A pencil drawing which I completed in situ in about one and a half hours. In some ways a pencil drawing of this sort takes less time than the equivalent pen sketch, and the tonal range of a soft graphite pencil is much greater. Therefore less cross hatching needed:)

 

An illustration using line work

Advanced techniques for pen and ink rendering

This pen and ink drawing of the main gallery of the Natural History Museum in London was completed at the museum over a few days.The object of this newsletter is to show you some of the techniques which I use generally and which define my style., but I'd recommend them to anyone as they add sparkle and interest to a drawing. I'd appreciate any feedback you may want to offer.

The tonal values of the picture are built up using linework which describes the architectural details rather than cross hatching , although cross hatching has been used in places to darken shadows. The brightly lit areas are left as blank paper. 

In this close-up you can see how the shading was built up. The indirect light in this gallery meant that there were no harsh shadows and forms were softened ; the lack of contrast can be seen in the even tones of this drawing. Visual interest is provided in the details of which there are plenty such as these climbing monkeys. The style of shading becomes very important as the layering of lines could quickly become a confused mess. The object is to try to retain the clarity of the detailing whilst adding hatched shading.

The solution is in the direction of the shading. You should aim to shade so as to describe the 'grain' of the surface. The hatching on the columns follows the curving forms. The hatching on the flat walls to the left describes the direction of the light falling on them; The shading on the monkeys reveals their three-dimensional forms

The use of linework should always be as economical as possible to achieve the desired result. This means that in the darker areas lines need to be heavier and cross hatching may be necessary as well. Spacing of hatching lines depends on the depth of shadow. Further hatching on top of this may be needed and the direction must vary from the first lot but not as much as 90° or else this will stifle the sense of movement in the hatching. 

A couple of things to note in this close-up of the furthest wall of the gallery.

Firstly, from a distance the horizontal lines look straight but on closer inspection you can see that they are, in fact, quite wiggly. This is partly intentional. When drawing straight parallel lines, it helps to introduce a slight wiggle into the line. This hides the fact that the line is not exactly straight and it also adds character to the drawing. Look at the window sills and the stone coursing in particular.

Secondly, notice how the hatching on shaded areas is not parallel. The constant variation in the angle is partly to avoid drawing parallel lines which may not end up parallel, but also to relieve the monotony of uniform shading. The result is a lot more pleasing to the eye.

Here's a close-up of the vaulted ceiling. The use of line here is the minimum necessary to give the impression of rooflights and brightly lit panels. Some lines are thicker and others very light. Some are missing altogether.

 

This close-up illustrates most of the points we have looked at already : the wiggly lines, the hatching which varies within a general direction, the minimum number of lines necessary to describe the scene, heavier and lighter strokes etc.

I hope you found this article interesting. I would love to know what you thought of it, and whether there's some other aspect you'd like me to address....

I live in Paris.
So I guess I have no excuses for not going out drawing once in a while...

This is the ïle Saint Louis viewed across the river from the ïle de la Cité. It's a wide view , a panorama , and in order to capture it I had to stick sheets on as I went along. The medium was a felt-nibbed fineliner on Canson cartidge paper. The ink is gradually turning a sepia colour over time which adds a certain warmth to the drawing...

Here are some of my sketchbooks I'll be showing you :)
I will be posting step-by-step lessons and would welcome any suggestions from you too!

If you like sketching as I do , or you'd like to learn or improve your skill then I hope this blog will have something for everyone. I invite you to send me some of your own work and I'll help you with constructive 'critique' :)

Welcome to my new blog dedicated to drawing, in particular observational drawing.  We draw in order to understand the world around us. Seeing the world is not enough. Our brain becomes lazy over time, or develops bad habits. We think we see things but often we are seeing what our brain has decided it wants to see. But we can break out of the Matrix! Yes, drawing enables us to see the world with new eyes...and what's more, it helps others who see your drawing to see it with new eyes too...that's a lot of new eyes all of a sudden..!

Anyway, I don't want to scare you off already with my opening discourse. I'll just welcome you to our joint discovery of the world through drawing. :)