Drawing

Have you ever wanted to tell your mom about something, but can’t find the right words? Want to give a gift you’ve made all by yourself? When words don’t work or you want to make something special, try drawing! Although your drawings might not be perfect or dazzling the at first, your parents are sure to love them. In some ways, drawing can even help you do better in school!

Stuff You Need

Before we start we need to find some things from around the house. Open all the drawers, check all the shelves, and get to know where all the materials you need are usually stored. Who knows, you might find the candy drawer or other hidden goodies while you’re searching! If you’re having trouble finding what you need, I’m sure your parents would gladly help you.

Something to Draw With

You could start off with colors, picking up the first crayon or colored pencil you see. However it’s best if you use a pencil. A number 2 pencil is good to start with because you can find it easily.

An even better pencil is the mechanical pencil. It looks much like a pen except when you click it lead comes out instead of ink. They don’t need to be sharpened and sometimes come with padded grips, which make writing and drawing easier. However, the lead is very thin and breaks easily. Mechanical Pencils come in four standard sizes: 0.3, 0.5, 0.9, and 2.0. The numbers are the thickness of the lead in millimeters. Use a 0.7 or 0.9 lead if you break mechanical pencil leads a lot. Also, keep in mind that a mechanical pencil will not work right if you load a lead other than the size written on the pencil.

Something To Draw On

You might want to keep a stash of paper near a large flat table or desk. Also remember that they can be found in many sizes, colors, shapes, and can be thick or thin. Graph paper has lines that go up and down as well as left to right while notebook paper only has lines that go from left to right. Printer paper has no lines on it, so it’s best to put your final drawings on this type of paper.

Something to Get Rid Of Your Mistakes

Erasers are squishy objects (usually made of rubber) that are used to make pencil marks disappear. Most pencils have erasers attached to one end, but they don’t last very long. There are many other types of erasers that work just as well or even better! Test each eraser you find on a scrap piece of paper first. If you end up tearing the paper, then the eraser is too stiff. Also, the eraser shouldn’t leave any marks on the paper, unless they are smudges that are easily erasable.

An eraser cap is a small eraser that you can put on the non-pointed end of a pencil. If you find that you the eraser on the end of your pencil is disappearing, but think using a separate eraser is too much work, look for these.

A large eraser is also good have, especially for large mistakes. These erasers come in many colors and shapes and are also are less likely to tear your paper. The Pink Pearl erasers are famous for their excellent quality.

Getting Things Down On Paper

When drawing, hold your pencil between your first finger and thumb as shown in the drawing to the left. Your other fingers should curl under the pencil to keep the tip pointed slightly downwards. This is called the drawing position. Holding it this way keeps your hand off the paper, preventing smudges. You can also make the quicker and longer strokes required of gesture drawing with this position.

Step One: Finding Shapes in Things

First make a gesture drawing to put as much information about it on paper. A gesture drawing is made up of ovals and lines that show the general shapes of the object you are drawing. You use light, quick strokes that follow the core and general shape of whatever you’re drawing.

As you can see from the drawing to your left, it looks quite messy, but you can still recognize that it represents a hand. I have drawn blue lines to show the middle of each finger and outlined them in red. If you wish, you can do this with colored pencils or crayons while you’re practicing. Just keep in mind that they will not erase if you’re planning on finishing the drawing.

Step Two: Make Sure it Looks Right

After you have everything you want down on paper, take your pencil and hold it horizontally in front of you. You then measure the height of a small portion an object to the whole. In the hand drawing, for example, you can use the height of the top section of the middle finger to measure the rest of the hand. You can also use that same section as a reference for measuring the width of your hand as well. As you can see from the lines I drew, the hand is five fingertips high (to the base of the palm) and roughly ten fingertips wide. This is why graph paper is really good to start with.

Step Three: A Continuous Line

Next you draw the contours of the object (in this case the hand) as accurately as you can. To do this, follow all the lines in your object. Take your time and make sure that you catch all the little dips and creases. Follow the line inside the object as well when you can. If you can, try to draw the whole contour without taking your pencil off the paper. The contour should be done in a heavier line, but a lighter line will be easier to correct if you make mistakes.

Once you’re finished, darken your lines where they meet shadows, and lighten it where you meet light. This gives it a 3D look and makes it pop out of the page a bit. You can then erase your gesture lines to give your drawing a more finished look.

20 Questions for my Audience

Identity and Needs

Who is my primary audience? Who else will read the document?

My primary audience is children between 8 and 12 years old. My teacher and possibly my classmates may also be reading this document.

What is my relationship to this audience?

My relationship to my primary audience is as a benevolent mentor. They don't know me personally, but may think that I'm an expert on the subject.

How will my document be used?

My document will be used to teach children how to draw and what tools to use when appropriate.

How much is my audience likely to know already about this topic?

My audience is likely to already know what a pencil and eraser is and basic geometry (circle, square, triangle, rectangle)

What else does the audience need to know?

My audience also needs to know how to read for one, and also how to change the pressure they apply to their pencil.

What main questions are most readers likely to have?

Main questions my readers are likely to have are:

•          How do I make things look right? (i.e. make them proportional)
  
•          What type of pencil should I use?
  
•          Do I have to have special paper?
  

Attitude and Personality

What attitudes or misconceptions is the audience likely to have toward the topic? Are they likely to have any objections?

Attitudes and misconceptions my audience is likely to have toward the topic are that drawing is hard and only for the talented.

What attitude does the audience seem to have toward me?

The audience seems to have a...

How receptive to new ideas is this audience?

The audience is very receptive to new ideas as they are very young.

Who will be most affected by this document?

Young children with no prior knowledge of, but some interest in drawing will be most affected.

What do I know about the user's personality?

Low attention spans with a focus on pictures and explanations.

What reaction to this document can I expect?

Either they’ll think it’s too wordy, or they will immediately start drawing over everything…including the walls.

Do I risk alienating anyone?

Maybe those who are reading this that already have more knowledge than most children.

Do I face any constraints?

I cannot use anything wordy or any big words without defining them.

Expectations About the Document

Has the document been requested or am I initiating it?

This document has been initiated by me because of my interest in the subject.

What length will the audience expect and tolerate?

The audience will expect a short document with lots of pictures and a large, readable font size.

For this audience, what kinds of details will be the most important?

The most important details are that drawing is easy

How would they expect the piece to be organized?

They would expect it to start at the beginning of a drawing and end with a finished one.

What tone would this audience expect?

My audience would likely expect a calming tone that’s to-the-point.

What is the document's intended effect on its audience?

The intended effect on the audience is to enlighten or teach.

Process of Prewriting Essay 2: Writing to Informalyze

Instructions

List three possible topics, along with their target audience and why you chose each one.

Answer

One possible topic is teaching a child how to draw the human figure. I chose this because I have been considered a rather good artist by some. Another topic would be to write printing instructions for the computer illiterate (elderly, foreign, children). The reason I chose this one is because I've been working on the printing instructions for the computer lab in the library recently.

Essay 1

Dear Class,

If you were to ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, you would encounter quite a bit of silence. I might frown, stare blankly out in space, squint up at the ceiling, or quite possibly do all three in an attempt to drag a simple answer out of a complex web of dreams, memories, and distractions. After a while, I would mumble something about dual majoring in computers and business and hope you would go away or change the subject. The thing is that I’ve had dreams of becoming an author since the eighth grade. From then on I’ve been writing short stories and evolving my concept of plot, character design, and setting.

For my first story, my mother suggested that I write about our dog and how the squirrels outside drive her crazy. However, I had been reading So You Want to Be a Wizard by Diane Duane at the time and couldn’t help but add something more than ordinary to it. In the end, the story was about a girl who learned of magic from a squirrel in her backyard. I later added seven other children, each inspired by my brother and six cousins, and a hallowed out redwood tree in the forest near their grandmother’s house. I also played with the idea of giving them different powers and associating colors, stones, and symbols according to order of birth.

A year later, I wrote yet another story, but in screenplay format. This time it was about five year old twin boys with psychic powers. One could move light objects with his mind, while the other could see a short way into the future and past. In that particular scene they were playing a game of tag around a table while a mysterious metal orb watched them from the shadows. This, of course, would take place long after that first story and the boys are probably the decedents of one of the children.

A journal from my sophomore year contains a paragraph about a mother and her nightmares concerning her husband’s death. Of course this wasn’t “ordinary” either as it was set aboard a space ship. Also depicted was a concerned teenage daughter who it seems had been through a lot because of her father’s death and her mother’s despair. This was a part of an idea to change the locale of the eight children on a universal scale and have them spread out across it. Later I wrote a paragraph about a tyrannical emperor and his wife who later divorced him and ran off with one of her twin sons.

The last school-related story I wrote was about a little girl who stole an apple from the castle kitchens during an attempt to run away. Noticing that the cook had found out, she stopped and explained that she was taking it to someone, although now that I think about it she didn’t have the time to stop and if she did, she wouldn’t have stolen it so hastily. Anyway, this little story was originally set the 1650’s near the end of the Golden Age of Pirates. Thus, the concept was that the little girl, born to the rich Blake family, was running away to live the more adventurous life of a pirate.

It was not until I started writing this that I realized all these scattered chapters could be combined into one or more novels. I’d have to add chapters between the ones I’ve already written and revise it a little so that it would make sense, but I believe I am capable of doing such a task. I also created a prophetic poem and have a few written descriptions of some of my more vivid dreams, so I wonder if I could incorporate those as well. However, I doubt they will mesh well as they’re a bit more fanciful that what I planned on putting on paper. My problem was that I was spending so much time on the prewriting process that I couldn’t focus properly on actually writing the story. Because of that, however, I now have a good understanding of how I want my story to progress.

I believe that a good book is written by an author with many diverse experiences under his or her belt. You won’t get a good fight scene without knowledge of how to swing a sword and a rudimentary knowledge of the physics behind each swing. Even in a fantasy setting you need to know what rules you’re breaking so that you can break them consistently and logically. This is also pertains to history and mythology as many books are about a past, present, or future version of Earth. Even books not set on Earth are based off of an author’s perspective on our history.

To gain this knowledge I don’t need a language, history, or writing degree; it might help, but it’s unneeded. This is because I can study the history of a place or person, learn a new language, and refresh my understanding of various mythologies on the internet alone. Of course, some things are better learned by experience such as human movements, emotions, habits, and psychological pressures under various situations. Most of this can be done by watching people or changing your mindset to do as someone other than yourself would do.

At any rate, making a good book takes lots of effort, planning, and research that with my busy schedule might take years to complete. It will take more than one draft and countless revisions before I will be completely happy with it. Even when I feel I’m happy with it, I have to meet the standards of publishers, editors, and other proofreaders before I will allow it to go public. Even then it might not sell very well and would definitely be very hard to live off of. However, I write not for the money, but for the joy of writing and knowing that others enjoyed it as well. Hence the reason why I chose business and computers majors over a literary major.

Sincerely,

Heather Kushion

Prewriting Essay 2: Writing to Informalyze

Listing: Topics I'm an "Expert" On

1. Printing troubleshooting
2. Calligraphy
3. Draw a human figure
4. Make a complex fictional character
5. Marching commands and positions
6. Play a Clarinet
7. Write non-fiction
   
8. Back-up your computer
9. Basic Akido
   
10. Basic tap dancing
    

Brainstorm: Delta College Printing Troubleshooting

• Didn't print
• Right printer
• Didn't click Print It on pop-up
• More than one copy
• More than 32 pages (16 double-sided)
• Wrong printer
• Pod A135
• Pod E
• Computer A-07
• Looks wrong
• Blank
• Printing from website PDF
• 
  
• Cut off
• Adjust margins
• Change page size to letter
• Non-Color
• Specific computers
• Computer B-01
• Computer D-??
• Attached to scanner
• Tiny writing
• Font too small
• Computer Glitch
• Restart computer
• Move to different computer

Brainstorm: Making a Fictional Character

• Description
• Age
• Type (Old, Young, Elderly, Teenage, Child, Youth, etc...)
• In years (recommended)
• Birthday (optional)
• Eyes
• Color
• Shape
• Size
• Kind (piercing, watery, red, etc...)
• Hair
• Color
• Length
• Thickness
• Shape
• Curly
• Straight
• Wavy
• Skin
• Color
• Marks
• Scars
• History
• Birthplace
• Childhood
• Current Residence
• Name
• Nationality
• Race
• Named by whom (mother, father, grandparent, self, etc...)
• Psychology
• Personality (Fun, Kind, Gentle, Evil, Good, Comical, etc...)
• Role Models
• Protective of...(people, things, ideals)

Freewriting: Printing Troubleshooting

People who would find printing difficult to understand would be the computer illiterate (elderly, foreign immigrants, children)

Reflecting on Writing Essay 1

From 11:00 AM to 1:30 PM I worked on finishing essay 1. Most of my inspiration for the last paragraphs came from how much work writing a novel is. I looked at the wikipedia sites for J K Rowling, J R R Tolkien, and C S Lewis in an attempt to find out how much of a background they had before they started writing. I would have looked up more of my favorite authors (Piers Anthony, Tamara Pierce, Anne McCaffrey, Orson Scott Card, etc...), but I didn't have the time. However, I did find the blog site of Scott Berkun who had some beginners tips for writers.

When I was done with the last paragraph, I started from the beginning and began reading my essay. I found a few things that needed to be changed, but when I got to the half-way point I realized that I had only half an hour to get down to the Red Brix Cafe, grab something to eat, and then head for class.