30 Day Drawing Challenge Day 27- Draw a Chair

30 Day Drawing Challenge Day 27- Draw a Chair

©Rebecca Zdybel

What makes a chair challenging is that it may require you to really look carefully, because they don’t look like you might think they look.  Why?  Because they are adhering to laws of PERSPECTIVE.  We all know those legs are all the same length, but they NEVER look that way.  Would you ever think a chair could stand on 2 legs?  Would you ever draw it that way? Would you ever even imagine it that way?  But look at the photo on the left…

You see…it’s all a matter of perspective! Think of the chair as as a 3D Cube of sorts.  As such, the bottom of parallel chair legs will generally recede to a disappearing point on the horizon (or at the same height as the viewer’s eyeline).  Similarly, the edges of square seats, and chair arms may also recede according to lines of perspective. In fact, drawing a cube around the seat of a chair as a guide of sorts can be a good idea.

Food for thought-  If an object is below the horizon line, all horizontal lines of perspective will recede UP to the horizon.  If the chair is viewed from below (with a low horizon), all horizontal lines of perspective would appear as if they are receding DOWN to the horizon.  It may sound confusing if you haven’t practiced drawing your cubes, but for those of you who have, I hope this will be a helpful bit of information.  For more complete instructions on this concept follow this link: 30 Day Drawing Challenge Day 18- How to Draw a Cube

Ahhh, finally a chair with 4 legs, but look!  None of them are the same length!

Another Hint:  Sometimes drawing a chair by drawing the negative spaces can make everything fit together a bit easier.  This is a tried and true technique from Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards.  You may want to try it with these chair photos, or you may draw your own if you prefer.  If you wish to draw the negative spaces, taking a photograph is the easiest way to frame your shot and flatten the image.  Send it to your printer and you’re ready to draw!  For more instructions on this way to draw follow this link:   30 Day Drawing Challenge day 6- Complex Negative Image and 30 Day Drawing Challenge Day 5- Think positively about drawing Negatively

Good luck drawing your chairs!  Only 3 more days till you cross the finish line and can pat yourself on the back and say you completed 30 Days of Drawing! I’ll be back tomorrow with yet another free lesson, and I hope you’ll meet me here.

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