Art Class Idea: Drawing Exercise on Close ups

People of low drawing ability may benefit from a specialized drawing exercise to help build confidence. Drawing close-ups of an object takes away prescriptive rules of perspectives and makes the object appear less recognizable. This means drawing exploration is made more possible.

Drawing Lesson Plan Idea for Beginners

The great thing about drawing an object from a close up view is that the object takes on abstract qualities. An object that has convoluted areas such as a rose also appears simplified as the contours are more widely spaced apart. This can be seen in Georgia O’Keefe’s studies of flowers. Take a look at any object close up and it no longer resembles the object itself. A hairbrush, a mobile phone or a running trainer no longer looks like what they are.

Art Resources for Drawing Lesson on Close Ups

In order to complete a drawing from a close up view, select object(s) of choice and produce a close up study by the following means:

A photograph blown up.

A chosen image cutting or photo viewed through a frame or viewfinder. An adjustable viewfinder can easily be made by cutting two L shaped pieces of card or paper and arranging them into a frame shape on top of the image. Moving the pieces of card closer together will create a partitioned view of the image. Moving them further apart will widen the view of the object.

A chosen object can also be drawn from life. The use of a magnifying glass can be used as a visual aid.

Ideal Objects to Draw Close Up

As previously mentioned an apparently-complex object will appear simplified when viewed close up or viewed in its part. Reflections in glass, a fuchsia head, corrugated plastic or creases in fabric can be simplified in this way. Other ideal objects to draw from life close up might be: tin openers, handbags, iron kettles, hairdryers, hands, feathers, seashells, sponges, cutlery, earphones, spectacles and zips.

Close ups or partitioned views of photographs can be used by the means of cutting out a particular area or viewing the photo through the aforementioned frame. Ideal subject matter to draw as a segmented view from a photograph are: tower blocks, suspension bridges, trees, playing areas, shadows on roads, a crowd of people, lightning, icecaps, glaciers, bomb sties, football stadiums, royal elements, Tudor cottages or even part of an artist’s painting. Cezanne’s still life studies or Matisse’s figures might spur ideas.

Drawing Exercise to Build Confidence

Honing-in on an object will often simplify the object’s forms. Loose, linear work can be employed to reflect this view. HB to 3B pencils will make possible an array of tones. Various drawing techniques can be used to complement close-up studies, such be crosshatching; a method of making linear marks to suggest tones. Overlaying a series of lines with another series of lines will make the tone appear darker.

Another technique is shading an area and then suggesting highlights by wiping off selected pencil lines with a putty-rubber. Drawing on toned-paper, such as Ingress paper will make possible the expression of highlights with a chalk pencil first-off. Darker tones can be achieved by the use of black pastel pencils.

How to Loosen Drawing Style

It might sound strange to suggest standing back from the drawing will help gain an overall view of the close-up study, but it is true. Viewing any drawing far away will help highlight inaccuracies or issues that may remain invisible if viewed close up. Having said that, producing a drawing of an object from a close up view will take away the need to make the object ‘look’ recognizable. Drawing close up studies of objects is the ideal drawing exercise for those who have low self-belief in their drawing ability.

Further Articles on Learning Art

Colour theory in art
How to make art materials cheap
Preparing art surfaces for acrylic painting
How to mix different greens