How To Draw A Person In Water

Water

Water. It is the nearly imperial element in nature. There is nothing more meditative or soothing than the rhythmic sound of waves crashing on a beach, or the soft rippling of a small stream. There are oceanscapes, harbors, piers, reflections, seashores, rivers, streams, waterfalls, lakes and fifty-fifty only puddles.

Our h2o mural possibilities are endless. But without the tools to empathise how to draw water, nosotros get overwhelmed as to the job of how we're suppose to draw it!! All those ripples, waves, reflections....oh my!! So nosotros put our favorite scenes abroad, hoping to be braver another day. Does that sound familiar?

Lesson Goal:

The goal of this lesson is ii fold - we are going to explore how to draw water, but more importantly we are going to review the procedure of observation, analysis and interpretation, the "tools" that will let usa to depict any discipline matter, no matter how complex.

That's a pretty alpine order, but I think we tin can achieve it.

The Power of Observation

Before I got brave plenty to pick up my pencil in 2002, I spent a couple years merely looking. I got my first digital camera and started to take photos of everything. I began to open up my eyes and look around me. Information technology is astonishing what you see when you actually start "looking".

"The more you await, the more you see.
The more y'all see, the more you understand."

To experience a landscape you lot must visually, mentally, emotionally and physically notice it.

Not all of us have the opportunity to describe plein air (on location). So we use photographs, but we need to exist aware of the limitations of using photographs. Ane of these short-comings is information technology flattens the view to ii-dimensions. You tin't see what is tucked behind an object. If you didn't take the photograph - yous take to take additional steps to "become continued" to a scene. You lot need to mentally envision walking through your scene. Practice research...expect at various reference photos at different angles to help you "understand" what y'all are looking at. Feel the textures, experience the air current on your face, or the spray of h2o at your feet. This "agreement" of what you are seeing, is the ability of observation.

Then let's look at our first image. Courtesy of Aleksandra Freeman . Aleksandra captured a beautiful swan pond. The swan is so uncomplicated and I'm itching to depict it, but oh that water and reflections! How do nosotros begin?

Reference photo of Swan for 'Drawing Water' tutorial

The Analysis

We know it is water, nosotros know it is fluid, transparent and reflective. We know the swan is swimming in the water, and we know we are seeing the swan's reflections in the water. We KNOW all of this from the start pace - observation.

This pace is to analyze what we are seeing in the prototype. By breaking this image downwards into smaller sections. We can identify 'clues' that will assistance united states draw the characteristics of water that makes it...water.

The Analysis - continued

By irresolute our focus to simply the water and looking at it in an "abstract" format, it will let usa to analyze just what we are "SEEING".

Swan posterized I cropped the image so we can concentrate on the water reflections. I posterized the image (a Photoshop characteristic) to reduce the number of values seen and turned the photo into grayscale. I am abstracting and simplifying the image.

At present it doesn't expect overwhelming - I can now study the movement of the waves, the shapes, and the values. I take broken this complex image into simple shapes and values. I have reduced this into something I can grasp.

I tin can practice sketches at this signal to identify the most prominent waves, I can map out my values for my composition. This is the analysis phase that helps me grasp what I am looking at.

Caution: Practice not create your concluding drawing from this phase. Your drawing will take on these qualities of abstractness, lifelessness and looking flat.

The Interpretation

Hither is the step that is the most exciting, and where each creative person's interpretation emerges. Let's return to the B&W image of the swan. Does it await less overwhelming now? To me, the h2o is now nothing more than values and shapes.

But since we don't want to just draw "values and shapes", nosotros need to interpret and decide what clues to include. It is just equally important to decide what not to include as well. Things to consider is what is the focus of the drawing? Is it the swan or the reflection of the swan? We don't desire to over-emphasize the reflections if the swan is the focal indicate.

We've done our preliminary observation and analysis of our field of study thing. The estimation is the where the creative license of the artist begins!
Sketching Water - Swan example
Try your mitt at cartoon the swan and the water reflections. Study the image, see what yous can find equally 'clues' that volition help provide the viewer to recognize that this swan is swimming in h2o.