Chapter 13 Visual Communication: Drawings, Renderings, and Models 443 Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Preparing to Sketch If you can write your name in cursive, you have made a sketching line. Sketching is easy. How well you sketch something you see in the world—such as a landscape scene—rests entirely on your ability to sketch what you see. To sketch what you see, you have to see first. As you prepare to sketch, gather your sketchbook, several pencils, and black roller-ball or felt-tip pens. Your sketchbook is a type of journal or diary of images and places. Keep it with you at all times. Begin a collection of interior and exterior pictures from design magazines or books. Take pictures of some of your favorite spaces at different times of the day and print them to add to your collection. Begin to pay attention to the presentation of a space through lines, colors, and shadows. Before you begin to sketch, first, loosen up! Drawing, like athletic activities, requires a warm-up phase. To loosen up, simple movements of the arms, wrists, and fingers can be effective. Then use your pencil or pen to sketch different types of lines in a variety of movements across the page, Figure 13-15 A. Complete these exer- cises at a fast pace with no judgment and only as a warm-up. If you wish, turn on relaxing music. Next, draw a variety of vertical, horizontal, and diagonal lines in a series of boxes. See Figure 13-15 B. Vary the spacing while keeping the line type consistent. Control is important as you complete this warm-up exercise. Third, draw loops or swirls in consistent implied boxes. Use your imagination to develop different fluid lines. Figure 13-15 C. When you are learning how to sketch in a studio setting, your instructor will begin by teaching you how to look at an object or setting. The first drawing or sketching skill is to learn how to perceive the edges of objects. Your instructor may ask you to sketch a single object, a piece of furniture, an accessory, or a space. Often, your instructor will place a group of objects in front of you and ask you to sketch or draw it. There are two scenes to typically capture with sketch- ing: those you physically see in front of you and those in your brain that are not yet built. The latter is the most difficult to sketch. As you practice sketching, draw things that already exist and that you can clearly see rather than using your imagination. Select things you want to improve and concentrate on them exclusively. Learning how to sketch what you see before you is an important skill. A C B hfng/Shutterstock.com Figure 13-15 Relaxed, loose movements are important for sketching. Think about warm-ups for sketching in the same way you think of warm-ups for athletic activities. Iliveinoctober/Shutterstock.com hfng/Shutterstock.com Tribilium/Shutterstock.com