Chapter 1 | USING A VIEWFINDER

If you want to draw something in your area, it might be useful to use a viewfinder. This way you can select the part you want to draw. You cut your viewfinder from a piece of thick paper or cardboard. In the image it is a piece of cardboard measuring 10 x 15 cm. with a rectangular ‘lens aperture’ (the gray area).

Exercise: How to use the viewfinder

Step 1: choose a subject in your environment (in my example a table with some stuff). Look through the viewfinder at your subject with one eye and keep your other eye closed.

Step 2: Keep the viewfinder gradually further away from your eye. You now zoom in on a part of the subject. This way you can achieve original crops. The rest of the environment no longer counts. I chose a crop/composition of three objects on the table with none of them completely visible.

Step 3: draw a frame with approximately the same proportions as the opening in your viewfinder. Draw your chosen crop/composition in the frame. While drawing, you may want to use the viewfinder as a means of control.

With the help of a viewfinder you can make original crops and train your sense of composition.

Examples of a student:

EXTRA: draw or paint a BLOW-UP (strong enlargement) of one of your drawings. When you do this, feel free to make changes and – especially when you’re painting – approach your composition as planes, without any lines. If you want to enlarge a drawing very precisely, look at the Handy Tips part 1 chapter 6 (level 1).