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By Adamduncan
Mark Making
Lets look at two differing surfaces - brick and human skin. You know and I know that brick is very different from human skin, it is almost completely opposite. It isnt soft and pliable, it is rough and hard. Look at a brick surface and then look at your hand, imagine they were the same shape and form - you would still be able to tell the difference. Why? because the surface and texture are totally dissimilar. Now I have found that some people don't understand the following concept but I will try and explain it as best I can. If the surfaces are so opposing, so different then why draw them in the same way? Why use the same soft pencil shading (that you use to describe skin) to describe the harsh, hard surface of brick? It doesn't make sense. A lot of people think that they do change marks but in actual fact they really are not using the full potential of the medium (I know for a fact, as this problem has plagued me for the past few years).
Marks like the above could be used for a mass of different surfaces and textures ranging from hair, skin, cloth to brick, bark and stone. As before I said that the most important balance in a drawing is the balance of marks. I meant by this, that you have to try and not make all of the marks merge into one, that you have to create a focal point in the image as well as trying to find a balance between line and tone. It isn't as difficult or as complex as it might sound, just keep practicing and enjoying what you are doing. Try the following excercise to help you with mark making.
Exercise
1. Begin by making a 'library of marks,' do this by getting your sketchbook and try (just using a pencil) to create as many different marks as possible. It can be difficult at first but just experiment with using the pencil. You can smudge mark with your fingers if you like to create new and interesting effects. If you're stuck for ideas, wander around with your sketchbook looking for interesting surfaces (not shapes and forms) to try and re-create just using a pencil.
2. Once you have a wide range of marks - start to draw. Draw whatever you want, it could be from life or it could be from your imagination (maybe you've got a good dragon scales mark somewhere in that library of yours). When you come to a particular surface say a wizard's hat or a stone wall, look through your library of marks and see if you have something appropriate. Draw the stone wall or the wizard's hat in the same way you drew those marks (albeit in a more refined way). Try and keep the drawing to mostly line (remember to strike a balance).
Important things to note in this excersice
- Don't spend too long creating each mark in your library, these should be quick and dont worry about trying to describe something just lets the marks happen. Doodle!
- When drawing the main image, remember a couple of things. Firstly and most importantly, try the mark making excercise out on a drawing you were going to make already. That way it will (hopefully) not make this excercise a chore. Secondly, use the marks as a starting point and adapt them, dont just draw a wizard then fill him in with a particular mark. Apply perspective to the marks, distort them, alter them, add a bit of tone, adapt and experiment.
- Experiment and have fun, it doesn't matter if you don't get it right first time and it doesn't matter if it goes wrong! You learn through trial and error.
Here is an example of some of my work to give you an idea of what it is I am getting at. On the left is a small library of marks from which I can pick and choose different textures that might be appropriate. On the right are a couple of quick sketches showing me playing around and experimenting with the marks.
To Conclude
Finding the right balance takes time and practice. I've had plenty of it and I'm still not there yet, many of the artists we aspire to often say that they aren't happy with pieces of artwork, that we find jaw dropping. You have to have the ambition, you have to believe your artwork can be better but also that your artwork can get better otherwise there is either nothing to aim for or you are attempting the impossible. In reality it is neither and any of you can produce amazing drawings (many of you are).
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FARP Article Guestbook
| Date | Name | Comment | | | 23 Feb 2009 |  Anon. |  Loading... | |
| 19 Aug 2009 | Anon. | Loading... First of all I just want to say thank you for taking time to make this tutorial. Second, to all of those who have commented about this tutorial saying negative things, you should just follow the saying "If you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all."
Personally I love to draw or should say I wish I could draw better so that I can love to draw more. I have little drawing knowledge so I sought out a tutorial on how to get better at drawing, and to hopefully learn what the reason was that i haven’t been getting any better. The biggest problem that i face with drawing is that I’m a perfectionist, when I draw something i try to get it perfect the first time, I get frustrated when i spend time sketching something and it doesn’t turn out how I intended it to. Having the ability to draw/sketch well and not take all day doing it is very important to me. I’m 18 years and since I was 4 years old I have been playing video games, I love them and can’t get enough of them, which is why I plan on going to college for the graphical end of video games. This is why i want to improve so much, I want to be able to draw all the concept art that i need to for my future career in the video game industry. Also in past several years i have gotten quite interested in anime and manga and I have been working on a story that i think is quite good and would translate well into a manga/anime type setting. I had got one of my friends at my school to help me with the art end, since she is an amazing artist. Problem is she hasn’t done any of the sketches that i asked her to do and I’m getting impatient, as it has been over 6 months since I originally asked her to do them. So I have decided that it would just be easier if I do the sketches, which is another reason that i was looking for a tutorial like this.
(Didn’t have enough room to finish comment, continued into the next comment) | |
| 19 Aug 2009 | Anon. | Loading... (Continuation of previous comment)
Sorry, seems like I went on a bit of a rant there. I just wanted to let you know how important it is for me to learn how to draw better. Normally I’m not the type of person to leave a comment but after reading the whole tutorial I felt that I had to. I loved this tutorial and thought that it was very informational, I plan on putting into practice what i have learned. | |
| 20 Sep 2009 |  Nathan Joseph Smith | Loading... too drawn out and dull, to write a good tutorial, make it more interesting and shorter, im 12 and read 1 sentence of the whole thing and almost fell asleep | |
| 21 Sep 2009 |  Kimberly Renee Worden | Loading... It’s well written, in my opinion. Some people just don’t have the patience to read reference articles, and they are missing out. | |
| 5 Oct 2009 | Anon. | Loading... Plain  | |
| 5 Oct 2009 | Anon. | Loading... fastenatin ;D | |
| 6 Oct 2009 | Grendel | Loading... Adamduncan, very well done mate! | |
| 8 Oct 2009 |  Kyle prentis walker | Loading... okay okay okay!okay okay okay!okay okay okay! | |
| 12 Nov 2009 |  David Drawingdude Elrod | Loading... Very good work! When do you publish your book? (Hint hint) I’m just starting to draw freehand and could use more help like this tutorial. | |
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