After the invention of the pencil in its present form, in the
seventeenth century, the pencil has almost replaced all other instruments which
were used for drawing. Earlier the artists used chalk, charcoal, pen and ink
for sketching. Once the graphite went into the wooden case, which is called
pencil now a day, then it has become an excellent instrument for drawing for all artists. The pencil has carved out a distinct section of the art. Among
a host of other qualities, the preciseness and accuracy of the pencil work are
its main features,
The articles given here are for all of
those who wish to learn pencil drawing. No more lectures here. No one would be
required to be confused by complicated theories, and difficult manoeuvers. Pages
with easy-to-use cross-references would take you on a journey through other books, other articles and the artworks of other artists who worked in the field of
drawing. In this article, some headlines in bold letters are provided with links where you would find a detailed article on that particular subject. You
just click on the link, and you will be reading a useful and entertaining
article about the art of Pencil Drawing.
When we decide to put the first step in the
land of art, the initial thing we think about is where should we
start. And that’s a good start. We know that every big building has its first
stone; so, every art-learning has its first phase. Taking a pencil in hand is
the first step. Take it and enter the fertile land of drawing and painting. It
is because the pencil is a very sensitive and supportive instrument for an
artist. And believe it or not, Edgar Degas was the artist who had explored the
sensitivity of pencil art to its fullest form. Degas once said: Art is not what
you see, but what you make others see.
Edgar Degas used pastel pencils and coloured
chalk pencils. Degas infused warmth and charm into his
drawings by using pencils. Unlike the pen and the chalks, the pencil strokes
can be controlled. That's a great advantage. We can draw with softness or
hardness. We can vary the strokes to create lightness and darkness on paper.
Degas did it. Master artists did it when they wanted to represent the visual
world with precision and accuracy. So, while you take a pencil in your hand,
you are in good company; the company of an artist like Edgar Degas!
Line Drawing in Making A Portrait In the world of art, there can be no
partnership better than between a pencil and a piece of drawing paper. Artists
would use these two incredible things for a visual representation of objects, alive figures, and anything the human eyes can see. By using a pencil
to draw the lines and curves, and doing the shading work, the artist portrays the
world that is before his or her eyes. You know, the pencil tip can work on
any surface. Try it on any type of paper.
Pencil Portrait portrait drawing is an art and a
technique. Yes, it is a technique because it can be learnt. It is an art
because it is innovative. If you want to learn the technique, if you want to
understand the art of pencil drawing, and if you are a beginner, too, then,
first of all, you should define the outlines of the object you want to draw.
That is the first lesson. The outlines. That is necessary for developing
detailed work. After the rough sketch is done, you can move on to adding the
details.
In the drawing given here, you can see that it is a very simple drawing
of the position of the facial features. You can draw that by taking the help of
a simple lining. The next stage would comprise the adding of the details. That
can be done by the shading work. By using the technique of shading an
artist varies the tonal values. The shading did the work of placing the shadows
and the lighted portion in its proper place. If it is done precisely, it can be
a real piece of art.
Artists who have just started drawing should not worry about the
variation found in the drawing and the real object. It happens in the initial
stage. Do not worry. As the practice of drawing goes on, that problem would be
solved in due course. The art is just like a Tapasya, a long-time activity of
devotion and practice. Mark one thing important here. Once an artist has
mastered the art or has elevated himself or herself to a certain level, it
enhances the happiness of life. Artists will start feeling the element of
work satisfaction.
For a freshman, or even for an accomplished artist, line drawing has
remained a crucial stage. Here the artist has to limit himself or herself in drawing
the contours of the large forms only. It is because while in the line drawing
stage, our main objective is to create a structured picture of the overall
scene or the portrait we are going to draw. It is of paramount importance that
at the stage of line drawing, the overall structure must be geometrically
accurate.
Types of Drawing No artwork can be classified into water-tight segments. But for the convenience of art lovers and curious
readers, we would classify the works done by pencil artists into the following
categories. Each type of work has similar importance and it takes a similar
amount of labour and artistic attention.
Portrait Drawing If we are to explore the art
done with the tip of a pencil, the portrait-making segment would cover the
wider area of our discussion. The portrait drawing requires almost every weapon
that an artist must have in his or her armoury. Portrait drawing is an art
itself, and it is used as primary work for making a watercolour or oil colour
portrait.
How to Draw A Portrait of A Celebrity Drawing is a process that transfers the
mental images, the visuals in mind, onto paper or canvas. Pencil Drawing is
ABCD of the Art of Painting. If you are fond of reading about the art of
the pencil, if you wish to learn pencil drawing step-by-step, you have come to
a proper place, perhaps. When an artist starts trusting the tip of a
pencil and begins to love its movements, an intimate dialogue is established
between the pencil and blank paper. Then the drawing takes a shape through such
a dialogue.
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Edward Law-Pencil Drawing -by H. M. Raeburn, 1909 via Wikimedia Commons |
The painting or drawing of celebrity persons, men or women, receives
more attention and critical interest from the viewers. The drawings of a
celebrity take much attention from viewers and artists alike. The celebrity model
would be in various postures like sitting, standing, sleeping, reading,
Reclining or doing some work. Drawing a celebrity is a delicate
subject.
The model might be a young girl or a senior man; the portrait of the
model may be drawn while sitting in an open area or a closed one, like in an
artist's studio. The portrait of a celebrity can be drawn from the
front side or from the backside. This involves different types of drawing
techniques.
Look at the pencil portrait of Edward Law. Here in this portrait, look at
the pencil work in which the artist has executed his master class efficiency in
making a portrait drawing. In making this pencil portrait the artist used the various aspects of a pencil. These aspects are the lining, shading and
cross-hatching. While infusing the lightness in the arias whereupon the light
falls on the face, the artist would have applied lesser force to the pencil
tip. It is obvious that to create darker areas, you will have to put
more pressure on your pencil. This can be done very efficiently by using artist-grade pencils.
Making a portrait of a child is a practical challenge. This section
deals exclusively with how the drawings of children are done. Making a portrait
of a child is not as easy as it is in the case of an adult. it is because
the child has multiple beauties on his/her face and he/she would not be sitting
quietly while sitting as a model!
How to Draw a Portrait of A Child While drawing a portrait of a
child, the artists should have one thing: patience. It is very difficult to
have a small child as a model. But when the drawing of the portrait is
finished, all the labour done in the making vanishes, and the pleasure of making
a pleasant piece of art fills the artists and all those who are involved in the
process of making the child's portrait.
Tips If you
are drawing a portrait of a child with the help of a photograph, the black and white version would be better to understand the face. The black and white photograph helps in deciding about the various aspects of the portrait: like
where the light falls, how the shading is required to be done, and above all,
how the colours would affect the enhancement of the image.
How to Draw Pets and Animals We love to see the drawing of our pets
like cats and dogs. The Drawings of Horses are much in demand. Other
animals like elephants, goats, monkeys and cows are also drawn with equal
fervour and artistic skill.
How to Draw Landscapes With Pencil Generally, before painting a landscape
in watercolour or in oil or any other medium, a preliminary sketch is
done. Thereafter the artists draw the same with graphite pencil or charcoal.
The drawing of mountains, rivers, farms and farmhouses helps the
artist to decide the most proper hues and shades of the colours to be used in
the final painting.
How To Draw Portraits of Holywood
Actors and Actresses We love men and women who have done good work for the
human race. so we love saints and war heroes and heads of nations. The other
types of celebrities are film personalities. The actors and actresses of
The Stages of Pencil
Drawing The pencil
is a tool using which an artist can create wonders. If used with passion and
fueled by inspiration, the resulting artwork would be an astonishing one. After
the outlines of a figure are over, the stage of shading becomes crucial for
making a drawing live. This shading work can be done in two different
manners. Generally, the outlines are honoured and the shading follows the
boundaries set by these lines. However, an artist can prefer the technique of
value drawing.
Line Drawing and Value Drawing When an artist takes a pencil in his or her hand, he or she
would use two types of techniques to display artistic prowess. One would be a
drawing with the help of a lining. That is called the 'line drawing'. The
smooth lining work would recreate the images in the mind of artists. another
one, and a harder one too, would be the value drawing technique. Here the
artists would not define the different areas of the drawing by putting lines,
but the shades done by various grades of pencils would mark the same. This
technique is called 'value drawing'.
Art of Value Drawing in Portrait
Making
Value drawing is an artistic process wherein no lines are drawn. The
artists look at the light falling on the object and decide the tonal values of
the light. he or she would catch the degree of the shining and darkness the
light would create on the objects and on the surrounding area. Thereafter the
artist would start recreating the figure only with the help of direct shading
and not putting linings for guidance.
This process of value drawing would give the artist a higher level of
freedom needed. Here in this pencil drawing, the artist has tried to recreate
the face of the young girl with the help of shading only, with colour pencils.
We can see how beautifully the artists have been successful in creating the
feel of a three-dimensional effect.
Value drawing would expect the utmost care from the artist regarding the
placement of the shadows and the lighted areas. Careful shading work done with
varying pressure on the pencil tip would make the final drawing a wonderful
piece of art. The art of pencil drawing, and making a portrait with a pencil,
seems to be at its best level here. The artist has put great effort into
depicting all the emotions on the face of the lady. Look at the eyes, how
expressing is the pair of her eyes....!
Qualities of Pencils A little stick of a pencil, having graphite inside, is a
wonderful device. It would recreate the world before our eyes are near to real.
While drawing or painting, an artist goes through a process of letting the
viewers know about his or her feelings. He used the means of drawing or
painting or the making of a sculpture. What an artist wants is the recreation
of the world he/she sees and how he or she feels about the inner and outer
aspects of the things or figures being recreated. The pencil helps the artist
in a greater way to perform well.
In the above article links, you would find detailed and useful articles
about how to draw various pencil drawings, other than portrait making. Here the
technique of drawing a Landscape is narrated in detail. The method of drawing
the interior of the house, the streets, and the mountains and rivers
is narrated with the maximum possible details. [All the images shown
here are in Public Domain, Taken from Wikimedia Commons]
