Construction Drawing (straight line block in)

White prismacolor on black canson mi-teintes paper

Drawing with white on a black surface is an invaluable experience and one that should be practiced often and integrated into our working methods. We have likely been making dark marks on white paper most of our lives. This exercise nudges most of us out of our comfort zones and forces us to see shapes opposite of our normal modes. I have had students in the past who have drawn dark shapes with white pencil creating a "negative" effect. Drawing shapes that are unfamiliar make us scrutinize the shapes more closely and as a consequence our drawings become more accurately defined.

Shadow massing the figure

As the shadow shapes are described I look at them one at a time and move on relating them to all other shapes. Horizontally where is it comparatively, vertically where is it relative to other shapes, what is the angle between it and other shapes? Often I start with a simple shape I know I can define, I use straight lines to describe it.