Chapter 1 | GROWN OR SHRUNK?

A draftsman can work magic with proportions: he/she can make something or someone seem gigantic by drawing the world around it relatively small or vice versa. The result can be funny, dreamy or creepy.

In the following examples I have chosen the combination of an animal and a human figure. The frog, the ant and the snail have grown enormously or the human figure has shrunk incredibly.

Exercise: Draw two figures/objects next to each other (animals, people, objects, buildings). One of the two has grown or shrunk gigantically. Use one of these simplified animals if you want. 

Creating an environmentIn my previous examples, the animals and the human figure are each time drawn next to each other. In the following example, a whole environment has been created: parts of the rabbit are hidden/overlapped by a car, a ladder and a house. The skyscraper on the left is half behind the rabbit. This gives the drawing depth.

EXTRA: Draw an animal or person that appears gigantic in a shrunken environment. Feel free to use photos to draw or trace your animal or person. 

Example of the process:

With my 2B pencil, I first very lightly redrew a turtle from a photo. Then I drew the mountains in front and behind it. Finally, I erased the turtle’s lines behind the mountains in the foreground and further developed the drawing. The added buildings and the boat emphasize the turtle’s enormous size. Perhaps this giant turtle was on its way to the sea and has finally arrived.

This way you can create dreamy drawings