Once upon a: Dry Medium

Baseline Drawing: 1

2012-09-01T01:19:00.005-04:00

I'm going to do a series of baseline drawings in order to keep a record of my current skill level. There will be three total: a still life, an interior space, and a self portrait. With each drawing, as with all drawings I complete, I'm going to make notes about things I had trouble with while completing each piece and new approaches that I used to circumvent the problems.

Drawing #1: Small Object Still Life

Notes

Lines

I had a hard time figuring out the size of certain parts of the drawing. For example, how far to extend the edges of the lighter. I decided to first sketch the shot glass, which had a much more easily guesstimated distance from the puck and used easily identifiable areas of the shot glass as reference points.

Shading

I had trouble deciding between normal hatching and contour hatching. While shading in the puck, I was naturally inclined to shade along the curvature of the puck, since it's circular. However, I found that doing so gave the puck an unrealistic dimension, much like a sphere. Switching to parallel hatching turned out much better.
While shading, it was helpful to place a blank piece of paper over the portion of the image I was resting my drawing hand on. This helped prevent smudging.

Highlighting

I didn't start out shading lightly enough, so the entire picture is, in general, a little darker than what I wanted it to be. I noted to start out with a harder pencil (2H) so that this problem wouldn't happen. This would also make sure that the outlines are fairly light and easy to erase.
I also had trouble making a realistic transition from a dark portion of the picture to what I wanted to be a really light portion. I found that it was best not to worry about the highlights when making the transition from a darker portion. Instead, it was easier to create a realistic gradient from the dark portions and then go back with an eraser and erase areas that should be dramatically highlighted. I then used a harder pencil to blend these areas into the gradient.
It was also important to keep track of reflected light, not just surfaces lighted as a direct result of the light source.

Resources
http://painting-course.com/88/drawing-lessons/start-drawing/

Basic Techniques

2012-08-29T21:44:00.003-04:00

Main approaches:

Linear (line) drawing: subject constructed based on lines and outlines of shapes

Tonal (value) drawing: subject constructed using gradations and changes of light to show differing planes and edges. tonal drawing also serves as a good bridge between line drawing and painting

Shading techniques:

Hatching: using a series of parallel lines drawn in the same direction. can also be used to follow the contour of an object
Cross-hatching: layers of hatch lines at different, overlapping angles
Scribbling: shading using tiny circles
Stippling: shading using very small dots

Resources
http://learntodraw.org.uk/essentials/line-and-tone
http://www.learn-to-draw-lessons.com/drawing-pencil-sketches.html
http://www.mmwindowtoart.com/drawing/values&line.html
http://www.art-is-fun.com/drawing-techniques-creating-value-in-pen-and-ink-drawings.html
http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2009/07/line-drawing.html (Picture 1)
http://www.explore-drawing-and-painting.com/value-drawing.html (Picture 2)

Starting From Scratch - Supplies

2012-08-25T17:25:00.001-04:00

Strathmore Series 400 Sketch Pad (9 x 12 in): $9.58

21-Piece Royal and Langnickel Essentials Sketching Pencil Set: $7.75

Total: $17.33

21-Piece Sketching Pencil Set

Graphite pencils (8):

6B, 4B, 2B, B, HB, H, 2H, 4H

Sketching sticks (3):

6B, 4B, 2B

Charcoal sticks (3):

Soft, Medium, Hard

Charcoal pencils (3):

Soft, Medium, Hard

Woodless graphite pencil (1)

Gum eraser (1)

Kneadable eraser (1)

Sharpener (1)

Details and Uses

9H (hardest) <-- 6H, 4H, 2H, H, HB (typical), B, 2B, 4B --> 9B (softest)

Start drawings with harder pencils and add shading with softer pencils. The harder pencils are generally used for detailed lines while the softer pencils are used to produce rich, bold lines to make a drawing more expressive. Lighter pencils can also be used to blend softer pencils.

Graphite
Graphite is perfect for an initial layout of a drawing. It's also good for producing delicate textures. The naturally reflective properties of graphite can be utilized to pull an area forward or render smooth, shiny objects.

Regular Pencil
Sketching Stick
Woodless Pencil: a solid piece of graphite shaped as a pencil; can achieve much thicker lines for large areas

Charcoal

Has irregularly shaped particles that make it less reflective than graphite. However, it's gritty so is best for subjects with more texture. Soft charcoal will have rougher textures than hard charcoal. It's best used for drawing deep shadow areas and to push an area back.

Pencil (compressed charcoal): allows more detail than stick; also has more staying power
Stick (vine charcoal): easy to erase. start out with this, and, once a good vine charcoal sketch is made, move on to compressed charcoal pencils

Erasers

Kneadable: soft, pliable eraser. used to create gradients or shaped to pick up/remove pencil and charcoal. Must also be kneaded to distribute graphite evenly throughout
Gum: harder erasers. can be used on most charcoal to reveal white highlights

Sharpener

A handheld sharpener is best, because it will waste less in terms of graphite/charcoal, especially for the softer leads. It also allows you to sharpen erasers

Strathmore 400 Series Sketchpad

There are 100 sheets of medium weight (60-pound), acid-free, lightly textured paper intended for dry media.
Applications: Graphite pencil, colored pencil, charcoal, sketching stick, soft pastel, oil pastel.

Strathmore ranking system:
200 Series - Good
300 Series - Better
400 Series - Best
500 Series - Premium

Details

Thickness of paper is indicated by its weight, measured in grams per square meter (gsm) or pounds per ream (lb). Heavier weight paper tends to hold up better after erasing.

Materials

Chemically processed wood pulp: least expensive
Cotton and linen: hold color better and last longer. acid-free, so paper does not yellow and curl over time. ideal for storing and archiving drawings.
Wood-pulp paper and woven-fiber paper: hot-pressed for a smooth, shiny surface

Processing

Hot-press: smooth, shiny paper. intended for ink and pencil. Not coarse enough to hold charcoal or chalk
Cold-press: coarse paper. grainier surface to hold chalk and charcoal. also works well for water-colors and can withstand slight washing.

Resources
http://www.pencillovers.com/faq
http://www.ehow.com/about_4913632_types-drawing-paper.html

Have No Fear of Perfection - You'll Never Reach It

2012-08-23T00:30:00.000-04:00

I've always had an interest in art, and I've recently taken an unshakeable interest in oil painting. However I found that, as a recent graduate who accrued a substantial amount of debt, I could live in a box to afford making oil paintings with logarithmic improvement, or I could develop my abilities with cheaper mediums first for an overall greater benefit. Wax on, wax off. And thus, this drawing blog was born.

I'm hoping to learn drawing not in the "follow these 7 steps to produce a picture with some resemblance to Mickey Mouse" sense of it, but rather with a deeper understanding of the vision, the mindset, and the technique that build the foundation for other forms of art as well.

I plan to use this space to keep track of new concepts and art forms I learn about (labeled learn) as well as drawings and projects I complete along the way (labeled do). As Dali more valiantly said, perfection can never be fully achieved. This blog will function under that assumption. There will be no end to it per say, but, once I get tired of graphite and charcoal, I will make the transition to oil painting (Once upon a: Wet Medium).

This information is primarily useful for me to learn from and chart my development over time. However, I have also made it publicly available on the off-chance that things I learn may be useful to others - even if just one person.