In
this set of videos we’ll be drawing and painting five different
landscapes, beginning each one with a graphite sketch before moving on
to the painting.
Once
you’ve chosen reference material for your landscape, move pieces of
white paper around the picture to decide on the strongest layout and
crop if necessary.Once you’ve decided on the strongest composition, make a pencil study of the picture on plain scratch paper.
Pencil Study: The purpose of the tone study is to work out problems with composition and to familiarize yourself with the subject matter before you start painting, so work quickly but with a watchful eye and a careful hand. Don’t just slap graphite on the paper without intent.
Begin by placing the horizon line, then drop in the other major shapes of the composition by looking for lines that fall at convenient places to measure, such as the vertical and horizontal center lines.
Always look for the largest shapes first. Once you get their angles and lines correct, you can sketch in smaller shapes and more intricate details with confidence, knowing that they’ll be in the correct place.
If the landscape has a fence line or something man-made, sketch it roughly at first by marking off the endpoints and then connecting those.
Be aware that as evenly spaced objects retreat into the distance, they will appear shorter and closer together. You can clean up precise lines later with a ruler if needed.
When you’ve drawn the lines and shapes, move to a large chunk of solid graphite or charcoal to lay down the tone.
Keep the tone changes consistent with what you see on the reference photo. If you wish, you can blend the tones to make them appear more finished; just don’t stop working until you’re satisfied with the composition and you have a good understanding of every line and shape within it.
Fight the lazy tendency to say to yourself, “I can clean that up and work out the kinks later.” Don’t move forward until you’re satisfied with the work at each stage.
Transferring the Drawing: When you’re satisfied, transfer the drawing to the watercolor paper using the same key lines and shapes that you developed in the tone study.
Chris Elmore
Drawing Made Easy
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