101 Ways to Draw: A Field Guide to Drawing Mediums and Techniques

by David Webb

Overview

From soft pencils to graphite powder, ballpoint to fibre-tip pens, conté sticks to watercolour pencils, this unique guide covers everything you need to know to begin mastering and combining different media in your drawing. 

This visual directory of drawing techniques beyond the pencil provides you with the skills to explore and experiment with all the different techniques and mediums. Use it as a handy reference for when you want to know how to use a particular tool, or as a catalogue of inspiration when seeking new ideas to try. 

A wealth of media and equipment is demonstrated, and each page features invaluable information for beginners and accomplished artists alike. As the techniques progress, you’ll explore the creative possibilities beyond one medium, and be encouraged to look at your work and style in a new light. Use the examples shown to aid expression and skill development and to look at the myriad possibilities of mixed media, which have all been selected because of their compatibility.

Start with basic graphite pencils, sticks and powder to explore line and tone, shading, creating textures and erasing. Then move on to coloured pencils to cover techniques such as burnishing, lifting and sgraffito. There are various interesting methods to try with water-soluble coloured pencils too, including different ways of applying water, blending and overlaying colours.

Explore the effects that you can create with charcoal or conté sticks on different coloured and textured papers, and discover how to use pastel pencils and chalks for expressive drawing. Then master blending, shading and scumbling with hard and soft pastels, and perfect your techniques with crayons, oil pastels and oil paint sticks.

There are some really interesting ways to use ink pens for painting effects and instructions are included for cutting your own quill pen. Ballpoint pens, fibre-tips, marker pens and brush pens are also great tools for creating modern, graphic drawings - pick up some handy tips for mark making and blending.

Finally, experiment with mixed media and combining various pencils, pastels, crayons, powder, sticks and pens for some stunning results. Be inspired by the huge range of drawings in this book to expand and develop your own skills.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781446308677
Publisher:	David & Charles
Publication date:	04/27/2021
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x (d)

About the Author

David Webb is an artist and tutor on the nationwide leisure painting circuit. His work is regularly featured in the leisure painting press, he runs his own workshops and painting breaks, and he is the author of The Animal Painting Workbook (D&C 2007) and several other practical art books.

Preface

Drawing can be defined as the picturing of objects on a surface, and as such anyone can draw. This spontaneous childhood activity is often dropped as we grow up and become more critical of our efforts – the gulf between what we can see and what we can draw seems too great and we give up in frustration. Drawing, however, can be learned and, as with most things, practise improves our skill even if it does not always achieve perfection. Start by setting aside a short time each day for drawing. Always carry a small sketchbook and pencil with you and fill in the odd five or ten minutes by drawing anything you can see around you. Look at the scene or the object and draw what you see, rather than what you expect the subject to look like. Use exercises, such as drawing negative spaces, to make you look really hard at creating what is in front of you. As you improve, try to build up a collection of references for future compositions; aim to capture a movement, the essentials of an object, an interesting juxtaposition of elements in a scene. Your sketchbooks will soon become an invaluable resource. Once you get hooked on drawing you will want to experiment with the many different media available. The physical differences between using crumbly charcoal, powdery pastels and greasy oil sticks will dictate what you draw and how you apply them to the support. For fine detail, pencils of all kinds, pens and ball-points cannot be bettered. Working large with bold sweeps and strong lines needs drawing tools such as charcoal, felt-tip pens or pastels. Some drawing media can be erased easily, others stain the paper; some demand you work quickly and confidently, while others are capable of delicate, precise lines where just a suggestion is enough to create an interesting image. What you draw on is as important as choosing what to draw with and matching the medium to the support can be the key to a successful picture. Drawing accurately is not the only skill. Creating an impression or a feeling is equally important. When drawing from life try to work on the picture as a whole rather than concentrating on a small area. Use a variety of lines – fine and light or dark and heavy, continuous or sketchy – to keep the drawing interesting and lively. Introducing contour lines, building up the shading or adding a wash will make the composition three dimensional. It is never too late to start drawing, the materials are as cheap or as expensive as you choose and the subject matter is all around you. Now pick up a pencil and begin. Keep your old sketchbooks and first drawings and after a few months look back to see how much you have improved.