Steps on How to Draw a Ghost Town
- 1). Use your reference images to formulate a composition of the ghost town. Decide where you will be placing the buildings and houses, using the best images of each of these elements to fill out your design. You may want to include square roofed facades which are classic icons in western movies as saloons or stores. Include broken railings, windows and doors to create an aged, dilapidated look to the structures. A church, store, saloon and a few houses would represent the typical core of a town.
- 2). Begin with the background and work your way forward. Overlapping the buildings and other objects in front of the background will give you the depth you need to create realism. Flesh out areas in between buildings with broken objects, a picket fence, for example, or a leaning structure ready to fall over. Use different siding and faded signage on storefronts to distinguish one building from another. Don't worry too much about detail at this point but focus on outlining all the objects you want to include.
- 3). Begin to shade in the dark and shaded areas in your drawing. Keep the light coming from the same direction and leave the highlights white. Always begin at the furthest point in your drawing and move forward. Shade in any shadows outside the town itself, and then between buildings, inside doorways and windows and any shadows falling on the ground. Use a cloth to blend in the shaded areas of your drawing. Create smooth transitions from light to dark, unless it is a hard shadow.
- 4). Use an eraser to clearly define your outlines as the cloth may have smudged over these. Retrace lines where necessary and add detail to the buildings. Enhance shadows where needed and keep distinguishing one structure from another using different textures. Draw smooth exteriors on buildings and partial plank siding on others, for example.
- 5). Define the broken window glass, cracked wood railings and other objects that require aging. Continue with this kind of detail until you feel the drawing is finished.
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