Grade by Grade
A. Creating and Presenting · Creating Art: The Creative Process, Design and Studio Techniques

Drawing Media and Observational Drawing

A3.1 C1.2 C2.1About 75 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can choose drawing media (graphite, charcoal, coloured pencil, ink, pastel) for the effect I want.
  • I can use sighting and measuring to draw accurate proportions and angles from observation.
  • I can build a drawing in stages, from light construction lines to finished values and details.
  • I can work safely and cleanly with dusty or staining drawing media.

Words to know

medium (plural: media)
The material an art work is made with, such as graphite, charcoal, ink or paint.
graphite
The grey, slippery form of carbon used in pencils, graded from hard (H) to soft (B).
charcoal
Burnt wood (vine charcoal) or powdered charcoal pressed with a binder (compressed charcoal), used for rich darks.
tooth
The tiny bumps on the surface of paper that grab and hold dry media.
sighting
Measuring the size and angles of a subject by holding a pencil at arm's length.
construction lines
Light lines used to plan shapes, proportions and placement before details are added.
burnishing
Pressing coloured pencil hard so layers blend and the paper's tooth is filled, giving a smooth, shiny finish.
wash
A thin, watery layer of ink or paint brushed over an area.

Drawing is seeing

Observational drawing (drawing from life) is the foundation of visual arts in high school. It trains your eye to notice proportions, angles, light and texture that your brain usually skips. Even artists who work in abstract or digital styles practise it.

This lesson covers media (what you draw with) and methods (how to measure and build a drawing). It is the first of five lessons on production: drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture and mixed media, and digital and photographic art.

Drawing media

  • Graphite pencils: graded from H (hard, light) to B (soft, black). HB is in the middle. Hard pencils stay sharp and smudge less; soft pencils make rich darks and blend easily.
  • Charcoal: vine charcoal is light, soft and easy to erase, good for early sketches. Compressed charcoal is darker, denser and harder to erase. Charcoal pencils give control. Charcoal makes dramatic darks fast.
  • Conté (crayons of pigment and a binder, in black, white, browns and reddish tones): good on toned paper.
  • Coloured pencils: build colour in light layers; mix by layering one colour over another; burnish at the end for a smooth, shiny finish.
  • Pen and ink: permanent lines; values come from hatching, stippling and line weight, or from washes of diluted ink applied with a brush.
  • Oil pastels: waxy and bright; good for bold colour and sgraffito. Soft (chalk) pastels: powdery, blend like charcoal.
  • Markers: quick, flat colour; useful for design and illustration.

Paper matters too. Paper with more tooth (texture) grips charcoal and pastel. Smooth paper suits pen and fine pencil. Heavier paper (a higher weight in grams per square metre, g/m²) resists buckling and erasing.

6H4H2HHHBB2B4B6B8Bharder lead: lighter, sharper, less smudgingsofter lead: darker, smudges, blendsdarkest mark each pencil makes with medium pressure (approximate)
Graphite grades. H means hard (light lines) and B means black (soft, dark lines). HB is in the middle. Brands differ a little, but every set follows this order. Most drawings use two or three grades: an H or HB for light planning lines and a 2B to 6B for dark values.

Sighting and measuring

Your eye can be fooled. Sighting gives you a reliable ruler.

  1. Stand or sit in the same spot every time.
  2. Hold your pencil at arm's length with your elbow locked, so the distance from your eye never changes.
  3. Close one eye.
  4. Measure: line the pencil tip up with the top of a part of the subject and slide your thumb to the bottom. That length is your unit.
  5. Compare: keeping your thumb in place, compare the unit to other parts. "The bottle is 4 units tall and 1 unit wide."
  6. Angles: hold the pencil along an edge (such as the slope of a roof), then lower it to the paper keeping the same angle.
  7. Plumb and level lines: hold the pencil perfectly vertical or horizontal to see which parts line up ("the left edge of the cup lines up with the handle of the spoon").
pencilthumb marksthe bottomelbow lockedbottle across the roomPencil tip lines up with the top of the bottle;thumb slides to line up with the bottom.
Sighting: hold a pencil at arm's length with your elbow locked, close one eye, line the tip up with the top of the object and slide your thumb to its bottom. Keep that length, turn the pencil sideways and compare it with the width. Because the distance from your eye never changes, every comparison is consistent. (Not to scale.)
1 unit234width = 1 unitBottle: 4 units tall,1 unit wide.Draw any size you like,but keep the 4 : 1 ratioand the drawing willlook right.
After sighting, describe proportions as ratios of one unit (here the bottle's width). A bottle 4 units tall and 1 unit wide must keep that 4 : 1 ratio whether you draw it 8 cm or 40 cm tall.

Building a drawing in stages

  1. Placement: lightly sketch the overall size and position of the subject on the page. Avoid drawing too small or running off the edge (unless that is your plan).
  2. Big shapes: simplify everything into basic shapes (circles, boxes, cylinders) using construction lines with an H or HB pencil.
  3. Measure and correct: check proportions and angles by sighting. Fix them now: it is easy while lines are light.
  4. Contours: refine the edges with more confident lines.
  5. Values: block in the big shadow shapes first, then build darker values, keeping highlights clean.
  6. Details and texture: add these last, mostly at the focal point.
  7. Final check: step back, squint, and adjust contrast. Erase leftover construction lines if they distract.

Work from general to specific, and light to dark. Beginners often start with one detail (an eye) and draw it perfectly, only to find it is in the wrong place.

Worked example

Let's measure a still life

Draw a juice bottle beside a mug from observation.

  1. Choose a unit: sight the mug's height. Call it 1 unit.
  2. Compare: the bottle is 2 and a half mugs tall: 2.5 units. The mug's width (without handle) is about 0.8 units. The bottle's width is about 0.7 units.
  3. Plan the page: the tallest object is 2.5 units. On a 28 cm tall page, you want about 3 cm of margin top and bottom, so use about 8.5 cm per unit (2.5 × 8.5 ≈ 21 cm).
  4. Draw boxes: the mug: 8.5 cm tall and 6.8 cm wide (0.8 × 8.5). The bottle: about 21 cm tall and 6 cm wide (0.7 × 8.5 ≈ 6).
  5. Check alignments: a plumb line shows the mug's right edge lines up with the bottle's label. Mark it.
  6. Ellipses: the tops and bottoms of both objects are ellipses. The bottom ellipses look rounder than the tops because they are farther below eye level.
  7. Refine and shade: draw the contours, then values with a light source from the window on the left.

Using the mug as the unit: mug 8.5 cm × 6.8 cm, bottle about 21 cm × 6 cm on a 28 cm page, with consistent ellipses and alignment checked by plumb lines.

Ellipses follow eye level

An ellipse at eye level is a flat line. The farther a circular edge is below your eye level, the rounder its ellipse looks. So the bottom of a cup always shows a rounder ellipse than its rim.

Just for fun

Funny but true: graphite was once thought to be a kind of lead, which is why we still say "pencil lead". Pencils have never contained lead metal; the "lead" is graphite mixed with clay.

Hands-on activity

Observational drawing session

You need: pencils (HB, 2B, 4B or 6B), a kneaded or plastic eraser, cartridge or printer paper, a pen, three household objects of different heights (a bottle, a mug, an apple), a lamp, optional: charcoal, coloured pencils.

  1. Media sampler (10 min): make a small swatch of each medium you have: lightest and darkest mark, a smooth gradation, and a blended or layered area. Label them.
  2. Set up: arrange the three objects with some overlapping, lit from one side.
  3. Sighting practice (10 min): using your pencil, write down the height and width of each object in units of the mug's height.
  4. Drawing (35 min): draw the still life following the seven stages. Use H or HB for construction lines and softer pencils for values.
  5. Ink version (15 min, optional): draw one object again with pen only, using hatching for value.
  6. Reflect: which measurement surprised you most? Which medium would you choose for a moody night scene, and why?

Safety: charcoal and pastel make fine dust: do not blow it off the paper (tap the paper over a garbage can, outdoors if possible), keep it away from food, and wash your hands. Spray fixatives should only be used outdoors by an adult, or skipped: store finished charcoal drawings between sheets of clean paper instead. Lamps get hot.

Your turn

1

Which pencil makes darker marks: 2H or 4B? Why?

2

Why should your elbow be locked when sighting?

3

Name one advantage of vine charcoal and one of compressed charcoal.

4

What is the correct order: details, big shapes, values, placement?

5

How do you mix colours with coloured pencils?

6

A pen drawing needs a grey area. Name two ways to make it.

7

Why is the bottom of a cup drawn as a rounder ellipse than its rim?

More practice: warm-up

1

What does the H on a pencil stand for?

2

What is the middle pencil grade?

3

What is tooth?

4

Should construction lines be drawn lightly or darkly?

5

What should you never do with charcoal dust?

More practice: on your own

1

A lamp is 3.5 units tall if its shade's width is 1 unit. You want the lamp 14 cm tall on paper. How wide should the shade be? Show your work.

2

Explain why beginners should not start a drawing with a detailed eye or a perfect flower petal.

3

Which medium would you choose for a fast, dramatic drawing of a storm, and why?

4

How can you use a plumb line when drawing a person sitting in a chair?

5

Why does heavier paper suit watercolour washes or lots of erasing better than printer paper?

Challenge

1

A window measures 1.5 units wide and 2.5 units tall using your sighting unit. On your drawing it is 9 cm wide. How tall should it be, and what is your unit size?

2

Compare graphite and charcoal for a portrait. Which would you use for which stages, and why?

3

Explain how observational drawing practice could improve a student who mostly draws in a cartoon or anime style.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Which pencil grade is softest?

2.

When sighting, you should...

3.

Which is the best first stage of an observational drawing?

4.

How should you deal with charcoal dust on your drawing?

5.

Coloured pencil colours are best mixed by...

6.

If a mug is 1 unit tall and a vase is 3 units tall, and you draw the mug 5 cm tall, the vase should be...

For parents and teachers

Observational drawing improves with regular, short practice: 15 minutes a day of drawing household objects helps more than one long session a week. Help your teen set up a simple still life with a single lamp. Common difficulties: drawing too small, starting with details, forgetting to keep the elbow locked when sighting, and dark construction lines that will not erase. Charcoal and pastel are dusty: work on newspaper, tap dust off outdoors, keep it away from food and wash hands. Avoid spray fixatives indoors.