HOW TO MAKE AN EASY AND DYNAMIC SKETCH

In this case, we are going to address the more landscape-oriented topic. We are going to create a nocturnal landscape with Northern Lights.

And as a first step, we will begin with sketching the artwork.

To make the sketch, I use a number 2 or HB pencil. It’s my favorite for drawing because it’s precisely the intermediate between hard and soft. It’s soft enough to make smooth strokes that won’t be smudged or affect the oil paint we’ll be using, yet it’s hard enough if I want to create more defined parts or use it as a guide.

In this case, since it’s a landscape, we don’t need extensive drawing. Just a couple of lines and a little more, and that’s it.

They are merely guidelines. They serve as guides to define the color fields.

Now, let’s move on…

It has two well-defined main axes. It’s almost symmetrical. What breaks that symmetry is what makes it more interesting.

As I mentioned, there are two axes: a horizontal one and a vertical one. We will draw them freehand or with a ruler.

In the case of the vertical axis, what’s interesting is how it breaks the line to avoid symmetry.

The important or interesting part is to visually break it with a diagonal. Otherwise, the artwork appears too static and loses dynamism.

We have the mountains:

They also slightly break the symmetry as they rise towards one side. Then they descend… to the same level as where they started on the left. Almost at the same level, they descend again on the right.

This also provides harmony and a sense that we are talking about the same mountain range.

I am taking as a reference a photo from a very interesting photographer who travels a lot. Landscapes have a bit more abstract quality than, for example, an animal.

That makes the viewer not expect something, so to speak, in advance of how that figure will be.

While defining an animal requires certain elements (the eyes or some anatomy), with a landscape, mountains can be broken in different ways… it doesn’t have to be so exact because we will still convey the message that this is a landscape without needing to be precise about where this peak breaks or where the cloud is placed.

Always seeking harmony and dynamism among the forms, but it’s not as specific or precise as painting a human figure or an animal.

Something that the viewer already has a preconception of.

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👇 GIFT 👇

If you want to see more examples of sketches for different types of artworks that you can even use as a guide for your next project…

Below this video, I’ll leave you a link where you can access the 7 Simple Motives.

It’s a document where I show you the sketch I used for each artwork, and you can see both the sketch and the final result side by side.

To access it, just click on the link below this text:

7 Simple Motives