Past Drawing Prompts
Current Prompt
Wednesday May 13 & Thursday May 14
I have an enormous crooked willow in my front yard. It’s on the backside of its lifespan, but it is always good to see the new growth each spring. Look for shapes, curves, shadows.
As always, click on the image here to get an embiggened version. Include a photo of today’s drawing with your twice weekly email to me.
Thursday April 30th & Friday May 1
This is a reproduction cast of the mouth/lips from Michelangelo’s David sculpture. Once again, look for the actual shapes of the shadows and highlights. Draw the shapes, not the lips. Use your preferred shading technique to create the values in the photo.
As always, click on the image here to get an embiggened version. Include a photo of today’s drawing with your twice weekly email to me.
Thursday April 30th & Friday May 1
Here’s the tag from the last time that I rode LOTOJA, several years ago now. The ride starts in Logan, UT, winds through northern Utah and southern Idaho, then climbs into Wyoming, finishing up in Jackson. Total course mileage varies a little from year to year depending on construction and what-not, but was consistently about 206 miles. In one day. Over mountain passes. The things we do for fun… Once again, look for the shapes of things not the meaning of them. Avoid the shortcut your brain wants to take when it sees anything vaguely familiar.
As always, click on the image here to get an embiggened version. Include a photo of today’s drawing with your twice weekly email to me.
Tuesday April 28th & Wednesday April 29th
Behold the lowly Quick-Grip, a very handy one-handed clamp. This is the most used clamp that I own. Break down this thing at which you are looking. See the simple shapes that make up the more complex object. Draw the simple shapes, connecting them together until the finished clamp magically appears. Or, your 5-minutes runs out. 😛
As always, click on the image here to get an embiggened version. Include a photo of today’s drawing with your twice weekly email to me.
Friday April 24th & Monday April 27th
This is a modular origami cube that uses 6 sonobe units to make. My first term 3D class was tortured with these polyhedral forms for a stretch, ending with several students making 30-unit stellated icosahedrons… Keep an eye on the shadows and the reflection in the table surface.
As always, click on the image here to get an embiggened version. Include a photo of today’s drawing with your twice weekly email to me.
Wednesday April 22nd & Thursday April 23rd
This is another JMW Turner watercolor from 1797 depicting a view of the Aylesford Bridge and a church beyond. While not a value study for his drawing students, we’ll use it for the prompt today. Find a section of the painting that interests you and spend 5-minutes rendering it.
As always, click on the image here to get an embiggened version. Include a photo of today’s drawing with your twice weekly email to me.
Monday April 20th & Tuesday April 21st
This is a Rotring 800 .7 mechanical pencil. It is heavy and substantial and, as can be seen by the patina of use, well loved. The pencil has a clever design that allows the pokey tube bit where the lead is extruded to retract fully into the body of the pencil, making it perfect for jeans pockets.
As always, click on the image here to get an embiggened version. Include a photo of today’s drawing with your twice weekly email to me.
Thursday April 16th & Friday April 17th
The pipe wrench, abused, neglected, rusted, designed with slop – this is not a precision tool, and just what the doctor ordered when dealing with steel pipe. The slop in the wrench is designed so that the teeth bite when the wrench handle is rotated to the mouth of the wrench and slip free when rotated towards the back of the wrench. In effect, it’s a kind of ratcheting mechanism without all the fiddly bits that make a ratchet work.
As always, click on the image here to get an embiggened version. Include a photo of today’s drawing with your twice weekly email to me.
Tuesday April 14th & Wednesday April 15th
The Mitsubishi KH-20 is an excellent pencil sharpener that brings pencils to an incredibly sharp and long tapered point. It’s pretty amazing. The trick with expensive, sharpenable drawing tools is to minimize the wasted lead. One is probably still better off with an Xacto knife, but lazy. I’ve also got a beautiful hand plane designed specifically for sharpening drawing tools, but, also, lazy.
As always, click on the image here to get an embiggened version. Include a photo of today’s drawing with your twice weekly email to me.
Friday April 10th & Monday April 13th
This is a Springbok horn from Africa. Springbok are a desert dwelling antelope. Horns are more akin to fingernails than the bony extrusions of antlers. When springbok are happy, they start up a mosh pit and pronk. To see some excellent pronking, click on the linky dink.
As always, click on the image here to get an embiggened version. Include a photo of today’s drawing with your twice weekly email to me.
Wednesday April 8th & Thursday April 9th
This is a reproduction cast of the left eye from Michelangelo’s David sculpture. Once again, look for the actual shapes of the shadows and highlights. Draw the shapes, not the eye. Use your preferred shading technique to create the values in the photo.
As always, click on the image here to get an embiggened version. Include a photo of today’s drawing with your twice weekly email to me.
Monday April 6th & Tuesday April 7th
Today’s image is a circa 1797 value composition that British painter JMW Turner created for his drawing students. Select a section of the image to draw today. Focus on seeing the shapes Turner created that immediately translate as bridge, building, river, etc. Create a value scale using some form of shading – hatching, crosshatching, gradient fill, etc. As always, click on the image here to get an embiggened version.
When Turner died, the contents of his studio were given as a bequest to the state. They’re currently housed in the Tate museum. This image is from the Tate’s online collection. Include a photo of today’s drawing with your daily email to me.
Thursday March 26 & Friday March 27
Arrange a still life using 1 toy from around the house. Look for as many shapes as you can find. Draw the shapes that make up this object. If time permits, establish a value system using hatching. You are welcome to use my photo for your drawing; click on it for a larger version. Include a photo of today’s drawing with your daily email to me.
Tuesday March 24 & Wednesday March 25
Tuesday March 24 & Wednesday March 25
Arrange a still life using 1 ball and a strong light source – early sunlight through a window, as here, or a flashlight. Look for as many shapes as you can find in the ball and its shadow. Note that there is reflected light lessening the shadow in the bottom left. Note the highlights from both the sun and the overhead lights. Just draw the shapes that make up this object. You may shade in some way if you are inclined, but today’s goal is to just look for shapes and to draw those shapes in relation to one another. You are welcome to use my photo for your drawing; click on it for a larger version. Include a photo of today’s drawing with your daily email to me.
Thursday March 19 & Friday March 20
Thursday March 19 & Friday March 20
Arrange a still life of 1 glass or cup, 1 fork, and 1 knife. Once arranged, try a blind contour drawing. To do this, place pencil to paper, then keep your eyes on your still life while your hand draws. No peeking. Your eyes and pencil/pen should be in the same place at the same time. This drawing will look like a hot mess. If it doesn’t, you are likely doing something wrong. Include a photo of today’s drawing with your daily email to me.
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