Even expert creative persons occasionally have a hard time when creating naturalistic three-dimensional pictures. Naturally they know the fundamental principles and create realistic drawings intuitively. But occasionally even the most skilled discover elements in their work that appear distorted and unnatural.
For beginners it is even much more difficult, they have to exercise daily to climb a steep learning curve. It is well-known that outstanding drawing abilities are the result of daily practicing. Instead knowing the three most crucial principles of three-dimensional drawing can make your life easier for you. They'll be a shortcut to improving your drawing abilities and help even adept artists to nail parts that call for reworking.
So what causes a picture appear realistic and three-dimensional? There are three principles that contribute to the naturalistic outlook of your drawings. Every single one of them must be understood thoroughly. Together they ensure near to perfect results:
* Composition
* Perspective
* Lighting and Darknesses
Composition
Does composition actually contribute to the three-dimensional appearing of your drawings? Naturally! The three-dimensional outlook of any drawing has much to do with the relation between the various objects inside the drawing. You can create a drawing consisting of objects that all follow the laws of perspective and have perfect illumination and shadows. But a bad composition will cripple most of the three-dimensional appearance.
There is only one important composition rule: let your drawing's objects intersect! Frequently I see beginning artists averting to let elements in their pictures intersect , because they fear to ruin it completely.
Sure - if your drawing has lots of intersecting elements it gets more complicated to depict. There are more shadows also perspective and dimensions of the objects have to be much more exact.
That's challenging sure enough. Closely composed elements in your picture will relentlessly reveal all weak points. On the other hand when you cope to get the perspective, illumination and shadows right, a closer composition will beef up the three-dimensional appearance.
So take the bravery to arrange your picture's elements closer together. Allow them to intersect and show how good you are able to draw them according to the principles of three-dimensional drawings.
Perspective
Producing a drawing employing accurate perspective is the moment where a bit bit math comes into play. No need to worry - no complicated know-how, simply drawing some extra lines.
By producing a drawing with the laws of perspective in mind you make sure that:
* your drawing's elements have the proper dimensions and size
* your drawing's elements have the proper distortion according to the viewer's distance
* your drawing's elements are arranged properly to each other
All this is achieved by employing one simple rule:
" Objects and parts of them get smaller the further they are distant to the viewer."
This rule can't be stressed too much. If you fail to apply it correctly, your pictures will look distorted and strange. So drawing some extra lines will help you to apply this rule properly.
Light and Shadow
The proper illumination and shading is the 3rd vital principle for naturalistic looking three-dimensional scenes. It is for the lights in your drawings that shadows emerge. And shadows are essential for a truthful looking drawing - except you draw "gray rainy day" scenes only.
To create naturalistic shadows there are some rules you have to keep in mind:
* you have to recognize where the illumination comes from
* this enables you to find out the right dimension of the shadow
* the right bearing and direction for the shadow
* and the proper shape of the shadow
Unluckily naturalistic dark shades are not that easy to realize. But there are some useful techniques. Exactly now I am working on a tutorial explaining these techniques step-by-step. It will emerge here soon.
