DRAWING

TECHNIQUES
Quarter 2 : Blocking in, Outlines,
and Geometric Shapes
1. What drawing technique consists of creating the
structure of the object that you wish to present with
correct proportions?
A. Outline B. Contour Lines
C. Sketching D. Blocking in

LET’S TRY
2. What valuable skill of an artist is needed when doing
illustration?
A. use basic shapes and forms that makes up an object or figure
B. copy illustrations from others and make it your own
C. distort shapes and change colors that makes the texts complex
D. disregard the usage of lines to make it more creative

LET’S
TRY
3. Which of the following is NOT a good example of
drawing a person?
A. the hands of the person have five fingers
B. neck of the boy is bigger than the head
C. the girl's head isn't too small for her body
D. the body of the person is proportion

LET’S
TRY
Proportions are probably the most important element of
realistic drawing.
No matter how much time you spend on your artwork, if
you mess up the proportions, it will still look worse than
a simple, yet proportionate sketch.

PROPORTIONS
WHAT ARE
PROPORTIONS?
Proportions tell as how big something is relative to another object. 

when you look at the image below, you can tell that A is twice
as long as B. This proportion is independent from the actual
lengths of these lines.
PROPORTIONS
Our brains use proportions to turn the whole scene into a pattern that can be
compared to something else. Our eyes quickly scan the scene, “measuring”
the relation between all the lines it can find.
PROPORTIONS
So our brains are pretty good at telling if the drawing looks accurate.
The problem is, first you have to have a drawing to look at—but how to
draw it accurately in the first place??
It’s like being able to tell if a cake has been cut into five perfectly equal
pieces—and yet not being able to cut a cake this way.

PROPORTIONS
BLOCKING IN
Blocking in is the most basic method of drawing. It consists of creating the
structure of the object that you wish to represent with correct proportions.

BLOCKING IN
Blocking in the basic shapes and form that makes up an object or
figure is a very valuable skill for an artist to have.
Getting the general shape and relative proportions of the
component parts of the picture before endeavoring to describe, in
line or tint,
any of the minor details or even main characteristics of the picture.

BLOCKING IN
HOW TO DRAW PROPORTIONS

Can you see any regular shape here?

BLOCKING IN
HOW TO DRAW PROPORTIONS
Right under the ellipse there are two straight lines, slightly tilted
inwards. They seem to be pretty similar in length to the minor
axis of our ellipse—and because we already have this length in
our drawing, we can easily copy it!

BLOCKING IN
HOW TO DRAW PROPORTIONS
Next I notice the circle covering most of the cup’s shape. Its
center seems to lie slightly higher than the tips of the previous
lines. I drew this horizontal diameter to find the center in my
drawing, and that was enough to draw a semicircle of similar
size.

BLOCKING IN
HOW TO DRAW PROPORTIONS
There’s a clear ellipse on the bottom of the cup. Its sides seem
to reach slightly farther than the half of the circle’s radius. That
should be easy enough to copy!

BLOCKING IN
But how to find the center of this ellipse? We could do some measuring, but I want to show you a different technique. Can you see the
outline of the green shape shown below? In your drawing you already have three sides of this shape. Can you guess where to put the
last one to make it complete?

This technique is great because it forces you to see the proportion as a whole, and it works even in the places where measuring would
be problematic.

BLOCKING IN
BLOCKING IN
BLOCKING IN
• An outline drawing is usually a mere symbol
of what it is supposed to represent.

• Most beginners use outlines too much, and

overlook the masses of light and shade

OUTLINES &
BLOCKING IN
OUTLINES &
BLOCKING IN
GEOMETRIC SHAPES
When drawing simple objects, more importantly, symmetrical
objects, simple geometric shapes can be a great help. This
fundamental concept is called
“construction.”

Construction refers to the practice of breaking complex objects

down into basic
shapes.

GEOMETRIC
SHAPES
CONSTRUCTION
The artist then pieces these basics shapes together to form the more complex
shape of the object that they wish to draw.

The first step in construction is to identify the basic shapes that comprise our
subject. But remember, simple shapes are easier
to draw and easier to piece together, so it’s advised to look for the most basic
shapes if possible.

GEOMETRIC
SHAPES