Assignment 1: Drawing for Absolute Beginners

PRACTICE ASSIGNMENTS: Want to keep practicing during the week? Try these exercises:

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PENCIL PRACTICE EXERCISE

First try some shading with the TIP of your pencil (grind it down to a flat edge first, the “sweet spot” like I demonstrated in class). Practice blending smoothly from light to dark or dark to light, using both the scribble style and the smoother style shown below. Remember that the lower ellipse of the cylinder will be more round (closer to a circle) than the upper ellipse.

Then practice shading with the SIDE of your pencil, laying it flat on the paper. This brings out more of the texture (tooth) of the paper. Practice making flat tones and graded tones (going from dark to light or light to dark)

PRACTICE EXERCISE 2 –  We talked in class about how objects can be built up from simple shapes like cylinders, cones and spheres. Try sketching the cylinder below:

Here’s a reminder of the steps:

Then try drawing the objects below: