Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Drawing Techniques

Tradition methods of application can be easily used if acquiring helpful tools aren't easy. Some of the most used methods are hatching, cross-hatching, side stroking, and blending.

Hatching is when you draw very close parallel lines to achieve a good tone or shadow in a drawing.


Cross-hatching is the application of single hatch marks over previously drawn ones. To cross hatch myself, I added lines on top of the original hatch marks in the previous picture.



Side Strokes are accomplished by using the side of a pencil point or crayon to draw wide marks or a tone. Note the appearance of the side strokes is depending on the surface your drawing is supported with!

Blending is a useful way to achieve broad areas of a drawing. That being said, it's easily used to cover up large blank areas of a picture. The technique has been used for centuries to manipulate harsh edges. This can be tricky because using the blending technique too often can break the unity of a drawing, as it is said in the book: "Blending can destroy the integrity of a drawing, so it's important to avoid overusing this tenchique" (Thomas 13).


Now that you've seen a few drawing techniques, which of these do you think will create the best-looking portrait drawing?

Thomas, Joy. The Art of Portrait Drawing: Learn the Essentials Techniques of the Masters. New York: F+W Media, 2012. Print.



2 comments:

  1. I think that the last technique, blending, will create the best-looking portrait because it "blends" all other aspects of the portrait together. Great pictures, I wouldn't have known what the technique looked like without them!

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  2. Realistically, couldn't you create a stylized portrait with either of the listed methods? Otherwise, as a person who does not like to draw, it is interesting to see how it is done anyways.

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