How to Draw a Pumpkin

צעד אחר צעד

1. שלב 1

   Draw one oval and nothing else yet.

   One shape, one motion. A slightly lopsided mass drawn confidently beats a perfect one assembled from nervous strokes, because you can correct a shape and you cannot un-see hesitation.

   תיזהר. Building the mass from many small safe strokes.

   בדוק It should fill most of the page with a margin all round.

2. שלב 2

   Push the outline in and out.

   Nothing organic is a perfect oval. Push the outline in and out where the subject actually does - the asymmetry IS the likeness.

   תיזהר. Leaving the construction oval as the finished outline.

   בדוק The outline should differ visibly from the oval underneath.

3. שלב 3

   Draw a cross through the middle.

   Two light lines through the middle are the rulers for everything that follows. Without them the features drift off-centre a few millimetres at a time.

   תיזהר. Skipping the axes because the shape looks simple.

   בדוק The two lines should cross near the middle of the mass.

4. שלב 4

   Draw the top of the pumpkin.

   Whatever sits on top attaches INTO the form, not onto its outline - it comes out of a dip or a mound, and drawing that junction is what attaches it.

   תיזהר. Balancing the stalk on the outline like a hat.

   בדוק The top feature should overlap the mass's outline.

5. שלב 5

   Draw the depression at the top.

   The hollow around the top is what makes the form read as having a top rather than an edge. One curve, and note which way it bows - it tells the viewer where their eye is.

   תיזהר. Omitting the dip so the top sits on a flat line.

   בדוק The dip should curve, not sit flat.

6. שלב 6

   Set the light and note it in the corner.

   Pick a direction and commit. Every decision from here - shading, highlight, cast shadow - follows from this one, and changing your mind halfway is the classic way a drawing ends up lit from two directions.

   תיזהר. Deferring the decision and shading by instinct.

   בדוק You should be able to point at the light source.

7. שלב 7

   Add tone on the shadow side.

   Work in one direction and build darkness in passes. Scrubbing back and forth gives an even grey - precisely the thing that makes a drawing look flat.

   תיזהר. Scrubbing, and stopping two steps short of dark enough.

   בדוק The dark side should be clearly darker than the mid tone.

8. שלב 8

   Keep the very edge lighter than the band inside it.

   Leave a thin lighter strip right at the shadow-side edge - bounced light from the surface below. It is the single cheapest thing that makes a form read as round.

   תיזהר. Running the shading tight to the outline.

   בדוק A lighter line should separate shading from edge.

9. שלב 9

   Add the bright spot.

   One highlight, small, off-centre on the lit side. Two symmetrical highlights read as plastic; a big one reads as wet.

   תיזהר. A large or doubled highlight.

   בדוק The highlight should be smaller than your thumbnail.

10. שלב 10

    Draw the pumpkin surface.

    Surface marks follow the form - they curve over the mass and fade near the highlight. Flat marks cancel the volume you just shaded into it.

    תיזהר. Marks drawn flat across the curved surface.

    בדוק Marks should bend with the surface.

11. שלב 11

    Draw the shadow underneath.

    Darkest at the contact point, softer as it stretches away from the light. It anchors the object; without it everything you shaded still floats.

    תיזהר. An even grey puddle not touching the object.

    בדוק The shadow should touch the object's base.

12. שלב 12

    Strengthen what stays and erase the guides.

    Weight the silhouette, erase the axes and the oval, and leave the interior marks light. The weight difference is what makes it look deliberate.

    תיזהר. Equal weight everywhere.

    בדוק Outline darkest, marks lightest, guides gone.