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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
- Sprache: Englisch
THE CLASSIC GUIDE TO DRAWING FOR DESIGNERS, REVISED AND UPDATED TO INCLUDE CURRENT DIGITAL-DRAWING TECHNIQUES Hand drawing is an integral part of the design process and central to the architecture profession. An architect's precise interpretation and freedom of expression are captured through hand drawing, and it is perhaps the most fundamental skill that the designer must develop in order to communicate thoughts and ideas effectively. In his distinctive style, world-renowned author Francis D. K. Ching presents Design Drawing, Third Edition, the classic guide to hand drawing that clearly demonstrates how to use drawing as a practical tool for formulating and working through design problems. While digital tools continue to evolve, this Third Edition includes new illustrations and information on the latest digital-drawing techniques. Design Drawing, Third Edition covers the basics of drawing, including line, shape, tone, and space. Guiding the reader step-by-step through the entire drawing process, this Third Edition also examines different types of drawing techniques such as multiview, paraline, and perspective drawings--and reveals how the application of these techniques creates remarkable results. In addition, Design Drawing, Third Edition: * Features over 1,500 hand drawings--stunning illustrations in the author's signature style that reinforce the concepts and lessons of each chapter * Offers new exercises and illustrative examples that range in complexity * Presents all-new digital drawing topics, such as hybrid floor plans, digital models and fabrication, and hand-to-digital fluency * Includes access to a new website featuring videos of the author demonstrating freehand techniques in a step-by-step manner in the studio and on location * Includes access to a brand new website (Francis Ching (wiley.com)) featuring videos of the author demonstrating freehand techniques in a step-by-step manner in studio and on location. Readers will gain a greater appreciation of the techniques presented in the book through the power of animation, video, and 3D models Written and illustrated for professional architects, designers, fine artists, illustrators, instructors and students, Design Drawing, Third Edition is an all-in-one package and effective tool that clearly demonstrates drawing concepts and techniques in a visually stimulating format that outshines other works in the field.
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Cover Design: Wiley
Cover Illustration: Francis D. K. Ching
Copyright © 2018 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New JerseyPublished simultaneously in Canada
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Names: Ching, Francis D. K., 1943- author, illustrator. | Juroszek, Steven P.
Title: Design drawing / Francis D.K. Ching ; with Steven P. Juroszek.
Description: Third edition. | Hoboken, New Jersey : Wiley, 2019. | Includes index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2018041507 (print) | LCCN 2018042131 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119508533 (Adobe PDF) | ISBN 9781119508588 (ePub) | ISBN 9781119508595 (paperback)
Subjects: LCSH: Architectural drawing—Technique. | BISAC: ARCHITECTURE / Design, Drafting, Drawing & Presentation.
Classification: LCC NA2708 (ebook) | LCC NA2708 .C49 2019 (print) | DDC 720.28/4—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018041507
CONTENTS
Cover
Acknowledgments
Preface to the Third Edition
Preface
Introduction
Design Drawing
The Drawing Process
Visual perception
Seeing & Drawing
Imagining
Visual Thinking
Drawing & Imagining
Representing
Drawing from Observation
1 Line and Shape
Line
Contour
Contour Drawing
Blind Contour Drawing
Modified Contour Drawing
Cross-Contour Drawing
Shape
Seeing Shapes
Figure-Ground
Positive and Negative Shapes
Drawing Shapes
Sighting
Sighting Techniques
Organizing Shapes
Grouping
Closure
Projection
2 Tone and Texture
Tonal Value
Color and Value
Creating Values
Value Scale
Modeling Form
Conveying Light
Light, Shade, and Shadow
Rendering Shade and Shadows
Mapping Values
Value Pattern
Tonal Range
Tone and Texture
Describing Texture
3 Form and Structure
Form
Volume
Analytical Drawing
Proportion
Building on Geometry
4 Space and Depth
Space
Pictorial Space
Depth Cues
Building a Drawing
Composing a View
Establishing Structure
Scale
Human Scale
Layering Tonal Values
Adding Details
Drawing on Location
Personal Approaches
Personal Signatures
Thinking on Paper
Drawing Systems
5 Pictorial Systems
Pictorial Systems
Pictorial Overview
Drawing Scale
Drawing Lines
Line Weights
Drawing Operations
Curved Lines
Drawing Exercises
6 Multiview Drawings
Orthographic Projection
Orthographic Views
Reading Multiview Drawings
Plan Drawings
Floor Plans
Ceiling Plans
Site Plans
Elevation Drawings
Building Elevations
Section Drawings
Building Sections
Site Sections
Shade and Shadows
7 Paraline Drawings
Axonometric Drawings
Isometric Projection
Isometric Drawings
Dimetric Projection
Dimetric Drawings
Trimetric Projection
Oblique Projection
Oblique Drawings
Elevation Obliques
Plan Obliques
Paraline Views
8 Perspective Drawings
Perspective Projection
Pictorial Effects
Perspective Variables
Perspective Measurements
Perspective Geometry
Types of Linear Perspective
One-Point Perspective
Diagonal Point Method
One-Point Perspective Grid
Section Perspectives
Plan Perspectives
Two-Point Perspective
Common Method
Perspective Plan Method
Two-Point Perspective Grid
Three-Point Perspective
Three-Point Perspective Grid
Shade and Shadows
Reflections
Drawing from the Imagination
9 Speculative Drawing
A Creative Process
Thinking on Paper
Tolerating Ambiguity
Relying on Intuition
Developing Fluency
Taking Advantage of Chance
Being Flexible
Thinking Digitally
10 Diagramming
Types of Diagrams
Analytical Diagrams
Diagramming Elements
Diagramming Relationships
Diagramming Concepts
Diagramming Principles
Digital Concepts
Modeling Concepts
Developing Concepts
11 Drawing Composition
Drawing Field
Drawing Size
Drawing Resolution
Digital Resolution
Cropping and Masking Images
Figure-Ground Relationships
Ordering Principles
Emphasis
Balance
Harmony
Lighting
Color and Value
Drawing in Context
People
Landscaping
Furniture
Vehicles
12 Presentation Drawing
Communicating Information
Presentation Elements
Presentation Sequence
Visual Sets of Information
Presentation Layout
Index
End User License Agreement
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
Preface to the Third Edition
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e1
Acknowledgments
This manual began as a reader for a sequence of design drawing courses offered by the Department of Architecture at the University of Washington. Its subsequent development was largely the result of the many discussions, suggestions, and contributions of a skilled and dedicated group of teachers— Catherine Barrett, Cynthia Esselman, Kevin Kane, Anita Lehmann, Alan Maskin, Ben Sharpe, Judith Swain, Carol Thomas, Mark Wolfe, and Gail Wong. Special thanks go to Nan-Ching Tai, who offered his invaluable expertise and assistance in preparing the examples of digital lighting and the drawing system animations on the companion CD.
This text is also a testimony to the efforts, accomplishments, and critical feedback of the many students who regularly and enthusiastically tested the pedagogical soundness of the material.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge those instructors who have gathered regularly at the conferences of the Design Communication Association to passionately and unselfishly share their thoughts about teaching and drawing. Their insights nurtured the progress and enhanced the dimensions of this work.
The first edition of this book was prepared in part through a grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts.
Preface to the Third Edition
This is a comprehensive drawing manual for students of architecture, interior design, and related design disciplines. Drawing guides typically range from beginning texts on how to draw certain subjects, such as landscapes or the human figure, to more advanced treatises on drawing as art. Some focus on a specific medium, such as pencil or pen-and-ink; others dwell on a particular technique, such as perspective drawing. Further, the discussion is often limited to learning how to draw from observation. This book is based on the premise that drawing is central to the design process. It therefore focuses on drawing as a medium for visualizing and communicating design ideas.
The work begins with an introduction to the drawing process, which involves seeing, imagining, and representing. The remaining content is divided into three parts. Part 1: Drawing from Observation introduces the graphic elements that constitute the vocabulary of drawing—line, shape, tone, form, and space. This largely remains the province of freehand drawing because we can best learn to see, understand, and represent these elements through direct examination.
Part 2: Drawing Systems describes the formal systems for representing three-dimensional objects and space, which constitute the language of design drawing. Regardless of the drawing medium or technique we use, each system represents a uniquely different way of seeing and describing the visible world that we experience directly, or a future world that we imagine in design.
Part 3: Drawing from the Imagination addresses issues that arise as we think in a speculative manner to stimulate the design process, develop our design ideas through drawing, and plan how to present our design proposals in the best possible light. It is in this arena where digital drawing and modeling tools have made major advances, both in academia and the profession.
Accompanying each section are a series of short exercises for developing skills and suggestions for longer projects that test the understanding and application of concepts. Like any discipline, drawing takes perseverance and regular exercise to develop mastery and fluency. The information in this manual cannot be received passively but must be learned by actively participating in the process of drawing.
Preface
The emphasis remains on drawing by hand, which is the most direct and intuitive means we have to express our visual thoughts and perceptions. Through the tactile nature of drawing in direct response to our visual thoughts and perceptions, we develop an understanding of spatial concepts and the critical ability to think and visualize in three dimensions.
Nevertheless, we cannot ignore the advances in computer technology that have significantly altered the process of architectural drawing and design. Current graphics software ranges from 2D drawing programs to 3D surface and solid modelers that aid in the design and representation of buildings, from small houses to large and complex structures. It is therefore important to acknowledge the unique opportunities and challenges digital tools offer in the production of architectural graphics. While the second edition augmented the material in the first edition with discussions and examples of digital graphic techniques where appropriate to the task at hand, this third edition goes further and provides more examples of strictly digital as well as hybrid processes of producing drawings in the design process.
Whether a drawing is executed by hand or developed with the aid of a computer, the standards and judgments governing the effective communication of design ideas in architecture remain the same, just as the rules of spelling, grammar and punctuation for the written language remain applicable, whether jotted by hand traditionally, typed on a manual or electric typewriter, or entered by keyboard into a word processor.
Introduction
Drawing is the process or technique of representing something—an object, scene, or idea—by making lines on a surface. This definition implies that delineation is different from painting and the coloring of surfaces. While drawing is generally linear in nature, it may include other pictorial elements, such as dots and brush strokes, which can also be interpreted as lines. Whatever form a drawing takes, it is the principal means by which we organize and express our visual thoughts and perceptions. We therefore regard drawing not only as artistic expression but also as a practical tool for formulating and working through design problems.
Design Drawing
The term design drawing brings to mind the presentation drawings used to persuade the viewer of the merits of a design proposal. Also familiar are the construction or working drawings that provide graphic instructions for producing or building a project. But designers use both the process and products of drawing in other ways as well. In design, the role of drawing expands to include recording what exists, working out ideas, and speculating about and planning for the future. Throughout the design process, we use drawing to develop an idea from concept to proposal to constructed reality.
To learn how to draw and to use drawing effectively as a design instrument, it is necessary to acquire certain fundamental skills, such as inscribing lines and laying down tonal values. Over time and with enough practice, anyone can learn these techniques. Skillful technique is of little value, however, unless accompanied by understanding of the perceptual principles on which these techniques are based. Even as digital drawing tools evolve and augment traditional drawing methods, enabling us to transfer ideas onto the computer screen and develop them into three-dimensional models, drawing remains a cognitive process that involves perceptive seeing and visual thinking.
The Drawing Process
Visual perception
The act of seeing is a dynamic and creative process. It is capable of delivering a stable, three-dimensional perception of the moving, changing images that make up our visual world. There are three phases in the swift and sophisticated processing that results in the images we see:
Reception: our eyes receive energy input in the form of light—either its source or its reflection from illuminated surfaces. The optics of the eye form an upside-down image of incoming light rays on the retina, a collection of nerve cells that are an extension of the brain. These photosensitive cells convert electromagnetic energy into electrochemical signals and provide a point-by-point assessment of the intensity of light received.
Extraction: the mind extracts basic visual features from this input. The input—basically a pattern of lights and darks—is further processed by other nerve cells in the retina and moves down the optic nerve. After an intermediate stop it arrives at the visual cortex of the brain, which has cells that extract specific features of visual input: the location and orientation of edges, movement, size, and color.
Inference: on the basis of these extracted features, we make inferences about our world. Only a very small area of the retina is capable of distinguishing fine detail. Our eyes must therefore continuously scan an object and its environment to see it in its entirety. When we look at something, what we see is actually constructed from a rapid succession of interconnected retinal images. We are able to perceive a stable image even while our eyes are scanning. Our visual system thus does more than passively and mechanically record the physical features of a visual stimulus; it actively transforms sensory impressions of light into meaningful forms.
Seeing is a vigorous, pattern-seeking process. The mind's eye uses the input extracted from the retinal image as the basis for making educated guesses about what we encounter. Inference is easy for the mind. The mind's eye actively seeks those features that fit our image of the world. It looks for closure—for meaning and understanding in the patterns it receives. We are able to form images from the barest scaffolding of visual data, filling out the images if necessary with information that is not really there. For example, we may not understand this incomplete pattern of lights and darks, but once recognized, it cannot not be seen.
In this illusion designed by psychologist E. G. Boring in 1930, one can see either the profile of a younger woman or the head of an older woman.
Visual perception thus is a creation of the mind's eye. The eye is blind to what the mind does not see. The picture in our head is not only based on input extracted from the retinal image but is also shaped by our interests and the knowledge and experiences each of us brings to the act of seeing. Our cultural environment also modifies our perceptions and teaches us how to interpret the visual phenomena we experience.
Different ways of perceiving and interpreting the same visual phenomena.
Seeing & Drawing
Seeing Facilitates Drawing
The drawing of things we see before us, including the careful copying of a master's work, has traditionally been fundamental training for artists and designers. Drawing from observation is the classic method for developing eye-mind-hand coordination. Experiencing and examining the visible world in a direct manner through drawing makes us more conscious of the dynamics of sight. This understanding, in turn, helps us to draw.
Drawing Invigorates Seeing
We normally do not see all that we are capable of seeing. Preconceived notions of what we expect or believe to be out there usually direct our seeing. Through familiarity, we tend to pass over things we confront and use every day without really seeing them. These perceptual prejudices make our life simpler and safer. We do not have to pay full attention to each and every visual stimulus as if seeing it for the first time each day. Instead we can select out only those that provide information pertinent to our momentary needs. This expeditious kind of seeing leads to our common use of stereotypical images and visual clichés.
The labeling of visual stereotypes, while necessary to avoid perceptual chaos, can also prevent us from looking anew at what we see as familiar. The visual environment is usually fuller and richer than what we normally perceive at a glance. To make full use of our visual faculty—to see more than symbols—we must learn to see things as if we were going to draw them.
Drawing encourages us to pay attention and to experience the full range of visual phenomena and appreciate the uniqueness of the most ordinary things. In fostering a heightened and critical awareness of the visual environment, drawing also nurtures understanding and improves our visual memory. In drawing from the imagination, we recall past perceptions and draw on these memories.
Imagining
Our perception is not limited to what we can see in the here and now. Images often appear spontaneously in response to a sensory perception—something seen, touched, or smelled. Even without any sort of sensory stimulation, we have the mental faculty of recalling or recreating images. Easily, almost effortlessly, you can imagine something as soon as it is suggested to you. As you read these words, you can easily visualize:
Places, such as a childhood bedroom, the street where you live, or a scene described in a novel.
Things, such as a triangle or square, a balloon floating in the air, or a grandfather's clock.
People, such as a close friend, relative, or a TV newscaster.
Activities, such as opening a door, riding a bicycle, or throwing a baseball.
Operations, such as a cube rotating in space, a ball rolling down an incline, or a bird taking off in flight.
In responding to all of these verbal prompts, we are picturing with the mind's eye. We are thinking visually.
Visual Thinking
Visual thinking—thinking in images—pervades all human activity. It is an essential part of everyday life. We think in visual terms when we drive down a street looking for an address, set the table for a dinner party, or contemplate a move in a game of chess. Our thought has visual form when we search for constellations in the night sky, build a cabinet from a set of drawings, or design a building. In each of these activities, we actively seek to match the images we see with the images we hold in the mind's eye.
Which configuration does not match the pattern of the other two?
The images in our head are not limited to what we see in the present. The mind is capable of forming, exploring, and recombining images beyond the normal bounds of time and space. With hindsight we visualize memories of things, places, and events from the past. With foresight, we are also able to look forward in time—to use our imagination to envision a possible future. Imagination therefore enables us to have both a sense of history as well as a plan for the future. It establishes connections—visual bridges—between the past, present, and future.
Remembering the past: an 8th-century Japanese structure
Drawing & Imagining
Imagination Inspires Drawing
The images we conjure up in the mind's eye are often hazy, brief, and all too elusive. Even if vivid and clear, they can come to mind and just as suddenly disappear. Unless captured in a drawing, they can easily be lost in awareness and replaced by others in the stream of consciousness. Drawing thus is a natural and necessary extension of visual thought. As the mental picture guides the movement of our eyes and hand on paper, the emerging drawing simultaneously tempers the image in our head. Further thoughts come to mind and are integrated into the process of imagining and drawing.
Imagine how you could transform these circles into other things by simply drawing a few lines.
Drawing Stimulates the Imagination
Drawing is a medium that influences thought just as thought directs drawing. Sketching an idea on paper enables us to explore and clarify it in much the same way as we can form and order a thought by putting it into words. Making thoughts concrete and visible enables us to act on them. We can analyze them, see them in a new light, combine them in new ways, and transform them into new ideas. Used in this way, design drawings further stimulate the imagination from which they spring.
This type of drawing is essential to the initial and developmental phases of the design process. An artist contemplating various compositions for a painting, a choreographer orchestrating a dance sequence for the stage, and an architect organizing the spatial complexities of a building—all use drawings in this exploratory way to imagine possibilities and speculate on the future.
Imagining the future: a weekend retreat
Representing
A drawing can never reproduce reality; it can only make visible our perceptions of that outer reality and the inner visions of the mind's eye. In the process of drawing, we create a separate reality, which parallels our experiences.
Our perceptions are holistic, incorporating all the information we possess about the phenomena we experience. A single drawing, however, can only express a limited portion of our experience. In drawing from observation, we direct our attention to particular aspects of our vision and we choose either consciously or unconsciously to ignore others. The choice of medium and technique we elect to use also affects what we are able to convey in a drawing.
We can also draw what we know about a subject, which can be expressed in ways other than how it appears to the eye. In drawing from the imagination, for example, we are not limited to the perceptual views of optical reality. We can draw instead a conceptual view of what the mind sees. Both perceptual and conceptual views are legitimate means of representation. They represent complementary ways of seeing and drawing. The choice of one over the other depends on the purpose of the drawing and what we want to communicate of the subject.
Different ways of representing the same objective reality.
Visual Communication
All drawings communicate to the extent they stimulate an awareness on the part of those who view them. Drawings must catch the eye before they can communicate or instruct. Once they engage the viewer, they should assist their imagination and invite a response.
Drawings are by nature information-rich. It would be difficult to adequately describe with words what a drawing is able to reveal at a glance. But just as we each see in a different way, we can each view the same drawing and interpret it differently. Even the most realistic drawing is subject to interpretation. Any drawing we use to communicate visual information should therefore represent things in a way that is comprehensible to others. The more abstract a drawing, the more it must rely on conventions and text to communicate a message or convey information.
Examples of drawings that communicate relations, processes, and patterns.
A common form of visual communication is the diagram, a simplified drawing that can illustrate a process or action, clarify a set of relationships, or describe a pattern of change or growth. Another example is the set of presentation drawings that offer a design proposal to others for their review and evaluation. More utilitarian forms of graphic communication include design patterns, working drawings, and technical illustrations. These visual instructions guide others in the construction of a design or the transformation of an idea into reality.
Reading Drawings
While we are able to read drawings we do not author or that we are incapable of executing, the converse is not true. We cannot construct a drawing unless we are able to decipher the graphic marks we make and understand the way others might see and interpret them. An essential part of learning how to draw is learning to read the drawings we encounter as well as the ones we execute ourselves.
What appears to work on paper may not be possible in objective reality.
Being able to read a drawing means that we understand the relationship between a subject and how it is represented in a drawing. For example, any drawing, whether generated on a computer screen or created by hand, can be improperly constructed and misconstrue the three-dimensional idea that it represents. We should be able to recognize when a drawing conveys something that is not possible in reality, even though the graphic image may give the opposite impression.
To better critique and improve our own drawings, we should cultivate the habit of reading them the way others might see them. It is easy to convince our eyes that one of our drawings actually stands for what we believe it represents. It is just as easy to see mistakes in another's drawing because we see it with fresh eyes. Looking at a drawing upside down, from a distance, or through a mirror causes us to see it in a new way. The sudden changes of view enable us to see problems our minds predisposed us to ignore. Even small errors that appear to be trivial are of some consequence if they muddy the message or meaning of a drawing.
A fundamental question in design drawing is how closely what viewers read in a drawing matches the intentions of its author.
Drawing from Observation
“Learning to draw is really a matter of learning to see—to see correctly—and that means a good dealmore than merely looking with the eye. The sort of ‘seeing’ I mean is an observation that utilizes as manyof the five senses as can reach through the eye at one time.”
Kimon Nicolaïdes
The Natural Way to Draw
Despite the subjective nature of perception, sight is still the most important sense for gathering information about our world. In the seeing process, we are able to reach out through space and trace the edges of objects, scan surfaces, feel textures, and explore space. The tactile, kinesthetic nature of drawing in direct response to sensory phenomena sharpens our awareness in the present, expands our visual memories of the past, and stimulates the imagination in designing the future.
1Line and Shape
A point has no dimension or scale. When made visible as a dot, the point establishes a position in space. As the dot moves across a surface, it traces the path of a line—the quintessential element of drawing. We rely principally on the line to portray the edges and contours of objects we see in visual space. In delineating these boundaries, the line naturally begins to define shape—the pictorial element that establishes the figures in our visual field and organizes the composition of a drawing.
LINE
Conceptually, a line is a one-dimensional element having a continuous extent of length but no breadth or thickness. Such a line does not actually exist in the physical world of matter. Whatever we regard as a line is in fact a thin, solid volume, such as a strand of wire; or a very narrow depression, such as a crease; or a discontinuity in color or tonal value, such as where an object meets its shadow. Yet our vision perceives all of these as lines. Just as lines are critical to the way we perceive our world, they are essential in representing our perceptions in a drawing.
In drawing, we pull or drag the point of a tool across a receptive surface to produce a line. As a graphic element, the line is a one-dimensional trace on a two-dimensional surface. Yet, it is the most natural and efficient means we have to circumscribe and describe the three-dimensional form of a subject. We construct these lines as we do in sight in order to recreate a sense of the form's existence in space. And as viewers, we readily associate the drawn lines with the physical boundaries of a form and the edges of parts within it.
In succeeding chapters, we will explore the use of the line in conveying light and shade, texture, and the internal structure of form. For now, we are concerned with the role of the line in delineating edges and contours—the most common form of pictorial representation.
CONTOUR
Contours dominate our perception of the visual world. The mind infers the existence of contours from the patterns of light and dark the eyes receive. Our visual system seeks out and creates a cognitive line along the points where two fields of contrasting light or color meet. Some of these edges are clear; others are lost in the background as they change color or tonal value. Still, in its need to identify objects, the mind is able to fabricate a continuous line along each edge. In the seeing process, the mind enhances these edges and sees them as contours.
The most noticeable contours are those that separate one thing from another. These contours give rise to the images of objects we see in visual space. They circumscribe an object and define the outer boundary between the figure and its background. In limiting and defining the edges of things, contours also describe their shape.
But contours do more than describe the outline of a flat, two-dimensional silhouette.
In both seeing and drawing, we are able to follow these contours as they eloquently describe the three-dimensional nature of forms in space.
CONTOUR DRAWING
Contour drawing is one approach to drawing from observation. Its primary purpose is to develop visual acuity and sensitivity to qualities of surface and form. The process of contour drawing suppresses the symbolic abstraction we normally use to represent things. Instead, it compels us to pay close attention, look carefully, and to experience a subject with both our visual and tactile senses.
Our goal in contour drawing is to arrive at an accurate correspondence between the eye as it follows the edges of a form and the hand as it draws the lines that represent those edges. As the eye slowly traces the contours of a subject, the hand moves the drawing instrument at the same slow and deliberate pace and responds to every indentation and undulation of form. This is a meticulous and methodical process that involves working from detail to detail, part to part, and form to form.
The process is as much tactile as visual. Imagine the pencil or pen is in actual contact with the subject as you draw. Do not retrace over lines or erase them. Most importantly, draw slowly and deliberately. Avoid the temptation to move the hand faster than the eye can see; move in pace with the eye and examine the shape of each contour you see in the subject without considering or worrying about its identity.
Contour drawing is best done with either a soft, well-sharpened pencil or a fine-tipped pen that is capable of producing a single incisive line. This fosters a feeling of precision that corresponds to the acuity of vision contour drawing promotes.
BLIND CONTOUR DRAWING
Blind contour drawing involves the drawing of contours while looking only at the subject, not the surface upon which we are drawing or the evolving image. Turn your body away from the paper and concentrate all of your attention on the subject. Your eyes should remain on the subject as the hand attempts to record on paper what you see.
Focus the eye on a clearly defined point along a contour of the subject. Place the tip of the pen or pencil on the paper and imagine it is actually touching the subject at that point. Slowly and painstakingly follow the contour with your eyes, observing every minute shift or bend in the contour. As your eyes move, also move your pen or pencil on the paper at the same deliberate pace, recording each variation in contour that you see.
Continue to draw each edge you see, bit by bit, at a slow, even pace. You may have to stop periodically as you continue to scan the subject, but avoid making these stopping points too conspicuous. Strive to record each contour at the very instant you see each point along the contour. Allow the eye, mind, and hand to respond simultaneously to each and every critically perceived event.
In this mode of drawing, distorted and exaggerated proportions often result. The final drawing is not intended to look like the object but rather to document and express your careful perception of its lines, shapes, and volumes.
MODIFIED CONTOUR DRAWING
In modified contour drawing, we begin as in blind contour drawing. But in order to check relationships of size, length, and angle, we allow ourselves to glance at the emerging drawing at certain intervals.
Begin as in blind contour drawing. Select any convenient point along a contour of the subject. Place the tip of the pen or pencil on the sheet of paper and imagine it is in contact with the same point on the subject. Check the relationship of the contour to an imaginary vertical or horizontal line. As your eyes follow the contour in space, carefully draw the contour line at the same slow and deliberate pace.
Work from contour to contour, along, across, or around the edges and surfaces of a form. Respond to each and every surface modulation with equivalent hand movements. At certain points—breaks in planes or folds across contours—a contour line may disappear around a bend or be interrupted by another contour. At these junctures, look at the drawing and realign your pen or pencil with the previously stated edge to maintain a reasonable degree of accuracy and proportion. With only a glance for realignment, continue to draw, keeping your eyes on the subject.
The more we focus on what we see, the more we will become aware of the details of a form—the thickness of a material, how it turns or bends around a corner, and the manner in which it meets other materials. When confronted with a myriad of details, we must judge the relative significance of each detail and draw only those contours that are absolutely essential to the comprehension and representation of the form. Strive for economy of linework.
Do not worry about the proportions of the whole. With experience and practice, we eventually develop the ability to scan each contour of a subject, hold an image of that line in the mind's eye, visualize it on the drawing surface, and then draw over the projected trace.
While a true contour drawing uses a single line weight, varying the width of a line while drawing enables one to be more expressive. Thickening a line can provide emphasis, create a sense of depth, or imply a shadow. The characteristics of the line used to define a contour can communicate the nature of the form—its materiality, surface texture, and visual weight.
Exercise 1.1
Pick a subject that has interesting contours, as your own hand, a pair of sneakers, or a fallen leaf. Focus all of your attention on the contours of the subject and draw a series of blind contour drawings. Blind contour drawing develops visual acuity, sensitivity to contours, and hand-eye-mind coordination.
Exercise 1.2
Pair up with a friend. Draw a contour drawing of your friend's left eye using your right-hand. Then draw a contour drawing of your friend's right eye using your left-hand. Compare the drawing done with your normal drawing hand with that executed with the opposite hand. Drawing with your “unfamiliar hand” forces you to draw more slowly and be more sensitive to the contours you see. This exercise may also be done by looking in a mirror and drawing your own pair of eyes.
Exercise 1.3
Compose a still life of objects having different forms—flowers and a hand tool, several fruit and bottles, leaves and a handbag. Draw a series of modified contour drawings of the composition. Try not to name or identify the things you are drawing, which can lead to the drawing of symbols. Rather, pay close attention to, sense, and record the differing nature of the edges and contours as you see them.
CROSS-CONTOUR DRAWING
In cross-contour drawing, we draw lines not as we perceive them but as they would appear if inscribed across the surfaces of an object. So rather than depict the spatial edges of a form, cross-contours emphasize the way its surfaces turn and shift in space.
We use cross-contours to explore and represent the volumetric nature of an object, especially when its form is not composed of flat planes or is organic in character. Cross-contours flow over the ridges and along the hollows of a surface. Where the surface is indented, the cross-contour line indents; where the surface rises, then the cross-contour line rises as well.
To better visualize the spatial turns and shifts that occur along the surfaces of an object, imagine cutting a series of equally spaced, parallel planes through the form. Then draw the series of profiles that result from the cuts. Through the series of closely spaced cross-contour lines, the form of the object will emerge.
SHAPE
The lines we see in visual space correspond to discernible changes in color or tonal value. In contour drawing, we use visible lines to represent these lines of contrast that occur along the edges of objects and spaces. The contour lines delineate where one area or volume begins and another apparently ends. Our perception and drawing of the boundary lines that separate one thing from another leads to our recognition and description of shape.
Shape is the characteristic outline or surface configuration of a figure or form. As a visual concept in drawing and design, shape refers specifically to a two-dimensional area enclosed by its own boundaries and cut off from a larger field. Everything we see—every area in our field of vision enclosed by a contour line or bounded by an edge between contrasting colors or tonal values—has the quality of shape. And it is by shape that we organize and identify what we see.
A shape can never exist alone. It can only be seen in relation to other shapes or the space surrounding it. Any line that defines a shape on one side of its contour simultaneously carves out space on the other side of its path. As we draw a line, therefore, we must be conscious not only of where it begins and ends, but also how it moves and the shapes it carves and molds along the way.
SEEING SHAPES
At the threshold of perception, we begin to see parts of a visual field as solid, well-defined objects standing out against a less distinct background. Gestalt psychologists use the term figure-ground to describe this property of perception. Figure-ground is an essential concept in the ordering of our visual world: without this differentiation of figure from ground, we would see as if through a fog. A figure emerges from a background when it has certain characteristics.
FIGURE-GROUND
The visual environment is in reality a continuous array of figure-ground relationships. No part of a visual field is truly inert. A thing becomes a figure when we pay attention to it. When we fix our gaze on a book on a crowded desk, it becomes a figure while the rest of the desktop dissolves into the background. As we shift our awareness to another book, a stack of papers, or a lamp, each can become a figure seen against the ground of the desktop. Broadening our view, the desk can be seen as a figure against the ground of a wall, and the wall can become a figure seen against the enclosing surfaces of the room.
POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE SHAPES
A figure that we can see relatively clearly against a background is said to have a positive shape. By comparison, the figure's rather shapeless background is said to have a negative shape. The positive shapes of figures tend to advance and be relatively complete and substantial, while their background appears to recede and be comparatively incomplete and amorphous.
We are conditioned to see the shapes of things rather than the shapes of the spaces between them. While we normally perceive spatial voids as having no substance, they share the same edges as the objects they separate or envelop. The positive shapes of figures and the shapeless spaces of backgrounds share the same boundaries and combine to form an inseparable whole—a unity of opposites.
In drawing, also, negative shapes share the contour lines that define the edges of positive shapes. The format and composition of a drawing consists of positive and negative shapes that fit together like the interlocking pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. In both seeing and drawing, we should raise the shapes of negative spaces to the same level of importance as the positive shapes of figures and see them as equal partners in the relationship. Since negative shapes do not always have the easily recognizable qualities of positive shapes, they can be seen only if we make the effort.
Exercise 1.4
Copy these letter shapes line by line using the guidelines provided. Drawing something upside-down compels us to be less concerned with its identity and more focused on the shapes of the contours and spaces we see.
Exercise 1.5
Place several paper clips on a sheet of paper, overlapping them to create a number of interesting spaces. Using a sharp, soft pencil or fine-tipped black pen, focus on and draw the shapes of the paper surface you see within and in between the paper clips. Do similar drawings of negative shapes by substituting compositions of small objects that have notched, indented, or complex profiles, such as leaves, keys, or silverware.
Exercise 1.6
Compose several chairs containing openings within their form. Overlap them to create interesting spaces. Using a sharp, soft pencil or fine-tipped black pen, focus on and draw the shapes of the negative spaces created by the overlapping chairs.
DRAWING SHAPES
The perceived shape of an object is necessarily altered or transformed by viewing distance and angle. This may simply be a change in size or a more complex transformation of formal relationships. We can nevertheless identify things even when the particular images we see shift and move in our perception. This phenomenon, known as shape constancy, enables us to grasp the structural features of something irrespective of the perceptual phenomena we experience.
What we know about an object, however, often interferes with our drawing of how its shape appears to the eye. For example, we may be inclined to draw a foreshortened shape in a way that suggests that we are seeing it from above or from the side. Although a round tabletop manifests itself as an elliptical shape, we may be disposed to draw it as a circle. While none of the faces of a cube appear to the eye to be square shapes, we may tend to draw one or more faces as squares.
To avoid drawing a preconceived notion of a class of forms, we need to carefully observe the interconnected nature of positive and negative shapes. As we draw the edges of positive shapes, we should also be aware of the negative shapes we are creating. Focusing on the shapes of these negative spaces prevents us from thinking consciously about what the positive shapes represent, and frees us to draw them purely as two-dimensional figures. In a paradoxical way, temporarily flattening the state of forms into two-dimensional shapes allows us to more accurately record the three-dimensional image we see before us.
What we draw is often a compromise between what we know of an object and the optical image we see.
SIGHTING
Sighting is a means of measuring by eye with the aid of any of several devices. A well-known historical example is Albrecht Dürer's device of a transparent grid through which he viewed his subject. The grid allowed Dürer to transfer specific points or line segments in the subject to the picture plane of the drawing.
A similar but more portable device is a viewfinder constructed by neatly cutting a 3″ × 4″ rectangle in the middle of an 81/2″ × 11″ sheet of dark gray or black cardboard. Bisect the opening in each direction with two black threads secured with tape. This viewfinder helps us compose a view and gauge the position and direction of contours. More importantly, looking through the rectangular opening with a single eye effectively flattens the optical image and makes us more conscious of the unity of both the positive shapes of matter and the negative shapes of spaces.
We can also use the shaft of a pencil or pen as a sighting device. With the pencil or pen held out at arm's length, in a plane parallel with our eyes and perpendicular to our line of sight, we can use it to gauge the relative lengths and angles of lines.
SIGHTING TECHNIQUES
To make a linear measurement, we align the pencil's tip with one end of a line we see and use our thumb to mark the other end. We then shift the pencil to another line and, using the measurement as a unit of length, gauge the second line's relative length. We normally use a short line segment to establish the unit of measurement so that other, longer line segments are multiples of that unit.
If line A is one unit length, how many units long is line B? Line C? Line D?
If A is a square, what proportion is rectangle B? Rectangle C? The rectangle that encloses the quadrilateral D?
