Creating Depth Challenge

If I gave you a list of items to include in a composition could you put them together in a way that would give the illusion of depth? I wrote a post a month ago titled, Rules for Creating Depth on a Flat Surface. If you haven’t read that yet you might want to read it now and then come back to this article.

If you have the knowledge from the article I referenced above you should be able to place items together to give the sense of space and depth on a piece of paper.

So, let’s practice. Take the creating depth challenge. Put everything on the list into a drawing or painting.

Here is the list:

1. A barn or house,
2. Three trees,
3. A pathway, road, or trail,
4. A river or pond,
5. Some shrubs or flowers,
6. and a fence.

Make a simple pencil drawing with light pressure. That way you can erase easily if something doesn’t look right the first time. Try moving the placement and size of items. Think about a light source and whether or not there will be shadows in the drawing.

You also may want to add color and use brighter colors in the foreground. Overlap some of the objects in the design also. Make your three trees different sizes with the largest one in the front and lower on the page.

The art work I have included in this post are watercolor paintings by my Art I students. The students created them after being given the challenge I gave you here. The only difference is that I asked them to incorporate a Christmas theme in their design.

You can do this challenge over and over arranging the items in different ways. You can also add additional objects to the list if you want to. Have fun with the assignment. When you are done, do an evaluation. Does the art work give the impression of depth? Email me some of your designs. I might include them in a future post.