Still Life Drawing, Intro to Hatching

Drawing a still life for the first time can seen daunting, but its just a matter of breaking down the process into small steps.

1. Draw the block in- Take as long as you need to outline all of the biggest shapes in your drawing. This will serve as the foundation so you want to make sure to take the time to do this part the best you can. Don't worry about drawing any details at this point, just draw the basic shapes.

2. Establish light and dark- The still life has a multitude of tones, ranging from pearly gray to midnight black. The longer you stare the more tones will develop before your eyes. This can be a problem in establishing the correct balance of tones overall. Try to resist the temptation of working in one area for a long time because it will make your job much more difficult in the long run. Try squinting your eyes, so that all you can see is what is light and what is dark. That is exactly what you need to figure out at this point.

3. Now that you have figured out what is being hit by light and what is not, you can finally get the point where you add the details, by shading, and erasing until getting the exact tone that you are looking for. Try not to spend to much time in one area, rather, move all over the drawing so that it develops in layers.