You Can Draw in 30 Days: The Fun, Easy Way to Learn to Draw in One Month or Less (27 page)

6. Draw the far side of the roof by matching the slant of the front edge. When I draw houses, I have found that slanting the far edge of the roof a little less than the near edge helps the illusion.

This is just a peek at the visual illusion of two-point perspective. We’ll do more with the law of perspective in later chapters. I just wanted to whet your appetite for new, challenging drawing lessons!

Look at how fascinating it is to see the house lined up with drawing compass directions NW and NE and to see how they merge into a disappearing vanishing point on either side of the object. In fact, you have already been effectively using this advanced two-point-perspective science in your three-dimensional drawings without even knowing it!

Now, take a moment to think about this: You have
already
been effectively using this advanced two-point-perspective science in your three-dimensional drawings
without even knowing it
! Surprise, surprise!

A good analogy to this idea is that I can type on my laptop, yet not have a clue as to the mechanics of how a computer actually works. You can safely drive a car without understanding how the engine works. Similarly, you can (and have!) successfully learned how to draw fundamental shapes without knowing the science behind it. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t learn the science of vanishing-point-perspective drawing, because you should, and you will in later chapters. But what I am saying is that too often, in too many classrooms and in too many how-to-draw books, the immediate introduction of excessive, tedious drawing information can severely hinder or entirely block students from experiencing the initial fun of learning how to draw the fundamentals. When information-overload anxiety hits beginning students, they naturally get frustrated. They experience failure and accept a completely false assumption that they are void of talent and therefore do not have the ability to learn how to draw. The truth is that learning how to draw has
nothing
to do with talent. You have experienced this firsthand with these lessons.

During thirty years of teaching drawing, I have learned that the best way to introduce students to the thrill of drawing in 3-D is by first offering IMMEDIATE success. Immediate success ignites delight, enthusiasm, and MORE interest. More interest inspires more practice. More practice builds CONFIDENCE. And confidence perpetuates a student’s desire to learn even more. I call this the “self-perpetuating learning success cycle.”

What we have seen in these lessons is that drawing absolutely is a learnable skill. Moreover, learning to draw can dramatically increase your communication skills—which can in turn have an extraordinary effect on your life. I’ve personally witnessed the effect it has had on many of my former students, who have fulfilled their individual potential as remarkably creative teachers, engineers, scientists, politicians, lawyers, doctors, farmers, NASA Space Shuttle engineers, and yes, top artists and animators.

 

7. Draw the horizon line above the house, and position your light source. Clean up your drawing by erasing the extra guide lines.

8. Using the lines you have already drawn in direction NW as reference, sketch in light guide lines on the roof for shingles. Draw the direction SW guide line on the ground to add the cast shadow. Darken in the undershadow along the base of the roof. The darker you make it, the more you will recess the wall under the roof, pushing it deeper in the picture.

9. Complete the simple house with shingles, drawing the near shingles larger and reducing the shingles in size as they move toward the far side of the roof. Draw the windows, keeping your lines parallel to the outer wall edges. Same idea applies to the door. Draw the vertical lines of the door matching the vertical lines of the center and right side of the house. I’ve scribbled in some shrubs on either side of the house. Go ahead—bushes and shrubs are fun details to add.

10. Add thickness to the window and door. Complete the drawing with shading.

Nice work! You have drawn a nice little house on the prairie.

Understanding how fundamental shapes, such as the cube and the sphere, can be transformed into real-world objects is one of the main goals of this book. Take a look at my student Michele Proos’s drawing of the mailbox. Try drawing this mailbox yourself. Begin by transforming a cube into a mailbox. Begin shaping the face of the mailbox on the right or left side of the cube—it’s up to you. Again, notice how the near edge of the mailbox face is longer than the far edge. This is another example of how size creates depth. Draw the post and mailbox details. Look at how the dark undershadow pushes the post under the mailbox. Complete your three-dimensional mailbox with more details. These small details—the postal flag, the handle, the street address, and, especially, the texture of wood—finish this drawing nicely.

Consider texture as being the icing on a cake and your drawing as being the cake. Texture adds the visual feel of the surface to your objects: the fur on a cat, the cobblestones on a street, the scales on a fish. Texture is the delicious “flavor” you add to your drawing, the dessert for your eye. A brilliant, inspiring example of texture is Chris Van Allsburg’s illustrations in his book
The Z Was Zapped
. Take a look at this book; it will take your breath away!

Here’s a student example of this lesson to inspire you to keep practicing your drawings every day!