettes I just outlined
to help you choose your pastels. A light cool paper with complimentary color.
+HUHRUDQJHEOXH1RWHKRZWKHSDVWHOLVXVHGWUDQVSDUHQWO\LQWKHWDEOHWRS
and walls so we get optical mixing. The oranges in the wall become much
more neutral than in the saturated front plane where its applied opaquely.
A darker warm paper with analogous color. Here, red to orange and yellow.
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QHXWUDO UHG HDUWK WRQH SDSHU )RU D UHGJUHHQ FRPSOLPHQW \RX FRXOG XVH
a central red, burnt sienna, two greens, a dark brown, and white. A darker
cool paper with analogous color. Here, blue to green. A darker cool paper
with complimentary color like orange on a dark blue ground. This uses one
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orange, one blue, and white, and the blue of the paper itself. A neutral earth
paper with analogous color. A neutral earth paper with complimentary color.
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piece of cardboard.
Over time, work your way through all the primaries and secondaries in both
their analogous and complimentary palettes. Once youve covered the bases,
extend out, and make further experiments. Start with a yellow monochromatic
palette and extend it to a darker red, like a burnt sienna, a small change but
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RUDQJHEOXH DQG H[WHQG LQWR \HOORZ IRU WKH OLJKWHVW WRQHV FRPELQLQJ WKH
idea of an analogous palette with a complimentary one. Or straddling certain
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There are endless variations to be played with here. Monet loved these kinds
of experiments. He repeated the same painting or drawing over and over
again but varied the light, mood, and palette. Look up his Haystacks, the
Waterloo Bridge, and the Houses of Parliament. There are multiple versions
of each that explore color and light.
And, of course, theres the Rouen Cathedral +HUH SUHWW\ PXFK D VSOLW
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DQGVKDG\KHUHLQIXOOVXQVKLQHZLWKDPRUHRUOHVVRUDQJHEOXHFRPSOHPHQW
We can take any palettemonochrome, analogous, complementary, or earth
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potential palettes is nearly inexhaustible.
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imagination. Start by making small monochromatic gestural sketches in pen
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studies to get ideas about possible palettes to apply to the still life.

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Then do a small color study. It neednt be highly articulated or detailed. It

can consist of smudges of color that relate to the shapes in the composition
shouldnt take more than a couple of minutesand you might want to try
a couple variations. Then line up your color and take a couple steps back.
Youre trying to judge the overall color and mood. Choose the one that you
think works best.
Depending on the complexity of the drawing, you may want to get larger,
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inch Canson Mi Teintes. To make the drawing use the same principles you
used to draw the geometric solids. Here are some student examples: one, in
an analogous palette, another, complimentary. Youll note how the darkness
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The utility of working from your imagination is that you cant copy details.
You have to think abstractly about the large color relationships. The goal
is to: Select a range or palette of color and value to create a mood; use that
palette to create a hierarchical structure that creates focal areas and focal
points; and within the hierarchical structure, create the illusion of volume,
space, and light.
There are a number of key points from earlier lectures that you want to
be sure to consider. First, make sure youre thinking compositionally. Be
attentive to: the format shape and its large divisions; those positive and
negative shapes; build your objects using shapes and geometric solids; be
aware of the eye height and the horizonthis will indicate how much of any
plane youll be able to see; work from the large decisions to the small, detail
come to last.
Make sure your papers color relates to the color system youre working
with. This is an excellent example. The neutral tone works as a base for
the overall color mood of the drawing. Its useful to start fairly neutral and
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these issues have been attended to, add analogous or complimentary colors,
working up from lower to higher saturations.

518

Follow this with a still life drawn from observation but take the same care
with palette. Be prepared to drape a wall or table and be choosy with your
objects, and type, and direction of light. Think how everything relates in
terms of mood, hierarchy, space, and volume. If you dont have enough
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of objects that can complete different color palettes.
Then try an interior. This is a pastel by Norman Lundin, very much in
the neutral range, naturalistic, and at the same time, abstract: four large
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sandwich the light warmer walls in between. The highlighted edge of the
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The Lundin is, in one sense, typical of many naturalistic works in that it
depends on very neutral color. It looks nothing like the primaries and
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the Lundin at the very inner and outer rings of a more complex wheel that
gets into the tints and shades of a given hue. But even here, the color is more
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colors of things we routinely see have no common name.
We could say that, in the beginning, there was yellow, red, and blue, and they
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RUDQJHRUDQJHUHGUHGYLROHWHWF%XWWKHFRORUVZHUHWDONLQJDERXWQRZ
these very neutral colors, though theyre related to these early progenitors,
they occur many generations later.
Van Gogh, quite aware of this fact, wrote in an 1885 letter:
+RZW\SLFDOWKDWVD\LQJLVDERXWWKHJXUHVRI0LOOHW6RQSD\VDQ
semble peint avec la terre quil ensemence! His peasant looks like
he was painted with the earth hes sowing. How exact and how
true. And how important it is to know how to mix on the palette
those colors which have no name, and yet are the real foundation
of everything.

519

A common problem people have when starting out with color is that they
conceive of it in terms of namable color, primaries, secondaries, and the like.
Theyre all useful, but a command of all the grays, and seeing the grays as
color, are all but essential.
Similarly, many beginners see a white bowl or a black hat and immediately
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drawing. But the white bowls rarely white and the black hats rarely black.
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a whole range of color. The walls in this photo are all painted the same color,
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and saturations. The primary light sources out of the frame. Its a window,
below, on the left wall. So that wall is darker, partly silhouetted. The ceiling
and right wall receive light directly from the window and are predictably
lighter.
But the walls are affecting one another. Can you see how the dark of the
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light from the window reaches both surfaces. As we move farther to the
right, the strength of the windows light diminishes and the two surfaces get
progressively darker. We also see the effects of simultaneous contrast on the
left wall, looks darker against the two light walls than in its interior. And the
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and right wall.
As to color, its all very neutral. Here are six swatches sampled from the
walls. The left column is from the left wall, the center column from the
ceiling, the right column from the right wall. The top row samples are taken
from the central corner where the three walls meet, the bottom row, from
the lightest part of each surfaces interior. The left columns darker than the
center and right. Thats expected. The left walls in partial silhouette. And
the top rows darker than the bottom. Thats expected, too. That represents
the corner versus the lightest part of each wall. So those are the value
relationships. But can you see these as colors? As related to huesto reds,
oranges, blues, and violets? Thats the goal. As Van Gogh says, Theyre the
real foundation of everything.
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:HOOORRNDWWKHERWWRPURZ UVW7KHFHLOLQJDQGULJKWZDOODUHQRWRQO\
lighter but much cooler than the left wall. Their hues are neutrals more
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toward the orange. Why? Well, the ceiling and right wall receive daylight
from the window, and daylight, if theres no direct sun, is cool in color. And
the lightest part of the left wall is warmer than the lightest part of the ceiling
or right wall but it looks cool compared to the left walls corner. So all this
is relative.
Lets look at the top row, overall, warmer than the bottom row. Why are the
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of the left wall. And why are they still cooler than the left wall? Theyre
still getting more daylight than the left. Color is mixing on the surfaces. The
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-XVWDVZLWKYDOXHOLJKWLVWKHUHDVRQZHVHHDQ\FRORUDWDOO7KHFRORUWKDW
anything, or any part of a thing appears to be, is directly related to the color
and strength of the light source and its also tied up with the way in which
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were often seeing the accumulation of multiple factors creating the instance
of color.
Often the distances are small. The gray is just slightly warmer, or cooler, or
darker, or lighter, or more to the yellow, away from the red. Youve already
seen how we can use our compliments, earth tones, and neutrals to create
these chromatic grays. And the more you look analytically, the more youll
learn to see small differences in walls and ceilings and in art, too.
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the tall tower consist of taking a neutral a bit this way, then that. Same in
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subtle changes of value and chroma in the architecture create a compelling
underlying drama if you know what to look for in the light tones, and in the
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Theres a good exercise that can help you analyze unnamable color. The
project involves drawing a still life of white objects on a white table in front
521

RI D ZKLWH ZDOO$ YDULDQW LV WR GUDZ D ZKLWH WRLOHW RQ D ZKLWH WLOH RRU LQ
IURQWRIDZKLWHZDOO,QERWKFDVHV\RXOOQGWKDWDOPRVWQRWKLQJVZKLWH
just like the white walls we looked at earlier theres a lot of color, color
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several different palettes. If you do this with an incandescent light source, an
orange/blue complementary system and related neutrals can be a good place
to start.
Another common problem students experience is to feel that theyre not
getting as wide a range of color as theyd like in a drawing. So they wind
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more color within the palettes restrictions. Remember, colors relative. By
changing an abutting color, you can make an existing color feel lighter or
darker, or more neutral or more saturated, or warmer or coolerhere greener
or bluer. And its often not a new namable color we need.
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red is not projecting enough. So you want to add a new stick. Maybe some
violet or yellow to accentuate the central red object. But keep Van Goghs
words in mind. How important it is to know how to mix those colors which
have no name. So instead, you modify the ground. You pull it into a slightly
greener neutral and the red projects in a much more dominant way. Theres
no rule here but since most people err on the side of too many random
colors, this may help you discover some less obvious solutions and avoid
some common pitfalls.
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you used in setting up your still life to bear here. Theres a passage in E. L.
Doctorows novel, City of God. He writes:
After the set is lit, the camera is positioned, the actors have taken
their place, costumed, their hair dressed to indicate economic class,
education, age, social status, virtue or the lack of it, 95 percent of
the meaning of a scene is established before anyone says a word.

522

Its actually very good advice to anyone using a model. The environment,
the lighting, point of view, costume, and, of course, palette all combine to
create mood and meaning.
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,QWKH9HUPHHUQRWHKRZWKHFRORURIWKHMDFNHWUHHFWVXSLQWRWKHVKDGRZ
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Here we have an analogous orange, yellow, green on a neutral pink ground.
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applied transparently and mixes optically with the neutral pink paper to
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Then take a cue from Monet and go outside. Draw at different times of day
under different weather conditions. A sunny day or a gloomy overcast day,
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thrust. After drawing several landscapes from observation, bring your
drawings inside. Use these drawings, as well as your knowledge about
composition, space, and color to construct a second landscape from your
imagination.
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color and light environments in the same drawing can be an interesting
project. One classic way to approach this problem is to use an interior with a
view out a window. Less common, though no less interesting is to look from
the outside, in.
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still, or other source that piques your interest. You can eyeball the color and
make some swatches with your pastels. You could also use digital sampling
to distil a palette.
Congratulations. This lecture concludes our study of the major formal
elements of drawing. A good deal of the art in drawing has to do with how
523

you balance all these pieces. Central to doing this well is having a sense
about what youre trying to bring out. Like a composer orchestrating a piece
of music or a director editing a movie scene.
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moves through it. In this sense, all drawings are abstract. And its through
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Degas, a quick scribble done on a sleepy night in a brothel. While quick
and gestural, every mark and smudge is made in reference to the geometry
of the format shape. The woman and the man ride one diagonal. As a
counterbalance, the table straddles a diagonal the format central horizontal
quarters creating two mirrored wedge shapes: top and bottom.
Though theres not a lot of shading, we get an impressive sensation of
depth. There are three depths of space. The woman, table, and bottle occupy
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background is signaled by the diagonal line behind the man. That indicates
a visual event, perhaps furniture, or molding, seen peripherally on a wall,
behind him. The use of diminishing value, line weights, and level of detail
all work to create the illusion of a depth of space.
We also experience volume, primarily through cross contour. Many of the
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are really creating volume. Note the strap over the womans shoulder, and
the many marks tracing over her back, and the internal line on the mans
shoulder. This line gives us two planes, top of shoulder and front of chest.
The highest value contrast is associated with the womans head: focal point.
Her bodys next. Thats the greater focal area.
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divided at the horizontal half, with stresses at the horizontal quarters.
There are stresses at the vertical half and quarters, too. We get space and
atmosphere through a deft manipulation of line, mark, and value. The closer
marks are more pronounced, tightly spaced, and darker. As we recede in
space, value and detail are subsumed by the atmosphere.

524

Last, the Eakins watercolor. Every piece is tied to the geometry of the format,
to the horizontal half, vertical half, horizontal quarter, and the diagonals. The
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subject in relationship to the ground. All the strong directions, the important
diagonals, are similarly reserved for Biglin. Hes the solid, weighty thing,
against all the water and atmosphere. His head and torso are the focal point,
with the scull the focal area.
As you work through the projects using color, ask yourself what youre
trying to bring out and keep all these elements of formal language in mind.
Theyll help you get there.

525

The Figure: A Canon of Proportions

Lecture 31

Lecture 31The Figure: A Canon of Proportions

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using a set of principles. A great deal of drawing involves proportion
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termed a canon of proportions. Then, well apply volumetric solids to make
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major muscles in the body to see how we can use anatomical landmarks
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believable spatial environment by relating what weve studied about the
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Human Proportions
Students routinely ask what the correct proportions are for drawing a
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no right answer to this question. Indeed, in his book Master Class in
Figure Drawing, the teacher and artist Robert Beverly Hale wrote, The
forms of the body have no exact shape and never have had except in the
mind of the individual artist. They have always varied according to the
knowledge, the style, and the time of the artist. They have always been
created by the artist to conform to his ultimate purpose. Drawing is not
a mere act of copying, but a highly creative act controlled by the artists
expressive intent.
If we think of almost any artist, we can see that each interprets or reinvents
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As Leonardo put it, We, by our arts, may be called the grandsons of God.
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To some extent, the human proportions we see in art are related to the wide
range of proportions we see in nature. Think, for a moment, about runway
526

models, sumo wrestlers, ballerinas, NBA players, and jockeys; these

categories evince widely different sets of proportions. Although you may
notice fewer extremes, the same is true of any random group of people you
see at the supermarket or on the subway.
In the early 1500s, Drer became very interested in human proportions.
He wrote, I know of no one who has written about a system of human
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He showed me how to construct a man and a woman based on measurements.
I was greatly fascinated by his skill and decided to master it. And master it
he did. Drer made hundreds of drawings of variations on human proportion
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work culminated in a lengthy study of the subject, published in 1528 and
titled Four Books on Human Proportion. Like his other book on drawing,
this work is all about measure.
Returning to the question about correct proportions, there is no one
answernot in art and not in the world in which we live. There are endless
combinations. But following in Drers footsteps, we can start with one set
of proportions, then play with variations.
Constructing Human Figures
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WKH SURFHGXUHV LQWURGXFHG LQ RQH RI WKH UVW OHFWXUHV :H IRXQG WKDW ZH
FRXOGGUDZFRPSOH[VWLOOOLIHREMHFWVPRUHHDVLO\E\EUHDNLQJWKHPGRZQ
into simple constituent shapesrectangles, trapezoids, hemispheres, and
VRRQ:HOOIROORZWKDWVDPHLGHDDVDUVWSURMHFWLQGUDZLQJWKHKXPDQ
JXUH
For this project, well adopt the method Drer used in his 1528 book, drawing
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view; and a rear, or posterior, view. After completing this drawing, youll
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DQ\RIWKHSLHFHV\RXZDQWDQGZLWKSUDFWLFH\RXOOEHDEOHWRFUHDWHJXUHV
with the kinds of proportions you want to draw.

527

Lecture 31The Figure: A Canon of Proportions

The general steps for this exercise are as follows:

z

Because humans are basically bilaterally symmetrical, draw a

vertical centerline.

Establish height proportions. Divide the centerline into segments

with horizontal lines to mark locations for anatomical events, such
as the top of the shoulders, bottom of the chest, and so on.

Establish width measurements, that is, distances to the right and left
IURPWKHFHQWHUOLQHWKDWGHQHWKHZLGWKRIWKHVKRXOGHUVWKHZLGWK
at the top of the pelvis, and so on.

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LQWURGXFHFRQWUDSSRVWRWRPDNHWKHJXUHIHHOPRUHQDWXUDO

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of measure.
Variations in Male and Female Proportions
There are clear differences between the male and female body. Of course,
the obvious ones are breasts and sexual organs, but there are also differences
of measure that affect overall shape. Chief among these is the shape of the
SHOYLV7KHPDOHSHOYLVKDVDJUHDWHUKHLJKWWRZLGWKUDWLR,QWKHIHPDOHWKH
ratio is greater width to height. In addition, the opening in the male pelvis
is more constricted, and the male pubic arch is more angular and acute. The
females is more curved and obtuse.
From the Renaissance to contemporary superhero comics, artists and
illustrators have also adopted certain conventions for male and female
JXUHV&RPPRQDPRQJWKHPDUHWKHIROORZLQJ
528

The male is drawn taller, and the female is shorter.

Overall, the female is drawn more curved, and the male, more
angular.

The males shoulder width is greater than that of the female

The females hips are wider.

When we look at the relationship between shoulders and hips, the

male has wide shoulders to narrower hips. The womans shoulders
and hips are more equal in measure.

The females torso and limbs are made slimmer in ratio to their
height.

-DQND'KDUPDVHQDL6WRFN7KLQNVWRFN

We see some of these same differences in the images below by Leonardo and
Botticelli.

529

 Dover Electronic Clip Art Series.

Lecture 31The Figure: A Canon of Proportions

Contrapposto
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with everything lining up horizontally and vertically. But we dont generally
stand like that. Instead, we tend to put more weight on one foot. This position
is called contrapposto. The shoulders, hips, and knees line up on a diagonal.
:LWK D VWDQGLQJ JXUH WKH KLS WDNLQJ WKH ZHLJKW JRHV XS ZKLOH WKH RWKHU
hip is low. The bottom of the pelvis and the knees follow suit. The shoulders
move opposite to the hips and thighs.
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angles of the shapes change rather than the shapes themselves. The whole
assemblage rotates together.
In this lecture, weve seen how we can use a canon of proportions to draw
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FDQLQXHQFHWKHIHHORIWKHJXUH:HOOFRQWLQXHWKLVGUDZLQJLQWKHQH[W
lecture, adding two more views, posterior and lateral, and well learn how to
PDNHWKHJXUHIHHOPRUHWKUHHGLPHQVLRQDO

530

Suggested Reading
Drer, Four Books on Human Proportions.
Drer and Strauss, The Human Figure by Albrecht Drer.
Loomis, Figure Drawing for All Its Worth, Ideal Proportion, pp. 2629.
Reed, The Figure, pp. 919.
Winslow, Classic Human Anatomy, The Proportions of the Whole Figure,
pp. 249261.

531

The Figure: A Canon of Proportions

Lecture 31Transcript
7KH QH[W IRXU OHFWXUHV IRFXV RQ WKH JXUH :HOO VWDUW ZLWK FRQVWUXFWLYH
JXUHGUDZLQJ$VWKHQDPHLPSOLHVLWLQYROYHVEXLOGLQJWKHJXUHXVLQJD
set of principles. A lot of drawing involves proportion and measure, and that
DSSOLHVKHUHWRR:HZDQWWRFRQWUROWKHJXUHVSURSRUWLRQVVRZHOOVWDUW
ZLWKOLQHDUSURSRUWLRQVIRUWKHJXUHZKDWVWHUPHGDFDQRQRISURSRUWLRQV
7KHQ ZHOO DSSO\ YROXPHWULF VROLGV WR PDNH WKH JXUH YROXPHWULF 1H[W
well look at both the skeletal system and the major muscles in the body and
see how we can use anatomical landmarks based on this knowledge. Then
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UHODWLQJZKDWZHYHVWXGLHGWROLQHDUSHUVSHFWLYH,QWKHQDOOHFWXUHLQWKLV
VHFWLRQ ZHOO GLVFXVV D QXPEHU RI GUDZLQJ SURMHFWV LQYROYLQJ WKH JXUH
both from the imagination and from observation.
Students routinely ask me what the correct proportions are for drawing a
JXUH%RWKWKHKLVWRULFDOUHFRUGDQGQDWXUHZRXOGLQGLFDWHWKHUHVQRULJKW
answer to that question. Weve been drawing people for a very long time. In
summer 2001, ARTnews Magazine ran an article on the oldest drawing of a
person that had yet been discovered. It dated back about 32,000 years and
was found in the Chauvet Cave in the south of France.
It was drawn in charcoal on the caves rock surface. The article describes
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Clottes, a leading French scholar involved with Chauvet described it as an
exceptional image of the lower body of a woman associated with a bison
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UHIHUUHG WR DV 9HQXV JXULQHV 7KHVH KDYH EHHQ IRXQG DFURVV (XURSH DQG
date from about 40,000 years ago to as recently as about 12,000 years ago.
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mens rooms at the university where I teach. A lot of the work surrounding
the nude has, unsurprisingly, has had to do with sex, from Chauvet to Picasso
WRVSLQXSDUWDQGDQLPH7KHSRLQWLVDUWLVWVIURPWKHYHU\EHJLQQLQJ
532

have drawn the body with an expressive idea, or aesthetic, in mind. And that
has, to a large degree, determined the kinds of proportions used.
$VDWHHQDJHU,KDGWKHJRRGIRUWXQHWRVWXG\JXUHGUDZLQJZLWKWKHDUWLVWLF
anatomy with Robert Beverly Hale at the Art Students League in New York.
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Painting and Sculpture at the Metropolitan Museum. In the book Master
Class in Figure Drawing, which was based on his teaching, he wrote:
The forms of the body have no exact shape and never have had
except in the mind of the individual artist. They have always varied
according to the knowledge, the style, and the time of the artist.
They have always been created by the artist to conform to his
ultimate purpose. Drawing is not a mere act of copying, but a
highly creative act controlled by the artists expressive intent.
It echoes the sentiment expressed by Leonardo, that tracing nature, while
XVHIXOGRHVQWIXOOOLQKLVZRUGVWKHQDODLPRIWKLVVFLHQFH+HJRHVRQ
to tell us whats important for artists, is being able to reason about nature
with their minds. That echoes Hales concept of ultimate purpose. Of course,
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9HQXVJXULQHVDUHYHU\VSHFLF
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assertion about the forms of the body having no exact shape. Botticelli favors
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painted his Birth of Venus, quite another, Eves been pumping iron. There are
few women Ive seen in my many decades at the gym who could match her
pecs, lats, and triceps.
And if you think of Rubens, El Greco, Ingres, Modigliani, Soutine, Freud,
well, each interprets or reinvents proportions, of both their female and male
JXUHVWRVXLWWKHLURZQSXUSRVH$V/HRQDUGRSXWLW:HE\RXUDUWVPD\
EHFDOOHGWKHJUDQGVRQVRI*RG,QWKLVHOG\RXJHWWRPDNHDQ\NLQGRI
JXUH\RXZDQW

533

And cartoonists do the same. From Superheroes to the Simpsons to Anime,

each world relies on its own set of proportions. And thats related to the wide
range of human proportions we see in nature. To point to some extremes,
runway models, sumo wrestlers, ballerinas, NBA players, and jockeys each
evince widely different sets of proportions. While less extreme, its also true
of any random group of people you see at the supermarket or on the subway.
In the early 1500s, Drer became very interested in human proportions.
He wrote, I know of no one who has written about a system of human
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,WDOLDQ-DFRSRGH%DUEDUL'UHUZHQWRQ+HVKRZHGPHKRZWRFRQVWUXFW
a man and a woman based on measurements. I was greatly fascinated by
his skill and decided to master it. And master it he did. He made hundreds
of drawings playing through myriad variations on human proportion while
H[SHULPHQWLQJZLWKGLIIHUHQWPHWKRGVRIJXUHFRQVWUXFWLRQ
This culminated in a lengthy volume on the subject. Published in 1528, it was
titled, Four Books on Human Proportion. Like his other book on drawing,
its all about measure. He investigated dozens of different body types, from
male, very thin; to female, as he titled her stout; to small children and just
about everything else in between. So coming back to the question about
correct proportions, theres no one answernot in art, not in the world in
which we live in. There are endless combinations. But following in Drers
footsteps, we can start with one set and then play variations.
Before we get into the drawing itself, I want to return to some of the
SURFHGXUHV LQWURGXFHG LQ RQH RI WKH YHU\ UVW OHFWXUHV :H IRXQG WKDW ZH
could draw complex still life objects more easily by breaking them down to
simple constituent shapesrectangles, trapezoids, hemispheres, etc.each
shape drawn with a single contour. Worked well for still life objects and it
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So grab a pen or pencil and some paper and draw along with me here. We
can conceive of the body as consisting of 10 primary parts or shapes. With
repetitions for the arms, legs, hands, and feet, 16 shapes in all. Lets start with
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torso. Our second, a smaller, inverted trapezoid for the pelvis and lower
534

torso, about half the size of the upper torso. Then the lower appendages; the
legs and feet. Our third shape, a longer thinner trapezoid, one for each thigh.
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for the feet. Number six, a subtle trapezoid for the neck. Number seven, a
trapezoid for the head. Now, the upper appendages of the arms. Number
eight, another thin trapezoid for the upper arm. Number nine, another for the
lower arm. And number 10, a small trapezoid for the palm of the hand. We
FRXOGDGGWZRPRUHOLQHVIRUWKHVKRXOGHUVDQGRWKHUVIRUWKHQJHUV6RPH
people prefer to use ovoids instead of trapezoids, but same idea. In any case,
VLPSOHVKDSHV\RXJHWDJXUH
Each shape represents a body part that moves independently. You can move
your upper torso without moving your hips. And you can move your lower
arm without moving your upper arm. Internally, though, within each of these
shapes, with the exception of the head, hands, and feet, theres not a lot of
PRYHPHQWEHFDXVHWKHVHVKDSHVFRUUHODWHZLWKLQH[LEOHERQH7KHIRUHDUP
pelvis, or thigh cant fold or bend, at least, not unless the bones broken.
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ERRN:HOOGUDZWKUHHYLHZVRIWKHVDPHJXUH,QWKHFHQWHURIWKHSDJH
a front, or anterior, view, to one side, a side, or lateral, view, and to the
other, a rear, or posterior, view. After completing this drawing, youll have
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RI WKH SLHFHV \RX ZDQW DQG ZLWK SUDFWLFH FUHDWH JXUHV ZLWK WKH NLQGV RI
proportions you want to draw.
In the still life example, we used a vertical centerline. It made sense because
many of our objects were bilaterally symmetrical. Drer does the same for
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enough so that using a centerline helps. And I should mention, were going
back to line, nowno value, no shading, no mark making, and no color, just
OLNH'UHU7KDWVEHFDXVHZHZDQWWRGHQHSURSRUWLRQV8VLQJYDOXHPDUN
making, or color will at least for now just complicate things.
Let me take you through the steps. First, well establish height proportions.
Youll notice that Drer has horizontal lines dividing his vertical centerline
into segments. These vertical measures mark locations for anatomical events,
535

top of the shoulders, bottom of the chest, that kind of thing. The second step
is to establish width measurements. These are the distances right and left
IURPWKHFHQWHUOLQH7KH\OOGHQHWKHZLGWKRIWKHVKRXOGHUVRUWKHZLGWK
at the top of the pelvis. Once we have these measures plotted, well draw
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female variations and introduce contrapposto. And youll be able to make
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EHHQ XVLQJ FRQWRXU 6WHS IRXU LV WR PDNH \RXU JXUH EHJLQ WR IHHO ' E\
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RI WKH GUDZLQJ VWHS YH ZLOO EH WR LQWHJUDWH WKH FURVV FRQWRXUV ZLWK WKH
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from the top of the page, the second two inches from the bottom. These are
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mechanical pencil with a similar lead would work well.
1H[WWKUHHYHUWLFDOFHQWHUOLQHVRQHIRUHDFKYLHZRIWKHJXUH7KHUVW
IRUWKHDQWHULRURUIURQWYLHZZLOOJRLQWKHFHQWHUDWWKHLQFKPDUN7KHQ
six inches to the right, well put another for the lateral view. And six inches
to the left, a third, for the posterior view. Now were ready to create our
measures along the vertical axis.
Youll remember that in one of the lectures on proportion we introduced the
idea of a standard unit of measure, something in the drawing that we use
WRPHDVXUHHYHU\WKLQJHOVH,WVYHU\FRPPRQLQJXUHGUDZLQJWRXVHWKH
head as the standard unit of measure. In fact, Drer titles or annotates his
JXUH VWXGLHV ZLWK MXVW VXFK GHVFULSWLRQV /LNH WKLV GUDZLQJ WLWOHG Strong,
handsome man of eight headlengths/LNH'UHUZHOOFRQVWUXFWDJXUHRI
HLJKWKHDGOHQJWKV7KLVPHDQVWKHOHQJWKRIWKLVJXUHVERG\ZLOOEHHTXDO
WRHLJKWRIKHDGVVWDFNHGXS
:HOOVWDUWZLWKWKHIURQWYLHZ7U\WKLVE\H\HUVW'LYLGHWKHOLQHLQWZR
with a light thin horizontal line, oh, about four inches wide. Next, divide the
536

upper half in two, then the lower half. Eyeball it then make any corrections
necessary. Once again, divide each section in two. You should have eight
equal divisions. Take some time to adjust, as needed. Its very good eye
training. When youre done check with a ruler. Each unit should be an inch
DQGWKUHHTXDUWHUV7KHQQXPEHU\RXUKHDGKHLJKWV7KHERWWRPRIWKHUVWLV
one, the bottom of the second two, and so on.
Lets take another look at the Drer to see what occurs at each head height.
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WR WKH QLSSOHV 7KH WKLUGV WKH QDYHO DQG ZDLVW 7KH IRXUWKV WKH JXUHV
vertical center, just about the crotch and bottom of the pelvis. More or less
clear landmarks for the upper part of the body, the next three are a little less
WLG\1XPEHUYHLVDERXWPLGWKLJK1XPEHUVL[IDOOVEHORZWKHNQHHDWWKH
top of the calf. Seven leaves us just below the calf muscle. And the chin of
head number eight falls in line with the soles of the feet meeting the ground
plane.
So lets map something similar on our armature. At the bottom of head one,
well note chin; at two, nipples; at three, navel; at four, center, bottom of
SHOYLVDQGFURWFKDWYHPLGWKLJKDWVL[ERWWRPRINQHHDQGWRSRIFDOI
at seven, below calf; and at eight, soles of feet.
:HYHJRWDJRRGVWDUWPDSSLQJSURSRUWLRQV%XWWRORFDWHRXUERG\SDUW
shapes, a couple other measures will be useful. Lets create a location for the
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of the rib cage, a similar measure above the navel. Then, the top of the pelvis
just below the navel. Then, the center of the knees. About a quarter head
DERYHKHDGVL[$QGWKHDQNOHVEHWZHHQRQHWKLUGDQGRQHKDOIKHDGDERYH
the soles of the feet.
Now, we need some widths. Well start with the width of the head itself.
/HWVPDNHWKDWWKUHHTXDUWHURIDKHDGOHQJWK0DNHWZRYHUWLFDOOLQHVRQ
either side of the centerline to mark the distance. For a width at the shoulders,
LPDJLQHWZRKHDGKHLJKWVLSSHGKRUL]RQWDORQHKHDGLQHDFKGLUHFWLRQRXW
from the center, from the sternum. Well add widths at the bottom of the
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height turned horizontal in either direction from the centerline, the second
537

just a bit wider. The base of the pelvis will be wider, but not as wide as the
shoulders, something less than a full head height in either direction.
:HUHUHDG\WREHJLQWREORFNLQWKHJXUH:HOOVWDUWZLWKWKHODUJHVWVKDSH
encompassing the shoulders and rib cage. Draw a trapezoid. Next, the lower
torso, another trapezoid, and we can add a line on either side of the torso
to connect the upper with the lower part. Then the thighs, trapezoids to the
knee. Now two more, offset just a bit for the lower legs. And another two
for the feet. Then another trapezoid for the head. Lets take a look at the
neck. Here, an anatomical model will be helpful. When were looking at the
QHFNVWUDLJKWRQLWFDQEHGHFHSWLYH,I\RXZHUHWRRXWOLQHWKHJXUHLQWKLV
position, the neck would appear to be rather short, about a quarter of a head
height.
But if we look from the side, we see the true extent of the neck. Its like a
cylinder that meets the back of the skull in the rear and terminates at the
clavicle in the front. Feel those two points on your own neck. Touch one with
one hand, the other with the other. Youll get a sense of the distance. Take the
QJHUWKDWVWRXFKLQJWKHSRLQWRILQWHUVHFWLRQZLWKWKHEDFNRIWKHVNXOODQG
pull it around your head, past your ear, to the front plane of your face. The
top of the back of the neck is at about the same height as the cheekbone and
about the center of the nose. Also of note, the top of the neck in the front is
lower than in the back, same with the bottom of the neck so the full extent of
the neck can be a half a head or so.
Coming back to our drawing, well draw the shape of the neck as a subtle
WUDSH]RLGDVLIZHFRXOGVHHWKURXJKWKHKHDG6WDUWLQJQHDUWKHKDOIPHDVXUH
of the head and extending to a bit above the shoulder line. We can conceive
of the cylinder of the neck as inserted between one of the major muscles of
the back, the trapezius, and a mass of bone in the front, the clavicles, and
sternum. Again, put one hand around your neck, and with the other touch the
top of the trapezius. Its actually a very large muscle and extends from the
QHFNDOOWKHZD\GRZQWRWKHPLGEDFN
To see the clavicles and sternum, lets take a look at a skeleton. And to get
a feel for whats going on here, run your hand over your clavicle starting at
\RXUOHIWVKRXOGHU<RXOOQRWLFHUVWWKDWLWGRHVQWJRDOOWKHZD\WRWKHIDU
538

OHIWHQGRI\RXUVKRXOGHUDQGDUP7KLVERQHKDVDELWRIDVXEWOHVFXUYHWR
it as we follow it toward the breastbone or sternum. Thats where it ends.
$QGRQWKHRWKHUVLGHRIWKHVWHUQXPZHJHWDVHFRQGPLUURULPDJHFODYLFOH
going out to the right. Traces of the clavicles are often visible on the surface
of the body. So well put these in our drawing but before we do lets erase
the section of the neck thats overlapped by the head as well as the bottom
horizontal. It will make the section read better.
Now for the clavicles, draw a line from the center, a bit below the top of the
WUDSH]RLGDQGH[WHQGLQJXSDWDGLDJRQDODERXWWKUHHTXDUWHUVRIWKHGLVWDQFH
to the trapezoids corner. Do this on both sides. Then from a point along
the right side of the neck, a bit below the level of the chin, draw a diagonal
down toward the clavicle but dont let the two lines meet. Then do the same
thing on the left. Basically, were setting up a recession of space here using
overlap. The clavicles sit in front of the neck. The neck inserts in front of the
trapezius and the neck is then overlapped by the chin and jaw.
Lets add two more lines at the termination of the trapezius on either
side, curved line segments to represent the deltoid or lateral extension of
the shoulder, and a diagonal line on either side to represent the deltoid
overlapping the pectoral muscle of the chest. Then erase the parts of the
upper trapezoid you no longer need.
/HWVKROGRIIRQWKHDUPV,QVWHDGZHOOORRNDWFRQQHFWLQJWKHOHJVWRWKH
pelvis. Here, once again, consulting the skeleton will prove useful. The shape
of the pelvis including the ball joint of the femur, the large bone of the upper
leg, is like a trapezoid with the long edge at the base. But the pelvis itself is
trapezoidal with the long edge at the top.
To make a better connection here in our drawing, itll help to imitate this
VWUXFWXUH6RLIZHPRGLI\WKHPLQLVNLUWVKDSHZHKDYHLQWRDELNLQLERWWRP
shape well begin to see the true length of the legs and erase the unneeded
horizontal at the fourth head.
7KLVLVDJRRGWLPHWRUHYLHZKRZPHDVXUHVVWDFNLQJXSLQRXUJXUH7KH
JXUHVHLJKWKHDGVWDOO7KHZLGWKRIWKHKHDGLVDERXWWKUHHTXDUWHUVRILWV
height. The upper torsos about two heads in height. And at the widest point,
539

the shoulders are about two head heights turned horizontally or a bit less
than three heads in their upright position. At the bottom of the ribcage, at the
abdomen, and at the top of the pelvis, the width is less than the shoulders.
Less than two heads. The lower torsos about one head tall. And the width at
the base is about two wide. The thigh, measured from the hip to the bottom
of the knee, is about three heads. The lower legs a bit less than two heads
in length. And from the ankle to the bottom of the foots about half a head.
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DELWGLIIHUHQW2YHUDOOWKHJXUHZHYHFRQVWUXFWHGLVEURDGHULQWKHFKHVW
and shoulders. The takeaway is that by adjusting widths to heights we can
JHWGLIIHUHQWNLQGVRIJXUHV(DUOLHU,GPHQWLRQHGWKDW'UHUNQHZRIRQO\
RQH SHUVRQ -DFRSR GH %DUEDUL ZKR ZDV ZRUNLQJ RQ D V\VWHP RI KXPDQ
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da Vinci, who from about 14901516 was making scores of highly detailed
notebook entries on the subject. His Vitruvian Man is perhaps the most
IDPRXVH[DPSOH7KHJXUHVDVLPLODUQXPEHURIKHDGVVHYHQDQGDKDOIWR
Drers eight. Yet, he feels a bit taller because hes slimmer in the waist and
hips. Botticellis Primavera is also eight heads. Yet her proportions feel very
different than either the Drer or the Leonardo. Less width to height and, of
course, shes female. And in that regard, its worth taking a look at the kinds
of proportionate differences artists have routinely used to differentiate male
and female.
7KLV LV D GUDZLQJ E\ -HDQ$XJXVWH'RPLQLTXH ,QJUHV WKH JUHDW )UHQFK
1HR&ODVVLFLVW +H ZDV ORRNLQJ EDFN WR WKH DUWLVWV RI WKH 5HQDLVVDQFH OLNH
Raphael, who in turn were looking back to the artists of Ancient Greece. And
theres continuity in that long lineage in the way they were conceiving of the
SURSRUWLRQVRIWKHKXPDQJXUHDQGGLIIHUHQFHVEHWZHHQPDOHDQGIHPDOH
Youll note that both the male and female upper torsos are trapezoidal in
shape, wider at the shoulder, smaller at the waist. The lower torso an
LQYHUWHGWUDSH]RLGWKDWPLQLVNLUWVKDSHZLWKDELNLQLERWWRPWULDQJOHLQVLGH
WKHPLQLVNLUWWKDWUHYHDOVWKHWUXHOHQJWKRIWKHWKLJK/HJVDQGDUPVRQERWK
JXUHV WDSHU %XW WKHUHUH VHYHUDO FRQYHQWLRQV DGRSWHG WR GLVWLQJXLVK PDOH
from female. Of course, we have the obvious, breasts and sexual organs, but
VLJQLFDQWO\WKHUHDUHGLIIHUHQFHVRIPHDVXUHWKDWDIIHFWRYHUDOOVKDSH7KH
males shoulder width is much greater than that of the woman while her hips
540

are wider than his. When we look at the relationship between shoulders and
hips, the male has wide shoulders to narrower hips. The womans shoulders
DQGKLSVDUHPRUHHTXDOLQPHDVXUH:KLOHERWKJXUHVWDSHUDWWKHZDLVWKHU
waist is considerably more cinched.
The pelvic bones are different, too, and they are in nature. The males has a
greater height to width ratio, the female, greater width to height. The opening
in the male pelvis is more constricted, in the female less so. And the male
pubic arch is more angular and acute, the female more curved and obtuse.
Because her waist is more cinched and her hips wider, the angle from waist
to the hip is more dramatic. Overall, shes more curved, he more angular.
And her torso and limbs are all slimmer in relation to their height. And, of
course, shes drawn to be shorter than him.
We see many of these same differences in the Leonardo and the Botticelli.
So take this into consideration. Look at the proportions in your drawing and
personalize them a bit.
Id like you to leave the heights and limb positions the same but play with
the widths and the degree of tapering. Retain the shape vocabulary were
using, trapezoids. Straight lines only, no curved lines yet. Well get to those
EXWLI\RXFXUYHWKLQJVQRZLWOOPDNHVRPHRIRXUQH[WVWHSVPRUHGLIFXOW
OLNH WUDQVIHUULQJ WKH SURSRUWLRQV IURP WKH FHQWUDO JXUH WR WKH RWKHU WZR
views. For now, play with the widths. Youll feel the personality of your
JXUHFKDQJHDV\RXGR
Now, theres something else you may have noticed about Drers and
/HRQDUGRV JXUHV LQ FRQWUDVW WR %RWWLFHOOLV DQG ,QJUHVV %RWK WKH 'UHU
DQG /HRQDUGR DUH VWXGLHV RQ SURSRUWLRQ 7KH JXUHV OLNH WKH RQH ZHYH
been drawing, are in static positions, straight forward, everything lining up
horizontal and vertical. It makes sense. It brings out the measure of each
section or limb. But we dont generally stand like this. Try it. Its much more
relaxing to put the weight on one foot like the Primavera and the couple in
WKH,QJUHV:HFDOOWKLVFRQWUDSSRVWR1RZWKHVKRXOGHUVZKLFKKDGOLQHG
XSKRUL]RQWDOO\OLQHXSRQDGLDJRQDOVDPHZLWKWKHKLSVWKHNQHHVDQGWKH
ankles.

541

/HWVORRNDWWKHPDOHJXUHLQWKH,QJUHV+LVOHIWOHJWDNHVWKHZHLJKW+LV
opposite hip, his right hip, moves down. Theres not enough room for the
length of his leg in the contracted space, so it goes out to the side. So the hip
taking the weight goes high, hip, no weight, low. The bottom of the pelvis
follows suit. The knees follow suit. The shoulders move opposite to the hips
and thighs. Hips and knees, one direction, shoulders the other. The woman
puts her weight on the right leg. And everything happens the same way as in
the male but in mirror image. Good composition. If she stood with the same
contrapposto, much less balance.
Its important to remember that its not just the top of the shoulders or the
top of the hips that are moving, its a large mass of bone. When we tilt the
shoulders, the mass of the ribcage moves. When we tilt the top of the pelvis,
the whole pelvis and femur move. So Id like you to apply this idea in your
drawing.
)LUVW XVLQJ \RXU NQHDGHG HUDVHU HUDVH EDFN VLJQLFDQWO\ OLJKWHQLQJ WKH
upper and lower torso, and then the left leg. You want to just be able to see
them. Then redraw the trapezoid of the pelvis tilting down from left to right.
Add the triangular bikini bottoms inside. It should be the same shape, but
rotated.
Next, redraw the trapezoid of the upper torso tilting up, from left to right.
Then add lines for the sternum, clavicles, deltoids, and pectoral muscle.
Then erase the parts of the trapezoid you no longer need. Repeating this will
help you cement this construction. The shapes dont change much, only the
angle of the shapes. The whole assemblage rotates together.
Next, some line to connect the upper and lower torsos, and a bit more to
connect the lower torso to the right thigh. Lets take the left leg out at a
diagonal, a trapezoid for the upper leg, another for the lower leg. And a
PRGLHGZHGJHVKDSHIRUWKHIRRW7KHOHIWNQHHVKRXOGEHWLOWLQJEHORZWKH
ULJKW7KHOHIWDQNOHWLOWLQJXSDQGPDNHVXUHWKHELJWRHRIWKHOHIWIRRWOLQHV
up along a horizontal with the right foot.
Now, lets add the arms. Well draw them extending out at an angle, palms
forward. Starting with the right arm, draw a tapering trapezoid from the
542

shoulder. It should be about one head length. The upper arms total length
including the shoulder or deltoid should be about one and a half to one and
WKUHHTXDUWHUKHDGOHQJWKV0DNHLWVZLGWKJRZLWKZKDWHYHUFKRLFHV\RXYH
PDGH ZKHQ \RX DOWHUHG \RXU JXUH 1H[W DQRWKHU WUDSH]RLG IRU WKH ORZHU
DUP DJDLQ DERXW RQH KHDG OHQJWK DQG WKH KDQG DERXW WKUHHTXDUWHUV RI D
head in length. Repeat these steps on the other side to draw the remaining
arm and hand. And lets erase the portion of the upper arm thats overlapped
by the chest. Then the line separating the shoulder from the upper arm and,
QDOO\DQ\RIWKHQRQFRQWUDSSRVWRJXUH\RXQRORQJHUQHHG
<RXYHQRZVHHQKRZZHFDQXVHDFDQRQRISURSRUWLRQVWRGUDZDJXUH
<RXYHDOVRVHHQKRZVPDOOFKDQJHVLQSURSRUWLRQDQGSRVLWLRQFDQLQXHQFH
WKHIHHORIWKHJXUH:HOOFRQWLQXHWKLVGUDZLQJLQWKHQH[WOHFWXUH:HOO
add two more views, posterior and lateral, direct some attention to the
KHDG KDQGV DQG IHHW DQG OHDUQ KRZ WR PDNH WKH JXUH IHHO PRUH WKUHH
dimensional.

543

The Figure: The Head, Hands, and Feet

Lecture 32

Lecture 32The Figure: The Head, Hands, and Feet

Q WKLV OHFWXUH ZHOO FRQWLQXH ZLWK WKH JXUH GUDZLQJ ZH EHJDQ LQ WKH
previous lecture. Well start by blocking in the side (lateral) and back
(posterior) views. In general, the procedure will be to carry over the
PHDVXUHV IURP WKH IURQWDO JXUH WKHQ PRUH RU OHVV UHWUDFH WKH VWHSV ZH
WRRN LQ WKH ODVW OHFWXUH :HOO VWDUW ZLWK D VWUDLJKWIRUZDUG JXUH ZLWKRXW
contrapposto, then erase and adjust lines for a more natural stance. After
FRPSOHWLQJDOOYLHZVRIWKHJXUHZHOOORRNLQGHWDLODWGUDZLQJWKHKHDG
hands, and feet.
The Head
After walking through a drawing of the anterior, lateral, and posterior
YLHZV RI D JXUH OHWV WXUQ RXU DWWHQWLRQ WR WKH KHDG ,QGLYLGXDO KHDGV
like individual bodies, vary in their proportions and their degrees of
symmetricality. But there are a couple formulas, or canons, that are widely
used as starting points.
In the anterior view, we used the proportion of 3 to 4 for the heads width
WR KHLJKW 6WDUW WKH KHDG E\ GUDZLQJ D E\LQFK UHFWDQJOH IRU WKLV YLHZ
followed by vertical and horizontal centerlines and an egg shape or ovoid.
'LYLGH WKH KRUL]RQWDO LQWR IWKV WKHQ GR WKH VDPH ZLWK WKH ORZHU YHUWLFDO
KDOI1H[WIROORZWKHVHJHQHULFVWHSVWROOLQWKHIHDWXUHV

544

The eyes ride the horizontal half, so place the irises on top of the
FHQWHUOLQHLQWKHFHQWHURIWKHVHFRQGDQGIRXUWKKRUL]RQWDOIWKV
Draw the upper and lower lids of each eye to extend across each
eye measure.

3ODFHWKHWLSRIWKHQRVHRQWKHVHFRQGIWKRIWKHYHUWLFDODQGWKH
center of the lips at the third. Carry a vertical down from each eyes
center. Let the length of the lips extend from one of these verticals
to the other.

For the eyebrow, measure one eyes width straight up from the
lower lid and make a mark. Draw the eyebrow.

Place the top of the ears above the top of the eyelid but below the
eyebrow. The bottom of the ears should be in line with the tip of the
nose. The ears can extend beyond the rectangle.

Make the nose one eye wide, wings included. Locate the top of the
nasal bonewhere the plane of the nose begins to project forward
from the faceat about the top of the eyelid.

To describe the planar structure of the head, add verticals at the

temples. You might also indicate that the jaw overlaps the ears, and
the ears overlap the side plane of the head.

Then, draw the neck, indicating that it is overlapped by the jaw.

Place a couple lines for the cheekbones and, perhaps, a mark or two
to create a front plane of the chin.

Of course, many people have narrower heads, wider noses, or longer ears,
but these general steps give you a template from which you can create
endless variations.
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\RXUVHOIWKDWWKHKHDGLVWKUHHGLPHQVLRQDO,QWKHDQWHULRUSRVLWLRQWKHWLS
of the nose is closest to the viewer; the eyes, farther away; and the ears, at a
distance behind. The front plane of the head can exhibit curvature, as well.
Hands and Feet
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Hands are quite complex, with more than 25 bones and more than 30
PXVFOHV7KHQXPEHURISRVVLEOHFRQJXUDWLRQVRIWKHKDQGLVPXFKODUJHU
compared to other parts of the body, such as the head. And unlike the head,
ribcage, arms, or legs, the hand is much less symmetrical. Add to that all
the different points of view from which the hand is seenfrom above, from
below, and foreshortenedand the result is a great deal of visual complexity.
545

Lecture 32The Figure: The Head, Hands, and Feet

To begin to make some sense of the hand, we start with measure and shape.
$V ZLWK WKH JXUH DQG KHDG DFWXDO KDQGV PD\ EH WKLQQHU VWXEELHU RU
different in myriad other ways, but these general steps will get you started:

546

Its easiest to conceive of the hand in three parts: the large shape
HQFRPSDVVLQJ WKH SDOP RU EDFN RI WKH KDQG PLQXV WKH QJHUV D
VKDSHIRUWKHQJHUVDQGDQDOVKDSHIRUWKHWKXPE

Start with a tilted rectangle for the palm, a bit taller than it is wide.
Above that, draw a trapezoid, just a bit shorter than the rectangle
below it and wider on the right. Thats a rough shape for the four
QJHUV 7KH XSSHU VKDSH LV D OLWWOH VKRUWHU WKDQ WKH ERWWRP VKDSH
EHFDXVH WKH ORQJHVW QJHUWKH PLGGOH QJHULV QRW XVXDOO\ DV
long as the palm.

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ORZHVWSRLQWRQWKHULJKW'UDZDQDUFIURPZKHUHWKHVHFRQGQJHU
ZLOOEH5LVHDERYHWKHGLYLGLQJOLQHDWWKHPLGGOHQJHUDQGGRZQ
below for the location of the pinky.

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'UDZDVHFRQGDUFIRUWKHQJHUWLSV

Divide the top of the palm in four. Because the hand is in a relaxed
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PRUHWKHQJHUVVSUHDGWKHODUJHUWKLVJHWV

7KHQGUDZIRXUWDSHULQJVKDSHVIRUWKHQJHUV7KHPLGGOHQJHU
VKRXOGEHORQJHVW7KHVHFRQGDQGIRXUWKQJHUVVKRXOGEHDERXW
the same length; the pinkie should be considerably shorter and can
fall partially outside the guide shape.

$GG WKH WZR FUHDVHV DW WKH MRLQWV WKDW GLYLGH WKH QJHUV PRUH RU
less, into thirds along an arc.

Well approach the thumb in parts: (1) Draw a triangular shape

from the top of the palm on the left to a point out to the left at about

a quarter to a third of the palms height. This will approximate the

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WKH UHFWDQJOH )ROORZLQJ WKDW GLDJRQDO GUDZ D FXUYLQJ EODGHOLNH
shape for the thumb. It should register close to the top of the palm,
although this measure changes as the thumb moves. (3) Draw a
curving line from the base of the thumb to the palm.
Now, well round and edit the construction shape.
z

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Make this adjustment on both the thumb and pinky sides.

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The interior of the palm has three groups of pads and several
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VRPH RI WKHVH IRUPV$QG ZH FDQ LQFOXGH D FURVVFRQWRXU DW WKH
wrist.

As a last step, look at your own hand and modify your drawing with
the goal of making it closer to what you observe.

Other points to note about drawing hands include the following:

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If you hold your hand laterally, youll see that the creases where the
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back of the hand can appear shorter than the palm side.

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trapezoid, rectangle, or ovoid can often be used for the body of the
hand.

When it makes sense, use an aggregate shape or shapes for the

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LQGLYLGXDOVKDSHRUVKDSHVIRURQHRUPRUHQJHUV

547

Lecture 32The Figure: The Head, Hands, and Feet

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VROLGV(DFKQJHUFDQEHFRQVWUXFWHGXVLQJWKUHHKLQJHGWDSHULQJ
solids, either blocks or cylinders. Then, naturalize what youve
drawn.

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WZRWKLUGVWRWKUHHTXDUWHUVRIDKHDGLQOHQJWK

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OLNHZKLOHWKHRXWVLGHLVFRQYH[EDOOOLNH7KHQJHUVQDWXUDOO\
bend in toward the center of the palm.

For additional practice, draw your hands in all the typical positions
LQZKLFK\RXQGWKHPVXFKDVKROGLQJDSHQRUWH[WLQJ

Feet are generally easier to deal with than hands because theyre more
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UDQJHRIPRWLRQWKDQWKHQJHUV$JDLQZHFDQFRQVWUXFWDJHQHUDOWHPSODWH
for drawing feet; using that, you can practice drawing your own feet in many
different positions.
Volume
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ZKDW ZH GLG LQ VRPH RI WKH UVW OHFWXUHV DV ZH VWDUWHG WR WDFNOH VWLOOOLIH
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In his Master Class in Figure Drawing, Robert Beverly Hale wrote,
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geometric forms like the cube, sphere, cylinder, or ovoid form. Elsewhere
in the same work, Hale wrote, When drawing the ribcage the experienced
artist doesnt start his drawing with a detail, such as the nipple or the navel,
DV D EHJLQQHU XVXDOO\ GRHV ,QVWHDG KH UVW YLVXDOL]HV WKH ULEFDJH LQ WKH
simplest form he cana box. He has learned to visualize all complex
forms in terms of very simple masses.

548

7R EHJLQ WR DGG GLPHQVLRQ WR RXU JXUHV ZHOO FRPELQH UHFWLOLQHDU VROLGV
ZLWK HOOLSWLFDO FURVVVHFWLRQV 7KLV ZLOO KHOS XV GHQH SODQHV DQG FDSWXUH
WKHURXQGHGTXDOLW\RIPDQ\RIWKHJXUHVIRUPV)RUWKLVH[HUFLVHPDNH
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and alter your original image. Its best to make light copies. Once youve
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XVHLQWKHQH[WOHFWXUHZKHUHZHOOOHDUQKRZZHFDQPDNHWKHJXUHVZHYH
drawn feel more naturalistic.

Suggested Reading
Loomis, Figure Drawing for All Its Worth, The Heads, Hands and Feet,
pp. 171188, and Planes, pp. 7677.
Reed, The Figure, Heads and Hands, pp. 75115, and Construction, pp.
2045.
Winslow, Classic Human Anatomy, The Proportions of the Whole Figure,
pp. 249261.

549

The Figure: The Head, Hands, and Feet

Lecture 32Transcript
,Q WKLV OHFWXUHZHOOFRQWLQXHZLWKWKHJXUH GUDZLQJ ZH EHJDQ LQWKHODVW
OHFWXUH :HOO VWDUW E\ EORFNLQJLQ WKH VLGH RU ODWHUDO DQG WKH EDFN RU
posterior, views.
7KH UVW VWHS LV WR FDUU\ RYHU WKH PHDVXUHV IURP WKH FHQWUDO JXUH7R JHW
VWDUWHGXVH\RXU7VTXDUH/LQHLWXSZLWKWKHKRUL]RQWDOVLQWKHDQWHULRUYLHZ
and transfer the heights to the posterior and lateral views at the same time.
These should be light, thin construction lines.
You could start with the eight head measures. You could also add the number
and note for each height. Then, carry over the remaining horizontal measures
and any notes you think will be useful.
On the posterior view, give yourself width measures like the ones you used
in the anterior views. Id suggested you vary these from the ones I initially
gave you. You want to have measures that agree with your anterior view for
width at the head, shoulders, bottom of rib cage, top of pelvis, and the crotch.
Now youre ready to tackle the posterior view. You have height and width
measures from the front view. In terms of shape, this will be similar to what
youve already drawn. Well more or less, retrace the steps we took in the
ODVW OHFWXUH VWDUWLQJ ZLWK D VLPSOH JXUH ZLWKRXW FRQWUDSSRVWR ,W ZLOO EH
good practice to play through these steps. And well add a couple new pieces
WRUHHFWWKHUHDUYLHZ
Start with a trapezoid for the upper torso. Then, another for the lower torso
WKH PLQLVNLUW VKDSH 7KHQ WKH ELNLQL ERWWRP VKDSH 1RZ FRQQHFWLQJ OLQHV
between the upper and lower torsos. Then the legs and feet. And erase the
horizontal at the fourth head.
/HWVPDNHVRPHUHQHPHQWVWRRXUEDVLFVKDSHV:HOOVWDUWZLWKWKHXSSHU
torso at the shoulders. Well draw two diagonals for the top of the trapezius
muscle. This time were seeing it from the rear so itll appear larger. That
means longer diagonals than in the front. Then, a subtle trapezoid for the
550

neck, and, erase whats overlapped by the traps. Then, the head shape,
and, erase whats overlapped by the neck. Next, a couple curving lines for
the shoulder muscles, the deltoids. Make sure theyre overlapped by the
trapezius. Next, well go to the butt or glutes, and add another two curving
OLQHVFURVVFRQWRXUVZKHUHWKHOHJVMRLQWKHWUXQNRIWKHERG\$QGQDOO\
ZHOOFUHDWHSODQHVLQWKHIHHW6WDUWZLWKWZRGLDJRQDOVWRGHQHEDFNDQG
side planes, and a small triangle for the toes.
1RZ ZHOO FRQYHUW WKH JXUH VWDQFH WR UHHFW FRQWUDSSRVWR 8VLQJ \RXU
kneaded eraser lighten the upper torso, lower torso and left leg. Now, redraw
the lower torso in contrapposto. Correlate the angle and height of the high
hip with the anterior view. Of course, the posterior view should be a mirror
image. And do the same with the upper torso. Then add lines to connect the
upper and lower torsos and to connect the lower torso to the right thigh.
1RZDGGDWKUHHVLGHGWUDSH]RLGIRUWKHOHIWWKLJKWKHQDWUDSH]RLGIRUWKH
lower leg, and a slightly rounded trapezoid for the foot. Next two intersecting
GLDJRQDOV IRU WKH KHHO DQG D QDO RQH WR FODULI\ WKH SODQDU VWUXFWXUH RI WKH
foot.
Now to the arms. Start with two trapezoids for the upper arms. Two more for
the lower arms. And two more for the hands. We can erase the portions of
the upper arm that wont be seen, as well as the upper portion of the larger
WUDSH]RLGUHSUHVHQWLQJWKHXSSHUEDFN$QGWKHQDQ\RIWKHQRQFRQWUDSSRVWR
torso and leg you no longer need.
Lets turn to the lateral view. It combines aspects of both the anterior and
SRVWHULRU YLHZV , DVNHG \RX WR PDNH PRGLFDWLRQV LQ WKH ZLGWKV LQ \RXU
JXUHIURPWKHRQHV,LQLWLDOO\JDYHLQWKHODVWOHFWXUH$QG\RXOOZDQWWREH
consistent with those choices moving forward in the lateral view. But, lets
look at some general widths as a point of reference.
7KH KHDG VHHQ ODWHUDOO\ LV ZLGHU WKDQ LQ WKH IURQW YLHZ DERXW D IXOO KHDG
height in width. The neck is about one anterior head width. The width at
the shoulders is about one head height. This increases as the chest and
spine protrude, front and back, and decreases as the spine curves in at the
abdomen. The pelvis is, again, about one head height wide. The thigh, at its
551

widest point, is less than a head, about 80% of one. At the knee about half a
head, swells at the calf and tapers at the ankle. And the foot is about a head
and a third to a head and a half.
Seen laterally, the shapes of the body are also a bit different from the front
view.
6R WDNH RXW D VNHWFKSDG DQG OHWV UHKHDUVH WKLV 7KH SUROH KHDG FDQ EH
WKRXJKWRIDVWWLQJLQWRDUHFWDQJOHWKDWVMXVWDERXWVTXDUHZLWKDVPDOOHU
internal square for the back of the skull, a rectangle for the front plane of the
face, a triangle for the jaw, and, another for the nose. For the neck the tilted
rectangle. For the upper torso, we could use an elongated hexagon. For the
lower torso another tilted rectangle. For the upper leg a tapering trapezoid.
For the lower leg another. For the foot, a wedge shape. We can use similar
shapes to what we used in the anterior view for the arm and hand.
Another common way to block in the shapes of the body is to use ovoids.
Here, wed use a circle for the back of the skull and a vertical ovoid for the
front. Another for the neck. And for the upper and lower torso. And others of
appropriate measure for the extremities.
Theres another factor we need to take into account. And thats the angular
alignment. The neck angles back. The upper torso, forward. The pelvis, back
VRZHJHWWKLV]LJ]DJPRWLRQ7KHOHJVOLNHWKHSHOYLVDOVRDQJOHEDFNEXW
less so.
So, give this a try. Draw a centerline like this one. Lets start with the largest
mass, the rib cage and upper torso. Well draw a directional line. Then the
elongated hexagon. Now another directional line for the pelvis and the
angled rectangle. And a long directional line for the legs. Then the shapes
for the leg and foot. Then a directional line for the neck, and draw the neck.
Then the head. And adjust as needed.
2QFH \RXYH JRW WKH LGHD PRYH EDFN WR WKH WKUHHYLHZ JXUH GUDZLQJ
Follow the same, steps starting with the rib cage. Then the pelvis. And
connect the two with a line in front. And another in back. Then, the leg and
foot.
552

In this view, we wont add a second leg and foot, or the arms and hands. To
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RYRLG.HHSLWYHU\VLPSOHIRUQRZ-XVWEORFNWKHJXUHLQ0DNHVXUHWKDW
your widths agree with the body type in your two other views.
As another check, lets look at some vertical alignments. These will of course,
differ by body type and stance. But, Id like you to be aware of alignments as
DIDFWRULQ\RXUJXUH,QWKLVDQDWRPLFDOPRGHOWKHVZHOORIWKHVSLQHDQG
butt line up along a vertical, far to one side, the back of the neck, the back of
the knee and the ankle line up, too. Next, the top of the sternum and the knee.
$QGWKHFKHHNERQHOLQHVXSZLWKWKHVZHOORIWKHFKHVWDQGDEGRPHQ7DNH
this factor into account. Check to make sure your lateral view isnt tipping
forward or back.
People always have questions about drawing heads, hands, and feet. So,
lets start with the head. Individual heads, like individual bodies, vary in
their proportions. They also vary in degree of symmetricality. But therere
a couple formulas, or canons, that are widely used as starting points.
Especially, when drawing from the imagination. And, this kind of reference
can be useful when drawing from observation, too. It helps you see actual
proportions in relation to a set of given measures.
In the anterior view, weve used the proportion of 3:4 for the heads width
to height. So draw a 3 4 inch rectangle for this view. Then vertical and
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with the lower vertical half.
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inch rectangle next to this for a lateral view. And then the interior shapes for
this view.
Lets start with the anterior view. The eyes ride the horizontal half. So, place
the irises on top of the centerline, in the center of the second and fourth
IWK'UDZWKHXSSHUDQGORZHUOLGVRIHDFKH\HWRH[WHQGDFURVVHDFKH\H
PHDVXUH3ODFHWKHWLSRIWKHQRVHRQWKHVHFRQGIWKRIWKHYHUWLFDOFHQWHU
of the lips at the third. Carry a vertical down from each eyes center. Let the
length of the lips extend from about one to the other.
553

For the eyebrow, take the eyes width, measure one eyes width straight up
from the lower lid. Make a mark and draw the eyebrow. Place the top of the
ears above the top of the eyelid, but below the eyebrow. The bottom of the
ears should be in line with the tip of the nose. The ears can extend beyond
the rectangle.
Well make the nose one eye wide, wings included. And, locate the top of the
nasal bone, thats where the plane of the nose begins to project forward from
the face, at about the top of the eyelid.
To describe the planar structure of the head we could add verticals at the
temples. We could indicate that the jaw overlaps the ears, the ears the side
plane of the head. Then draw the neck, indicating its overlapped by the jaw.
Then place a couple lines for the cheekbones. And, perhaps a mark or two to
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carry over your measurements to draw the lateral view.
Of course, this is all very generic. Many people have narrower heads, or
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template. You can play endless variations on it just like nature herself.
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of the nose is closest to the viewer, the eyes farther away, and the ears, at a
distance behind. And, the front plane of the head can exhibit curvature, too.
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ZK\)LUVWWKH\UHFRPSOH[7KH\KDYHORWVRIPRYDEOHSDUWV)RXUQJHUV
each with three movable joints, a thumb with two, over 25 bones and over
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to, say, the head, well, is much larger. And, unlike the head, ribcage, arms, or
legs, the hand is much less symmetrical. Add to that all the different points
of view well see the hand from, above, below, foreshortened, well, it adds
up to a lot of visual complexity.
To begin to make some sense of this, well start with measure and shape.
$VZLWKWKHJXUHDFWXDOKDQGVPD\EHWKLQQHURUVWXEELHURUGLIIHUHQWLQ
554

myriad ways. But, this will get you started. Well draw a view of the palm,
RUSODQWHUVLGHRIDOHIWKDQGDVLILWVKHOGXSZLWKWKHQJHUVVOLJKWO\VSUHDG
OLNHWKLV,WVHDVLHVWWRFRQFHLYHRIWKHKDQGLQWKUHHSDUWVUVWWKHODUJH
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VKDSHIRUWKHQJHUVDQGRWKHUVIRUWKHWKXPE
Start with a tilted rectangle for the palm, a bit taller than its wide, then a
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wider on the right and a bit shorter than the rectangle below it. The upper
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PLGGOHQJHULVQRWXVXDOO\DVORQJDVWKHSDOP
7KHQJHUVDWWDFKDORQJDFXUYHQRWDVWUDLJKWOLQHZLWKWKHSLQN\DWWDFKLQJ
DWWKHORZHVWSRLQWRQWKHULJKW6RGUDZDQDUFIURPZKHUHWKHVHFRQGQJHU
ZLOOEH5LVHDERYHWKHGLYLGLQJOLQHDWWKHPLGGOHQJHUDQGGRZQEHORZIRU
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IRXU WDSHULQJ VKDSHV IRU WKH QJHUV 7KH SLQNLH ZLOO IDOO SDUWLDOO\ RXWVLGH
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pinkie considerably shorter. Make any adjustments needed to their relative
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or less, into thirds along an arc. So, well add these, too.
Well approach the thumb in several pieces. First, a triangular shape from
the top of the palm on the left to a point out to the left at about the quarter to
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the thumb, then a diagonal down to the rectangle. Following that diagonal
DFXUYLQJEODGHOLNHVKDSHIRUWKHWKXPELWVKRXOGUHJLVWHUFORVHWRWKHWRS
of the palm. The height of the palm changes as it moves. As you pull it in
towards the palm, it registers higher. Now a curving line for the base of the
thumb to the palm.

555

Now well round and edit the construction shape. The wrist is thinner than
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pinkie side. Next, well add some cross contours to the thumb. We can add
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The interior of the palm has three groups of pads and several prominent
creases. We can use further cross contours to describe some of these forms.
And we can include a cross contour at the wrist. Use what weve just drawn
as a rough scaffolding and edit as needed. Look at your own hand and
modify your drawing with the goal of making it more naturalistic based on
what you observe.
Try drawing a dorsal, or back, view of a hand using the same method. Heres
DQH[DPSOHIURP'UHU+HQRWRQO\PDGHKXQGUHGVRIGUDZLQJVRIJXUH
proportions, but, like Leonardo, assiduously worked out systems of measure
for individual body parts.
There are a couple things to note here. If you hold your hand laterally, youll
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NQXFNOH7KLV PDNHV WKH QJHUV ORRN ORQJHU IURP WKH EDFN$QG WKH ERG\
of the back of the hand can appear shorter than the palm side. Also, note,
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%ORFNRXWWKHODUJHVKDSHVUVW0DNHVXUHWKHQJHUWLSVDQGMRLQWVFRQIRUP
to an arc. And use your own hand as a model. Analyze the distances and
measure as you draw.
Take a look at the inside of your hand. If you relax your hand, the insides
FRQFDYHERZOOLNHIURPWKHRXWVLGHFRQYH[EDOOOLNH7KHQJHUVQDWXUDOO\
bend in towards the center of the palm. Once youve drawn the back a good
next step would be a concave and convex view.
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FRPPRQDVVLJQPHQWLQJXUHGUDZLQJFODVVHV$QGLQIDFW\RXOOQGVFRUHV
of hand studies by many famous artists. This page is from the 19thFHQWXU\
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holding a bowl, then a cup or a glass, holding a pen, texting. Then make a

556

study of your hand turning on a faucet. Its great to look at your actual 3D
hand when drawing, but photos can be useful, too.
Start with simple shape. A trapezoid, rectangle, or ovoid can often be used for
the body of the hand. When it makes sense, an aggregate shape or shapes for
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VKDSH RU VKDSHV IRU RQH RU PRUH QJHUV 1H[W EORFN RXW WKH ' VWUXFWXUH
XVLQJ JHRPHWULF VROLGV (DFK QJHU FDQ EH FRQVWUXFWHG XVLQJ WKUHH KLQJHG
tapering solids, either blocks or cylinders. And, then, naturalize what youve
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WKLUGVWRWKUHHTXDUWHUVRIDKHDGLQOHQJWK
Lets take a look at the foot. The foot or footprint is a little over one head in
length. Drer also measured feet. Here we have three correlated views. In
both the lateral and top view, he divides the foot into thirds. First, the toes,
they also conform to a rectangle thats a third of the foots height. Then the
central wedge shape. And, last, the rear section containing the ankle and the
heel.
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shape and volume. The toes are shorter and have a more limited range of
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different forms.
The problem in drawing feet relates to the fact that we see them most often
in foreshortened views, like, Drers heel view. Note how he deals with this.
Instead of outlining, he moves from contour to cross contour, making sure
the lines describing the closer parts of the foot overlap those behind.
Lets follow Drers method here for a lateral and posterior view of the
foot. Rule out a rectangle thats one and a half by six inches and divide it
in horizontal and vertical thirds. An inch or so to the right lay out another
rectangle one and a half by 2 and an eighth. Add the horizontals thirds, the
two vertical, and one horizontal construction lines that Drer adds for the
heel. In the lateral view, give yourself a point where the Achilles tendon
meets the top horizontal line and draw the tendon and heel. The negative
VKDSHV FDQ KHOS \RX JDXJH DFFXUDF\ 7KHQ YH PRUH SRLQWV 7KH UVW
557

where the top of the body of the foot meets your second vertical line, the
second where the top edge of the foot traverses the second horizontal line,
the third it intersects the third vertical line, the fourth where it traverses the
WKLUGKRUL]RQWDODQGWKHODVWZKHUHWKHWRSRIWKHELJWRHLQWHUVHFWVWKHQDO
vertical. Using these points as guides, draw the top edge of the foot.
Now for the toes. As Drer has done, give yourself a vertical mark along the
bottom horizontal for the tip of each of the small toes. Then position similar
points of origin for the tops of the toes. Then draw the toes.
For the posterior view, well start by drawing the Achilles tendon and heel,
then the ankles, inside higher, outside lower. And follow the remaining
overlaps so the foot recedes in space.
Lets also draw an anterior view. Here, the foots foreshortened. Start with a
trapezoid for the body of the foot. The toes attach along a curve or diagonal.
6R ZHOO PRGLI\ WKH UVW VKDSH7KH IURQW RI WKH WRHV IROORZ D FXUYH WRR
Now well add a volumetric front plane. Above well indicate the lower leg
and ankles, the latter, higher inside, lower outside.
In a foreshortened view, cross contours and line overlaps are all but essential.
Well add a curve at the top to capture the planar quality of the foot. And
well redraw both right and left sides using overlap. The tendon of the big
toe often suggests a plane change in the body of the foot. Well add a line
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:HOO GLYLGH WKH WRH VKDSH LQWR WKLUGV7KH ELJ WRH JHWV WKH UVW WKLUG7KH
others well divide in two for the small toes.
Next, well convert the two top plane smiling curves into individual
frowning curves to capture the volume of the individual toes. Then, work
into each toe. The toenails are a great opportunity for more cross contours.
With this beginning, the best way to proceed is to draw your own feet in
many different positions.
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VRPHRIWKHUVWOHFWXUHVDVZHVWDUWHGWRWDFNOHVWLOOOLIHREMHFWV6WDUWZLWKD
558

FHQWHUOLQHWKHQSODFHVLPSOHDWVKDSHVLQUHODWLRQWRPHDVXUH7KHQH[WVWHS
ZHWRRNZDVWRWXUQWKHDWVKDSHVLQWRJHRPHWULFYROXPHV$QGWKDWVMXVW
what well do here.
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lot of time drawing simple geometric forms, like the cube, sphere, cylinder,
or ovoid form. When drawing the ribcage the experienced artist doesnt
start his drawing with a detail, such as the nipple or the navel, as a beginner
XVXDOO\GRHV,QVWHDGKHUVWYLVXDOL]HVWKHULEFDJHLQWKHVLPSOHVWIRUPKH
cana box. He has learned to visualize all complex forms in terms of very
simple masses.
Heres a preparatory drawing for a Last Supper by Luca Cambiaso that
weve looked at several times before. His studies typify this approach.
Hes able to attend to everything in a similar way. Architectural elements,
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volume.
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QR KDLU QR H\HV QR QRVHV RU OLSV <HW WKH JXUHV IHHO YHU\ UHDO WKUHH
dimensional. They have attitude, position, and sit in space. When he does
get to details, like facial features, theyll sit securely on those planes because
hes taken the time to understand the underlying architecture of the form.
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becomes pretty obvious. Because we understand the form in terms of plane,
its clear which plane is facing the light and which away.
6ROHWVPRYHLQWRYROXPH%XWEHIRUHZHGR,WKLQN\RXOOQGLWXVHIXOWR
have a couple copies of your drawing to experiment with. You could either
take a picture of your drawing and print it out at home, or, go to a photocopy
shop that has a large format printer. The kind used for architectural plans.
They easily accommodate an 18 24 or even a 22 30 inch sheet of paper.
In either case, print out on the light side, so you can easily draw over and
alter the image. Another options to get some tracing paper and trace on top
of your drawing.
559

7R DGG GLPHQVLRQ WR RXU JXUHV ZHOO XVH DQ DSSURDFK WKDW FRPELQHV
&DPELDVRVUHFWLOLQHDUVROLGVZLWKHOOLSWLFDOFURVVVHFWLRQV7KLVZLOOKHOSXV
GHQHSODQHVDQGFDSWXUHWKHURXQGHGTXDOLW\RIPDQ\RIWKHJXUHVIRUPV
If youve made copies, try this on one of the copies. Or, use tracing paper on
top of your drawing.
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GHQH ZKDW NLQGV RI SODQHV DQG HOOLSVHV ZH VHH 6R OHWV LPDJLQH ZHUH
ORRNLQJSUHWW\PXFKVWUDLJKWRQDQGZHUHVWDQGLQJXS2XUH\HOHYHOZLOOEH
WKHVDPHDVWKHJXUHV7KDWPHDQVZHUHVHHLQJPRVWRIWKHJXUHEHORZ
eyelevel.
Youll remember, at eyelevel a circular cross section appears as a straight
OLQH-XVWDERYHRUEHORZLWZLOOEHJLQWRDSSHDUDVDQHOOLSVH$WUVWDVOLJKW
one, but, getting progressively fatter as we move farther away from eyelevel
in either direction. Above eyelevel, the front of the ellipse appears as a
frown, below, as a smile.
So, lets start with the anterior view. First, well draw a light horizontal line
IRU WKH JXUHV H\HOHYHO DW DERXW WKH YHUWLFDO KDOI RI WKH KHDG 1H[W ZHOO
create side planes in the head. Then the neck. Then the chest and abdomen.
Now the pelvis. Then the legs. And feet. Then the ankles, inside high, outside
low. Then a front plane for the toes. And, last the arms.
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Youll want to manage your line weights in the cross sections, greater line
weight on the surfaces than in the interior. This will help the form read
convincingly.
Lets start down at the ankles. Here, were far below eyelevel. So, these
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side of the leg to the front, then back to the other side. Now, with a lighter
line weight, well move into the interior of the form. Then the other foot,
same idea. Now, well move to the top of the head. Here, were just above
eyelevel. So, the cross contour will appear as a slight frown. Now just below
the horizon, the top of the neck where it meets the back of the skull, then, the
560

base of the neck, then, the top plane between the trapezius and the clavicles,
an oval of sorts.
Lets take a look at the connection of the arms and shoulders to the torso.
Its useful to conceive of this as happening on a diagonal. Youll likely
be able to feel this on your own bodyjust a bit in from the end of the
clavicle, moving down between the pectoral muscle and the deltoid above
it. Lets draw a cross section ellipse here. Now drawing through, an ellipse
at the bottom of the ribcage. We can adapt the ellipse slightly to capture a
concavity at the spine, and, another at the top of the pelvis. Remember, were
moving down, away from eyelevel, so the ellipses should be getting a bit
fatter as we progress.
Well approach the legs connecting to the lower torso similarly to the way
we conceived of the arms attaching to the upper torso, diagonal ellipses.
Down to the knees, again, we can adapt the ellipses slightly to help capture
what we know of the form. Then the feet, well add a slightly curving top
plane. Like a half cylinder. Well go back up to the elbow and draw through
here, then to the wrist.
Well divide the hand shape in half with an ellipse. Thats about where the
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WRFDSWXUHWKHTXDOLW\RIGLYHUVHQJHUOHQJWKVDQGDVKDSHRUWZRIRUWKH
thumbs.
Take the same procedures and apply them to the posterior and lateral views.
Itd be a good idea to try this a couple times on your copies before working
LQWRWKHRULJLQDOGUDZLQJ2QFH\RXYHQLVKHGDGGLQJYROXPHWR\RXUWKUHH
YLHZVSULQWRXWVRPHPRUHFRSLHVYHRUWHQZRXOGEHLGHDO:HOOXVHWKHP
in the next lecture. Again, print them on the light side. The goals to draw on
top of them using the underlying structure youve created.
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naturalistic. Well also discuss the skeletal system and the major muscles.
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imagination and from observation.

561

The Figure: Artistic Anatomy

Lecture 33

uch artists as Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, Rubens, and many

others studied human anatomy, and many artists do so to this day. The
reason for this is that knowledge of whats going on below the surface
can be a great aid in drawing whats visible on the surface. In this lecture,
well discuss the skeletal system and major muscles and draw these systems
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Lecture 33The Figure: Artistic Anatomy

Naturalizing the Figure

At the beginning of the course, we discussed the interplay of contour and
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volume. Using the copies you made of your drawing from the last lecture, try
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and compare the results.
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FUHDWHG WR EULQJ RXW D PRUH QDWXUDOLVWLF OHVV PDQQHTXLQOLNH JXUH<RXOO
QG WKDW LQ IDFW \RX KDYH WR FKDQJH YHU\ OLWWOH WR PDNH WKLV KDSSHQ $
slight rounding of a line does a great deal in this regard. After doing several
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2QFH\RXYHPDGHVRPHH[SHULPHQWVQDWXUDOL]HWKHJXUHLQ\RXURULJLQDO
drawing, using line alone, without adding any hatching or value.
The Skeletal System
There are more than 200 bones in the human body, but many repeat left and
right, and about half are in our hands and feet. Lets take a tour of the major
bones from top to bottom.

562

 abidal/iStock/Thinkstock.

The skull has a front plane, right and left side planes, a top plane, a rear
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attention to this structure. The large frontal bone of the forehead in relation
to the temporal fossae on either side signals the change of plane from front to
side. The zygomatic bone, or cheekbone, reiterates this. All the joints in the
skull are rigid, with the exception of the mandible, or jaw, which can move
both up and down and from side to side.
Attached to the base of the skull is the spinal column. This is the longest
section of bone in the body. The vertebrae are similarly shaped and are
separated by intervertebral discs. Below the spinal column are the sacrum
and coccyx. The upper 24 vertebrae are divided into three sections (cervical,
thoracic, and lumbar), each curving in a different direction, which lends
the spine its snakelike undulations. The curving shape of the spine is easily
visible in the lateral view. It accounts, in part, for the zigzagging spatial
thrusts of the neck, ribcage, and pelvis, respectively.
563

These three vertebral sections are followed by the sacrum, attaching to

the pelvis, and the smaller coccyx, projecting to a point. Once again, the
assembly of the sacrum and coccyx curves away from the preceding section,
the lumbar vertebrae. Depending on an individuals build and body fat, we
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also be a visible landmark through the soft tissue.
The next bone mass is referred to as the shoulder girdle, which includes the
clavicles; scapulae; and the sternum, or breast bone. Skeletal elements of the
front and rear connect in this assembly, and it provides the housing where
the head of the humerus (the bone of the upper arm) connects. Studying the
scapula and its connection to the clavicle and humerus from multiple points
of view will help you understand how the arms connect to the torso.

Lecture 33The Figure: Artistic Anatomy

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As we know, there are 24 ribs, 12 on each side. All attach to the sternum
via cartilage and directly to the spinal column in the rear. The ribcage
curves around the body from back to front, with the ribs sloping diagonally
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of the upper torso.
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pelvis is called the iliac crest7KLVFRLQFLGHVZLWKWKHWRSRIWKHPLQLVNLUW
VKDSHZHGUHZ7KHZLGHERWWRPRIWKHPLQLVNLUWVKDSHLVGHQHGE\WKHWRS
portion of the femur.
In both the arms and legs, the section of the limb closest to the trunk has one
bone; the next section, two; and the feet and hands come in at more than 25
each. In the arm, the large upper bone is the humerus. The two smaller bones
of the lower arm are the ulna and radius.
The large upper bone of the leg is the femur. On the front of the femur at the
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WKLQQHUEXOD7KHERWWRPVRIWKHVHERQHVFRQWULEXWHWRIRUPWKHDQNOHV

564

As already noted, both the hands and feet have numerous bones, but these
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foot: seven tarsals, followed by metatarsals and phalanges, or toes. At the
heel end, the bone of the heel is the calcaneus.
Having a mental picture of the comparative lengths of the major bones and
bone groups helps when thinking about proportions. Using the skulls height
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somewhat smaller. The ulna, radius, pelvis, and foot are a bit longer. Next in
VL]HDUHWKHULEFDJHKXPHUXVWLELDDQGEXODDOODERXWRQHDQGDKDOIVNXOO
heights. The femur is about two skull heights, and the spine is about three.
Not all the bones are equally visible on the surface. The major landmarks
include the following:
z

Frontal bone of the forehead

Temporal fossae

Zygomatic bone

7th cervical vertebra

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Front and top of both clavicles

Scapulae

Bottom of the 10th rib

In the arm, the elbowthe meeting of the humerus, radius, and

ulna; at the wrist, the ulna on the pinky side and the radius on the
thumb side
565

In the pelvis, the iliac spine and the anterior superior iliac crest

In the rear, traces of the sacrum

In the leg, the great trochanter of the femur; at the knee, the patella;
on the outside, both the bottom of the femur and the top of the
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front of the tibia; and the ankles.

cosmin4000/iStock/Thinkstock.

Lecture 33The Figure: Artistic Anatomy

The Major Muscles

The muscles, which are much more numerous than the bones, are divided
into two main types: voluntary and involuntary. The voluntary muscles are
attached to the skeletal structure and are the ones we consciously move.
In drawing, these are the muscles in which were interested. Lets begin
by looking at the 13 most prominent muscles of the torso. For most, well
consider their shape, where they attach to the bone, and their function. Then,
well chart the major muscles of the legs and arms.

566

 Ibrakovic/iStock/Thinkstock.

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positions to maximize the visual expression of a muscle or muscle group.

Although we can discuss the nominal shapes of the muscles, its important
to remember that the actual shape is the result of a combination of factors,
including the state of the muscle (relaxed, contracted, or in between), the
body type of the individual, and the point of view.
Muscle attaches to bone via tendons. Anatomists make a distinction between
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that tend to move when the muscle is contracted.
Starting at the neck, the most prominent muscles of the upper torso include
the following:
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567

Lecture 33The Figure: Artistic Anatomy

Sternomastoid, or sternocleidomastoid: located on either side of

the neck

Deltoid: originates along the outer half of the clavicle and along the
top spine of the scapula

Pectoralis major: central muscle of the chest

Serratus: any of three muscles that originate along the sides of the
UVWHLJKWRUQLQHULEVDQGFROOHFWDQGLQVHUWXQGHUWKHVFDSXODRQ
each side

Rectus abdominis: abdominal muscle

External obliques: curve around to the side of the abdomen

Latissimus dorsi: large triangular muscle of the back

Rhomboid: group of muscles sandwiched between the trapezius

and deltoids above and the latissimus dorsi below

Infraspinatus, teres minor, and teres major: three muscles that cover
the back of the scapula

Erector spinae (sacrospinalis): deep muscle of the back.

The major muscles of the legs include the following:

568

Sartorius: crosses from the outside of the hip to the inside of the
knee

Quadriceps: set of four muscles in the front of the thighs

$GGXFWRUVVHWRIYHPXVFOHVRIWKHLQQHUWKLJKRULJLQDWLQJRQWKH
pelvis

Glutes (gluteus): set of three muscles in the buttocks.

Suggested Reading
Brown and McLean, Drawing from Life.
Visiblebody.com, SkeletonPremium and MusclePremium.
Winslow, Classic Human Anatomy.

569

The Figure: Artistic Anatomy

Lecture 33Transcript
,QWKLVOHFWXUH\RXOOPDNHWKHJXUH\RXYHGUDZQPRUHQDWXUDOLVWLF7KHQ
well discuss the skeletal system and the major muscles. At the end of the
last lecture, Id suggested printing copies of your drawings. Well use them
now.
At the very beginning of the course, we discussed the interplay of cross
contour and contour. We saw how their skillful integration could create
volume, like in the Holbein. Using the copies, Id like you to experiment
with different ways of moving from contour to cross contour and then
compare results.
Start with line alone. Make as much use of the measure, contours and cross
contours youve carefully created to bring out a more naturalistic, less
PDQQHTXLQOLNH JXUH <RXOO QG WKDW \RX KDYH WR FKDQJH YHU\ OLWWOH WR
make this happen. A slight rounding of a line does a lot in this regard. And, if
youd like, try some value, hatching or other mark making, follow the planar
structure.
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play of light a straightforward matter. You could also try other variations.
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with relative proportions. You can make the shoulders smaller, or the pelvis
bigger, or, change the positions of the arms, legs, or head and neck.
2QFH\RXYHPDGHVRPHH[SHULPHQWVQDWXUDOL]HWKHJXUHLQ\RXURULJLQDO
drawing. Use line alone. Dont add any hatching or value. And leave the arms
and legs as they are. Thats because well be adding bone and muscle to our
three views. Youre likely aware that artists like Leonardo, Michelangelo,
Raphael, Rubens and many others studied human anatomy. Many artists do
so to this day. Knowledge of whats going on below the surface can really
help you draw whats visible on the surface.
Well start with the skeletal system. The goals to draw the skeleton into your
three views.
570

Lets take a look at a couple examples. Here, a female, and here, using the
same basic proportions, a male. In both cases, we still have the underlying
sense of shape and volume. And, the internal skeletal structure has been
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in our bodies. Different texts quote different numbers. Some interpret a
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bones. The number of bones in the body also changes over our lives. We
have more separate bones at birth. For instance, the bones of the sacrum and
those of the coccyx dont fully fuse until adolescence. And, theres also some
variation from individual to individual. For instance, a small percentage of
individuals, fewer than 1%, may have an extra cervical rib.
While there are over 200 bones in the body, many repeat left and right. And,
about half are in our hands and feet. So that cuts down what we need to
study to understand the large masses of the body. Lets take a tour from top
to bottom.
Well start with the skull or cranium. Many people think of this area as
being the face. The skull reminds us that the features occupy a fraction of
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ERWWRPRIWKHEDFNRIWKHVNXOOLVKLJKHUXSWKDQWKHXQGHUSODQHRIWKHFKLQ
In drawing, its crucial to pay attention to this structure. The large frontal
bone of the forehead in relation to the temporal fossae on either side signals
the change of plane from front to side. The zygomatic bone, or cheekbone,
reiterates this. All the joints in the skull are rigid, with the exception of the
mandible, or jaw, which can move both up and down and from side to side.
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WKHORQJHVWVHFWLRQRIERQHLQWKHERG\FRQVLVWLQJRIWKHXSSHUWZHQW\IRXU
vertebra. These are similarly shaped and separated by intervertebral discs,
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into three sections, each curving in a different direction, lending the spine
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meaning neck, so part one is the neck section of the spine. That seventh
vertebra is often a visible landmark in the both the posterior and lateral
views. The next section, consisting of twelve vertebrae, is termed thoracic,
571

meaning the general area containing the clavicles, sternum, ribcage, and the
scapulae, what weve been referring to as the upper torso. The third section
FRQVLVWVRIYHYHUWHEUDH7KHVHDUHWHUPHGOXPEDUUHIHUULQJWRWKHVHFWLRQ
of the body below the ribs, and extending to the pelvis.
These three vertebral sections are followed by the sacrum, attaching to the
pelvis, and the smaller coccyx projecting to a point. The assembly of the
sacrum and coccyx curves, once again, away from the direction preceding
section, the lumbar vertebrae. Depending on an individuals build and body
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sacrum can also be a visible landmark through the soft tissue. The curving
shape of the spine is easily visible in the lateral view. It accounts, in part, for
the zigzagging spatial thrusts of the neck, ribcage, and pelvis, respectively.
What many people forget is that these same planar shifts are occurring when
ZHYLHZWKHJXUHLQWKHDQWHULRUDQGSRVWHULRUSRVLWLRQV6RLWVDJRRGLGHD
to keep this in mind when drawing these views.
The next bone mass is referred to as the shoulder girdle. The main bones
concerned are the clavicles, scapulae, and the sternum or breastbone. Its an
assembly where skeletal elements of front and rear connect. And it provides
the housing where the head of the humerus, the bone of the upper arm, will
connect. Feel out along your collarbone from the center of your body. You
start at a dip, thats the jugular notch at the top of the sternum, then a slight
rise onto the collarbone. Then, perhaps, a slight curving dip and, youre also
moving back in space. Then as youve almost reached your arm, a slight
GURSRII+HUH\RXUHQRORQJHURQWKHFROODUERQHEXWRQWKHWRSSODQHRI
the scapula, the acromion. The collarbones often among the most visible
on the surface of the body. Many people draw it extending too far. So that it
covers the humerus. It shouldnt. Its actually the complex scapula that we
see here.
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forward or back because this assembly moves together. With the scapula
gliding across the rounded back of the ribcage. The scapula too is often
YLVLEOHWKURXJKWKHHVKLQPDQ\YLHZV:KLOHEDVLFDOO\WULDQJXODULQVKDSH
its planar structures complex. Studying the scapula and its connection to

572

the clavicle and humerus, from multiple points of view will really help you
understand how the arms connect to the torso.
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of the sternum. It ends in a short pointed section called the xiphoid process.
The sternum is at the front and center of the ribcage. There are 24 ribs, 12 on
each side. All attach to the sternum via cartilage and, directly to the spinal
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sternum. Though, the top pairs the only one that attaches to the manubrium.
Its partially overlapped by the clavicles in the front. And in the rear attaches
to the seventh cervical vertebra. The next four pairs attach to the longer body
of the sternum.
The following two pairs, six and seven, attach to the angled edge of the
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splays like antlers, allowing pairs eight, nine, and ten to attach through
this web. The eleventh and twelfth pairs dont connect in the front and are
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ribs curve around the body from back to front sloping diagonally down
DV WKH\ FXUYH /LNH WKH VNXOO WR WKH KHDG WKH ULEFDJH GHQHV WKH WKUHH
dimensional structure of the upper torso. Its a classic mix of anatomical
rectilinearity and curvilinearity. We can think of it like a block or spheroid.
Either way, we want to feel the front plane, side planes and back plane. The
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SDOSDEOH$VOLJKWLQGLFDWLRQRIWKHQDOIXOOULEQXPEHUWHQFDQRIWHQKHOS
in this regard.
As long as were in the region, I note that beginning students often misplace
the nipples on both men and women. Its essential to remember that the front
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OHYHO LQ SDUWLFXODU -XVW DV WKH ULEFDJH KDV D GHJUHH RI FXUYDWXUH WR LW WKH
PXVFOH DQG VRIW WLVVXH IROORZ WKH FXUYH RI WKH DUPDWXUH ,W JHWV D ELW FXW
off so Ive recreated it. You can see that the right side of the chest faces to
the right, the left, to the left. The nipples and womens breasts will tend to
follow, angling out.

573

Along with the ribcage, the pelvis is another crucial structure to remember
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Well often see the top edge of the pelvis, the iliac crest. This coincides with
the top of the miniskirt shape we drew. Traces of the iliac spine may also be
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of the femur, the great trochanter.
In both the arms and legs, the section of the limb closest to the trunk has
one bone, the next section two. And the feet and hands come in at over
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smaller bones of the lower arm are the ulna and radius. Both have a wider
and a narrower end. The ulna is wide at the connection with the humerus and
narrow at the wrist, the radius the opposite. Well often see evidence of both
at the wrist. In our anterior view, the ulna will be on the inside, the radius on
the outside, in the posterior the opposite.
The large upper bone of the leg is the femur. If you stand up straight with
your toes together the femur angles in. On the front of the femur at the knee
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a bit below, the top of the tibia. It also extends past the end of the tibia. The
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goes down lower, the outside of ankle appears lower than the insideinside
high, outside low.
As already noted, both hands and feet are bone rich. Thankfully, they group
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WRGUDZWKHP,WVGLIFXOWDWWKHVFDOHZHUHGUDZLQJDWKHUH,QWKHKDQG
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foot. Start out with seven tarsals instead of eight carpals, then metatarsals
and phalanges or toes. At the heel end, the bone of the heel is the calcaneus.

574

Lets take a look at comparative lengths of the major bones and bone groups
weve discussed, having a mental picture of this helps when thinking about
SURSRUWLRQV8VLQJWKHVNXOOVKHLJKWDVDPHWULFZHQGWKDWWKHFODYLFOH
scapula, sternum, sacrum, and hand are somewhat smaller. The ulna, radius,
SHOYLVDQGIRRWDUHDELWORQJHU1H[WLQVL]HDUHWKHKXPHUXVULEFDJHEXOD
tibia, and femur, all about one and two skull heights, and the spine, at close
to three.
Not all the bones are equally visible on the surface. Lets review the major
landmarks. They include: the frontal bone of the forehead; the temporal
fossae; the zygomatic bone; the seventh cervical vertebra; the jugular notch
and sternum; the front and top of both clavicles; the scapulae; the bottom
of the tenth rib; in the arm, the elbow, the meeting of the humerus, radius
DQGXOQDDQGDWWKHZULVWWKHXOQDRQWKHSLQN\VLGHDQGWKHUDGLXVWKXPE
side; in the pelvis, the iliac spine and the anterior superior iliac crest; and
in the rear, traces of the sacrum; moving into the leg, the great trochanter
of the femur; at the knee, front and center, the patella; on the outside, both
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ERWWRPRIWKHWLELDDQGEXODWKHDQNOHV1H[WWLPH\RXUHGUDZLQJDJXUH
look for these landmarks. If youre drawing from your imagination, you may
want to reference them.
To help you see how the skeleton relates to the exterior shapes youve drawn
,GOLNH\RXWRGUDZDVNHOHWRQLQWRHDFKRI\RXUJXUHV$QLPDJHVHDUFK
will turn up many excellent illustrations online, both of the entire skeletons
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ideal, there are many smaller models that help give a sense of how the parts
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While the number of bones gets pegged in the two hundreds, the muscles
are much more numerous. There are two main types of musclesvoluntary
and involuntary. The voluntary muscles are attached to the skeletal structure.
Theyre the ones we consciously move. In drawing, these are the ones were
interested in. As with bones, people disagree about what constitutes a single
muscle. So, the numbers you see vary from the six hundreds into the eight
575

hundreds. Many sources quote a number around 650. The good news is that
our interest in muscles is pretty much aligned with body builders. Were
primarily concerned with muscles that can be seen on the surface. That
chips away at the number. And because were bilaterally symmetrical, many
get counted twice. That knocks it down, too. But, that still leaves a lot of
material to cover. This lecture will constitute an introduction.
The goal here, once youve drawn the skeleton into your three views, is to
draw the muscles well discuss into half of your anterior and posterior views
and fully into the lateral view. You can use graphite pencils for this project.
Or, you could use color. When I do with this project with my undergrads at
the University of Washington, we use erasable colored pencils. Ive found
WKH&RO(UDVHEUDQGZRUNVZHOO,I\RXGOLNHWRWU\WKLV,GVXJJHVWJHWWLQJ
eight pencils: yellow, orange, red, blue, brown, gray, black, and white.
Imagine the light coming from a single direction. Where the muscle swells
toward the light, make it lighter, where the muscles taper, where theyre
overlapped, and away from the light go darker and into the darker browns,
blues and blacks.
Well look at the thirteen most prominent muscles of the torso in some detail.
For most, well consider their shape, where they attach to the bone, and their
function. Then well chart the major muscles of the legs and arms. That will
EULQJXVXSWRDERXWIW\YHPXVFOHVDJRRGVWDUW:KLOHERQHVKDYH[HG
shapes, muscles dont. They change shape as they relax or contract. And,
that adds a level of complexity.
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the visual expression of a muscle or muscle group. Thats an example of
muscle changing shape. While Ill be pointing out the nominal shapes of the
muscles, its important to remember that the actual shape will be the result of
the combination of multiple factors. One, the state of the musclerelaxed,
contracted, or in between, the body type of the individual, and of course, the
point of view.
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Anatomists make a distinction between two types of muscle to bone
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576

bones that get the insertion are the ones that tend to move when the muscle
is contracted.
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muscle of the back, the trapezius, traps in gym parlance. Leonardo makes
a study of the muscle here. Its sites of origin are all along the center of the
muscle and the body. The top of the diamond attaches to the base of the skull.
And, continues down along the twelve vertebra of the ribcage. It inserts,
extending out at a diagonal, right and left, into the spines of the scapulae and
the far ends of the clavicles. This muscle moves both the scapulae and the
neck.
It really helps in understanding the muscles to feel them at work in your own
body. You can learn a lot by working out. If you become acquainted with
the standard exercises for different muscle groups, you begin to develop an
experiential sense of how each muscle moves.
One of the standard exercises for the traps is the shrug. You hold a heavy
weight, dumbbells, or a barbell, and pull the muscle up to your ears and
hold. Try it with me. If you have some weights around the house thats great,
youll feel the muscle more readily. But even if you dont try it anyway
isolate the muscle, pull up in a shrug. You can feel it lift the scapulae.
The other main visible muscle of the neck is the sternomastoid, also called
the sternocleidomastoid. Theres one on either side of the neck. Its often
seen on the surface. It inserts along the bottom rear of the cranium, behind
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right above the sternum. This muscle allows the head to swivel right and left,
move side to side as well as up and down.
Lets take a look at the shoulders. There are two main muscles responsible
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already covered, the other, the deltoids, or delts. Seen in the anterior or
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like a skullcap thats been rotated a couple degrees. Though, its generally
577

thought of as triangular in shape. Then word deltoid comes to us from the

Greek. Delta is the letter d in the Greek alphabet, which is triangular in
shape. Each deltoid originates along the outer half of the clavicle and along
the top spine of the scapula. It inserts onto the side of the humerus. Leonardo
studied this muscle from the front, side, and rear. Its involved in several
of the arms movements, principal among them rotation. If I lift my arm
straight up thats the deltoid at work. And, as the top of the muscle contracts,
LWOLIWVP\DUPXSIURPP\VLGH$FRPPRQGHOWRLGH[HUFLVHLVWKHVWUDLJKW
arm raise. You extend your arm and raise it along an arc. Do it a couple of
times youll begin to feel the muscle.
On to the chest, the pectoralis major, the pecs. In the anterior view this
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The point of the house inserts onto the humerus, underneath the deltoid as
Leonardo illustrates here. The houses base accounts for its origin along the
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DORQJWKHUVWKDOIRIWKHFODYLFOH,WVWKHPXVFOH\RXZRUNZKHQ\RXGRD
SXVKXSRUEHQFKSUHVVRULI\RXUHURFNFOLPEHUSXOOLQJ\RXUVHOIXSDFOLII
0RYLQJ DURXQG WR WKH VLGH RI WKH ULEFDJH ZH QG WKH VHUUDWXV QR
monosyllabic name here. But it sounds like serrated. It comes from the same
Latin root, meaning saw. And, I think you can see why. These muscles have
WKHLU RULJLQV DORQJ WKH VLGHV RI WKH UVW HLJKW RU QLQH ULEV DQG FROOHFW DQG
insert under the scapula on each side. Their major function is to move the
scapula. Theyre not particularly visible on most peoples bodies, though
youll see them on bodybuilders.
Next, the rectus abdominis, or abs, this has its origin along the pubic bone of
WKHSHOYLV$QGLQVHUWVRQWRWKHFRVWDOFDUWLODJHRIWKHIWKVL[WKDQGVHYHQWK
ribs and onto the xiphoid process, or bottom point, of the sternum. The top
WKUHHVHFWLRQVRIWKHPXVFOHDERYHWKHQDYHODFFRXQWIRUWKHVL[SDFN,I\RX
think about common ab exercises, well, they describe the main movement
RI WKLV PXVFOH 6LWXSV LQYROYH PXVFOH FRQWUDFWLRQ DQG DQ DFFRPSDQ\LQJ
H[LRQRIWKHVSLQH
On either side of the abs and below the serratus, we get the external obliques.
They curve around to the side of the abdomen. This muscle attaches above,
578

WR ULEV YH WKURXJK WZHOYH DQG EHORZ WR WKH SHOYLV 7KLV OLNH WKH DEV LV
LQYROYHGZKHQ\RXEHQG\RXUVSLQH,WDOVRFRPHVLQWRSOD\ZKHQ\RXH[
to the right or left. So, youre using this muscle when you do twist crunches.
/LNHWKHVHUUDWXVWKHVHDUHJHQHUDOO\RQO\YLVLEOHRQSHRSOHZKRYHZRUNHG
out a lot and have little body fat. The external obliques appear higher toward
WKH EDFN DQG VODQW ORZHU WRZDUG WKH IURQW OLNH WKH ULEV -DFRSR 3RQWRUPR
GHSLFWVERWKWKHVHUUDWXVDQGH[WHUQDOREOLTXHVLQWKLVVWDQGLQJJXUH
Lets move around to the back. Weve already talked about the trapezius and
deltoids, which well also see from the back. The other really large muscle of
the back is the latissimus dorsi, or lats. Its triangular in shape. Has its origin
along the protruding spines of the bottom six thoracic vertebraethats
WKH ERWWRP VL[ YHUWHEUDH RI WKH ULEFDJHDV ZHOO DV WKH QH[W YH OXPEDU
vertebrae. It has further origins along the spine of the sacrum and along the
iliac crest of the pelvis. It has its insertion on the inside of the humerus near
the top. It extends to cover the triangular points of the scapulae. This serves
WRKROGWKHPDJDLQVWWKHULEFDJH,WUHDOO\GHQHVWKHVKDSHRIWKHSRVWHULRU
YLHZ RI WKH EDFN 6WDQGDUG ODW H[HUFLVHV DUH ZLGHJULS FKLQXSV DQG ZLGH
JULS ODW SXOOGRZQV ,Q ERWK \RX KROG \RXU DUPV XS RYHU WKH KHDG ZLGHO\
apart. If you just hold your arms up in this position, you can begin to feel
the muscle. Not surprisingly, its used for pulling and climbing. Rowing
machines also work the lats.
=RRPLQJRXWDELW\RXOOVHHWKDWWKHODWVJHWRYHUODSSHGE\WKHWUDSH]LXV,I
VRPHRQHVZHOOPXVFOHGDQGGRHVQWKDYHPXFKERG\IDWZHPD\VHHVRPH
of the external obliques on either side of the lats. Here, Leonardos studying
the latissimus dorsi in a lateral view. Youll also note the deltoid, serratus,
and external oblique.
<RXOO QRWLFH D JURXS RI PXVFOHV VDQGZLFKHGLQ EHWZHHQ WKH WUDSV DQG
delts above and the lats below. We dont have time here to give them more
than a mention. What were seeing here is a bit of the rhomboid. And then
three muscles that cover the back of the scapula, the infraspinatus, the teres
minor and the teres major. And, since were digging down into layers of
muscle, theres one more back muscle we should mention. Thats the erector
spinae. Its a fairly deep muscle. And, as the name implies its responsible
579

for holding the spine up straight. Its also referred to as the sacrospinalis. It
goes all the way from the neck down to the sacrum in two vertical columns.
You can often see evidence of the two columns on either side of the spine
above the sacrum. Its what youre seeing here in the lower back, both in
Leonardos study and in the photo.
Thats our lightening tour of the trunk of the body. As we get into the limbs,
the muscles multiply. Lets start with the thigh. In the anterior view, youll
notice that most of the muscles are like vertical strips. And, most attach at the
pelvis or near the top of the femur. And, many extend to the area around the
NQHH7KHPXVFOHWKDWDPER\DQWO\FURVVHVRYHUIURPWKHRXWVLGHRIWKHKLS
to the inside of the knee is the sartorius. Its the longest muscle in the body.
The name comes from the Latin sartor meaning tailor. Some suggest this
PXVFOHJRWLWVQDPHEHFDXVHDQFLHQWWDLORUVVDWLQDFURVVOHJJHGSRVLWLRQDQG
the muscle was prominently visible as they did their work. Not sure I buy
that. You have to be in pretty athletic shape for the muscle to be visible.
Next, we have the quadriceps or quads. As the name implies there are four of
these. Though, we only see three on the surface. If I lift my leg from the hip,
Im using my quads. The center quad is the rectus femoris. On the outside
of the thigh we get the vastus lateralis, and on the inside the vastus medialis.
The fourth quad is the vastus intermedius. As its name implies its in the
middle, hidden underneath the rectus femoris and sandwiched between the
lateralis and the medialis.
The next group is the adductors. Adduction is to move away or toward the
center of the body. When I lift my leg out to the side, like this, Im using my
DGGXFWRUV7KHUHDUHYHPXVFOHVLQWKLVJURXS7KH\DOOKDYHWKHLURULJLQV
RQWKHSHOYLV7KHUVWIRXUKDYHWKHLULQVHUWLRQVDORQJWKHIHPXU7KHQDO
RQHRQWKHLQVLGHRIWKLJKLQVHUWVRQWRWKHWLELD7KHUVWLVWKHSHFWLQHXV
next, the adductor brevis, then the adductor longus, followed by the adductor
PDJQXV DQG QDOO\ WKH JUDFLOLV <RX FDQ FOHDUO\ VHH WKH VDUWRULRXV DQG
elements of the quads and adductors here.
Moving around to the back, we get the glutes. When you move your thigh
backward or climb a set of stairs, youre using your glutes. We have the large
gluteus maximus, which overlaps the smaller gluteus medius. The larger
580

muscle has its origins along the iliac crest of the pelvis and on the side edges
of the sacrum and coccyx. The insertion is on the femur below the great
trochanter. The smaller glute also has its origin on the pelvis, but below the
crest, on the ilium and has its insertion on the great trochanter.
Lets take a look from the side because therere a couple other pieces that
connect here. The big glute connects with a smaller muscle, the tensor fascia
lata. And, both, in turn connect with the long iliotibial tract, which functions
as a tendon of the glute and terminates at the tibia. Leonardos noting much
of what weve just studied in this drawing. In the leg on the left, he includes
the sartorious, the quads, and the adductors. In the leg on the right, he shows
the glutes and the tensor fascia lata.
7KDWVDOOZHFDQFRYHULQWKLVOHFWXUH:HOOSLFNXSLQWKHQH[WOHFWXUHZLWK
a conclusion of our discussion of human anatomy.

581

The Figure: Drawing Projects

Lecture 34

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DQDWRP\ ,Q WKH VHFRQG ZHOO UHYLHZ WKH VWHSV LQYROYHG LQ JXUH
construction and highlight a few tips that will help you avoid common
SLWIDOOVLQJXUHGUDZLQJ:HOOWKHQGLVFXVVDUDQJHRISURMHFWVGUDZLQJD
VWDQGLQJVHOISRUWUDLWXVLQJVWLFNJXUHVPHOGLQJJXUHGUDZLQJZLWKOLQHDU
SHUVSHFWLYHDQGGUDZLQJIRUHVKRUWHQHGJXUHV

Lecture 34The Figure: Drawing Projects

Continuing with the Major Muscles

In the last lecture, we left off with the glutes. Continuing our inventory,
additional major muscles in the legs include the following:
z

Hamstrings: group of muscles in the upper leg, below the glutes

Extensors: group of muscles in the front lower leg; involved in the

motion of the foot and toes

Gastrocnemius: calf muscle; attaches to the Achilles tendon and

heel bone

Soleus: partially overlapped by the calf

Peroneus longus and peroneus brevis: involved in the motion of the

feet.

Major muscles in the arms include the following:

582

Biceps: main muscles in the front of the upper arm

Triceps: main muscles along the back of the upper arm

Anconeus: muscle directly below the triceps, at the elbow

Flexors: group of muscles in the front of the lower arm; involved

ZLWKPRYLQJWKHZULVWDQGQJHUV

Extensors: group of muscles in the back of the lower arm; involved

ZLWKPRYLQJWKHZULVWKDQGDQGQJHUV

The best way to begin to absorb all the bones and muscles weve covered is,
of course, to draw them. Look online for illustrations to follow and take your
time as you continue this study. You could easily spend 15 to 25 hours on the
JXUHLQWKUHHYLHZVVHWWLQJXSWKHLQLWLDOYHUWLFDODQGKRUL]RQWDOPHDVXUHV
GUDZLQJEDVLFVKDSHVFRQVWUXFWLQJWKHWKUHHJXUHVLQVHUWLQJWKHVNHOHWRQV
and adding the musclesbut it will be time well spent.
Once youve completed this investigation, youll have a much fuller
DZDUHQHVVRIKRZERQHDQGPXVFOHUHODWHWRWKHJXUHEXWUHPHPEHUZLWK
PDQ\JXUHV\RXZRQWVHHPXFKRIHLWKHU%RG\EXLOGHUVDQGDWKOHWHVDVLGH
fat and skin obscure the view. Overall, fat collects most around the center of
the body, in the chest, abdomen, buttocks, and hips, followed by the thighs
and upper arms. We see less fat on the lower legs and arms and the least on
the hands and feet.
Review of Figure Construction Steps
%HIRUH ZH EHJLQ RXU JXUHGUDZLQJ SURMHFWV OHWV UHYLHZ WKH FRQVWUXFWLRQ
steps we took in this last drawing:
z

Start with linear measuretwo horizontal and three vertical lines

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'LYLGH WKH YHUWLFDO PHDVXUHV LQWR KHDGKHLJKW XQLWV DQG UHODWH

anatomical events to this scale. Using the same scale, establish
widths.

Using this scaffolding, draw 10 simple shapes to represent the

ribcage and upper torso, pelvis and lower torso, thighs, lower legs,
feet, upper arms, lower arms, hands, neck, and head.

Introduce contrapposto.
583

$GG YROXPH WKURXJK FURVVFRQWRXU )LUVW GUDZ OLQHV LQ WKH ORQJ
axes to create planes or facets, then draw ellipses or ovoids to
further the illusion.

,QWHJUDWHFRQWRXUDQGFURVVFRQWRXUOLQHVWRFUHDWHDJUHDWHUVHQVH
of naturalism.

Lecture 34The Figure: Drawing Projects

+HUHDUHDIHZPRUHJHQHUDOWLSVWRKHOS\RXDYRLGFRPPRQSLWIDOOVLQJXUH
drawing:
z

Start with the whole, meaning some kind of linear measure or

aggregate shape placed on the page. This lets you control composition
and helps you avoid the beginners problem of running out of room.

:RUN IURP WKH JHQHUDO WR WKH VSHFLF ,WV GLIFXOW WR NHHS WKH
proportions and composition together if you start with details.

5HPHPEHUWKDWWKHJXUHLVWKUHHGLPHQVLRQDO(YHU\WKLQJKDVx, y,
and z coordinates.

Regarding anatomical knowledge, use it as an aid in drawing your

JXUHVEXWNHHSLQPLQGWKHLQWHQWRI\RXUGUDZLQJ,QRWKHUZRUGV
showing more bone and muscle isnt always better.

Practice drawing all these muscles into half of the anterior and posterior
YLHZVRI\RXUJXUHDQGIXOO\LQWRWKHODWHUDOYLHZ,I\RXZDQWWRXVHFRORUHG
pencils for this project, get a set of eight: yellow, orange, red, blue, brown,
gray, black, and white. Imagine the light coming from a single direction.
Where the muscles swell toward the light, make them lighter. Where the
muscles taper, where theyre overlapped, and where theyre away from the
light, go darker.
Project: Self-Portrait in Three Views
)RUDGGLWLRQDOSUDFWLFHZLWKJXUHSURSRUWLRQWU\DVWDQGLQJIXOOOHQJWKVHOI
SRUWUDLWLQWKUHHYLHZV7KHJRDOKHUHLVWRDQDO\]HDJXUHREVHUYDWLRQDOO\LQ
terms of measure and to note actual, as opposed to canonical, proportions. To
complete this project, follow these steps:
584

6HWXSWKHSDJHDV\RXGLGIRUWKHGUDZLQJRIWKHJXUHLQWKUHHYLHZV

In order to see your proportions clearly, wear a bathing suit, a

leotard, or shorts and a tank top.

Choose an expressive posture and decide on the positions of your

arms and legs.

Start with the anterior view. Take the measure of your head with
your pencil. Then, measure your body height in heads and calibrate
the central vertical axis according to this number. Number the head
heights.

Note what landmarks occur at each head height. For example,

the nipples might be located at the second head, the naval at the
third head, and so on. When important landmarks dont coincide
with a head height, make a line where the landmark occurs and an
accompanying notation.

Once you have the heights established, plot the widths.

With the anterior view plotted, carry the measures to the posterior
and lateral views. Then, turning your head, add any other measures
you need for these views. If theres something you cant see, have
someone take a picture and use the photo to clarify.

Draw the basic shapes in relation to your measure marks. Check the
proportions and adjust.

$GGYROXPHDQGLQWHJUDWHFRQWRXUDQGFURVVFRQWRXUOLQHVWRDUULYH
DWDPRUHQDWXUDOLVWLFJXUH

$VDVHFRQGSURMHFWXVHDPRGHOWRGUDZDQRWKHUVWDQGLQJJXUH:RUNLQJ
on this project with a number of different body types will help you develop
a sense of the range of human proportions. It also makes you aware of the
WKUHHGLPHQVLRQDOVWUXFWXUHRIWKHERG\DQGKRZVWUXFWXUHVLQWKHIURQWVLGH
and rear relate.
585

Another good project is to invent your own set of proportions. Such a

drawing might consist of a subtle variation on the proportions you used in
WKH LQLWLDO GUDZLQJ RI WKUHH JXUDO YLHZV RU LW FRXOG EH VRPHWKLQJ PRUH
extreme. You might try drawing a child, a weight lifter, or a runway model.
Given the body type youre imagining, consider what you might see of the
underlying anatomy on the surface.
Project: Stick Figures
7KH KXPEOH VWLFN JXUH FDQ EH D XVHIXO VWDUWLQJ SRLQW LQ JXUH GUDZLQJ
EHFDXVHLWFDQFDSWXUHWKHJXUHLQDVSHFLFSRVLWLRQWKDWPLJKWRWKHUZLVH
VHHPGLIFXOW6WLFNJXUHVDOVRHQDEOH\RXWRFDSWXUHPRYHPHQWWKDW\RX
FDQEXLOGRQODWHU6WDUWLQJZLWKDVLPSOHVWLFNJXUH\RXFDQDGGDWUDSH]RLG
or ovoid for the ribcage and another for the pelvis. Then, follow with the
other eight body shapes. If you add tapering cylinders for the body parts,
youll have volume.

Lecture 34The Figure: Drawing Projects

In an earlier lecture, we saw how we can apply gestural drawing to linear

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DQGWKHKRUL]RQ,I\RXFRPELQHVWLFNJXUHVZLWKOLQHDUSHUVSHFWLYHDQGD
gestural approach, you have a ready method for quickly drawing complex
JXUHVLQHQYLURQPHQWV
Project: Figures in Perspectival Space and Foreshortened Figures
7KH ODVW SURMHFWV LQ WKLV OHFWXUH DUH IRFXVHG RQ FRQVWUXFWLQJ JXUHV
LQ SHUVSHFWLYDO VSDFH :H VWDUW ZLWK D JXUH XVLQJ OLQH LQ RQHSRLQW
SHUVSHFWLYH IROORZHG E\ WZRSRLQW SHUVSHFWLYH IROORZHG E\ WKH DGGLWLRQ
of value and color.
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DOVR WU\ GUDZLQJ D IRUHVKRUWHQHG JXUH 8VH D PRGHO DQG \RXU JULG IRU
this project. Remember, its all about measure and a conscientious use of
FURVVFRQWRXUDQGRYHUODS,I\RXVWLFNWRRXWOLQHWKHJXUHZLOOEHDW
not volumetric.

586

Suggested Reading
Brown and McLean, Drawing from Life, Foreshortened Figures, pp. 4860.
Hamm, Drawing the Head and Figure.
Loomis, Successful Drawing, Projection of Figures (in Perspective), pp.
6777.

587

The Figure: Drawing Projects

Lecture 34Transcript
,QWKHUVWSDUWRIWKLVOHFWXUHZHOOQLVKRXUGLVFXVVLRQRIKXPDQDQDWRP\
,QWKHVHFRQGZHOOGLVFXVVDUDQJHRIJXUHGUDZLQJSURMHFWV
:H OHIW RII ZLWK WKH JOXWHV 8QGHUQHDWK WKH JOXWHV ZH QG WKH WRSV RI WKH
three hamstring muscles. When you lift your lower leg backward, toward
the glutes, youre using your hamstrings. Like the quads in front, they form
a vertical column in the back. On the outside is the biceps femoris. Then
WKHVHPLWHQGLQRVXVDQGRYHUODSSHGE\WKHUVWWZRWKHVHPLPHPEUDQRVXV
Michelangelos studies the hamstring group here.
Weve counted 17 muscles in the upper leg. In the lower leg, we get another
7. Well start in front with the three muscles of the extensor group. Theyre
involved in the motion of the foot and toes. First, the tibialis anterior,
next, the extensor hallucis longus, largely obscured by the tibialis anterior,
and the extensor digitorum longus. In the rear, we have two muscles, the
gastrocnemius or calf muscle, it attaches to the Achilles tendon and heel
bone, and the soleus, partially overlapped by the calf.
From the side, we see two more muscles. The peroneus longus and the
peroneus brevis, these muscles are also involved in the motion of the feet
and come into play when walking and running. Michelangelos also studying
PDQ\RIWKHVHORZHUOHJPXVFOHVLQWKLVGUDZLQJ
Lets turn to the muscles of the arm. The muscles of the upper arm feed
underneath the deltoid. The main muscles here are the biceps in front and the
triceps along the back of the arm. The anatomical terms are biceps brachii
and triceps brachii. Brachii means arms. The modern Italian is similar,
braccio. Well get variations on this root in a number of the arm muscles
QDPHV&HSPHDQVKHDG6RWKHELFHSEUDFKLLLVWKHWZRKHDGHGDUPPXVFOH
WKHWULFHSWKHWKUHHKHDGHGRQH
,Q WKH IURQW ZHOO VHH WKH WZR KHDGV RI WKH ELFHSV 7KH ELFHSV H[ WKH
elbow joint. The motion involved in doing curls. Underneath the biceps is

588

the brachialis and extending below the elbow, the brachioradialis. It has its
origin on the humerus and its insertion at the end of the radius.
Well see the word radialis again. It means the muscle attaches on, or near,
the radius. Well also see ulnaris. As you likely guessed, it means the muscle
attaches on or near the ulna. Both the brachialis and the brachioradialis work
ZLWKWKHELFHSVWRH[WKHHOERZMRLQW
At the back of the arm are the triceps. Theyre involved in straightening the
DUP0DQ\ WULFHSH[HUFLVHVOLNHSXOOH\SXVKGRZQV LQYROYHUHSHWLWLRQVRI
this action. The triceps have three heads and a tendon. Directly below the
triceps, at the elbow, is the anconeus. This works with the triceps to extend
the arm.
In this study of the muscles of the arm, Leonardo shows the deltoid
overlapping the biceps and triceps and also depicts the brachioradialis and
anconeus.
Lets take a look at the lower arm, anterior view palm facing forward. Our
UVWJURXSRIPXVFOHVLVWKHH[RUJURXS,WVPRVWO\LQYROYHGZLWKPRYLQJ
WKHZULVWDQGQJHUV,WVFRPSULVHGRIIRXUPXVFOHVWKHSURQDWRUWHUHVWKH
H[RUFDUSLUDGLDOLVWKHSDOPDULVORQJXVDQGWKHH[RUFDUSLXOQDULV
0RYLQJWRWKHEDFNRIWKHDUPZHJHWWKHH[WHQVRUJURXSZLWKDQDOQLQH
muscles. This groups involved in the movement of the wrist, hands, and
QJHUV ,WV FRPSULVHG RI WKH H[WHQVRU FDUSL XOQDULV WKH H[WHQVRU GLJLWL
minimi, the extensor digitorum, the extensor carpi radialis brevis, and the
H[WHQVRUFDUSLUDGLDOLVORQJXV7KHQVDQGZLFKHGLQEHORZZHJHWWKUHHPRUH
the abductor pollicis longus, the extensor pollicis brevis, the extensor pollicis
longus, and the extensor indicis. Leonardo studies the extensor group above
DQGWKHH[RUJURXSEHORZZLWKHOHJDQWFODULW\
That concludes our review of the major muscles. The best way to begin to
absorb all this is to follow Leonardos example and draw them. The good
news is that its never been easier. There are hundreds of great illustrations
and examples online. You can image search each muscle or muscle group by
name. Take it slow. It takes time to work through all the stages of this project,
589

from setting up the initial vertical and horizontal measures, to drawing the
EDVLFVKDSHVWRFRQVWUXFWLQJWKHWKUHHJXUHVWRLQVHUWLQJWKHVNHOHWRQVDQG
QDOO\ DGGLQJ WKH PXVFOHV 6WXGHQWV UHSRUW VSHQGLQJ IURP  KRXUV WR
complete this project but its time well spent.
Once youve completed this investigation youll have a much fuller
DZDUHQHVVRIKRZERQHDQGPXVFOHUHODWHWRWKHJXUH%XWUHPHPEHUZLWK
PDQ\JXUHVZHZRQWVHHPXFKRIHLWKHU%RG\EXLOGHUVDQGDWKOHWHVDVLGH
fat and skin obscure the view. And there are places where fat especially
collects and forms shapes and bulges of its own, womens breasts are one
example. Overall, fat collects most around the center of the body, chest,
abdomen, butt, and hips, next, the thighs and upper arms, less again on the
ORZHUOHJVDQGDUPVDQGOHDVWRQWKHKDQGVDQGIHHW7KHVHHDUO\JXULQHV
exemplify the tendency.
6R OHWV WDON DERXW VRPH JXUH GUDZLQJ SURMHFWV 7KH UVW WKUHH LQYROYH
variations on what weve just done. Lets go over the steps. We started with
OLQHDUPHDVXUH7ZRKRUL]RQWDODQGWKUHHYHUWLFDOOLQHVGHQLQJWKHJXUHV
KHLJKWLQWKHIRUPDWVKDSH1H[WZHGLYLGHGWKHYHUWLFDOPHDVXUHVLQWRKHDG
height units and related anatomical events to this scale. Then using the same
scale, we established widths. Next, using this scaffolding, we drew 10 simple
shapes to represent the ribcage and upper torso, the pelvis and lower torso,
the thigh, the lower legs, the foot, the upper arm, the lower arm, the hand, the
neck, and the head. Then, we introduced contrapposto.
7KHIRXUWKVWHSLQYROYHGDGGLQJYROXPHWKURXJKFURVVFRQWRXUUVWOLQHV
in the long axes to create planes or facets, then ellipses or ovoids to further
WKHLOOXVLRQ7KHIWKVWHSLQYROYHGLQWHJUDWLQJFRQWRXUDQGFURVVFRQWRXUWR
create a greater sense of naturalism.
7KH UVW YDULDWLRQ WR WU\ LV D VWDQGLQJ IXOOOHQJWK VHOISRUWUDLW LQ WKUHH
YLHZV<RXOO QHHG D WDOOLVK PLUURU IRU WKLV 7KH JRDOV WR DQDO\]H D JXUH
observationally in terms of measure and to note actual, as opposed to
canonical proportions. Worth noting that proportion and shape carry a lot of
information. We routinely recognize people at a distance without seeing their
features.

590

Set up the page as you did in the last drawing. Best to do this without
elaborate drapery. You want to be able to see your proportions, so a bathing
suit, leotard, shorts, or tank top are all good choices. Next, decide how you
want to stand. Think about how posture can be expressive. Are you posing
aggressively, timidly, rakishly? Is there contrapposto? Legs together or apart,
and where will the arms go?
Start with the anterior view. Take the measure of your head with your pencil.
Then measure your body height in heads. Next, calibrate the central vertical
axis according to this number and number the head heights. An individual
who measures out at eight heads would divide the vertical axis in eight equal
VHJPHQWV6RPHRQHYHDQGDTXDUWHUKHDGKHLJKWVLQWRYHDQGDTXDUWHU
intervals.
Note what occurs at each head height. For example, second head nipples,
third head navel, etc. Some individuals measure out evenly, they have an
easy time, and some of us dont. The navel could be somewhat above or
below the third head. So when important landmarks dont coincide with a
head height, make a line where the landmark occurs with an accompanying
annotation.
If youre posing with contrapposto, you could include two height markings
for the shoulders, hips, and knees. Or you could indicate both the upper and
lower height with a diagonal line.
Once you have your heights established, plot the widths. With the anterior
view plotted, carry the measures to your posterior and lateral views. Then
turning your head, add any other measures you need from these views. If
theres something you cant see, have someone take a picture and use the
photo to clarify. Now draw your basic shapes in relation to your measure
marks. Check the proportions and adjust. Next, volume. Use the same
method we used in the last drawing. Remember to draw the ellipses or
ovoids relative to eye level. Then integrate the contour and cross contour to
DUULYHDWDPRUHQDWXUDOLVWLFJXUH
Lets look at a couple examples of this project at different stages. Here, the
proportions have been established through shape. And the measures been
591

carried across the three views. By drawing through, we really begin to get a
VHQVHRIYROXPHLQWKHJXUH
In this example, you can still feel the linear measure, shape, and volumes.
All still present in a whispered line weight. But were well along in moving
EH\RQGWKHPDQQHTXLQOLNHEHJLQQLQJWRVRPHWKLQJPXFKPRUHQDWXUDOLVWLF
some very good choices here in moving from contour to cross contour. In
the anterior view, on the left, note how the shoulder, the deltoid muscle,
is described by a contour. The same line becomes the clavicle and is now
a cross contour, overlapping the trapezius, behind. Youll note a similar
overlap, the trapezius overlapping the neck, in the posterior view. Again, in
the front view, the ovoid at the top of the hips conveys the slight swell of the
abdomen projecting forward in space.
In this next example, a lot of the pieces are coming together. The three
views all feel similarly proportionate. The stance and posture are carried
along as well. Note the back of the legs at the knee in the posterior view.
The three short overlaps rising from the calves really cement the sensation
of volume here. The draperys also being used as cross contour to describe
the underlying form. In the lateral view, note the strap moving from the back
and disappearing over the shoulder, adds volume. Last, note how the hair has
been analyzed in terms of shape and overlap, creates form.
/HWVORRNDWRQHPRUH<RXFDQVWLOOVHHWKHYHVWLJHVRIWKHXQGHUGUDZLQJ
and how they poke through, supporting the drawing. In the lateral view, the
line that rises up along the ridge of the shoulder and through the center of the
neck gives it planar structure. In the same view, at the wrist, note the small
bit of cross contour related to the ellipse that was drawn there. This now
becomes the projection of the bottom of the ulna.
,I\RXEHORQJWRDOLIHGUDZLQJJURXSRUKDYHDFFHVVWRDPRGHOWU\WKLVVDPH
project with as many body types as possible. Youll begin to develop a sense
RIUDQJHVRISURSRUWLRQV,WDOVRPDNHV\RXDZDUHRIWKHWKUHHGLPHQVLRQDO
structure of the body, and how structures in the front, side, and rear relate.
I mentioned earlier that many people draw the rib cage and pelvis in both
front and rear views as if there was no spatial movement, as if the ribcage
592

and pelvis were parallel to the picture plane. The lateral view tells us that this
is rarely so. The ribcage tilts forward in space. The pelvis tilts back.
Another great project is to invent your own set of proportions. Think about
age, sex, body type, etc. The drawing could consist of a subtle variation
RQ WKH SURSRUWLRQV \RX XVHG LQ WKH LQLWLDO WKUHHYLHZV GUDZLQJ RU LW FRXOG
be something more extreme. Use linecontour and cross contour, in
varying line weights, to create space and volume. This will allow you to
concentrate on measure. Given the body type, consider what we might see
of the underlying anatomy on the surface. We might see a lot or relatively
little. And give the pose some thought. Is there contrapposto? What are the
arms and legs doing? Lets take a look at a couple examples. I think theyll
stimulate your imagination.
6RPHVWXGHQWVVWLFNZLWKWKHQXGHDQGUHDOO\OHDQLQWRWKHSURSRUWLRQV+HUH
the hips are wide while both the wrists and ankles really taper. Theres strong
contrapposto and, in the lateral view, a lot of thrust to both the ribcage and
the pelvis.
6RPHVWXGHQWVWDFNOHDJH+HUHDER\DWRGGOHUDERXWYHKHDGVVWLOOZLWK
a fair amount of baby fat. In the anterior view, note how the top of the diaper
serves as cross contour creating the swell of the toddlers abdomen. And
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)RU NLGV IRXU WR YH KHDG KHLJKWV ZLOO IHHO OLNH D RQH WR WKUHH\HDUROG
6L[ KHDGV DERXW YH WR HLJKW 6HYHQ KHDGV JHWV XV LQWR DGROHVFHQW DQG
adult proportions. In many adults, the vertical center is at about the groin.
In toddlers, its closer to the navel. As we grow the center, point shifts
downward. In other words, the legs grow more than the head or upper body.
Some students go for a type, like a ballerina, or runway model, or biker
chick.
,DVNVWXGHQWVWRUHVHDUFKDQ\WKLQJWKH\QHHGWRQGFRVWXPHRUDFFHVVRULHV
WKDWPDNHVHQVHIRUWKHGUDZLQJ$FWXDOWKUHHGLPHQVLRQDOREMHFWVDUHEHVW
but photographs can help. Many artists have used them. Degas, Eakins, and
Chuck Close, to name a few. Heres my advice. Dont depend on one picture
of a motorcycle helmet or stiletto heel and copy it. Find multiple examples
593

and take bits from each. Conceive of the object in shape and volume then
draw it as if seen from three different points of view. Its an excellent visual
H[HUFLVHWKDWKHOSV\RXLPDJLQHWKHSKRWRJUDSKHGLPDJHDVUHDODQGWKUHH
GLPHQVLRQDO6RPHVWXGHQWVFUHDWHIDQWDVWLFJXUHV,UHDOO\OLNHGWKLVRQH
Its wonderful, all the wrapping and cross contours. So much form gets
brought out. Check out the knees in each view; great management of line
overlap. As Drer did, this is the kind of project you can do over and over,
each time investigating a new set of proportions.
7KHUH DUH PDQ\ ZD\V WR DSSURDFK WKH JXUH$QG WKH KXPEOH VWLFN JXUH
FDQEHDXVHIXOVWDUWLQJSRLQWEHFDXVHLWFDQFDSWXUHWKHJXUHLQDVSHFLF
SRVLWLRQDVZHOODVDVHWRISURSRUWLRQV0DQ\DUWLVWVKDYHXVHGVWLFNJXUHV
from the 16thFHQWXU\DUWLVWVLQ'UHUVZRUNVKRSWRWKHth century Alberto
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PLJKWVHHPRWKHUZLVHGLIFXOW
6WDUWLQJZLWKDVLPSOHVWLFNJXUH\RXFDQDGGDWUDSH]RLGRURYRLGIRUWKH
ribcage, then another for the pelvis, and then follow with your other eight
body shapes. And if you add tapering cylinders for the body parts, youll
have volume to. So lets try this out.
/HWV WU\ VRPH VWLFN JXUHV :HOO VWDUW ZLWK RQH VWDQGLQJ OLNH LQ WKH
*LDFRPHWWL:HOO MXVW VWDUW ZLWK D VWLFN JXUH:HOO GUDZ D OLWWOH OLQH IRU
the shoulders, one for the upper torso, and one for the lower torso. Well get
a leg coming out, lower leg, foot. Get some neck, head, just a little ovoid.
And, of course, an arm, and another arm, lower arm. And then we can begin
to associate our shapes with this. So well start over here with a trapezoid,
the upper body, another trapezoid for the lower, and the pelvis. Associate
another trapezoid with the line we have for our leg and another one for the
lower. And we can associate the trapezoid for our foot and we can do the
same thing on the other side. Well do the same thing for the arm and, of
course, a shape for our neck and for the top of the trapezius, the shoulders.
7KLV WLPH ZHOO WU\ D FUDZOLQJ JXUH 6R KDYH D OLQH IRU WKH VSLQH RU
backbone, another for the shoulders, and another at the pelvis. Youll have an
arm coming out, a lower arm, and a hand. The leg coming down to the knee
and well get the other arm coming out. And well get the other leg going
594

back. And we dont have to use those trapezoids we could use more like
ovoids if we wanted to, one for the rib cage, another loosely for the pelvis,
something coming down for the leg, another gestural ovoid for the leg and
foot. Get that arm coming out, the lower arm down to the hand. Well get
some neck in there.
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hips. Well have one leg going back, another leg going forward. Maybe well
SXWWKHULEFDJHLQQRZ<RXGRQWKDYHWRIROORZDQ\NLQGRIVSHFLFRUGHU
here. Again, we can work gesturally if we want. Get that other leg going
out, foot going forward, a little connector here. Come up to the neck, the
shoulders. Now well take that arm back, another one moving forward. And
LIZHZDQWHGRIFRXUVHZHFDQUHQHDOORIRXUVKDSHV
/HWVGRDQDOJXUHVLWWLQJGRZQ,OOVWDUWZLWKWKHSHOYLVMXVWDOLQHDOHJ
coming out this way, lower leg and foot, same thing over here. Well come
up here to the shoulders, the upper torso shape, and the lower torso shape.
Well build some legs here. And we can go back to our stick over here. Get
the arms folding over the chest, a neck going up to our head. And we have a
JXUHVHDWHG
Try drawing this way at the theater or a sporting event, or while watching
a video or TV show. People move. Theres rarely time to get details. But if
you use this kind of shorthand, you can often capture enough so that you can
build on the visual note.
In an earlier lecture, I spoke about how you could apply gestural drawing
WR OLQHDU SHUVSHFWLYH , VKRZHG \RX KRZ \RX FRXOG URXJKLQ VRPH SODQHV
a room. Find the vanishing point and horizon, and sketch through many
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gestural approach, you have a ready method for quickly drawing complex
JXUHVLQHQYLURQPHQWVERWKIURPREVHUYDWLRQDQGIURP\RXULPDJLQDWLRQ
7KDWVMXVWZKDW*LDFRPHWWLVGRLQJKHUH7KHWKUHHJXUHVUHDGLQVFDOHDQG
in space because theyre drawn in relation to a vanishing point. The space
LWVHOI D VWUHHW DQNHG E\ EXLOGLQJV LV D FODVVLF ER[ 6DPH DV WKH URRP LQ
Leonardos Last Supper.
595

6R WU\ WKLV WRR7U\ GUDZLQJ JXUHV LQ DQ HQYLURQPHQW XVLQJ VWLFN JXUHV
with a gestural approach supported by linear perspective. Try it both from
your imagination and from observation.
7KLV QH[W JURXS RI SURMHFWV FHQWHUV RQ FRQVWUXFWLQJ JXUHV LQ SHUVSHFWLYDO
VSDFH )LUVW XVLQJ OLQH LQ RQHSRLQW SHUVSHFWLYH WKHQ LQ WZRSRLQW
SHUVSHFWLYHWKHQZLWKYDOXHDQGQDOO\XVLQJFRORU:HOOVWDUWZLWKDJXUH
LQRQHSRLQWSHUVSHFWLYHXVLQJOLQH
7DNHRXWDQHZVKHHWRILQFKSDSHU3ODFHLWLQWKHSRUWUDLWRULHQWDWLRQ
&HQWHUHGLQWKHSDJHGUDZDLQFKYHUWLFDOFRQVWUXFWLRQOLQH7KDWPHDQV
there should be four inches below it and four inches above. Well be drawing
DQHLJKWKHDGJXUH$WWKHWRSRIWKHYHUWLFDOGUDZDKRUL]RQWDOWKDWVWKH
top of the head; at the bottom, another, for the feet. Now divide the vertical
line into eight equal units. At the center mark, make a notation for the crotch.
Then decide on your proportions and locate all the vertical and horizontal
measures youll need to draw the 10 basic body shapes. The canon of
SURSRUWLRQVZHXVHGIRUWKHJXUHLQWKUHHYLHZVFDQVHUYHDVWKHEDVLVIRU
variation.
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consider who this is: sex, body type, age, posture, and pose. Begin to
imagine the person as someone particular. Take your drawing to the point
where youve blocked in the shapes but dont move to volume yet because
I want you to bring in linear perspective before you do. Imagine that your
JXUHVVWDQGLQJFHQWHUHGRQDUXJRUFDUSHW7KHJRDOVWRGHWHUPLQHSRLQW
of view, and the carpet, once drawn, will give us eye level, the horizon, and a
central vanishing point. And those ingredients will allow you to construct the
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ovoids with height. So the choice about the carpets shape is important. A lot
will follow from it.
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sketches with different points of view. One, lets say where the carpet is quite
596

obliquethat represents a low eye leveland others where the eye levels
higher. This isnt just a technical choice. Eye level establishes whether were
looking up at someone, or down at them, or looking them straight in the
H\H,WVDPHDQLQJIXOGHFLVLRQ6R\RXFRXOGSODFHWKHKRUL]RQUVWDQGWKHQ
draw the carpet based on that.
Heres an example of a drawing just past this stage. The carpets been
SODFHG YROXPHV EHHQ EURXJKW LQWR WKH JXUH DQG D URRP ZLWK D VRIDV
under construction.
This is the seminal point. You want to take some time to look everything
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in your composition. The next part requires your invention. What kind of
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,QWKLVH[DPSOHWKHUXJVEHHQWXUQHGLQWRD\RJDPDWZLWKDJXUHWRPDWFK
another a runway model, another a nude in an ornate home. All the objects
LQWKHURRPWKHSODQWVWKHUHSODFHWKHGLYDQZLWKWKHF\OLQGULFDOSLOORZ
DUHFRQVWUXFWHGXVLQJYROXPHVUHODWHGWRDYDQLVKLQJSRLQWDVLVWKHJXUH
itself. Find examples of the kinds of things you want to draw, windows,
chairs, clothing. If youre using photographic sources really use them. Let
the photograph suggest how you could construct the given object using
geometric solids, then build them from the appropriate point of view related
to the vanishing point and horizon. Thats not copying a photo. Its analyzing
the visual data in a photo.
After completing this project, try it again but this time starting with stick
JXUHVDQGJHVWXUDOVWXGLHVWRZRUNRXWDQRULJLQDOFRPSRVLWLRQIURPVFUDWFK
Here are some examples.
Many people would likely think a drawing like this of a girl sitting in
a library staring out a window would have had to have been drawn from
observation. It has obvious hallmarks of naturalism but with the appropriate
knowledge, you can draw things like this from your imagination. This is a
wonderful example, great control of line weight and detail. Both make the
FRXSOHWKHIRFDOSRLQW$OVRJUHDWXVHRIFURVVFRQWRXULQWKHJXUHVJLYLQJ
XVORWVRIYROXPH7KHRRUSDWWHUQUHDOO\PDNHVWKDWSODQHOLHGRZQ$QG
597

QRWHWKHZLQGRZDQGVKRHVUHHFWLQJLQWRWKHRRUJLYLQJLWDVKHHQ7KLV
example takes us in a more fantastic direction. One of the things I really like
DERXWWKLVGUDZLQJLVWKHVSHFLFLW\RIWKHHQYLURQPHQWWKHXQGHUVLGHRIWKH
highway and the piping running along the slanted surface. And this goes in a
more cartoonish direction. The same set of principles can be applied in many
different ways.
This is when drawing really gets to be a good bit of fun when you can begin
to draw the things you want, the way you want. This brings me back to
this Eakins. You likely see how many different things he had to consider
in making a drawing like this. And at this point, youre able to wrestle with
many of these same pieces to make the drawings you want to make.
That leads us to a couple variations on this project. It wasnt at all uncommon
for Eakins and many other artists to build things up in steps. Theres an
excellent 2001 book on Eakins. It included several essays including one
titled The Camera Artist by W. Douglass Paschall. Paschall writes:
)URPKLVWUDLQLQJDWWKHeFROHGHV%HDX[$UWV(DNLQVKDGOHDUQHG
to see paintings as accretions, as collections of parts to be worked
up in succession from sketches, memory, and life study. For these
projects, the camera and its products were merely tools like any
other, a compliment to the perspective drawings, costume sketches,
sculptures, oil studies, and handwritten notes that contributed their
respective parts
The essential idea is that a painting or a drawing can be built up in steps using
DYDULHW\RIVRXUFHV$JXUHVWXG\DSKRWRJUDSKDSHUVSHFWLYHGUDZLQJDQG
that the drawing is arrived at through a process of making several drawings.
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D VHOISRUWUDLW RU VRPHWKLQJ IURP WKH PRGHO D IXOOOHQJWK JXUH LV EHVW
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LQ D VSHFLF HQYLURQPHQW 8VH WKH JXUH GUDZLQJ DQ\ RWKHU REMHFWV DQG
any photos you need, combined with what you know about composition and
perspective to make a wholly new drawing. And you could do the inverse.
Do a study of a place from observation, a landscape, a kitchen, a parking lot,
598

the inside of a mall. Then use that as source material. Ask yourself whats
JRLQJRQWKHUH7KHQLQYHQW\RXUJXUHV<RXPD\QGWKDWWRGRWKHGUDZLQJ
you have to make a series of drawings to discover what you need to know
about all the pieces. Many artists have done just that.
2QFH\RXYHGRQHDJXUHLQRQHSRLQWSHUVSHFWLYHWU\LWLQWZRSRLQW6WDUW
with small gesture studies. Its often easiest to start with the corner of the
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SODQHV 1H[W GUDZ HQKDQFHG VWLFN JXUHV LQ UHODWLRQ WR WKH ODUJH SODQHV
Remember to think compositionally. Its best to do your small sketches
LQ D VPDOOHU IRUPDW VKDSH ZLWKLQ D ODUJHU SDJH EHFDXVH LQ WZRSRLQW WKH
vanishing points need to be spaced relatively far apart. Its common for one,
or both, to be located outside the drawings format. The small drawings will
help you set this up in the larger drawing.
Heres an example. The drawings a vertical rectangle. But the page is in
the landscape position. This allows for the vanishing points to be placed far
right and left, almost at the edges of the page. Lets take a look at a couple
other examples. Some of the engaging things to experiment with include the
W\SHRIJXUHDQGW\SHRISODFH0DNLQJWKLQJVVSHFLFOLNHWKHJLUOVDJH
hairstyle, and the windows, lends believability.
1DUUDWLYHLVVRPHWKLQJHOVHWRH[SORUH0DQ\GUDZLQJVZLWKJXUHVDUHLQ
some sense, telling a story, so ask whats going on. Whats the person doing?
Here trying on clothing in front of a mirror thats outside the drawing, here
a couple at an outdoor caf. This is a more elaborate narrative. We get the
skis and the guy with the broken leg, then, the wife or girlfriend helping
out, stretching to get a book from the high shelf. And you can embroider on
UHDOLW\KHUHJLUOVZLWKWDLOVDQGSRLQW\HDUVOLYLQJDQRWKHUZLVHPLGGOHFODVV
OLIHLQWKHEXUEV2UWKHJXUHVDQGWKHSODFHFDQERWKEHLQYHQWLRQV<RXOO
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and thats a great thing. Thats why and how artists develop bodies of work,
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to play through their possibilities.

599

Remember, a rooms like a block or a box seen from the inside. All the things
ZHQGLQURRPVLQFOXGLQJWKHJXUHVFDQEHFRQFHLYHGRIDEVWUDFWO\EXLOW
on permutations of blocks, spheres, cylinders, cones, and the like.
Next, try this using value. One idea is to take one of the drawings youve
done in line and use it as a model. The utility in this is that youve already
solved a whole set of problemssubject matter, composition, proportion,
etc.so you can really concentrate on the new challenge, value.
Remember, shading is just one small part of what value does. Think mood
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JXUHWRJHWWKHKLJKHVWFRQWUDVWWKHZDOOVWKHOHDVW/HWWKHVKDGLQJKDSSHQ
within that. And when applying the effects of light, remember to imagine
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an enormous amount to a drawing. As can the handling of the material, the
texture.
Then try color. Consult the color studies you did. Imagine how this last
GUDZLQJZRXOGORRNLQWKLVSDOHWWHRUDOWHUQDWHO\LQWKLVRQH$QG\RXOOQG
out a lot about color by trying the same drawing in multiple palettes, like
0RQHW.HHSHYHU\WKLQJHOVHWKHVDPHFKDQJHRQHYDULDEOH<RXQGRXWWKH
meaning of that variable. It works in the sciences and it works in art.
7KHUHDUHDOONLQGVRILQWHUHVWLQJSUREOHPVSHUWDLQLQJWRGUDZLQJWKHJXUH
IURPREVHUYDWLRQ7KHIRUHVKRUWHQHGJXUHLVRQHRIWKHP1RZWKDW\RXYH
KDGWKLVLQWURGXFWLRQWRWKHJXUHLI\RXKDYHDFFHVVWRDPRGHOSXOORXW
your grid and try what we see Drer demonstrating in this woodcut. Youll
be able to pull on your knowledge of this methodology as well as your new
NQRZOHGJHRIJXUHLWVHOI,XVHDYHUVLRQRIWKLVPHWKRGZLWKP\VWXGHQWV
and they get dependably good results. Remember, its all about measure and
a conscientious use of cross contour and overlap. If you stick to outline, the
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common pitfalls. First, start with the whole. Some kind of linear measure or
aggregate shape placed in the page. This lets you control composition and

600

lets you avoid the beginners problem of running out of room, falling off the
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The other way to say this is, at least most of the time, starting with details
invites problems, hard to keep the proportions and composition, together.
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coordinates. Regarding anatomical knowledge, use it as an aid in drawing
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\RXUVHOIZKDWNLQGRIJXUH\RXUHGUDZLQJ:KDWVWKHLQWHQW"
Toward the end of this lecture, in discussing some of my students drawings,
,YHIRUHVKDGRZHGZKHUHZHUHJRLQJLQWKHQDOWZROHFWXUHV1RZWKDW\RX
have a number of tools at your disposal, the question becomes what do you
want to draw and how do you want to draw it? So well take a look at these
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sense of some possible directions after all the hard work youve done.

601

Advanced Concepts: Pictorial Space

Lecture 35

Lecture 35Advanced Concepts: Pictorial Space

fter working diligently through the many projects in this course,

you have some real knowledge and ability at your disposal. Youll
likely want to put it to use to make drawings that speak to your own
concerns and ambitions. In developing your work, its useful to be aware of
the range of traditions and subjects that have been important in the history of
drawing, as well as trends in contemporary art. In this lecture, well trace a
EURDGRXWOLQHRIWKDWKLVWRU\VWDUWLQJEDFNZKHUHZHEHJDQLQWKHUVWOHFWXUH
in the Blombos Cave and moving into the present.
Pictorial Space from Earliest Art
We can chart the whole history of art from the perspective of pictorial space.
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ZHVDZLQ/HFWXUHZHQRWHGOLQHVKDSHYDOXHDQGSDWWHUQ)DVWIRUZDUG
50,000 years to the drawings in Chauvet Cave, and we get line, value, and
overlap. Move forward another 27,000 years to Egypt, and we get line,
shape, value, pattern, color, and a clear embrace of spatial illusion, although
WKHZRUOGZDVVWLOOGHSLFWHGDVIDLUO\DW
About 2,000 years later, in Song dynasty China, we have line, shape, value,
pattern, color, overlap, and shapes that tilt back into space. By this time,
human beings had clearly discovered a great deal about the compositional
XVHVRIFRORUDQGYDOXHXVLQJKLJKFRQWUDVWHYHQWVWREULQJRXWJXUHVDQG
much more muted value and color contrasts in the ground.
Move ahead another 200 years to northern Italy, and the list of artistic
techniques and discoveries becomes longer. We have line, shape, value,
SDWWHUQ FRORU RYHUODS REOLTXH VKDSHV DQG WKUHHGLPHQVLRQDOLW\ :H KDYH
VSDFH FRQVWUXFWHG RXW RI SODQHV URRPV ZLWK DUWLFXODWHG ZDOOV RRUV DQG
ceilings. And we see the effects of light, with more light on the top planes
and less on the side planes.

602

A brief 175 years later, in his Last Supper/HRQDUGRSUHVHQWVDXQLHGWKHRU\

of line, shape, value, pattern, color, overlap, oblique shape, and value as
light creating volume in space. We also see a lifelike and predictable spatial
recession that includes both linear and atmospheric perspective.

Yale University Art Gallery.

Artists and their clients or patrons, at least in Europe, were fairly happy with
this accumulation of riches. They spent the next 400 years or so playing
with this idea of pictorial space. A drawing or painting was essentially like
the inside of a box. Even in a landscape, the box metaphor held. Eakinss
watercolor was done about 375 years after Leonardos The Last Supper but
shares many of the same hallmarks.

Pictorial Space in Later Art

In the late 19th century, things began to change. Van Gogh painted The
Night Caf in 1888, 15 years after Eakins did his watercolor. Although
he was respectful of linear perspective, Van Gogh seems to have kicked
and squashed the tidy Renaissance box. The planes were now bent and
mangled.

603

 Yale University Art Gallery.

Lecture 35Advanced Concepts: Pictorial Space

The color was pumped up to levels far beyond unnamable, and even though
we see the lights and the cast shadow of the pool table, we dont really see the
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DQLPDWHGDQGWKHVSDFHLVSDUWLDOO\DWWHQHGE\DOOWKHH[FLWHGPDUNPDNLQJ
and texture that sits on the surface, not in it.
With later artists, such as Monet and Czanne, volume and symmetricality
lost further ground. As you recall, the fundamental Renaissance
discoveries that led to naturalistic drawing were based on an apparent
contradiction. Renaissance artists found that if you closed one eye
always the same onemeasured carefully, and tabulated the results on
the page, the result resembled the way we think we see with two eyes.
But what if we actually looked at the subject with two eyes and tabulated
those results? Or what if we paid attention to the way one eye was seeing,
then switched to the other?
As we walk around, we think were seeing a clear, steady, single
photographic image. Of course, the reality is that were constantly seeing
two distinct images at the same time, representing two distinct points of
604

view that are actually several inches apart. Youd think this view would
PDNHOLIHH[WUHPHO\GLIFXOWEXWRXUVRIWZDUHVWUDLJKWHQVWKHZRUOGRXW
for us. Our reality is that were seeing one image, though the reality is
different.
Artists in the late 19th century, Czanne prominently among them, began
to draw and paint while embracing a binocular view of the world. In the
early 20th century, Picasso went even further; he wasnt just looking with
two eyes but moving his head as he looked, taking in views from straight
RQIURPWKHVLGHXSZDUGVDQGGRZQZDUGV+HZDVPDNLQJDPDVKXS
of points of view, which have their similarity with both Egyptian and
SUH5HQDLVVDQFH ZRUNV )RU 3LFDVVR DQG PDQ\ RI KLV FRQWHPSRUDULHV
the Renaissance tradition of depicting a receding space along a ground
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Indeed, one way of understanding drawing and painting of the late
19th century and throughout the 20th is as an exploration of the many
possibilities that exist in pictorial space. A complex world exists between
DWQHVVRUWZRGLPHQVLRQVDQGWKH5HQDLVVDQFHYHUVLRQRIWKHLOOXVLRQRI
WKUHHGLPHQVLRQV
Piet Mondrians trajectory and body of work are compelling in this regard.
He was born in 1872, a year before Eakins did the Biglin watercolor. He
studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Amsterdam and, by age 28, was an
accomplished artist. Many of his early works were landscapes, and he clearly
absorbed many of the same things weve studied in this course, particularly
those relating to composition and spatial illusion.
Mondrian died in 1944 at age 71, and his later work might seem completely
removed from the early landscapes. But theres a clear evolution to be
discovered. If we compare some of Mondrians landscapes, such as Row
RI (LJKW <RXQJ :LOORZV 5HHFWHG LQ :DWHU, to his later work, we begin to
see that the underlying structure of the landscape is based primarily on
horizontals intersecting verticalsessentially, a grid.
As weve said, in painting and drawing, whats most important is not what
youre looking at but what youre looking for. What Mondrian was looking
IRULQKLVPLGVZHUHODQGVFDSHVWKDWZRXOGVLWRQWKHIRUPDWVVXUIDFHDQG
605

KDYHDJULGOLNHDVSHFWYHUWLFDOWUHHVDQGDKRUL]RQUHHFWHGVWUDLJKWGRZQ
into water. What he eventually found was that he could do away with the
REMHFWVDQGUHWDLQWKHJULGOLNHVWUXFWXUH$ORQJWKHZD\KHDOVRIRXQGWKDW
he could get rid of the structure of the Renaissance box itself.
Van Gogh kicked the box in. Monet pushed it up against the picture plane.
Czanne mangled it. And Picasso and Braque shattered it like glass. But
Mondrian eliminated it altogether. The drawn or painted world was pushed
up against the picture plane.

Lecture 35Advanced Concepts: Pictorial Space

Ambiguous Space
If you spend some time studying Mondrians later works, such as
Broadway Boogie Woogie\RXOOQGWKDWKHXVHVPDQ\RIWKHSULQFLSOHV
weve learned regarding the manipulation of illusionistic space. But rather
than using them to reinforce one message, as he did in his earlier paintings,
he uses them to contradict one another, producing what we refer to as
ambiguous space.
Starting in the late 19th century, many artists were, in one way or another,
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LQ PXOWLSOH ZD\V DV WZRGLPHQVLRQDO WKUHHGLPHQVLRQDO RU VRPHZKHUH
in between. These ways of thinkingthe questioning of the kind of space
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artists thought about representation and in many forays into abstraction.
)URPWKHUVWOHFWXUHLQWKLVFRXUVHZHYHVDLGWKDWOHDUQLQJWRGUDZLVUHDOO\
about learning to see, and youre probably seeing much more now than when
we began. Two questions to ask yourself as you move forward are: What do
you want to draw? How do you want to draw it?
,Q WKH QDO OHFWXUH ZHOO WDON DERXW D QXPEHU RI SURMHFWV WKDW ZLOO OHW \RX
build on what youve learned and help you experiment with a range of
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areas that are of particular interest to you.

606

Suggested Reading
Enstice and Peters, DrawingFKDSWHU7KH7KUHH'LPHQVLRQDO6SDFHRI
a Drawing, pp. 2046, and FKDSWHU  7KH7ZR'LPHQVLRQDO 6SDFH RI D
Drawing, pp. 4758.
Hockney, David. I Am a Space Freak.
Rockman, Drawing Essentials, Different Kinds of Space, pp. 50.
Sale and Betti, Drawing, Categories of Space, pp. 8098, and Organizing
the Picture Plane, pp. 273297.
Shan, Ben, The Shape of Content.

607

Advanced Concepts: Pictorial Space

Lecture 35Transcript
After working diligently through these many exercises and assignments,
you have some real knowledge and ability at your disposal. Youll likely
want to put it to use to make drawings that speak to your own concerns and
ambitions. In developing your work, its useful to be aware of the range of
traditions and subjects that have been important in drawings history and
what contemporary artists are drawing as well. So continually looking at a
UDQJHRIGLYHUVHGUDZLQJDQGUHODWHGDUWLVDJUHDWORQJWHUPSURMHFW
Ben Shahn, in his Norton Lectures at Harvard, said that there were two
questions for the aspiring artist. What shall I paint? And, How shall I
paint it? We can paraphrase for our purposes, What shall I draw? How
shall I draw it?
Having to ask these kinds of questions hasnt always been so much the
case. In fact, for most of time and in most cultures artists have worked with
subject matter, taken an approach, and used materials that were shared by
other artists of the same period and geographical area. Thats not to say that
all art before relatively recent times was geographically homogeneous, but it
ZDVPXFKPRUHVRWKDQZKDWZHQGWRGD\LQPRVWSODFHVDQGWKHUHDUHJRRG
reasons for this.
Most societies were more homogenous, religiously, culturally, and,
importantly, visually. At the click of my mouse, I can look at examples of
art from any place and any time period. From prehistoric cave drawings to
whats going on in the galleries in New York or Berlin. Even on my phone, I
have access to more images of every kind imaginable than I could consume
in a lifetime.
/HRQDUGR RU WKH <XDQ '\QDVW\ =KjR0qQJI RU HYHQ D UHODWLYHO\ UHFHQW
JXUHOLNH3LFDVVRKDGQRWKLQJUHPRWHO\VLPLODU6RZHOLYHLQDWLPHRIJUHDW
visual plenty and great visual diversity.
Another very important factor is that many artists in many cultures made a
kind of art for an existing marketplace. In Europe, during the Renaissance,
608

the Catholic Church was a wealthy and powerful client that needed imagery.
6RDUWLVWVFRQWUDFWHGWRSDLQWPDGRQQDVDQGFUXFL[LRQV2UWKH\FRQWUDFWHG
with kings, queens, and princes to paint their portraits. These artists were
business people. They were making products for purchase by clients. And so,
the question wasnt so much what kind of art do I want to make, but instead,
what does my client want? Its very different from the romantic idea of the
ERKHPLDQDUWLVWRUWKHDUWLVWDVDFRXQWHUFXOWXUHJXUHVRPHRQHFULWLFDORI
hierarchical institutions. In Renaissance Europe, successful artists were at
least nominally aligned with church and state.
And if we think of the carvings on a Mayan temple, or Indian temple, or
on a Native North American totem, this is all art thats related to a cultures
particular visual language and related to a broader religious and/or historical
context and narrative.
The point is that the model of the artist making his or her own art on spec is a
relatively new phenomenon. And because so many recent artists have made
whatever they wanted, many have made very different looking things, and
many have made different kinds of things at different times in their lives.
Like Picasso, or Matisse, or Mondrian, or Philip Guston, and thats a pretty
recent phenomena, too.
Another factor particular to the relatively recent present is the lack of any
HYHQJHQHUDODJUHHGXSRQVWDQGDUGVDERXWZKDWVJRRGDQGEDGLQWKHDUWV
and by extension, drawing. Thats not to say that individuals dont have their
RZQVWDQGDUGVDQGUPO\KHOGEHOLHIV,WVMXVWWKDWWKHUHVQRUHDODJUHHPHQW
among artists, professors, critics, curators, collectors, etc. regarding what
they are or should be.
Though it takes time to tease out the truth, at least in medicine, the test
LV VRPHZKDW VLPSOHU 'R UHSHDWHG ODUJH GRXEOHEOLQG VWXGLHV RQ GLYHUVH
populations and tally the statistical results. Based on hard data researchers
can begin to make reasonable conclusions about what might work. Not
perfect, but no one has come up with anything even remotely similar to test
if a drawing or artwork is worthwhile or worthless.

609

Perhaps, the only real test is time itself. If successive generations and
cultures care about and take pains to preserve certain artworks it suggests
theyre broadly meaningful to human beings.
Alfred Barr, the founding director of New Yorks Museum of Modern Art
was well aware of this. He wrote, The historical museum has to be very
conservative and careful in its choices. The modern museum, on the other
hand, has to be audacious, to take chances. It has to consider the probability
that it would be wrong in a good many cases and take the consequences
later.
Put a bit more succinctly, the 20thFHQWXU\ $PHULFDQ DUWLVW /DUU\ 5LYHUV
quoted Clement Greenberg, one of the dominant critics of his generation, as
saying, As far as art is concerned, I just prefer good art to bad art, if I can
tell the difference.
So how you apply everything youve learned is really up to you. You have
to form opinions about what you like and realize other people may disagree
ZLWK \RX 7KLV LVQW D HOG ZKHUH WKLQJV FDQ EH SURYHQ LQ WKH VKRUWWHUP
,WV VXEMHFWLYH :HOOPHDQLQJ LQGLYLGXDOV GLVDJUHH YHKHPHQWO\ DERXW ZKDW
constitutes good art and even about what constitutes proper training.
Georges Braque, along with Picasso, one of the developers of Cubism, was
quoted as saying, The whole Renaissance tradition is repugnant to me. The
hard and fast rules of perspective which it succeeded in imposing on art were
a ghastly mistake, which it has taken us four centuries to redress.
$QG 5REHUW %HYHUO\ +DOH WKH DQDWRPLVW , TXRWHG LQ WKH VHFWLRQ RQ JXUH
drawing, told the story how the abstract expressionist, Willem de Kooning,
scolded him. Im quoting Hale here, One day in East Hampton de Kooning
came up to my little studio there and said I was ruining any number of people
by telling them about anatomy,
6R LQWHOOLJHQW ZHOOLQWHQWLRQHG SHRSOH FDQ GLVDJUHH DQG LQ IDFW WRGD\
there are university art departments that offer no instruction in either linear
perspective or artistic anatomy while others do.

610

But let me share with you the words of three different writers on art.
7KHUVW&UDLJ5DLQHGHVFULELQJWKHZRUNRIWKH$XVWUDOLDQVFXOSWRU5RQ
Mueck, wrote, The magic is nothing but hard work and the application of
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capacity for taking pains?
7KHVHFRQG-XOLDQ%DUQHVDOVRLQ0RGHUQ3DLQWHUVZURWH:KDWFRXQWVLV
the surviving object and our living response to it. The tests are simple: does
it interest the eye, excite the brain, move the mind, and involve the heart;
further, is an apparent level of skill involved?
And the last by the late critic Robert Hughes, in art people love rarity,
VLQJXODULW\IXOO\UHDOL]HGKDQGLFUDIWQHPDWHULDOVDQGLQWHUHVWLQJFRQWHQW
My own advice is simple. Look at a lot of art. Read about art. See what you
love and what you dont. Make judgments. And know that they may change
over time. And, of course, have a sense of humor about it.
The great Kurt Vonnegut, perhaps said it best in Palm Sunday, I have long
felt that any reviewer who expresses rage and loathing for a novel or a play
or a poem is preposterous. He or she is like a person who has put on full
armor and attacked a hot fudge sundae or a banana split.
,WVGLIFXOWWRXQGHUVWDQGZK\VRPHSHRSOHJHWVRZRUNHGXS2QHRIWKH
great things about art is that the consequences are generally only experienced
on the upside. A bad drawing cant really hurt anybody.
In trying to understand drawing and painting, its been useful to me to take
a broad historical perspective. And Id like to trace back to where we began
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FRQVLGHULQJVRPHRIWKHPDMRUFKDQJHVLQWKLVHOG
Many people are surprised to learn that artists, at least the artists Ive known,
and Ive known many, both personally and through their writings, dont
think about style. Ive never had a discussion with another artist about this.
Its not a concept we use. It tends to be something art historians talk about.
611

And often, when I meet someone whos not an artist, after theyve asked me
what I do, the second question is, what style do you do?
While I havent met artists who talk about style, many talk about pictorial
space. On this subject, Ive had hours and hours of discussion because
considerations and differentiations of approach in regard to pictorial space
is really at the core of so much drawing and painting. And its at the heart of
Braques complaint. Hes not railing against a style, but against a system for
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And we can really chart the whole history of art from this perspective.
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we noted line, shape, value, and pattern. And if you know what to look for,
theres even a bit of volumetric illusion, and what we might even argue, is
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<RXFRXOGFRQVLGHULWDSDWWHUQRIDWOLQHVRUDVDGUDZLQJRISULVPVVHHQ
from the right, or contradicting this, a drawing of prisms seen from the left.
But I have no idea, and no way of knowing, if the person who made this
perceived the illusion of volume here.
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overlap. But again, I have no idea if the person or persons who drew the
horse heads was thinking about space in this way.
Forward about another 27,000 years. Now we have line, shape, value,
pattern, and color, and we have a clear embrace of spatial illusion. We can
say with certainty that overlap is being employed to signal spatial depth. One
hand in front of the harps strings, another behind. But otherwise, the world
LVSUHWW\DWDQGHYHU\WKLQJVDPDVKXSRISRLQWVRIYLHZ7KHJRGVWRUVRLV
VHHQVWUDLJKWRQWKHOHJVDQGIHHWSUROH
Move forward another 2,000 years and we have line, shape, value,
pattern, color, and overlap, and we have shapes that tilt back into space,
parallelograms and ellipses. And human beings have clearly discovered a lot
about the compositional use of color and value. It boils down to using high
612

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muted value and color contrasts in the ground. Do this and well pay more
attention to the people every time, but like the Egyptian stele, the ground is
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Shoot forward another 200 years and the list gets longer. We have line,
shape, value, pattern, color, overlap, and oblique shapes, as before, but we
JHWVRPHWKLQJQHZ7KHDWJURXQGVSRSSHG':HKDYHVSDFHFRQVWUXFWHG
out of planes. We have a back wall, a sidewall, a ceiling. The table has a top
plane and related side planes, as does the bench. But theres more. The table
and bench show the effects of light. More light on the top planes, less on the
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and in the heads and hands.
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pattern, color, overlap, oblique shape, and value as light creating volume in
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both linear and atmospheric perspective, and moreover, an embrace of
neutral color. Look at the walls, ceiling, and tablecloths. We havent really
seen that yet. Thats unnamable color.
Artists and their clients or patrons, at least in Europe, were pretty happy with
this accumulation of riches and they spent the next 400 years or so playing
with this idea of pictorial space. A drawing or painting was essentially like
the inside of a box. Even in the landscape, the box metaphor holds. Eakins
watercolor was done about 375 years after Leonardo painted his Last Supper
and shares many of the same hallmarks. And then things began to change.
Van Gogh painted The Night Caf 15 years after Eakins did his watercolor.
Its now 1888. Now we know that Van Gogh was respectful of linear
perspective, but its as if the tidy Renaissance box had been kicked about,
abused. The planes got bent and squashed, mangled.
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/DVW 6XSSHU WKDQ ZLWK /HRQDUGRV$QG ORRN DW WKH JXUHV IXUQLWXUH DQG
walls. Even though we see the lights and the dominant cast shadow of the
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613

not on the furniture, and not on the wall planes. And the surface is animated,
DQGWKHVSDFHSDUWLDOO\DWWHQHGE\DOOWKHH[FLWHGPDUNPDNLQJDQGWH[WXUH
that sits on the surface, not in it.
Six years later, 1894, Monet paints this version of the Rouen Cathedral. The
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cathedrals door right onto the picture plane. And the limited value range
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Another six years to 1900 and Czanne paints this still life. Look on the
right. Youll note that the side edges of the table are more or less parallel.
Theyre not receding to a vanishing point, harkening back to Ugolino and
the Court of Emperor Huizong. And the glass is not symmetrical. It looks
like it has two sets of vertical edges, out of focus, vibrating. And the pitcher
isnt sitting securely on the table. Its about to tip over.
Even the back edge of the tables amiss. Both the left side and right side tilt
down towards the center. And the left side is higher than the right, the tables
kind of caving in. And this is the guy who said, Treat nature by the cylinder,
the sphere, the cone, everything in proper perspective so that each side of an
object or a plane is directed towards a central point.
Youll remember that the fundamental Renaissance discoveries that led to
people being able to get things right were based on an apparent contradiction.
What these artists found was that if you closed one eye, always the same
one, and measured carefully, and tabulated the results on the page, voil. It
looked like the way we think we see with two eyes. But what if you actually
looked at your subject with two eyes and tabulated those results? Or what if I
paid attention to the way one eye was seeing and then switched to the other?
'RWKLVZLWKPHIRUDPRPHQW+ROGDQJHUDERXWLQFKHVLQIURQWRI
your nose. Close one eye, then the other, and alternate them rapidly. Looks a
lot like Czannes glass, doesnt it? And this is rather interesting. As we walk
around, we think were seeing a clear steady single photographic image. Of
course, were not. The reality is that were constantly seeing two distinct
images at the same time representing two distinct points of view, one several
inches away from the other. Youd think it would drive us crazy.
614

The reason why we can spear a piece of food on our plate or drive into the
garage instead of into the garage door is that our software is straightening all
this out for us. Our reality is that were seeing one image, though the reality
is different.
Its now 1910. Picasso had a great eye, or really two, and a great visually
analytic mind. He could see what someone was up to and grasp where it
FRXOGOHDGLI\RXIROORZHGLWWKHQH[WVHYHUDOVWHSV/LNHQHFKHVVSOD\HUVRU
entrepreneurs, he saw several steps ahead.
This is Czannes wine glass on steroids. Picasso wasnt just looking with
two eyes, but moving his head as he looked. He looks straight on, then from
the side, then upwards and downwards. And youre likely well aware of even
more extreme versions of this method in other works by Picasso.
Picassos friend, the painter Henri Rousseau, is reported to have said to him,
We are the two greatest painters of this era: you in the Egyptian manner and
I in the modern. The way Ive always understood Rousseaus comment was
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,QWKDWUHJDUGKHDOVRVKDUHVDORWZLWK8JROLQRDQGRWKHUSUH5HQDLVVDQFH
artists.
I want to come back to Braques judgment. The whole Renaissance
tradition is repugnant to me. The hard and fast rules of perspective which it
succeeded on imposing on art were a ghastly mistake, which it has taken us
four centuries to redress. The us included him, Picasso, and a couple others.
What he was really saying is that it really limits what and how you draw if
the only option is a receding space along a ground plane seen with one eye
IURPD[HGYLHZSRLQW
One way of understanding an awful lot of the drawing and painting of the
late 19th century and all of the 20th century is as an exploration of many
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complex world that exists here.

615

Piet Mondrians trajectory and body of work are compelling in this regard.
He was born in 1872, a year before Eakins did the Biglin watercolor. He
studied at The Academy of Fine Arts in Amsterdam and by age 28, was an
accomplished artist. Many of his early works were landscapes. Like this one.
Its clear from his drawings and paintings that hed absorbed many of the
same lessons as Eakins. Many of the same things weve studied in this
course, primary among them, things having to do with composition and
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land and water below, the sky above.
Associate the main subject, a windmill, and trees in the Mondrian or a guy
rowing a scull in the Eakins, with the vertical half. Move the viewer back
through space in the lower rectangle. Use greater saturation and clarity of
edge in the foreground, less to recede, atmospheric perspective. And overall,
use subtle neutral color and group your color in a reasonable palette. We
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0RQGULDQUHGJUHHQ\HOORZYLROHWLQWKH(DNLQVUHGJUHHQRUDQJHEOXH
Mondrian died in 1944 at age 71. Weve looked at his painting Broadway
Boogie Woogie before. It was completed in 1943, a year before his death.
Lots of horizontals and verticals, no diagonals to take us back in space,
primary colors, a dark cool, and white. Its pumped.
What happened? How do you get from this to this?
Well, in painting and drawing, whats most important is not what youre
ORRNLQJ DW EXW ZKDW \RXUH ORRNLQJ IRU 5HPHPEHU IURP WKH UVW OHFWXUH
learning to draw is really about learning to see. So ask yourself as you move
forward, what are you looking for?
Heres a pivotal work where we can see just what Mondrian was looking
for. Its titled 5RZRI(LJKW<RXQJ:LOORZV5HHFWHGLQ:DWHU. It was painted
between 19021907. Piet Mondrian would have been between 3035 years
old. Hes attuned to whats going on around him and hes quick to pick up
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and others.
616

This painting shares some aspects with his windmill painting. Theres a large
horizontal division yielding land and water below, sky above. The palettes
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the windmill, little atmospheric perspective, and no receding diagonals.
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horizontals, intersecting lots of verticals, basically, a grid. You cant get
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to look familiar, no?
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often intimately connected.
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sit on the formats surface, landscapes without diagonals. Landscapes where
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well, that made perfect sense.
What he eventually found was that he could do away with the objects and
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the structure of the box itself.
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mangled it, and Picasso and Braque shattered it like glass. But Mondrian got
rid of it all together. The drawn or painted world was pushed up against the
picture plane.
Thats not to say theres no readable space in Broadway Boogie Woogie.
There is, of a kind, but its a purely pictorial space, a type of invented space.
It doesnt fully match up with the kind of space we experience in nature.
Stare at the red rectangle located near the center of the canvas bottom edge.
Now look up to the right at the similarly shaped red rectangle in the lower
right quadrant. Do you feel the space? Do you feel the recession?
617

If you remember in an earlier lecture, I outlined 12 principles that affect the

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the pages vertical axis. Thats coming into play here. The red located lower
along the formats vertical axis feels closer, one higher along the vertical
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principle. Diagonals create spatial depth. Connecting them, which is just
what our eyes do, creates a long block pulling back, somewhat ambiguously,
into space.
Lets make another comparison. Compare the blue rectangle in the lower left
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back and forth? First, the blue one feels forward, then the red.
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along the vertical axis. It relates to the red above it on a diagonal and it
appears to overlap the vertical grid while the red occupies the same plane as
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equal, warms advance over cools, principle eleven.
And thats the Boogie Woogie. Thats the dance. Everythings in motion. If
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many of the principles you learned regarding the manipulation of illusionistic
space. But rather than using them to reinforce one message, like he did as a
younger man painting the trees and windmill, he uses them to contradict one
another. And we refer to this as ambiguous space.
One visual maneuver seems to suggest X is in front, another that its behind.
Put something lower in the format so it appears to be forward, but also put
something bigger above in such a way as to contradict that visual assertion.
Starting in the late 19th century, many artists were, in one way or another,
interested in the idea of ambiguous space. Its at the core of a lot of
abstraction.
As wed noted earlier when we looked at this Stella we could read it as
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as 3D. We could read each vertical half as a room receding into space, or
618

conversely, as if we were looking down at a pyramid, or we could read one

side as a room, the other as the pyramid.
And theres another possibility between 2D and 3D. We could read the
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of horizontal stripes. Or we could read two hourglasses overlapping a wall of
vertical stripes.
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the Renaissance, didnt just affect abstraction. They changed the way many
artists thought about representation.
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One way of understanding this is that if you want to make a truthful drawing
or painting, or one might say, a realistic drawing or painting, it should be
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7KDWVWKHUHDOLW\6RSDLQWWKLQJVWKDWDUHDWWREHJLQZLWK2UHYHQLQYHUW
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WKHUHDOURRP7KDWVMXVWZKDW-RKQVGLGLQKLVLFRQLFSDLQWLQJThree Flags.
This isnt the illusion of space, its literal space, but hes playing with us
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reasonably expect by pictorial convention.
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He purposely avoids most spatial illusion. There were other artists, though,
who wanted to pursue illusionistic representation, but were also profoundly
affected by many of the visual ideas that we see in abstract artists like
Mondrian and Stella.
Weve seen how Giorgio Morandi, would push and pull space. The negative
shapes between the bottles, the ground, swells forward while some of the
bottles dematerialize into the ground.
And Richard Diebenkorn also accentuates the negatives. Part of this is
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619

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none of these objects have top planes. Therere no ellipses. No curving cross
contours. The cross contours are nothing more than horizontal lines. The
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$QGZHQGPDQ\RIWKHVDPHLGHDV,YHEHHQGLVFXVVLQJDWSOD\LQWKLVSDVWHO
by Norman Lundin. Its both highly abstract and highly representational.
Youll notice that just about everything is either horizontal or vertical. A
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object, the table, has almost no visible top plane, robbing it of dimension.
But in deference to the 3D, we get the subtle cast shadow of the table leg
diagonally describing the depth of space under the table. And we get the
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Chuck Close famously combines naturalistic representation with a grid.
Kind of like Eakins meets Mondrian.
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build on what youve learned and help you experiment with a range of
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of spatial approaches.

620

Advanced Drawing Projects

Lecture 36

hus far, this course has covered the bulk of what students might
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Although the lecture itself is about 30 minutes, the projects could take six
months or more to realize. Some are directly related to topics discussed in
the last lecture. Theyll help you expand on what youve learned and try
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areas of artistic interest.
Artistic Approach
In the last lecture, we posed two questions: What do you want to draw?
How do you want to draw it? In developing your own drawing, these two
questions are pivotal.
Many art classes are organized around such subjects as still lifes, interiors,
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critical to note the importance of approach. Although one artist might
approach a still life with purely formal concerns, another might approach
it to explore a particular theme, such as mortality, fertility, or consumerism.
For example, most Czanne still lifes are formal, but many other European
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known as memento mori and vanitas was to remind European Christians that
life here on earth is temporary.
Approach can be partially designated by a term, such as Impressionism,
Cubism, Baroque, or Pop Art. Such terms have their uses, but they tend to
be imprecise. Degas and Monet are often lumped together as Impressionists,
yet their methods and approaches were quite different. Similarly, Van Gogh
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paintings have distinct concerns.

621

Overall, its often more useful to ask what kind of problem an artist was
interested in or what the goal of a particular project was. These kinds of
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work and understand the methodology: What were the materials? What was
the procedure?
Often, the reason a drawing looks the way it does is that the artist was
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of procedures. When you consider these questions, you develop a more
profound understanding of whats behind a given work. And understanding
things in this way puts you in a better position to understand how you might
work on similar problems or on problems that intrigue you.

Lecture 36Advanced Drawing Projects

Intermediate Projects
The following intermediate projects are designed to help you relate technical
and formal considerationsline, shape, space, composition, proportion,
value, texture, and colorto your own subject matter and content. They are
also meant to prompt you to explore different means for creating drawings,
including observation, construction, and abstraction.
Abstract Drawing Based on a Figurative Painting
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painting. The idea here is to develop a drawing with a spatial structure that
has depth but doesnt function like a Renaissance window or box. Its space
without gravity.
7R EHJLQ WKH SURMHFW VHOHFW D FRPSOH[ QDWXUDOLVWLF JXUDWLYH SDLQWLQJ
one with a compelling structure. The goal is to abstract the structure or
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should consist of lines and shapes that you will then use to create your
drawing. This is where your own invention comes into play.
Begin to use line weight to suggest a hierarchy. Turn the lines and shapes
into planes and volumes but without reference to gravity. To aid in this, you
might want to rotate the paper every 15 minutes as you draw. Each time,
respond as if the bottom edge had gravity. In the end, many of the assertions
will contradict one another, but youll have succeeded in creating a very
622

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point of view.
A related project entails drawing the rectangles armature and using this as a
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intimately connected; they exist along a continuum.
Multiple Points of View and Scale Changes
For another project that will extend your understanding of composition and
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view, draw from multiple viewpoints. Instead of drawing any of the things
you see just once, repeat them as many times as needed. And instead of
keeping all the proportions related naturalistically, allow them to vary to
serve the composition.
One variant of this project is to minimize the shift of location and retain
all proportions accurately. Draw in one location for 15 or 20 minutes, then
move a couple of feet to the right. Draw what you see from this view on top
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As you draw, see how you can weave the three views together.
Earlier Drawing as Source Material
Using one drawing youve made as source material for another allows you to
have a dialogue with yourself surrounding visual themes. And as weve said,
this is the way many artists build a body of work: They let one piece suggest
a second, a third, a fourth, and so on.
Start with the drawing you did from multiple viewpoints as a source for a
new drawing. Youre no longer drawing directly from observation but from
a drawing you just made. At this point, you might add some value, say, 10
to 20 percent hatching while the rest of the drawing remains line. Assign the
hatching to what should be the focal area and focal point.

623

External Source Material

For the next project, continue working with multiple viewpoints and
multiple scales, but ask yourself what youd like the drawing to be about.
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PDWHULDORUPDNHQHZDQGVSHFLFVWXGLHVIRUWKLVGUDZLQJ7RQGDWKHPH
look to a wide range of source material, from other artworks, to literature, to
something from popular culture.

Lecture 36Advanced Drawing Projects

Figure Study Combined with Source Material

Next, you could tackle a related project with a more traditional spatial
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made as a study for a more complex drawing. The central idea is to imagine
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need, such as perspective studies, photographs, and so on, to be able to
depict the environment convincingly. As you work, consider the following
questions:
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What is the subject?

What is happening in the drawing?

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What kind of place is this?

Its a good idea to do some preliminary gestural sketches to work out your
composition, then get the source material youll need to complete the
drawing.
Model in a Narrative Pose
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with narrative intent. In forming the pose, consider what the person is doing
and why. Think about the mood of the scene and the subject being addressed.
Also consider the room where youre drawing and how a section of it could
be transformed. Will you put the model in the center of the room, in a corner,
by a window? What kind of light will you usestrong directional light,
candlelight, light from a television or laptop?
624

You can work through your ideas before meeting with the model by making
small sketches to help you visualize what you might want to set up. Once
youve set up the scene you intend to draw, take some time to look at it
carefully and ask yourself how it could be improved.
Imaginary Self-Portrait
For this project, draw yourself from direct observation, but complete the rest
of the drawing using linear perspective and other constructive methods.
Advanced Projects
Our last set of projects is more advanced. Although youll still be dealing
with a range of technical issues, your main goal is to locate areas of personal
interest and relate these to drawing. Remember that an area of personal
interest can be anything, from nature, to the grotesque, to politics, to
geometrical pattern, and much more. An area of interest can also be formal,
as in Monets interest in color and light or Mondrians interest in the relation
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Locating Subject and Content
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Find source material thats meaningful to you, such as a traditional artwork,
an element from popular culture, a passage from literature, a piece of music,
or even a chart or diagram. Then, ask yourself the following questions about
the materials youve gathered:
z

What is the subject?

How is it being presented formally?

Why do you feel the presentation is successful?

How do you intend to use the source material youve chosen?

Next, determine what drawing materials youll use and at what scale. As you
continue to think about your drawing, again, ask yourself a few questions:

625

Do you intend to make a line drawing, a drawing thats partially

line with some or full value, or a drawing that depends on color?

How will your drawing be composed?

How will you address space and proportion?

Will you use mark or texture?

When youve completed your drawing, give yourself a critique. Ask yourself
whats working well and whats not. Also consider whether the subject or
content is something you might want to pursue. If it is, you might use this
drawing as the basis for others. If it isnt, identify a new theme or subject and
try the project again.

Lecture 36Advanced Drawing Projects

Charcoal on Primed Canvas

As youve discovered, working through all these projects takes time and
effort. One way to surprise yourself and get varied results is to use materials
in unexpected ways. For example, try a value drawing using charcoal on a
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very forgiving; it takes a great deal of erasure with little wear and tear.
Triptych: Line Drawing Using Black and White Acrylic
Another structure you might use to further develop your subject matter is
the triptych, a work made of three separate panels. As a further challenge,
you could try this project using black and white acrylic on three sheets of a
heavier artists grade paper. Work with the paint as a drawing medium, using
the black to create line and the white to eliminate it.
Drawing Using NonArt Store Materials
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in Lecture 1. People have been making art for a long while but have had
paper for only a fairly short periodand have had the convenience of art
stores for even less time. The challenge is to make a drawing without any
art store materials. One of the opportunities here is to capitalize on the way
materiality relates to a given subject or might even suggest a subject.

626

Your Future in Drawing

Drawing, like many other pursuits, returns dividends in proportion to
investment. The more you put into it, the more youre likely to get out.
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advance well beyond what you assumed were your own limitations. Evaluate
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LQRQWKRVHDVSHFWVDQGSUDFWLFHWKHPUHSHDWHGO\WKHGLIFXOW\ZLOOGLPLQLVK
$ERYHDOOQGZKDW\RXORYHWRGUDZ7KLVZLOOPRWLYDWH\RXDQGOHDG\RX
to your own creative discoveries.

Suggested Reading
Cembalest, How Edward Hopper Storyboarded Nighthawks.
Enstice and Peters, Drawing, chapter 8, Subject Matter, and chapter 11,
Visualizations.
Rockman, Drawing Essentials, chapter 4, Developing Ideas, Resolving
Problems and Evaluating Results.
Sale and Betti, Drawing, chapter 10, Thematic Development, pp. 299
326, and chapter 11, A Look at Art Today.
Sewell, ed., Thomas Eakins, The Camera Artist, pp. 239255, and
Photographs and the Making of Paintings, p. 225238.
Smagula, Creative Drawing, chapter 11, Exploring Themes, and chapter
12, Image and Idea.

627

Advanced Drawing Projects

Lecture 36Transcript
What Ive presented so far encompasses the bulk of what I cover in my
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Ill outline some advanced and senior level projects.
While this lecture is about 30 minutes, the projects could take six months
or more to realize. Some are directly related to topics discussed in the last
lecture. Theyll help you expand on what youve learned and try some
alternate approaches. I hope theyll help you locate your own areas of
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At the beginning of the last lecture I paraphrased Ben Shahn, saying that
there were two important questions to consider, what shall I draw? And how
shall I draw it? In developing your own drawing, these two questions are
pivotal.
There are large nominal classes of subjects like still lifes, interiors,
ODQGVFDSHV DQG WKH JXUH ,Q XQGHUVWDQGLQJ WKHVH QRPLQDO VXEMHFWV LWV
critical to note the importance of, what Id call, approach. Heres what
I mean. While one artist might approach a still life with purely formal
concerns, another might approach it to explore a theme like mortality, or
fertility, or consumerism.
For example, most Czanne still lifes are formal but there are many
(XURSHDQVWLOOOLIHVWKDWDUHQDUUDWLYH/LNHWKHVXEJHQUHVRIPHPHQWRPRUL
and vanitas, serving to remind that life here on earth is temporary.
Approach can be partially designated by a term. Many of these end in
ism, like impressionism or cubism and we have other designators like
baroque or pop art. And these terms all have their uses but they tend to be
imprecise. Degas and Monet are often lumped together as impressionist, yet
their methods and approach were quite different. Similarly, Van Gogh and
*DXJXLQDUHFRQVLGHUHGSRVWLPSUHVVLRQLVWVEXWWKHLUGUDZLQJVDQGSDLQWLQJV
have distinct concerns.
628

Overall, Ive found it more useful to ask what kind of problem an artist was
interested in or ask, what the goal of a project was. And Id accompany these
kinds of questions with those that helped me reverse engineer the work
and understand the methodology. What were the materials? What was the
SURFHGXUH"7KHUROHRISUREOHPVROYLQJDQGSURFHGXUHVVLJQLFDQW/HWPH
offer an example.
A common challenge in drawing is developing eye/hand coordination.
Theres an exercise called blind contour thats designed to address this.
Heres the gist. Draw observationally with line, any subject, but dont look
at the page, only look at the subject. Link your eye to your hand. As you
trace over the edges of your subject with your eye, the pencil travels across
the surface in tandem. Blind contours always have a look to them and thats
rooted in the procedure. Try it. I think youll see what I mean.
If you saw a blind contour and liked it, you might be tempted to copy the
look, try to imitate the style. But that would be quite different than making
a blind contour with an understanding of the problem and adoption of the
methodology. The point is, often the reason why a drawing looks the way it
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they invented or adopted a set of procedures.
When you consider these questions, what problem or question the artist
was tackling, you develop a more profound understanding of whats behind
a given work. And understanding things in this way puts you in a better
position to understand how you might work on similar problems or on the
problems that intrigue you.
Lets look at a couple examples. Thomas Eakins and Claude Monet were
contemporaries. Both born in the 1840s and both studied painting in Paris in
the 1860s. But the projects and procedures they adopted couldnt have been
more different.
Eakins was interested in verisimilitude, in accuracy and precision. That was
his project. How do you get there? What kind of methodology will work? In
an earlier lecture, I quoted W. Douglass Paschall on Eakins. He wrote that
he saw his work as accretions, as collections of parts to be worked up in
629

succession from sketches, memory, and life study. And he used perspective
studies and photographs, too.
Monets interests lay elsewhere. He wasnt interested in naturalistic
precision. Among his primary foci, at least for several decades, were light
and color. How the play of light at different times of day in different weather
conditions could be interpreted in different palettes and how a given subject
is transformed materially by atmospheric conditions. Both its mood and its
seeming dimensionality
How do you tackle this problem? Well, identify your subject. Go there and
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weather change, start a new drawing or painting.
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synthesizing many pieces of visual data, you end up with one result. Follow
Monets procedure, quite another.
And this is how artists develop bodies of coherent work. Its nothing more
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problem. Then its a matter of playing out the intriguing variations that occur
to you. When you do this, you set yourself up to make some interesting
discoveries.
So lets get into some projects. My goal for you is that: You relate technical
and formal considerationsthings like line, shape, space, composition,
proportion, value, texture, and colorto your own subject matter and
content. And I want you to begin to explore different means for the creation
of drawings including observation, construction, and abstraction. And, also,
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In the lectures on the armature and composition, we learned that drawings
have abstract structures. And in the last lecture, we saw how Mondrians
landscape had a particular abstract structure comprised of horizontals and
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with a spatial structure that has depth but doesnt function like a Renaissance
window or box. Its a space without gravity.
630

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is to abstract the structure, to abstract the architecture lying beneath all the
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You could start directly on your paper. First, creating a format shape thats
proportionate to the original, then lightly drawing the lines that mirror the
structure of the painting, the large divisions in the ground, the aggregate
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You could also start with a piece of tracing paper over the reproduction and
trace the lines, horizontals, verticals, and diagonals that reveal the paintings
structure. If youre working with a digital image, you could do this in a
program like Photoshop.
In either case, the next step is to draw a proportionate format and structure,
lightly, on a sheet of paper. The resulting drawing should consist of lines and
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The next step is your own invention. Begin to use line weight to suggest
a hierarchy. And no need to follow the paintings structure at this point.
Turn your lines and shapes into planes and volumes but without reference
to gravity. To aid in this, you might want to rotate the drawing every 15
minutes as you draw, each time responding as if the bottom edge had gravity.
In the end, many of the assertions will contradict one another and youll
have succeeded in creating a very different kind of visual space than in prior
drawings.
A second way of attacking this is to simply start with some form of armature
derived from a given formats shape like we did in the lecture on that
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be parallel to the picture plane and progress the same way. Begin to create a
hierarchy using line weight, then planes and volumes.
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you might want. You could use prior drawings done from observation as
631

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view. Heres an example.
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UHSURGXFWLRQRIDJXUDWLYHSDLQWLQJ0RYHWRDEVWUDFWLRQDQGWKHQEDFNWR
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Heres another, though the initial structural lines are very light.
A related project entails drawing the rectangles armature and using this as a
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7KHHVVHQWLDOLGHDLVWKDWDEVWUDFWLRQDQGJXUDWLRQDUHLQWLPDWHO\FRQQHFWHG
Not opposites. They exist along a continuum.
Heres another project that will extend your understanding of composition
DQGVSDFH6WDUWREVHUYDWLRQDOO\EXWLQVWHDGRIGUDZLQJIURPD[HGSRLQW
of view, draw from multiple points of view. And instead of drawing a given
object once, it can be repeated as many times as needed. In addition, instead
of keeping all the proportions related naturalistically, here the proportions
can vary to serve the composition.
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$QGLI\RXDUHXVLQJWKHJXUHDQ\WKLQJHOVHLQWKHURRPFDQEHLQWHUSRODWHG
from the architecture of the room to any of the other objects you see. You
could use your drawing materials that are sitting next to you, or your foot, or
the drawing itself.
Id suggest using line because itll allow you to concentrate on composing
the elements without having to think about value or color. But using value
and color would be great variations on this project later on. Lets take a look
at a couple examples.
Youll note here that we have a strong aggregate shape. A triangle, that holds
the disparate elements together. Compositions one of the challenges in this
drawing. Youre working additively. The shapes arent there in front of you
for you to see and to be seen all at one time so you have to think strategically
as you build the drawing.
632

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EXWLQFKHV$V\RXEXLOGWKHFRPSRVLWLRQFRQVFLRXVO\QGWKHULJKW
format shape. Pay attention to the large planes in the room where youre
GUDZLQJ&RQVLGHUXVLQJWKHPWRVWUXFWXUHWKHVSDFH/LNHWKHJXUHWKHVH
architectural elements can be sized and repeated as needed.
Youll note on the left we have the corner of the room showing two walls
and a ceiling. We get it repeated at a smaller scale in the doorway in the
upper right.
Sometimes Ill pose the model sitting on a ladder. This drawing made great
use of it. The ladder serves as both a geometric scaffolding and a powerful
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There are many variants on this project. One is to do this in a more limited
way by minimizing the shift of location and retaining all proportions
accurately.
Heres the procedure. Start drawing in one location. Keep things light. Work
for 1520 minutes. Then move a couple feet to the right. Draw what you see
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UVWYLHZDQGUHSHDW7KHQEHJLQWRZHDYHWKHWKUHHYLHZVWRJHWKHU
One of the things Id like you to consider is how one drawing could serve as
source material for another. This allows you to have a dialogue with yourself
surrounding visual themes. As noted, this has to do with the way many artists
build a body of work. They let one piece suggest a second, a third, and a
fourth. So try using a drawing you did from multiple viewpoints as a source
for a new drawing. Youre no longer drawing directly from observation, but
from a drawing you just made and at this point, you could include some
value.
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drawing remains line. The goal is to assign the hatching to what should be
the focal area and focal point.

633

The woman who did this drawing used it as the basis for this drawing. Youll
note how the hatching supports the drawings visual hierarchy. It helps to
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As Ben Shahn suggests, its important for aspiring artists to determine what
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to make a given drawing. This project will get you thinking about this. For
this project, continue working with multiple viewpoints and multiple scales,
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You can use any of your prior drawings as source material, but you could
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(DNLQVRIWHQZRXOG7KHVHFRXOGEHSHUVSHFWLYHVWXGLHVVWXGLHVRIVSHFLF
objects, or places, or rooms.
Look to a wide range of source material, from other artworks to literature,
to something from popular culture, or really, anything else you might be
interested in.
Here, the theme was food, a contemporary cornucopia. Theres a very
intricate play between the angular zigzagging structure of the boxes and
table and the very organic shapes of the food, itself.
One of the things that begin to happen as you take on these kinds of projects
is that your work becomes more individual because youre drawing things
that have some greater meaning to you.
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the illustrational to characters related to cartooning.
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RPLQRXVFUHDWXUHV:KHQ\RXEHJLQWRQGRXWZKDW\RXZDQWWRGUDZDERXW
it becomes engrossing. Or menacing hands crawling through an architectural
space.
Other individuals go in a more personal and contemplative direction. This
LV E\ WKH VDPH \RXQJ ZRPDQ ZKR PDGH WKH GUDZLQJ RI WKH JXUH EHLQJ
634

skewered by the ladder. That became an important visual theme she carried
through a number of drawings. And thats pay dirt. Thats what youre
looking for; visual themes that mean something to you.
Next, you could tackle a related project with a more traditional spatial
construct, very much following Eakins methodology. You could combine
JXUHVWXGLHVZLWKSHUVSHFWLYHVWXGLHVDQGHYHQXVHSKRWRJUDSKVWRVXSSRUW
WKHQLVKHGZRUN6HOHFWDJXUHGUDZLQJ\RXGLGDQGXVHLWDVLILWKDGEHHQ
made as a study for a drawing of your own device.
2QFHDJDLQFRQVLGHUVXEMHFWPDWWHUDQGFRQWHQWDQGVXSSOHPHQWWKHJXUH
study with any other source material you might need, perspective studies,
web research, and the like. Id encourage you to consider the following
questions: Whats the subject? Whats happening in the drawing? Wheres
WKHJXUHORFDWHG":KDWNLQGRISODFHLVLW"
Its a good idea to do some preliminary quick gestural sketches to work out
your composition. Then get the source material youll need to complete the
drawing.
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image to serve the composition. The architectures invented using linear
perspective, and visual sources were found for the sphinx, the lions head,
columns, and tree limbs.
Here, again, we start with a standing male. The gallery is created using linear
SHUVSHFWLYH 9LVXDO UHVRXUFHV ZHUH XVHG IRU VHYHUDO RI WKH RWKHU JXUHV
Andy Warhol on the right, Sargents Madame X on the left, and Munchs
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Here, a study in foreshortening was used. Source material is found for the
drape, the wolf, the deer, the basket, and the landscape events.
Here, a similar study was used. A great job imagining and researching the
medical equipment and setting, and well composed with the handwriting and
doctor on the left balanced by the curtain on the right.

635

6RJRWKURXJK\RXUJXUHGUDZLQJV&RXOGEHDVHOISRUWUDLW\RXGLGIRUWKLV
FRXUVH RU LI \RX PHHW ZLWK D JXUH GUDZLQJ JURXS SHULRGLFDOO\ \RX PD\
have a stack of possible drawings to use. Either will work. The central idea
LVWRLPDJLQHDQHZHQYLURQPHQWIRUWKHJXUHDQGVHDUFKRXWWKHPDWHULDOV
youll need to be able to do this convincingly.
Incidentally, this drawing by Norman Lundin was made in a similar way.
+H GUHZ WKH EDVLFV RI WKH JXUH XVLQJ D PRGHO7KHQ DIWHU VKHG QLVKHG
posing, he invented the blackboard and the play of light and shadow.
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with narrative intent. If you have someone whos willing to pose for you or
\RXEHORQJWRDJXUHGUDZLQJJURXSWKLVLVDJUHDWSURMHFWEHFDXVHSRVLQJ
a model can involve much more than just having the person sit or stand in a
given way.
I quoted this from earlier, E.L. Doctorow, but its worth repeating here.
He wrote, After the set is lit, the camera is positioned, the actors have
taken their place, costumed, their hair dressed to indicate economic class,
education, age, social status, virtue or the lack of it95 percent of the
meaning of a scene is established before anyone says a word.
So, in forming the pose, consider what the persons doing and why. Consider
the mood of the scene and the subject being addressed. Think about the room
where youre drawing and how a section of it could be transformed. Will
you put the model in the center of the room? Against a wall? In a corner?
By a window? What kind of light will you use? A strong directional light?
Dispersed light? Colored light? A candle? Flashlight? Light from a television
or laptop?
Its great if you have access to professional models. This allows you to pose
the person nude, costumed, or some mix of the two, but if nude, consider
ZK\ WKH JXUHV QXGH ,Q GUDZLQJ FODVVHV WKH PRGHOV URXWLQHO\ QXGH EXW
the nudity can take on a kind of banality. Its an accepted fact that theres a
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drawing class, and the drawings generally betray the fact. They look like
drawings of a model posing in a classroom.
636

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narrative quality. Depending on the pose and how the scene is set, it could
appear as someone caught in an intimate moment in their home. Similarly,
if the models costumed its important to ask what theyre wearing and why.
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Are there chairs? Tables? Lamps? A carpet? And what kind? Hows
it all arranged? This is just the kind of scene setting that Vermeer did so
wonderfully. Every carpet, map, chair and pitcher was chosen and posed
with exquisite care.
You can work through your ideas before meeting with the model by making
small sketches to help you visualize what you might want to set up. Once
\RXYH VHWXS WKH VFHQH \RX LQWHQG WR GUDZ WDNH VRPH WLPH WR ORRN DW LW
carefully and ask yourself if there are ways to improve it.
I routinely ask my students at the University of Washington to pose the
model; one proposed blindfolding and binding the models hands, very
dramatic. Another came in with a set of props, a Viking helmet, sunglasses,
DIXUFRDWDQGDVNXOO6HWWLQJDGLUHFWLRQDOOLJKWWKUHZDJUHDWKRUQHGFDVW
VKDGRZRQWKHZDOO,QDQRWKHUFODVVZHVHWXSDPXUGHUVFHQHUHSOHWHZLWK
a toppled chair, knife and rubber rat, noirishly lit.
Weve also taken these kinds of drawings, done directly from observation,
and then used them as the basis for another drawing. I remember a variation
of this last one that had us in an apartment looking out the window into
the window of the building across the street to reveal the murder scene,
Hitchcockian.
These kinds of projects allow you to weave observation, imagination, and
FRQVWUXFWLYHGUDZLQJPHWKRGVWRJHWKHUWRFUHDWHWKLQJVWKDW\RXGEHKDUG
pressed to draw from observation alone.
Heres another project that requires connecting observation and constructive
PHWKRGV,WFDQDOVRUHTXLUHQGLQJVRXUFHPDWHULDOV,FDOOLWDQLPDJLQDU\
VHOISRUWUDLW,QHVVHQFH\RXGUDZ\RXUVHOIIURPGLUHFWREVHUYDWLRQEXWWKH

637

rest of the drawing is made using linear perspective and other constructive
methods.
Youll notice here that theres a mix of line and hatching. Its used
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of solid value occurs in the eye and that predictably becomes the focal point.
This next group of projects is more advanced. While youll still be dealing
with a range of technical issues, your main goal is to locate areas of personal
interest and relate these to drawing.
An area of personal interest could be anything. Nature has inspired many
artists from visual artists to poets, to composers. So has love. But it could
equally be something quite different, more abstract, like measuring. That
subject really impelled Drer, and several 100 years later, Giacometti.
Leonardo had various themes or ideas he returned to repeatedly in his
drawings, from human anatomy to the grotesque, to the movement of water,
and geometrical pattern.
Michael Gibson, writing in the International Herald Tribune, reported on a
conversation Picasso had with Andr Malraux in which he said he believed
in themes that, included such things as birth, pregnancy, suffering, murder,
the couple, death, revolt, [and] possibly the kiss.
Clearly, much 20th DQG stFHQWXU\ DUW KDV UHYROYHG DURXQG WKHPHV
associated with war, politics, class, ethnicity, sexual identity, and the
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be formal. Mondrian or Morandi were primarily interested in the relation of
2D to 3D space, Monet with color and light.
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material thats meaningful to you where the subject plays an important role,
and is successfully presented, and something youd like to use as the basis
for your own work.

638

It could be a traditional artwork like a painting, sculpture, or photograph, or

something from the web, or from popular culture from a YouTube video, a
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be an ad. Or it could be something else, like a map, a diagram, or a chart. Or
it could be textual, something from literature, a poem, a lyric, or a piece of
music. Or something related to science, history, politics, or economics. Or
related to any of the other interests you have. It could be fashion, sports,
food, or gardening.
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questions about the materials youve gathered, like these: Whats the subject?
Hows it being addressed formally? Why do you feel its successful? How do
you intend to use it?
If youve been working through this course with a friend or family member,
having these discussions with someone else can be invaluable, either in
person or via email or phone. If not, use writing. Pursue a dialogue with
yourself. As weve seen, Leonardo, Drer, and Van Gogh all write about
their studio concerns. Many artists do. It can be an extremely useful tool.
So now, youve selected your source material and have a sense about how
youll use it. The next step is to determine what material youll use and at
what scale. Make some notes about this, too. Then ask yourself how you
intend to make your drawing. Will it be a line drawing? Partially line with
some value? Or fully in value? Or color? How will it be composed? What
about space? And proportion? Will there be mark or texture?
All the things youve painstakingly studied now have to be considered
in view of expression as they relate to your theme or idea. When youve
completed your drawing, give yourself a critique. Ask yourself whats
working well and whats not. Based on this assessment you may want to
work back into the drawing and repeat this step.
When youve gone as far as you can, ask yourself if the subject or content
is something you want to continue with. If it is, you could use this drawing
as the basis for a second, third, or fourth drawing. If this drawing was done
with line, you might want to try color. If value, line. If small, try it at a larger
639

scale. Or try recomposing the elements. If this isnt something youd like to
pursue, you could identify a new theme or subject and try again.
Working this way takes time. Its hit or miss. So give yourself multiple
opportunities. One way to shake things up is to vary the materials in some
unexpected ways. These last three projects do just this.
7KH UVW LV D YDOXH GUDZLQJ XVLQJ FKDUFRDO RQ SULPHG FDQYDV ,G VXJJHVW
making the drawing at least 32 inches in one direction. That gives it
some heft. The other dimension is up to you and should be dictated by
compositional considerations.
7R GR WKLV SURMHFW \RXOO QHHG D SLHFH RI XQVWUHWFKHG FDQYDV RU OLQHQ WKDW
youll prime with gesso. Tack the canvas to a wall, large drawing board,
or piece of plywood. Make sure you tack at regular intervals so the surface
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then another vertical. Once fully dry, start the drawing with vine charcoal.
As your composition becomes clear, you can use compressed and charcoal
pencil, too.
One of the great things about charcoal on primed canvas is that its so
forgiving. It takes a great deal of erasure with little wear and tear. You can
even wash the charcoal off with mild soap and water to get back to a very
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back to virgin white.
When I do this with my advanced drawing students, after theyve completed
this project, we have a critique. The central question we ask is this. Is there a
theme thats emerging that would suggest a group of works that relate across
this theme?
Heres an example of one of these charcoal on canvas drawings, a memorable
drawing that emerged from this students thoughts about how technology is
omnipresent and invasive. I think you can see how a drawing like this might
well lead to other drawings dealing with our relationship to technology.

640

Another structure you might use to further develop your subject matter is the
triptych. A work made of three separate but related panels. If you havent
seen many triptychs, look up Hieronymus Bosch, Hans Memling, Max
Beckmann, and Francis Bacon. This ones by the 19thFHQWXU\-DSDQHVHDUWLVW
Utagawa Hiroshige, a great proponent of the form.
As a further challenge, you could try this project using black and white
acrylic on three sheets of a heavier artists grade paper. Use the paint as a
drawing medium. Use the black to make line, the white to eliminate it.
Start with small notebook drawings to begin to develop your idea. Then
collect the source material youll need to move forward.
This last project brings us back to the Blombos Cave where we began in
Lecture 1. People have been making art for a very long time. People have
had paper for a pretty short time and the convenience of art stores for even
less. This project takes us back to our roots, maybe literally, to roots.
The challenge is to make a drawing without any art store materials. One of
the opportunities here is to capitalize on the way materiality relates to a given
subject. The way materials might even suggest a subject. Over the years, Ive
seen many interesting examples spanning drawings made by dripping wax
on wood, or drawing with wine on a bed sheet, and even lipstick on a pork
belly. These approaches can be evocative and provocative.
Drawing, like many other pursuits, returns dividends in proportion to
investment. The more you put in, the more youll likely get out. And the
PRUH\RXZRUNRQDUHDVWKDWDUHGLIFXOWIRU\RXWKHPRUH\RXOODGYDQFH
well beyond what you assumed were your own limitations. Evaluate your
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DVSHFWVDQGSUDFWLFHWKHPUHSHDWHGO\7KHGLIFXOW\ZLOOGLPLQLVK
Find what you love to draw. This will motivate you and lead you to your own
creative discoveries.
Thank you.

641

Additional Activities

Lectures 13
For those looking for a broad history of art as a companion to help situate
what theyre learning about drawing, Jansons History of Art is one the
standards for the Western canon. Another is The Story of Art by E. H.
Gombrich. For a more inclusive worldview, Stokstad and Cothrens Art
History, weighing in at a hefty 1,240 pages, is highly regarded. It starts with
prehistory and, in addition to the Western canon, covers Asia, Islam, Africa,
and the Americas. Though out of print, Daniel Mendelowitzs 1966 book
Drawing is a good introduction to the history of (mostly) Western drawing
from prehistory to the early 20th century.
Quite a few books have good introductory sections on getting to know your
materials. The chapter Media and Materials in Bernard Chaets The Art of
Drawing contains much useful information. Arthur Guptills books Rendering
in Pencil and Rendering in Pen and Ink have excellent sections, as well. In the
UVWERRNVHHFKDSWHU(TXLSPHQWDQG6WXGLRDQGFKDSWHU3UHOLPLQDU\
Exercises. In the book on pen and ink, see chapters 2 through 5.

Additional Activities

Lectures 411
In the lectures, we covered only a fraction of the many artists who use line,
shape, volume, and composition in compelling ways. Below are listed a few
names, with search terms when applicable, that will bring up many more
excellent examples.
1RWH6SHFLFVLWHVDUHOLVWHGIRUVRPHZRUNV,IDZRUNLVQRWHDVLO\IRXQG
its listing includes the name of a book from the bibliography for this course
in which it appears.
Contour and Cross-Contour Line
Alexander Calder drawings
-XDQ*ULV/LQHGUDZLQJV
George Grosz drawings
Al Hirschfeld drawings
642

-HDQ$XJXVWH'RPLQLTXH,QJUHVOLQHGUDZLQJV
Gustav Klimt drawings
Gaston Lachaise drawings
Sol LeWitt drawings
Henri Matisse line drawings, including Nude in the Studio (pen and ink, 1935)
Pablo Picasso line drawings
Line and Volume
Luca Cambiaso, especially his preparatory drawings
Gestural Line
Honor Daumier drawings
Willem de Kooning drawings
Frank Gehry drawings
Rembrandt van Rijn drawings
Shape
Arshile Gorky
Fernand Lger drawings
+HQUL0DWLVVHFXWRXWV
-RDQ0LUyGUDZLQJV
Donald Sultan drawings
Positive and Negative Shape
Richard Diebenkorn drawings
M. C. Escher
Philip Pearlstein drawings
)DLUHOG3RUWHU
Euan Uglow
Composition
Balthus (Balthazar Klossowski de Rola)
643

Max Beckman
Edgar Degas
Piero della Francesca
Lucian Freud
Edward Hopper
Rembrandt van Rijn drawings
Lectures 1214
In his 2001 book Secret Knowledge, the artist David Hockney advanced the
theory that the great changes evidenced in the Renaissance were traceable
to the use of such optical devices as the camera lucida and camera obscura
to project images onto a surface and trace them. As part of this project, he
put together what he termed The Great Wall of art. Its a compilation of
reproductions of art historical works arranged chronologically that shows a
distinct change in the 15th century, when artists ability to portray subjects
naturalistically took off. A Google search will turn up a number of images of
the wall, as well as articles about his project.
For those interested in the subject of mechanical devices used by Western
artists, Martin Kemps book The Science of Art has an excellent chapter on
the subject.

Additional Activities

Although the thought of drawing or painting a still life of books might not
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with this idea. For example, the contemporary artist Vincent Desiderio
SDLQWHG D WRXUGHIRUFH LPDJH WLWOHG Cockaigne that you can view at
KWWSZZZKLUVKKRUQVLHGXFROOHFWLRQYLQFHQWGHVLGHULRFRFNDLJQH
,I\RXVHDUFKWKHVXEMHFWVWLOOOLIHRIERRNV\RXOOQGZRUNVE\DQXPEHU
by 17thFHQWXU\ 'XWFK DUWLVWV LQFOXGLQJ -DQ 'DYLGV]RRQ GH +HHP 0DQ\
RIWKHZRUNV\RXOOQGIDOOZLWKLQWKHODUJHUFDWHJRU\RIvanitas. The idea
H[SUHVVHGKHUHLVWKDWNQRZOHGJHLVHHWLQJDQGWKXVDYDLQSXUVXLW0DQ\
RIWKHVHLPDJHVDOVRFRQWDLQVNXOOVRUVQXIIHGRXWFDQGOHVWRIXUWKHULOOXVWUDWH
the point.
Still life can be much more than just a bunch of random objects posed on
a table. For additional inspiration, look for Agnus Dei by the 17thFHQWXU\
644

Spanish artist Francisco de Zurbarn. Next, fast forward a couple hundred

years to Frida Kahlos still lifes of fruit. Theyre clearly set up and composed
to bring out visual references to sexual organs and fertility. Finally, the
FRQWHPSRUDU\ DUWLVWV$XGUH\ )ODFN :D\QH 7KLHEDXG DQG -DQHW )LVK HDFK
have a fresh take on the form.
Lectures 1519
Perspective
Robert Bechtle drawings
-DFRSR%HOOLQLGUDZLQJV
Leonardo da Vinci, Study for the Adoration of the Magi (c. 1481)
Rackstraw Downes drawings
Thomas Eakins, Perspective Study for the Biglin Brothers Turning the Stake,
The Pair Oared Shell, Perspective Study for Baseball Players Practicing
M. C. Escher
Anselm Kiefer
Giovanni Battista Piranesi drawings
Three-Point Perspective
Charles Sheeler, Delmonico Building (lithograph, 1926,
KWWSZZZPHWPXVHXPRUJWRDKZRUNVRIDUW
Lectures 2030
As in the earlier section on formal language (Lectures 511), there are many
excellent examples that could be added to what we looked at in this section
of the course. Below are listed a few more individuals who are well worth
looking up.
Value, General
Kent Bellows
Edgar Degas monotypes
Sidney Goodman
Francisco Goya drawings

645

Value, Compositional Use of Value

Akira Arita drawings
-RKQ /XNH Self-Portrait (pencil on paper, Mendelowitz, Faber, and
Wakeman, A Guide to Drawing, p. 27)
-RKQ 6LQJHU 6DUJHQW Study of a Nude Man (c. 18741880, Rockman,
Drawing Essentials, p. 93)
Value, Chiaroscuro
Caravaggio
Alfred Leslie drawings
Georges Seurat drawings
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo drawings
Value, Black and White
Aubrey Beardsley drawings
Honor Daumier, Don Quixote and Sancho Panza (c. 1850,
KWWSZZZPHWPXVHXPRUJFROOHFWLRQWKHFROOHFWLRQRQOLQHVHDUFK
Value, Positive and Negative Shape

Additional Activities

Richard Diebenkorn drawings

Emil Nolde, Harbor (brush and ink, c. 1900,
http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/23101)
Notan
A. R. Penck drawings, black and white
Value, Gesture and Compositional Sketching
Edward Hopper, Study for East Side Interior (chalk and charcoal on paper,
 [  LQ  KWWSZKLWQH\RUJ:DWFK$QG/LVWHQ$XGLR*XLGHV"SOD\B
id=845), Study for Evening Wind (1921, Mendelowitz, Faber, and Wakeman,
A Guide to Drawing, p. 149) drawing for Morning Sun (1952, Brown and
McLean, Drawing from Life. p. 29).

646

Planar Head
Planar heads are available from http://www.planesofthehead.com.
Texture and Mark
Texture and mark are used expressively in a range of drawing types. If you
pull up the Charles Schulz characters Charlie Brown and Pigpen, you get
a very clear illustration of how potently mark affects the character of the
subject portrayed.
Texture and Mark, General
Pieter Bruegel, The Beekeepers (pen and brown ink, 1568)
Honor Daumier drawings
-HDQ'XEXIIHWGUDZLQJV
Alberto Giacometti drawings
Philip Guston drawings
William Kentridge drawings and animations
Roy Lichtenstein drawings
Henry Moore drawings
Saul Steinberg drawings
Texture and Mark, Cross-Hatching
Hironymus Bosch drawings
Pieter Breughel the Elder drawings
Paul Cadmus drawings
R. Crumb drawings
David Levine drawings
Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio) drawings
Peter Paul Rubens drawings
Texture and Mark, Simulated Textures
Kent Bellows
Vija Celmins
647

Audrey Flack
Ren Magritte, The Thought Which Sees (graphite, 1965,
KWWSZZZPRPDRUJFROOHFWLRQREMHFWSKS"REMHFWBLG 
Catherine Murphy, Paint Jacket Pockets (pencil on paper, 2002,
KWWSZZZPRPDRUJFROOHFWLRQREMHFWSKS"REMHFWBLG 
Sylvia Plimack Mangold drawings
Mark Tansey
Color
Pierre Bonnard
<YRQQH-DFTXHWWH
Wayne Thiebaud
douard Vuillard

Additional Activities

In addition, below are listed a number of color websites that may prove
interesting:

648

ColorCube, http://www.colorcube.com/illusions/illusion.htm. This

site provides visual illustration of some optical effects.

Color Matters, http://colormatters.com. This site focuses on color

in relation to symbolism, marketing, and a number of other related
subjects.

Color Palette Generator KWWSZZZGHJUDHYHFRPFRORUSDOHWWH

This site allows you to upload an image and create a set of swatches
related to the image.

A Breakdown of Color in Film Stills, http://imgur.com/a/PyRly.

Analyzes movie stills in terms of the color palettes used in the shots.

Movies in Color, http://moviesincolor.com/. Like the preceding

site, this one also analyzes movie stills in terms of the color palettes
used in the shots.

Lectures 3134
The Figure, General
-HDQ$XJXVWH'RPLQLTXH,QJUHVGUDZLQJV
-DFRSRGD3RQWRUPRGUDZLQJV
Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio) drawings
The Figure, Anatomy
Bernhard Siegfried Albinus
Andreas Vesalius
The Figure in Perspectival Space
+HQULGH7RXORXVH/DXWUHFThe Laundress (1888, Mendelowitz, Faber, and
Wakeman, A Guide to Drawing, p. 41)
The Figure, Foreshortened
Giovanni Paolo Lomazzo, Foreshortened Nude Man (Mendelowitz, Faber,
and Wakeman, A Guide to Drawing, p. 43)
Andrea Mantegna, Lamentation of Christ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
/DPHQWDWLRQBRIB&KULVWB0DQWHJQD
Additionally, here is a list of some prominent artists who have done
VXEVWDQWLDOZRUNZLWKWKHJXUHRYHUWKHSDVW\HDUV7KHLUZRUNUHSUHVHQWV
a broad range of approaches.
Steven Assael
Paul Cadmus
George Condo
R. Crumb
-RKQ&XUULQ
Richard Diebenkorn
Marlene Dumas
Eric Fischl

649

Lucian Freud
Gregory Gillespie
David Hockney
-RKQ.RFK
Alfred Leslie
Loretta Lux
Elizabeth Peyton
Alice Neel
Philip Pearlstein
-HQQ\6DYLOOH
Luc Tuymans
-DPHV9DOHULR
Lectures 3536
7RJXUHRXWZKHUH\RXZDQWWRJRLWFDQEHKHOSIXOWRORRNDWDZLGHDUUD\
of work and see where you feel some kinship. The following three lists for
further research include either contemporary artists who are currently active
or artists who were active during the last 100 years. Most are artists who
werent mentioned in the lectures or in these accompanying notes. Needless
to say, these lists are far from inclusive, and as you search each individual,
youll come up with 5 or 10 others artists who are or were in some way
associated with your initial target.

Additional Activities

7KHUVWOLVWKLJKOLJKWVDEVWUDFWLRQEHFDXVHPDQ\SHRSOHZKRRWKHUZLVHKDYH
D UHDO LQWHUHVW LQ DUW QG DEVWUDFWLRQ FKDOOHQJLQJ +RZHYHU VRPH RI ZKDW
youve learned about drawing in this course should offer inroads to other
ZRUNWKDWPLJKWDWUVWEHGLIFXOWWRDSSUHFLDWH,I\RXYHNHSWDEVWUDFWLRQ
at arms length, here are some artists you might look up:
Willem de Kooning
Arthur Dove
Marsden Hartley
Howard Hodgkin
Franz Kline
Emma Kunz
Kazimir Malevich
Kurt Schwitters
650

Sean Scully
Terry Winters
%HORZDUHDIHZDUWLVWVZKRVWUDGGOHDEVWUDFWLRQDQGJXUDWLRQ
Louise Bourgeois
Cecily Brown
Richard Diebenkorn
Philip Guston
Philip Pearlstein
Gerhard Richter
Matthias Weischer
)LQDOO\WKHIROORZLQJDUWLVWVVSDQVRPHRIWKHHQRUPRXVUDQJHRIJXUDWLRQ
weve seen over recent decades:
-HDQ0LFKHO%DVTXLDW
William Beckman
Paul Cadmus
-DPHV&DVWOH
Vija Celmins
Sue Coe
-RKQ&XUULQ
Tacita Dean
-DQ'H9OLHJKHU
Rackstraw Downes
Marlene Dumas
Eric Fischl
Ann Gale
Gregory Gillespie
Ignacio Ituria
<YRQQH-DFTXHWWH
William Kentridge
-RKQ.RFK
Catherine Murphy
Alice Neel
David Park
651

Ed Paschke
-HQQ\6DYLOOH
-DPHV9DOHULR

Additional Activities

A last note: Dont be afraid to change or try new things. Although some
artists have been consistent over the decades of their lives, many others have
embraced change. A look at the careers of such artists as Edvard Munch,
Picasso, Matisse, Mondrian, or Philip Guston can be instructive in this
regard.

652

Bibliography

Drawing: Contemporary Sources

$ULVWLGHV-XOLHWWHClassical Drawing Atelier. :DWVRQ*XSWLOO$VROLG
DQGZHOOLOOXVWUDWHGLQWURGXFWLRQWRGUDZLQJEDVHGLQSRVW5HQDLVVDQFHDQG
SUHthFHQWXU\SUDFWLFHVDQGWHFKQLTXHVLQWKH:HVW
. Classical Painting Atelier. :DWVRQ*XSWLOO $ FRPSDQLRQ WR
Aristidess drawing book. For the purposes of this course, this volume has
useful chapters on composition and value.
. Lessons in Classical Drawing. :DWVRQ*XSWLOO  $ WKLUG
volume from Aristides that includes a DVD tutorial.
%RWKZHOO 'RUU DQG 0DUO\V 0D\HOG Notan: The Dark-Light Principle of
Design. Dover, 1991. A good introduction to notan, discussed in Lecture 22.
%R\HU 6KHUL /\QQ KWWSZZZDUWLQVWUXFWLRQEORJFRPGUDZLQJOHVVRQD
WKHRU\RIOLJKWDQGVKDGH0DQ\RIP\VWXGHQWVKDYHIRXQGWKLVVLWHKHOSIXO
It provides an overview of value and light and shade.
Chaet, Bernard. The Art of Drawing. 3rd HG +DUFRXUW %UDFH -RYDQRYLFK
1983. A good, straightforward text. Provides clear explanations and examples
RIOLQHYDOXHWH[WXUHDQGJXUHJURXQGUHODWLRQVKLSV$OVRLQFOXGHVDJRRG
chapter on materials.
Character Design. http://pinterest.com/characterdesigh/. This site is popular
among my students who have an interest in concept art, comics, manga, and
video games.
Curtis, Brian. Drawing from Observation. 0F*UDZ+LOO7KLVVRXUFH
contains a great deal of good material, with a focus on observational drawing.
7KHH[SODQDWLRQVDUHFOHDUDQGLQGHSWK7KHPDQ\LOOXVWUDWLRQVDOVRKHOSWKH
reader understand the topics under discussion.

653

Eagle, Ellen. Pastel Painting Atelier :DWVRQ*XSWLOO  $OWKRXJK D

number of books in this bibliography have a section or chapter devoted to
pastel, this book represents a comprehensive introduction to the subject with
PDQ\QHLOOXVWUDWLRQVE\DUDQJHRIDUWLVWV
Enstice, Wayne, and Melody Peters. Drawing: Space, Form and Expression.
2nd ed. Prentice Hall, 1995. This book contains all the materials commonly
SUHVHQWHGLQDFROOHJHOHYHOGUDZLQJFRXUVH,WVZHOORUJDQL]HGZLWKDZHDOWK
of reproductions of artists works, including many contemporary examples.
Faber, David L., and Daniel M. Mendelowitz. A Concise Guide to Drawing,
8th HG &HQJDJH /HDUQLQJ  $QRWKHU FRPSUHKHQVLYH FROOHJHOHYHO
drawing book. Covers all the important formal elements with sections on still
OLIHODQGVFDSHDQGWKHJXUH$OVRFRQWDLQVPDQ\KHOSIXOYLVXDOH[DPSOHV
including contemporary ones.

Bibliography

Goldstein, Nathan. The Art of Responsive Drawing. 3rd ed. Prentice Hall,
1984. A thorough book with much useful information.
Guptill, Arthur L., and Susan E. Meyer, Rendering in Pencil. :DWVRQ
Guptill, 1977. This is one of my favorite books on drawing. It is thorough
DQG SURYLGHV FOHDU H[SODQDWLRQV 1RWH $UWKXU *XSWLOO -DFN +DPP DQG
$QGUHZ/RRPLVZHUHDOOSULPDULO\LOOXVWUDWRUVDQGZHUHUVWSXEOLVKHGLQWKH
HDUO\WRPLGth century. They each wrote multiple texts on drawing, many
of which are listed in this bibliography. Their books are decidedly different
in character from books published from the 1970s onward and geared to the
college classroom (e.g., those by Enstice, Faber, Goldstein, Mendelowitz,
Rockman, Sale, Smagula, and others.). Guptill, Hamm, and Loomis tend
to be more prescriptive, with a greater reliance on recipes. Also, some of
WKH GUDZLQJ H[DPSOHV RI IHPDOH QXGHV YHHU WRZDUG WKH SLQXS DQG VRPH
drawings of different ethnic types would make most contemporary readers
cringe. That said, these men were extremely knowledgeable and wrote
in clear and concise terms. There is a wealth of good information in their
respective volumes.
. Rendering in Pen and Ink. :DWVRQ*XSWLOO/LNHWKHERRNRQ
pencil, an excellent work.
654

+DPP-DFNDrawing Scenery: Landscapes and Seascapes. Perigee Trade,

1988. Hamm starts out with many basics about composition. He then goes
on, in his encyclopedic way, to catalog 38 kinds of trees, many other kinds of
rocks, and cloud types charted by altitude.
. First Lessons in Drawing and Painting. Perigee Trade, 1988.
Although this book is not comprehensive, it includes plenty of excellent
information.
. How to Draw Animals. Perigee Trade, 1983. If you want to draw
animals, this is a good place to start. Hamm starts with some anatomical
basics. Then, he runs through scores of different animals, pointing out
differences among species. For example, he doesnt just give you one bear
but contrasts the Kodiak with the polar, grizzly, black, Himalayan, sloth, and
Malayan varieties.
7KH - 3DXO *HWW\ 0XVHXP Formal Analysis. http://www.getty.edu/
HGXFDWLRQWHDFKHUVEXLOGLQJBOHVVRQVIRUPDOBDQDO\VLVKWPO
7KLV
OLQN
provides an introduction to formal analysis.
The Kennedy Center. Formal Visual Analysis. KWWSVDUWVHGJHNHQQHG\
FHQWHURUJHGXFDWRUVKRZWRIURPWKHRU\WRSUDFWLFHIRUPDOYLVXDODQDO\VLV
7KLVVLWHOLVWVPDQ\IRUPDOODQJXDJHWHUPVZLWKFRQFLVHGHQLWLRQV
Loomis, Andrew. Fun with a Pencil. Titan Books, 2013. Theres a fair
degree of overlap in Loomiss books, but they all have excellent information,
including this one. This volume concerns itself a bit more with cartooning
than the others.
. Successful Drawing. Titan Books, 2012. An excellent book with
good sections on basic forms, form in light, linear perspective, and relating
WKHJXUHWRSHUVSHFWLYH
Mendelowitz, Daniel M. Drawing. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1967. This is
QRWDKRZWRERRNEXWLQVWHDGDJRRGLQWURGXFWLRQWRWKHKLVWRU\RIPRVWO\
Western drawing from prehistory to the early 20th century.

655

Mendelowitz, Daniel, David L. Faber, and Duane Wakeman. A Guide to

Drawing. 7th ed. Cengage Learning, 2006. From the same publisher and by
some of the same authors as A Concise Guide to Drawing, above, this source
has many of the same materials.
Pumphrey, Richard. The Elements of Art. Prentice Hall College Division,
1996. Though introduced as a book on design, not drawing, this volume
provides an excellent introduction to formal language and many important
DVSHFWVRIWZRGLPHQVLRQDODUW
Rockman, Deborah. Drawing Essentials. Oxford University Press, 2009.
$ ZHOOWKRXJKWRXW ERRN ZLWK FKDSWHUV RQ DOO WKH PDMRU WRSLFV JHQHUDOO\
FRYHUHGLQDFROOHJHOHYHOGUDZLQJFRXUVH
Sale, Teel, and Claudia Betti. Drawing: A Contemporary Approach. 5th ed.
Thomson Wadsworth, 2004. A fairly comprehensive book, with many good
explanations and illustrations.
6PDJXOD +RZDUG - Creative Drawing. 2nd HG 0F*UDZ+LOO  <HW
DQRWKHU WKRURXJK DQG ZHOOLOOXVWUDWHG ERRN FRYHULQJ WKH PDMRU WRSLFV
generally discussed in a university drawing course.
Stevens, Peter, S. A Handbook of Regular Patterns. MIT Press, 1981. An
excellent and comprehensive book on pattern. The text is clear, analytical,
and accompanied by a wealth of illustrations.

Bibliography

Drawing: Historical Sources

Ackerman, Gerald, and Graydon Parrish. Charles Bargue and Jean-Leon
Grme Drawing Course. ACR, 2011. This is a reprinting of the 19thFHQWXU\
Cours de Dessin RI &KDUOHV %DUJXH D )UHQFK OLWKRJURSKHU DQG -HDQ/pRQ
Grme, the academician known for his orientalist paintings. The method
involves copying drawings of plaster casts, starting with line to block out shape,
then volume attached to planar structure. This is used as a guide to then apply
value. The young Pablo Picasso made copies of a number of these drawings.

656

Alberti, Leon Battista, and Martin Kemp. On Painting. Penguin, 1991. A

seminal 15thFHQWXU\WH[WRQGUDZLQJDQGSDLQWLQJ
Cennini, Cennino dAndrea. The Craftsmans Handbook. Dover, 1933.
$PRQJ WKH UVW :HVWHUQ PDQXDOV RQ DUWLVWLF PDWHULDOV DQG SURFHGXUHV
Written in 15thFHQWXU\ ,WDO\ LW GHVFULEHV PDQ\ RI WKH PHWKRGV IRU PDNLQJ
materials and their application.
da Vinci, Leonardo. A Treatise on Painting. Dover, 2005. http://www.
treatiseonpainting.org. This is a translation of a text based, at least in part,
on Leonardos manuscripts. A number of versions were published in Europe
during the 16th and 17th centuries. It is somewhat fragmented but interesting
nonetheless. Multiple early editions can be viewed at the link listed above.
. http://www.universalleonardo.org/. This site, curated by Martin Kemp,
has an excellent selection of Leonardos drawings and manuscript pages.
de Honnecourt, Villard. The Sketchbook of Villard de Honnecourt. Edited by
Theodore Bowie. Indiana University Press, 1959. A 13thFHQWXU\VNHWFKERRN
RIGUDZLQJVZLWKVXEMHFWVVSDQQLQJJXUHVDQLPDOVDQGDUFKLWHFWXUH7KLV
source is noteworthy for our course because it constitutes an early example
of a draftsman using simple geometric shapes to draw more complex objects
(plates 35 through 38). Plate 35 has the inscription Here begins the method
of representation.
Drer, Albrecht. Four Books on Human Proportions KWWSEUEOGOOLEUDU\
\DOHHGXYXQG5HFRUG 7KH HQWLUH  YROXPH FRQWDLQLQJ
Drers exploration of human proportions is available as a pdf at this site.
. Underweysung der Messung. KWWSEUEOGOOLEUDU\\DOHHGXYXQG
Record/3529943. The original German text printed in 1525.
. Underweysung der Messung. KWWSEUEOGOOLEUDU\\DOHHGXYXQG
Record/3529943. An additional eight pages published in 1538.
Drer, Albrecht, and Walter Strauss. The Human Figure by Albrecht Drer:
The Complete Dresden Sketchbooks. Dover, 1972. https://archive.org/stream/
657

EXEBJEBY(($$$$<$$-SDJHQPRGHWKXPE$FROOHFWLRQRIPDQ\RI
'UHUVDQQRWDWHGJXUHVWXGLHVGRQHLQSUHSDUDWLRQIRUKLVSXEOLFDWLRQ
Four Books on Human Proportion.
. The Painters Manual. Abaris Books, 1977. An English translation
of Drers Underweysung der Messung.
Eakins, Thomas. A Drawing Manual. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2005.
7KLV LV DQ XQQLVKHG ERRN ZULWWHQ E\ (DNLQV EDVHG RQ KLV WHDFKLQJ DW WKH
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Though fragmentary, it shows the kind
of analytical and quantitative thinking that engaged him.
Koller, E. L. Light, Shade, and Shadow. Dover, 2008. This book was
originally published in 1914. Though a slim volume, it covers the perspective
of shadows in some detail.
5XVNLQ -RKQ The Elements of Drawing. Dover, 1971. Ruskin was better
known as an art critic than an artist, but he was an accomplished draftsman
nonetheless. His book, originally published in 1857, is heavier on text and
has fewer illustrations than most contemporary books on drawing. That said,
much of the information here is relevant.
Speed, Harold. The Practice and Science of Drawing. Dover, 1972.
2ULJLQDOO\SXEOLVKHGLQWKLVLVDZHOONQRZQWH[WRQGUDZLQJPXFKRI
it dealing with both line and mass.
Vasari, Giorgio. Vasari on Technique. Dover, 2011. This 1550 text on
methods in architecture, sculpture, painting, and design was written by the
ZHOONQRZQDXWKRURILives of the Artists. It gives us a contemporary view of
the materials, methods, and techniques used by Renaissance artists.

Bibliography

Linear Perspective
Auvil, Kenneth W. Perspective Drawing. 2nd ed. 0F*UDZ+LOO  $
concise and thorough book with clear illustrations.

658

'$PHOLR-RVHSKPerspective Drawing Handbook. Dover, 2004. This book

ZDVRULJLQDOO\SXEOLVKHGLQ,WLVZHOOLOOXVWUDWHGDQGFRYHUVPDQ\RI
WKHPRVWLPSRUWDQWFRQFHSWVUHODWHGWRRQHDQGWZRSRLQWSHUVSHFWLYH
0RQWDJXH-RKQBasic Perspective Drawing. 6th ed. Wiley, 2013. Among the
clearest and most thorough books on linear perspective. The newest edition
includes a key code that gives you access to a website with instructional
videos.
Norling, Ernest R. Perspective Made Easy. Dover Publications, 1999. This
ERRN ZDV UVW SXEOLVKHG LQ  DQG LWV LOOXVWUDWLRQV PD\ ORRN VRPHZKDW
GDWHG7KDWVDLGWKHVXEMHFWLVZHOOSUHVHQWHG%RWKWKHWH[WDQGLOOXVWUDWLRQV
communicate the essential points in a vivid way.
Robertson, Scott, and Thomas Berling. How to Draw. Design Studio Press,
2013. A good recent book on perspective. It covers all the basics and has
detailed sections on drawing cars and planes.
Veltman, Kim H. Linear Perspective and the Visual Dimensions of Science
and Art. 'HXWVFKHU.XQVWYHUODJ7KLVLVQRWDKRZWRERRN,QVWHDG
its a historical study of Leonardos writings on, and use of, perspective and
related subjects. Contains a great deal of fascinating material.
Figure Drawing and Anatomy
Bridgman, George B. Bridgmans Complete Guide to Drawing from Life.
6WHUOLQJ  %ULGJPDQ WDXJKW JXUH GUDZLQJ DQG DQDWRP\ DW 7KH $UW
Students League in New York City for many years. This book includes his
own drawings, accompanied by explanations of the major body parts. There
is also a chapter on drapery.
Brown, Clint, and Cheryl McLean. Drawing from Life. 2nd ed. Harcourt
%UDFH  $ FRPSUHKHQVLYH JXLGH WR JXUH GUDZLQJ 0DQ\ RI WKH
IRUPDO FRQVLGHUDWLRQV DUH FRYHUHG LQ WKH UVW VHFWLRQ RQ IXQGDPHQWDOV
This is followed by a section on anatomy and another on composition and
expression.

659

Goldstein, Nathan. Figure Drawing. 4th ed. Prentice Hall, 1993. A good
RYHUYLHZ RI JXUH GUDZLQJ :HOOLOOXVWUDWHG ZLWK FKDSWHUV RQ VWUXFWXUDO
anatomical, and expressive approaches
Hale, Robert Beverly. Master Class in Figure Drawing. :DWVRQ*XSWLOO
1991. This text is distilled from Hales anatomy classes at The Art Students
League in New York. Hale moves through the major structures of muscle
and bone in the human body, relating them to choices made in drawings by
important artists from Leonardo to Rubens.
. Lectures on Artistic Anatomy and Figure DrawingKWWSZZZMR
DQFRPDUWBYLGHRKWP 7KHVH YLGHRV RI +DOH WHDFKLQJ DW 7KH$UW 6WXGHQWV
League in New York provide excellent material. There are 10 talks in
all, each covering a section of the body, as follows: Lecture 1, Rib Cage
(78 minutes); Lecture 2, Pelvis (81 minutes); Lecture 3, Leg (74 minutes);
Lecture 4, Foot (72 minutes); Lecture 5, Shoulder Girdle 1 (77 minutes);
Lecture 6, Shoulder Girdle 2 (68 minutes); Lecture 7, Arm (76 minutes);
Lecture 8, Hand (80 minutes); Lecture 9, Head and Skull (80 minutes);
Lecture 10, Head and Features (97 minutes).
+DOH5REHUW%HYHUO\DQG-DFRE&ROOLQVDrawing Lessons from the Great
Masters :DWVRQ*XSWLOO  7KLV ERRN DQDO\]HV DUWLVWV GUDZLQJV LQ
relation to the use of line, light, plane, and anatomy.

Bibliography

+DPP-DFNCartooning the Head and Figure. Perigee Trade, 1986. As the

title suggests, this book is all about cartooning. The examples are decidedly
HDUO\ WR PLGth century, but theres a great deal of excellent information
here. Hamm had an encyclopedic personality. There are pages devoted to
charting scores of cartoon noses, ears, and lips. A wonderful book to leaf
through.
. Drawing the Head and Figure. Perigee Trade, 1988. A great
LQWURGXFWLRQWRFRQVWUXFWLYHJXUHGUDZLQJ,QRWKHUZRUGVWKHDSSURDFKLV
not about observation but about using systems of measure and shape to draw
JXUHV IURP \RXU LPDJLQDWLRQ &RQFHUQV LWVHOI D ELW OHVV ZLWK FRQVWUXFWLQJ
WKUHHGLPHQVLRQDOIRUPWKDQHLWKHU/RRPLVRU5HHG

660

Loomis, Andrew. Drawing the Head and Hands. Titan Books, 2011. An
excellent introduction to the subject.
. Figure Drawing for All Its Worth. Titan Books, 2011. Contains a
great deal of good information about measure, anatomy, constructing the
JXUHIURPEORFNVDQGGUDZLQJIURPREVHUYDWLRQ
Reed, Walt. The Figure. 30th ed. North Light Books, 1984. An excellent book
ZLWKFKDSWHUVRQJXUHFRQVWUXFWLRQDQGDQDWRP\
Thomson, Arthur. A Handbook of Anatomy for Art Students. 5th ed. Dover,
2011. This book is primarily text with some illustrations. It contains thorough
descriptions of the major anatomical structures of the body.
9DQGHUSRHO-RKQ+The Human Figure. Dover, 1958. Considered one of the
HDUO\thFHQWXU\FODVVLFVRQWKHVXEMHFWWKLVERRNZDVRULJLQDOO\SXEOLVKHG
in 1935. Like many books of the period, it has more text than illustration,
DQGVRPHFRQWHPSRUDU\UHDGHUVQGWKHSURVHGLIFXOW7KDWVDLGWKHUHLVD
wealth of good information to be found here.
Visiblebody.com. SkeletonPremium and MusclePremium. These apps let
you move through all the important bones and muscles, which are rendered
in three dimensions. You can rotate them and see them in motion, as well.
This is one of the best ways to get a clear idea of how the various anatomical
structures relate. The apps are compatible with many phones, tablets, and
various operating systems.
Winslow, Valerie L. Classic Human Anatomy.:DWVRQ*XSWLOO$PRQJ
the most recent and comprehensive books on anatomy for the artist. It does a
good job of outlining and illustrating the important bones and muscles.
Color
$OEHUV-RVHIInteraction of Color. Yale University Press, 2006. Albers was
a student, and later, a colleague, of Ittens (see below) at the Bauhaus. His
book has become one of the standards used in art schools and universities
in the United States. The strengths of his approach center on bringing out
661

optical relationships, namely, how color is relative. A single color can be

made to appear darker or lighter, warmer or cooler based on the surrounding
colorshence, the Interaction in the title.
A Breakdown of Color in Film Stills. http://imgur.com/a/PyRly. A good site
WKDWEUHDNVGRZQWKHFRORUSDOHWWHVLQOPVWLOOVLQWRVZDWFKHV
Guptill, Arthur L. Oil Painting Step-By-Step. 9thHG:DWVRQ*XSWLOO
Though primarily a book on oil painting, this source includes several useful
chapters on color.
Guptill, Arthur L., and Susan E. Meyer, Watercolor Painting Step-By-Step.
2nd HG :DWVRQ*XSWLOO  6LPLODU WR WKH RLO SDLQWLQJ JXLGH DERYH WKLV
book has several excellent chapters on color.
,WWHQ -RKDQQHV DQG )DEHU %LUUHQ The Elements of Color. Van Nostrand
Reinhold Company, 1970. Along with Alberss book, Ittens is one of those
most used in U.S. academia today. The two approaches are similar.
Loomis, Andrew. Creative Illustration. Titan Books, 2012. As with all
Loomiss books, theres excellent information here on many aspects of
drawing, including line, tone, composition, and perspective. Also includes a
useful chapter on color.
5REHUWVRQ -HDQ DQG &UDLJ 0F'DQLHO Painting as a Language. Cengage
Learning, 1999. Although primarily a book on painting, this source includes
a good chapter on color, as well chapters on space, the picture plane, and
abstraction.

Bibliography

Drawing and Painting Materials

Many of the contemporary drawing books listed above have excellent
chapters on materials. In addition, several books that deal solely with this
subject are listed below.

662

Chaet, Bernard. An Artists Notebook: Techniques and Materials. Holt,

Rinehart and Winston, 1979. This book has a lengthy chapter on drawing
materials. Also includes a chapter on color.
Doerner, Max. The Materials of the Artist. Mariner Books, 1949. First
published in 1921. Before Mayer published The Artists Handbook, this
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Like Mayers work, it deals primarily with painting materials.
Eastlake, Sir Charles Lock. Methods and Materials of Painting of the Great
Schools and Masters. Dover, 2001. This book, by a former president of the
British Royal Academy, was originally published in 1847 as Materials for a
History of Oil Painting. It is a lengthy volumemore than 1,000 pages
covering historical painting methods and techniques in the West.
*HWWLQV 5XWKHUIRUG - DQG *HRUJH / 6WRXW Painting Materials. Dover
Art Instruction, 2011. Originally published in 1942 and written by two
VSHFLDOLVWV DIOLDWHG ZLWK WKH 'HSDUWPHQW RI &RQVHUYDWLRQ DW +DUYDUGV
Fogg Art Museum. This is a technical work with extensive information on
pigments, mediums, and supports.
Gottsegen. Mark David. The Painters Handbook. :DWVRQ*XSWLOO 
Among the most recent, useful, and readable of the books listed here. The
recipes are clear and concise. There is also a good introductory chapter on
common drawing materials and papers.
Mayer, Ralph. The Artists Handbook. 5th ed. Viking, 1991. First published
LQWKLVERRNUHPDLQVRQHRIWKHVWDQGDUGUHIHUHQFHVLQWKHHOG,WLV
mostly concerned with painting materials but includes chapters on pastel and
watercolor.
Speed, Harold. Oil Painting Techniques and Materials. Dover, 1987. First
published in 1924, this book is regarded by many as a classic, covering
traditional oil painting materials and techniques.
7XUQHU -DFTXHV Brushes: A Handbook for Artists. Design Press, 1992. A
fairly comprehensive look at brushes used with a wide range of materials.
663

Van de Wettering, Ernst. Rembrandt: The Painter at Work. University of

California Press, 2009. An interesting book that examines Rembrandts
materials and painting methods.
Health and Safety
McCann, Michael. Artist Beware. Lyons Press, 2005. This book has become
DVWDQGDUGLQWKHHOG
Rossol, Monona. The Artists Complete Health and Safety Guide. Allworth
3UHVV$ORQJZLWK0F&DQQVERRNWKLVLVDZHOOUHYLHZHGDQGKLJKO\
regarded text on the subject.
Artists Writings, Interviews with Artists, and Artist Video Clips
$ORQJZLWKWKHPRUHKDQGVRQWH[WVLWVXVHIXOWRJHWDVHQVHRIZKDWDUDQJH
of artists actually think about. Below is a modest selection spanning artists
writings, interviews with artists, and clips of artists at work.
Ashton, Dore. Picasso on Art, De Capo Press, 1988.
Bacon, Francis. Fragments of a Portrait,
KWWSVZZZ\RXWXEHFRPZDWFK"Y [R)0+B'[/NFrancis Bacons Last
InterviewKWWSVZZZ\RXWXEHFRPZDWFK"Y SG7G5<8D4
Francis Bacon Rare Interview, 1971,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFDiemYxuvA.

Bibliography

Baselitz, Georg. Georg Baselitz Talks about Farewell Bill,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6ipu0KzUds.
Cembalest, Robin. How Edward Hopper Storyboarded Nighthawks.
KWWSZZZDUWQHZVFRPKRZHGZDUGKRSSHUVWRU\ERDUGHG
nighthawks/.
da Vinci, Leonardo. The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci. 2 vols. Edited by
-HDQ3DXO5LFKHWHU'RYHU

664

Desiderio, Vincent. LCAD Vincent Desiderio Painting Demo,

KWWSVZZZ\RXWXEHFRPZDWFK"Y *[51WF1S4 OLVW 3/Q&MYGGGFB
XN<FZ=-&EMB[P:F\IEU
'H9OLHJKHU-DQ
KWWSZZZ\RXWXEHFRPZDWFK"Y 7=:1=2H$ IHDWXUH \RXWXEH
Fischl, Eric. Dive Deep: Eric Fischl and the Process of Painting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWpYD4LWpVc.
Freud, Lucian. An Exclusive Tour of Freuds Studio,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YMV4EyaPMM. Lucian Freuds
Rarest Interview, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5KcT4PBh2M.
Gaugain, Paul. The Writings of a Savage. Viking, 1978.
Henri, Robert. The Art Spirit. Basic Books, 2007.
Hockney, David. David Hockney by David Hockney. Abrams, 1977. I Am a
Space Freak,
KWWSFKDQQHOORXLVLDQDGNYLGHRGDYLGKRFNQH\LDPVSDFHIUHDN
Photoshop Is Boring,
KWWSVZZZ\RXWXEHFRPZDWFK"Y R$[BD<*PSR0Who Gets to Call It
Art, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjfIKymXMa4.
Kahlo, Frida, with an introduction by Carlos Fuentes. Diary of Frida Kahlo.
Bloomsbury, 1995.
Katz, Alex. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1bA6Sbk24Y.
.LHIHU$QVHOPKWWSVZZZ\RXWXEHFRPZDWFK"Y TPQZ-S8
Klee, Paul. Diaries of Paul Klee. University of California Press, 1968.
Kuspit, Donald. Fischl: An Interview with Eric Fischl. Vintage, 1987.

665

Lundin, Norman, and David Brody. Norman Lundin: Selections from Three
Decades of Drawing and Painting. University of Washington Press, 2006.
Matisse, Henri. Matisse on Art. Phaidon, 1973.
Redon, Odilon. To Myself: Notes on Life, Art, and Artists. George Braziller,
1996.
Richter, Gerhard. Gerhard Richter Painting,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF6EluMNR14. Gerhard Richter in the
StudioKWWSVZZZ\RXWXEHFRPZDWFK"Y ([I1-'K.J
5LFKWHU*HUKDUGDQG+DQV8OEULFK2EULVWThe Daily Practice of Painting.
The MIT Press, 1995.
Shan, Ben. The Shape of Content. Harvard University Press, 1992. This
volume contains six essays by Shahn delivered in 19561957 at Harvard
University as part of The Charles Eliot Norton Lecture series. Shahn writes
FOHDUO\ DQG VXFFLQFWO\ DERXW DUW 6WXGHQWV RI WKLV FRXUVH ZLOO QG WKH QDO
essay, The Education of an Artist, of particular interest.
Sylvester, David. The Brutality of Fact: Interviews with Francis Bacon.
Thames and Hudson, 1990.
Van Gogh, Vincent. Letters of Vincent Van Gogh. Penguin, 1998.
Wellington, Hubert. The Journal of Eugene Delacroix. Phaidon, 1995.

Bibliography

Compilations of Artists Writings

Chipp, Herschel B. Theories of Modern Art. University of California Press,
1984. This volume includes writings by many 19thDQGthFHQWXU\DUWLVWV
from Paul Czanne to Henry Moore.
Goldwater, Robert, and Marco Treves. Artists on Art, Pantheon, 1974. This
volume includes artists writings from the 14th to the 20th centuries.

666

Harrison, Charles, and Paul Wood. Art in Theory, 19001990. Blackwell,

1995. As the title indicates, this book covers the period 19001990 with
writings by many artists and writers, from Gaugain and Freud to Barbara
Kruger and Richard Serra.
Art History and Criticism
This short list contains texts referenced in the course and a few others that
are either comprehensive or will serve as introductions to aspects of art
history or criticism.
Davies, Penelope. Jansons History of Art. 8th ed. Pearson, 2010. One of the
standards used in university art history survey courses covering the Western
canon at length.
)LQHEHUJ -RQDWKDQ Art since 1940. 3rd ed. Pearson, 2010. As the title
indicates, this book covers art since 1940. Though not comprehensive,
its a readable overview that will give the reader a sense of the important
individuals and ideas during this period.
Gombrich, Ernst. The Story of Art. 16th ed. Phaidon Press, 1995. One of the
bestselling introductions to the history of (mostly) Western art. Well written
and accessible.
Grove Dictionary of Art, 2[IRUG 8QLYHUVLW\ 3UHVV  7KLV YROXPH
work is as comprehensive as anything available. Not something youre
likely to buy for your home library, but major libraries will have a copy. Its
extremely useful for getting information and references for any topic you
might become interested in.
Hickey, Dave. Air Guitar: Essays on Art and Democracy. Art Issues Press,
1997. A collection of essays by one of the more witty contemporary critics. It
can serve as an introduction to some contemporary thought on art.
Hockney, David. Secret Knowledge. Studio, 2006. Artist David Hockney
advances the theory that the great changes evidenced in the Renaissance were
traceable to the use of such optical devices as the camera lucida and camera
667

obscura. He argues that artists from Van Eyck to Caravaggio to Ingres used
them to project images onto a surface and trace them. There is also a BBC
documentary on the same subject that makes for interesting viewing
(http://youtu.be/ynrnfBnhWSo).
Hughes, Robert. Nothing If Not Critical. Penguin Books, 1992. Hughes was
the art critic for TIME magazine for many years and one of the most prominent
art critics of the late 20th century. This is a collection of his essays on both
historical and more contemporary artists. The prose is unusually lucid.
. The Shock of the New. Knopf, 1991. An excellent introduction for
anyone interested in beginning to understand what might be termed modern
art.
Kemp, Martin. The Science of Art. Yale University Press, 1992. This is a
fascinating book for those interested in many of the more quantitative
aspects of art. It covers the relationship of science to art in the West from the
Renaissance through the 19th century. It includes an interesting chapter on
mechanical devices used in drawing and painting. The appendix boasts one
of the most lucid and concise descriptions of the principles underlying linear
perspective.
Kleiner, Fred S. Gardners Art through the Ages: A Global History. 2 vols.
14th ed. Wadsworth, 2012. Another standard comprehensive text used in
university art history courses.
Sewell, Darrel, ed. Thomas Eakins. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2001.
Include several excellent articles on Eakinss working methods.

Bibliography

Stokstad, Marilyn, and Michael Cothren. Art History. 4th ed. Pearson, 2010.
An inclusive world history of art. Starting with prehistory, it covers Asia,
Islam, Africa, and the Americas, in addition to the Western canon.

668