How to Draw a Book

Adım adım

1. _Daşarky 1

   Üçburçluky ortadan aşak gysga bir hat edip çyz

   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.

   Gözleg Starting with a page and adding the spine afterwards.

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

2. _Daşarky 2

   Her bir sahypanyň üstiňki kenaryny çyz, bir birine azça öwürmek bilen.

   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.

   Gözleg Drawing them parallel, or worse, diverging.

   Barla Extended, the two lines should eventually meet.

3. _Daşarky 3

   Her bir sahypany daşky kenar bilen bagla

   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.

   Gözleg Making one cover visibly longer than the other.

   Barla Both outer edges should be about the same length.

4. _Daşarky 4

   Daşky kenarlary arkadan arkaň astyna birikdir

   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.

   Gözleg Stopping just short, leaving four small gaps.

   Barla Every corner should be closed or slightly crossed.

5. _Daşarky 5

   Kagyzyň galyňlygyny çyz: her bir daşky köşegden gysga hatlary aşak çek.

   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.

   Gözleg Making the three drop lines different lengths.

   Barla All three verticals should measure the same.

6. _Daşarky 6

   Asty gapatmak üçin o hatlaryň astyny birleşdir

   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.

   Gözleg Drawing these at a different angle from the edges above.

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

7. _Daşarky 7

   Sahypaň öwrümini iki ýa üç gysga hatlar ýaly her bir kenar üçin goş.

   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.

   Gözleg Drawing one hard line, which reads as solid wood.

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

8. _Daşarky 8

   Her bir sahypada arka tarapa bir az egri çyz

   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.

   Gözleg Leaving the pages perfectly flat.

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

9. _Daşarky 9

   Metin hatlaryny goş, sahypanyň çuňlugy bilen.

   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.

   Gözleg Drawing the text lines horizontally.

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

10. _Daşarky 10

    Kitapyň tarapyny ýagtydan daşlaşdyr

    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.

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

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

11. _Daşarky 11

    Astydaky ýüze kölge ekle

    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.

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

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

12. _Daşarky 12

    Saklamak isleýän hatlaryň üstünden git we ýolgöterleri ýitirin.

    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.

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

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