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Step 2Trace your image
1. Prepare your space - Using your tape, tape down your print out of the sharpened image to your light table. Tape the drawing paper on top so you can flip it up an away. The tape keeps everything aligned when you flip to see the layer below. You will be able to see your image through the paper on top. You can also use tracing paper with or without the light table if you prefer. Have all your materials ready. Because I am kind of a geek/efficient, I usually lay out all my pens and pencils in order of thickness or hardness. I like to get an audiobook, comedy album, or lecture to listen to so I can pass the time.
2. Trace in pencil (skip to pen if you are a bad ass or reckless). Try to capture the details of the image. Remember, tracing alone won't make your drawing good. If you've had any drawing lessons in the past, now is the time to pull those to the front of your brain. Remember these gems?
- stay loose and expressive with your lines
- remember to draw only what you see, not what you know to be there. (aka noses aren't triangles)
- turn off the light and check how your drawing looks every once in a while
- don't worry if it looks bad, just keep going. Everything I have ever made I think looks awful at some point in the middle, even when it turns out great in the end.
- don't forget you can erase and rework an area. And don't get obsessed with it either.
- keep the original photo open on your screen or printed out near you and check against your photo. Study it. Make sure you are drawing only what you can see.
3. Retrace in pen - Now tape your pencil drawing to the light table and new piece of paper on top. Retrace in pen. This time, don't draw every line you had before. Choose which lines need to be there and leave out the unnecessary ones. Some tips:
- change pen sizes often. Start with outlines and move to details. Remember, you can always make a thin line thicker, but not the other way around.
- heavier lines around edges help create and illusion of depth. The outside edge of every drawing I usually draw with a Pigma Micron 08 or equivalent.
- it's ok if you screw up
- - you can remove lines with white out or by scraping it away with a razor blade
- - you can also remove or alter lines in your vector editor
- - don't let perfection lead to inaction. Just keep going.
- draw lines inward. You get more control lifting the pen to achieve a tapered line then to gradually lower it and achieve the same effect.
- use pressure to vary line width and taper your ends.
2. Trace in pencil (skip to pen if you are a bad ass or reckless). Try to capture the details of the image. Remember, tracing alone won't make your drawing good. If you've had any drawing lessons in the past, now is the time to pull those to the front of your brain. Remember these gems?
- stay loose and expressive with your lines
- remember to draw only what you see, not what you know to be there. (aka noses aren't triangles)
- turn off the light and check how your drawing looks every once in a while
- don't worry if it looks bad, just keep going. Everything I have ever made I think looks awful at some point in the middle, even when it turns out great in the end.
- don't forget you can erase and rework an area. And don't get obsessed with it either.
- keep the original photo open on your screen or printed out near you and check against your photo. Study it. Make sure you are drawing only what you can see.
3. Retrace in pen - Now tape your pencil drawing to the light table and new piece of paper on top. Retrace in pen. This time, don't draw every line you had before. Choose which lines need to be there and leave out the unnecessary ones. Some tips:
- change pen sizes often. Start with outlines and move to details. Remember, you can always make a thin line thicker, but not the other way around.
- heavier lines around edges help create and illusion of depth. The outside edge of every drawing I usually draw with a Pigma Micron 08 or equivalent.
- it's ok if you screw up
- - you can remove lines with white out or by scraping it away with a razor blade
- - you can also remove or alter lines in your vector editor
- - don't let perfection lead to inaction. Just keep going.
- draw lines inward. You get more control lifting the pen to achieve a tapered line then to gradually lower it and achieve the same effect.
- use pressure to vary line width and taper your ends.
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Jun 20, 2010. 3:02 PMphillipeb
says:
what is the brown paper in the second to last image on this step? I really like the look of inked work on it!
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Jun 20, 2010. 3:12 PMslambert (author)
says:
it's just the photo, it was actually drawing paper with tracing paper on top, backlit.
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