Drawing Scales: Comparing Sizes

Study Notes

A drawing should have three pictorial regions: foreground, middle ground, and background.
One region should dominate to create a sense of pictorial space.
Positioning oneself in proximity to a foreground element helps establish the relationship between the viewer and the scene.

Draw with a relaxed hand, holding the pen or pencil a couple of inches back from the nib or point.
Control the movement of the pen or pencil with the arm and hand, not just with the fingers.

Centerlines: thin, relatively long segments separated by single dashes or dots, representing the axis of a symmetrical object or composition.
Medium-weight lines: indicate the edges and intersections of planes.
Grid lines: a rectangular or radial system of light solid lines or centerlines for locating and regulating plan elements.
Lightweight lines: suggest a change in material, color, or texture, without a change in the form of an object.
Property lines: consist of relatively long segments separated by two dashes or dots, indicating the legally defined and recorded boundaries of a parcel of land.

A shape is the characteristic outline or surface configuration of a figure or form.
In drawing and design, shape refers to a two-dimensional area enclosed by its own boundaries and cut off from a larger field.
Everything we see has the quality of shape, and it is by shape that we organize and identify what we see.