In February, I told you of my drawing of the Clover Creek Bridge up in Sequoia National Park and a man who saw it and contacted me. (That post will open in another window if you click here.)

The man, named Todd,  had googled “pencil drawing of a cabin” and found my site. On my site (the old one) was a drawing of the Clover Creek Bridge.

Todd practiced drawing by copying my picture. It is the easiest way to learn how to draw and is what my 6th grade teacher had us do. (I credit him with teaching me how to draw.)

I thought he was doing a fine job because his proportions were correct. That is the most important thing when beginning a drawing. It is comparable to having your foundation level and your posts vertical if you are framing a building.

I also gave him a couple of tips about hard edges and soft edges. Real life doesn’t have black outlines separating things; it has edges. Hard edges are clean exact edges, where one item ends precisely and another begins. They draw the viewers eye and are very noticeable. Soft edges are slightly fuzzy transitions from one to another part of the same thing. They make things not stand out.

(I don’t see any black outlines – I just wanted to give him some tips because he was thoughtful enough to contact me.)

Todd gave me permission to post his work here:

 

I hope he finishes the drawing and continues to draw.