Lumos... The Darker Lights

Today i am going speak about drawing on dark background or surface which is also known as reverse drawing. To create a dynamic image we can use strong contrast in drawing. One effective way of creating strong contrast is by using white material or media on dark or black surfaces. Any white media will work. Ink, charcoal, oil pastels, chalk pastels, and colored pencils are all types of white media that could be used. You combine this white media with a stark, black background and you've got instant contrast. 

The process begins with a light sketch, mapping out the shapes of lighter value. We should start with the process which is largely dependent on recognizing the relationships between the light and dark shapes. Even with light pressure, the white charcoal makes strong marks, so some control and precision is required even at this early stage.

We can begin the process of adding white charcoal to fill in the shapes  only when the shapes of lighter value are established on the drawing surface. Beginning in the locations where the light is strongest, adjusting pressure placed on the pencil according to the intensity of the light. Small circular strokes are made with the charcoal pencil in order to produce even gradations of tone and value.

It’s easy to forget light is an intruder in the indigenous darkness. Light requires energy; darkness is the default. when we draw, a white piece of paper represents a blinding light. We darken almost every part of our subject until the page is covered with a variety of values. Only the brightest highlights are left white. The method of shading inverts the natural state of darkness and actually  hinders a students understanding of how light actually operates.

Murti : Indo Vedic sculpture

Art begins with an idea. From there, a sketch, a draft or a plan. There are many sketches refined bit by bit. Once the idea is fully formed, then perhaps, work begins on the final piece. Drawing sculpture and sketching ideas is the first step any sculptor will take before creating a piece.It is, in and of itself- somewhat of an art form.Drawing sculpture and sketching ideas is important for the artist to develop and understanding what one wants to create. It begins with the process of what they want to make, how best to make their idea, and how the final product will be produced. There is no final stage to the drawing as even in the final process there are developments.So here are some of my Paintings of Indo-Vedic Sculpture for you  

The temple of the Sun at Konark is magnificent in its construction. It has been known for the supreme achievement of the architectural genius of Orissa. Much of the relief work found on the outer walls of the temple at Konark has erotic sculptures. Many are of opinion that such erotic sculptures are of indicative of the emergence of a phase the "tantrikism in Hinduism" at that time.

The characteristics of the physical composition of the materials witch this sculptures are made  such as stone, marble, sandstone, clay and bronze among others, offers the possibility to be durable and preserve for the times been. They can be placed both in the outer areas of the temples as well as in the indoors space dedicated to the worship area.

All the plans and sketches of the evolving design will be kept in a sketchbook by the artist. These will be used to chart the development of designs or explore new ideas. For renowned artists such as Da Vinci, Dali, Moore or others -these works often become recognised pieces of art in themselves.  They may explore the origin of famous pieces or give us an insight into the artistic process. Sometimes, they may even tell the stories of works that never made it from the pages of their sketchbook into reality

The method of “sculptors drawings” means, that we try to approximate the motive by using three dimensional geometric figures like cubes, cylinders and spheres. If we know the basic perspective rules it is very simple to foreshorten figures.This method was very often used by sculptors, who sketched drafts of sculptures. It is a constructive drawing method. Therefore it is seldom used when sketching existing motifs, but on the other hand it is the favourite procedure of people, who want to layout not existing motifs.With growing experience you’ll draw not the complete geometric elements, only parts of them. They are drawn with hard pencil or little pressure. And this method too is mostly used in combination with the other strategies.There is a theory of visual gestalt perception, that people can recognize objects so fast as they do because there are simple three dimensional geometric forms, coded on neuronal level in our brain. These elements are called “Geones”.If that is true, the sculptors drawing would be a visualisation of this geons. It would be easy for us to sketch them because we are operating with them anyway in our brain.Anyway, soon after the discovery of the perspective rules “sculptors drawings” appeared and where used for composing of sculptural or painted ensembles. The picture above shows an old example of a drawing of this kind.

Pop-Up with Pen And Markers .....

I initially draw the outline of the object and then slowly and steadily i move towards the detailing as its easy to correct the detailing at later stage.

I like to use different types of pen for different objects, Thick markers for large shadows and for good coverage of paper and thin markers for smaller shadows and thick continuous  lines. The way we hold a pen or pencil can change the dimensions of the drawing and also make it unique from other artists as well. Holding the pen at back can give looseness to your drawing and unexpected opportunities in your work.

 Inking is mixture of inking and painting done with the brush in different technique instead of pen. Value is controlled by ink to water ratio – the more ink or less water, the greater value.

. Always work from light to dark and large to small. never start with the darkest shades. its best to work in layers.. never throw dried pens because these pens give us almost brush like strokes which gives a totally different look. Never worry about making mistakes.

Final Touch

 Think about the bigger picture at the end. small mistakes may not be even noticeable at the end.Here are some sketches for practice ..

Draw some reference lines for Perspective before you start the sketch  

You Can use small size mirror in mid-line for correct mirror image 

Reflection....

My messy but favorite Desk 

When ever we think about reflection of a drawing we must keep in mind the shapes and sizes of the objects. The other main topic which is to be kept in mind is the light & dark areas of the drawing. In the initial step of drawing we can check the reflection by using a mirror just by the side of the drawing. The artist may correct it if required. The use of water colour should be done wisely as in the case of reflection.

When we think of painting the reflection of a person we spontaneously think of a window glass which produces a sharp and well defined image. Glass window act differently as because of transparent nature and a dark background on the other side makes the reflection more possible. When drawing the original image and the reflected image we should start with the base colours and then slowly moving forward to the finishing. The original should contain less vibrant colours than the reflected image. While adding colours we should keep in mind that some part of the background will reflect and so we should  avoid more transparency effect. 

When I start painting I often work with two brushes one for painting and other for cleaning. Thin washes gives clean finishing giving the drawing a transparent look. The clean lines give sharp edges to the painting and hence enhancing the reflection drawing. I looked at the lines in the image to see which were sharp and painted them wet onto dry

DEHAKRITI... A Book Of Human Anatomy And Figure Sketch

Recently my book DEHAKRITI has been published.

This book will give you a short description on human anatomy and human figure sketch, there structures and features. This book consist of more than 200 sketches which is enough to understand the posture, poses etc. The human anatomy consists of various agendas like how to draw the curved muscles, the bony structure , the soft and tender parts of the body etc. In this book one will also learn the different values of sketching.

As this book is only about sketching with charcoal pencil, charcoal sticks , etc one will gain experience in various forms of sketching. So, get this book as fast as you can and give your mind a new description on human anatomy in a more creative procedure.
buy on https://www.amazon.in/DEHAKRITI-Human-Anatomy-Figure-Sketch-ebook/dp/B07J42QGRJ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1540306886&sr=8-1&keywords=dehakriti

One point Perspective

 Last day we had discussed about aerial perspective and converging perspective. Today we are going to discuss about converging perspective and its types. When an object is placed on a plane and in order to draw its image on a paper we need converging lines ,which goes in the direction of horizon and meets at a single or more imaginary vanishing points. There is no particular horizon line, as the line will change according to the position of the artist. According to horizon line and vanishing points converging perspective can be divided into five parts.  ONE-POINT PERSPECTIVE, TWO POINT PERSPECTIVE, THREE POINT PERSPECTIVE , FOUR POINT PERSPECTIVE AND FIVE POINT PERSPECTIVE.   

This is a basic conception of one-point perspective in which there are converging lines meeting at one vanishing point on a horizon line.

We are going to discuss about one point perspective. The material which we are using is suitable for art students, as well as any other person who wishes to learn how to draw using single point perspective. This article is related to all the people without any prior practice or experience in single point perspective.

This sketch shows how converging lines meet at a vanishing point from objects at different positions, above and below the horizon line.

A one-point perspective drawing means that the drawing has a single vanishing point, usually (though not necessarily) directly opposite the viewer's eye and usually (though not necessarily) on the horizon line.

To simply this definition we can also say that single point perspective is a drawing to show that how objects appear to be smaller as they get further away, converging at a single “vanishing point” on a horizon line. Drawing in single point perspective also means drawing in a piece of paper so that the drawing will look three dimensional and realistic. 

In this water colour painting I have shown the perfect match of natural perspective and man made perspective. The buildings on both side of the road are creating converging lines which are meeting at a vanishing point. I have used water colour wash technique on cartridge paper.

Drawing in one point perspective is looking at an object like directly “front – on”  the face of a cube or a wall or when looking down directly something long like railway track or a road. I have given some sketches which are helpful to understand single point perspective.

This sketch represents how the person sitting on the chair of a church or standing at the entrance of the church gets visual effect of the vanishing point just at the  center of the holy cross. It seems that converging lines of every object is meeting at that point and also showing the connection between all the objects in the church.  I have used rough hand made paper and ink pen

Rules of perspective: true shapes, vanishing points and horizon lines

Surfaces of the objects appear in “true shape” in single point perspective. They are drawn using primarily horizontal and vertical lines.

This rough sketch is an example of interior perspective in which sofa and center table is so arranged that the converging lines are meeting at one vanishing point. 

There are two points which should be kept in mind while dealing with single point perspective drawing. Surfaces that face the viewer are drawn using their true shape. Surfaces that travel away from the viewer converge towards a single vanishing point.

In this sketch I have shown the gothic architectural sketch with a perfect balance between one point perspective and mirror characteristics of built up.This is an ink pen sketch on a cartidge paper. I have also shown variation in light and shadow through the density of the lines. 


For Previous post on Perspective read :
https://pointlesstophoenix.blogspot.com/2018/06/perspective.html