Drawing Perspectives, Volume 2

Creating the Illusion of Space in Drawing

Author: Kristen R. Kennedy
Peer Reviewers: David Brooks & Kim Shefield
Editor: Kelsey Smith

This book was made possible by a special grant from the U.S. Department of Education, called the Open Textbooks Pilot grant. This grant helps create free textbooks for students. However, the government did not write this book and does not necessarily agree with everything in it.

This book uses a Creative Commons license, which is a special kind of permission. It means people are allowed to copy, change, and even sell new versions of this book — but only if they give credit to the original creators and share their new version under the same kind of license. If someone uses parts of this book, they must give credit to the College of Lemoore in Lemoore, California.

A note about images: Some pictures in this book come from students and other artists. These images are used with permission and cannot be copied or used outside this book. Other images are either free to use, in the "public domain" (meaning no one owns them), or used under "fair use" rules, which allow limited use of copyrighted material for teaching purposes.

Cover Design: Artwork made by students in the Art-005B class (2020–2024), taught by instructor Kristen R. Kennedy.

A Note on Technology Used:
Some computer programs helped create this book:

• ChatGPT AI helped organize chapters, clean up writing, create citations, and build the glossary (a list of important words and their meanings).
• DALL-E AI created some of the pictures in this book using computer-generated art.
• Grammarly AI checked the writing for spelling and grammar mistakes.

---

Table of Contents

Preface .......................................................... 10

• The Importance of Drawing in Art
• Moving from Beginner to More Advanced Skills
• Purpose of the Textbook
• How to Use This Textbook
• Example Drawings
• Creative Freedom and Responses
• Improving Your Skills
• Thinking Carefully About Art
• Managing Your Time
• The Drawing Environment
• Staying Safe and Healthy in the Art Studio

Chapter 1: Drawing Fundamentals .......................................................... 13
(Fundamentals means the basic building blocks or starting skills.)

• Learning Goals
• Introduction
• Drawing Tools and Materials
• Graphite Pencils
• Charcoal
• Conté Crayons
• Chalk Pastels
• Colored Pencils
• Ink
• Other Drawing Tools
• Types of Drawing Paper
• Composition Ideas (Composition means how you arrange things in a piece of art.)
• Thumbnail Sketching (small, quick practice drawings)
• Positive and Negative Space
• Smart Composition Choices
• Visual Elements: The Building Blocks of Art
• Principles of Design: Rules for Making Art Look Balanced
• Key Techniques for Arranging Art
• The Rule of Thirds
• The Golden Ratio
• Focal Points (the main point your eye is drawn to)
• Leading Lines (lines that guide the viewer's eye)
• Combining Techniques for Better Results
• Practicing and Experimenting
• Mastering Value Contrast (using light and dark shades effectively)
• Ways to Control Value (lightness and darkness in a drawing)
• Hatching
• Cross-hatching
• Stippling
• Scribbling
• Blending
• Chiaroscuro (a technique using strong light and shadow)
• Rendering (making a drawing look realistic and detailed)
• Conclusion
• Practice Activities
• Sketchbook Exercises
• Drawing Project
• Thinking Critically About Art

Chapter 2: Creating a Group of Artworks That Work Together .......................................................... 34

• Learning Goals
• Introduction
• Making a Series of Artworks
• Keeping a Consistent Theme
• Keeping a Consistent Style or Technique
• Growing and Changing Your Ideas
• Presenting Your Work Together Nicely
• Growing as an Artist
• Preparing for a Career in Art