Overview

The art of using pencil, chalk or other mediums to create drawings. Usually done on parchment, it should be noted that this is not the Painting skill ~ that is the art and skill of creating paintings on canvas or other surfaces. Anything not using paints comes under drawing. Utilizing mixed methods requires both skills.

Drawing Techniques

Outline

The outline technique involves literally drawing a single line. This might range from light and fine to thicker and dark, depending on the amount of pressure applied. These can be drawn freehand or can utilise a straight or curved surface to draw around.

Hatching

Hatching is marking out small lines bunched together to create fill color from further away. This technique is usually used as a shading technique, and like outlines can be light or heavy by reducing or adding pressure.

Cross-Hatching

Cross-hatching utilises the same method as hatching, except the process is repeated in the opposite direction in a second layer on top of the first layer. Also a shading technique, this is a good way of adding darker shades to any drawing.

Stipping

Fundamentally the same as hatching except the stipping technique uses tiny lines, more like dots or small dashes. This can be used as a shading technique or as a fill technique.

Scumbling

Scumbling involves moving the pencil in small, circular motions keeping them all very compact. It can be used as a shading or filling technique.

Smudging

With the finger, or a small piece of cloth, the work is deliberately smudged in order to provide depth and texture.

Drawing Tools

Pencils, Chalks etc ~ any medium which is used for making marks on a surface is a drawing tool. Pencils, pens, chalks, wax and charcoal all form part of this group. They tend to vary widely in quality and are common throughout Idalos.

Examples of these include:

• Reed - Probably the most well known and used among artists is the reed pencil.

• Charcoal - Compressed charcoal, sometimes enclosed in a jacket of wood, often used for fine and crisp detailed drawings. Charcoal can also come without a wood casing and in this case, has a tendency to rub off on the user’s hands. This medium is very prone to smudging.

• Ink - Ink is a liquid or paste that contains pigments or dyes and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, or quill. Thicker inks, in paste form, are used extensively in letterpress and lithographic printing.

• Pastels - Pastels are an art medium in the form of a stick, often chalk or wax, consisting of pure powdered pigment and a binder. Can be prone to smudging.

• Crayon - Colored wax sometimes wrapped in paper, crayons can come in a plethora of shapes and sizes. Resistant to wet media, such as ink or watercolor.

• Parchment ~ drawing on to a parchment is the most usual means of drawing. This might be a single parchment held on an easel or a sketch pad. Parchment itself varies in quality, ranging from rough and difficult to work on to smooth and easy to draw upon.

Other Tools & Equipment

Please note: Easels, erasers, pins for holding parchment in place and many other pieces might form part of a toolkit for drawing. At its most basic, however, pencil and parchment is all that is needed.

• Straight Edges - A ruler or a device that appears much like a wooden ‘T’, straight edges assist artists hoping to achieve straight lines and is particularly useful for measuring and/or perspective.

• Studio Bench/Art Horse - A wooden or steel bench that one straddles, it usually has a extension to rest one’s drawing board. Especially useful when drawing from life.

• Drawing Board - A large flat board on which paper may be spread for artists or designers to work on.

Related Skills

• Detection - Observation is an absolutely necessary skill for any artist trying to portray life like images. It is crucial to understand and notice the change in tones, or the slopes and curves of subject matter.

• Painting - Painting is excellent, as it focuses less on line and form, and instead uses light and color to bring an image vibrancy and life. The two skills seem to go hand and hand, however those that draw well do not always paint well and vice versa.

• Sculpting - Sculpting is useful as it helps the artist understand the different planes of a subject and how it sits in a space. Artists should strive to look past the 2-D form of an image and comprehend them in 3-D.

Skill Ranks

Novice (0-25)

Novice artists are learning how to “see”, observing the world around them and translating those images on paper. Most commonly their work is not accurate at this stage, and will receive a lot of criticism from viewers. Making money on your work is unlikely, but not impossible. Focusing on line, shape and form are most common areas of interest, and artists tend to have a favored subject matter.

Competent (26-75)

At this level, artists are beginning to notice improvements in their work. Often times there is a strong resemblance between their art and the intended subject matter, however details may be off, such as tricky areas as anatomy, or accurate shading. It is important that artists don’t get discouraged at this stage, as they are capable of seeing the flaws of their work more and must make a decision to continue the path of study or not. It is certainly possible to make a living as an artist at this stage as the work is of a good standard.

Expert (76-150)

There is little that an artist at this level can’t replicate to some degree. While not everything drawn is perfect and there still tends to be favorite subject matter, this artist has an excellent grasp on form and perspective and their work will be highly sought after. The line quality is good and without “scratchiness”, and proportions are correct. An artist's style becomes very apparent at this stage, as they are familiar with the rules of art and how to break them.

Master (151-250)

What can't an artist draw at this point? Their work no longer is just a representation of something but has the power to evoke immense emotion from the viewer, images seemingly coming to life and demanding attention. Details are surreal, capable of creating optical illusions that trick the eye to believing it.

Credit: Bumblebee & Faith