Effects of water

by Ronnie
(Johnsonville S.C.)

How can you get life like effects when drawing like streams or rivers that make it look real?

I have been trying to engrave on guns but I need to know how to draw the scene first as I have been downloading pictures & transferring them to steel & then cutting them but the effects of water really kills me like reflections in water or getting a glass look on the water.

I've really been trying hard to learn to draw, maybe too hard if there is such a thing.

Thanks,
Ronnie

Answer From Kerry:

Hi Ronnie,
If you are in the process of learning to draw, water would be a really hard topic to master simply because it involves a lot of variables. Perspective is one of those variables and it does apply when we draw water.

However, I champion anyone who is teaching themselves to draw and I think we will always find answers if we look and try hard enough.

Still water is just like a mirror. Reflections vary according to conditions such as weather, currents, wind or waves. In general, a reflection is darker than the image reflected and every reflection has its own shape. Observation is the key when you draw reflections.

Moving water cannot be represented but you can suggest it putting in strokes that follow the ripples. Ripples become further apart and larger as they come towards you.

I will be doing a page dedicated to water, it's on my to-do list and I hope to have it finished one day soon. I hope I have helped you a little bit, Ronnie. There are some fantastic artists here who will also be able to help you. Please keep referring back to this page for more answers.