Drawing Concepts Drawing is a representation of some form , object or some idea of mind.

Drawing is a huge field it is not in the scope of this article to explain it all but we will try to give a explanation and way to make the compositions you make a bit more attractive and interesting.With concepts and ideas your drawings must also be visually correct and represent the elements correctly.So first of all we will go with the basic concepts of Drawing then a more subjective disscussion of drawing requirements and expectations in Aieee B.acrh and Nata.

Basic Concepts of Drawing and Sketching.

Scale and Proportion Perception Light and Shadow Composition

Drawing Concepts

Scale and Proportion is the relation and size of elments used in your drawing.For example if you use a ordinary bottle and a glass in your drawing the size of bottle should be approximetly twice the size of glass.This is the relation of a bottle and a glass.There is a proportion between them like wise all elements have a proportion between each of them this scale and proportionality have to be maintained to make your drawing better. For a better illustration of Scale and Proportion we have a Drawing beside us which shows the relation of a dog , cat and a rabbit.while drawing we must analyse and understand the unique relations of all the elements used in our drawing and draw accordingly. proportion

Perception is a very important concept.Many people misunderstand perception with Scale and Proportion but they both are very different.Perception is the relation of elements with Distance and the angle of eye sight.Its the theory that something that is at a distance will look smaller

than its actual size.The farther the more smaller it will look. Here is a image beside us which explains this theory very nicely.As you can see the pillars tend to get smaller as the distance increases.This is the first concept of perception.

The second concept is that the objects which are not parallel to our eye sight will look a little different then their actual looks. We will have a good illustration from the two pictures below.

A bottle cap shape seen from exactly above it.

The same bottle cap shape seen at some angle.

As you can see the same bottle cap looks different from different angles.The bottle cap is perfect circle when looked from above it but it looks like an ellipse when looked at some angle.This is how the looks of elements change at different angles.So the next time you draw you have to incorporate this in your drawings and element.

For a more better understanding study this book on perception which is also available at the download section.

Download links-Click here

Light and Shadow is the effect of light on the elements.When light from a point source like a sun or a bulb falls on an object it projects a shadow in the opposite direction and the face of the object facing the source of light is illuminated.Using light and shadow in your drawings will make your drawing

very realistic. The effect of light can be noticed in this image below.

While using light and shadow you must also remeber one more concept that shade and shadows are two different things.We get a good explanation from the drawings below.

Shade

Shadow

Shade and Shadow are two different things related to light shade as shown in the image is the surface of the object itself which is not receiving light and shadow is the area of the surface where light is not recieved as it is obstructed by other objects.While drawing if we show or depict some source of light the objects recieving light must show both shade and shadow.

Composition is the art of organizing the objects or elements to make the drawing more interesting and attractive.A good composition can be achieved by following the Principles of Design.There are many principles of design but the most important ones which you will need are balance,Focus,unity.

Balance means that the drawing which you make must not have too much elements in one area of the sheet and too little in some other area.The elements used must be balanced all over the painting or drawing. An easy example is this image

Focus is a factor which brings the attention at first look.It is something unique in your drawing.It is more appealing if it means something.Here is an image which attracts your focus to the center for example.

Unity is something which is gained by a good combination of elements, colours ,balance ,focus.All the elements of your drawing must combine to look as one and not out of place.It is as though they belong to the Drawing itself.

Disscusing all the principles of design is out of the scope of this article.A very good article of wikipedia we would recommend for having a better understanding of composition.

the links - Click here

Now as we have completed the basic concepts of drawing we will have a more focused disscussion on aieee b.arch and nata

Nata Drawing paper has three questions in the previous years.

The objectives of drawing questions of nata are:

Ability to sketch a given object proportionately and rendering the same in visually appealing manner.

 Visualising and drawing the effects of light on the object and shadows cast on surroundings.

Sense of perspective drawing.

Combining and composing given three dimensional elements to form a building or structural form.

Creating interesting two dimensional composition using given shapes and forms.

Creating visual harmony using colours in given composition.

Understanding of scale and proportions.

Drawing from memory through pencil sketch on themes from day to day experiences.

one question of 50 marks and other two of 25 each.

The first question checks your knowledge of scale and propotion and perception very intensely.

An example :

Imagine that your size has been reduced significantly and you are standing in a pencil box that has three pencils, one sharpener, and one compass, one small piece of paper, one eraser and one fountain pen. Draw what you would see standing inside the pencil box with the lid of the box open.

Some good answers to this question were posted in the nata dqlabs by their student.

Links to their website: Click here.

You can answer this question very well if you will read the book given in the perspective section thoroughly and practice well by trying some other questions of such type.

Second Question is a composition of some elements of a logo consisiting of geometric figure and the like wise.This question checks your combination of colour and composition.Try to make a composition which is visually appealing and follows the priciples given in composition section above.

Example question

Draw a visually appealing composition using the five given shapes and colour it using four colours. You can use any shape more than once. However each shape has to be used at least once

It will be good if you could practice this questions before hand and have a idea before hand so that during the exam you dont have to waste time thinking as what composition to draw as time given is very less.

The third question checks your concepts of light and shadow.

Example:

Make an interesting three dimensional stable composition using three bottles, two balls and one lampshade in the space provided. Also show the effect of light and shadow on the composition.

please refer to the light and shadow section for a good understanding.

And visit the nata dqlabs website for examples of such questions and evaluation. links Click here

Time given is very less so practice all this questions and try to solve them in 3 Hrs time.

Aieee B.Arch question paper also has three questions.The drawing question paper is of 70 marks . Two questions of 25 marks each and one question of 20 marks.

The first question is the same as second question of the nata.see the nata section above this.A composition is to be drawn out of some basic geometric figures.

Some examples:

The second question is of mirror image its given to draw a mirror image of a composition.This question can be also to enlarge a composition.

For example.

Given image

Mirror Image of the given image

This is just an example but the actual images may be a little more difficult and have more elements.Try to draw any geometrical and curved composition in a paper and draw the mirror image of the same on a other paper.This is how you can practice for this.

The third question is a memory drawing of some School, Street Side or other Topic.Be ready for this question from before and use all the concepts given in the basic concepts section of this article and try to make the drawing

attractive and interesting.

Some nice paintings and drawings:

Some of the examples given here are not possible to be drawn within the given time in exam but you can definitely learn from them.Keep the level of details in your drawing according to time left.The total time for aieee b.arch is 3 hrs.This is the total time for aptitude,maths and drawing.So at the most time you will get for drawing is 1 Hr.So prepare accordingly and practice well before exams.The aptitude part is very easy so complete it first then try for maths and drawing.