Chapter 4 | DRAWING FROM OBSERVATION
If you want to draw something in your environment, you often see so many shapes, colors and details that it can be difficult to determine what to draw and how. In that case, it is first of all good to realize that a drawing does not have to become a photo.
One of the possibilities with drawing from observation is to focus on shadows/gray tones, just as painters sometimes only focus on color. In the example just shadows have created the suggestion of three bushes.
A drawing is an image that stands on its own. Who cares afterwards whether the next drawing of shadows in a backyard corresponds to reality on date X and time X? Of course I tried to draw the shadows I saw as well as possible with my 2B pencil, but the slowness of that process is something completely different from taking a photo or producing an AI image.
By drawing only shadows, the shapes of objects often emerge naturally on your paper. In this way, even a rather unattractive group of objects can still be the inspiration for a drawing
EXTRA: Choose something from your environment, indoors or outdoors, and try to draw only the shadow shapes. Use a viewfinder if necessary to frame what you want to draw (see Handy drawing tips part 2, level 2).