You don’t always have to spend a lot of time to get a nice sketch. Nor do you need a lot of pencils or other equipment. The fact is, all you really need is a piece of paper, one pencil, and a few minutes. That’s all I had Thursday afternoon of week nine.
This is the result.
The Method I Used
I started sketching with the top leaf and worked my way down the stem. The only “special technique” I used was putting darker, heavier lines on the shadowed edges of the leaves (the left side).
Time Spent Drawing
Ten to fifteen minutes. Because I was waiting on someone, I didn’t time myself.
What I Learned
You don’t need much to draw outside. I had one pencil, my drawing pad, and a little bit of time. The resulting drawing is not a Masterpiece, but it’s one of the nicer, more pleasing drawings I’ve done during this challenge.
Practice drawing value with one color and you improve all your drawings. Granted, I didn’t do a lot of shading on this sketch, but the value I added identified the direction of the light source—light was coming from the upper right—helped define the modeling of some of the leaves, and established where the leaves were in relation to each other.
You don’t have to draw every detail to establish the character of your subject. The little branch I drew was one of many. There were also other leaves on that branch, but I didn’t get a chance to draw them. But I didn’t need to draw every twig or leaf to get an idea of the character of the subject.
Drawing leaves from different angles also provides a good idea of what the leaves look like overall, including how they grow on the stem and their general shape.
When you’re short of time, look for the things that define your subject best and concentrate on them. Then look at secondary details.
Tools Used
Mead Academie Sketch Book, 9 inches by 6 inches, Heavyweight white paper
Prismacolor Pencils
- Ultramarine
Interested in other drawings from the Autumn Plein Air Drawing Challenge? Here’s another leaf sketch from week 5.
