ART: Chapter 6
Introduction
Drawing is an immediate and accessible way to communicate through imagery; it conveys an artist's imaginings.
Henry Moore’s Shelter Drawings illustrate drawing as a record of events when cameras could not function; these works helped Moore become an Official War Artist.
Drawing is defined as pulling, pushing, or dragging a marking tool across a surface to leave a line or mark.
Sketchbooks are used for developing ideas or taking notes; examples include Leonardo da Vinci’s Facial Proportions of a Man in Profile and Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth pages.
The Drawing Process (1 of 5)
6.1 Learning objective: describe how artists use drawing to record events and develop ideas.
Drawing as a tool for recording events and developing ideas.
Children draw often before reading or writing, but drawing is a learned process.
Sketchbooks serve to develop ideas or take notes.
Examples and notes: da Vinci’s Facial Proportions of a Man in Profile; Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth pages detailing ideas for a film.
The Drawing Process (2 of 5)
Receptive drawing: attempts to capture the physical appearance of something before us.
Mary Cassatt example: In the Omnibus, c. 1891, black chalk and graphite on paper.
Figure 6.4 (Mary Cassatt) is an illustration of receptive drawing.
The Drawing Process (3 of 5)
Projective drawing: drawing something that only exists in our minds.
Martín Ramírez, Untitled No 111, c. 1953: Gouache, colored pencil, and graphite on pieced paper; depicts a train passing through an impossible tunnel, a product of imagination.
Figure 6.5 Martín Ramírez. Untitled. c.1953. Gouache, colored pencil, and graphite on pieced paper.
The Drawing Process (4 of 5)
Drawing and the Creative Process: many artists regard drawing as deeply important.
Some artists show exceptional ability as children but must develop it (e.g., Paul Cezanne; Vincent van Gogh).
The example contrast: Carpenter versus Old Man with His Head in His Hands shows development over time.
Good drawing can appear deceptively simple.
The Drawing Process (5 of 5)
Vincent van Gogh and the discipline of drawing
Van Gogh believed he had to master drawing before using color.
He struggled with drawing and did not aim for photographic accuracy; he drew from life and preferred simpler styles, influenced by Japanese drawing.
Figure 6.6 and Figure 6.7 illustrate van Gogh’s approach: Carpenter (c.1880) in black crayon; Old Man with His Head in His Hands (1882), pencil on paper.
Figure 6.8 van Gogh, Self-Portrait with Felt Hat, 1888 (oil on canvas) demonstrates the broader arc of his drawing practice.
Figure 6.9 Trees with Ivy in the Garden of the Asylum, 1890, reed pen and pen and ink on cream wove paper.
Purposes of Drawing (1 of 4)
6.2 Distinguish drawings used for recording ideas as preliminary studies and as independent works of art.
The three functions of drawing:
Notation, sketch, or record of something seen, remembered, or imagined.
Study or preparation for another, usually larger and more complex work.
As an end in itself, a complete work of art.
Mathematical notion (for structuring this concept):
Purposes of Drawing (2 of 4)
Michelangelo’s studies demonstrate careful drawing from observation and iterative refinement.
Figure 6.10 Michelangelo Buonarroti. Study of a Reclining Male Nude. c.1511. Red chalk over stylus underdrawing.
Purposes of Drawing (3 of 4)
Picasso’s studies for Guernica show the value of drawing as preparatory work.
Forty-five Picasso studies are preserved; gestural lines capture the work’s essence.
Figure 6.11 Picasso. First Composition Study for Guernica. May 1, 1937. Pencil on blue paper.
Figure 6.12 Picasso. Composition study for Guernica. May 9, 1937. Pencil on white paper.
Figure 6.13 Picasso. Guernica. 1937. Oil on canvas.
Purposes of Drawing (4 of 4)
Preliminary sketches are not generally finished pieces; they are treasured for the intrinsic beauty of the process.
Cartoon: a full-size drawing used as a guide for a large work in another medium; often used for fresco painting, mosaic, or tapestry.
Tools and Techniques (1 of 10)
6.3 Discuss drawing tools and techniques used with dry and liquid media.
Types of lines include:
Hatching: parallel lines to suggest shadows or volume.
Cross-hatching: overlapping hatch marks to build value.
Contour hatching: lines that describe form while following its contour.
These techniques help control value, texture, and form.
Tools and Techniques (2 of 10)
Figure 6.14 Drawing Tools and Their Characteristic Lines illustrates common line qualities used in drawing.
Tools and Techniques (3 of 10)
Figure 6.15 Types of Hatching: a) Hatching, b) Cross-hatching, c) Contour hatching.
Tools and Techniques (4 of 10)
Bartolomeo Passarotti exemplifies the use of all three hatch methods:
Simple hatching on a standing figure.
contour hatching on the upper side of a bulging arm.
Cross-hatching on darker areas.
Printmakers use all three types of hatching to suggest mass and shadow.
Figure 6.16 Passarotti. Studies of a Left Arm, a Young Woman, etc. Undated 16th century. Pen and iron gall ink on laid paper.
Tools and Techniques (5 of 10)
Paper qualities:
Smooth surface versus tooth (rough grain) that provides texture.
Seurat’s use of toothing in L’Echo to create texture.
Figure 6.17 Seurat. L’Echo (detail). 1883–84. Black Conté crayon on Michallet paper.
Tools and Techniques (6 of 10)
Dry media basics:
Pencil, charcoal, Conté crayon, and pastel.
Hardness affects darkness and line quality; softer leads yield darker marks.
States of Mind: The Farewells illustrates a variety of tools and techniques.
Figure 6.18 Umberto Boccioni. States of Mind: The Farewells. 1911. Charcoal and Conté crayon on paper.
Tools and Techniques (7 of 10)
Charcoal as dry media:
Draws dark passages quickly.
Not all particles bind; can smudge; may be fixed with a veil of fixative to prevent smudging.
Offers a wide range of values.
Example: Vija Celmins, Web No. 5.
Figure 6.19 Celmins. Web No. 5. 1999. Charcoal on paper.
Tools and Techniques (8 of 10)
Conté crayon:
Graphite mixed with clay; resists smudging similarly to charcoal.
Wax crayons are generally avoided by serious artists.
Figure 6.20 Seurat. L’Echo. 1883–84. Black Conté crayon on Michallet paper.
Tools and Techniques (9 of 10)
Pastels:
Similar to natural chalk; mostly pigment with little binding material.
Do not allow for much detail; favored for expressive, immediate effects.
Notable practitioners: Rosalba Carriera and Edgar Degas.
Figure 6.21 Carriera. Portrait of a Girl with a Bussola. 1725–30. Pastel on paper.
Figure 6.22 Degas. Le Petit Déjeuner après le bain (jeune femme s’essuyant). c.1894. Pastel on paper.
Tools and Techniques (10 of 10)
Liquid media:
Inks, washes of ink (thinned with water), felt- and fiber-tipped marker pens.
Hokusai, Tuning the Samisen demonstrates the elegance of line created by control over a responsive brush; same brush used for writing and drawing.
Figure 6.23 Hokusai. Tuning the Samisen. c.1820–25. Brush drawing.
Rembrandt: Eliezer and Rebecca at the Well shows a compositional arrangement for a painting and uses lightened shade with white gouache.
Figure 6.24 Rembrandt van Rijn. Eliezer and Rebecca at the Well. 1640s. Reed pen and brown ink with brown wash and white gouache.
William Kentridge: Drawing for Lulu demonstrates how drawings can function as finished works and are often produced on unusual surfaces; uses both wet and dry media to build a narrative over pages of text.
Figure 6.25 William Kentridge. Drawing for Lulu. 2015. Indian ink and charcoal on Shorter Oxford Dictionary pages.
Comics and Graphic Novels (1 of 4)
The role of drawing in comics and graphic novels: sequential artforms evolving from ancient murals and tapestries to print series.
Comics popular in newspapers; historic example: Little Nemo in Slumberland.
Figure 6.26 Windsor McCay. Little Nemo in Slumberland (detail). New York Herald, April 4, 1906.
Comics and Graphic Novels (2 of 4)
Comics have grown to include more serious themes; examples include Love and Rockets by the Hernandez brothers, LA-based creators exploring social issues.
Figure 6.27 Gilbert Hernandez. Cover of Fear of Comics. 2000.
Comics and Graphic Novels (3 of 4)
Graphic novels as book-length storylines; growing acceptance.
Emily Carroll, All Along the Wall, a webcomic from 2014; scanned pen drawings altered in Photoshop.
Figure 6.28 Emily Carroll. All Along the Wall. Webcomic. 2014.
Comics and Graphic Novels (4 of 4)
Graphic novels like Richard McGuire’s Here present hand-drawn stories that exist as a narrative; sometimes available in interactive formats on computer or tablet.
Figure 6.29 Richard McGuire. Excerpt from Here. 2015.
Contemporary Approaches (1 of 4)
Contemporary drawing techniques often combine drawing with other media.
Julie Mehretu, Back to Gondwanaland shows swatches of cut paper along with drawn ink lines; shapes evoke impersonal public spaces of today’s mass-produced world.
Figure 6.30 Julie Mehretu. Back to Gondwanaland. 2000. Ink and acrylic on canvas.
Contemporary Approaches (2 of 4)
Christine Hiebert, Reconnaissance demonstrates a process where lines are drawn on walls using blue tape normally used to mask negative spaces; the lines resemble drawn lines.
Figure 6.31 Christine Hiebert. Reconnaissance (detail). 2009–10. Blue tape and glue on wall. Installation view.
Contemporary Approaches (3 of 4)
Ingrid Calame, #334 explores tracing from rubbings taken in industrial contexts.
Figure 6.32 Ingrid Calame. #334 Drawing (Tracings from the L.A. River and ArcelorMittal Steel). 2011. Colored pencil on tracing Mylar.
Contemporary Approaches (4 of 4)
Some artists rely on digital screen-based drawing: Carla Gannis, The Selfie Drawings; self-portrait manipulated with added text, layers, or color; cropping or duplication.
Figure 6.33 Carla Gannis. Selfie Drawing #41, Babel in Wonderland. 2015. Digital drawing.
Ethical, Philosophical, and Practical Implications
The integration of digital tools in drawing raises questions about authorship, originality, and the nature of the drawing as a practice.
Contemporary artists often blend mediums to reflect mass media, urban life, and the changing role of the observer.
Drawings can function as completed artworks or as studies; technology expands what can count as a drawing and how it is distributed or experienced.