It is important to start with an accurate drawing, as no amount of good painting technique will disguise a poor drawing.

Although most of us can recognise certain flowers or trees, until we have observed them carefully we won’t actually have looked properly. To demonstrate this, try drawing out your chosen subject from memory before looking at it. Can you remember how many petals the flower has? How are these petals arranged? What is the pattern of veins on the leaves? Is the stem round or grooved, hairy or smooth?

It is amazing how little we see when looking at things in everyday life! After you have tried the following exercises I can promise that you won’t look at a flower, leaf or fruit in the same way again.
 

Fading Beauty –Sunflower, watercolour, (70x50cm)

Exercise one: line drawing

One way to start developing your observational skills is to choose some simple leaves (or something similar) and aim to produce accurate line drawings.

Always try to have the real thing in front of you rather than working from photographs so that you can look at it from every angle to really get to grips with its structure. The idea is to convey the character of your subject matter. This means looking at your leaf carefully and asking yourself what is distinct about it. Is it shiny and smooth, bumpy or hairy? Do the veins come out from the central midrib vein or do they run in parallel alongside each other? Do the veins branch off into smaller veins? Is the leaf a simple shape or more complex? Are the edges of the leaf toothed? And so on.

Leaves: vine, buddleia, oak, purple smoke bush, graphite pencil, (18x28cm)

Choose three or four different shaped or textured leaves and using an HB or F pencil, produce a sheet of line drawings depicting these leaves (see above). The choice of leaves is yours, but look for a variety of shapes and features. You are aiming to show that you have accurately observed the main differences and features of each leaf. You can start by drawing out the whole shape of the leaf or by establishing the main vein first. It is up to you.

Try to draw your images the same size as your subject matter. Some artists measure or use dividers to check the size of the things that they are drawing. This can be useful if you have a tendency to draw too small or too large. If you tend towards the latter and find small leaves fiddly, choose bigger leaves! Remember that these early stages are about developing observational skills and accurate representation. Once you have these basic skills you can develop your own style and fully indulge your personal preferences.

Skeleton Holly Leaf, graphite pencil, (10x6cm)

Exercise two: tonal drawing

By working in tone you can begin to convey the surface texture or three-dimensional form of your subject matter.

Choose an organic object based on your level of skill and interest. Draw out its shape and main features using an HB or 2H pencil – a harder pencil will ensure your final picture does not have a dark outlined look.

Note where the lightest and darkest areas are and begin to put these in using a range of pencils from soft – 2,3,4,5 6B etc, to hard –2,3,4,5,6H. The softer pencils will work well for the shadow areas whereas detail and subtle areas of tone are easier to achieve with harder pencils.

All pencils should be kept sharp.

Pine Cone, graphite pencil, (10x8cm)

Other things to try:

Pen and ink
Fibre-tipped pens, which come in a range of widths starting at 0.05, can be used to produce effective black and white illustrations. You can experiment with the sort of marks you use depending on the end result you are after. I personally think in terms of using solid lines for outlines and edges, broken lines for internal texture or detail and use dots for the shading and to create form. I have seen relative beginners produce some impressive work in pen, even if they were not keen at the outset. It’s worth a try.

American Sweetcorn, fine fibre-tipped pen, (20x28cm)

White on black
By using a white pencil on black paper you will be forced to think differently, looking for highlights and pale areas rather than noting shadows and darks. This can be particularly effective for pale subjects such as garlic bulbs. This time you will need to leave the paper showing through for the shadows or dark areas.

Garlic, white pencil on black Canford paper, (24x20cm)

Tips

• You may need to practise your shading technique first to decide what works for you. Some artists use small elliptical movements. I find this too difficult and prefer crosshatching. Whatever movement you use for shading it should not be obvious to the onlooker in the final tonal drawing.
• Using a single light source, preferably directed as if over your left shoulder, or sitting with a window to one side will give your subject strong highlights and shadows helping to emphasise form.
• Your picture will benefit from having a whole range of tones from black through to the white of the paper.
• Even the palest subject benefits from small areas of dark. You are creating an optical illusion by making the image on a flat piece of paper look like a three-dimensional object. Consequently you may need to push either end of the tonal range slightly beyond that which you see in front of you to get the effect you want.