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CHAPTER 1
GETTING STARTED
TOOLS & MATERIALS
Drawing Paper
Drawing paper is available in a range of surface textures (called "tooth"), including smooth grain (plate finish and hot-pressed), medium grain (cold-pressed), and rough to very rough. Cold-pressed paper is the most versatile and is great for a variety of drawing techniques. For finished works of art, using single sheets of drawing paper is best.
Sketch Pads Sketch pads come in many shapes and sizes. Although most are not designed for finished artwork, they are useful for working out your ideas.
Erasers There are several types of art erasers. Plastic erasers are useful for removing hard pencil marks and large areas. Kneaded erasers (a must) can be molded into different shapes and used to dab at an area, gently lifting tone from the paper.
Tortillons These paper blending "stumps" can be used to blend and soften small areas when your finger or a cloth is too large. You also can use the sides to blend large areas quickly. Once the tortillons become dirty, simply rub them on a cloth, and they're ready to go again.
DRAWING IMPLEMENTS
Drawing pencils contain a graphite center. They are categorized by hardness, or grade, from very soft (9B) to very hard (9H). A good starter set includes a 6B, 4B, 2B, HB, B, 2H, 4H, and 6H. The chart below shows a variety of
HB An HB with a sharp point produces crisp lines and offers good control. A round point produces slightly thicker lines and is useful for shading small areas.
Flat For wider strokes, use a 4B with a flat point. A large, flat sketch pencil is great for shading bigger areas.
Charcoal 4B charcoal is soft and produces dark marks. Natural charcoal vines are even softer and leave a more crum bly residue on the paper. White charcoal pencils are useful for blending and lightening areas.
Conté Crayon or Pencil Conté crayon is made from very fine Kaolin clay and is available in a wide range of colors. Because it's water-soluble, it can be blended with a wet brush or cloth.
Sharpening Your Pencils
A Utility Knife Use this tool to form a variety of points (chiseled, blunt, or flat). Hold the knife at a slight angle to the pencil shaft, and always sharpen away from you, taking off a little wood and graphite at a time.
A Sandpaper Block This tool will quickly hone the lead into any shape you wish. The finer the grit of the paper, the more controllable the point. Roll the pencil in your fingers when sharpening to keep its shape even.
BASIC PENCIL TECHNIQUES
You can create an incredible variety of effects with a pencil. By using various hand positions and shading techniques, you can produce a world of different stroke shapes, lengths, widths, and weights.
Hatching This basic method of shading involves filling an area with a series of parallel strokes. The closer the strokes, the darker the tone will be.
Crosshatching For darker shading, place layers of parallel strokes on top of one another at varying angles. Again, make darker values by placing the strokes closer together.
Shading Darkly By applying heavy pressure to the pencil, you can create dark linear areas of shading.
Gradating To create gradated values (from dark to light), apply heavy pressure with the side of your pencil, gradually lightening the pressure as you stroke.
Blending To smooth out the transitions between strokes, gently rub the lines with a blending tool or tissue.
Shading with Texture For a mottled texture, use the side of the pencil tip to apply small uneven strokes.
CREATING FORM
The first step when creating an object is to establish a line drawing to delineate the flat area that the object takes up. This is known as the "shape" of the object.
A shape can be further defined by showing how light hits the object to create highlights and shadows. First note from which direction the source of light is coming. In these examples, the light source is beaming from the upper right.
PRACTICING LINES
When drawing lines, it is not necessary to always use a sharp point. In fact, sometimes a blunt point may create a more desirable effect. When using larger lead diameters, the effect of a blunt point is even more evident. Play around with your pencils to familiarize yourself with the different types of lines they can create. Make every kind of stroke you can think of, using both a sharp point and a blunt point. Practice the strokes below to help you loosen up.
Drawing with a Sharp Point
First draw a series of parallel lines. Try them vertically; then angle them. Make some of them curved, trying both short and long strokes. Then try some wavy lines at an angle and some with short, vertical strokes. Try making a spiral and then grouping short, curved lines together. Then practice varying the weight of the line as you draw. Os, Vs, and Us are some of the most common alphabet shapes used in drawing.
Drawing with a Blunt Point
Practice the same exercises with a blunt point. Even if you use the same hand positions and strokes, the results will be different when you switch pencils. Take a look at these examples. The same shapes were drawn with both pencils, but the blunt pencil produced different images. You can create a blunt point by rubbing the tip of the pencil on a sandpaper block or on a rough piece of paper.
"PAINTING" WITH PENCIL
When you use painterly strokes, your drawing will take on a new dimension. Think of your pencil as a brush and allow yourself to put more of your arm into the stroke. To create this effect, try using the underhand position, holding your pencil between your thumb and forefinger and using the side of the pencil. (See below.) If you rotate the pencil in your hand every few strokes, you will not have to sharpen it as frequently. The larger the lead, the wider the stroke will be. The softer the lead, the more painterly an effect you will have. These examples were all made on smooth paper with a 6B pencil, but you can experiment with rough papers for more broken effects.
Starting Simply First experiment with vertical, horizontal, and curved strokes. Keep the strokes close together and begin with heavy pressure. Then lighten the pressure with each stroke.
Varying the Pressure Randomly cover the area with tone, varying the pressure at different points. Continue to keep your strokes loose.
Using Smaller Strokes Make small circles for the first example. This is reminiscent of leathery animal skin. For the second exam ple (at far right), use short, alter nating strokes of heavy and light pressure to create a pattern that is similar to stone or brick.
Loosening Up Use long vertical strokes, varying the pressure for each stroke until you start to see long grass (at right). Then use somewhat looser move ments that could be used for water (far right top). Next use a wavy movement, varying the pressure (far right bottom).
The Writing Position The writing position provides the most control in which to produce accurate, precise lines for rendering fine details and accents.
The Underhand Position Place your hand over the pencil and grasp it between the thumb and index finger. Allow your other fingers to rest alongside the pencil. This position is great for creating beautiful shading effects and long, sweeping lines.
MORE PENCIL STROKES
Using Crisscrossed Strokes If you like a good deal of fine detail in your work, you'll find that crosshatching allows you a lot of control (see page 10). You can adjust the depth of your shading by changing the distance between your strokes.
Drawing Small Dots This technique is called "stippling" — many small dots are used to create a larger picture. Make the points different sizes to create various depths and shading effects. Stippling takes a great deal of precision and practice.
Sketching Circular Scribbles If you work with round, loose strokes like these, you are probably very experimental with your art. These looping lines suggest a free-form style that is more concerned with evoking a mood than with capturing precise details.
Simulating Brushstrokes You can create the illusion of brushstrokes by using short, sweeping lines. This captures the feeling of painting but allows you the same control you would get from crosshatching. These strokes are ideal for a more stylistic approach.
Smudging
Smudging is an important technique for creating shading and gradients. Use a tortillon or chamois cloth to blend your strokes. Do not use your finger, be cause your hand, even if clean, has natural oils that can damage your art.
Smudging on Rough Surfaces Use a 6B pencil on vellum-finish Bristol board. Make your strokes with the side of the pencil and blend. In this example, the effect is very granular.
Smudging on Smooth Surfaces Use a 4B pencil on plate-finish Bristol board. Stroke with the side of the pencil, and then blend your strokes with a blending stump.
WORKING WITH DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES
Below are several techniques that are important for creating more painterly effects in your drawing. Remember that B pencils have soft lead and H pencils have hard lead — you will need to use both for these exercises.
Creating Washes First shade an area with a water-soluble pencil (a pencil that produces washes similar to watercolor paint when manipulated with water). Then blend the shading with a wet brush. Make sure your brush isn't too wet, and use thicker paper, such as vellum board.
Rubbing Place paper over an object and rub the side of your pencil lead over the paper. The strokes of your pencil will pick up the pattern and replicate it on the paper. Try using a soft pencil on smooth paper, and choose an object with a strong textural pattern. This example uses a wire grid.
Lifting Out Blend a soft pencil on smooth paper, and then lift out the desired area of graphite with an eraser. You can create highlights and other interesting effects with this technique.
Producing Indented Lines Draw a pattern or design on the paper with a sharp, non-marking object, like a knitting needle or skewer, before drawing with a pencil. When you shade over the area with the side of your pencil, the graphite will not reach the indented areas, leaving white lines.
LEARNING TO SEE
Many beginners draw without really looking carefully at their subject. Try drawing something you know well, such as your hand, without looking at it. Chances are your finished drawing won't look as realistic as you expected. That's because you drew what you think your hand looks like. Instead, you need to forget about all your preconceptions and learn to draw only what you really see in front of you (or in a photo). Two great exercises for training your eye to see are contour drawing and gesture drawing.
CONTOUR DRAWING
In contour drawing, you pick a starting point on your subject and then draw only the contours — or outlines — of the shapes you see. Because you're not looking at your paper, you're training your hand to draw the lines exactly as your eye sees them. Try doing some contour drawings of your own; you'll be surprised at how well you're able to capture the subjects.
"Blind" Drawing For the contour drawing on the left, the artist occasionally looked down at the paper. The drawing on the right is an example of a blind contour drawing, where the artist drew without looking at his paper even once. It's a little distorted, but it's clearly a hand. Blind contour drawing is one of the best ways of making sure you're truly drawing only what you see.
Continuous Line Drawing When drawing this man pushing a wheelbarrow, try glancing only occasionally at your paper to check that you are on track, but concentrate on really looking at the subject and tracing the outlines you see. Instead of lifting your pencil between shapes, keep the line unbroken by freely looping back and crossing over your lines. Notice how this simple technique effectively captures the subject.
Capturing Movement Once you have trained your eye to observe carefully and can draw quickly, you'll be able to capture movement, such as this child looking and then reaching into the bag.
GESTURE AND ACTION DRAWING
Another way to train your eye to see the essential elements of a subject — and train your hand to record them rapidly — is through gesture drawing. Instead of rendering the contours, gesture drawings establish the movement of a figure. First determine the main thrust of the movement, from the head, down the spine, and through the legs; this is the line of action, or action line. Then briefly sketch the general shapes of the figure around this line. These quick sketches are great for practicing drawing figures in action and sharpening your powers of observation.
Starting with an Action Line Once you establish the line of action, try building a "skeleton" stick drawing around it. Here the artist paid attention to the angles of the shoulders, spine, and pelvis. Then he sketched in the placement of the arms, knees, and feet and roughly filled out the basic shapes of the figure.
Studying Repeated Action Group sports provide a great opportunity for practicing gesture drawings and learning to see the essentials. Because the players keep repeating the same action, you will be able to observe each movement closely and keep it in your memory long enough to sketch it correctly.
Working Quickly To capture the action accurately, work quickly, without including even a suggestion of detail. If you want to correct a line, don't stop to erase; just draw over it.
PEOPLE IN PERSPECTIVE
Knowing the principles of perspective (the representation of objects on a two-dimensional surface that creates the illusion of three-dimensional depth and distance) allows you to draw more than one person in a scene realistically. In perspective, eye level is indicated by the horizon line. Imaginary lines receding into space meet on the horizon line at what are known as "vanishing points." Any figures drawn along these lines will be in proper perspective.
Try drawing a frontal view of many heads as if they were in a theater. Start by establishing your vanishing point at eye level. Draw one large head representing the person closest to you, and use it as a reference for determining the sizes of the other figures in the drawing. The technique illustrated above can be applied when drawing entire figures, shown in the diagram below. Although all of these examples include just one vanishing point, a composition can even have two or three vanishing points.
If you're a beginner, you may want to begin with basic one-point perspective, shown on this page. As you progress, attempt to incorporate two- or three-point perspective.
COMPOSITION
The positioning and size of a person on the picture plane (the physical area covered by the drawing) is of utmost importance to the composition. The open or "negative" space around the portrait subject generally should be larger than the area occupied by the subject, providing a sort of personal space surrounding them. Whether you are drawing only the face, a head-and-shoulders portrait, or a complete figure, thoughtful positioning will establish a pleasing composition with proper balance. Practice drawing thumbnail sketches of people to study the importance of size and positioning.
PORTRAITURE BASICS
Correct placement on the picture plane is key to a good portrait, and the eyes of the subject are the key to placement. The eyes catch the viewer's attention first, so they should not be placed on either the horizontal or vertical centerline of the picture plane; preferably, the eyes should be placed above the centerline. Avoid drawing too near the sides, top, or bottom of the picture plane, as this gives an uneasy feeling of imbalance.
Placement of a Portrait These thumbnails show examples of balanced and off-balanced placement.
Multiple Subjects If you are drawing several similarly sized subjects, use the rules of perspective to determine relative size. Draw a vanishing point on a horizon line and a pair of perspective lines. Receding guidelines extended from the perspective lines will indicate the top of the head and chin of faces throughout the composition. The heads become smaller as they get farther from the viewer.
Adding Elements to Portraits
Many portraits are drawn without backgrounds to avoid distracting the viewer from the subject. If you do add background elements to portraits, be sure to control the size, shape, and arrangement of elements surrounding the figure. Additions should express the personality or interests of the subject.
Repetition of Shapes within the Portrait
The features of this woman are emphasized by the simple, abstract elements in the background. The flowing curves fill much of the negative space while accenting the woman's hair and features. Simplicity of form is important in this composition; the portrait highlights only her head and neck. Notice that her eyes meet the eyes of the viewer.
Depicting the Subject's Interest
This portrait of a young man includes a background that shows his interest in rocketry. The straight lines in the background contrast the rounded shapes of the human form. Although the background detail is complex, it visually recedes and serves to balance the man's weight. The focus remains on the man, but we've generated visual interest by adding elements to the composition.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "The Art of Drawing People"
by .
Copyright © 2019 Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc..
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