Line drawing

“ Now, while in wash drawings, crayon, or pencil sketches, "scrape" boards, and the like, there must be some amount of instinctive artistic ability, not only to guide the hand in execution but to govern taste, idea, and selection; yet in simple line drawing with the pen, without any art knowledge or technical ability, it may be possible to produce a perfectly reproducible drawing, fulfilling in every way the essential duty of an illustration. ”

“ These dots and lines, used for shadow, or tone, are laid upon the plate by the maker of the block, the artist indicating, by a blue pencil mark, the parts of a drawing to be so manipulated; and as the illustrator has not seen the effect on his own line drawing, the results are often a surprise to everyone concerned. ”

“ Most modern drawing is a mixture of both these points of view, but they should be studied separately if confusion is to be avoided. If 49the student neglects line drawing, his work will lack the expressive significance of form that only a feeling for lines seems to have the secret of conveying; while, if he neglects mass drawing, he will be poorly equipped when he comes to express form with a brush full of paint to work with. ”

“ So that in a line drawing in pen or pencil, in the economy of the means, and in the skill and mastery 126 by which facts of nature, character, life, action, or beauty of line and ornamental effect are rendered by the simple use of outline, or tint, or solid black, we can recognise the artist of power just as clearly as we recognize a friend's handwriting. ”

“ But, inasmuch as the perfect way of drawing is by shade without lines, and the great painters always conceive their subject as complete, even when they are sketching it most rapidly, you will find that, when they are not limited in means, they do not much trust to direction of line, but will often scratch in the shade of a rounded surface with nearly straight lines, that is to say, with the easiest and quickest lines possible to themselves. ”

“ Study the work of the best illustrators, noting the tone-scheme and the placing upon the page.
ETCHING Etching, pen drawing and pencil sketching are line-arts. The needle, pen and lead pencil are tools for drawing lines, and there is much reason in Whistler's contention that tone and shading should not be attempted with them. The tool always gives character to work, and the best results are obtained when the possibilities of tools and materials are fully appreciated. If a sharp point is used in drawing, it will produce pure line, whose quality may reach any degree of excellence. ”

“ It may be remarked that they only draw well who draw intelligently; aptness in this, as in many other virtues, is a matter of slow growth, “here a line and there a line”—it’s the proper direction, not the rate of progress, that counts in the end.
There are several methods of drawing—1, Free-hand; 2, Instrumental; 3, Geometrical; 4. Perspective. In the first the work, also termed sketching, is executed by pencil, pen, crayon, or even paint-brush; in the second the result is attained by the use of rule, tee-square, drawing pen, etc. ”

“ The artists felt themselves free from any obligation to give expression to the countenances of their subjects so long as the fundamental idea was there, and the loops offered an easy vehicle for the utterance of thoughts and feelings which a modern artist would feel obliged to express in the drawing itself—by a skillful quirk of the pencil, an added line, an exaggerated smile or frown. ”

“ In these you will find the foundation of our teaching—that is, we do not say that a human face must be made by putting in a black line running obliquely from the nose to the lip, made with such or such a pen, such or such a crayon, ink, or charcoal, but we point out the line in nature, and say that because it is found in nature, artists put it in their drawings. When not found in a face, as that of a young person, then it is left out in a good artist’s drawing of a young face. ”

“ The kind of line which seems appropriate to representing the delicate edges of a piece of low-relief sculpture, for instance, would require greater force and firmness if we wanted to draw an antique cast in the round, and in strong light and shade. The character of our line should be sympathetic with the character of our subject as far as possible, and sensitive to its differences of character and surface, since it is in this sensitiveness that the expressive power and peculiar virtue of line-drawing consists. ”

“ A line is used, not only for drawing the outside outline or contour of objects, but for drawing the outline of shadows upon and within them; therefore, every bit of practice you may have in drawing lines of any kind will be helpful to you when blocking in the shapes of shadows that bring out the form of an object. ”

“ In technical work such as ours the illustrations are of two classes: (1) line drawings; (2) photographic or halftone illustrations.
Line Drawings.—Copy for line drawings should be made two to three times the dimensions of the completed illustration. The weight of line, and especially the lettering, should be carefully worked out to give desired results. The following illustrations, taken from "Engineering Drawing," by Thomas E. French, will serve as a guide to the draftsman preparing these illustrations. ”

“ The art of expression in line, or of expressing the effect of a picture or a landscape from Nature in a few leading lines (not necessarily outline) is little understood in this country; and if such study, as the Athenæum pointed out, is important for the wood draughtsman, how much more so in drawing for reproduction by photo-mechanical means? A few artists have the gift of expressing themselves in line, but the majority are strangely ignorant of 47 the principles of this art and of the simple fac-simile processes by which drawing can now be reproduced. ”

“ The difficulty of achieving this effect of imparting a clear, regular, unbroken appearance to these lines of light seems very formidable, and, indeed, almost insuperable. The hand of the colourist may be as steady and confident as a hand can be, and yet fail to guide the brush, at an almost inappreciable distance from a straight or a circular line, with that precision and sharpness so requisite for the production of this beautiful effect. ”

“ In adding lines in this kind of way to give relief or extra richness or force, the draughtsman is really designing a system of lines upon his outline basis, which may have quite as decorative a quality as the outline itself. At the same time nothing is more characteristic of the artist than the way in which such lines are used, and of course the choice of direction and arrangement of such lines will make all the difference in the effect of the drawing. ”

“ While others say, with some truth, that there is a mesmeric effect produced when the eye is drawn that blinds one to the cold-blooded technical consideration of a head as line and tone in certain relationships; that it is as well to postpone until the last that moment when the shapes and tones that represent form in your drawing shall be lit up by the introduction of the eye to the look of a live person. One is freer to consider the accuracy of one's form before this disturbing influence is introduced. ”

“ The drawings of many modern artists are full of attempts to express tone and colour effects, things entirely outside the true province of drawing. The small but infinitely important part of nature that pure drawing is capable of conveying has been neglected, and line work, until recently, went out of fashion in our schools. ”

“ And he will not understand the mental form stimulus that the direction and swing of a brush stroke can give. These and many things connected with expression can best be studied in line work.
Let the student therefore begin on the principles adopted in most schools, with outline studies of simple casts or models, and gradually add light and shade. When he has acquired more proficiency he may approach drawing from the life. ”

“ Some rude things were said above about the straight line and the circle, on account of their lack of variety, and it is true that a mathematically straight line, or a mathematically perfect circle, are never found in good artistic drawing. For without variety is no charm or life. But these lines possess other qualities, due to their maximum amount of unity, that give them great power in a composition; and where the expression of sublimity or any of the deeper and more profound sentiments are in evidence, they are often to be found. ”

“ Owing to the difficulty which some experience in drawing freehand a continuous line, the plot should be made twice the linear size of the intended reproduction. A good rule to follow in drawing lines is to keep the eye fixed on the point where the line is to end, the hand will then guide the pen in the right path, especially after a little practice. ”

“ Although it has been felt necessary to devote much space to an attempt to find principles that may be said to be at the basis of the art of all nations, the executive side of the question has not been neglected. And it is hoped that the logical method for the study of drawing from the two opposite points of view of line and mass here advocated may be useful, and help students to avoid some of the confusion that results from attempting simultaneously the study of these different qualities of form expression. ”

“ But unless your eye is exactly opposite the hub of the wheel in the line of the axle, the wheel does not make a circle on the retina of your eye, and ought not to be represented by a circle in your drawing. To draw well, the first resolution and the first duty is to see well. Second, do not suppose that mere technical method has much to do with real success. Soft pencil rather than hard; sepia rather than India ink. It is pure truth that tells in drawing, and that is what you can gain. ”

“ In a mechanical drawing the light is supposed, for the purposes of line shading or of coloring, to come in from the upper left-hand corner of the drawing paper; hence it falls directly upon the upper and left-hand lines of each piece, which are therefore represented [83] by fine lines, while the right hand and lower edges of the piece being on the shadow side may therefore, with propriety, be represented by broader lines, which are called shadow or shade lines. These lines will often serve to indicate the shape of some part of the piece represented, as will be seen from the following examples. ”

“ When we have settled upon our quality of line and its degree—thick or thin, bold or fine—we shall be met with the question of emphasis, for upon this the ultimate effect and expression of our [55] drawing or design must largely depend. In the selection of any subject we should naturally be influenced by the attractiveness of particular parts, characters, or qualities it might possess, and we should direct our efforts towards bringing these out, as the things which impress us most. ”

“ A Light Sketch and a Silhouette a candle or some other light at such an angle that the shadow of the profile was thrown on a sheet of paper pinned on a wall; then by tracing the outline of the shadow with a soft pencil, or piece of charcoal, you secured an outline sketch. The size of the picture is its disadvantage. Who wants a life-sized outline of even their dearest and their best?
But in a sizeable, careful little outline drawing of a friend's features filled with black ink or paint we have an old-fashioned method of portraiture—the silhouette. ”

“ As we said in Chapter XIII, just as we studied the matter of the naso-labial line, and the orbicular muscle, one should study the direction of the wickers of a trash basket, so the artist has studied here the characteristic lines of tree trunk, foliage, hillside, and grasses. If you will study a city street or a shipyard in the same spirit—that is, search for the characteristic lines—you will be able to make a drawing which, even though it lacks {145} Illustration from the Paris Illustré. An example of combined use of outline, parallel lines and solid black, with very little crosshatch. ”

“ The drawing of a subject is carefully done with a soft pencil and in a fine light line, so that it will not show in the picture after the color is applied. Drawing is as important in his work as color and value. ”

“ A good method of practice for pen work is as follows: Take a wood engraving or half-tone from some {130} Pen drawing by Marc Moullier, for La Plume, showing a clever and eccentric use of dots. It may be remarked that since the mantelpiece is above the eye we cannot see the top of it. It is parallel to the artist’s eyes, and so is represented as a horizontal line. So far as correct drawing is concerned, it makes no difference how that line is made. ”

“ The shepherd-boy taught himself by drawing with a pointed stick on a smooth piece of ground. So lack of materials is no excuse for lack of effort.
One of my young readers may cry, “Draw! Draw! I draw ? Why, I cannot draw a straight line.” As a matter of fact, a perfectly straight line is one of the most difficult things to draw. There are many artists who cannot easily draw a straight line. If you study Nature—and she is our safest guide—you will never see an absolutely straight line. If you do see one, you may be sure that the hand of man has helped to make it. ”

“ When the drawing is to be coloured, it is best to wash out a wrong line with a small hard brush, and to slightly sponge over the place through a hole of the requisite size cut in a scrap of drawing paper, to save the other parts of the drawing. ”

“ The oblique lines, d, e, and f, should next be drawn. In all these exercises the lines should be drawn boldly, in a length at a time, not piece by piece; the hand should not rest on the board or slate while drawing, but should be free, so that the line may be drawn in at one sweep, as it were, of the arm or wrist. Irregular or "waved" lines should next be drawn, as at c; this style of line is useful in drawing broken lines, as in old ruins, trees, gates, stones, &c. &c. Pupils must not content themselves with drawing a few examples of the lines we have given. ”