by Henk ter Heide on Tuesday May 5, 2009
![]()
by Henk ter Heide on Monday May 4, 2009
I was planning to draw a preserving bottle, but after starring it down for a moment I decided that would be to complicated for right now.
So I thought I go for something easy like the television that is sitting about a meter from me on it’s cupboard. But that drawing turned out to be deceptively complicated.
Because I’m sitting only a meter away and part of the television towers above me the perspective plays strange tricks: I never noticed but the corner that is facing me seems almost twice as high as the corner that is facing away. Which looks very strange in the drawing.
The slots on the site of the television also behave strangely. The top one is on eye level so it seems straight although it isn’t. It’s curved just like the bottom one. The same is true for the ventilation slots.
I won’t even start about how strange the cupboard looks.
It’s strange feeling. Having a photographic memory I feel that I know how the different parts of the world connect to each other. But trying to draw them it’s almost as though having a photographic memory for shape is something of a disadvantage.
Wasn’t expecting that.
Television on cupboard
I was planning to draw a preserving bottle, but after starring it down for a moment I decided that would be to complicated for right now. So I thought I...
![]()
by Henk ter Heide on Sunday May 3, 2009
It’s a strange feeling to sit and stare at a vacuum cleaner for a few minutes. But it is the best method to figure out how the lines run and what the relationship is between the different details of the vacuum cleaner.
Now I’m doing this I finally realizing why I’ve always had so much trouble drawing complicated pictures like this one. I have a tendency to imagine the world in three dimensions. I know, by heart, which lines are running towards me and which lines are running away from me.
But to draw them I have to learn to imagine them in two dimensions. Lines don’t run towards me or away from me but under a slight angle upwards or downwards to the left or right.
Half way through the drawing I realized that I had placed the vacuum cleaner to far away to get a good view on some of the details. Since it is not possible to move the vacuum cleaner without changing the angle and/or the perspective. I was forced to simplify the drawing somewhat. Which in the end turned out to be a good thing.
This type of vacuum cleaner has a lot of ornaments that don’t have anything to do with it’s purpose. It’s nice to look at but it doesn’t necessarily make the drawing better to understand.
Vacuum cleaner
It’s a strange feeling to sit and stare at a vacuum cleaner for a few minutes. But it is the best method to figure out how the lines run and...
![]()
by Henk ter Heide on Friday May 1, 2009
![]()
by Henk ter Heide on Wednesday April 29, 2009
Again a single line drawing of the same office chair as yesterday but in a different angle.
One thing I noticed while drawing, both yesterday and today, is that you hold your hand on top of the drawing while your drawing, making it almost impossible to get the perspective right.
But still this drawing is better then the one I did yesterday. Far from perfect but still far better then I had expected.
The main thing I found today is that looking at your subject is very important. It tends to get boring after a while. But still the best way to find out how the lines should run is by following them with your eyes. Imagining how the drawing will look when it’s finished.
Tomorrow I will do the chair the ordinary way.
Office chair
Again a single line drawing of the same office chair as yesterday but in a different angle. One thing I noticed while drawing, both yesterday and today, is that you...
![]()
by Henk ter Heide on Tuesday April 28, 2009
As I wrote yesterday I tried my hand at some single line ink drawings.
The rules for single line drawings are very simple. You may double lines as often as need be, but you may never lift the pen of the paper.
If you do the drawing is finished.
So I did the first drawing yesterday. It’s of about the same setting as the color sketch I posted yesterday. Except that I also had put my sweater on the chair.
The drawing looks alright but of course being a pile of towels and a sweater gives such a jumble of lines that you can’t actually see what it’s supposed to be. So it would look alright.
The second drawing I did just now.
I won’t go into everything that is wrong about it but you can see that it’s supposed to be an office chair.
Which is a good things since I wasn’t expecting the drawing to be recognizable. And it wasn’t half as frightening as I expected it to be.
I’ll try some more tomorrow.
Single line drawing odds and ends on chair
Single line drawing office chair
As I wrote yesterday I tried my hand at some single line ink drawings. The rules for single line drawings are very simple. You may double lines as often as...
![]()
by Henk ter Heide on Monday April 27, 2009
This was meant as part of a larger drawing. But as soon as I started I realized that the size of chair was too large to fit the rest. So I thought I finish it as a kind of study. To get a feel for what I was planning.
Since I have a tendency to loose myself in the details I thought I draw this more abstract. Drawing the colors without giving much attention to the shapes.
That went very well for a while. But then I made a mistake and got so distracted that I couldn’t continue the drawing.
That I get so distracted every time I make a little mistake means that I’ll have to try something I’ve been dreading ever since I started drawing.
I’ll have to try to make a single line ink drawing.
The funny/panicky thing about a single line ink drawing is that you are sure to fail. That is even if you succeed in drawing a reasonable picture of, what ever it is your drawing, you will always find a lot of mistakes. Which means it’s the single most frightening thing to do for somebody that is as focused on details as I am.
But on the other hand.
If I can get through this.
What could hurt me?
Chair filled with odds and ends
This was meant as part of a larger drawing. But as soon as I started I realized that the size of chair was too large to fit the rest. So...
![]()
by Henk ter Heide on Sunday December 28, 2008
This drawing is going to be a copy of this landscape painting by Francesco De Iure.
Just like with the last drawing I started out thinking I’d concentrate more on the colors then on the shapes.
1230a
But I found very quickly that wouldn’t work with this drawing. Clearly the relation between the tree in the foreground and the mountains in the background is very important.
So I started again this time starting with a sketch of the tree and it’s surrounding.
I used the lightest hue of gray I have in my color box. Even then I was a little scared it would show up in the scan. But luckily it didn’t. Although it does make for a rather strange picture.
Just like with the last drawing I came across the problem of having to use colors I don’t have in my drawing box. But this time I’ve found a better solution. Instead of just layering a few colors on top of each other I tried blending them. That worked out much better. The color I got looked much more like the original.
It feels a bit strange to start with the light background and then work my way to the foreground. Especially since I’m not really sure how I’m going to draw the tree.
This painting looks a lot like the Bob Ross painting you used to see some years ago. I’ve always been wondering how to imitate the cutting colors with a knife using a pencil.
1230b
This drawing is going to be a copy of this landscape painting by Francesco De Iure. Just like with the last drawing I started out thinking I’d concentrate more on...
![]()
by Henk ter Heide on Tuesday December 23, 2008
It took me a while to figure out why I’ve never seen this picture in real life. The Netherlands lies below the level of the sea. For that reason every body of water is enclosed with dikes. Which means that if you look at the sun setting in a lake you’ll see a dike and a few tree tops in the distance. Never tops of houses as you see on the left site of this picture.
For my first attempt at copying a painting I chose Day 293, Morning sun, pastel, A4 by Rita Pogo.
About half way through the drawing I decide to concentrate more on the colors then on the shapes.
I can draw very good copy of objects. I done so in the past. The problem is that I loose myself in the detail and forget about the colors.
I figure that if I can get the colors right the shapes will take care of them self.
This drawing seems much lighter then the original. I’ve been thinking about making it darker, but I didn’t.
For one thing because I’m not completely sure about how to make it darking without changing the colors. And also because I think this should be a light colored picture.A sunset usually has a lot of bright colors.
It took me a while to figure out why I’ve never seen this picture in real life. The Netherlands lies below the level of the sea. For that reason every...
![]()
by Henk ter Heide on Friday December 19, 2008
It seems so obvious now that I’ve solved it but ever since I started drawing I’ve been wondering how to get rid of the white. Doesn’t matter how many details you draw there will always be a part of the picture without details and that part will be white.
The painting I’m copying has no white in it. But what do I draw after I’ve drawn the sun, the clouds and the water?
This afternoon it finally hit me.
I should start out with a background color. Either the lightest color there is in the picture or a part of the picture. In this drawing I’m doing that with the sea (lower part of the drawing, isn’t jet there). Or I use a color that I can mix to get the colors I need.
In the upper part of the drawing I use the lightest pink I have in my drawing box. That color isn’t actually in the picture but I can mix it to get the dark purple parts of the sky and the dark gray/blue clouds.
Using a background color has one other purpose. Pencil colors are usually far more interesting when you get them by mixing a few colors then by just using the colors in the box.
It seems so obvious now that I’ve solved it but ever since I started drawing I’ve been wondering how to get rid of the white. Doesn’t matter how many details...
![]()
