How to Draw a Book

Stap met stap

1. Stap 1

   Trek die ruggraat as'n kort lyn in die middel af.

   Everything hangs off this. The spine is the hinge, and both page halves are measured from it - which is why drawing it first stops the book coming out bent.

   Pas op Starting with a page and adding the spine afterwards.

   Gaan na It should be vertical and near the middle of your page.

2. Stap 2

   Trek die boonste kant van elke bladsy en leun effens na mekaar.

   These are the edges going away from you, so they converge. Not dramatically - a few degrees is enough. This single detail is what separates a box from a folded rectangle.

   Pas op Drawing them parallel, or worse, diverging.

   Gaan na Extended, the two lines should eventually meet.

3. Stap 3

   Maak elke bladsy toe met'n rand buite jou wat na jou toe terugkom.

   These are the short edges of the covers. Keep them roughly the same length as each other - the two halves of an open book are the same size, and any difference reads as a mistake rather than as perspective.

   Pas op Making one cover visibly longer than the other.

   Gaan na Both outer edges should be about the same length.

4. Stap 4

   Sluit die buitenste rand aan na die bodem van die ruggraat.

   This closes the two page shapes. Corners must actually meet - overshoot slightly and let the lines cross rather than aiming to stop exactly on the point, because a crossed corner reads as closed and a gap does not.

   Pas op Stopping just short, leaving four small gaps.

   Gaan na Every corner should be closed or slightly crossed.

5. Stap 5

   Trek die dikte: kort lyne af van elke buitenste hoek.

   A book is a solid, not a sheet. These three short verticals turn the flat shape into a box, and they must all be the same length - unequal ones make the book look warped.

   Pas op Making the three drop lines different lengths.

   Gaan na All three verticals should measure the same.

6. Stap 6

   Sluit die bodems van hierdie lyne aan om die onderkant te sluit.

   Now the box is complete. These lines run parallel to the edges directly above them - if they do not, the thickness of the book changes along its length, which is the classic wobbly-box look.

   Pas op Drawing these at a different angle from the edges above.

   Gaan na Each bottom edge should run parallel to the one above it.

7. Stap 7

   Voeg die bladsy op as twee of drie kort reëls aan elke kant.

   Pages read as a stack, not a slab. Two or three lines following the cover edge is enough for the eye to fill in hundreds - drawing more just makes it look hatched.

   Pas op Drawing one hard line, which reads as solid wood.

   Gaan na You should see distinct layers, not a filled band.

8. Stap 8

   Trek'n effense kurwe in elke bladsy naby die ruggraat.

   Open pages are not flat - they dip toward the spine. Adding that curve is the difference between an open book and two flat cards taped together, and it takes one stroke each side.

   Pas op Leaving the pages perfectly flat.

   Gaan na Each page should dip slightly as it approaches the spine.

9. Stap 9

   Voeg by lyne van teks, na die bladsy hoek.

   Text lines run parallel to the top edge of the page they sit on, which means they are NOT horizontal - they lean with the perspective. Drawing them level is the fastest way to flatten a book you have just built.

   Pas op Drawing the text lines horizontally.

   Gaan na The text lines should lean the same way as the page's top edge.

10. Stap 10

    Die kant van die boek is weg van die lig.

    Work in one direction rather than scrubbing back and forth. Scrubbing gives an even grey, which is exactly the thing that makes a drawing look flat, so lay the strokes the same way and build the darkness in passes.

    Pas op Being too timid. Beginners routinely stop two or three steps short of dark enough.

    Gaan na The dark side should be clearly darker than the mid tone, not slightly.

11. Stap 11

    Voeg die skaduwee onder op die oppervlak by.

    The cast shadow is darkest where it touches the book and softens as it moves away. It also anchors the object to a surface - without it the book floats, however well you have shaded it.

    Pas op Drawing it as an even grey blob detached from the object.

    Gaan na It should touch the object and be darkest at that contact point.

12. Stap 12

    Gaan oor die lyne wat jy wil hou, en verloor die gidse.

    This is the step that turns a construction drawing into a finished one, and it is the one most people skip. Press harder on the outline and the features; leave the small stuff light. That difference in weight is what makes a drawing look deliberate rather than traced, and it costs thirty seconds.

    Pas op Going over everything at the same weight, which flattens the drawing back out.

    Gaan na The outline should be clearly darker than the smallest details.