... Hand
If you go to an art store to pur-
chase your first materials, let your-
self look around and enjoy the
place. Poke into the piles and
boxes. Get acquainted with all the
toys (they are toys, and ... where
there’s a paper specialty store,
you’ll want to stop by at some
point. Take the time to feel the
paper, to note its grain and tex-
ture. There’s more to paper than
meets the...
... your hand. Try to acquire at least 2H, H, HB, B, and 2B for a range of tonal
color.
➤ Erasers are important tools. A kneaded eraser can be twisted and worked into small
points to get at a little ... sanded edges, is
easy to find. Art stores sell masonite boards in various sizes. Buy a board somewhat
bigger than your paper.
Tools of the trade: draw-
ing boards and journals.
Storing Your...
... children to draw, too.
Plus, we’ll go to the museum to see how to look at the larger world of art, and you’ll learn how
you can understand more about yourself by finding what art you’re drawn to.
Chapter ... Artist’s Life!
It’s time to put it all together and use your drawing as a way to express yourself. You will learn
about different media, projects, and ways to use your dr...
... Flow 35
To Begin 36
The Next Set—Send Off the Logical Left 36
Contour Drawing of Your Hand—Without Looking 37
Contour Drawing of Your Hand—While Looking 38
Another Set to Keep It Gone 40
Contour ... Kitchel
Managing Editor
Cari Luna
Acquisitions Editors
Mike Sanders
Susan Zingraf
Book Producer
Lee Ann Chearney/Amaranth
Development Editor
Amy Gordon
Production Editor
Billy Fields
Copy Edit...
... those fruits and veggies. We’ll also help you begin to choose what to
draw, what to draw it with, and how to make your way from a contour line to a consideration of form
and weight. Then we will ... basic
concepts for serious art making. You will learn to see like an artist, to choose a subject, to compose a
picture, and to bring it to completion. And of course, you’ll l...
... ’em.
Special Thanks to the Technical Reviewer
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Drawing was reviewed by an expert who double-checked the accuracy of
what you’ll learn here, to help us ensure that ... “I’ll never learn to
draw,” forgetting that all skills (and drawing, remember, is a skill) take
practice.
Learning How to Look
Learning to draw is really a matter of learning to se...
... there: see to draw.
The rest is up to you!
Being in an altered state
of consciousness helps
you see and draw what’s
really there.
The Least You Need to Know
➤ You don’t have to be a magician to learn ... the rest of the world may fade into the background. The right
side, after all, is not a timekeeper.
As a first step toward learning to shift your brain from left to right, let’s...
... Nicolaides in his book,
The Natural Way to Draw
(Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990). It is a way to completely concentrate on what you see,
without looking to check, analyze, and judge your work. ... swing you to left-brain reality; the
phone ringing is the worst offender, but you can swing yourself back, too, just by seeing
instead of thinking.
Drawing is a meditation, a way to get...
... plane
to take with you wherever you go, and how to use both of these tools to help with your drawings.
Your first drawings will concentrate on learning to see an object in space, using a contour ... mix.
Part 2
Now You Are Ready to Draw
It’s time to meet some of the tools of the trade, including the view finder frame and the plastic
picture plane. We’ll show you how to make your...
... development of photography grew out of early experiments with the picture plane and
lenses which were used to project an image down on to a piece of paper, something like a pro-
jector does today. It ... particular line go from top to bottom or across?
➤ Does a curve start in one box and travel to another before it disappears?
➤ And then what?
5. Uncap your marker and decide where to...