Soda Pop Straws | "Learn to Draw" Lesson
from the Learn to Draw Index



Finally! Your first drawing that's right side-up. It will also be your first drawing of a real thing - soda pop straws!

 

Before You Draw
Find a cup or a glass and then fill it with a bunch of soda pop straws. If you don't have any straws, pencils or paint brushes will do. Place them on the table in front of you.

Draw
Because we have two eyes we can see things in 3D. If you want to, try covering one eye. It will flatten the image, and may make it easier to draw. Notice the angles of each straw, how they cross each other, and their size in proportion to the cup in which they are standing. Draw.

Next, rearrange the cup of straws and draw them again. This time without looking.

Tape a new piece of paper to the table for this drawing. It should be positioned off to the side with the cup of straws directly in front of you. The purpose of this method is to focus your attention on what you see, and to take your attention away from your drawing. If you peek, you may be tempted to draw the cup of straws the way you think it should be, rather than how it really is. The goal is to draw what you see - not what you know. Draw again.


Let's try another lesson: Lesson 6: Does Negative Space Have a Shape?


For Teachers
The logical left brain wants to take over. It wants to name what it sees and draw it as the left brain remembers it. The goal of this lesson and previous lessons is to ease the left brain out of the task and allow the right brain to take over. It's really the best side for drawing. The left brain may not be happy at first though in the end it will admire a job well done.

Lessons in this "Learn to Draw" series are based on ideas from Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards.


 

 

 

 

 

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