Prompt
Create a painting using our reference photos of an oil refinery. Aim to balance between showing a convincing sense of structure with a broad range of textures in the forms and surfaces.
Examples
@pandapufkin, Steen, Trent
Tips
Blocking patches of color in the negative space around the oil refinery can often times be faster than trying to draw individual parts one at a time.
Begin by knocking in the largest shapes and incrementally move to the smallest shapes.
Try to forget that you are drawing an oil refinery, instead, squint at the reference photo and break it down into a series of abstract shapes.\
Transforming the reference photos
Think of the oil refinery reference photos as “raw” materials that you manipulate and dramatically transform. You can take this in ANY direction you want: invent a narrative, create a world, make the image your own.
Visual Style
Do you want the image to have a sci-fi look, a foreboding atmosphere, a quirky and playful style? Try to avoid a direct copy of the reference photo, that’s not what this prompt is about.
While technique is part of the process, this is your chance to really show us what you want to say as an artist! Feel free to add other imagery as well, you don’t have to stick with only the oil refinery photos.
The reference photos have very high resolution, we recommend zooming in and so you can really investigate what the photo has to offer.
Texture
The oil refinery is constructed of many rigid materials like metal, how will you distinguish the metal visually compared to something made of wood
Texture is often what gives an object “character,” draw from the experience you had in week 3 with the Texture Cubes.
Recommended software
Procreate, Krita, Adobe Photoshop, Clip Studio Paint, Paint Tool SAI, Adobe Fresco, MediBang Paint, Gimp
Inspiration
Sidney Hurwitz, Frederick Mershimer, Ezra Jack Keats
We want to share your progress!
- Did you do this lesson?
- Submit to have your work to be posted here on this page or mentioned in a live stream.
Drawing an Oil Refinery in Adobe Fresco
This video demonstrates techniques for drawing manmade structures, focusing on an oil refinery. Media used in this tutorial are Adobe Fresco and brush pen markers with a water brush.
Explored in the video is how to tackle large, complex structures in a drawing, what to focus on, and how to compose the piece in a way that balances the larger shapes with the details.
Demo by Art Prof Clara Lieu and Guest Teaching Artist Mia Rozear.
Elements of Art: Space
This video explores Space in 2D artworks, one of the Elements of Art. Topics include how to create the illusion of space in a 2D artwork, ways to create depth through atmospheric perspective, point of view, and articulation.
Discussion led by Art Prof Clara Lieu and Teaching Artist Lauryn Welch.
