Lesson 1 | Open spots 

Hello, happy sketching!

An exercise with open lines. Our protagonists are fish. Go to Turbosquid.com and look for the fish of your taste, it should be a 360 de-gree rotating application.

Here I have such a fish.

The task is briefly explained. Sketch the fish. But let at least 5 spaces open where you think

1. a gap would be ok.
2. Where light reflects,
3. Where you suggest further texture
4. Where you want to show speed
5. Where you want to inhance contrasts.

First of all, open spots are difficult places where you can use this rule particularly well.
Because there is a Gestaltgesetz, the law of continuity, which concerns us very much in sketching.

Continuing on a path is the instinctive reaction of the eye when it receives a directional impulse. In the diagram here we perceive two curves: one runs from A to B and the other from C to D. Closely related to the law of continuity is the law of smooth progression. We tend to „continue“ contours that have smooth transitions, i.e. no abrupt changes of direction, bends, or angles. Because the line from A to B is smoother than from A to C, we see it as such. This helps us to see objects together and apart correctly.

Now we come to the scales: The law of similarity takes up the observation that optical stimuli with the same or similar structure are classified as belonging together.

We do not draw all the scales. 10-20 scales are enough, then the observer has understood… ah, the fish has scales, and that is natural. So we rely on our optical memory … and this is always better than any sketch.

You don’t have to draw everything, it’s enough to give the eye the hint. And that’s it.

Wherever the finished form can be completed by the eye, i.e. where the law of continuity applies, you can leave the sketch open.

Where the optical memory completes, this is considered the best, this is also called induction. This means that the viewer supplements the missing pictorial information with his visual knowledge. Here, however, one must always refer to the cultural background.

As this way of seeing is used every day by all of us, this is not a problem at all. On the contrary: it allows the viewer to bring in himself, which challenges and delights him. They feel mirrored in the picture.

The viewers perceive „nonfinito“ pictures as a beautiful challenge. No wonder artists everywhere around the globe take advantage of this.

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Let’s see the advantages in this drawing.

In a drawing, intentionally leaving some parts of the drawing blank, without any marks or shading is very often done. These open areas serve several purposes:

To create contrast
Leaving open areas in a drawing can help to create contrast and emphasize the areas that are shaded or detailed. The blank areas pro-vide a visual break for the eye, and draw at-tention to the areas that are more important or detailed.

To suggest light
Open areas can also suggest areas of light in the drawing, particularly if the areas around them are shaded or darker. This can create a sense of depth and dimension in the drawing, and help to create the illusion of light and shadow.

To suggest texture
Leaving open areas can also suggest the tex-ture of the surface being depicted. For exam-ple, leaving blank areas in a drawing of a rough stone or brick wall can suggest the rough texture of the surface.

To suggest movement
Leaving open areas can also suggest move-ment or flow in the drawing. For example, leav-ing open areas in a drawing of water can sug-gest the movement and flow of the water.

In terms of where to leave open areas in a drawing, this will depend on the subject matter and the artist’s personal style. However, gen-erally, open areas are left in areas of the draw-ing that the artist wants to emphasize, such as the focal point of the composition or the areas that are meant to suggest light or texture.

So, eyes open – lines also open