My Home and My Hills

1Gatete on the hill

Gatete stands on the path above his umudugudu. His own house is close. He can see the door, the two windows, even the cooking pot outside.

Far away, over the valley, other houses sit on the next hill. They look tiny — as small as beans.

But they are not tiny houses. They are far away houses. Today you will learn how to show that on paper.

2The ground line

Take your paper. Draw one long line right across it, a little above the middle.

That is your ground line. Above it is the sky. Below it is the ground. This is where the far hills will sit.

Do not draw a strip of blue at the very top and a strip of green at the very bottom with white space in between. In real life the ground goes all the way up to meet the sky. One line. They touch.

Worked example: Gatete draws his home

Watch his order carefully — it matters.

1. The far hills, first. Just above the ground line he draws soft humps, like sleeping cows. They are small and they sit high up on the paper, close to the line. The hills behind other hills are even smaller.
2. His house, next. It stands on the ground, below the line. He makes it much bigger than the hills. A square for the walls, a triangle for the roof, straight lines down the roof for the iron sheets, a door and two windows.
3. The banana tree, last. It is right in front of him, at the very bottom of the paper. So he draws it big — its leaves go up past the roof of the house.

Now look at what Gatete has made. On his paper the little banana tree is taller than a whole hill. Is that a mistake?

No! That is exactly right. The tree is three steps away. The hill is an hour's walk away. Near things look big. Far things look small. His paper is telling the truth about what his eyes see.

3The three rules of near and far

Now you can say the rules:

• Near things: big, low down on the paper, full of little details. You can see the leaves, the door, the handle.
• Far things: small, high up near the ground line, with almost no details. A far house is just a little box. A far person is just a small mark.
• The thing in front covers the thing behind. Gatete's banana tree hides a corner of his house. That corner is gone — you do not draw it. Because the tree covers the house, we know at once that the tree is nearer to us.

4Why you must draw the far things first

Umutoni draws her big mango tree first, right in the middle. Then she wants hills behind it. But her paper is full! She cannot draw a hill behind a tree that is already there.

So work from the back to the front. Far hills, then middle things, then the near things on top of everything. The near things cover what is behind them, and that is what makes your picture look deep.

5Far things are paler

Look at the hills at the end of the valley. They are not strong green. They look pale, soft, a little blue-grey, as if a thin cloud is in front of them.

So press lightly when you colour the far hills, and press hard for the grass at your feet. Pale far, strong near.

Try it yourself

Think about each one. Then check below.

1. You are drawing hills far away behind your house. Do you draw them big or small? Where on the paper?
2. Which do you draw first — the far hills, or the banana tree standing in front of you?
3. In Gatete's picture the tree covers a corner of the house. Which one is nearer to us?
4. Your friend Mutesi is walking far away along the path. Do you draw her eyes, her nose and her mouth?
5. Where does the sky meet the ground in your picture?

Answers

1. Small, and high up on the paper, close to the ground line. Far means small and high.
2. The far hills. Always back to front. If the tree is there first, there is no room to put a hill behind it.
3. The tree. Whatever covers something else is in front of it.
4. No. A far person is just a small mark. Save the little details for the things that are close to you.
5. At the ground line — the long line you drew across the paper. They touch, with no white gap.