25 Days to Better Drawings: Texture Study #2
This course features:
10 Hours of Instruction
25 Videos
24 eBooks
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Lesson Description
Learn how to create the illusion of texture in a drawing by combining shapes of value with directional stroking. In this exercise, we create a drawing of brick texture.
Lesson Materials
Graphite drawing pencils: H, HB, and 2B, white drawing paper, blending stump, and a kneaded eraser.
Lesson Resources
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Course Curriculum
Lesson 1: Materials and Mindset (10:07)Lesson 2: Drawing with Lines (25:29)Lesson 3: Drawing Ellipses (18:26)Lesson 4: Drawing with Shapes (15:56)Lesson 5: Line Quality (13:10)Lesson 6: Cross Contour Lines (11:32)Lesson 7: Shading with Line (38:49)Lesson 8: Value (10:52)Lesson 9: Light and Shadow (11:58)Lesson 10: Drawing Basic Forms (17:25)Lesson 11: Drawing with Forms (21:12)Lesson 12: Texture Study #1 (28:54)Lesson 13: Texture Study #2 (49:20)Lesson 14: Texture Study #3 (17:31)Lesson 15: The Illusion of Space (16:33)Lesson 16: One Point Perspective (46:39)Lesson 17: Two Point Perspective (48:35)Lesson 18: Three Point Perspective (54:30)
Lesson 19: Sighting, Measuring, and Mapping (10:02)Lesson 20: Positive and Negative Space (8:13)Lesson 21: The Grid Technique (11:07)Lesson 22: Basic Facial Proportions (41:52)Lesson 23: Figure Drawing (1:03:53)Lesson 24: Drawing in Reverse (16:29)Lesson 25: Conclusion / Final Exercise (3:56)
Tks. Extremely valuable lesson practically and philosophically.
Okay, THAT was hard. I have plenty of patience, but I think I might have managed better with a more textured paper. My paper has almost no tooth. Also, I find that I need to move to a softer pencil early on as I’m not achieving the strength of value as you are and I’m scratching the paper in attempt to do so. Your comment? On the bright side, I guess the challenge to get brick and mortar texture onto smooth paper is all the greater learning experience…
You can always try a rougher paper. We all have different approaches and that’s always okay. Some may find that a smoother surface gives them more control over the texture, while others may prefer to rely more on the tooth to create the impression of visual texture.
hard hard for me to get the illusion of texture. I definitely learned about shine by getting shine 😐 I know I learned but the result is less competent than other lessons.
Really worked my patience! Great practice in slowing down and observing value relationships. Loved it!
Thank you, Matt, for this and all the other absolute excellent lessons and courses. When I saw it was a wall that I need to draw I just knew that there was no way that I can do this. And I did!!! And I really enjoyed it as well!! Thanks again!!
Awesome, thanks Wilna!
Is there a way to correct graphite shine once it occurs?
Hi Owen,
Graphite shine is partly caused by the flattening of the tooth or texture of the paper. Once the tooth is flattened, it cannot be reversed. Graphite is also shiny by nature, so some shine is expected.
Would it be convincing to use a bit of white charcoal to represent some of the bright highlights in the mortar?
Hi Owen,
On gray paper, yes. On white paper – probably not. It would be better to erase out highlights on white paper than to use white charcoal.
My blending stumps are so full of graphite I don’t needed a pencil. I can shade with them. Sometimes too dark! Am I suppose to be cleaning them?
I have seen that “shaving” them with a craft knife will clean them. I have also heard that they shouldn’t be cleaned. As a novice, I cant advise one way or the other. Personally, I am just going to buy new ones and when I feel that the old stumps are not just blending but adding tone, I will switch to new ones.
My blending stumps came with a sandpaper block which you can clean them with.
I used sandpaper, cleaned them perfectly, don’t rub to hard.
Matt you make it look so easy ! I must admit though I do enjoy doing this it’s so satisfying, there is something quite beautiful in looking at different textures in brick work ! I happen to take a lot of photos of walls with plants or ferns growing in them !
I love how you explain everything so thank you this lesson
,
Jan
I found this lesson challenging, but very worthwhile in my quest to draw natural objects. I have been struggling to draw the giant spruce trees in my yard. Today I was able to study the bark on the trunk. Although the light kept changing, your method of capturing values was really helpful.
When I saw the printed photo of the bricks, I thought No way I can do this it looks very difficult. However after completing the exercise I was happy with the outcome even though it is not a perfect drawing. I am looking forward to repeating this lesson tomorrow.
This and the last few lessons have been so hard. I feel like we’ve made a big leap up from the earlier lessons – satisfying to try and attempt this but after a second attempt at drawing the texture of one brick, I still have a long way to go with this! I guess practice practice practice is the answer.
I am improving a lot with this course, and I will surely upgrade to full membership, as soon as I finish this particular track.
Despite the wonderful shift my cost-benefit curve is taking, I am not only improving my craft but my design parameters as well.
I expect to see wonderful learning experiences when I go upgraded to this platform.
Humberto, from Guatemala.
Matt I REALLY APPRECIATE your very thorough teaching !! So far I have mostly been watching… due to personal time constraints… but the drawings I have done with the lessons DEFINITELY are a growth and I am learning a LOT !
THANK You for the details and tips !
Even though you published this years ago, this series is still an absolute treasure to watch learn and practice. I never learned any of these basics, elements and principles in school. It is never too late to learn. Thank you so much. I have many hours of creative tutorials/ practice to fill my retirement.
I’m commenting on this lesson in particular for the humorous reason that the resource and your drawing especially captures an illusion of a creature, cat, elf, or whatever looking out of the broken brick. I can’t unsee it.
Now I see it too haha!
I found this lesson almost meditative in slowly building up the texture with layers of values.
Hi Matt, this is really helping me with the fundamentals of drawing and the different stages of producing a piece of art which I am pleased with. I really enjoyed this lesson. I don’t have much confidence in my abilities and my first effort was quite poor but when I watched the lesson again, and had another go, I surprised myself at how good it looked!! In fact I keep looking at it and thinking, wow I can’t believe I did that ha ha. Thank you for your advice. I really find your lessons easy to watch and follow with them being broken down into such small pieces. I feel that I can actually, stay calm and go through each process without becoming panicky and overwhelmed. I’m going to keep going over your lessons and I know that I can only improve with practice thank you!
This course has taught me more than multiple drawing books, other online classes, and in-person drawing classes has. This lesson addresses what has turned out to be my biggest Achilles heel – patience.
I am looking for advice for not getting lost in the reference – especially in textured surfaces, I struggle to keep track of where I am, and I end up making random marks. I am OK with not making an exact copy of the reference, but I would like to be better able to accurately capture a surface texture. It feels like my eyes get lost when they move between the drawing and the reference. I hope this makes sense – does anybody else have this problem or have advice for how to improve it?
Thanks from Sweden!
Maybe you can cut out a square and place it over the part you are drawing, so you only see a small part and not get overwhelmed (but then you have to print out the reference)