How to Draw a Book

Askel kerrallaan

1. Vaihe 1

   Piirrä selkäranka lyhyenä jonona keskelle.

   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.

   Varo, mitä teet Starting with a page and adding the spine afterwards.

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

2. Vaihe 2

   Piirrä sivun yläreuna hieman toisiaan kohti.

   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.

   Varo, mitä teet Drawing them parallel, or worse, diverging.

   Tarkista Extended, the two lines should eventually meet.

3. Vaihe 3

   Sulje jokainen sivu ulkoreunan ollessa tulossa sinua kohti.

   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.

   Varo, mitä teet Making one cover visibly longer than the other.

   Tarkista Both outer edges should be about the same length.

4. Vaihe 4

   Liitä uloimmat reunat selkärangan pohjaan.

   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.

   Varo, mitä teet Stopping just short, leaving four small gaps.

   Tarkista Every corner should be closed or slightly crossed.

5. Vaihe 5

   Piirrä paksuus: lyhyet viivat kumpaankin ulkonurkkaan.

   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.

   Varo, mitä teet Making the three drop lines different lengths.

   Tarkista All three verticals should measure the same.

6. Vaihe 6

   Liity alaviivojen alapäähän sulkeaksesi alapuolen.

   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.

   Varo, mitä teet Drawing these at a different angle from the edges above.

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

7. Vaihe 7

   Lisää sivupino kahdella tai kolmella rivillä kunkin reunan kohdalle.

   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.

   Varo, mitä teet Drawing one hard line, which reads as solid wood.

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

8. Vaihe 8

   Piirrä pieni käyrä jokaiselle sivulle selkärangan lähelle.

   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.

   Varo, mitä teet Leaving the pages perfectly flat.

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

9. Vaihe 9

   Lisää riviä sivukulmaa seuraten.

   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.

   Varo, mitä teet Drawing the text lines horizontally.

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

10. Vaihe 10

    Varjosta kirjan sivu pois valosta.

    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.

    Varo, mitä teet Being too timid. Beginners routinely stop two or three steps short of dark enough.

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

11. Vaihe 11

    Lisää varjo pintaan alle.

    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.

    Varo, mitä teet Drawing it as an even grey blob detached from the object.

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

12. Vaihe 12

    Mene ohi linjojen, jotka haluat pitää, ja hävitä oppaat.

    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.

    Varo, mitä teet Going over everything at the same weight, which flattens the drawing back out.

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