t07 a zebra named spot

A ZEBRA NAMED

Brenda Hoddinott T-07 ADVANCED: A ZEBRA NAMED SPOT

In this very heavily illustrated project, you focus on capturing Spot’s striped pattern and the textures of her eyes, nose, ears, mane, and fur while rendering the basic exterior forms and shapes which characterize simple bone and muscular structures.

Suggested drawing supplies include good quality white drawing paper, graphite pencils, kneaded and vinyl erasers, and a pencil sharpener.

The instructions are divided into the following three sections:

SKETCHING PROPER PROPORTIONS: You sketch the proportions of the zebra’s head and neck.

SNOUT, STRIPES, AND MORE STRIPES: You use your observation skills to outline Spot’s snout, mouth, and stripes in preparation for adding shading.

SHADING TEXTURES AND STRIPES: Numerous illustrations show you how to render the delightful stripes and fuzzy texture of Spot’s fur, and the textures of her eyes, nose, ears, and mane.

This advanced project is recommended for artists with good drawing skills, from age 12 to adult, as well as home schooling, academic and recreational fine art educators.

32 PAGES – 51 ILLUSTRATIONS Published by Hoddinott Fine Art Publishers, Halifax, NS, Canada – 2005 (Revised 2006)

Copyright to all articles, images, text, projects, lessons and exercises within this drawing class belong to Brenda Hoddinott and may not be reproduced or used for any commercial purposes whatsoever without the written permission of Brenda Hoddinott.

E-mail: [email protected] Web site: http://www.drawspace.com or http://www.finearteducation.com

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SKETCHING PROPER PROPORTIONS In this section you sketch the proportions of the zebra’s head and neck. While the understructures of an anatomically correct zebra are very complex, this caricature of a baby zebra is kept simple.

1) Draw an egg-shape as the large upper section of the head. Use an HB pencil and sketch very lightly! Leave lots of space on your drawing paper, above and below the egg-shape, to add the ears, snout, and neck.

2) Add a U-shape below the head as his snout. Constantly double check the proportions of each section of your sketch as you go, by visually measuring the shapes and spaces, and their relationships to one another.

ILLUSTRATION 07-01 ILLUSTRATION 07-02

Don’t press too hard with your pencils! No matter how careful you are, you may need to erase and modify various lines. Lightly drawn lines are easy to erase!



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ILLUSTRATION 07-03

3) Sketch triangular shapes to mark the locations of the eyes. The eyes are located approximately halfway between the top and bottom of the egg-shape.

ILLUSTRATION 07-04

4) Sketch two upside-down U-shapes as the ears. Take note that the U-shapes of the ears are slightly larger than the muzzle-shape.

As the old saying goes, “There’s safety in numbers”! Herds of zebras often merge together to become one larger family, sometimes with several hundred members.

When zebras cluster together into a single huge mass of stripes, it’s almost impossible for predators to see where one animal begins and another ends. Hence, all members are safer.



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ILLUSTRATION 07-05 5) Sketch an oval

inside each ear.

6) Add a slightly curved line along the right side of the ear on the left.

7) Sketch the section of his mane in between his ears with a fuzzy outline.

8) Add a slightly curved line on the right to mark the location of the upper edge of his neck.

9) Use a fuzzy outline to mark the location of the mane.

Zebras live together in stable, close-knit herds, in which adult females are the leaders and adult males are the protectors of the family.

Zebras are very sociable animals, and their bold stripes allow them to be easily spotted by other zebras, so as to easily make new friends.



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OUTLINING EARS, FACE, MANE, AND NECK In this section you outline all parts of the zebra with either neat lines or fuzzy outlines. What I call a “fuzzy outline” is actually a type of hatching. When you look at outline drawings (or contour drawings) of many animals from a distance, the perimeter appears to be one raggedy line. In fact, when you look closely, you can see that some of the edges of the fur are made up of numerous curved hatching lines that are ragged, and of various lengths and thicknesses.


To show you what I mean, examine this contour drawing of a dog and the close-up views of the hatching lines which make up parts of his outlines.

ILLUSTRATION 07-08

ILLUSTRATION 07-09



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10) Lighten all your sketch lines by patting them with your kneaded eraser.

11) Redraw the upper section of the head including the ears and mane, with either neat lines or fuzzy outlines as shown in the following four illustrations.

ILLUSTRATION 07-10

ILLUSTRATION 07-11



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ILLUSTRATION 07-12

ILLUSTRATION 07-13



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ILLUSTRATION 07-14

In recent years, severe droughts in East Africa have harshly affected the natural habitats of zebras, and subsequently caused high mortality rates.

12) Outline the sides of Spot’s face, paying special attention to the sections where the eyes are located.

Take your time and draw your outlines very slowly and carefully!



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ILLUSTRATION 07-15

When drawing an oval, circle, or partial circle, rotate your paper and examine the shape from different perspectives. Look at its reflection in a mirror to help locate problem areas.

13) Add the outlines of the zebra’s eyes. Check that both eyes are approximately the same size, and located along the same horizontal plane.



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ILLUSTRATION 07-16 1) Upper Eyelid: the fold of skin above the

eyeball that opens and closes 2) Highlight: a tiny bright spot where light

bounces off the shiny surface of the eye 3) Pupil: the dark circle inside the iris 4) Iris: the big circular shape of the eye that

varies in value from very light to very dark 5) White of the Eye: the visible section of the

eyeball, that is light in value. 6) Inner Corner: the small section of the eye

in the inside corner 7) Lower Eyelid: the smaller fold of skin

below the eyeball 14) Outline the upper eyelids, the inner corners, the whites, the irises, and the edges of the

lower eyelids. The irises appear as partial circles because the upper sections are under the upper eyelids.

ILLUSTRATION 07-17

15) Sketch tiny circles as the highlights of the eyes, and add the pupils inside the irises.

ILLUSTRATION 07-18



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SNOUT, STRIPES, AND MORE STRIPES In this section, text instructions are kept to a minimum. You use your observation skills to outline Spot’s snout, mouth, and stripes in preparation for adding shading.


ILLUSTRATION 07-21 16) Add stripes to Spot’s

face with thin neat lines. Begin with a triangular shape in the middle of Spot’s forehead and add another smaller triangle inside. Then add a spot in the center, and you’ll understand how Spot got her name!

Continue adding stripes. The directions in which the lines curve are very important because they indicate the major forms of the anatomical understructures.



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Don’t worry about trying to draw your stripes exactly like mine. However, pay close attention to the various directions in which the outlines of the stripes curve. Also, you should draw large stripes where mine are large (as on her body), and smaller spots where mine are small (such as on her forehead).

ILLUSTRATION 07-22

The striped patterns of zebras, especially on the shoulders, vary from one animal to another, making individual animals easier to identify within large herds. For example, a young foal can find her mother by searching for her familiar patterns. The distinctive patterns also help researchers to identify and track specific zebras throughout long-term studies.



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ILLUSTRATION 07-23



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ILLUSTRATION 07-24



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ILLUSTRATION 07-25

17) Add a more detailed outer edge to the mane with raggedy hatching lines.

18) Outline the stripes on Spot’s mane with curved lines.

The lower right sections of the mane are farther away from Spot’s head.

Hence, as per the basic rules of perspective, the stripes in this section are slightly smaller.

19) Outline the perimeter of Spot’s snout and the lower edge of her mouth.

The directions in which the lines curve are important, because they help give the illusion of form to the various sections of the zebra’s face, head, and neck.



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20) Use gently curved lines to begin outlining the stripes of her neck and chest.

21) Add Spot’s nostrils and the opening to her mouth.

ILLUSTRATION 07-26

ILLUSTRATION 07-27

22) Continue outlining stripes as in Illustrations 07-28 and 07-29.



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ILLUSTRATION 07-28



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ILLUSTRATION 07-29

23) Check over your outline and touch up any sections you aren’t happy with.

24) Pat you entire drawing with your kneaded eraser to lighten all your sketch lines.



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SHADING TEXTURES AND STRIPES In this section, numerous illustrations show you how to draw the delightful stripes and fuzzy texture of Spot’s fur, and the textures of her eyes, nose, ears, and mane. Light affects the placement and value of every section of shading, which in turn helps define the basic exterior forms and shapes which characterize her bone and muscular structures.

Remember, different values are created by:

Varying the density of the lines you draw. Density refers to whether the individual hatching lines are close together or far apart.

Varying the pressure used in holding your pencils. For light lines you press very lightly with your pencil. Press harder with your pencil to make darker lines.

Using different grades of pencils from 2H to 6B.

ILLUSTRATION 07-30

Examine this illustration of the completed drawing. Take note that the light source is from the upper left, so the shading is darker on the lower right and in the sections that are in shadow.

A zebra has both black and white stripes. Black stripes are shaded with values that range from middle to dark. Light to medium values are used to represent white stripes.

Also, keep in mind that a broad range of values gives contrast between the sections that are close to the light source and those that are in shadow. For example, the values used for the black stripes in the shadow areas are quite dark. In contrast, the sections of black stripes that are closer to the light source are much lighter in value.

The hatching lines used to draw fur are ragged and uneven with lines of various lengths.



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ILLUSTRATION 07-31 25) Use a 2H pencil

to add light values to identify Spot’s black stripes. These hatching lines identify the stripes that need to be shaded with dark values, and also map out the directions in which the fur grows. Hence, take your time and constantly refer to my drawing as a guideline.

Always place a piece of clean paper under your hand as you draw.

Each time you work on a new section, remember to move your paper so it’s always under your hand.

This prevents you from smudging the drawing, and protects the paper from the oils in your skin.



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26) Use raggedy hatching lines and various pencils to add shading to the black stripes on Spot’s face as in Illustration 07-32. Black stripes are best rendered with soft pencils from 2B to 4B. The values are darker on the right and lower right. Yet, the edge of the face on the far right is slightly lighter. This rim of reflected light helps accentuate the three-dimensional forms.

ILLUSTRATION 07-32

27) Outline the side of the face on the right with a freshly sharpened 2B pencil.

ILLUSTRATION 07-33

Illustration 07-33 shows a close-up of the raggedy hatching lines that make up the white and black stripes.



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28) Add shading to the white stripes with raggedy hatching lines. Pencils from 2H to 2B are ideal for shading white stripes.

ILLUSTRATION 07-34



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ILLUSTRATION 07-35

29) Add shading to the small tuff of mane in the very front (in between Spot’s ears).

ILLUSTRATION 07-36

The section of the mane in the very front (as in Illustration 07-35), is blended into the stripes of the upper forehead with hatching lines.

ILLUSTRATION 07-37

Long raggedy hatching lines, behind the front tuff of the mane, are shaded very dark (see Illustration 07-36).

The section of the mane on the far left is lighter in value than the corresponding section on the right side, which is in shadow (refer to Illustration 07-37).



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30) Use a full range of values from very light to almost black to add shading to the upper eyelids, eyelashes, irises, pupils, whites of the eyes, and lower eyelids. Remember, the light source is from the upper right. The upper eyelid crease is very dark and the values graduate lighter toward the lower edge of the upper eyelid. Outline the irises, highlights and the corners of the eyes. Add shading to the lower eyelid.

ILLUSTRATION 07-38

Draw the eyelashes with a very sharp pencil. Make sure they are darker closer to the upper eyelid.

ILLUSTRATION 07-39 Medium values are added to the various parts of the eye. Note the sections that are lighter than others.

ILLUSTRATION 07-40 With dark values, the eyes come to life. The highlight of the eye on the right is shaded lightly rather than left white.



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ILLUSTRATION 07-41

31) Add shading to the lower section of Spot’s face, her snout, nostrils, and mouth. The fur is very short in these sections; hence, short hatching lines work best. The sections that are light in value help give the illusion of form.

ILLUSTRATION 07-42

32) Add shading to Spot’s ears (Illustrations 07-43 to 07-46). You can leave the highlighted strands of fur white, and work with the negative space around them and/or use a kneaded eraser shaped to a wedge to pull out individual strands.

To make individual strands appear a little thinner, use a very light (2H), freshly sharpened pencil to outline the edges. Be very careful not to make the outlines too dark or the fur no longer looks soft and natural.



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ILLUSTRATION 07-45

ILLUSTRATION 07-46



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Burchell's zebras, now extinct, lived in South Africa until the early 20th century. They had no stripes on their hindquarters, and were reddish-yellow with black stripes instead of white with black stripes. Sadly, this subspecies was over-hunted until finally none were left. The very last Burchell's zebra on earth lived in the Berlin zoo until it died in 1918.

ILLUSTRATION 07-47

33) Refer to Illustrations 07-47and 07-48 to complete the shading of her mane, neck, and shoulders.

The directions in which the stripes curve on her body create the illusion of three dimensional forms. Also note that the stripes of her mane line up with those on her body.

The overall shading is very dark in the shadow sections closest to her face. At the same time, the shading fades out toward the outer edges so as to not detract from her gorgeous face.



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ILLUSTRATION 07-48



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34) Beginning at the top of her ears, check over your shading and touch up any sections you aren’t happy with (refer to Illustrations 07-49 to 07-51).

35) Erase any fingerprints, or smudges with your kneaded eraser molded to a point (or a sharp edge of your vinyl eraser).

ILLUSTRATION 07-49

If you enjoy drawing stripes on a zebra, you may also enjoy drawing spots on a giraffe (T-04 Dandy) or a Dalmatian (T-02 Shadow).

Check out the advanced section of http://www.drawspace.com



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Take note of the modifications I made to Spot’s snout by adding more contrast, and making small changes to the shape of her nostrils.

ILLUSTRATION 07-50

When you practice sketching animals from life, you increase your ability to draw quickly, improve the fluidity of your lines, and sharpen your observation skills. Animals rarely stay still for more than a few seconds at a time, but with lots of practice and patience, sketches become quick and easy to capture.



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ILLUSTRATION 07-51



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BRENDA HODDINOTT - BIOGRAPHY As a self-educated teacher, visual artist, portraitist, forensic artist, and illustrator, Brenda Hoddinott utilizes diverse art media including graphite, technical pen, colored pencil, chalk pastel, charcoal, conté crayon, and oil paints.

My philosophy on teaching art is to focus primarily on the enjoyment aspects while gently introducing the technical and academic. Hence, in creating a passion for the subject matter,

the quest for knowledge also becomes enjoyable. >Brenda Hoddinott<

Born in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Brenda grew up in the small town of Corner Brook. She developed strong technical competencies with a personal commitment to self directed learning, and the aid of assorted “Learn to Draw” books. During Brenda’s twenty-five year career as a self-educated civilian forensic artist, numerous criminal investigation departments have employed Brenda’s skills, including Royal Canadian Mounted Police and municipal police departments. In 1992, Brenda was honored with a commendation from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and in 1994, she was awarded a Certificate of Membership from “Forensic Artists International”.

Her home-based art career included graphic design, and teaching recreational drawing and painting classes. As supervisor of her community’s recreational art department, Brenda hired and trained teachers, and designed curriculum for several children’s art programs. In 1998, Brenda chose to end her eighteen-year career as an art educator in order to devote more time to writing, drawing, painting, and developing her websites.

Drawspace http://www.drawspace.com incorporates her unique style and innovative approach to curriculum development. This site offers downloadable and printable drawing classes for students of all abilities from the age of eight through adult. Students of all ages, levels and abilities have praised the simple step-by-step instructional approach. This site is respected as a resource for fine art educators, home schooling programs, and educational facilities throughout the world.

LEARN-TO-DRAW BOOKS BY BRENDA HODDINOTT Drawing for Dummies (2003): Wiley Publishing, Inc., New, York, NY, this 336 page book

is available on various websites and in major bookstores internationally.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Drawing People (2004): Winner of the Alpha-Penguin Book of the Year Award 2004, Alpha - Pearson Education – Macmillan, Indianapolis, IN, this 360 page book is available on various websites and in major bookstores internationally.

t07 a zebra named spot

Education

brenda hoddinott t

drawing class

zebras head

sketch triangular shapes

herds of zebras

good drawing skills

delightful stripes

bold stripes