Breaking The Lines

Variety Is the Spice of "Lines"
From a young age, we have an unconscious tendency, to contain every shape within a constant, even, solid line. Putting in all the details for every object we draw. The effect can be like a bad colouring book page. One that has too much information and is flat nor visually interesting. Alternatively, having a variety of line weights in a drawing, ranging from thin to thick, helps create visual interest with a sense of light, shadow and depth. Thinner lines are generally used for elements further away in the background, with heavier lines applied to objects in the foreground. Adding to this, we can "break" some of these lines into broken, even unconnected marks to create more visual interest for our viewers. With these things in mind, compare the two drawings above in terms of which is more visually appealing.

Knowing Which Weight of Line to Use
A common question is: "How do you know when to vary the line weights?" One way is to think of your lines in terms of light and shadow. For instance, in the house on the right, the light is coming from the left-hand side. Therefore, the chimney has a thicker line on its right side, the shadow side. While its left side has just a hint of a broken line, where the light is hitting it. The key is to keep this treatment consistent throughout the drawing.   

Varying Similar Elements
When drawing repeating objects in a subject, vary the treatment of each one. The windows in the left drawing are basically the same. Not of much interest, visually boring. For the windows in the right-hand drawing, each pane of glass is rendered differently. Every detail doesn't need to be put in, because the reality is we cannot see every detail. This type of treatment allows the viewer's mind to add those details, therefore, engaging them more with your drawing. A simple readjustment in our thinking and execution can make a simple drawing look like an illustration.  

Sidenote About Ability
Did you notice that the left-hand drawing of the house in the above sample was done using what could be referred to as a“child-like” style? The house on the right has EXACTLY the same underdrawing, using the same shapes and forms, with NO DIFFERENCE IN DRAWING ABILITY. It is only the treatment of the lines and edges that have created a distinctive look.  

Exercise Sheet
Click on the exercise sheet below, copy it, print it and using a black marker or pen (no pencil) apply the concepts discussed here to create a new drawing on the greyed out image.

Small adjustments in our thinking during the planning aspects for the linework in our drawings can make a big difference in the final result.

Sketchbook Borders: Clean and Simple

Many sketchers desire to have clean, even borders in their sketchbooks. However, most artist's tapes are too wide for this purpose, making them cumbersome to work with. Wide tapes need to be trimmed down in some way. Alternatively, borders on sketchbook pages can be measured and taped off, with the excess tape folded over to the back of the leaf. Still a lot of work. A few years ago, I came across a product that enables you to make thin, even borders without any fuss.

This narrow roll of painter's tape, 6mm (.23") wide, produced by Painter's Mate is a great solution. It is easy to use and is available at most hardware and paint supply stores. 

Its slim profile doesn't take up much space when added to your sketch kit for working on location. More importantly, you don't have to mess with measuring, folding over wide pieces of tape, or having to cut them down into thinner strips. 

To create an even border edge, simply line up the edge of the tape to the outside edge of your sketchbook page or paper. If you don't get it square the first time, no problem as it is easy to remove and reposition. Pages can swiftly be subdivided for smaller sketches, as seen below.  

Always Check First
It is always a good idea to test the surface of the paper you are using with tape of any type. Painter's tape removes easily, but that is dependant on how long the tape has been on the paper. Always remove the tape by carefully pulling the strips downwards and to the side. NEVER pull upwards (the same goes when tearing paper). If you find that it does remove or mark the paper's surface in any way, then take the strips of tape and adhere them to your pant leg or shirt sleeve first before applying them to the paper.   

When working on location or in the studio, materials that help expedite the working process, making it seamless and more enjoyable, are priceless!   

How Our Eyes See: Part 2

If you have not read "How Our Eyes See: Part 1" please click HERE first.

Now that we have some practical insight into how our eyes function, the next step is to incorporate that understanding into our work using what we have learned about Integrated Observation. 

The Focal Point
The Focal Point of a drawing or painting is the targeted area where we want to direct our viewer to go. It is usually the main subject or area of the artwork. Selecting this point is based on how our central acuity works, that small 5° area of our vision where everything comes into focus. Understanding Integrated Observation, helps us to select and plan for what the Focal Point of our drawing or painting will be. Here the values will have more contrast, the colours be more intense, and the edges the sharpest. As our subject moves into our peripheral vision, those areas are rendered with less value contrast, less intense colours, softer edges, and less detail. Resulting in a picture that has an overall visual harmony where everything works together as an "integrated" whole in the same way that our eyes see.

Segmented Observation  

Segmented Observation is what I refer to as the natural tendency to quickly shift focus around our environment, in a partitioned way. We are not even aware of it because it is so natural. It is like when we walk down a street. Our eyes are continually moving, shifting focus from people to cars to buildings, then back again. We are looking at "segments" of the street scene using our central vision, causing us to think that everything is in focus. This spills over into how we view any subject when drawing or painting, whether from life or a photographic reference. Unfortunately, we see it with Segmented Observation.

Segmented Observation Into Integrated Observation

Look below at the coins from Part 1. Everything appears to be in focus. Look again, now be aware of how your eyes naturally move from one coin to the next refocusing in order to create that illusion. This is Segmented Observation.

Now, concentrate on the coin with the hole. It is a different visual experience. Only that coin is clear and distinct while the rest become more indistinct. This is Integrated Observation. This area, that you are concentrating on, is the Focal Point.

Creating Integrated Observation From Segmented Observation  
Below I have simulated Integrated Observation to the same coins by applying the concepts discussed here and in Part 1. Note how this treatment directs you to one specific coin, the one with the hole. I achieved this by keeping sharp edges and stronger value contrasts at that spot. Moving out from the Focal Point, we see the edges getting softer, the colours looking slightly less intense, and the value contrasts becoming less with the remaining coins. This is the type of manipulation we want to consciously, create in our drawings or paintings.

Image by Uwe Baumann from Pixabay

Whether consciously or unconsciously, people respond to drawings and paintings that portray their subjects in the same way that our eyes see them. Bringing this understanding into your drawings and paintings will help move your work to the next level.

Continue to hone and develop this important foundational skill in both your daily observations and your drawings and paintings. 

How Our Eyes See: Part 1

Many times I tell my students "It is not about how to draw, but how to understand what you see." It is critical to know how our brain processes and evaluates everything we observe. The brain has a lot of power, especially in the area of sight. When we are born, our eyes naturally see everything upside down. Over time our brain is able to flip that so we can process things right side up. Yet your physical eyes are still seeing upside down, even as you read this!

How the Camera Sees
Contrary to popular belief, eyes do not function in the same way as the camera lens. They are much, much more complex than that. The camera lens sees everything in focus from left to right and top to bottom. The photographic images we see in magazines, books, movies, videos, television, computers, digital phones, and tablets have been taken through a lens of some manufacture. Cameras do create other distortions, but we will save those for another time. Photography has become the ruler that most people use to measure realism. 

How Our Eyes See
Our eyes are quite different from a camera lens. They have both central and peripheral vision or acuity. Our central vision observes what we are looking at directly with clarity, focus, and contrast within a small area of about 5°. Moving out from our central vision, our peripheral acuity covers the remaining 175° or so, seeing larger shapes, movement, and general colours but observes no detail or strong contrasts. 

Integrated Observation

What I term "Integrated Observation" is, in essence, seeing the forest AND the trees in their proper visual relationship in terms of how our eyes see. It is being conscious of how our central, and peripheral vision works together to understand the subject in front of us. Seeing the overall picture as it were. The task at hand is then to translate that understanding to create a visually comprehensive drawing or painting.

A Practical Exercise
Look at the photo of the coins below. Due to the camera lens, this whole image is in focus, from left to right and top to bottom. Now concentrate on the coin with the hole in it. Keep your eyes fixed on that point and observe what happens to the rest of the coins. Even though they are close in proximity, you cannot read the text or clearly make out the images on the surrounding coins. Shift your focus to another coin, now this one becomes clear and distinct but the clarity you had on the first coin is lost. This is how our eyes see. This is Integrated Observation. 

Image by Uwe Baumann from Pixabay

Seeing The World Through Integrated Observation

Now, observe this effect in the third dimension. Place eight or ten coins on a table, and walk through the above exercise again. Repeat this with everything around you, everywhere you go. Remember to stay focused on a single point of whatever it is you are observing. Look at a bookshelf, a street scene, a landscape, the dishes in the sink, people in a group, etc. Take note of your experiences and think about how this could influence your work. 

In Part 2, we will expand on what we have learned here and look at how to apply this practically to our drawings and paintings.   

Pay Attention To The Signs

Squinting your eyes is a beneficial way to observe your subject matter. It helps to simplify its main elements while eliminating unnecessary details. It enables you to concentrate on what is important, especially in the early stages of blocking in a drawing or painting. Larger shapes can be broken down more easily. Even in the later stages, squinting helps to keep you focused on what is important for your work.  

Methods of Squinting
While viewing your subject, close one eye, leaving your other eye open to squint down with. Some find it easier to squint using both eyes. The advantage of one eye being completely closed is that your binocular vision is shut down. This has the effect of flattening out the scene before you. When using the one eye method always close the same eye, don't switch back and forth. Please note that squinting in this way is something to be done at regular intervals throughout the drawing or painting process, not constantly. 

Visual Simplification
Squinting helps simplify the values, colours, and forms of what you are observing, enabling you to focus on the overall appearance of your subject without being distracted by the details and translate that information more accurately into your drawing or painting.

Squinting in Practise
Below, the left-hand image of the heron is slightly blurred to simulate the effects of squinting. Note how the feather and foliage details have now "disappeared" leaving only the larger shapes and values for you to work with. Squint at the right-hand image of the heron to see how your eye simplifies visual information. There is a difference between your eye and a camera.

Practice the art of squinting daily. Do it as you observe people, objects, and scenes, so it becomes more and more natural when you are drawing or painting.

Squinting has been used for centuries by artists to aid them in more accurate drawing and, it is a great technique to add to your sketching skill set.