Drawing Lesson 2 :: Overlapping Spheres

We are continuing our weekly drawing class. We are using Mark Kistler’s book, You Can Draw in 30 Days. Instead of completing the book in 30 days, we plan to take 30 weeks, doing a new lesson each week and then spending time during the week practicing what we have learned. Although I am teaching the class, I am also student and learning every bit as much as the wee ones. Michelle has a degree in fine arts and she adds tons of helpful hints. It is a very exciting time for us all. If you would like to join us, simply pick up the book You Can Draw in 30 Days, and start at Drawing Lesson 1 :: The Sphere, and following along at your own pace. Each Lesson will be linked to the first Lesson and the next lesson. Happy Drawing!

Lesson 1 :: The Sphere

Lesson 3 :: Advance-Leveled Spheres

Last week in Lesson 1 :: The Sphere, we learned how to draw a sphere. We learned new words like light source, shading and shadowing. Our homework was to practice the concepts on various spheroid shapes. Below is everyone’s favorite drawing from the week.

Pixie’s Egg

Fairy’s Egg

Bug’s Gold Nugget

Kimara’s Egg

Michelle’s Sphere

This week we discussed elements of drawing that create the illusion of depth as presented in Mark Kistler’s book, You Can Draw in 30 Days

The Nine Fundamental Laws of Drawing

1. Foreshortening: Distort an object to create the illusion that one part of it is closer to your eye.
2. Placement: Place an object lower on the surface of a picture to make it appear closer to your eye.
3. Size: Draw an object larger to make it appear closer to your eye.
4. Overlapping: Draw an object in front of another object to create the visual illusion that it is closer to your eye.
5. Shading: Draw darkness on an object opposite the positioned light source to create the illusion of depth.
6. Shadow: Draw darkness on the ground next to the object, opposite the positioned light source, to create the illusion of depth.
7. Contour lines: Draw curving lines wrapping around the shape of a round object to give it volume and depth.
8. Horizon line: Draw a horizontal reference line to create the illusion that objects in the picture are varying distances from your eye.
9. Density: Create the illusion of distance by drawing objects lighter and with less detail.

Our lesson this week was Overlapping Spheres. We used placement, overlapping, shading and shadowing. We also learned that the primary spot on an object that receives the most light from your primary light source is called an “hot spot”. Here are our drawings from day’s class.