Serving Art Educators
and Students Since 1994
Paper Airplane Drawings
Submitted by: Barbara Rhodes, retired art teacher
Unit: Shading and Value – High School Basic Art I (May also be used for 8th grade)
Total Sessions: 1
Your Drawing of an Paper Airplane or Wad of Paper
Purpose: To strengthen your ability to represent many values, edges, shadows, and printed lines.
Values: Aim for more than 10 values.
Your darks will have to be very, very dark and your lights from very light to medium to be able to show 10 values.
Realistic drawings have more than 25 values.
Edges
We start with a light line for placement
We get rid of the light line by deciding which side is darker. A shaded background can also distinguish lighter areas of the airplanes.
Remember to use a shield if you need a sharp, clean edge
When you look at your finished drawing the only lines you should see are the notebook paper lines (If using lined paper).
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This is an example of paper airplane sketches by Melanie Newcombe. The contour lines on this example are pretty thick but in this assignment, students will end up not having any contour lines. |
Shadows
If your object is laying on a surface be sure your shadow is connected.
If you want your object to look like it is suspended in space or hanging from a string, draw your shadow below and not touching your object.
Compare the value of the shadow to the values on your object. Which is darker?
Printed Lines
The blue printed lines should be the only lines that are constant and shown (If using lined paper).
A line is a shading that has the same thickness.
An edge is a line that is sharp on one edge and soft and varied on the other edge.
Contrast
Sometimes the object is very light.
As an artist, you do have artistic license. That means you can break away from what you actually see to provide more contrast and ‘readability’ to your art.
Remember: LOOK AT YOUR OBJECT MORE THAN YOU LOOK AT YOUR PAPER. (Draw what you see and not what you remember)
Materials
Sketchbooks, notebooks,
