This spring session I have been using a very cool book called Drawing for Everyone by Bruce Waldman. It goes through the classic FUNdamentals in way that is simple and elegant. For this drawing I took from the book the lesson to make lines in the foreground darker and the ones in the background lighter. Rule # 4 in the book is in fact: Dark lines come forward in space and light lines recede. I love how this book emphasizes creating interest with dynamic composition. It’s a great reminder especially since I am trying to make my classes as approachable to everyone as I can.
When I was drawing the cage roof, I was thinking about a spiral rather than a series of circles. Spirals are everywhere in nature and the mystery of how they became intertwined with biology is a great source of inspiration. Take a snail for example, to me it is a extraordinary creature because it embodies this symbol which is so much larger than I.
Children were playing all around and I passed a stray ball to a kid twice.
From this angles the hoops are circular. However, at the angle where I was sitting, I saw them as oval shapes called ellipses. Practice drawing ellipses and you will unlock a world of perspective. This sketch took me about an hour.