Class Activity Paper Bag Drawing

Paper Bag Drawing This drawing emphasizes line quality and introduces the use of value (all nine) in the illustration of the wrinkles in the surface texture of a white paper bag. This drawing should take you approximately five days to complete.

DIRECTIONS… Open and slightly crumple the upper half of a white paper bag, unfold it, and place it in front of you with a corner toward you. The top should be a “v” shape (figure 1) or an inverted “v” (figure 2). DO NOT draw it flat or as a straight line. On a 12 inch by 18 inch piece of paper, draw the bag in line, being very careful to show the greatest variety of line quality possible. Use your 2H, HB, and 2B pencils. You do not need to draw all of the wrinkles, but your drawing should show enough of the texture of the bag to be convincing. This should take most of day 1 (Monday).

Figure 1

Figure 2

Look at your bag. Mentally assign values to all areas of the bag texture. You should be able to use all nine. You do not need to add equal amounts of all values. You may have a few 1s, 2s, and 3s, several 4s, 5s, and 6s, not as many 7s, 8s, or 9s. Begin to shade your drawing using the appropriate pencils to achieve the assigned values. Blend your pencil strokes carefully to achieve a smooth gradient for each shape of a wrinkle you have drawn. You will have some areas where the white paper is left white. This should take two or three days (Tuesday and most of Wednesday/Thursday). Finally, draw a horizontal line for a base and a cast shadow on the horizontal table top. Take your time and draw accurately, using what we have discussed in class to produce the best possible drawing.

Before you begin, look again at the example images and look for areas where all nine values can be shown. If you don’t see a “pure” 1 or a “pure” 9 value on the bag, you may need to emphasize a value beyond its real appearance to reach your goal.

Figure 1

Figure 2