Pencils, Continued
Position of the
One of the tendencies of novice illustrators is to curl up and form a compact,
arm and body
tight position between the arm and the torso before starting to draw. The
drawings you produce from this position also tend to be tightly rendered and
small. This position often leads to an overworked drawing. It takes a
concerted effort to open up your stance and allow your arm freedom of
movement.
Warm-up
exercises
Warm up your arm and hands with a few simple, quick exercises. Select a
large pad of paper and a crayon. Draw mass areas only, no details. Use a
timer set for 30 seconds, select a subject in the room like a chair or a DM3
and begin to draw. At the end of 30 seconds, switch views or positions. Do
this for 3 minutes. Now set the timer for 3 minutes. Draw. Repeat this
three times. You should now be sufficiently prepared to begin seriously
drawing. This is also a good exercise to practice at shopping malls where
there is a large variety of subject matter.
Figure 1-4 shows how a practice or warm-up drawing should appear.
Figure 1-4.—Practice drawings.
Continued on next page
1-15
