How to draw a fortress with a pen or pencil

In this lesson we will look at how to draw a fortress with a simple pen in stages, you can also use the pencil technique. Very good tutorial with very detailed explanations. The author of the lesson, Luis Serrano, drew this picture with a pen and the lesson will focus on the technique of drawing with a pen.

The first step is to choose a suitable picture for drawing. This photo captures very well the perspective of the towers themselves and the perspective of the slope of the ground on which the wall de Ávila is built.

Step 1. We make the initial sketch with a pencil, working through all the details, since the pen does not allow you to make corrections if the sketch is built incorrectly. Try, if possible, to make fewer corrections, which leads to friability of the paper, i.e. erase less with an eraser. This will be very noticeable if you draw with a pen on this area, because. paper absorbs ink very well. For the painting, he uses A4 cardboard paper. He likes paintings that are drawn with a pen so that there is free space on the side, so he stepped back from the edge on each side horizontally (sideways) 6 inches (15,24cm), vertically (top and bottom) 4 (10,16cm), and draw a rectangle.

We start drawing with lines of perspective. We make a sketch with a pencil B, do not press hard on the paper, then we will erase these lines. First we draw the ground, then we start drawing the towers, we draw the towers schematically, with rectangles. Then we begin to detail while it is necessary to observe all proportions. We will also draw a border of shadows on the towers, in order to make it easier to draw with a pen.

Step 2. Training. How to learn to draw with a pen.

Before you start drawing with a pen, you need to train your wrist. All lines are drawn parallel, lines can be horizontal, vertical, diagonal. It is necessary to draw strokes with a pen quickly, without hesitation and with a brush (wrist), it is not necessary to move with the whole arm or from the elbow, we draw only with the hand. An example is in the picture below. Be sure to practice before starting work on the picture. Be sure to complete the drawing from the second row is the latest. Draw a curved line with a pencil and start drawing vertical lines with a pen. The author recommends that you definitely do these exercises in order to train the brush, because. drawing with a pen does not give you the opportunity to change something, unlike a pencil.

Step 3. How to draw a wall with a pen. The principle and sequence is the same as when drawing with a pencil. It is advisable to draw from left to right (if you are right-handed, if you are left-handed, then from right to left). We just start tracing the lines without going into details to create a sense of depth for the farthest towers.

Step 4. Then we continue on the same principle with columns, following the basic rule that “the closer, the more detailed”, i.e. at the far towers, we just sketch out shadows and lines to simulate stones. But with the approach, the details should be clearer and traced.

Step 5. An important aspect. The shadow that repeats the shape of the tower is hatched with vertical and horizontal lines, because slanted shading can give the impression that the tower is falling. Draw horizontal lines along the tower and very short vertical lines to simulate stones.

Step 6. We continue to draw the remaining towers. The principle of drawing is the same, the difficulty is to define up and down and be careful not to go beyond the outline.

Step 7. How to draw the ground with a pen. As soon as we finished drawing the wall, we begin to draw the foreground - a field with a bunch of stones. Let's start drawing with imitation of the shadow from the grass, always horizontal small lines. This will create shadows that mimic small hills and slopes. A lot of grass is not worth drawing, because. it should be at least. After that, we begin to draw stones in the foreground, draw more, because. they are closer to us. The top of the stones is illuminated, so it is almost white. On the stones, the author uses strokes of different directions to create a feeling of surface roughness.

Step 8. We continue to draw stones on the field. On small stones, make vertical strokes with a pen to simulate grass, not to draw straight lines between stones and grass.

Step 9. We continue to draw stones, small details should not be drawn on them, because. they are in the distance, and draw more grass lines to simulate shadows and small weeds. In the distance, we draw horizontal lines at the base of detached buildings to give them remoteness.

Step 10. How to draw the sky with a pen. We simply stroke the irregular shape with horizontal lines (note that the drawn clouds do not match the photo). We sign our work. Now very carefully erase the lines drawn with a pencil so as not to damage the strokes made by the pen. Pen drawing isn't too difficult, it just requires good initial planning, a good pencil sketch, and a lot of patience. I hope you enjoyed it. This is the end result of the pen drawing.

Author: Luis Serrano , his website (source): www.luisserrano.com

The translation is not literal, because I translated through a translator, and then converted it into a more readable form. If anyone has any comments and corrections on the translation, leave them in the comments, I will correct the lesson.