Author: Carol

I'm an artist, author, and teaching artist. I've been writing about drawing on this website since 1999 and drawing since I was old enough to hold a pencil. I love teaching others how to draw too.

Shiny Ornament Drawing in Six Steps – Steps 2, 3 and 4

Ornament Step Two
Ornament Step Two

Step 2

Next I added the hook and the shape of the shadow the ornament was casting. To help myself draw those lines in their right positions, I didn’t draw them, I drew the negative spaces between them and the ornament. For instance, while drawing the hook I paid more attention to capturing the shape between it and the ornament than to the hook itself.
Ornament Step Three
Ornament Step Three

Step 3

Then I drew in the shapes of the largest and most clearly defined shadows and highlights. I saw three major shapes on the ornament and two on its cap. Each of these areas had many more reflections, shadows and highlights within them but I looked for and drew the largest and most obvious.
Ornament Step Four
Ornament Step Four

Step 4

Next I hatched in each area of the ornament and its shadow. I made the hatching in each area a value that was between the darkest and lightest values I could see there.

I’ll post the last two steps tomorrow.