Tag Archives: Shading

How to draw skulls revealed and uncomplicated.

May 3, 2011 gareth

Learn how to draw skulls by first thinking about the caricaturists of a human skull, it is composed of bone that forms the overall shape and because of this it is an off white color making it great for practicing your shading and providing a good subject matter to encourage you to make more use of the paper tone. Even if you use colored paper with highlights to emphasize the lightest tones, your skull drawings will still look good, giving you plenty of practice with your drawing techniques and skills. Common features to a skull are the brain cavity with a nice curved area, eye sockets, nose cavity, jaw and teeth. All of these can be exaggerated as features to easily create the skulls of monsters or sinister creatures but still recognizable as skulls because they have strong characteristics and features that are easily recognizable.

My advice for you would be to draw a human skull a few times so as to understand what a human skull looks like and how it is drawn but I don’t expect you to have one of your own so I have provided a few examples for you to draw if you want to use them. I would advise that you trace them first so you do not have to do the outline construction this will make it easier. If you want to learn more on the subject of tracing and its benefits then you could join my ezine and down load a free report on the right hand side of this page. When you have a few outlines drawn you can decide on which one you would like to continue by doing the shading on it.

How To Draw Skulls Three Quarter View — A skull example for how to draw skulls,

This will help you to see more detail in the subject matter, informing you as to how the shapes fit together and how the shadows help to create a more three dimensional shape to your skull drawings or any drawing.

It will also be good practice for helping you to better understand how to draw skulls of all kinds’ not just human skulls because it will put accurate information into your head to start with about skull drawings .

The video below will help you by showing you how I draw; it is always good to watch how others draw.

I suggest that after doing this you should try to draw some skulls free hand from memory.

The best way to draw skulls is to start off drawing real skulls then after drawing a few you will have the information written into your brain so as to be more able to draw them from memory. The good thing about learning how to draw skulls is s is that they are not like faces and do not have to look like a particular person in fact you can be quite creative with them because of this. The best way to start off is with the main outline which depending on which angle you are looking at is a circular shape with a rectangular bottom where the jaw would be when looking from the front.

How To Draw Skulls Fron tView — How To Draw Skulls A Front View Example To Use As An Information Source To Help You.

When looking from the side it would be an oval shape lying horizontally with a rectangular shape jutting off the front where the jaw would be again.

From this basic shape you can then start putting in the detail, if you do these out line drawings with light pencil marks they can more easily be covered up as you put more detail into your drawing building it up as you go along. My best advice would be to use photographs to get your information and you can find many of these online but just in case you’re not able find any then you can use these that’s why they are here the help you learn how to draw skulls and you will find plenty of interesting angles that can be useful if wanting to add some other adornments like hats or head dress to you skull drawings when learning how to draw skulls.

Skulls are good for drawing as they are quite easy, once you have drawn a few, you can get a buzz out of drawing them because they look good without great effort, they can be used for horror art, fantasy art, tattoos or cartoons. They can be combined with many other elements of creature and character designs, they are good for adding drama as a visual dynamic, I enjoy drawing skulls and have drawn many.

Now you should try drawing some more skulls free hand by making simple line drawings of them trying out different versions quickly, try exaggerating features like cheek bones or teeth, try having some teeth missing. You could make one into a pirate skull by giving it an eye patch and a bandanna or an Indian with a head dress or a cowboy with a Stetson, the possibilities are endless. How to draw skulls will help you to make some great skull drawings but you should at the very least start by drawing your skull drawings from the photographs of real skulls.
View Gareth Pritchard’s profile on G+

how to draw a easy

Simple pencil drawings, how to draw.

June 10, 2009 gareth 2 Comments

Simple pencil drawings do exist, yes they do, and the most difficult part, of any drawing, is the construction, so to make it easy, eliminate, the construction problem. Now to be honest, if you eliminate, the construction process, then you might be thinking, there is nothing left to draw, but you will only be half right because there are two parts to a drawing, construction and shading.

If you trace the basic construction, of your potential drawing, then take the time, to fill it in, by doing the shading, you are actually reducing the work load, by at least half but still learning, how to draw. This is not to say, that you are cheating because you still have to do the shading and although, the grunt work of the construction, has been done easy, you still have to make sure your construction, of the shading is accurate. This means that you still, have to do important work, on your picture or drawing but with, less effort. The end results, are that you end up learning, how to draw better, producing very nice drawings, that are accurate, with only having to put half the work, into doing it.

Just in case, you need some further reassurance, that it is OK, to do this, then take a good look around, for information about how to draw. You will find much reference, to using a viewing grid, to help you, construct your drawing and viewing grids, are just a slightly more, difficult way, to trace pictures. Many artists world wide, use viewing grids, as their preferred method, of doing construction drawings and what they are doing in actual fact, is tracing their construction drawings, by using a grid, instead of using a picture, to trace over.

Simple pencil drawings, do exist and people do them all the time, they just don’t explain, how they are done because you never ask.

how to draw a easy

Easy pencil drawings.

May 21, 2009 gareth 7 Comments

This will explain about how to do easy pencil drawings.

Easy pencil drawings are achievable, if you break it down, into the two main components, of making a good pencil drawing, these are the construction or outline and the shading.

Most people find shading easier and more relaxing, than constructional or outline drawing but the problem is, you can’t do the shading unless, you have done the outline first. This makes drawing difficult, for most people and so they never get to enjoy, doing the shading because they give up, before they have completed the outline, and it’s a pity.

Easy pencil drawings, can be achieved, it dose not have to be difficult because you can trace outlines and get them right every time.

People will say, that tracings are no good, as drawings because they are uninteresting, if they are just tracings and boring. I will agree with this but if you are, then going to complete the drawing, by doing the shading, then this is different, very different. For a start, by learning how to do easy pencil drawings, you will enjoy, your drawing more. You will find it easier, you will find it more relaxing, you will create better drawings, you will not take as long, in doing it, plus you will still learn about construction and proportional representation, the easy way.

If you learn to draw, by doing easy pencil drawings, in this way, you will also improve, in all those more difficult areas, of construction drawing, that hamper everyone’s progress, when they try to draw freehand, by sight drawing, which is drawing, by just looking. Sight drawing is the most difficult way to draw, of all drawing techniques, so it is little wonder, most people say they can’t draw because everybody try’s to draw, by sight drawing, when they start out, it’s not a good idea really. The fact is that nobody draws, by just looking, even when sight drawing. Sight drawing is just, a more difficult way of tracing, all drawing is done by measuring, comparing and struggling to get it right, making mistakes, and trying to hide them or erasing them, making your drawings and pictures messy. Learn to draw by doing easy pencil drawings and you will find that, the results turn out to be much better and a lot less messy.

Let me tell you a fact, I used to spend hours, constructing outline drawings, of portraits for people and make a right mess, most of the time. Then I used to trace that drawing, to get the outline, onto a clean drawing area, to do my final drawing, I had no choice because people want copies of photographs, not drawings, that look like drawing, nowadays. Today people want, photo realistic drawings, they want them to look like photographs, not drawings and they do not want, to sit for you, either.

So I stopped doing it the hard way and started doing easy pencil drawings. I traced the outlines from photographs to save myself at least half of the work. I was told it was not good to do this but that was what I was doing anyway but taking twice as long. I was told, my other drawing skills, would diminish and I would become less able to draw, without tracing but do you know what, it is not true because it is more enjoyable, it is so much better but I still become aware, of important learning.

Below you will find a video, of me drawing Kurt Cobain, who was once the lead singer and guitarist, with the Grunge Rock band, Nirvana. Please notice that I am not tracing and it is here, just to prove, that tracing does not take away, from your ability to draw. Perhaps I am unique and it only works for me but I don’t think so, I am just like anybody else, who likes drawing, who got good at it, through finding ways to do so. I am sure you will also by doing easy pencil drawings.

The truth is this, I got better, much better because I enjoyed it, so much more, doing easy pencil drawings but I still became aware, of the important learning, as well.

A picture of a car, a frog and a girl. — Louie, found on the Stumble Upon, website and lightly traced from my monitor screen.

Do you know what, you need to do easy pencil drawings first, then as you get better, you can develop, the other ways, that improve your sight drawing, when you understand it better.

easy pencil drawings a progresive drawing of a frog. — Easy pencil drawings, progressive drawings of a frog, tracing taken, from an image found online, to show you, how to draw easy.

how to draw a easy

Outline drawing.

May 6, 2009 gareth

In the process of drawing images, we often start out with a basic outline drawing, as the foundation, for learning where everything else goes, in relation to the outline and each other. The problem I find with many beginners and well practiced people alike, is they do not always, understand outlines very well, also as in the case of beginners, they do not understand at all, in many instances.

The easiest way to draw and understand outlines, is by using tracing methods of drawing because when you trace an image, you can only, realistically make an outline, as tracing doesn’t lend it’s self to shading. Tracing also gives you a better understanding, of how pictures work, especially when trying to understand, construction drawing.

Wheel images showing perspective distortion. — Car wheel images showing distortion when seen in perspective.

Wheel images showing perspective distortion line drawing. — Car wheel images showing perspective distortion in a line drawing format.

Let me explain, by using a car wheel as an example, we all know that wheels are round but they are only round, when we look at them directly face on, because when we turn them, at an angle, they become, more and more oval, in shape.

The correct term to call this oval shape, is an ellipse and is something many people have problems with, when trying to draw them accurately, to find out more about this, please take look at single point perspective and two point perspective, you will find the both helpful.

Get yourself some pictures that you might like to draw and trace them, so as to be able, to take a look at these images, as only line drawings, you will notice when tracing these outlines, that they are most often, not as you might have thought they are.

Doing this, will help you to understand, that shapes are not often, the shapes we think we see and that wheels, are most often not circular but oval, along with many other shapes we see but actually, only think we see. This is because our brains tell us that wheels are round or that a shape is this shape or that shape, when in actual fact, many shapes are not what we think they are because our brains are telling us what we see, rather than actually, seeing what we see.

how to draw a easy

How to practice using a pencil, without boring yourself to death.

April 6, 2009 gareth

Most people don’t know how to draw, they don’t really know what they are looking for, let alone be able to draw it and why should they?

Why would you know anything about practice using a pencil if you had not been using one regularly?

Most people think that they have to draw an outline but can’t actually see one because they don’t know what they are doing.

Most people get better and learn quicker if they trace pictures but most people also think tracing pictures is cheating and so never use tracing as a learning method, what a shame. When you trace a picture you can only realistically trace out lines, you are not able to do the shading as well when tracing and so drawings that are traced are unfinished looking, very uninteresting because they are uniform, without tonal variation or quality of line.

When tracing pictures, you get your outline very accurate, so the rest of the drawing is more likely to be more accurate and it enables you to see the outline, more easily so it will look good and you will feel good about it.

Constructional drawing is the foundation of all drawing, get it right and you will have saved yourself half of the struggle but doing the other half of a drawing, the shading is a much more enjoyable and a great way of learn about construction drawing, so you learn the difficult stuff by doing the easy stuff first.

The easy way or the hard way, it’s completely up to you?

If you want further information about why and how tracing works scientifically, then take a look at this interesting article (How to draw easy an extraordinary tail of two brains) or do some research about the functions of the left and right brain. You will learn about the benefits of drawing and how the dominant left brain activities, actually make it difficult to learn drawing but also stunting your thinking power, along with your creative abilities.

Don’t make it hard, make it easy.

Enjoy learning to use a pencil at the same time as learning about how to do construction drawing the easy way first, not the difficult way round, like everybody else teaches, easy way first is the way to go but it astounds me, why the hard way is always practiced. There is a great book by Betty Edwards called drawing on the left hand side of the brain, that many people have used to help them learn to draw and draw well, so well, that many have been astounded by their own abilities, after using the methods given in the book, one of the main methods is tracing because it reaches the parts, other methods cannot reach.

Dragons head drawn with graphite pencil 3b & 5b as an idea for another picture.

They don’t teach geometry in primary school because the children wouldn’t understand it but they give them pencils to play with, the geometry comes much later when they know what a pencil is, they also teach tracing which has got to be one of the easiest ways to practice using a pencil by drawing because when you trace pictures, you can draw any outline for any picture you want easy.

This will explain about how to do easy pencil drawings.

How to draw easy drawing skills to use now.