Sketching and rendering in pencil

Front matter

The Pencil Points Library

SKETCHING AND HINDERING IN PENCIL

ARTHUR. I/ GUPTILL front the Library of

Preface

AN ARTISTIC conception is susceptible of translation into graphic expression through a variety of media, but by a certain universality of custom, or perhaps more accurately of convenience, the familiar lead pencil has achieved a significance derived from its immediate association with all forms of pictorial delineation. One may speak of it as a kind of staff upon which the artist or the draftsman leans most heavily. But this popular acceptance or recognition has, curiously enough, failed to carry with it an equivalent degree of appreciative comment or of authoritative instruction in the technique of its individual employment. Therefore, an examination of the text and illustrations contained in this volume must be of special and compelling interest to any one of artistic profession or aspirations, for in his accomplished and excellent interpretation of the potentiality existent within the pencil, Mr. Guptill is practically a pioneer.

By far the greater acknowledgment must be given, however, to the very definite stimulus contained in this volume toward a really effective educational development among architectural draftsmen. The atelier system which offers an inexpensive means of acquiring certain architectural training, based on the general principles of instruction at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, nevertheless, stops short of completeness from the lack of stress placed on the important element of free-hand drawing. Great emphasis is properly laid on the solution of the plan and its presentation but the adherence to the mechanical method more or less predicated in the drawing of the two-dimensioned plan, has been carried with almost equal insistence into the study of the three-dimensioned elevation. Out of this practice has grown a kind of formalized T-square and triangle "indication," much in vogue, and with scarcely more suggestive value than the working drawing produced with the other mechanical paraphernalia of ruling pens, compasses and dividers.

Most draftsmen avoid the blunted pencil point as they would a plague. A large part of their time is spent in sharpening the pencil to the length and sharpness of a needle. With such an implement their horizon is narrowed down to the production of scale drawings and the conventionalized sectional hatchings indicative of various materials. Form expressed in the graceful, flowing suavity of line becomes a remote possibility under such conditions.

If I am dwelling with some insistence upon the value of free-hand drawing, it is not in disparagement of instrumental drawing, nor with any view to its neglect. It is rather in the desire to build something more vital and engaging on this foundation of mechanical skill which will result in the draftsman becoming ever increasingly more of a draftsman that I most earnestly recommend this book. Mr. Guptill has with every evidence of success endeavored to assist the draftsman out of this automatic conventionalized indication into the realm of appreciation of the greater artistic possibilities lying within himself. To suggest to others a way of increasingly beautiful accomplishment is obviously no slight contribution. This volume is a plea for better instruction in free-hand drawing and for the thorough perception of its value.

The illustrations accompanying the text, by their variety and excellence of selection and their orderly arrangement, furnish in themselves a basis of suggestion to students which should awaken the most enthusiastic response.

The initial and almost certain discouragement which the making of a drawing from life connotes, inevitably becomes an emotion of compelling interest once a grasp of the elements of form and contour has been accomplished. I know of no way in which artistic capital, in the sense of facility and sureness of drawing, can be obtained better than by drawing from life and the transition from the plastic model to the rendering of the static architectural ornament enables the student to embody in his drawing the spirit of the design with a sureness and a refinement of detail not possible to one who has not passed through the former experience.

There is some distance to be travelled along the road of artistic endeavor before the student can express his personality in the composed statement of the artist. Mr. Guptill has, I think, in pointing out the road and contributing to its illumination, wisely kept away from the indication of style. His insistence has been in the line of encouragement of a greater fluency of speech in the language of pencil technique and of the assistance that intelligent conventionalization can render in the presentation of form and of color and of materials.

New York City.

HOWARD GREENLEY.

VII

CONTENTS Part I.

CHAPTER PAGE

I. FIRST CONSIDERATIONS ..... ......

II. THE ESSENTIAL EQUIPMENT ..... ... 3

III. OHJECT DRAWING IN OUTLINE ........... 5

IV. OnjKCT DRAWING IN LIGHT AND SHADE ........ 17

V- FREE-HAND PERSPECTIVE ............ 24

VII- LIKE DRAWING . . . . 39

VIII. SKETCHING ANIMALS . . . . . . . . . . . . .57

Part II. CHAPTER PAGE

I. ARCHITECTURAL CONSIDERATIONS ..... ..... 61

II. STARTING THE WORK ............. 67

III. INDIVIDUAL STYLE . ..... . 76

IV. METHODS AND LIGHTING ....... 88

V. COMPOSITION AND DRAWING EROM PHOTOGRAPHS ... 94

VI. GRADED TONES ......... 103

VII. THE REPRESENTATION OK SMALL I!UII,'>INGS . . . 109

VIII. THE REPRESENTATION OK DETAILS . . . \\g

IX. INTERIORS AND FURNITURE . 11;

X- OUTDOOR SKETCHING ....... 147

X I. ACCESSORIES . ^ eg

XII. DECORATIVE TREATMENT .... if-o

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Troy Kinney, Study for "Provoquante" Frontispiece

Study of Fokina in Her Dance of Salome 55

Charles Livingston Bull, Studies of Animals 56, 57, 58, 59 and 60

Kenneth Conant, Sketches of Durham Cathedral 77 and 81

Sketch of Cathedral, Santiago de Compostella 83

Frank Vincent DuMond, Study for Mural Decoration 49

Otto R. Eggers, View from a Window in Milan 79

Bits of Paris 80

View in Tanfield Court 82

Proposed Treatment for a Living Room 142

Proposed Treatment for a Dining Room 143

Detail of Cluny Museum 4

Barry Faulkner, Figure Studies for Mural Paintings 45 and 53

Landscape Study for a Mural Painting 168

] lugh Ferriss, Sketch of Madison Square Garden 173

Rendering of Bush House, London 174

Rendering of Bush I louse, London 176

Jules Guerin, Figure Studies for Mural Decorations 38, 40, 51, 52 and 54

M. R. Hermann, Landscape Drawings 150, 154 and 155

Albert Kahn, Sketches of Wrought Iron Work and Wood Carving in South

Kensington Museum, London 131, 132 and 133

Louis Kurtz, Sketch for House at Kingsport, Tennessee 116

Otto F. Langmann, Sketches of Old New York 167, 181 and 185

Schell Lewis, Detail of an Entrance for a Country Residence 130

Robert A. Lock-wood, Pencil Sketch 180

Birch Burdette Long, Rendering of the Lincoln Memorial, Washington. D. C 87

C. D. Maginnis, Pencil Sketch — In the Rue St. Etienne Des Tonneliers, Rouen 85

Erwin J. Pauli, Rendering of a Design for a Club Room 144

Chester B. Price, S. W- Straus & Company Building 177

The Heckscher Building, New York City 183 rx

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS (Continued)

Eugene F. Savage, Figure Study for Decorative Painting 43

Taher Sears, Studies of Heads 44 and 50

Studies of Hands 47

H. I. Stickroth. Figure Studies for Mural Paintings. 46 and 48

Francis S- Swales, Rapid Pencil Sketch 117

Ernest Watson, Pencil Sketch of Pennsylvania Station, Pittsburgh, Pa 33

Sketch of Old Buildings 66

Pencil Sketch of Williamsburg Bridge, New York City 86

Kthel M. Weir, Accented Object Drawing 23

Miscellaneous

Fragments from the Roman Forum, D'Kspouv 134

Pencil Drawing of Design for Decoration of Vaulted Ceiling 145

Rendering in Pencil and Water Color. Table in the Louis XVI Manner 146

Students' Work 20, 21, 23, 37

ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE AUTHOR

Drawings by the author, illustrating points brought

out in the text, are found throughout this work and

are designated as Figures 1 through 53.

It is a pleasure for the author to express here his grateful appreciation of the co-operation of all those who have contributed towards the making of this volume — especially to Walter Scott Perry, under whom, as Director of the School of Fine and Applied Arts, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York City, the lectures upon which this work is based were prepared, and to the artists who have kindly given permission for the reproduction of the drawings shown in the supplementary illustrations.

Foreword

IN VIEW of the popularity that the pencil has long enjoyed as a medium of artistic expression, it seems rather strange that so little has been written relating exclusively to it. For it is certainly true, whatever the reasons may he for this apparent neglect on the part of our writers, — reasons on which it is idle and irrelevant to speculate here, — that though there is a wealth of material dealing with kindred subjects, contributions hearing directly on the uses of this universal medium are few and meagre indeed.

This dearth of material became clearly apparent to the author when he was called upon, some ten years ago, to teach pencil sketching and technique in the art and architectural classes at Pratt Institute, for at that time a book was sought which might be employed as a text and reference work for his students. As nothing seemed available complete enough to satisfactorily meet all the requirements, a series of lectures was prepared by the author, based on his own training in art and architecture, which, after having been revised and amplified from time to time to meet the needs of the various classes under his instruction, forms the basis of this present volume.

Some of these lectures were arranged for pupils seeking a general art education ; others were especially for architectural students, while a few, taking up the representation of furniture, draperies and the like, were used for the classes in interior decoration. As records were kept in all of these classes from year to year of the difficulties most frequently encountered and of points which seemed to require the most thorough explanation; also of the mistakes most commonly made by the pupils, it was possible to so revise the lectures as to anticipate and cover in advance many of the questions and problems which might otherwise have given trouble. An effort was made to guide the student step-by-step through the work, explaining each part with the greatest care.

\Yhen arrangements were made in 1920 to prepare a serial article on the subject of "Sketching and Rendering in Pencil" for "Pencil Points" it obviously became necessary to approach the whole subject from the standpoint of the architect and the architectural draftsman and student, so arranging the facts presented as to make them of the greatest value and interest to persons connected with the architectural profession. It seemed advisable, therefore, to exclude considerable maferial of a general nature, but in its place several additional sections were prepared, based on the professional experience of the author as architect and architectural illustrator and dealing especially with the uses of pencil in the free-hand rendering of architectural subjects.

This article, based on the lectures mentioned above, appeared in "Pencil Points" from August, 1920, to December, 1921, inclusive, in seventeen instalments, and met a much warmer reception than was expected by either the author or the publishers. Because of the rapid growth of the magazine, the back numbers of each issue were soon exhausted — it became impossible to meet the demand for the early installments; therefore the publishers, taking into consideration the fact that the inquiries received were not only from those connected with the architectural profession, but from artists and teachers and art students as well, decided that it was advisable to republish the entire series in some permanent form so as to make it available to all. The present volume is the result of this decision, and as it now stands contains in revised form the material published in "Pencil Points." to which has been added much material which was omitted from the magazine mainly because it approaches the subject entirely from the art rather than the purely architectural standpoint. Then, besides many new illustrations by the author drawn especially for this purpose, we are able to include through the kind co-operation of many well known artists, numerous examples of pencil work, showing a wide range of subject and great variety of technique. All these various reproductions are presented not merely as excellent examples of pencil drawing, however, but each is selected to illustrate some principle of composition or some suggestion for technique given in the text, thus adding, we believe, to the usefulness of the whole.

In preparing this volume we have presupposed that our readers would lie. in the main, students of art or architecture or some allied subject, on the one hand, and architects or draftsmen, artists and art teachers on the other. We have endeavored to offer suggestions of value to all these classes of individuals and to do so it is plainly necessary to include much that is too elementary for the experienced man and much that is a bit too advanced for the novice. Therefore let the former omit or hurry over the rudimentary portions and the latter seek advice from his teacher as to the parts best suited to his state of progress. For the beginner needs a teacher and no book or books can take the place of personal instruction, — in fact, a book of this sort can do little but offer general instructions and suggestions, a bit of knowledge and a little inspiration; — if the reader gains a few thoughts that are new or has ideas which were partly forgotten brought back to him or is made to see familiar things from an enlarged viewpoint, this work will have served a useful purpose.

XII

Courtesy of Kennedy & Co.

A FIGURE STUDY BY TROY K1NNEY FOR HIS ETCHING "PROVOQUANTE"

PART I.

Chapter I. First Considerations

UNDOUBTEDLY the ready availability and low cost of the pencil and materials needed for use in conjunction with it are partly responsible for its popularity among artists, while the ease with which it can be carried from place to place and prepared and kept in condition for work are in its favor, also.

But aside from these intrinsic merits of the pencil itself, it has other advantages of a different sort, — for instance its common employment for writing and similar purposes has given us all a certain familiarity with it, so that the beginner, having become accustomed from earliest childhood to these everyday uses to which it is put, finds it a natural and simple matter to learn to hold and manipulate it properly when drawing, which is, of course, highly important as it leaves him free to give his attention to other difficulties less easily avoided.

Yet the advantages we have mentioned, great as they are, seem insignificant when put into comparison with the one leading fact which has given the pencil its place in the world of art, — the fact that it is suitable for any kind of a drawing from the roughest outline sketch or diagram to a complete rendering of an elaborate subject. What other medium is there which responds so readily to any demand made upon it? Sharply pointed it will give us a line as fine and clean-cut as that of the pen ; bluntly pointed it can be used almost as a brush. It will make strokes sufficiently light and delicate or bold and vigorous to suit the most exacting, or tones so smooth that in them no trace of any line can be found. It is responsive to the slightest touch, allowing us to grade at will from light to dark or from dark to light. What other medium will do all this ? What other medium permits so great freedom in correcting and erasing at any time during the progress of the work? What medium permits of such rapid manipulation when speed is desired and still proves suitable for the most careful and painstaking study? It should not be supposed that it is only in the making of drawings in light and shade or outline that it is of value, either, for when color is desired there are excellent colored pencils to be had by the use of which wonderful effects are obtainable, either on white paper or on tinted surfaces, — furthermore light washes of water-color can be run over pencil work satisfactorily, charming combinations of such mediums being frequently seen.

Nor should it be forgotten that aside from all these various types of work in which the pencil plays a leading or a most conspicuous part, there are many drawings in which it serves a less prominent but by no means less important one, for it is employed with great frequency in the preparation of drawings to be completed in other mediums ; — pen drawings, for example, are almost invariably blocked out in pencil before any ink is applied, while its use is not infrequent for the same preliminary preparation for paintings in wash, water color or oil as well as for making the numerous studies which are usually done before a large or important composition is finally executed. Therefore, even though the student intends to become a painter, pencil facility should prove invaluable to him. In fact, practice with this instrument helps greatly to fit one for work in all other mediums — drawings done in fine line train one for pen-and-ink, broad line shading being more like charcoal or crayon or brush work helps one in the use of these mediums, while pencil shading in mass or full tone prepares one directly for painting in wash or color.

With these various facts before us, it is not difficult to see that the pencil is an instrument which no artist or art student can afford to ignore; especially is it of value to the beginner for as has been pointed out it is hard to find another medium that approaches the pencil in permitting the same speed and accuracy in drawing, coupled with ease in correction. It is unfortunate if the student allows his impatience to attempt work in pen-and-ink or pastel or water-color or oils to cause him to proceed to the use of any of these mediums before he has mastered the pencil, for if he does so he will face unnecessary difficulties.

But if the pencil is valuable to the artist or art student it is absolutely indispensable to the architect and his assistants, for whereas the artist has numerous mediums from which to choose the one best suited to his particular needs or individual taste, the architect has nothing that can take the place of the graphite point for a major portion of his work. What other medium would answer for laying out his accurate plans and elevations and sections, and what else would do for all the various detail drawings which must be carefully made to scale? Yet the pencil serves the architect in other ways than these, for aside from this instrumental work which is hardly within the scope of this volume, many drawings of a free-hand nature are required, such as details of carved stone and wood, ornamental iron, lettered inscriptions and the like, and what is still more important the pencil is particularly valuable for making rendered presentation sketches of the kind submitted to a prospective client to show how a proposed structure will appear when completed, these sketches frequently serving to bring new work into the office. Then, too, the architect finds a knowledge of free-hand perspective sketching of great value in other ways, for he can by means of a few strokes of his pencil make some point clear to his client or express his ideas satisfactorily to his draftsmen, or help his contractors to visualize some matter not readily understood from the working drawings.

The architect's indebtedness to this little instrument which helps him to get work and to execute it is plain then, but if he feels a debt to this constant friend, so indeed should the architectural draftsman or student, for the pencil perhaps offers him more assistance in learning architecture and in advancing in this profession than does any other one thing.

For it is natural that the draftsman who gains proficiency in the use of an instrument so frequently employed by the architect stands in line for promo tion, especially if he is able to do all the free-hand work which the average draftsman is so often unqualified to handle.

And even though a man may never reach a point where he stands out among his fellows because of his pencil sketches, he can gain much benefit in many ways by practising sketching during his spare moments. Drawing from photographs or buildings always increases a student's knowledge of architecture, but it does far more than this. It improves his powers of observation and retention, for he is forced to observe in order to draw at all and in drawing he unconsciously assimilates not only knowledge of the buildings drawn, but also a sense of relative proportions and shapes applicable to original problems in design. The more such drawings he makes, too, the greater will be his power to visualize the appearance of a proposed building long before a single study on paper has been made. The ability to thus form in the mind an image of the completed structure is most desirable, but the average draftsman gives so much time to working in elevation or plan only that he is likely to lose sight of the fact that the building is to be finally judged by its appearance in three dimensions and not by the drawings from which it is built. The draftsman who has the power to visualize does not forget this fact and so makes all his drawings with greater intelligence.

There are some men, on the other hand, who are able to see in their minds a building exactly as they wish to erect it, yet they are unable to freely express their ideas on paper. To such men a knowledge of free-hand drawing would be of the greatest benefit. In fact a man who can sketch well is able not only to express his own thoughts on paper but can draw from a description given him by someone else.

Then there are others connected with the architectural profession besides the architect and his draftsmen and designers who find a knowledge of sketching of value, for engineers and construction superintendents can often explain to others or make clear in their own minds certain obscure points in construction by means of quick sketches.

And just as the architect and his assistants find skill in pencil handling advantageous, so do those connected with such professions as interior decoration and landscape architecture, and in much the same way — this is not difficult to see. What is not so commonly understood, however, is that skill in pencil sketching often proves of practical value to the layman, though he may make infrequent use of his accomplishment. There are problems which sometimes come up in the daily life of any person difficult to express or explain by oral or written word but which can be easily made clear by even the crudest sketch.

Does it not seem rather strange, then, when we reflect on these various advantages of skill in sketching, that of all the millions of people in this country using pencils every day, and of the thousands of men in the architectural and similar professions alone who work from morning till night throughout the year with the pencil as their principal tool, that so few ever attempt to make anything but the crudest sort of free-hand sketch and that among those who do seriously try to make finished pencil drawings a still smaller number have the perseverance to reach any real degree of success? For taken all in all there is much of a practical nature to be gained through free-hand pencil work, and in addition to this a great deal of pleasure to be obtained, — in fact, the satisfaction of being able to draw well is worth in itself the time spent in acquiring the necessary knowledge.

Chapter II. THE ESSENTIAL EQUIPMENT

THERE is nothing, perhaps, which so kindles the interest and enthusiasm of the student as to surround himself with the required drawing materials, while even the experienced man who is accustomed to the everyday use of these accessories can hardly gaze upon a new clean sheet of paper and pencils pointed ready for his hand without an itching to commence, a desire to seize a pencil and he at it, for there is something about such materials to lure one on — to urge one to do his best.

In fact the appeal of all such things is so strong that the beginner is almost sure, unless guided by his instructor, to buy too great a variety and quantity of materials and is inclined to attach too much importance to them, for important as they are (and no man can do good work with poor tools), the truth of the matter is that few and comparatively inexpensive things are needed for such work, and especially for the earlier problems. But these few should be the best of their respective kinds, for the difficulties that beset the beginner are so many and great that it would be a grave mistake for him to handicap himself by using anything of an inferior nature, as even the best materials are none too easily mastered.

If the student has no teacher to aid him in his selection he is usually safe in securing the standard drawing pencils and papers and the like which are carried in stock by reliable dealers in artists' supplies. After a time he will develop a liking for certain kinds for certain purposes and will eventually choose without hesitation the pencil and paper best suited to the subject to be drawn and the sort of drawing to be made. And whether one works with an instructor or without, his personal preferences will become more and more marked from year to year, and the more difficult it will be for him to adapt himself to materials with which he is not perfectly familiar. This unfortunately causes some artists of mature years to heartily condemn everything to which they are unaccustomed, which is hardly fair, for that which is worthless to one may be excellent for another. After the early problems are over, then, it is often well to experiment until a certain familiarity with all the standard materials is gained. Those which are here recommended will do for most of the problems of the beginner while others are discussed in later chapters. Materials

Pencils — Drawing pencils are usually graded from 6B, the softest and blackest, to 9H, the hardest and firmest, with fifteen grades between, or seventeen in all, arranged as follows: — 6B, SB, 4B, 3B, 2B, B, HB, F, H, 2H, 3H, 4H, 5H, 6H, 7H, 8H, 9H. Of these the soft pencils are best suited to freehand work, though some papers de- ' mand much harder pencils than others. In fact, the choice of pencils depends almost entirely on the character of paper to be used, a smooth, glossy paper demanding a much softer pencil than is needed for work on rough paper which has considerable "too'.h." For quick sketches, one soft pencil, perhaps a 2B or B or HB, will sometimes do for the whole drawing, but a carefully finished sketch showing considerable detail may require as many as seven or eight pencils grading all the way from 3B or 2B to 4H or 5H. In such a drawing most of the work would be done with the softer pencils, the harder ones being used for the light, transparent tones and fine detail. A little experimenting will usually show what pencils are best suited to the paper to be used and to the subject to be drawn. The fact that the weather makes a great difference in the pencils required is not usually recognized, but it is true that pencils that are just right on a dry day will prove too hard when the air is damp and the paper filled with moisture. Pencils of different manufacture vary in their grading so it is generally best to use those of one make on a drawing. Cheap pencils seldom prove satisfactory as the lead is variable and often so gritty as to scratch the paper.

Paper — Almost any drawing paper will do, but the choice depends mainly on the size and character of the drawing to be made. For small sketches it is best, as a rule, to use smoother paper than for large work, — in fact it is almost impossible to draw fine detail on extremely rough paper. A glazed paper, however, is seldom desirable as the shiny surface is dulled in an objectionable manner if the eraser is used. Sometimes, however, very crisp, snappy sketches are made on glazed paper, but a soft pencil is required for such work. Extremely rough paper is occasionally satisfactory for a large drawing, but a medium-rough surface is best for general work. Some tracing papers are very good and have the advantage that the sketch can be first blocked out on one sheet and then rendered on a second sheet placed over the first. The drawings by the author illustrating this text were made for the most part on "kid finish" Bristol Board, which has the advantage of being stiff and durable, with a firm surface.

It is often well to have several standard sizes for sketch sheets, one small enough to slip into the pocket, and one or two larger sizes. Drawing paper of the Imperial size of 22 in. x 30 in. can be cut without waste to several convenient proportions, such as 15 in. x 22 in., 11 in. x 15 in. and 7l/2 in. x 11 in. Some draftsmen prefer to have punched sheets to be used in a standard notebook cover, 8 in. x 105/2 in., being satisfactory. The sketch hooks and pads for sale in all art stores are good for small work.