Pen and Ink Drawing Lessons & Techniques
"PEN DRAWING
AN ILLUSTRATED TREATISE"
BY CHARLES D. MAGINNIS
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.—Style in Pen Drawing
CHAPTER VI.—Architectural Drawing
CHAPTER VII.—Decorative Drawing
CHAPTER III - TECHNIQUE
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| FIG. 19 | JOSEPH PENNELL |
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| FIG. 20 | JOSEPH PENNELL |
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| FIG. 21 | E. DANTAN |
Textures The matter of Textures is very important, and the student should learn to differentiate them as much as possible. This is done, as I have already said, by differences in the size and character of the line, and in the closeness or openness of the rendering. Observe the variety of textures in the drawing of the sculptor by Dantan, Fig. 21. The coat is rendered by such a cross-hatch as "N" in Fig. 10, made horizontally and with heavy lines. In the trousers the lines do not cross but fit in together. This is an excellent example for study, as is also the portrait by Raffaëlli, Fig. 22. The textures in the latter drawing are wonderfully well conveved,—the hard, bony face, the stubby beard, and the woolen cap with its tassel in silhouette. For the expression of texture with the least effort the drawings of Vierge are incomparable. The architectural drawing by Mr. Gregg in Fig. 50 is well worth careful study in this connection, as are all of Herbert Railton's admirable drawings of old English houses. (I recommend the study of Mr. Railton's work with a good deal of reservation, however. While it is admirable in respect of textures and fascinating in its color, the values are likely to be most unreal, and the mannerisms are so pronounced and so tiresome that I regard it as much inferior to that of Mr. Pennell, whose architecture always appears, at least, to have been honestly drawn on the spot.)
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| FIG. 22 | J. F. RAFFAËLLI |
The hats in Fig. 10 are merely suggestions to the student in the study of elementary combinations of line in expressing textures.
Drawing for Reproduction As the mechanical processes of Reproduction have much to do with determining pen methods they become important factors for consideration. While their waywardness and inflexibility are the cause of no little distress to the illustrator, the limitations of processes cannot be said, on the whole, to make for inferior standards in drawing, as will be seen by the following rules which they impose, and for which a strict regard will be found most advisable.
First: Make each line clear and distinct. Do not patch up a weak line or leave one which has been broken or blurred by rubbing, for however harmless or even interesting it may seem in your original it will almost certainly be neither in the reproduction. When you make mistakes, erase the offensive part completely, or, if you are working on Bristol-board and the area of unsatisfactoriness be considerable, paste a fresh piece of paper over it and redraw.
Second: Keep your work open. Aim for economy of line. If a shadow can be rendered with twenty strokes do not crowd in forty, as you will endanger its transparency. Remember that in reproduction the lines tend to thicken and so to crowd out the light between them. This is so distressingly true of newspaper reproduction that in drawings for this purpose the lines have to be generally very thin, sharp, and well apart. The above rule should be particularly regarded in all cases where the drawing is to be subject to much reduction. The degree of reduction of which pen drawings are susceptible is not, as is commonly supposed, subject to rule. It all depends on the scale of the technique.
Third: Have the values few and positive. It is necessary to keep the gray tones pretty distinct to prevent the relation of values being injured, for while the gray tones darken in proportion to the degree of reduction, the blacks cannot, of course, grow blacker. A gray tone which may be light and delicate in the original, will, especially if it be closely knit, darken and thicken in the printing. These rules are most strictly to be observed when drawing for the cheaper classes of publications. For book and magazine work, however, where the plates are touched up by the engraver, and the values in a measure restored, the third rule is not so arbitrary. Nevertheless, the beginner who has ambitions in this direction will do well not to put difficulties in his own way by submitting work not directly printable.
Some Fanciful Expedients There are a number of more or less fanciful expedients employed in modern pen work which may be noted here, and which are illustrated in Fig. 10. The student is advised, however, to resort to them as little as possible, not only because he is liable to make injudicious use of them, but because it is wiser for him to cultivate the less meretricious possibilities of the instrument.
"Spatter work" is a means of obtaining a delicate printable tone, consisting of innumerable little dots of ink spattered on the paper. The process is as follows: Carefully cover with a sheet of paper all the drawing except the portion which is to be spattered, then take a tooth-brush, moisten the ends of the bristles consistently with ink, hold the brush, back downwards, in the left hand, and with a wooden match or tooth-pick rub the bristles toward you so that the ink will spray over the paper. Particular, care must be taken that the brush is not so loaded with ink that it will spatter in blots. It is well, therefore, to try it first on a rough sheet of paper, to remove any superfluous ink. If the spattering is well done, it gives a very delicate tone of interesting texture, but if not cleverly employed, and especially if there be a large area of it, it is very likely to look out of character with the line portions of the drawing.
A method sometimes employed to give a soft black effect is to moisten the lobe of the thumb lightly with ink and press it upon the paper. The series of lines of the skin make an impression that can be reproduced by the ordinary line processes. As in the case of spatter work, superfluous ink must be looked after before making the impression so as to avoid leaving hard edges. Thumb markings lend themselves to the rendering of dark smoke, and the like, where the edges require to be soft and vague, and the free direction of the lines impart a feeling of movement.
Interesting effects of texture are sometimes introduced into pen drawings by obtaining the impression of a canvas grain. To produce this, it is necessary that the drawing be made on fairly thin paper. The modus operandi is as follows: Place the drawing over a piece of mounted canvas of the desired coarseness of grain, and, holding it firmly, rub a lithographic crayon vigorously over the surface of the paper. The grain of the canvas will be found to be clearly reproduced, and, as the crayon is absolutely black, the effect is capable of reproduction by the ordinary photographic processes.