How to Draw a Book

Стъпка по стъпка

1. Стъпка 1

   Нарисувай гръбнака като кратка линия по средата.

   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.

   Внимавай! Starting with a page and adding the spine afterwards.

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

2. Стъпка 2

   Нарисувайте горния ръб на всяка страница, наклонявайки се леко един към друг.

   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.

   Внимавай! Drawing them parallel, or worse, diverging.

   Проверка Extended, the two lines should eventually meet.

3. Стъпка 3

   Затвори всяка страница с външния ръб, идващ към вас.

   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.

   Внимавай! Making one cover visibly longer than the other.

   Проверка Both outer edges should be about the same length.

4. Стъпка 4

   Присъединете се към външните ръбове обратно към дъното на гръбнака.

   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.

   Внимавай! Stopping just short, leaving four small gaps.

   Проверка Every corner should be closed or slightly crossed.

5. Стъпка 5

   Нарисувайте дебелината: къси линии от всеки външен ъгъл.

   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.

   Внимавай! Making the three drop lines different lengths.

   Проверка All three verticals should measure the same.

6. Стъпка 6

   Присъединете се към дъното на тези линии, за да затворите долната част.

   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.

   Внимавай! Drawing these at a different angle from the edges above.

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

7. Стъпка 7

   Добави стека на страницата като две или три кратки линии на всеки ръб.

   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.

   Внимавай! Drawing one hard line, which reads as solid wood.

   Проверка You should see distinct layers, not a filled band.

8. Стъпка 8

   Нарисувайте лека крива във всяка страница близо до гръбнака.

   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.

   Внимавай! Leaving the pages perfectly flat.

   Проверка Each page should dip slightly as it approaches the spine.

9. Стъпка 9

   Добавяне на редове на текста, след ъгъла на страницата.

   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.

   Внимавай! Drawing the text lines horizontally.

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

10. Стъпка 10

    Засенчи отстрани от книгата от светлината.

    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.

    Внимавай! Being too timid. Beginners routinely stop two or three steps short of dark enough.

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

11. Стъпка 11

    Добавете сянката на повърхността отдолу.

    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.

    Внимавай! Drawing it as an even grey blob detached from the object.

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

12. Стъпка 12

    Преминете линиите, които искате да запазите, и загубете водачите.

    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.

    Внимавай! Going over everything at the same weight, which flattens the drawing back out.

    Проверка The outline should be clearly darker than the smallest details.