LEARN PENCIL DRAWING: Mountains, Rivers, Farms and Farmhouses

SchlesingerCC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

About the art of drawing, the master American painter Andrew Wyeth once said: I love the quality of pencil. It helps me to get to the core of a thing. Yes, pencil drawing is the core art. Here we shall discuss the landscapes. Drawing mountains and riverbanks is technically a not-so-difficult job. The beginner artist may find it difficult. But this belief that pencil drawing is so difficult is totally incorrect. Your precise persuasion of the art of drawing, and your constant company with the paper and pencil, can make a big difference. 

While working with a pencil, the most essential is that you determine the exact linings of the whole scene. The outlines. Shapes and proportions are important. While drawing mountains and rivers, which are at a distance, we should consider all the principles of linear perspective. We should give weightage to the aspect of the distance, as the mountains are not standing side by side like soldiers on a parade ground. Does this look like great words? In fact, it does! Let me make it simpler. Here you would find some easier ways to get near to perfection.

The first thing we should get our weaponry assembled in a bag, or in a sack or in a suitcase, and then go to the countryside. A weekend would be a good slot time for that. In addition to this, you will need a set of artists' grade pencils, three fine erasers, a lot of not-so-costly drawing papers, and a heart--full of aspirations. This much will do.

How to Sketch Mountains The first important aspect we should remember while drawing or sketching a natural scene is the factor of 'eye-line. In plain and innocent words, the 'eye line' is the line where we can see the land and the sky meet.  You can also set your own eye line, an imaginative horizontal line that makes the whole artwork nearer to the eyes of the viewers.

The second important aspect of a drawing or a painting, especially in landscapes, is the vanishing point. It's an important word, but not as great a word as it looks. In simple words, the vanishing point is the spot on canvas where your eyes are led to a single point. And after reaching there, you get a spot from which a complete feel of the painting is created. Have an example. If we are standing near an outgoing pair of railway lines, the vanishing point is at the dot where the two rails seem to be one.

Now the physic is over. The art startsIf you want to create the real feel of the space in your drawing, just imagine that you are not drawing the mountains or riverbanks. Instead, you think that you are to draw the negative spaces, the spaces not occupied by the objects. It helps you not to get confused about the strange shapes of some objects like trees in distance or the boulders lying on the riverbed.

You can be at a place that is situated anywhere on the earth. Let us imagine you are in Europe. You would not need any visa for imaging. Okay. Why in Europe? The continent of Europe is a vast area full of natural beauty. The artists of all time have used these rich resources of European land. This beautiful land has high mountains with snow-covered peaks and furiously flowing rivers in all directions. These mountains provide us with a good opportunity for drawing, shading and painting.

Now let us look at the above pencil drawing. It is a really good example of learning pencil art. The work of shading is marvellously depicted here. Look at the direction from which the light is falling on one side of the mountain peaks. While doing a pencil drawing the concept and effect of light falling on the objects is crucial. Here in this drawing, the mountains which are near are drawn with details. Those which are at a distance are not carrying many details.

The nearer mountains are shaded with darker pencils, as the sunlight is in the opposite direction. And as for those mountains which are at a distance, lesser details are put into that area of the drawing. Once you get the perfect idea about the falling of the sunlight, it would be easier to follow the inspiration thereafter.

Farm and Farmhouse


Unknown authorUnknown authorDrawing of Saighton Lane Farm - Cheshire, England
                                         

How to Draw Farms and Farmhouses   Look at the above pencil drawing. Wow. It is a vast and broad pencil drawing. In this piece of art, the artist has tried depicting the exact feel of the countryside. If we look at the drawing for a few minutes, we can feel that we are in the midst of the scene. That is what a landscape artist does. Making us feel the scene. 

I can pinpoint four main characteristics of this pencil drawing. They are like this.

  • The architectural details of the farmhouse are drawn and shaded with precision and due care. 
  • The lining work is a noteworthy one. 
  • The main thing to be remembered while drawing such a natural scene is the choice of the size of the paper. 
  • The pencil drawing of a natural scene is bound to be wider than the usual drawing.

Remember: the main thing to be learned while drawing such a natural scene is the choice of the size of the paper. Take it for granted that, while drawing a landscape you will need a wider space. So, the wider scale. If you prefer, the initial sketching and lining work will be of good help. It is also an important factor. This would decide how the final drawing would be looking.

Essential Shading   After the lining work is completed, an artist can proceed to do the shading work. The trees and buildings standing on the farmhouse would require proper shading. The artist should know about the side from which the sunlight is coming. Naturally, the shading would follow the direction of sunlight. Those parts of the objects facing the sun would be shaded lighter. The parts which do not face the sun would be shaded darker.

About the farmhouses, they do not stand in isolation. There would be some mountains or other objects in distance. Sure. To create a feeling of reality in an artwork, these objects should be drawn. Objects which are far away would take lighter shading and lesser details than the nearer objects.

Some art lovers go for pleasure, and some go for rescuing themselves from the monotony of their life. But art is an inner aspect, making us enjoy real pleasure in our life. However, the artists strive for finding the subjects. They always keep roaming for finding the subjects of their choice. There can be no better place than the countryside for getting the subjects to draw and paint. For drawing the countryside, in addition to your regular luggage, you will need bus fare. Nothing more.

If you are a beginner in the art of painting and drawing, the pencil drawing of the countryside, the farms and farmhouses, could be very much of helpful. It is because the person who has just started learning the art of drawing would not find himself or herself in difficulty while drawing the farms. It is because these drawings require fewer details, as they are stationed at a distance.

The objects of farm and the farmhouses, rivers and mountains, are bound to remain at a considerable distance from our eyes. While drawing the same, we have to catch the intrinsic anatomy of the scene, meaning whether it is morning or evening. It is important to know the season. It could be the winter or the summer.

A Drawing of Castle of Amboise-by Leonardo da Vinci 1518

Tips for Drawing Landscapes  When we look at the vast area of the earth before our eyes, we would see all the colours of the rainbow. It would seem almost impossible to draw all the shades and colours by using just the tip of the pencil lying in our set of tools. But we can do one thing to ease this problem. We can think about the colours in the terms of black and white only. We can make it easier by taking a photo of the scene to be painted and then transferring it into a black-and-white photo with the help of the Photoshop program. This photo could be a good guide to understanding the hues and colours of the landscape. 

LEARN PENCIL DRAWING: Mountains, Rivers, Farms and FarmhousesSocialTwist Tell-a-Friend