Art Class: The Essential Guide to Drawing

How to Create Your Own Artwork

Barrington Barber

• Publisher: Arcturus
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN:
  9781398803732
• eBook ISBN:
  9781398816985
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: Art Techniques

An essential guide to drawing by internationally bestselling practical art author Barrington Barber.

Whether you want to learn to draw from scratch or to brush up your skills, this comprehensive drawing manual contains all you need. With introductory chapters on techniques, basic drawing exercises and composition, the book goes on to explore the major subject areas available to you as an artist: still life, landscape, and figure drawing.

Barrington Barber's combination of clear step-by-step exercises and inspirational examples has enabled people all over the world to learn to draw, and to enjoy this incredibly rewarding pastime.

ABOUT THE SERIES: Arcturus' Art Class books are a curated series of instructional art and craft titles designed to inspire artists of all levels, from beginner to professional. Stunningly presented in full color and in a highly usable landscape format, these comprehensive books are packed with all the ideas, inspirations, step-by-step projects, and techniques you'll need to master the subject covered.

Chapter One

MARKS AND MATERIALS

When you first begin to draw, it can be hard to know just what you should do to set off on the right track, so in this chapter we shall look at what drawing is about at the most basic level. Put simply, it’s making marks on paper, and initially any marks will do.

We shall look first at how to handle your equipment and adopt a good drawing position. Then I’ll show you the materials that you can draw with, giving you some choices so that you’ll have fun and explore different possibilities. The most obvious tool to use when you are starting out is pencil, as you will have used these since you were a child and will feel very comfortable with them. But I encourage you to try a variety of mediums to see the different marks they make, enjoying the way you can expand your range of techniques.

Don’t worry if at first you make rather a mess of the exercises; no one ever became any good at art without making lots of mistakes to start with. Experimentation is the way that art evolves; it is not just the preserve of scientists.

Holding the Tools

Holding your pencil, pen, brush or chalk doesn’t always have to be the same as you would hold a fountain pen. Sometimes you get better, freer results by holding them as you would hold a stick or a house-painting brush. The only one that you will have to hold the same way as a fountain pen is the dip pen with ink because it is very difficult to manipulate any other way. We show here the variety of ways of holding these implements. You may need to practise these different ways to become good at them.

Pastel held loosely.

Large sable brush held like a wand.

Fineline pen held conventionally but with your little finger supporting it.

Pencil can be held either like a wand or more conventionally.

Push or dip pen held normally.

Small brush held like a pen.

Artist's Note

A pen line doesn’t have to be firm and precise any more than a pencil line or a pastel stroke has to be: a rather wobbly and meandering pen line often looks more convincing than a smooth, hard-edged line. The main thing in holding an implement for drawing is not to grip it too tightly. Your grip should be as light as is possible without losing control of the tool.

Drawing Positions

In order to draw well, make sure that you are comfortably positioned – try different positions to find the one most suited to you. It is nearly always best to have your drawing supported on a sloping board. This is particularly useful when using watercolours because it allows the water to run down the paper and makes it easier to control the intensity of your colour.

For most drawing, except with pen and ink, I prefer to stand up using an easel, but sometimes it is not convenient nor does it always give the best results. When working with pen and ink, you should keep your paper surface less upright, otherwise the ink does not flow properly to the nib, and the same is true to a certain extent with brushwork in watercolour. But having the paper absolutely flat is not a good idea because you tend to view it too much from one angle, which can give rise to distortion.

Standing at an easel.

Sitting down with the board supported by the back of another chair.

Drawing with pastels on a board propped...

Table of contents

• Title
• Contents
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Marks and Materials
• Chapter 2: First Steps in Drawing
• Chapter 3: Form, Tone and Texture
• Chapter 4: Still-Life Composition
• Chapter 5: Drawing in Your Home and Local Area
• Chapter 6: Drawing People
• Chapter 7: Nature and Landscapes
• Chapter 8: Urban Scenes
• Copyright