The image of dew on the grass, a misted bottle, or even just a few drops on the surface add an entourage to the picture. This is a kind of water magic. To achieve this effect, you need to include this wonderful effect in the picture. Many people think that drawing water droplets is incredibly difficult, but this is just a fallacy. This does not require much ability, effort and time. This lesson will show you how to draw water drops in stages.
Work tool
To complete this work, we need a set of such tools:
- A5 to A2 paper
- hardness pencils H, HB, B, as well as optionally 2B, 3B and so on;
- eraser or eraser;
- a piece of cloth or paper;
- white pencil or pastel.
Outline is the foundation
This drawing, like any other work in pencil, we begin by drawing contours. In this figure, they are very simple, but it is important that all these lines are pale, so it is best to use a hardness pencil H. If it is difficult for you to draw a drop of water entirely, as shown in the example, you can outline its location with dots and draw a shape with short lines.
In the course of your work, the outline will slightly change and adjust, and there is nothing to worry about.
Learning to Hatch
The next step is hatching. If expressed in artistic language, then the image of the volume with the help of tone and shadow. First you need to paint the drops with a solid light gray color. The hatching process is very simple: you need to draw a pencil from edge to edge of the drop without taking your hands off, and lay the lines in one direction very tightly to each other. For this stage, it is most convenient to use an HB hardness pencil.
After one layer has been laid, you need to add a few more on top to make shading even. It is advisable to apply all new layers in different directions.
To draw water drops in stages with a pencil, like a professional, you need to pay attention to the correct setting of the tools in your hand. It’s best to hold on to the middle of the pencil. Thus, the lines will be lighter, smoother and longer. Pencil pressure should be minimal.
In the hatching process, it is very important that the tone is as even as possible. You can take advantage of a little trick and wipe the shaded places with a cloth at the end of the work stage.
Shade every drop
The next step is to gradually draw with a pencil in drops of water both the darkest shadow and partial shade. They make any drawing voluminous and believable.
A drop of water is a unique object in which shadows form completely differently than on other objects. The fact is that a drop, like a lens, refracts light, and in it everything is reflected oppositely. Therefore, the shadows in the drop will face the light source. In this figure, the light is on the top left, so the shadows in the drop will also be on the top left. For starters, it's easy enough to outline them, move from the edge to the middle. From the edge, the shadow should be very dark, and gradually lighten towards the middle. It is better to draw shadows with strokes and round them so that they repeat the shape of a drop. This stage of work is best done with a pencil of hardness B or 2B.
After sketching the shadow inside, you need to outline the shadow outside. It will be a shadow that falls from a drop onto the surface of the sheet. It is drawn exactly the same as inside.
After the work done with the first drop, you need to draw water drops, like the previous one. After completing this long step, you can smooth out all the strokes again with a rag or piece of paper.
More contrast
To draw drops of water, as living, we need to increase the contrast, make the shadows smoother and slightly expand them. Technically, this stage of work does not differ from the previous one, but here you can use pencils of hardness from 2B and softer. It is important to carry out the work carefully and gradually gain tone in the shadows so that they are very explicit and concrete. The work can again be shaded with a rag. Here you can more carefully smooth the outer shadows. In this way, you not only make the shadow more even, but also expand it in length.
Glare Magic
The next step is the most interesting. To do this, we need an eraser or a gag eraser. The latter is best used because they can be shaped into any shape and more convenient to work with. Eraser now you need to draw in a drop of water as if reflection from the opposite side of the shadow. The result will be a white strip, which gradually turns into gray.
After reflection, you can begin to draw glare from the opposite side inside the drop. Here, work is also carried out with a nag or eraser. After this stage, the pattern is greatly transformed.
Now the drawn drops of water with a pencil can be considered completed. But if you want to make the drops even more accurate and realistic, then there are a few tips: work out all the lines, round them according to the shape of the drop; add additional reflections on the outer shadows of the drop and more clearly select the darkest areas.
In order to enhance the glare inside the drop and the reflection on the outer areas, you can also use white pastel or pencil.