The Drawing Club

(Fogra 29) Job:11-41057 Title:Drawing club Handbook

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36 The Drawing Club

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ExEr C isE:

Building your lines

Sometimes, you can take a fine linear tool such as a pen and

do a drawing that feels like a painting that reads with tones and

dark values—almost the opposite of what George Stokes does

when he carves with his beautiful thin-to-thick lines. When

Linda Bull draws, she builds up her lines to create values and

shapes like a painting. A series of loose, thin marks builds up to

create mass and form with weight. Even though she is drawing

with lines, her drawings always read through descriptive values.

World of Warcraft, pen and ink on paper, Linda Bull

Try drawing like Linda. Practice building up your dark shapes

compositionally. Notice how she doesn’t overdraw her drawings,

making everything too dark and heavy. I think she does a beau-

tiful job of composing her drawings based on where she puts

her dark compositional shapes and where she wants to use light

shapes. I also like how she uses the elements in the foreground

and background to help create these compositional shapes.

ExEr C isE:

Light and dark tools

Does this happen when you draw? You start drawing with a

pencil or pen, and as you try your hardest to get thing right, your

drawing just gets darker and messier. Don’t worry. This happens

all the time. In your attempt to get things right, you put a darker

mark down to overpower the previous incorrect mark. After a

short while, you have a bunch of dark lines drawn on top of each

other shouting back at you. Even if there was a correct one in

there, you wouldn’t be able to see it.

Elvira, red pencil and ink on paper,

Forrest Card

So try this. Instead of drawing with just one tool, try drawing

with two—a light one and a dark one. They could be colored

pencils or pastels for example. You start the drawing with the

light tool, establishing gesture and basic design elements. Your

early thinking and mistakes will appear quiet. Then when you

start to feel comfortable slowing down, you can switch over to

the dark tool. The dark marks will always dominate the light

ones, so your drawings will look more confident.

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37

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Chapter 2: Why Is 2-D Design So Important?

Try drawing like Linda. Practice building up your dark shapes

compositionally. Notice how she doesn’t overdraw her drawings,

making everything too dark and heavy. I think she does a beau-

tiful job of composing her drawings based on where she puts

her dark compositional shapes and where she wants to use light

shapes. I also like how she uses the elements in the foreground

and background to help create these compositional shapes.

ExErcisE:

Light and dark tools

Does this happen when you draw? You start drawing with a

pencil or pen, and as you try your hardest to get things right,

your drawing just gets darker and messier. Don’t worry. This

happens all the time. In your attempt to get things right, you put

a darker mark down to overpower the previous incorrect mark.

After a short while, you have a bunch of dark lines drawn on top

of each other shouting back at you. Even if there was a correct

one in there, you wouldn’t be able to see it.

Elvira, red pencil and ink on paper,

Forrest Card

So try this. Instead of drawing with just one tool, try drawing

with two—a light one and a dark one. They could be colored

pencils or pastels for example. You start the drawing with the

light tool, establishing gesture and basic design elements. Your

early thinking and mistakes will appear quiet. Then when you

start to feel comfortable slowing down, you can switch over to

the dark tool. The dark marks will always dominate the light

ones, so your drawings will look more confident.

Maleficent, red pencil and ink on paper,

Forrest Card

Maleficent, red pencil and ink on paper,

Forrest Card

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