How to Draw Window Shutters
Whether you are trying to complete a picture of your house or explain to a contractor the way you want your renovation to look, learning to draw window shutters will help you turn lessons on balance, proportion and dimension in drawing into an expression of something real. Shutters often provide the perfect finishing touch to outer decor.
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Instructions
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Measure your window, then measure the shutters. What matters here is not drawing perfectly to scale but in proportion. A window that looks wide and short with shutters may be longer and taller than you think. If you do not have shutters on your window, now's the time to experiment with the effects of different sizes of shutters. Originally shutters protected windows from bad weather, so each panel was exactly half the size of the window. Decorative shutters can be whatever width you like best.
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Remember that drawing shutters needs to include the way they are attached to the window frame and convey a sense that they stand out slightly from the wall. Your hardware does not have to be portrayed in exact detail; just show how and where attachments fit. Some decorative shutters don't have hardware--they are nailed or screwed to the nearby wall. No matter which way your shutters are attached, you can make them stand out by adding a bit of shadow. See Step 3.
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3
Give your shutters a shadow. If you have real shutters, watch them at different times of day and see the shadows. Drawing a light line parallel to the outer edge and bottom edge of one shutter, then filling it with light diagonal lines provides a shadow. You need to reverse your strategy on the other shutter. If the "sunshine" on your shutter casts a shadow to the left, that needs to be the case with both shutters. Convey this on the second shutter using a bottom edge shadow only. After all, if one side-shadow goes to the left, so does the other--unless you want to ornament your picture with two suns.
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Finish with any other details that make your shutters realistic. Use magazine pictures for details if you're trying out styles. You may want to try board-and-batten, cutout, and louvered styles if you're choosing a new look. Shutters can add a distinctive look to your windows--and now you can put exactly the look you want on paper.
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