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Tutorial: Angela Szavui
| Basic product sketching Before we begin working with markers, it is good to know that they are numerous ways to sketch down design ideas but as a product design student markers where the best tools I could use for any kind of illustration. Of course it is essential to grasp some basic techniques and rules about drawing from life (or drawing very realistic pictures of the ideas in your head) to be sure what you are doing with your markers. For this tutorial I chose to exemplify basic product sketching, so you will see how I do my basic renderings (texturing is not essential in this stage of work, so we`ll focus more on putting the volumes on paper). What will you need for your work: Letraset Paper Pad – I am very happy with Cartridge Paper Pads, as far as I can tell, they`re the best for this kind of drawings, but you can certainly use any kind of paper as long as you`re confident with it and you`re sure that it supports several layers in markers without bleeding out on the edges. Your favourite colors of markers – here I used Mustard (0948), Cool Grey 2 and Warm Grey 3 and 4. You might want to match your colors to the actual colors of the objects you draw (and if your sketching your own concept it`s total freedom in colors). Pencil and eraser. Some soft colored pencils matching your marker colors for adding accents in finishing your sketch. Some simple objects to draw. The best you can start with are simple household tools like a corkscrew, some scissors and pliers, screwdrivers etc.
If you`re drawing an existing object, first you have to find the best angle to draw it. It should be a view that allows you to work on the details in the front and still show the whole shape in a simple two point perspective. So, after I am happy with my pencil drawing (for which I used a hard lead pencil like 2H, but HB works too) I start adding some detail (this time with a softer pencil like 3B). These details will help in adding accents later with markers and colored pencils.
The next step is to create a basic shading on the pencil drawing (this will also help you to quickly understand the shape of your object, you will see the lights and shadows which you will later emphasize. For this shading I used a Cool Grey 2 because it gave enough shade to work with but it won`t distort the future colors I am going to use.
Next you can start the fun part and add some color to the shades you contoured before. It is important to continue keeping some white or very light areas in the drawing for highlights and better contrast between the brigh and dark parts (so put color mostly on the shadowed areas and then carefully add other colored spots. Here I used Mustard because it mached the real object and I applied a second layer for the deepest shadow areas on the handle. The dark metal part didn`t have any strong highlights, so I used a Warm Grey 3 for lighter areas and then I made the shadows stronger with Warm Grey 4.
After this I still thought that my sketch is not as dark as the original object, so I applied some small shadows with Warm Grey 4 on the areas I felt that will make a good contrast and I also put a layer of Warm Grey 3 on the mustard handle part (on the shadowed regions) to have a better quality shadow.
To finish my sketch I added some accents with a soft colored pencil that mached my marker colors (I basicly drew some thin lines on the darkest areas of the sketch). As you can see on the finished drawing, there still are some white areas I kept for the appealing contrast. To make your product sketch even more realistic, it is helpful to add some casted shadows using two or three layers of the same greys you used in the sketch. The shadow shape is fairly easy to draw, it mostly follows the outline of the object on the sides where it is in contact whit the surface it sits on. Of course more complex objects cast more complex shadows, so it is worth practicing before drawing it in markers. So that was it, I think that product sketching can be really easy when you practice enough and draw as many objects as you can find, even if they seem the most simple objects (because there are always details that can be emphasized in a drawing!). |
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