 |
Female head in profile A sketch Leonardo da Vinci |
How To Learn Pencil Sketching For an artist, nothing can be more important than the primary
sketch of a painting. Many artists experience some fear at the start of a career
in doing sketches. It might be the apprehension that the sketch would not be
enough good or it would result in clear waste of time.
But with the growing experience in this field and proper following of
technique would produce astonishing results. Sketching is not a complete
picture, it is the first feeling that you had in your heart upon seeing things.
How To Start Sketching The difficulties lie here only. Artists holding the pencil in
hand and sitting with blank paper before eyes would find it like standing on
the last rock from where the valley starts; no road going ahead. Believe me; I
had the same experience of fear. But now I own a full big box of the sketches I
had done on paper, book pages, and on the reverse side of tickets for film
shows. Do keep one thing in mind while doing a sketch of any object or a scene:
do not leave it incomplete. Do it fully, and do it with the same feeling you
are going through at the moment. That is the real purpose of the art of
sketching. And remember one important aspect: sketching is just a record
of an idea that you would be translating into a painting in future.
The Skill of Sketching The art of sketching is a skill that can be developed. It
would equip you in recording your immediate response to the surrounding. The
process of going into this field could enhance the level of confidence in learning more about the art of drawing and painting further.
.jpg) |
| A sketch of Sydney Harbour Bridge Photographic Collection from Australia, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons |
A good sketch would lead to a
better pencil drawing of a perfect painting, may it be in watercolour or oil. For
an artist, sketching provides ample opportunity to mingle with the subjects and
understand the very feel of the air in which s/he is standing while doing
it. Even a loose sketch done within ten minutes would be providing you with
valuable detail about the tonal values and the light effects of the atmosphere
in which you did the sketch.
Sketching From Photographs Many artists have put forward mixed views about making
sketches from photographs. Some believe that the photos we have taken are just
like sketches in a different form. Some artists think that while painting based on photos, one would tend to copy the exact details s/he
would see in it and would render the artwork into one more copy of that photo
only. But in reality, things are very different now.
The artists of the renaissance period also used preparatory works as a
tool while doing their final work. Artists like Vermeer also recognized the
importance of the photographs of objects to be painted. To minimise the risk of
making just a copy of a photo, an artist should make out several sketches of
the objects or the scene depicted in a photo. That would give the feel of being
artistically present in the scene.
My Experiments With Pencil Drawing Those were the days when I was sincerely
trying to come out of my marvellous ignorance about the art of painting. I
turned down the reference sections of a library. It was not the case that the
librarian was my friend or an art lover. He simply wanted to dust some books
without making a payment. My newborn curiosity about books of painting
fitted well in this scheme. I cleared the dust from almost three hundred books,
out of which I had read fifty at least.
Finally, I decided to meet those who have practical knowledge of art. Had I
met the art teachers? No. Sorry. I did not take that long circuitous route
that leads nowhere. But one of the artists I met strangely satisfied my curiosity. I asked what I should do for becoming an artist. “You are like
a barren land,” he looked at the sky and started addressing me. “Till the land
first… and then pour water on it for a time. Thereafter plant some good seeds
of imaginations, and the flowers would be blooming in due course.”
I asked him about how I should start. “Purchase the ploughs. For tilling
the barren land, a good set of ploughs is required. By ploughs, I mean pencils. Start the journey from Pencil drawing.” Yes, before becoming an
artist, the gentleman was a farmer. But I followed his advice in spirit, and
not in letters. For two weeks no noticeable change was there. But thereafter things started to change. The forms became identifiable, and the shading looked
convincing. Even the flat drawings seemed to become three-dimensional and
the thin figures on my drawing papers were on the track of being
voluminous. Thus I entered the field of pencil drawing.
DRAWING AN OLD COUPLE: Hand in hand
 |
| Hand in hand - Pencil Drawing, originally uploaded by RobbScottDrawings. |
Theme: Pencil Drawing of Standing and walking people.
Art: Drawing is an art that gives us pleasure we hardly can get from other
activities. We can have this pleasure just by sitting and doing something with
paper and pencils. Pencil drawing is also a technique that can be learned by
those who have a passion for putting their first foot in the land of art. Among
the various section of the drawing, we can say that the portrait drawing is one
of the most beloved sections of the art of drawing and painting.
The Artist: Look at the work of many well-known artists, and you will find one or two beautiful portrait paintings in his or her collection. So portrait drawing is the most loved art among the artist, too. The beginner who wants to be a portrait-making artist should first learn to define the outlines of the figure he or she is going to draw. See here the artist has shown the master technique of shading and lining of the pencil drawing.
The Artwork: The drawing portrays an old couple, grandparents. The position
of their hands and feet shows how they desire to be nearer to each other.
Here the artist has shown the inner wish of every old couple, a wish to have
the company and support of his or her spouse. The different shades applied
makes the whole pencil drawing looks like a three-dimensional photograph. The
thin and long shadows falling behind the back of the couple indicated the
ending hours of the day, a symbolic one too.
.jpg){kind=link}