Art & Photo
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Drawing
Learn to see, then learn to draw what you see.
3levels, ending in portraits that look like people
40 mina Step, on average
$36to start Level 1
FreeLevel 1, always
The path
- 1
Level 1Free Lines and Light
A fully shaded still life from real objects
15 Steps, about 40 minutes each. Anyone who thinks they 'can't draw'. If you can sign your name, you can learn this.
- Chapter 1: Lines and forms. Confident lines and ellipses, contour drawings, boxes in perspective, and a mug drawn from life.
- Chapter 2: Light and shadow. A smooth value scale, shaded spheres, cubes and cylinders, accurate proportions, and a fully shaded apple or egg.
- Chapter 3: Your still life. A still life planned in thumbnails, laid in, shaded and finished: a drawing you'd frame.
- 1Show your groupConfident linesA page of straight lines and a page of ellipses, drawn with the ghosting method.
- 2Contour drawingTwo blind contour drawings and one careful contour drawing of your own hand.
- 3Boxes in one-pointA page of boxes drawn in one-point perspective from a single vanishing point.
See all 15 Steps
- 4
- 5Show your groupDraw a mug from lifeA careful line drawing of a mug from life, with correct ellipses and proportions.
- 6
- 7Shade a sphereA shaded sphere with a highlight, core shadow, reflected light and cast shadow.
- 8Shade cubes and cylindersA shaded cube, cylinder and cone, all lit from the same side.
- 9Measure proportionsTwo objects drawn side by side with their heights and widths measured using your pencil.
- 10Show your groupShade an apple or eggA fully shaded apple or egg from life, with a cast shadow, on good paper.
- 11Set up and thumbnailA still life of 3 objects set up and lit, and six small thumbnail sketches of it.
- 12Lay in the still lifeYour chosen still life laid in lightly on good paper, with correct proportions and placement.
- 13
- 14Build values and textureMiddle tones, core shadows and surface textures built up across the whole drawing.
- 15Show your groupFinish and signThe finished still life with highlights, final darks, a signature, and the drawing protected.
Level 2Unlocks after Level 1 Faces
Your first portrait from life
Level 3Unlocks after Level 2 Figures
Gesture and figure drawings of people
Where it ends: portraits that look like people
Free lessons in Lines and Light come from Drawabox, Chris Wilson Studio, The Lightbox, BYU-Idaho Art 110, Ctrl+Paint, Proko, Circle Line Art School, The Drawing Source, Envato Tuts+, Art Prof. We link to their work and never copy it.
Cover photo by Jill Dimond on Unsplash