Drawing Breakdown: Spheres and Cylinders (Charcoal on Paper)

Hey everybody! Long time no see! I'm back again with another charcoal drawing done as an assignment for school. The assignment was to make a composition out of various spheres and cylinders with visible ellipses. The piece was done on 18" x 24" gray-toned paper using black and white charcoal. Here is the result:

Let's get started!

STAGE 1 - BEGINNING

This is where I began roughing out my drawing. I had to get a general feel for where objects are placed, as well as their scale and proportions. I also used a ruler to created accurate measurements for the various objects I drew.

Here is a quick diagram showing how to draw proper foreshortening on circles in a 3D space:

STAGE 2 - FORMULATING

After taking all measurements into consideration and roughing out my piece, I began darkening in details and cleaning up my sketch, as well as drawing out where shadows will be cast. This stage solidified my objects to prepare for shading.

STAGE 3 - DEFINING

In this stage, I began placing down my basic shading. Simply put, I drew in my main highlights and shadows to be detailed in the final stage of the process. The method of shading I used is called cross-hatching, where an artist uses lines to create darker values.

STAGE 4 - REFINING

In this final stage of the process, I darkened my values, brightened my highlights, and added in final textures and details to the piece. This final step of the process can potentially be the longest part, as the artist meticulously picks away at detail upon detail until the piece feels complete enough to present. I actually still feel I could have darkened the 8-ball a bit more in this piece, but I'm still pretty happy with the result!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this blog! If you did, don't forget to toss me an upvote, and feel free to follow me for more posts like this one. If you have any questions, ask below and I'll answer as soon as I can!

See ya later! <3