4. Tapered Lines, Searching Lines & Loose Sketching
TAPERED LINES
A line tapers when it gets thinner, softer, and lighter at the end. Both ends of this line are tapered:
Tapered lines are great for loose sketching, where you don't worry about perfectly connecting every line. Loose sketches with tapered lines can look quite beautiful, without any level of finish. The loose, tapering lines are full of momentum and energy, in every media:
Ariel sketch by Glen Keane
Why does this matter? Tapering a line allows you to stop and pause while you draw, to observe, and to continue drawing that line, without making it scratchy. Let's say you want to draw something complicated, like a robot.
There's no way you can draw the whole thing in one perfect line, and there's no way to get all the contour lines right, if that's all you focus on. No one draws like this:
To some of you, this drawing might look good? Let's go over what's wrong with it:
1. I'm not in control. I have no idea what the finished piece will look like. I can't control the pose, size, or the correct proportions of the robot. I can't consider the weight and balance of the robot. All I can see is how one little piece of the robot looks and where it connects to the little pieces next to it. I feel a bit like a mouse trapped in a giant maze.
2. The drawing is out of proportion and looks flat. The knees don't line up right, so one leg will end up longer than the other. All the lines have equal line weight, so major forms get lost in all the detail. After all that work, it's frustrating to see a drawing that feels clumsy.
3. The process is mind-numbingly slow, so that I get bogged down and give up. Note, it's not finished.
To fix this, loosen your sketching, ignore the contours and observe the basic shapes, and then taper your lines. Then, you can pause, observe the shapes, angles, and proportions, and then continue drawing. The robot will appear to be made up of continuous, flowing lines:
But, you may think - this version is sloppy too, right? Wrong, here's why:
1. I'm in control. I compared the robot to an actual man, and sketched in the gestural lines for the torso, arms and legs, looking for robot shapes that indicate human anatomy and muscles. I found the tilt of the spine and hips, the proportions of his long legs, and I found all the major shapes of the robot - in their proper place.
2. I simplified the basic shapes by combining them into sections - chest, abdomen, legs, arms, head. I found the proper size and proportions for each area, knowing I can go back later and break them up, for detail. In this way I can find and emphasize the forms that should stand out the most. If I go back and finish this, I know it will feel 3D.
3. This way of drawing was much faster and more satisfying.
SEARCHING LINES
Sometimes it's hard to see exactly what your subject looks like - some ideas, like a horse and rider in motion, can be hard to study from life, and before photography, you just had to imagine it. Tapered lines are a great way to search for the right shape, drawing the same line over and over till you get an approximation of what looks right. Some artists call these "thinking lines".
Horse & Rider sketch by Leonardo Da Vinci, c. 1490
See how Da Vinci drew multiple legs in different positions, looking for the best pose, with the most action, while feeling the most natural? The result looks a bit sloppy, but it's not meant as a final art piece. This is more like taking notes, in preparation for a better artwork to be made later. For finding forms, loose sketches with searching lines are a great way to experiment and find the right shapes, angles, proportions, curves, etc.
PRO TIP: Be careful not to over-work your searching lines, or it becomes impossible to see which line is the right one. Searching should lead to finding, after all.
LEVEL 1 ASSIGNMENT - Loose Sketch of a Still Life
THE SET UP: Paper, pencil, and a selection of still life objects. Try to mix in some cylindrical objects with rectangular objects, and turn them to 3/4 angles as much as possible.
Draw your still life, concerning yourself with the basic shapes of each object. Do not concern yourself with the contour lines! Forget the contours, we're no longer concerned with every little detail and wiggle of line. We only care about the basic shapes, their size, and placement. Draw lightly, and don't bother erasing mistakes - no erasing! You don't need to. Just draw light and loose, build up your shapes, build up definition, going over lines darker as you see where they ought to go. Erasing is for finely finished drawings, and we're not practicing that right now.
NOTE: It's great to practice loose sketching with a variety of media: markers, brush pens, ballpoint pens, and colored pencils. Try all these different media as you sketch, and consider mixing and matching.
LEVEL 2 ASSIGNMENT - Loose Sketch of a Cat
THE SET UP: Pencil, paper, and a sleeping cat. If not available, draw from a photo.
Try to draw a napping cat. Look for basic shapes - they're there, hidden in the cat's plush coat of fur. Again, don't worry about contour lines, just the basic shapes and their size relationships. Again, try drawing with different kinds of media. And keep quiet, so you don't wake the cat.
LEVEL 3 ASSIGNMENT - Loose Sketch of Pedestrians
THE SET UP: Paper, pencil, and a location with lots of pedestrians. Consider comfort - whether indoors or outdoors, depending on the season, where you would sit, etc.
What makes this so difficult is you're drawing a moving target. Take a good look at people as they go by, consider the basic shapes, and draw loose, simple sketches of them. Some may stop and sit - they're easier. The ones running or cycling by are the hardest. Try drawing all of them. Don't worry over details or precision, just get the basic forms as quickly as you can and see if they don't look like people.
LEVEL 3 ASSIGNMENT - Loose Sketch Portrait
THE SET UP: Paper, pencil, and someone willing to sit for you.
Try to draw a face, as best you can, looking for simple shapes and try to get it in proportion. Don't be surprised if your sketch doesn't resemble the sitter - that's okay. I will give more detailed instruction for portraits at a later date, but practice is key! It takes 100 bad drawings to get to a good one, so try your best.
Comments
Post a Comment