Quick Shapes and Fills

Artists practice. Writers practice. Everyone practices. To improve, we practice.

@emilydabbles explained and demonstrated a strategy of practice in her Skillshare course “Drawing Daily in 2020- January” an Online Skillshare Class (Emily Patriquin).

She takes photos of real things, then draws the shapes within, more than once to develop the muscle memory of seeing shapes.

I practiced with several pictures today, and then decided to add an additional strategy: I’d draw the shapes of an object, then use that to draw the shapes three more times. Finally, I’d fill in and shade the shapes in different colors.

Here’s the four first shapes:

I tried to use the highlights and shadows of the petals for the shapes in the rose so I could abstractly fill in the lights and shadows.

I know. It’s certainly not a replication of the rose, but they each show a new look of possibilities.

So, have ago– it’s a great way to practice different brushes and shading as well as developing an eye for shapes.