Online Art Mini Lesson 9
Using Ovals to Create Drawings and other Tools of the Trade

Click here to print this page

To draw or paint natural objects - faces, trees, apples, etc. you need to understand their underlying structures: spheres, cylinders.

(Review the Forms Mini Lessons 2 and 3 to see how forms underlie objects)
Online Art Lesson 2: An introduction to FORM in painting
Online  Art Lesson 3: A more advanced FORM lesson)

Key to drawing those underlying forms are OVALS:

A Primer in Using Ovals

Below, I show you step by step how to apply the above to the cylinder in your drawing.

DRAWING WITH TOOLS,
AN OPTION:

Regarding using or not using tools to draw- there are artists on both sides of the issue. As to ovals. I draw mine by hand and I use a triangle for my straight lines (some artists use a ruler instead of a triangle) - a good buddy of mine draws his straight lines and uses an oval template (shown below) for his ovals. To read more on the use of tools and other devices to make pictures, look at the  ONLINE  LESSON on using a camera as a research tool (like Jan Vermeer and other great artists) AND in some cases a TRACING tool (like Leonardo DaVinci used a sheet of glass between two easels to trace landscapes).

To sign up for the course, click here.

Interactive Home Page | About Learning to Paint and Draw
Course Outline | Lesson Costs | Free Lessons
Our Learning to Draw and Paint Promises | Links
Contact Us

© 2009 Interactive Art School