LESSON 2 TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES OF DRAWING - II STRUCTURE 2.0
OBJECTIVES
2.1
INTRODUCTION
2.2
THE HAND AS AN EXTENDED TOOL
2.3
USE OF PRESSURE AND CONTROL IN DRAWING 2.3.1 VARYING PRESSURE ON THE PENCIL 2.3.2 VARYING THE GRADE OF THE PENCIL 2.3.3 TEXTURED REPETITION AND OVERWORKING
2.4
ASSIGNMENTS 2.4.1 CLASS ASSIGNMENTS 2.4.2 HOME ASSIGNMENTS
2.5
SUMMING UP
2.6
POSSIBLE ANSWERS TO SELF-CHECK QUESTIONS
2.7
TERMINAL QUESTIONS
2.8
REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED FURTHER READING
2.9
GLOSSARY
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2. TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES OF DRAWING – II In the previous lesson you learnt about the basic tools required for drawing, but have you ever thought about a basic and very important tool for making a drawing or doing other things except drawing? Yes it is your Hand. So in this lesson you will learn how you can use your hand as an extended tool. Along with this you will also learn the use of pressure and control in drawing.
2.0
Objectives After going through this lesson, you will be able to know about:
2.1
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The hand, as an extended tool, and the movement of the arm, fore arm, hand and fingers as having different reach and the range of possibilities.
•
The use of pressure and control in drawing.
•
The different techniques of obtaining gradation of light to dark or viceversa by applying pressure, using different tools, spacing the lines, dots or rubbed patches.
Introduction
In the previous lesson ‘Tools and Techniques of Drawing – I’, you must have noticed how your hand moves while drawing lines with the pencil Yes, the hand needs to move for you to produce the drawing of a line, a curve, and any other exploration. Your hands, their fingers, in fact the whole arm, are your tools in the effort to draw. This wonderful gift has created some of the most beautiful works of art and in this lesson we will learn some finer points about how it actually works and can be used.
2.2
Hand as an Extended Tool
We begin with trying to understand the power, ability and talent inherent in everyone’s hand. Let us look at our arm. It has three main sections: •
The upper arm is joined at the shoulder
•
The forearm is joined at the elbow, and
•
The hand is joined at the wrist with the forearm and has 5 fingers
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While the hand is the main tool that we possess, it works with the help of fingers, basically through 3 different joints, namely the wrist, the elbow and the shoulder. The various movements for drawing may be made either by one joint or a combination of more than one joint. The movements of different joints produce different types of results in the drawings. The vital point to understand in the use of each joint is that movement of each joint has its own characteristic reach and ability. An understanding of our hand movement can be had through simple drawing explorations (see Class Assignment (i) at the end of this lesson). Study the attempts made at drawing lines. The human hand with the fingers, offers the entire range of possibilities in achieving the control required for drawing anything. Practice at using the hand movement differently to ease into the ability to draw.
2.3
Use of Pressure and Control in Drawing
There is another important aspect of understanding of the tools, and that is of the use of pressure and control of the tool. This study is useful when shading or filling any surface in a drawing. You may try to use the pencil, pen and brush with varying pressure applied on them to understand the outputs possible. • On a sheet, use the pencil with differing pressures, in the same continuous line (Fig. 2.1). • Use the brush in a similar manner (Fig. 2.2). • Use pencil and brush in drawing simple curved lines, with differing pressures in the same continuous line (Figs. 2.3 and 2.4).
Fig. 2.1 Continuous lines with different pressures of pencil
Fig. 2.2 Continuous lines with different pressures of brush
Fig. 2.3 Curved lines with different pressures of pencil
Fig. 2.4 Curved lines with different pressures of brush
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So far you have learnt the basics of using drawing tools ably assisted by our hand. The use of pressure and control of any tool gives us an idea of the range of shades of grey that are possible to be obtained with a single tool. The application of this understanding will be seen when representing surface details in your drawing explorations later. Let us understand in detail how to achieve this with a pencil. There are three different ways to achieve gradations: i) Varying pressure on the pencil (or pen or brush) ii) Varying grade of pencils iii) Textured repetition and overworking – hatching and cross-hatching, stippling using pencil or pen.
Self-check Questions 1. What are the main sections of the arm? Name them. 2. What are the three ways of achieving gradation? 2.3.1 Varying pressure on the pencil Our hand is capable of a whole range of usage of any drawing tool. Application of pressure on the tool will produce different and interesting results. Mainly, 2 kinds of outputs are possible: •
Lines drawn with different pressures on the pencil to get different shades of grey in line (Fig. 2.5).
Fig. 2.5 Lines drawn with different pressures on pencil.
•
A surface area rubbed down with a pencil to get a shaded patch of grey (Fig. 2.6).
Fig. 2.6 Rubbed down area with a pencil showing different shades of grey.
You will experience it in Class assignment (ii). 4
2.3.2 Varying the grade of the pencil When you vary the grade of pencil, you will get a whole new set of greys (Fig. 2.7). You will experience this in Class assignment (iii).
Fig. 2.7 Lines with varying the grades of pencil.
2.3.3 Textured repetition and overworking Further to the exploration and understanding of obtaining shades of grey over a surface area by rubbing down with the pencil, a surface can also be covered by the use of closely drawn lines or dots. There are a few techniques to achieve this. i) Hatching: This technique uses closely placed line strokes drawn continuously and parallely (Fig. 2.8). They may be in any direction that may be comfortable to draw. The pressure of the pencil in an area of work should be uniform and controlled for creating shades in gradation.
Fig. 2.8 Hatching with a pencil
ii) Cross-Hatching: This technique adds cross lines at one or different angles over a hatched surface (Fig. 2.9). This way it creates deeper shades in gradation.
Fig. 2.9 Cross Hatching with a pencil
iii)
Stippling: In this
Stippling in a gradation of light to dark may be done in a 10cm x 5 cm box. Also practice similarly, a dark to light gradation. Study the explorations and observe whether you approached a midway in covering half the box with approximately middle gray shade. Fig. 2.10 Stippling with pencil
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Self-check Questions 3. How many types of pencils are commonly available for shading? Give their numbers only. 4. Write short notes oni) Hatching ii) Cross hatching iii) Stippling 5. What is useful in filling and shading when drawing a surface area? 6. What are the possible ways to change the shades of grey when drawing with a pencil?
Activity 1.
2.4
Draw three apples on a ¼ imperial cartridge sheet and shade them, with hatching, cross hatching and stippling using 2B pencil.
Assignments
2.4.1 Class assignments To consolidate the understanding of the application of pencil as a drawing tool for obtaining varied shades and variations of grey in line form or as a surface, practice over a large surface area as follows: i) Use a 2B pencil on a 1/2 imperial cartridge sheet and draw lines by moving the: • • •
Wrist joint only Elbow joint only Shoulder joint only.
Warming-up: •
Rest the arm and the wrist on the table/board surface, so as to move only the wrist joint. Draw lines.
•
Next, rest the elbow on the surface. Hold the wrist steady. Use elbow joint movement to draw lines.
•
Next, raise the whole arm off the surface; hold the wrist and the elbow steady. Use shoulder joint movement to draw lines.
•
Remember that the length of the line drawn should be only as much as can be comfortably done in a single continuous attempt.
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ii) Take a 2B pencil and see the range of shades of grey in line quality and surface area one can get with different pressure on the pencil, on a 1/4 imperial sheet placed horizontally. •
Draw freehand lines, each with varying pressure.
•
Draw freehand lines varying pressure from start to finish. For example, start with a light pressure and as the line is being drawn, increase the pressure.
•
With a little tilt in the pencil, rub down a continuous surface area with a light pressure with the hand, say approximately 10 cm x 5 cm box.
•
On the same sheet, try out similar patches with varying and increasing pressure. Make at least 5 to 10 such attempts to obtain gradation.
•
The pencil may need frequent sharpening as we go along. Please remember that the pencil should not be worn down too much. It will be observed that, the greater the pressure on Pencil, the darker the shade of grey you will get as a line or as a surface shade.
iii) On a 1/4 Imperial sheet of cartridge held horizontally, make exploration as in Assignment (ii), using pencils of 3–4 different grades, viz., HB, 2B, 4B, or 6B. •
Draw straight lines from left to right in varying pressure on each pencil used consecutively. As earlier, lines will be drawn to understand line quality.
•
Rub down and draw patches of size approx 10 cm x 5 cm with the different pencils with continuously varying pressure from top to bottom to understand variations in shades of grey.
• For each different pencil exploration, try and apply the same pressure.
• Different shades of grey, as you will see, can be obtained by using different grades of pencil. 2.4.2 Home assignment i) Draw on a 1/4 Imperial sheet of cartridge, in a box of size 10 cm x 5 cm, using a 2B pencil: •
Hatching in at least 4 different gradations.
•
Cross-hatching in at least 4 different gradations.
•
Hatching and Cross-hatching to obtain light to dark shades of grey using varying pressure, from top to bottom. 7
2.5
Summing Up
You have in this study, explored and understood yet another way to use the pencil, this time to achieve shades across a surface. The salient points to remember are:
2.6 1.
•
Understand the basics of using drawing tools, ably assisted by our hand.
•
The human hand, with the fingers, offers us the entire range of possibilities in achieving the control required for drawing anything.
•
When you apply pressure on the tools such as pencil while drawing a line or shading a surface area, you get a whole range of shades of grey possible.
•
Closely study the attempts made at drawing lines and shading.
Possible Answers to Self-check Questions The upper arm is joined at the shoulder The forearm is joined at the elbow, and The hand is joined at the wrist with the forearm and has 5 fingers
2.
The three different ways to achieve gradation are: i) Varying pressure on the pencil (or pen or brush) ii) Varying grade of pencils iii) Textured repetition and overworking – hatching and cross-hatching, stippling using pencil or pen.
3. 2H, HB, 2B, 4B and 6B 4. i) Hatching- This technique uses closely placed line strokes drawn continuously and parallely ii) Cross hatching- This technique adds cross lines at one or different angles over a hatched surface iii) Stippling- : In this technique, dots are placed either closely or loosely to add shading to the surface 5. Need to be explained textured repletion and overworking techniques of drawing are useful in filling and shading a surface area. 6. In order to obtain shades of grey (in other words gradation of grey) when drawing with a pencil, the following techniques are used : 8
2.7
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Varying pressure on the pencil
•
Varying grade of pencils
•
Textured repetition and overworking – hatching and cross-hatching, stippling using pencil or pen.
Terminal Questions
1.
What are the possible ways to change the grades of grey when drawing with a pencil?
2.
What are the three main sections of hand?
2.8
References and Suggested Further Reading
1.
Anonymous. 2006. The Complete Guide to Drawing and Painting. Quantum Publishing Ltd. London.
2.
Narvekar. S. 1996. Learn Pencil Shading. Navneet Publications (India) Ltd, Mumbai.
3.
Wood, J.R. 1992. Handbook of Illustration. Design Press, New York.
2.9
Glossary
1. Exploration
A careful systematic search
2. Gradation
The act of arranging in grades, steps
3. Hatching
Shading consisting of multiple crossing line
4. Stippling
Apply in small touches, dots or flicks of paint, speckling
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