Art: Drawing for Artists
Artist: A Guidebook for Different Stylesof Drawing
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Table of Contents Introduction Chapter 1 – Standard Drawing Materials Pencils Chalk and charcoal Felt tipped pens Drawing Inks Easels Chapter 2 – Outline Drawing - Sketching Perspective Drawing from inside out Chapter 3 – Shading a Pencil Drawing Chapter 4 – Drawing Manga Chapter 5 – Pen and Ink Drawings Chapter 6 – Calligraphic Drawing Tools for calligraphic art Coloring techniques and ideas Chapter 7 – Drawing with Charcoal, Chalk and Pastels Method for using pastels Chapter 8 – Cartoon Drawing - Caricatures Materials used for caricature drawing Chapter 9 – Zentangle Art Basic tools for Zentangle The benefits of Zentangle So what is Zentangle and how is it done? The patterns used Conclusion
Introduction If you are considering taking up drawing, but are not sure of the options open to you, this book includes many different styles of drawing that may just be the right one for you. Taking you through all of the different styles, including Manga, Portrait, Landscape, Zentangle, Photo drawing, etc., the book gives a great overview of the types of tools that you will need to follow any one of these and other drawing styles.
It’s a great book for someone starting out because you may just find a style that suits you better than another and have been unaware of how to do it. This book gives clear instructions and shows you how to do the different styles so that you get an overall picture of what drawing is all about. You may be the next great Manga artist or you may simply want to sketch faces of friends. Whatever you choose, there’s something within this book to help you to get started on your chosen path.
The tool section shows you that you will need anshown artist and which tools are needed for what style of all drawing. You will alsoasbe howparticularly to use different effects, sketching, drawing, learning to cross hatch and to shade so that your picture gives great 3 dimensional effects and realism.
If you know someone who is undecided upon which art form they want to perform, this may just be the eye opener that they need, as the details within the chapters of the book can help them to develop from average sketches through to being able to produce first class artwork. This is the reader’s introduction to what drawing is all about. Within the pages of the book, you will find handy hits and tips on perspective, composition and the different drawing styles used to achieve these elements. Everyone has the ability to produce great work from different perspectives and different approaches. The artist who chooses the right materials and the right subject matter, within the parameters of established rules of art, will certainly improve their techniques over the course of practice, although this book gives you a head start, so that you can try out the different materials before you go on to creating your masterpiece. It gives you all of the ways in which your picture can be drawn and they are so varied. You may not yet have realized the complexity of drawing systems, though by the end of the book, all of this will have been explained in simple to understand terms.
Take this artistic journey with us and learn how to draw using different styles of drawing.
Chapter 1 – Standard Drawing Materials Before you begin drawing it’s as well to get the basic materials together. Too many people sketch onto loose drawing paper and then give up, but if you start as you mean to go on by having a drawing pad, you can see your progression. Choose a pad suited to pencil drawings and whether you have a velour finish or not is up to you. In the beginning stages, I feel that a flat surface is better because it doesn’t distract you from your shading techniques as much as a textured surface will. While you are in the art shop, be sure to invest in the following as they will be very valuable to your experience:
Pencils – These come in different types as you will see by the number written on the side of the pencil. For general purposes you would use an HB pencil, but for shading of different intensities, you would choose from the B range of pencils and having a complete set isn’t a bad idea. These shade at different levels of intensity from jet black through to light gray so are all useful.
As you can see by this chart, these are the different levels that you can achieve if you have a full set of pencils. Since your three dimensional effect depends upon shading at different levels, don’t skimp on pencils. Buy good quality artists’ pencils are they are not expensive. The chart below shows you the different pencils which will achieve these densities of black.
You can see from this image that both H pencils and B pencils have their values when it comes to drawing with the H Pencils on the right giving much more subtle shading possibilities.
You will also need to purchase a reliable sharpener for your pencils as well as a soft eraser for helping you with rubbing your shading and a harder eraser for actually rubbing out the areas that you are not happy with.
Chalk and charcoal
You may want to consider investing in chalk and charcoal, since these are used together to create wonderful pictures when you get a little more advanced. You may just like using the charcoal for adding extra depth to your pictures. If you invest in charcoal, try to keep to the sticks charcoal as break these off are the easier fortoyou to desired draw with, since their basicThese shapedo is pencil likeofand you can ends your shape or thickness. make your hands mucky, so be prepared for that, and invest in a towel or have rags ready to wipe your hands on.
Felt tipped pens
Felt tips are used in some instances, and a good range of medium felt tipped pens are a good idea in a variety of colors. You should also consider tracing paper, a ruler, a compass and if you want to add color to your drawings, a packet of pastels would be good. Make sure that the type that you choose has a good selection for skin tones as when people draw portraits, these colors are always the first to be used up. I personally have a pack just for skin tones as well as a regular pack for general coloring of pictures.
Drawing Inks
Color does add a lot of wealth to your drawings and you may also want to consider adding colored inks to your artistry kit because pen and ink drawings are rather good and the colors will help you to add a new dimension to that drawing. These are particularly needed when drawing out calligraphic images. You will also need pens or nibs that attach to a handle to do your drawing. Buy a variety and investing in a calligraphy set may not be a bad idea.
Easels
At this stage, you don’t need to invest in an easel. People rarely do their drawings on an easel and these are used more for painting because in painting, you need to keep your hands from touching areas which are wet. For drawing, you can use a flat surface, so that an easel becomes a luxury rather than a necessity.
Chapter 2 – Outline Drawing - Sketching
When you first begin to draw, you need to learn all about fixing objects onto your paper and the composition that they will take. If you have a piece of card cut out like a picture frame, you can hold this up to look at the best angle to draw from. Some people can’t imagine what the picture will look like finished, and these are a good way to see all the detail you want to form part of your composition.
Move to different angles and be sure that the angle you have chosen is the best to highlight the objects within the picture you are about to sketch. When you have decided to do your drawing, you don’t have to get all of the ideas onto the paper. Look at the shapes that they form. For instance, when drawing a face, you would perhaps use an oval to give you an overall effect of where the face is going to be on your picture. Similarly, all objects have some kind of shape or outline. When you are in the rough draft stage of a picture, you simply need to do rough lines that represent the outlines of what you see.
Perspective
From this image, you can see that the nearer an object is to you, the larger it is. Of course, this is obvious to most people in everyday life, but when you start to draw, you need to pay attention to perspective because otherwise your pictures will lose their sense of proportion. canfor getexample. the proportion and perspective correct by usingof a grid if youthat are copying an You image, If you have an iPad take a photograph the image you want to draw and use one of the many art apps which places a grid over the image. This allows you to draw one square at a time of the grid, which you also pencil lightly onto your sketch paper. Remember that your sketch doesn’t have to represent everything that you see in detail. This is just an outline of what you will eventually fill in with shading to make your picture
more complete.
Once you are happy with the overall composition of the image, that’s what is important at this stage. For example, if you were drawing someone sitting, you need to get a representation of the position of the chair, the outline of the body etc. and anything else which is in the way of an object within the picture.
Drawing from inside out
Image copyright: Purapuss
As you can see from the rough sketches above you start with the basic shape and you work your way through a drawing to add more detail. This aspect of drawing when related to figures or animals is inside outside drawing, thus you are creating the shape of the skeletal framework and then adding on the flesh. That helps you to get the anatomy of the animal or person correct before adding detail such as eyes, nose, mouth, etc.
Don’t expect a picture to come all together straight away because it won’t happen. You need to build up the picture of several layers, the first being the sketch stage and then working on that until it becomes more substantial. It is by taking your time to get proportions and scale right that you eventually end up with a picture that is well drawn and much more likely to be realistic.
Chapter 3 – Shading a Pencil Drawing The shading which takes place on a pencil drawing is what gives it three dimensional composition. It gives a picture depth. In traditional drawing, this is what is used to ensure that your picture represents what is seen, rather than simply looking flat.
Image Copyright: Creative commons attribution: Denitsed
In this image, you can see that shading was used to create the features such as eyes, nose, mouth and the texture of the hair, as well as shaping the neck.
With traditional drawing techniques, the shading used takes on various forms, such as crosshatched, hatched or even dotted onto the page to give the required texture. This can also be rubbed in with an eraser or with the artist’s finger to give lighter more uniform shading.
Chapter 4 – Drawing Manga This is a very popular art form these days and if you are in the beginning stages, you will need to learn to draw the features, not as they are really seen on a human being, but how they are shown in this cartoon like style. Some of these images show you the type of art and this may be something that you want to investigate further as it’s extremely popular now worldwide and communities online help the artist to develop their work.
These are very basic manga beginnings to faces and you can copy them and change hairstyles and facial expressions, but you will see that it is a very different style of art to traditional sketching. The basic sketch will start with face outline, then the addition of eyes, nose and mouth and the picture will get more complex as more detail is added. Again, shading is used in this art form because it gives the picture depth.
Image copyright: Creative commons attribution: Gracey88
See how the detail is added to eyes? It’s a simple set of stages, but each area of the picture is developed in a very similar way in anime or manga art. Most enjoyed by teens, this art form is worth pursuing for making cartoon stories or for simply a creative pastime for young people who want to show their artistic abilities. Communities such as Deviant Art on the Internet are ideal places to get together with other artists and compare work. This is one of the benefits of sharing ideas because you get to create your own individual pictures from learning the style and then putting your own characters together from what you have learned. The way that characters interact with each other is something that can be depicted and though you may begin with pencil drawing of the figures, you may find that you will be happier with using ink once you gain more confidence in the art form.
For fun pictures, felt tipped pens can also be used.
Chapter 5 – Pen and Ink Drawings
Pen and ink is used a lot in drawings of an architectural nature because these are popular for framing and having within the home. You can see why from this picture which shows wonderful detail of brickwork and the structure of the building.
Ink is much finer to work with than pencil and if you are looking to create intricate pictures, then pen and ink may just be the ideal medium. If you look at the way that dots are used to represent the bushes, and lines to represent the structure, you can see that when using pen and ink, you will need different widths of nib and also a paintbrush specifically used for inks which will be relatively fine. The brush is used for creating the natural environment, while a ruler and nibs would be used for the architectural elements. One great thing with ink is that you can add color to your pictures but try not to overdo it. Ink is subtle in nature and a little added color here and there may make a greater statement than filling in the whole picture. In this picture, the atmosphere is very alive and vibrant even though the image is over 100 years old.
Very clever use of shading was used in this image and this can be achieved by watering down the inks and using them very much in the same way as one would use watercolors, adding shading to the areas which were not precision drawn. Alternatively, sepia can be used which is very atmospheric.
You probably recognize this picture as it was also produced as an oil but this srcinal rendition by Vincent Van Gogh from as early as 1888 was done with a reed pen and sepia toned ink. To do pen and ink drawing, you simply sketch out with light pencil and then follow your pencil lines with ink, adding darker in in places where you want shade and lighter ink in places which reflect light. To get darker and lighter inks, you simply dilute the srcinal color to lighten it down.
Chapter 6 – Calligraphic Drawing
One would be remiss if not mentioning this as a very valid art form used in drawing. This goes back to when books were created by hand, and drawing calligraphic numbers or letters can be very therapeutic as well as very decorative. The kind of uses that this can be put to in this day and age could be creating scrolls to give as gifts or decorating a hand written journal of poems.
There are a great deal of source books available for this form of art which have models that you scale up or down depending upon your needs. Dover books do some great copyright free images which you can use as sources for your own inspiration, adding extra detail where you would like it.
Tools for calligraphic art You will need very fine architect style pens if you are doing work which is extremely fine and detailed. These will also help you with hatching used in the background of many of these designs. Felt tipped pens can be used but these should be quality pens. If you are going to use inks, then you will need a brush to apply the inks to thicker areas of your lettering. Inks in color are very subtle but you can also use watercolor to add color to your designs. Nibs are an optional extra but if you intend to carry on using calligraphy in your poems or on scrolls, a wide nib is essential for drawing the letters of the alphabet throughout your text.
Coloring techniques and ideas The srcinal books produced by calligraphy writers began each chapter with an amazing amount of detail.
There are source books of different styles of lettering available on websites such as Amazon and it’s worth having one of these because it shows you all the letters of the alphabet in a particular script together with floral or decorative capital letters to help you to gain the most from this craft.
Chapter 7 – Drawing with Charcoal, Chalk and Pastels If you have never thought of using charcoal before, it’s a wonderful medium to work with and gives a really professional finish to black and white images. Charcoal has a depth to it that you can’t get with other mediums. If you are trying this for the first time, then do buy the pencil-like pieces of charcoal because these are easier to work with. You will need a good quality rubber and a soft one is the best to use, although there is another tool that is useful. This looks like a pencil but is actually a rubbing stick which can help you to pick out fine detail.
This creative commons work by Justin Cooke shows you the depth that you will achieve when using charcoal. However, be aware that charcoal will smudge. If you close the page on an art book, the work will smudge. Thus, keep your page open until you have finished and make sure that you varnish the finished product. You can use white chalk to tone down areas into a lighter color and this helps with shading, although this particular artist has chosen to stick to the basic blacks.
When you move on from charcoal and chalk to pastels, you add a wonderful depth of color and here, you need to try out different methods. The pastel colors that you buy should have a good range of skin tones because often they don’t and that means buying a separate packet of skin tone colored pastels to work in conjunction with other colors. That’s probably the best bet and certainly one that I employed because I love using pastel
for portraits. The actual texture that you achieve with pastels is amazingly realistic.
Method for using pastels When you use pastels, you simply use them like crayons, but the more you use, the less transparent the color becomes. When you have sufficient background color for an area, rub the color to give a really uniform look. Add shading by using a slightly darker pastel color and to add lightness in areas such as eyes, use white chalk. You initially draw your image in the same way as you would a traditional portrait, thus creating the overall shape and then filling in the detail with pencil or charcoal. Charcoal tends to discolor the pastel so I prefer to use pencil. You work in layers, much as artists do when they use oils and the end result should be created from a background layer, a shading layer and any layers used to enhance the look of the image toward the finishing stages. The picture can be lacquered to ensure that the color does not rub off.
There is so much detail that can be added when using pastels in conjunction with pencil to add even more texture to hair, and chalk to bring out the shine of the eyes. Painted by Robert Perez Palou, he gave permission for this to be used and it’s an exceptionally good example because it shows all of the attributes one needs to consider when drawing portraits with pastels.
Chapter 8 – Cartoon Drawing - Caricatures
This style of drawing is popular in many newspapers and basically takes the features of someone and makes them very recognizable in cartoon format. If you are thinking of take this style of drawing up, it can be great fun. Cartoons are usually divided into different sections so that a story unfolds are the reader goes through all the separate boxes that make up the story. Alternatively, you may be drawing a singular cartoon for use as a picture and there are many great examples of cartooning available on the Internet. Some favorites which show the attributes of cartoon drawing well are these:
As you can see, both are of different eras and different people but what they have in common is that they are instantly recognizable. This is what caricatures are all about.
They take the shape of the face and show those features which are prominent. In the case of Maggie Thatcher, there is no mistaking the hairdo, the nose and the mouth and these features were worked on by the artist to produce a wonderful likeness. In the case of Lord Chatfield, again, the face has very little detail, but it has enough for people to recognize the character from the bushy eyebrows, the glum expression and the shape of the head.
Materials used for caricature drawing The materials used in both of the above cases are inks and these are great for producing good detail. However, start with pencil and the outline of the face, adding the hair and the features of the face still in pencil until a likeness is achieved. From that you can work on the image in inks to give a definite finish to the image. You also need a ruler as this helps you to get proportions correctly placed.
In this very rapidly drawn face, you will see that a square was used because the shape of the subject’s face was square. The facial features were then added just under the central line of the image. You need to take into account the angle at which you are drawing as well because this alters the finished position of eyes nose and mouth.
This is a great form of art that you can try for yourself with people that you know and build up your portfolio using simple techniques to get the accuracy of features so that people will instantly recognize who is being portrayed. It also helps you in your sketching skills because it helps you to picture what’s there without too much complexity and then to build upon the overall outline of the faces that you use as models. It may also be worthwhile looking at great examples of caricatures to give you extra pointers on how to deal with features such as hair, etc.
Chapter 9 – Zentangle Art This is a relatively new art form but one that is becoming extremely popular because anyone can do it. If you doubt your artistic ability, this may be a good starting place because basically, the art takes the old art form of doodle and makes it a little more sophisticated. There are special cards (tiles) for the drawing of Zentangle though there is nothing wrong with using a scrapbook until you get to the stage where you want to use your designs to create artwork.
Basic tools for Zentangle You will need a pencil, an eraser and Zentangle pens which you buy at outlets such as Amazon.com. The card used for Zentangle is relatively inexpensive and it’s a good idea to have a ruler. A scrap book will be needed because each design that is drawn consists of different elements and it’s a build-up process. Thus, keeping drawings of all the designs you are likely to use again is a good idea.
The benefits of Zentangle This art form is very good for people who are trying to find a state of relaxation. It helps to center people and is being used as therapy for many patients in a hospital environment because it helps:
Hand/eye coordination Concentration Levels Confidence
So what is Zentangle and how is it done? Zentangle art is started with one line which gives the whole design an outline. This is known as the string. In fact, those unaccustomed to this form of art can use a piece of string on paper and arrange it in an aesthetically pleasing way, tracing around the string so that their design appears on the paper. Each area of the picture is then filled in with different Zentangle designs and the overall effect is something like shown in the picture on the next page. This is a simplified version of what can be achieved but Zentangle is more than just putting patterns into specific places.
Copyright Creative Commons Attribution: Stephanie Reid
If you look at the right hand side of the first image, you will see that it gives the impression of bring sloped. Using a system called the barrel and pincushion method, what you do by using curved lines is give the picture depth and distortion so that there are some pretty miraculous images produced as a result of this distortion.
This form of art is gathering momentum because of the endless possibilities it creates. As you can see from the above images, simply changing your srcinal lines can make a very big difference to the way that the image is perceived.
The patterns used The patterns that are commonly used in Zentangle are basically very simple. Tiled areas, stripes, squares, etc. fill in each area of the image to build a whole. This is usually done in black and white and there are literally thousands of different new patterns you can incorporate simply by accessing websites such as Pinterest and looking what others are doing. Is this copying? No and there is a very good reason. The area that you color on your Zentangle pattern will be different in shape and form to other artists. The combination of shapes and forms, patterns and repetitions makes your work unique. Look how easy it is to construction a Zentangle pattern. All of the patterns used in Zentangle are simple but it is the combination of these patterns which adds to the complexity of the image produced.
Conclusion Over the course of this book, we have taken the reader through many different styles of drawing and among them, there will be an area that a reader can develop and interest in and pursue. The reason that each were covered in their own chapter is because each of these methods of drawing is independent and while some may find one interesting, they may not consider themselves talented or interested enough to do others. Art is very important because the creative side of the brain is not used as much as the logical side of the brain and by introducing some form of creativity, you really can get some balance in your life.
If you are a little shy about spending a fortune on drawing accessories, try with the bare necessities and build up as your confidence increases. If you want to concentrate on calligraphy and use this for gifts for your friends, it’s a very beautiful way to send words that matter to people you care about. A typical choice of script to add to a scroll would be something like the “Desiderata” which sends a real moral lesson of peace to people that you care about. Similarly, you may find yourself interested in pen and ink rendition and can use your iPad to take photographs of buildings, turning the image into black and white. Then use an art app to divide the picture with a grid, so that you can get perfect scale and each detail in exactly the right place on your paper in pencil initially and then in more permanent ink. These pictures are always well received by the owner of a property or could even be done of your own home or local churches or buildings of interest.
You can also use inks for creating designs on a wooden panel because these give the impression of being like marquetry and floral images are great to put onto panels of wood that may be on the outside of a box or something that you want to make.
The art of traditional drawing may be where your heart lies, and you were given tips and tricks in this direction, including knowing the tools that you require and how to use them. It is hoped that this will add to your enthusiasm and that you will have a try at a new art form of drawing that appeals to you, using the examples shown in the book to inspire you.
