Distortion - keeping it to a minimum!

We all tend to distort when we draw - partly because we are no longer actually looking at the shapes in front of us, but instead we draw what we think should be there.

All of us learn symbols for things in childhood, and think we know what a human face or a cat's face looks like, or a human eye, or a hand, or an arm...

But as soon as these things are seen from a different angle, e.g foreshortened, we stop looking at the actual ( strange ) shape in front of us and tend to draw our own symbol instead. 

This explains the tendency to draw a human face with the eyes too high up and the nose too long, when in fact the eyes should be half-way down the face: 

In other words, on the left the artist has drawn an incorrect symbol learnt in the past, not what is there. 

Other common errors: drawing a cat's face ( especially the eyes and nose) like a human face
because the artist has learnt a symbol for an eye and draws it willy-nilly, regardless of what is there!

Drawing a hand without foreshortening the fingers pointing towards you:

 Wrong - this is pointing the wrong way! No foreshortening - 

the artist has drawn what he or she thinks a finger ought to look like. 

Now we know who our country needs!

Drawing an arm or a leg without the foreshortening it needs: here the artist has drawn his or her symbol instead of what is actually seen:

Drawing an eye from the front when drawing a profile:

Top Art Tips to avoid distortion include:

1) Turn the photo and your drawing upside down and continue drawing - your brain will be unable to " correct" the strange but accurate shapes you are seeing.

2) Grid your photo and your drawing - this constrains the proportions. The more squares in your grid, the more accurate your drawing.

3) Measure by using your pencil as in lesson 3 - compare the width and height of a figure, or  a vase, for example. Or how many times does the head go into the whole figure? and into its width? etc.

4) Draw horizontals and verticals to compare your angles against.

5) Half-close your eyes as you look at the model and then draw only the silhouette        ( e.g of a foreshortened arm or hand or leg) and then complete the details afterwards. 

6) Look at your drawing in a  mirror- this reveals distortions.