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How to Draw with Dave Nestler: Lesson 1

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Ever since I joined the tattoo convention circuit nearly three years ago, I’ve made plenty of observations; none more obvious than the number of tattooists who are equally skilled in the area of fine arts. Weekend after weekend, from city to city, I listen to tattoo artists ask me every question you can think of about drawing and painting. But the common thread throughout all these inquiries is one thing―the desire to improve their skills. The folks here at Skin&Ink have given me the opportu-nity to do just that, a month-to-month column that addresses these inquiries one at a time. In future issues, I’ll be touching base on everything from materials to drawing techniques, all in the desire to assist you in improving your skills. At least, those are my inten-tions. Quite frankly, I can’t teach anyone how to draw (I believe that is something that is inherently born to us), but whatever skills a person possesses can be directed, enhanced and steered towards the ultimate destination of becoming a better artist.

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That being said, I suck at golf. The reason is simple: I’ve been so busy that I hardly ever get to play anymore. This has been my biggest observation since arriving on the convention scene. Not the fact that I can’t control my slice, but the fact that it’s hard to get better at anything when you only do it twice a year. It’s a re-peating story: “I spend sixty hours a week in the tattoo studio and two or three hours here and there on my drawing and painting,” Well, there you have it. Practice, practice, practice. I’d love to have a better short iron game, but I’ve got to make a living. You’d be amazed what you can accomplish in a few short hours, given the right instruction. My intentions are to help you make better use of time.

All right, enough introductions. Let’s get started.

Your going to need pencil and paper, which most of you already have. Know that the materials I choose to use are my personal preference, but there is a method to my madness, which I’ll explain in a second. Paper: Choose a big brand name like Grumbacher, Strathmore or Caslon. A brand that will not be going out of business anytime soon. Find a paper you like and STICK WITH IT. Not all sketch papers are the same. Different surfaces, different reactions to carious media, etc. Stay with one paper and get comfortable with it. When you are trying to further the development of your technique, the last thing you need is for your surface to constantly change.

The same thing applies to your pencil. I prefer a “lead holder,” which is not to be confused with a mechanical pencil. A lead holder is exactly that, a stationary barrel that allows varying degrees of lead sticks to be inserted and released with pushbutton advance. These pencils incorporate the same 2mm lead that is found in most standard drawing pencils, as opposed to the small .03mm ―.09mm leads found in mechanical pencils. I prefer H and 2H leads. All can be found under the Sanford brand name.

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A “lead pointer” is also needed for sharpening purposes. My reasons for using this specific tool are the same as my papers: as you use and continually sharpen a regular drawing pencil, the size decreases. As the size decreases, so does the weight and the balance. These two factors will always remain the same in a lead holder. Again, the comfort factor comes into play with a tool that remains constant.

I’ve been using the exact same materials for my drawing and painting for over twenty-five years, so when I sit down to start a project, there is no mystery as to my tools and medium. I’ve become so comfortable with them that I can go right to my project without worry, allowing me to concentrate on my technique and not having to guess how it will react. These little tips may seem a bit frivolous, but remember, familiarity breeds consistency. I don’t have to tell you what it’s like to pick up a brand new tattoo machine. Different weight, different balance, etc. Taking the time to learn a new tool takes away from the time spent on technique.

You will also need tracing paper, and another great tool to have is a graphite brush, which eliminates you from having to dust off the lead particles from your sketch with your hands and smudging your work.

This should get us started. Next up: choosing a proper photo reference, tracing versus free-hand (and it’s benefits) and different pencil techniques.

Click to Lesson 2

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Remember, keep your pencils sharp and your paper dry.

―Dave

How to Draw with Dave Nestler: Lesson 2

First, we need a subject to draw. And we need a photo reference from which to draw. Remember that all of my tips and techniques have a method and purpose to them. It’s that whole “sum of the parts” thing, and photo reference is just one of the parts. When choosing a reference photo, find the highest quality available―magazines, books, etc. Stay away from low-res images downloaded from the Internet. There’s nothing worse than trying to figure out “what’s what” from a small, fuzzy, pixilated image. A good, clear, crisp

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photo eliminates the uncertainty. Remember, you can only draw what you can see.

Now for our subject matter. Whether it’s a portrait or a ful-body shot, choose a photo with good contrast. Lots of lights and darks to work with. Also choose a photo with varying elements. What I mean by this is, when you are still developing your technique STAY AWAY FROM NUDES. There’s nothing worse than trying to fill a large square area of space. Choose a photo that breaks up space with clothing, shadows and other elements.

The next step is to get the image onto our drawing surface. And here is where we delve into a touchy and time-honored argument: tracing versus freehand. Is tracing cheating? Is freehand more artistic? I’m here to tell you that there are benefits to both. As a commercial illustration student, I was steered away from freehanding everything and was instructed to incorporate tracing into my process for two key reasons: time and recognition. As I was developing my talents in the entertainment industry as a movie-poster and magazine-cover artist, there were two factors that were sought after in an artist: The ability to capture likenesses and to meet deadlines. Tracing assured that both criteria were met. One of my biggest influences as an art student was celebrated movie poster and cover artist Richard Amsel. From the original Raiders of the Lost Ark movie poster to dozens of covers for TV Guide, Richard had an uncanny ability to capture a person’s likeness. As an art student, I had the pleasure of meeting Richard at a Society of Illustrators show in New York and talked to him. Not only was he eager to talk about his process, but he told me something I will never forget. When I asked him about the subject of tracing, he said, “No one will remember me for the pencil line that goes on the board. They’ll remember me for the paint that goes on top.”

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That said, there are many benefits to tracing. I’ll bet that there are plenty of tattoo artists out there that can freehand a barbed-wire armband like nobody’s business. Why? Because they’ve done it so many times. Anatomy is no different. You trace something enough times, you start to remember and retain elements of anatomy that stick with you.

Now you have choices to get your image on your drawing surface, either freehand or create a tracing by rubbing graphite on the back and tracing it onto your surface the old-school way. But whatever way your choose, put the entire line image on your surface first.

Here’s a great tip. If you are still uncomfortable with the idea of tracing and would rather freehand but you are still not getting the anatomical image correctly on your surface, simply create a tracing first. Then use that tracing as your reference and freehand that onto your surface. When you use something you’ve already drawn as your reference, that image is easier to follow, because you’ve already drawn it. Your brain remembers.

Blick Art Materials

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Before we talk about where to start, let’s look at techniques. Sketching or shading, both are equally good, but with completely different results. Shading is great for pencil and charcoal nudes. Very soft, very fine art. But for me, I like to use the tip of my pencil as opposed to the side of it. To achieve a level of sharp realism, while still retaining a great sense of style, nothing beats cross-hatching. Cross hatching is a buildup of individual line strokes with different weight and density in a crisscross pattern that allows for the formation of shape and tone. This technique allows you to achieve all levels of light and dark, soft and sharp, all using the same pencil lead. And we’ll follow this technique from start to finish as it applies from the beginning, to the completion of our first sketch.

Click to Lesson 3

Next Lesson: The eyes are the window to the soul, and a great place to start.

Remember, keep your pencils sharp and your paper dry.

―DaveWCItsagas@aol.com

Lesson 3

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Enough talking; let’s get ready to draw something. But first, let’s talk a little more about the lines we draw when working on a sketch. (See… there’s always more talking.) A line is not just a line, although in its simplest form it can be. A line can take on character, define shape, even draw attention to certain areas of your sketch. And all this is done by varying the “weight” of your line. Let’s look at a simple form such as a circle. In Figure A the circle is one complete single weight line. Okay, it’s a circle―pretty boring. But take that same line and make it heavier on one side and lighter on the other and that same single line now takes on much more character, as in Figure B.

Figure A

Figure B

Figure C

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Figure D

Figure E

Now let’s look at a couple of examples of how this applies to a fin-ished sketch. Here’s the beautiful Jess in Figure C. I’ve noted four points of interest in this sketch. As simple as some of these points are, it’s the accumulation of all points that adds character to your sketch. Take a look at point #1. The outline of the nose starts very dark at the top, becomes thinner and lighter along

the bridge and goes back to a darker, thicker line underneath. That one stroke of the pencil, with its subtle variations in weight and tone, now designates highlight and shadow all in the same line. A heavy dark line running along the bridge of the nose would only call attention to it, and it’s her eyes and smile that I want to stand out. In points #2 through #4, the same technique applies. A thick to thin, and back to thick line has now determined where my highlights are along the perimeter of the sketch, all with one sim-ple line.

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Okay, NOW it’s time to draw something, and the eyes are a great place to start. No matter whether it’s a sketch or a painting, I al-ways start with the eyes, and I work them to completion. Working with recognizable models or even portrait work on a girlfriend or family member, the eyes are the key. You can mess up the hair, the clothing, even the overall structure of the face can be off, but if the eyes aren’t correct, it throws off the whole piece. That’s why I like to start there. To me, after the eyes are completed and I’m satisfied with them, the rest is gravy. There is no basic blueprint for drawing eyes. There are way too many variations from person to person (unless, of course, you are drawing manga figures, where the males, females and even the animals have the same eyes. Don’t get me started here. There are books out there on how to draw manga/anime. What do you need to know? Big eyes, pointy chin, DONE.)

Sketch SetsBack to the eyes. Although I’ve told you there is no real basic de-sign for drawing eyes, there is one thing I can tell you. As in Fig-ure D, these are not eyes! These are a couple of curved lines joined at the ends with a circle in the middle. Not only should you not start your eyes this way, but if you meet a girl in a bar with this eye structure…RUN, because she probably has circles for nostrils and “Chiclets” teeth. But we’ll delve into more of what you are not supposed to draw at a later date.

Now in Figure E, these are the eyes of the girl you want to meet in a bar, or the grocery store, or the probation office. You get the idea.

All right, we’ve got a photo reference and a place to start. Next is-sue I’ll show you some tips on the best use of your pencil point (to sharpen or not to sharpen), add some cross-hatching technique, and then we’ll really get this party started.

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Click to Lesson 4

Remember, keep your pencils sharp and your paper dry.

―Dave

Lesson 4

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THE FAMOUS NESTLER PENCIL TWIRL

For the past three issues, I’ve offered up several small tips and suggestions. Some of you might think of these as very helpful, while others might seem frivolous. But it is the culmination of ALL these elements that leads to a more informed and controlled artist.

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Figure A

Figure B

Okay, let’s get started. For my photo reference (Fig. A ) I’m using a photo that I shot of model Miki Black for my painting “Miki’s Pen & Inked Pals,” which was my first Skin & Ink cover back in July of 2008. I chose this image because it has a minimal range of skin tones, but good contrast in the dark eyes and the hair. I’ve generated a piece of line art from that photo (Fig. B ) and have re-produced it on paper. This provides me with a guideline of my likeness and an anatomy for me to follow. One more important tip before we get started: Let’s talk about your pencil as it applies to the beginning of a sketch. When we first sharpen our pencil, it provides us with the sharpest point and the darkest tone possible.

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So, in the beginning (Fig. C), I start with my sharpest, darkest lines and solid areas of dark tone. Remember, as I continue to draw, that point deteriorates. And depending on the surface of your paper, and the softness or hardness of your lead, the rate of deterioration will vary. Why is this important?

Figure C

Once the point beaks down, it will no longer provide you with the sharp, dark tone you are looking for in the beginning. You have two choices here: either continually sharpen your pencil or press harder, but that can compromise and destroy the surface of the material. Here’s a tip to the wise: Get into the habit of spinning the barrel of your pencil one hundred eighty degrees about every fifteen seconds as you draw. As the point beaks down and be-comes beveled, spinning the pencil halfway around will allow you to work with the sharpest edge of the bevel. It’s kind of a “self-sharpening” trick, but what it does is allow you to continue to work your dark areas without having to constantly sharpen and re-sharpen. I’ve been doing it this way for so long, that it’s be-come like “breathing” for me.

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Figure D

Eventually―no matter how much you spin your pencil (or don’t)―the point WILL break down. This is a good thing, because I can now move into other areas of the sketch where I want a softer, lighter tone. Then (Figures D, E, F) I start laying down some tone in the lighter areas of my sketch. Now, whether I’m us-ing a crosshatch

Figure E

technique, or shading or whatever, the process is the same. This is how I build up line and tone, lights

Figure F

and darks, and put them in their proper place. I like to think of it as “engineering” (or “painting”) a drawing. You wouldn’t use a dull, soft pencil to work your dark areas or a sharp, fine point to―you get the idea.

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Remember, this is about developing your technique, and all these little tips will help in that development. Once your technique is solid, it can be applied to all areas of your drawing or painting. It’s not just about how to draw teeth, or noses (although we will touch on those subjects later). At this point, it’s about choosing subject matter and having the proper photo reference in order to see everything that’s going on. And, of course, utilizing good, solid technique throughout all the parts of the drawing.

Click to Lesson 5

Remember, keep your pencils sharp and your paper dry.

Lesson 5

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TEETH

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Figure A

Up until now, everything I’ve talked about has to do with develop-ing your technique to help you create a great sketch. And all this info applies just as much to tattooing as it does to drawing, be-cause portrait tattoos are an enormous part of a tattoo artist’s daily workload. And this month’s column, more than the previous ones, offers tips that will help you avoid common mistakes.

Back in column number two, I had a saying that related to photo reference: “I can only draw what I can see.” Well, here’s another saying: “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.” This ap-plies to important areas of the face where I see artists having the most trouble, namely, the nose and the mouth―and especially TEETH! Let’s start with the nose, a simple structure that, depend-ing on the angle of the face and the direction of the lighting, can be simply stated or over-exaggerated. But let’s get one thing straight, nostrils are not round circles. Just because they are holes in the face, you don’t have to draw them as holes in the face.

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Figure B

A simply stated nose needs nothing more than a hint of soft shadow to define its shape (Fig. A). It’s the eyes in this sketch should stand out, and that’s where I concentrate my work. Now look at Fig. B, a face with a three-quarter angle that’s heavy with shadow. The nose has a more prominent place here because of the angle and the shadow. Looking closer at Fig. B, you see a hard line around the right eye, defining the right side of the bridge, and also at the tip of the nose, defining that edge as well. But you will also notice that the hard line disappears around the center of the nose. It is the shadow on the right that defines its shape. A hard line traveling from top to bottom would only call attention to an even harder, unnecessary edge. This is what I like to call “indicat-ing a shape.” Just because there is a hard line in my photo refer-ence indicating the side of the nose doesn’t mean I have to draw it that way. This goes back to the beginning, where I stated, “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.” This is where you should take a long look at your photo and decide what to draw and what not to draw.

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Figure C

When you Google “Worst Tattoo,” what comes up? You’ve all seen it; it’s that portrait of the girl in the white dress and tiara with the full set of “Chiclets teeth” in her mouth. She looks like she could chew through a chain link fence. I couldn’t think of a better exam-ple of what not to draw. Take a look a Fig. C. We know that she has a full set of teeth and there is a separation between each one, but is it necessary to draw each one? No. But with a simple line or two and some subtle grays in the right place, we can give her a winning smile without keying in on each incisor, molar and bicus-pid.

Remember, it’s just as effective to indicate a shape with tone and hard lines as to outline everything. Keep your outlines and hard edges to a minimum, in the beginning. If it’s not enough to define a shape, add more. It’s easier to keep adding than taking back. Fortunately, in a sketch, if you go too far with your line, you can erase. With a tattoo, you don’t have that option.

A quick note: I want to thank everyone for their emails concerning not only these articles, but for the compliments on my covers for

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past issues of Skin&Ink. And for those interested in purchasing prints of those covers, they are available through my website (davenestler.com).

Click for More Lessons

Remember, keep your pencils sharp and your paper dry.

Lesson 6

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HAIR

No matter how well I capture a likeness or how well I nail the eyes, in the overall scheme of a sketch there’s still one area that gives even me fits: hair. That being said, I’ve decided to devote an entire issue to this subject because, frankly, it deserves it. So,

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where do we start? Whether it’s blonde hair, brunette or jet-black, the approach is the same.

First, take a real close look at your photo reference. With blondes, there is not enough to draw. With black hair, there’s too much to draw. How do we find a com-mon denominator between the two? It’s called exaggeration, and I’ll explain this as we go. First, we’re going to have to get away from the cross-hatching technique that I’ve talked about so much in previous issues. We have to go more “directional” for our line work. Single lines of varying weights and tones that follow the di-rection of the hair. We need to define the hair. That’s why cross-hatching won’t work here. And here’s a big DON’T: Just because you can observe every hair, doesn’t mean that you should draw every hair. I’ve seen too many examples of other peoples’ work where every hair is drawn with a single-weight line and the end result looks like a plate of spaghetti.

Okay, since we’re not cross-hatching, let’s look at some lines that will help define your hair. In Fig. A I’ve got three line techniques that I use throughout. First is your basic, single line. Second, a single line with varying weight. And third, a single line of solid tone with varying widths, gradations and opacity. Let’s examine how this applies to a sketch. In Fig. B, I’ve taken a sketch (thumb-

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nail) and exploded the area circled in RED. If you look closely, you’ll see all three lines represented. I’ve got dark, thick, single lines defining the bottoms of her bangs. And through the center, there are lines of varying widths, tones, and gradations, going from light to dark. But they ALL go in the direction that the hair goes.

All right, let’s talk about “exaggeration.” This is taking what exists and, simply stated, exaggerating it―the light and dark areas. Look at Fig. C, a piece from my first sketchbook. Michelle is blonde and cute. It’s a nice drawing, but kind of flat. Now, jump ahead to another piece of Michelle from my second sketchbook (Fig. D), after I’ve had some time to develop my technique. I’ve taken the light areas and blown them out. Then I took what little dark areas there were and made them even darker. The result, a much more dramatic piece.

Keep in mind that there is no rhyme or reason as to what you should exaggerate. Let’s look at Fig. E. The original photo refer-ence for this piece features absolutely jet-black hair. Hardly any highlights at all. But what little highlights it had, were exagger-ated. End result: a model that doesn’t look like she’s wearing a lump of coal on the top of her head. Picking and choosing your

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spots to exaggerate can be a crap shoot. But patience and a good photo reference can make your sketch a winner.

Remember, keep your pencils sharp and your paper dry.

―Dave

Contact Dave at davedrawing101@aol.com.

Lesson 7 coming soon! Return to Tips & Tricks page

Lesson 8

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Hills and Valleys

Like an old Mötley Crüe song on an endless loop, the past seven issues have been nothing but Girls, Girls, Girls. Don’t cry; we’ll get back to the girls soon enough. But for now let’s take a breather and talk about drawing some “stuff.” After all, at some point, you are going to draw something other than people.

Now, when I talk about drawing “stuff, what I mean is drawing with texture. Whether it’s clothing, wood, stone or chrome, it’s the texture of an object that makes or breaks its appearance in your sketch. And, since we are working in pencil, we have a limited range of technique to adapt to that particular texture. For exam-ple, I’ve been pushing my cross-hatching technique when working on skin tones and anatomy. And when working with hair, I stress using more directional lines. That’s all well and good, but what about chrome or latex? Soft-layered pencil strokes just won’t cut it. In fact, there are a lot of objects and textures that will need a variety of different techniques, which we’ll touch on later.

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One of the most common items you’ll be drawing is clothing, and one of the biggest obstacles is folds and creases. For this exercise I’m going to stay away from white clothing. Unless there are real heavy shadows, there’s not much going on with white. So let’s use denim as our example. It is darker so it’s easier for you to see what’s going on. The easiest way to approach folds in clothing is to break it down in three dimensions. Look at Fig. 1, it’s a drawing of a piece of paper with accordion-like rolls. These rolls are made up of highs and lows (peaks and valleys). Now examine the folds in your photo reference and break them down like the rolls in our piece of paper. As you take a close look at the clothing, you’ll see what I mean. It’s these peaks and valleys that determine your shading. Your peaks are closer to the surface, so they will be lighter, and the valleys are farther away and darker. Remember, of course, that on any piece of clothing these rolls will not be as uniform as our piece of paper. Two rolls spaced evenly will have a nice, even gradation and, if the rolls are close together, that gra-dation diminishes and you get a crease. You can see these varia-tions in Figs. A-E. To capture the subtleties, simply adjust your shading to the variations. The most prominent high will be your brightest highlight, and your deepest valley will be your darkest. Remember to view these as 3-D and it will be easier to break them down.

Click to enlarge

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fig.1

Fig.A

fig.B

fig.C

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fig.D

fig.E

―Dave

Next issue: Between a rock and a harder place.

Contact Dave at davedrawing101@aol.com

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Lesson 9

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Textures

Illustrating different kinds of textures doesn’t have to be as difficult as it sounds. In fact, working in a mixed media is relatively easy with all the tools currently available. For example, an airbrush for chrome, sponges and dry brushes for stone and palette knives for different landscape applications. But we’re not working in mixed media, we are working in pencil. You didn’t think I’d make this easy, did you?

Okay, when we’re talking about texture, where do we begin? Do we start with stone? With wood? To be honest, there are too many textures to single out one, and too many varying techniques to apply to each individual texture, so I’m going to sound like a broken record when I say it still comes down to your photo reference.

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Since we are working in pencil, we need to look at our reference and break the textures down to their simplest forms. What makes chrome “chrome?” What makes wood “wood?” There is usually a single element that will designate the specific texture. From there we simply adjust our technique as it applies to that one, single element. Let’s look at Fig. 1, latex. Like chrome, latex has one characteristic that makes it stand out… it’s shiny! How do we define shiny? By its highlights. And how do we illustrate shiny? By surrounding those highlights with sharp dark areas that isolate our white areas, making them stand out. In other words, we don’t draw “shiny,” we allow the negative space of the white areas to define it for us.

Now let’s look at stone. There are way too many variations to be able to focus on one certain technique that will allow you to draw stone; however, look at Fig. 2, a distressed concrete wall. There’s not much to draw that designates it as concrete, so I steer my focus on the cracks in the wall. A couple of simple lines and we now know what we’re looking at. In Fig. 3, I wanted a block wall behind my model, Shelli, but I also did not want it to be the main feature of the drawing, so I indicated the block with very little detail. Even with the mortar joints falling out as negative space, we still get the impression, with very little effort on our part, that it’s a block wall. Single out the most prominent part of your texture and let it designate itself. And finally, for something a little easier… wood. Check out Fig. 4. This is a no-brainer. You could add grain and a couple of knots to a refrigerator door and it would come across as wood. You get the point.

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Drawing different types of textures largely depends on your ability to single out the one element that defines that texture, and all you have to do is exploit that element in your sketch.

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Next issue: “It’s All About the Composition.” (Apologies to P-Diddy.)

—Dave

Next issue: Between a rock and a harder place.

HOW TO DRAW WITH DAVID NESTLER―LESSON 10

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Fig 1

TO BALANCE OR NOT TO BALANCE

There’s a reason I’m writing a column about art instead of my original career path of architecture and mechanical engineering. I was too stupid in MATH! Oh, I know my Gazintas. I know a real six-pack has nothing to do with your stomach, and 36-24-36 adds up to a lot more than 96. But when it came time to understanding calculus and trigonometry, let’s just say that I’d have an easier time deciphering Lil Wayne’s “Crunk” lyrics. However, my brief time studying mechanical drawing and pre-engineering did teach me something. It taught me balance, and it taught me symmetry. And it taught me that these are just fancy words for “composition,” which is nothing more than positioning your elements on a page. Personally, I like everything centered and balanced. Let’s look at Fig. 1, a single subject that is centered, and fills the page nicely. Fig. 2 has the same figure skewed from center and smaller. Now, is there anything wrong with this? Not really, but number 1 is obviously more satisfying to the eye. If the background does not play an important part in the scheme of your drawing, why show so much of it? Simply fill your space up with your main element. Now, let’s look at a more extreme view of this same drawing. In version 3, I have the same element cut in half to the far right of center. In no way is this even close to being balanced. But because of the more abstract nature of its placement, it’s still more pleasing than 2, which just looks wrong. Bottom line, there is no single “right way” to define composition. But there is a “wrong” way.

Now let’s talk about multiple elements in composition. Fig. 4 is an example of complete balance and symmetry. All four quadrants are equal in position and weight. From top to bottom, or from top left to bottom right, this sketch is equal all around. But in 5 we have two main elements that are not equal in size, nor are they

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centered. But by adding the circular graphic behind them, it ties the entire sketch together and still gives you the impression that the entire image is centered.

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

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Composition is not an exact science. Because of the way my brain is wired, I like everything to be balanced. It isn’t in my nature to progress with a piece like Fig. 3. But that doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with it, or that my way is the best way. When people look at one of my drawings or paintings, I want their eye to see the figure, how well it has been rendered, etc. What I don’t want them to do is cock their head like a confused puppy, because their eye tells them something is wrong. And that usually comes down to design and composition.

There are a lot of ways to direct someone’s attention to certain parts of your drawing or painting. We’ll go over some of them next time.

Fig. 4

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LESSON 10―TO BALANCE OR NOT TO BALANCE

There’s a reason I’m writing a column about art instead of my original career path of architecture and mechanical engineering. I was too stupid in MATH! Oh, I know my Gazintas. I know a real six-pack has nothing to do with your stomach, and 36-24-36 adds up to a lot more than 96. But when it came time to understanding calculus and trigonometry, let’s just say that I’d have an easier time deciphering Lil Wayne’s “Crunk” lyrics. However, my brief time studying mechanical drawing and pre-engineering did teach me something. It taught me balance, and it taught me symmetry. And it taught me that these are just fancy words for “composition,” which is nothing more than positioning your elements on a page. Personally, I like everything centered and balanced. Let’s look at Fig. 1, a single subject that is centered, and fills the page nicely. Fig. 2 has the same figure skewed from center and smaller. Now, is there anything wrong with this? Not really, but number 1 is obviously more satisfying to the eye. If the background does not play an important part in the scheme of your drawing, why show so much of it? Simply fill your space up with your main element. Now, let’s look at a more extreme view of this same drawing. In version 3, I have the same element cut in half to the far right of center. In no way is this even close to being balanced. But because of the more abstract nature of its

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placement, it’s still more pleasing than 2, which just looks wrong. Bottom line, there is no single “right way” to define composition. But there is a “wrong” way. …more

Fig. 5

Next issue: Contrast—it’s not just a dark/light thing.

—DaveContact Dave at davedrawing101@aol.com.

Cretacolor Basic Drawing Set

Cretacolor Silver Box Graphite Drawing Set

Spiral Ankh TattooThe Egyptian symbol for eternal life, filled with the beauty of interlocking spirals, like the waves in constant motion in the primordial sea from which all life began.

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