Form is an Element of Art
Question:
• If SHAPES are 2-dimensional, what are
FORMS??
FORMS are 3-dimensional (3-D)
shapes
SHAPES and FORMS are
related, for example:
Form =
Sphere
Shape =
Circle
=
SHAPES and FORMS are
related, for example:
Form =
Cylinder
Shape =
Rectangle
=
How do we Draw 3-D Forms?
In this lesson we will cover how you can draw 3D shapes with shading.
It is all about pressing the pencil down on the paper with different strength, so that the
color is stronger or lighter.
If you spread these different values correctly, you get an awesome 3D effect.
We are going to take a look at three basic geometric figures:
The cylinder, the cone and the sphere.
When you learn how to draw these three, you will be able to shade about everything else in
the world, because all other shapes are combinations or deformations of these.
How to move the pencil
So the goal of shading is to spread
different values of color smoothly across the paper, going from dark to light or vice versa.
The easiest way to do this is to move the pencil in a zigzag fashion.
When you make the zigzag movements narrow enough, the single lines will blend into one
another.
Just through pressing the pencil down harder and softer while doing this you will shade the
area darker or lighter.
Different Pencils
What sort of pencil you use is very important here!
With the right pencil it will be easy to shade, with the wrong one almost impossible.
The mines in pencils have different degrees of hardness.
This is indicated with letters on the pencils.
A “B” stands for black, meaning that the pencil is soft and can draw dark colors easily.
An “H” stands for hardness.
The softer your pencil is the better you will be able to shade.
Take a look at these shading examples of different pencils.
5H: Although I pressed the pencil down
violently at the left side, you still only see
a very slight darker tone.
2H: A bit softer, but still pretty hard. You
can see that I was able to achieve a
greater range of tones from dark to light.
The problem with these hard pencils is not
only that they can’t produce dark color
values, but also that they really mutilate
the paper when you press them down
strongly.
HB:This pencil is just in the middle
between hard (“H”) and soft (“B”).
I was able to go from deep black to white
smoothly, but I still had to press the pencil
rather hard for the dark values.
4B & 8B:It is very simple to produce the
dark black tones with these pencils.
You don’t need to press them down hard.
Note the difference of the texture that you see in the shading with the soft pencils and the
harder pencils.
In the squares of 4B and 8B you see many little white dots in the shaded areas.
That happens, because the mines are so soft, that they don’t press down into the little
pores of the paper.
This gives such a nice grainy effect.
The general rule:
The softer the pencil, the easier it is to shade from very dark to light with little pressure.
The soft pencils leave a white grainy texture on the paper and the graphite can be easily
smudged.
Shading Step by Step
With a decent pencil in hand (I used 2B below), now take a look at the single steps how to
achieve smooth shading.
If you like, get out a piece of paper and try to do it along while you read.
0. Let’s give this empty square some
shading to think about!
1. Press the pencil down with a bit of
pressure at the left and then draw
narrows zigzag lines to the right while
letting go of pressure over time.
I stayed away from the margins so that
I didn’t draw over them.
2. I filled the margins with the same
strength of color as the area below or
above them.
3. Then I did step one again, but this
time with much more pressure, so that
I really got all the pencil has to give in
color.
4. I filled in the margins again.
5. And one last time I went from left to
right, smoothing and filling the shading
where necessary.
So I shade in several movements from left to right, instead of a single one.
As soon as you can shade smoothly like that it will be a breeze to draw 3D figures!
How to draw a Cylinder
The graphic shows it all.
1. Draw a square.
2. Draw two rectangular axes in the middle of top and bottom line.
Be sure that you make them shorter than top and bottom line.
3. Draw ellipses around these axes.
4. Erase axes and upper arc of ellipse at the bottom.
5. Just apply shading!
Either you start with the dark value at the edges and go to white in the middle of the
cylinder, or you start with black in the middle and blend it out into white the more you go
do the side.
6. You can even turn the square 3D right away without adding any ellipses.
Just shade it and it will look like a cylinder anyway.
You just look at it directly from the side.
Pretty plastic, and you don’t even have to add one additional line!
How to draw a Cone
1. Draw the bottom line and a vertical middle line.
2. Connect top of middle line with edges of bottom line to get triangle.
3. Insert axis in the middle of bottom line.
4. Draw ellipse around axes.
5. Erase axes and upper arc of ellipse to get cone.
6. This picture indicates how you have to move the pencil.
Let the zigzag movements always point to the cones top.
7. The area for each shading value gets narrow at the top and broader at the bottom.
8. And you can turn a simple triangle into a cone too, of course.
Just through shading it like a cone.
No ellipse necessary!
9. To draw a cone from a top view, start with a circle.
10. Then shade the circle while pointing the pencil movements towards the cones top.
In this case it is the circle’s center.
11.Let the darkest and lightest values oppose each other in the circle and blend them
smoothly into another in the areas between.
How to draw a Sphere
1. Draw a circle
2. Move your pencil still in a zigzag line as always, but now you make it curved around the
sphere’s highlight.
3. Draw these zigzag lines so narrow that they blend into another and fill the circle with them.
Press harder at the left underside and leave a white spot on the right upper part of the circle.
Make a smooth transition from black to white and you get a sphere.
4. If you want to strengthen the 3D effect even more you can add a shadow below the sphere.
Also let a small white rim at the underside.
This is due to light that is reflected from the surface the sphere lies on.
Application:
In this picture the glass on the left is just like a cone that was decapitated and then put
upside down.
I shaded it according to the “cone rules” with a colored pencil.
Shading isn’t just for black and white, of course!
In the cup on the right side, the brown parts are also decapitated cones, and the golden
rings are nothing but cylinders.