Finder for Nature Drawing

Cut out the center from an oblong of cardboard as shown in Fig. 2. Hold it either vertically or horizontally as a picture frame at arm’s length and select what to draw by moving the frame from side to side or up and down. Then draw what appears within.

In drawing both figures and trees, it is well to begin with the simplest forms; the figures without the adornment of clothes or even flesh, the trees without foliage.

Contrasts and Values

“Value” as understood in the terms of art expresses the comparative relations of tones to each other, whether of shade or color.

In making a drawing of a landscape, we would look at the tone of the trees against the sky and observe which is darker. If the sky be heavy and stormy and the light comes from behind the spectator, the trees may seem light by comparison, while the sky is darker in value.

On the contrary, under ordinary circumstances, trees with dark, rich foliage would stand out in strong relief against the sky, the latter being this time lighter in value than the trees.

The Keynote of a Picture – Similarly, we compare the rocks with the water, the fence to the road, the bough of the trees with the foliage, and so on, according to the different objects that come within the draftsman’s vision. In the production of a drawing containing light and shade as it appears to the eye, in order to obtain the best results, it is necessary to establish at once the darkest value in the whole. This, the deepest spot of shadow in the picture, becomes the keynote with which all other tones of light or dark my be compared.

Only by studying and observing the comparative variety of tones do we arrive at correct values.

As an important quality in art, this cannot be over-estimated, for the quality of a picture is apt to depend on a just appreciation of the values that it contains.

Exercises in Single Line Direction – The exercise in Fig 5 require careful attention. They are adaptable for any medium except the brush. Their significance lies in the fact that the principle lines in each scene are made with strokes in the same general direction. This does not apply, of course, to the details. In the upper sketch, the prevailing lines are vertical; in the middle scene, the lines are horizontal, while in the bottom scene, most of the lines are oblique.