t02 shadow

Brenda Hoddinott

T-02 ADVANCED: DIVERSE ANIMALS In this project, you draw a lovable Dalmatian with realistic eyes and a shiny textured nose, with emphasis on the forms of her fur and individual features, as defined by a dominant light source.

Curriculum is designed to enhance skills with: drawing a detailed outline within a complex grid; identifying accurate proportions; planning shading strategies; rendering the forms of a dog’s cranial and facial anatomy; and shading graduated values with crosshatching and hatching.

A complex grid (optional) helps you to identify the proper placement of the outlines of various parts of your drawing subject. However, if you are comfortable drawing a complex subject freehand, please ignore the references to a grid in this lesson.

This project is divided into the following three sections:

TIPS FOR WORKING WITH A GRID: You use careful observation of spaces and lines within individual squares to measure for accurate proportions.

DRAWING THE OUTLINE: You draw a detailed outline of Shadow within your drawing space in preparation for adding shading.

SHADING SHADOW: Hatching is used to add a furry texture, and enhance the three-dimensional forms of the understructures of her head and neck. Crosshatching works well to bring out the texture of her collar. Squirkling provides a realistic texture to her nose.

Suggested drawing supplies include 2H, HB, 2B, 4B and 6B pencils, vinyl and kneaded erasers, sandpaper block, ruler (if you choose to work with a grid), and good quality drawing paper.

13 PAGES – 20 ILLUSTRATIONS This lesson is recommended for artists and aspiring artists, from age 12 to adult with good

drawing skills, including the shading techniques used for hatching fur. The curriculum of this lesson is easily implemented into instructional programs for home schooling, academic and

recreational learning environments.

Published by Hoddinott Fine Art Publishers, Halifax, NS, Canada - 2007

Copyright to al l art icles, images, text, projects, lessons and exercises within this drawing class belong to Brenda Hoddinott and may not be reproduced or used for any commercial purposes whatsoever without the wri t ten permission of Brenda Hoddinott .

E-mai l bhoddinott@hoddinott .com Web si tes http: / /www.f inearteducat ion.com and ht tp: / /www.drawspace.com

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Press very lightly with your pencil as you draw the grid lines and outlines (contour lines) of the dog’s head. All grid lines and some outlines will need to be erased later. Pressing too hard can also damage the tooth of the paper. I used an HB mechanical pencil, and only the weight of the pencil itself created the lines. My scanner software has darkened my grid lines and outline so you can see them; in fact, my lines are so faint they are barely visible.

TIPS FOR WORKING WITH A GRID A grid, an invaluable drawing tool to help set up accurate proportions, necessitates careful observation of spaces and lines within individual squares. A grid is a framework of vertical and horizontal reference squares on an image and/or drawing paper, used by artists to either enlarge or reduce the size of the original image. Proportion is the relationship in size of one component of a drawing to another or others.

Keep the following in mind as you work your way through this project:

Focus on only one square at a time and pretend this one square is the total drawing.

As you draw, don’t think about what the subject is.

Focus on the shapes, and negative and positive spaces that define the actual lines.

Examine the outlines and their positions within the perimeter of this one square.

Note the shape of the spaces on either side of each line.

Observe whether the lines are straight, curved or angular.

Take note of the directions in which curved lines bend, and the length and angle of straight lines in relation to the sides of this particular square.

Take note of the areas where curved lines meet straight lines.

Shape refers to the outward outline of a form. Basic shapes include circles, squares and triangles. Negative space refers to the background around and/or behind a drawing subject such as objects, people, or animals. Positive space refers to the space occupied by the drawing subject and/or its (or his or her) various parts. Curved lines are created when a straight line curves (or bends).

DRAWING THE OUTLINE Throughout this section you draw a detailed outline of Shadow within a square drawing space in preparation for adding shading. Drawing space (also called a drawing surface or a drawing format) is the area in which you render a drawing within a specific perimeter. It can be the shape of the paper or outlined by any shape you draw, such as a square, rectangle, or circle.

Contour lines are created when the shared edges of spaces and/or objects meet. Contour lines can define complete objects or small sections or details within drawing subjects.



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FIGURE 2-01

Use a sandpaper block to keep the point of your pencil freshly sharpened. Take your time, and check your proportions often. If you accidentally draw something in the wrong square, simply erase and redraw it.

FIGURE 2-02

1. Use a ruler to lightly render a square drawing format. Mine is 7 by 7 inches, but feel free to do a larger drawing by using larger squares.

2. Draw the grid, using numbers along the top and letters down the side. This grid has 49 squares, 7 across by 7 down. The numbers and letters help you keep track of where you are working within the grid.

3. Draw the basic outline of the head and ears very lightly with your HB pencil.



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FIGURE 2-03

Examine the close-up section of an oil painting (by me) in Figure 2-04, and a photograph taken by my daughter, Heidi, in Figure 2-05. Shadow has unusual eyes for a dog; one iris is blue and the other is brown.

FIGURE 2-04 FIGURE 2-05

4. Draw the outline of the neck and collar.

5. Add the small section of her back that is visible.

6. Draw the inside flaps of her ears.

7. Draw circles as the outlines of the irises of her eyes (Refer to Figure 2-06). The iris of an eye is the large colored circular shape.



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FIGURE 2-06

8. Add triangular shapes as the inner corners of her eyes. A very tiny section of the white of the eye is visible within this tiny triangle. The white of the eye (sometimes called the eyeball) is the largest spherical section of the eye that is light in value but not really white.

9. Draw her nose and mouth.

10. Draw the smallest circles that will be the highlights, the partial circles that indicate the pupils of the eyes, and the details of the collar (refer to Figure 2-07).



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FIGURE 2-07

A highlight is the brightest area of an object; usually, the section that is closest to the light source. The pupil of an eye is the dark circular shape, within the iris, that adjusts its size under different lighting conditions.

Light source refers to the direction from which a dominant light originates. In this portrait of Shadow, the light source is from the right front, so the overall shading is lighter on the right. Also, cast shadows will be added to her neck and the side of her nose resulting from this light source. A cast shadow is a dark area on a surface, adjacent to where the light is blocked by an object. This light source will also affect where I place the values in her eyes and on her nose.

When you’ve finished drawing the detailed sections, take a moment to check carefully that everything is in the correct place, and drawn the right size in relation to the grid lines. Erase and modify any sections you aren’t happy with.



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FIGURE 2-08

Don’t forget to erase your grid lines before you begin adding shading! Then, redraw all sections of the outline that were accidentally erased. Use the edge of your vinyl eraser to erase the lines and then very lightly brush away the eraser crumbs with a soft paintbrush. After that, use your kneaded eraser to gently pat the paper surface to pick up any remaining eraser crumbs.

SHADING SHADOW There are many ways to add shading to a drawing. I am right-handed and prefer to start my shading in the upper left hand corner, and work my way across and down the page so as not to smudge my completed sections.

11. Using a 2B pencil for the darker areas and a HB for the lighter values, add the shading to the left side of the drawing, beginning in the upper left corner. The background is done with hatching. A helpful hint for drawing parallel hatching lines is to use a ruler to lightly draw a few parallel diagonal guidelines before you add shading.

As a right-handed person, my natural hand movement is from the lower left to the upper right.

The hatching lines in this background are rendered from the lower right to the upper left, as a left-handed person would naturally be inclined to draw them.

Hence, I had to turn my drawing sideways so I could take advantage of my natural hand movement as I added shading to the background.



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FIGURE 2-10 FIGURE 2-09

FIGURE 2-11

12. Add shading to the ear on the left. The hatching lines curve in various directions.

13. Add shading to the dark shadow sections inside this ear.

14. With your HB pencil, add shading to the top of the head. The hatching lines are curving in various directions around the forms and are different lengths and values.

Curved hatching lines are integral to rendering the forms of the cranial and facial bone structures.

Examine the values of this fur, and take note that the white paper is showing through in some sections.

Also the overall values are darker on the left.



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FIGURE 2-12

FIGURE 2-13

FIGURE 2-14

15. Draw the spots on the top of the head and add the fur around her eyes.

16. Use your 2B pencil to darken some areas around the perimeter of the eyes and some of the spots on the left of the drawing.

17. Shade in the irises and the whites of the eyes. Refer to Figure 2-13.

The shading of the irises is darker under the upper eyelid and on the side where the highlight is drawn.

Conversely, the side of the iris opposite the highlight is lighter.

Leave the highlights white.

Don’t forget to add shading to the inner corners (the whites).

18. Add more background shading on the top of the drawing

19. With your HB pencil, add middle values to the ear on the right.



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FIGURE 2-16

FIGURE 2-15

FIGURE 2-16

FIGURE 2-17

20. Shade in the pupils with a 6B pencil.

21. Draw the fur between and surrounding her eyes.

22. Shade in the middle section of the background on the right.

23. Add darker shading to her other ear with HB and 2B pencils. The black spots are not as dark on the right as on the left.

24. Draw the fur on the center sections of her face and snout.

25. Draw the fuzzy outlines of the fur around her mouth and chin.

26. Draw the fur on the left section of her neck under the chin.

27. Add shading to this tiny section of her collar.



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FIGURE 2-19

FIGURE 2-18

Take a few minutes to compare your drawing to mine (Figure 2-23), fix any areas that you’re not happy with, and sign your name!

28. Finish the shading on her mouth and chin.

29. Add the spotted fur on her neck and back (note the directions in which it grows).

30. Finish the background on the right (it becomes darker closer to the bottom).

31. Use crosshatching to add shading to her collar.

32. Use squirkling to add the shading on the nose.

33. With your 2B pencil add lots of dots to represent the texture of a dog’s nose.



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FIGURE 2-20

CHALLENGE There are only three ways to improve your drawing skills… Practice, practice and more practice!

Find a close-up photo of the face of another spotted animal, such as a leopard, giraffe, or cow and draw a realistic, close-up portrait of him or her. Use the shading techniques taught in this project. Another challenging option is to draw the close-up view of the face of a giraffe named Dandy in T-04 Advanced: Diverse Animals.



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Brenda Hoddinott As a self-educated teacher, visual artist, portraitist, forensic artist, and illustrator, Brenda utilizes diverse art media including graphite, technical pen, colored pencil, chalk pastel, charcoal, conté crayon, and oil paints.

My philosophy on teaching art is to focus primarily on the enjoyment aspects while gently introducing the technical and

academic. Hence, in creating a passion for the subject matter, the quest for knowledge also becomes enjoyable.

Brenda Hoddinott

Biography Born in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Brenda grew up in the small town of Corner Brook. She developed strong technical competencies with a personal commitment to self directed learning, and the aid of assorted “Learn to Draw” books. During Brenda’s twenty-five year career as a self-educated civilian forensic artist, numerous criminal investigation departments have employed Brenda’s skills, including Royal Canadian Mounted Police and municipal police departments. In 1992, Brenda was honored with a commendation from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and in 1994, she was awarded a Certificate of Membership from “Forensic Artists International”.

Her home-based art career included graphic design, and teaching recreational drawing and painting classes. As supervisor of her community’s recreational art department, Brenda hired and trained teachers, and designed curriculum for several children’s art programs. In 1998, Brenda chose to end her eighteen-year career as an art educator in order to devote more time to writing, drawing, painting, and developing her websites.

Drawspace http://www.drawspace.com incorporates her unique style and innovative approach to curriculum development. This site offers downloadable and printable drawing classes for students of all abilities from the age of eight through adult. Students of all ages, levels and abilities have praised the simple step-by-step instructional approach. This site is respected as a resource for fine art educators, home schooling programs, and educational facilities throughout the world.

Learn-to-draw books Drawing for Dummies: Wiley Publishing, Inc., New, York, NY, this 336 page book is available on various websites and in major bookstores internationally.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Drawing People: Winner of the Alpha-Penguin Book of the Year Award 2004, Alpha - Pearson Education – Macmillan, Indianapolis, IN, this 360 page book is available on various websites and in major bookstores internationally.