Drawing and painting

ARTS AND LEISURE

Among the oldest of all art forms, painting and drawing were first These art forms utilize a wide variety of media and many different strokes
performed by humans during the Old Stone Age. They have been and techniques. Before the invention of photography in the 19th century,
used ever since to express ideas and emotions, tell a story, and paintings and drawings provided much of the visual documentary
capture scenes and likenesses of people, animals, and objects. evidence we have of the historic world.

Drawing
PENCIL GRADES
Drawing is the construction of art consisting of lines and shading
Pencils can be graded on a scale from ultra-soft and dark (9B) to ultra-
made using various tools. It emphasizes form and shape over mass
hard and light (9H). These are determined by the amounts of clay and
blocks of colour and is very versatile. Sketches and preparatory graphite the pencil contains.
drawings are often made by painters to aid composition.

Tools 9B 8B 7B 6B 5B 4B 3B 2B B HB F H 2H 3H 4H 5H 6H 7H 8H 9H
Artists can pick from a variety of black graphite
SOFT HARD
pencils, pens, charcoal, and richly coloured
pastel crayons with which to draw. OIL PASTEL

Thin cartridge
PENCIL CHALK PASTEL paper
ERASER
Thick cartridge
COLOUR PENCIL COMPRESSED CHARCOAL paper

Watercolour
CHARCOAL PENCIL TECHNICAL PEN SHARPENER PASTEL PAPER WHITE PAPER paper

Building a drawing Gripping

Many drawings can be built from a series of rough lines and A lighter, more relaxed grip than when writing Pressing harder
geometric shapes all in proportion to the object or person allows control of pencils and charcoal. Pastels produces denser
colour
portrayed. These form a guide that shows how the differing are applied via their ends or side.
parts relate to one another.
Arms fleshed out
Triangle and rounded
shape forms from original
shoulders rectangles

PENCIL CHARCOAL PASTEL

Hatching and cross-hatching Adding tone

Lines create
posture of
These line-drawing techniques can Variations in tone (light and dark)
spine, hips, add weight or texture to a drawing can convey how light falls on an
and shoulders or create light and shadow. object from different directions.

Hatching is series Increase in tone

of parallel lines denotes curves of jug

Decreasing darkness
of lines Stronger tone
denotes shadow
Lines packed densely
to add weight

SIMPLE HATCHING BACKLIGHTING

❶ Rough guide ❷ Shape building ❸ Finished drawing
Light strikes object Darker shading
The proportions, Geometric shapes are The complete figure is A series of parallel lines
from front-right conveys shadow
orientation, and angles of added – from rectangular drawn by altering the intersect at right angles
the different parts of the limbs and torso to a geometric shapes to
figure are sketched out. cylinder for the oboe. create more detail.

A 73,000 year old drawing was

found in South Africa’s Blombos Cave CROSS-HATCHING THREE-QUARTER LIGHTING

496 ◀ see also The history of painting pp.442–43 ◀ Painting styles pp.444–45 ◀ Elements of painting pp.446–47

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 In 2017, Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi
painting was sold for US $450.3 million

Painting Rough Cold- Hot-

paper pressed pressed
A painting is an image created NO. 5 ROUND
using dry pigments (colours) mixed

WATERCOLOUR BRUSHES
ROUND BRUSH FLAT BRUSH FLAT BRUSH
with a medium (a liquid such as TIP LINES BLOCKS EDGE
NO. 9 ROUND WITH
water or oil). This is then applied SQUIRREL HAIR
to a surface such as paper, wood, TYPES OF PAPER
or canvas. This is most commonly Oil painting Canvas
achieved using brushes, but paper Canvas board 12.5 MM (½ IN)
ROUND ANGLED STROKES STIPPLING
specialist knives, scrapers, and BRUSH DOTS CENTRED
shaped sponges can produce
a range of different effects. Watercolour brushstrokes
Holding brushes at different angles and 25 MM (1 IN) FLAT
Solid colour pan, SUPPORTS FOR OIL PAINTING applying different amounts of pressure
wetted when in use can produce a range of effects on canvas.
Container
holds solvent
to thin paint NO. 2 ROUND

TEAR-OFF PALETTE ROUND FLAT BRUSH UPRIGHT

OIL PAINTS BRUSH TIP LAYERS FLAT BRUSH
NO. 12 FLAT

OIL BRUSHES
NO. 4 FILBERT
FILBERT KNIFE KNIFE
ACRYLIC PAINTS WATERCOLOURS WELL PALETTE DIPPERS BRUSH COLOURING DAB

Paints Tools Oil paint brushstrokes NO. 6 FAN

Slow-drying oils allow layering and Brushes for different paints come in Oil brushes come in fan, filbert, flat,
vibrant colour build up. Acrylic different sizes and shapes. Palettes and round designs. Each can be
paints dry quickly but may darken, enable the mixing of paint before applied to the canvas in a variety
while watercolours dry matt. application onto paper or canvas. of different ways. NO. 21 PAINTING KNIFE

Building a painting
COLOURS
Preparatory sketches determine
composition and the focal point – The relationships between colours
can be shown on a colour wheel.
where the viewers’ eyes are first
There are three primary colours
drawn to. These first sketches
(red, blue, and yellow), which can
can be erased and reworked if
be mixed to form three secondary
necessary. Lightly sketched outlines colours (green, orange, and violet).
on the canvas are first filled in with Six further intermediate colours
base layers of paint from the edge can be created by adding more of
of the canvas or paper inwards. ❶ Outline and background ❷ Background complete one primary colour to a secondary
Fine detail is gradually added and With the painting’s outline sketched out, The background between flowers is filled colour to form a colour wheel of
layered on top with different tools, the background is filled in, working from in using a painting knife. The lower jug is 12 colours. Opposite pairs are
such as knives or brushes. the edge inwards. rag-rubbed to achieve a lighter colour. called complementary colours.

Purple formed from

mixing red and blue

❸ Starting the flowers ❹ Blues added ❺ Completed painting

A bright mixture of magenta and white Blues are applied by brush to the flowers A striking arrangement of strong, bright
paint is applied as a base colour for the and the jug, and to create the subtle folds flowers and vase is presented against the COLOUR WHEEL
anemones, using a knife. in the table cloth below. simple background.

◀ see also Great painters pp.448–49 Ceramics and glass pp.502–503 ▶ 497

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