Draw Tonally in
Perspective (continued)
In the initial stages of learning perspective, it may be useful to
draw out the subject with lines fairly extensively, before you
begin to shade or erase. In this manner, you can concentrate
on the tonal aspects of the drawing without having to worry
about problems of perspective. Before the artist began to
shade, he “keyed” his drawing by indicating the lightest light
and the darkest dark. See “Key Your Drawing” in Chapter 5 for
more information.
After the artist established keying and perspective, he could
begin to give the subject form and space by rendering it in
light and shadow—that is, he could develop the tonal relation-
ships of his subject. The artist kept all of the tones very soft
here, because he wanted to be able to judge the whole draw-
ing before he defined his shapes.
Note:Remember to develop the entire drawing together, working
from large shapes to small shapes. Don’t forget to squint (see
page 58); it helps you to judge your tonal relationships without
the influence of insignificant (at this stage) details.
TIP
Build Your Tones Gradually
Try not to get too dark too fast, especially when
working with graphite. Otherwise, if you want to
lighten an area, you may find it difficult to erase.