Fig. 30 – This drawing is a more difficult example of the method followed In Figs. 26 and 27. The drawing is made with pencil on firm linen paper and then completed In the manner shown In Fig. 27. The accentuation, as shown by the solid black lines, may be made according to the artistic taste of the draftsman.

Fig. 16 is a greatly reduced reproduction of a crayon sketch. Figs. 17 and 18 are pen drawings of the same subject copied from the original, Fig. 16. In Fig. 17, the head of the old man is treated in very simple style, while in Fig. 18, more detail is added, until in the final sketch, Fig. 19, there is even more light-and-shade effect than in the original drawing.

Select a similar subject and make several faint pencil sketches of subject, and finish them with pen and ink, but each succeeding drawing with increasing intricacy.

Imitating Pencil With Pen Lines

Figs. 22 and 23 are pen-and-ink exercises, similar to Figs. 25 and 26, except that the drawings are not transferred, the pen drawings being made directly on the linen paper on which the soft pencil sketches were made.

In Fig. 22, the dog is drawn by means of two or more nearly parallel lines (and occasional closely placed dots) to represent the single broad lines made by the soft pencil. The pencil lines are then erased, leaving the peculiarly soft and pleasing effect shown. In this exercise it is advisable to use a new, finely pointed pen.

In Figs. 23 and 24 the drawings are started the same as in Fig. 22, except that closely placed and carefully modulated dots are used to represent the pencil lines. When finished, erase the pencil lines. The faces in the lower part of Fig. 2S are stippled as in Fig 23. The result in each case is an effect similar to the original drawing. Drawings thus made are valuable chiefly for their permanence and adaptability in reproduction for printing purposes.

All lines should be drawn on double the scale shown in this work. Lack of space makes great reduction necessary.

Lines should be drawn as heavy as those immediately below.

Contrasting Light Exercise – A and B in Fig. 9 are further examples of the contrast effected by varying directions of the light. In the former, the sun is somewhere behind the background; in the latter, the sun is behind the spectator. These examples are excellent as exercises in pen and ink.

Fig. 10 is another instance of light and shade. contrast. It is intended as a pen exercise. Note the foliage drawn in groups of little parallel lines used to produce the effect of individual leaves. These should be drawn with quick lines.

Exercise in Quick Lines – Fig. 11 is an instance where the desired effect could hardly be secured without the use of quick lines. The swirling, rushing appearance of the rapid flowing waters is produced by swift strokes of the pen firmly controlled. Make careful pencil sketch of this or something similar and see what you can produce in this effective style.

Wavy Line Exercises – Practice the pen lines in Figs. 13, 14 and 15; each exercise on paper about four inches square. The lower right-hand copy by means of a stub pen or one blunted by long use.

Pen-and-ink drawing is not, as might be imagined, a comparatively recent form of artistic work, for in the great galleries of Europe one may find many interesting specimens of pen work made by Angelo, Raphael, Durer, Titian and others of the great masters. The manner of handling and style of pen work has changed, however, with modern inventions in the way of reproductive methods. The very spirit of pen work has changed only within a comparatively few years.

Continue Pencil Drawing – Even after pen-and-ink drawing is taken up, practice with the pencil should be continued.

The longer the pupil draws with the pencil and crayon the better. They are the most convenient and effective utensils at the artist’s command. Their frequent use should never be discarded.

Inability to make corrections easily in inked lines will discourage the student who is conscientious. Pencil and crayon are valuable because mistakes can be easily corrected at the time they are made. Before a mistake made with a pen can be rectified the ink must be quite dry, and the erasures must be made carefully, especial pains being taken not to disturb or roughen the surface of the paper or cardboard. Erasure may be made with a sharp knife or ink eraser; or the misplaced lines may be hidden or obscured by the use of a glaze of Chinese white.

Outline First With Pencil – Some teachers advocate drawing with pen-and-ink without the aid of a preliminary sketch with pencil. Writes one such teacher, “Practice drawing these (referring to certain subjects to be drawn) as rapidly as you can, without using the pencil in any way, using ink as a medium, you will be more apt to observe with care the exact character of each touch than if you employed the pencil whose marks can be so easily erased. This will, in time, give you greater confidence and facility of hand than can be had with either pencil or crayon.”

The quoted advice is wrong. The beginner should draw as slowly as possible. The writer is positive in these statements, and he is making them after many years of experience spent almost exclusively in making pen drawings for all sorts of practical purposes.

To enlarge or reduce one may resort to any of the following methods:

(1) Photography.

(2) The mechanical instrument known as the pantograph.

(3) The mechanical instrument known as the proportional dividers.

(4) Free hand drawing. Good practice, but not conducive to accuracy.

(5) Squaring the original by means of intersecting horizontal and vertical lines. This requires great care in preparation and use. The squares must be square and usually require numbering along at least two sides of the original and of the copy.

(6) Triangulation. An old and simply made geometrical form which I have adopted for the purpose of enlarging and reducing.

In my practice it has, since my discovery of its new use, entirely superseded the laborious, if time-honored, methods. By its use ordinary care produces accurate work, no measurements being required except when laying out the perimeters.

In the squaring method even an ordinary reduction or enlargement requires from 16 to 64 squares, the latter with boundary numbers 1, 2, 3,4, 5,6, 7 and 8 on at least two sides of both original and copy. In this maze the draftsman is apt (to become “lost.” In the method I have adopted, the triangulation forms a pattern which aids the eye to keep within the proper corresponding spaces. That is, each triangle, in the original and in the drawing under way, occupies a distinctive and individual position not observable in the squares.

I have not space here to describe the numerous applications and advantages of the triangular method, nor even to describe its operation beyond giving a diagram of its most primitive, simplest form, as shown in the accompanying figures.

These figures merely show the progress of the method. A square or other parallelogram is drawn first, the oblique, vertical and horizontal lines being added.

In a drawing in which the detail is complex, the triangles are easily subdivided, both in the original and in the drawing to be made from it.

Not alone is this method superior in every way to the “squaring” process, but it provides a sure and easy way to make regularly proportional distortions.

Not long ago an engraver on old gold and silver ware came to me. He was distressed. An order had been given to him in which it was required that certain heraldric devices should appear on some silver plate. The devices included the pleasant-looking creature shown in Fig.1.

The engraver’s trouble was that the mythological animal had to be reproduced in narrow vertical and horizontal panels, respectively, of certain definite dimensions. My engraver friend did not know how to get the “critter” squeezed and distended into anything like proper proportions.

Figs. 2 and 3 show the engraver’s purpose was satisfactorily accomplished.

It is to be hoped that the result pleased his customer. It was my conjecture that the griffons might be intended for evolutional ancestral portraits and if my surmise was correct the two distortions might serve as portraits of two of his ancestors-one attenuated and the other obese. Anyway, I would as soon trace my origin to a fine official and officious looking griffon – or whatever it is – as to a grinning, chat. tering chimpanzee.

Another Example – Fig. 4 is another example of what may be done in the way of varying the form of an area in which any design may be placed.

Imitation or copy drawing is valuable at the outset, as it imparts style or method of handling. To an extent it reveals the personality. By its use the pupil gains accuracy of eye measurement, errors in that respect being more readily shown than when drawing from model.

Drawing from copy also trains the eye by giving it some means of correcting its mistake in the estimate of lengths and values of lines.

Perspective or object drawing gives a knowledge of form, color, and construction. Ideas of relation and relative sizes are thus acquired.

Imaginary and memory drawings enable the pupil to express thought and impart ideas.

Intermingling parts of all three supports, helps and explains the others.
In copying one is shown how.
In object drawing one sees how.
In imaginative drawing one thinks how.

EYE MEASUREMENTS

Measurement Exercise – As the pupil progresses, greater accuracy in eye-measurement will become apparent. This can be hastened by frequent practice exclusively in this direction.

A good plan is for the teacher to draw straight lines of various determined lengths, requiring pupils to bisect, trisect and quadrisect them at regular intervals. Thus, draw a line four inches long to be divided in half. Then the same line in three equal divisions; then into four equal divisions.

PROPORTION

Proportion, and What Is Meant by Out of Proportion – For example: If a picture of a man were drawn with the head twice as long as the head should be, as is shown in Fig. 1, Chap. 19, that would be called out of proportion, because it would be unnatural.

It should be in “good proportion,” which means it should be near the natural size as compared with other parts of the body. The ability to draw the figure in proper proportion requires considerable practice, close observation and accurate eye-measurement.

Varying Proportions – In drawing the head of a child, the same proportions as adults does not exist; the child’s head being larger in proportion to the body than in the case of adults. There are also further variations. Putting a very small head on the body of a child would make the drawing appear as much out of proportion as in the case of the overlarge head referred to. In caricature, lapses from true proportion are permitted. Then it is done purposely to produce a ludicrous effect.

Relative Proportions – Ability to represent the relative size or proportion of one object to another is an essential element in correct drawing. To accomplish this the pupil requires aid from the teacher.

An effective method of teaching this is to choose some object for a unit of measure or comparison, and place others beside it, one or several at a time.

Any well-known object will do, as, for instance, a piece of fruit, such as an apple or an orange-or a ball.

Exercise in Proportion – Make a drawing of the object selected and compare it with some other object of about the same size. Then place beside them still another object, two or three times as large, such as a book or cap. Now let the pupil make a drawing showing the three objects in their relative sizes.

Any small wooden or cardboard box may be used in connection with other small boxes to demonstrate proportionate sizes.

Place the apple (or whatever object is selected) on a box and draw both in proportion.

Proceed with the exercise by drawing from imagination (or copy) some other object with which the student is familiar and draw the object in proportion. The subject may be a bird, a mouse, a set of keys, a cup, mug – any object that is not larger than the box itself.

Simple Landscapes – Fig. 5 presents five simple landscapes in which the economy in lines used is a leading feature. Pupils will derive benefit from the study of such examples. The fewer lines that can be used to produce the general effect the better.

Rapid Line Exercises – Fig. 6 comprises subjects suitable for pencil sketches, or for enlargement on the blackboard. They are examples in rapid line effects where strength of execution is aimed at rather than detail, of which there is a conspicuous absence. The introduction of color into this will be easy for teacher and pupil.

Further Application of Lines – In the simple landscape, Fig. 8, will be found many of the lines which enter into nearly all practice work. First, as in Fig. 7, faintly sketch the general masses, so they can be easily erased if they are not properly placed. Figure 7 shows how this can be done. The little figures at the right may be introduced into the finished picture. If used, their placing is to be left subject to the individual taste and ingenuity of the pupil. Should they be used in the foreground, they should be enlarged considerably.

Students should be encouraged to make their drawings as neat as possible. However, it's better to hae a messy-looking drawing that is correct in its essentials than a clean, spick & span drawing full of inaccuracies in the way of misplaced lines, tones or shadows.

The letters locate the corresponding lines in Fig. 8 and are not for use in the pupil’s sketch, but are placed to show where the corresponding lines and tints are to be found.

Lines in drawing are made in several ways. The smallest lines are made by means of the medium (pencil, crayon, pen, or brush), held so as to be controlled principally by the fingers, wrist, elbow, or even by the arm at the shoulder socket. In a sitting position, the two former are most used; the latter two movements are more frequently used while standing, as at the blackboard. Small details are usually executed by the control of the thumb and first and second fingers.

Broad Effects – More freedom and broader effects are produced by the movement of the fingers and the motion of the hand radiating from the wrist. Still more sweeping effects are’ secured byholcling the hand nearly rigid and obtaining actions by means of the forearm swung from the elbow. A still greater radius may be had, though infrequently required, by swinging the full length of the arm, as, for instance, in describing a circle on the blackboard several feet in circumference.

Scratchy and Unevenly Spaced Lines, with few exceptions, such as when drawing grasses, etc., are to be avoided. The upper lines in Fig. 3 are of the scratchy and uneven kind, while those below are more deliberately and carefully placed. In Fig. 4 the difference between the correct lines and the reverse is made apparent.

Fig. 5 shows practice lines that should be repeated over and over again until the pupil becomes quite expert in their use. To avoid tiresomeness, they are introduced with frequency into other examples in which interest is obtained by enclosing the practice lines in various forms. In A, the lines arc about as evenly placed as could be expected from a pupil after several months of training. In B, the lines are such as would be made by the absolutely untrained hand and eye.

C shows lines enclosed in order to train the pupil to stop the lines within prescribed limits.

In Fig. 6, at D, the lines are drawn backward and forward quickly without removing the pencil.

E consists of lines drawn quickly, but by lifting the pencil at the end of each stroke.

At F the lines are broken, but firmly and evenly placed.

Use Even Pressure – Teach the student that it is most desirable to learn to make a line with an even pressure, from the moment the pencil or crayon touches the paper until it leaves it; that is, the making of a line that neither presses into the paper at the beginning nor drops off at the end.

Fig. 7 gives practice lines that are used in nearly all drawings, from the parallel lines at the top, the graduated lines in the second row, the cross-hatch lines near the bottom and, lastly, the solid shading in which the lines are placed so closely together as to nearly or quite lose their identity.

Repeated Practice – Fig. 6 shows practice lines that should be repeated over and over again until the student becomes quite expert in their use. To avoid becoming tiresome they should be introduced in small doses over a period of time, though the student should study each kind of line thoroughly.

Effect by Suggestion – By combination and juxtaposition, we are enabled to establish the meaning of lines that by themselves would not be recognized in the way intended. For instance, the lines in the upper left hand corner of Fig. 6, by themselves, would not be understood as representing rain. But place an open umbrella in connection with the lines, and the eye interprets them as portraying rain. For practice, draw plain lines on the blackboard and add figures as here suggested.

Draw on the blackboard the lines A in Fig. 7.

The student should copy these as an exercise. The scallops, by themselves, represent nothing in nature. Invert them and place a sketch of a sailboat and waves are suggested.

The lines inside the frame below, by themselves, would hardly be recognized as representing glass. But draw objects beyond the “glass”, partly hidden, and the meaning becomes clear.

Drawing from Imagination – The following exercises will develop the imagination. The subjects are merely suggestive and others may be substituted. Care should be taken to select objects simple in outline and construction.

Draw a box – just the front of it. Now add wheels and a handle, thus making a wagon out of it. Put a doll in the wagon. Now draw a boy or a girl pulling the wagon. Write a line under it, descriptive, for instance, as to where they are going.

Draw the box again – just the front – put a flower pot on it. Now put a long stem with a flower in the pot. Add leaves to the stem. Next put a butterfly or a bird flying near the flower. Write under the drawing a line about birds (or butterflies) and flowers.

Draw a box; put a cage on it; put a bird into the cage. Draw a cat near the box, looking at the bird. The cat is interested in the bird. Write under the drawing what the cat says about it.

Draw a log on a bank; put a boy or a girl on the log; put a fishing rod, with line and hook, in the hands of the boy. Draw a line showing the surface of the water. Now show a fish under the waterline, getting ready to bite at the hook.

Let the student write a line under the drawing. It might refer to whether the fishing is good or not.