Drawing, Sketching and Basic Design Principles
Drawing here is judged on construction, measurement and composition rather than fine-art flair. Expect a small design task - motif layout, colour scheme, thumbnail set - plus theory on elements, principles and colour.
Keep elements and principles apart
- Elements: line, shape, form, space, value, colour, texture.
- Principles: balance, rhythm and repetition, proportion, emphasis, harmony, unity, contrast, movement. Rhythm is how repetition is arranged, not an element itself; that mix-up is the most frequent lost mark.
Construct, then commit
Block the whole shape with light construction lines - ovals, axes, a centre line - check proportion, then draw contour, then add tone. For figures use talamana: face height equals one tala, and major deities are allotted more talas than mortals, which is why divine figures read taller and calmer than human ones.
Colour theory in one paragraph
Primaries are red, yellow and blue; secondaries orange, green and violet; tertiaries fall between. Complementary pairs sit opposite on the wheel (red/green, blue/orange) and produce contrast; analogous neighbours (yellow, yellow-orange, orange) produce harmony. A tint adds white, a shade adds black, a tone adds grey - do not swap tint and shade.
Worked example
Enlarge a 5 cm × 5 cm lotus motif to 15 cm × 15 cm. Scale factor = 15 ÷ 5 = 3, so every measured length triples. Draw a 1 cm grid over the original, transfer to a 3 cm grid, and plot each intersection. Freehand enlargement loses proportion, and proportion is what is marked.
Traps
Light source shifting between two objects in one composition; outlines drawn with no underlying construction; writing “contrasting colours” without naming the pair; forgetting margin and border space in a repeat layout; shading a sphere with a hard edge instead of a soft terminator.