Check Out NMA    Learn More About our Partnership
Close and Enjoy Drawabox Ad-free

How to draw textures on objects?

1:10 PM, Saturday July 11th 2020

So I've run into this problem where when I try to draw something and then add nearly the entirety of the texture on it, it ends up looking quite off. Take a look at this, for example: https://imgur.com/a/kIx3XJQ

In a portion of a cactus, I decided to add some texture based on what I saw. In a cactus reference (based on one from Arizona), there are vertical lines running along each form. Even though I thought about cast shadows, it still doesn't look that great (adding silhouette texture probably wouldn't make much of a difference either). In my opinion, the texturing looks quite dense.

My main question is how should I decide what to include in the texture and what not to include? If I were to use fewer vertical lines, then how would I know which ones to actually use over others?

Many thanks.

Report
1 users agree
12:11 AM, Sunday July 12th 2020

Maybe try considering the light source from your reference image. Like doing more texture on the shadow area and less in the light area making sure thoses areas are very well separate! Hope it helps!!

12:48 PM, Wednesday July 15th 2020

Thanks for the reply. I'll give it a go and see how it turns out.

0 users agree
11:00 PM, Tuesday July 14th 2020

Hmmm you could use a gradient like in the texture analysis. More texture on the periphery and less in the face facing the line, and pure black in the faces farther from the light source. (so pure black, 2 lines, stop. You can add weight to the first line by passing a second time). You might want to revisit that gradient exercise on the side (warm up page) before passing to the real thing. The point of textures of drawabox is not really making things look pretty, but giving the 3d form, while describing the surface.

12:55 PM, Wednesday July 15th 2020

Thanks for your reply.

I apologize if I didn't quite understand, but do you mean having dense texture near the silhouette of each form and sparse texture near the center? If so, what if the light source was directly pointed towards the sides of the object? If possible, can you show a diagram of what you mean?

Also, which gradient exercise were you talking about specifically?

2:11 PM, Wednesday July 15th 2020

Hi,

I am talking about the third box of this exercise : https://drawabox.com/lesson/2/textureanalysis

Position your texture depending on where you want your light source to be. I said put the light more near the center because it's easier at first to draw as if the light was coming from you. Then you could move to giving a different orientation to the light, after being comfortable with putting in texture. Well you can skip this step if you don't think it's helpful.

You might want to watch this video. It really helped me understand the concept of texture : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri01PNdEBxQ&feature=youtu.be

At 7:22, on the right, you have a perfect example.

Have fun!

7:37 PM, Saturday July 18th 2020

Alright then. Thanks for your help!

The recommendation below is an advertisement. Most of the links here are part of Amazon's affiliate program (unless otherwise stated), which helps support this website. It's also more than that - it's a hand-picked recommendation of something I've used myself. If you're interested, here is a full list.
Sakura Pigma Microns

Sakura Pigma Microns

A lot of my students use these. The last time I used them was when I was in high school, and at the time I felt that they dried out pretty quickly, though I may have simply been mishandling them. As with all pens, make sure you're capping them when they're not in use, and try not to apply too much pressure. You really only need to be touching the page, not mashing your pen into it.

In terms of line weight, the sizes are pretty weird. 08 corresponds to 0.5mm, which is what I recommend for the drawabox lessons, whereas 05 corresponds to 0.45mm, which is pretty close and can also be used.

This website uses cookies. You can read more about what we do with them, read our privacy policy.