Seniorgiri Counter the Loneliness Yourself.

Seniorgiri Series: Hobbies Drawing and Sketching

By Shobha Mathur Shobham@yahoo.com

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THIS IS HOBBY HELP SERIES FOR SENIORS.

I am compiling a series of things to do - what to do to counter loneliness, in addition, how to go about it. The book about painting became BOOKS about visual arts. As it is inconvenient to upload and download big files, I have arranged the info in different files. Learn to Paint Part 1 Covers Supplies, General Techniques, Oil and Acrylic Paintings. Part two is now split in several parts. Digital Arts Drawing and Sketching Glass Painting Water Based Painting This one is about Drawing and Sketching. I have tested all the links mentioned. As on May 2010, all links are secure, correct and working. You should look for more as you surf. You may find many that will suit to your needs. This is just a first step.

Please feel free to share this with anyone you like.

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Drawing and Sketching

Introduction The word Draw as verb has several meanings. You can draw money from ATM or bank, Draw water from well, Draw blood while fighting, and of course make a drawing! Here also, just like the word Painting, the word Drawing is both a noun and a verb. Both the act and the product are known as drawing. It is usually the first step in any painting or design It is chiefly associated with some artistic expression. It is making shapes and forms primarily by lines, though colors and shading can also be included. Anything that can make a mark on any surface can be used as a tool. Though pencils, pens, crayons, charcoal and paper are the usual tools, you can even use your fingers to make drawing on dusty cars, fogged mirrors, or sand. This is basically a 2 dimensional design, though can be shaded or drawn with perspective to provide depth for a 3 d effect. Then there are technical drawings which encompass Architectural, and Engineering drawings which are a complete different ball game. Here we are concerned with drawing as a visual art form. Geometry is a basic drawing training discipline to learn the techniques of drawing.

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Type
There are basically two main streams of drawings, 1. Technical and scientific These are illustrations or models for a product. They are exact and drawn to a scale. These include: Anatomical drawing Architectural drawing Botanical drawing Technical drawing Engineering drawing 2. Artistic These depict some idea or object not necessary to scale. They can be visually pleasing or giving vent to artists imagination in cartoons or caricatures. These are actually STYLES of drawing. These include: Doodle Sketch Actual Drawing

http://z.about.com/d/drawsketch/1/

http://z.about.com/d/drawsketch/

cghs.dadeschools.net/.../fist.ht m

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Kinds of Drawing

There are five broad kinds of drawing : Drawing from life Portraits, Still Life Drawing from a photo Drawing from imagination Cartoons, Clipart Geometrical shapes - Symbols, Logos Under Drawing - the basis of painting

Subject matter Drawing from life -, observing and drawing people, animals and nature portraits, landscapes, silhouettes, figure drawing.

Examples

Drawing from Photosreferencing a photo

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Subject matter Drawing from imagination Pure imagination for anything- cartoons, caricatures, fashion designing.

Examples

Drawing decorative geometrical shapes and symbols Logos, rangolis, Alpanas, and just decorative designs.

Underdrawing - the drawing done on a painting surface before paint is applied,

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There are two kinds of drawings by way of execution

Two Dimensional

Three Dimensional

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History

There have always been people with artistic urges. When there were no homes, no paints, no drawing tool, yet people found places and tools to express themselves. Caves dwellers all over the world decorated their walls and ceilings with available tools and materials which bear witness to human artistry and desire for aesthetic surroundings as well as innovative streak. We have examples of rock and cave drawings since 30,000BC. They are found all over the world Europe, Asia, Middle Eat and Africa. They also chronicle their habitat. They tell us a lot about the people, animals, weapons and their attire. They were probably used for ceremonial rites too. The earliest artists used four basic colors in drawings and paintings . Black from charcoal, white from limestone, and red and yellow from red clay. In medieval times too frescos and murals were drawn and painted on walls and ceilings of homes as they provided the best surface. Invention of paper in14th century changed the whole scenario as it then became the most common surface for drawing.

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Tools
You do not need fancy and expensive equipment for this hobby. The basic tools are A Drawing book, or papers Pencils Pencil sharpener Eraser You can draw keeping the paper on your lap , or use a memo board to clip the paper while working and even later. Other optional tools used are Circle compass, Ruler Set square( A rudimentary Geometry box is very useful) Tracing papers and carbon papers to transfer designs and drawings Miser Tip - For rough doodling and sketching, I use back of letters or envelops. Trivia about Tools Though all these are everyday ubiquitous items, here is some trivia about some of them. Paper has been covered in introduction to painting with other supplies. Here follows some trivia about Pencils.

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Pencils
We all know what a pencil is and what it looks like. A pencil is a writing or art tool. It is usually made of a narrow, solid pigment center inside a protective casing. The case saves the core from breaking or staining the users hand. How Pencils are made Pencil core is a kind of carbon, called graphite. Graphite is derived from the Greek word 'graphein' meaning, to write. To make the core, natural graphite is powdered, blended with clay into a paste. This paste is compressed and rolled into long thin rods and baked. The finished center is then infused with wax to aid smooth drawing and covered in wooden shafts. To use the pencil, the casing must be peeled off to expose the working end of the core as a sharp point. The outcome from a pencil is durable. Though writing can be removed easily with an eraser, it is unaffected by moisture, most chemicals, ultraviolet radiation and natural ageing. Pencils create marks by physical scratching. It leaves behind a trail of solid core material that sticks to a sheet of paper or other surface. That is why the core gets depleted and needs to be sharpened again.

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Types of Pencils
Apart from the common Graphite pencils, there are other types of pencils also available:
Charcoal pencils

They are made of charcoal and provide fuller blacks than graphite pencils. They tend to smudge easily and are coarser than graphite. Sepia-toned and white pencils are also available for duotone techniques.
Carbon pencils

They can be made of a mixture of clay and lamp black, or charcoal or graphite depending on the darkness and manufacturer. They produce a fuller black than graphite pencils, but are smoother than charcoal.
Colored pencils

They have wax-like cores with pigment and other fillers.

Watercolor pencils

These are designed for use with watercolor techniques. The pencils can be used by themselves for sharp, bold lines. Strokes made by the pencil can also be saturated with water and spread with brushes.

Using Pencils
Always keep them sharp , invest in good Pencils, sharpeners and erasers.

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The HB Graphite Grading Scale

Many pencils across the world, are graded on the European system using a range from H (for hardness) to B (for blackness), as well as F (for fine point).

The standard writing pencil is graded HB. It used B for black and H for hard; a pencil's grade was described by a sequence or successive Hs or Bs such as BB and BBB for successively softer leads, and HH and HHH for successively harder ones.

As of 2009, a set of pencils ranging from a very hard, light-marking pencil to a very soft, black-marking pencil usually ranges from hardest to softest as follows::

9H 8H 7H 6H 5H 4H 3H 2H H F HB B 2B 3B 4B 5B 6B 7B 8B 9B Hardest Medium Softest

If you are just starting out, the low-cost, quick solution is to choose select a 6B, 4B, 2B, H , HB and 2H.

An H pencil should be as hard as you need for lightest tones; an HB will give you a good mid range, with B and 2B for darker shades. For very dark areas a 4 or 6 B might be needed.

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Learn to Draw
Actually many people are just scared of drawing. But the reality is that we all doodle, and have the capacity to draw. There are many step by step instructions on the net and I have given the links at the end. But here is a simple lesson that you can try. This is from How to draw and Paint.com. http://www.how-to-draw-and-paint.com/learntodraw.html This tutorial will show you that just by using a few simple shapes that anyone can manage, you can learn to draw literally anything you want to, with increasing confidence and enjoyment. Every object you look at around you - a house, animal, a face, boat, mountain, tree and so on can easily be constructed by using one or a combination of just five basic shapes. All you need is an oblong, square, oval, circle, and triangle - like these :-

Try practicing these shapes on a scrap of paper. Try all variations, sizes, proportions, fatter, thinner, with or without sharp corners. They dont have to be exact! Remember they are there to guide you not to trap you.

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Learn to Draw Whatever You Want

At the following link you will learn to use these shapes to make interesting drawings :http://www.how-to-draw-andpaint.com/learntodraw.html.

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Shady Effects

After drawing outline, you can fill it with various pencil strokes to make a painting out of it! Graduated tone can be used to create the illusion of space and form in a drawing. It is a very useful skill to develop. Use a B, 2B, or darker grade of pencil for your shading. Lighter grades (H, 2H etc.) will not give enough depth to your darkest tones.

Before you Start - How to Hold the Pencil

http://www.toadhollowstudio.com/drawing_workshops/Shading_1.html

Use an overhand grip for these exercises. Practice making broad marks with the side of the lead until you're comfortable working with a pencil held this way.

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Hatch: This is the fundamental shading stroke by pencil. It just goes back and forth. Darkening happens with strokes over strokes. Practice with the pencil at a low angle to get the strokes smooth.

Cross hatch Its hatch in all directions, one over other. Each different direction adds more tone to the shading, and gets it increasingly darker.

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How to Shade a Ball in Six Steps

See the graphics below and read the full tutorial at http://www.toadhollowstudio.com/drawing_workshops/Shading_2.ht ml

Different shades of Black and grey can make a picture lifelike.

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Links
All the links are working , correct and secure as on May 2010.

Basic drawing
Drawing & Sketching
Free lessons. http://www.creativespotlite.com/drawing-lessons.htm

Free Art Lessons and Commercial Art Tutorials

Learn how to draw, sketch and paint. Drawing, Sketching and Painting (portrait art, landscape, wildlife... for artist's of all abilities) http://www.artgraphica.net/

Learn to Draw Whatever You Want

Discover Lots of FREE Drawing & Painting Tutorials Using simple techniques that really work, you'll discover how to draw anything you want, quickly and confidently. Faces, landscapes, flowers, boats - anything. http://www.how-to-draw-and-paint.com/index.html Beginning In art http://beginninginart.com/drawing/

How to Draw Simple Shapes into Abstract Creations: Video Series

30 videos in the series http://www.ehow.com/videos-on_2659_draw-simple-shapes-abstractcreations.html

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Toad Hollow Studio http://toadhollowstudio.com/drawing_and_inspiration.html How To Draw Anyone Can Learn How to Draw Custom Illustrations http://desktoppub.about.com/od/creategraphics/a/how_to_draw.htm

Shading
Pencil Shading Exercises http://www.artyfactory.com/portraits/drawing_techniques/pencil_shad ing.htm Learn Pencil Shading http://www.liveindia.com/shading/ Basic Pencil Shading http://snigom.deviantart.com/art/Basic-Pencil-Shading-42276998 Introduction to Pencil Shading http://drawsketch.about.com/od/learntodraw/ss/pencilshading.htm

Cartoons
Cartooning: Learn How to Draw Fun & Funny Stuff
Has lessons as well as other links. http://www.creativity-portal.com/howto/artscrafts/cartooning.shtml

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How to draw Cartoons

This page full of free online tutorials will show you how to draw everyone from SpongeBob to Snoopy, and Daffy Duck to Dora The Explorer. The step-by-step lessons are easy to follow, and show you how to sketch, draw, and then color your way to the completed work. Each given stage will proceed only whenever you press play, so following the lesson will be no problem! http://www.drawingnow.com/how-to-draw-cartoons.html

General
Portrait Drawing Tutorial http://www.ratemydrawings.com/tutorials/portrait/178Drawing_different_kinds_of_Eyes.html Traditional-Drawing Tutorial: Learn How to Draw 7 Different Types of Dogs http://www.pxleyes.com/tutorial/traditional-drawing/1510/LearnHow-to-Draw-7-Different-Types-of-Dogs.html Draw space http://www.drawspace.com/

Learn to Draw Animals

Many links for different animals http://drawsketch.about.com/od/learntodrawanimals/Learn_to_Draw_ Animals.htm

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Acknowledgement

The filler Flower graphics used here are from Hellas Multimedia http://www.hellasmultimedia.com/webimages/default.htm. The beautiful graphics are free. Graphics from the net are acknowledged at the point. Other clipart are from WP Clipart Free Collection. http://www.wpclipart.com/index.html

Some graphics are from me.

This e book is by Ms.Shobha Mathur shobham@yahoo.com

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