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Voluntas
01-12-2008, 10:36 AM
Hello,

After thinking a long time about learning to sketch and spooking around these forums (DSG), I decided to buy a book about sketching. The book is named "Grondbeginselen voor het tekenen" and it's translated from "The Fundamentals of Drawing" into Dutch. Reading in Dutch is (still) easier and more pleasant to me. I find the book very interesting, but I do have a few quick questions that the book did not answer.

The book tells me to hold the pencil in my hand palm and not like writing. This is new to me, but starts to feel better because now you can use your shoulder to paint. But when I hold my pencil like this I keep my hand against the sheet for support. Is this normal/advised? It does sometimes give my skin a little pain from moving over the paper. I know people will often advise you to paint how you feel like the most, but as I'm new to it I better learn it good right away.

When I paint horizontal and vertical lines the thickness of the lines stays almost the same, no mater from what side I start the stroke. When I paint a diagonal line from right top to left bottom it's also nice, but when I do it the way around (from top left to top bottom) the line is very sharp. So when I paint a triangle, it has 2 different line thickness'. How can I prevent this from happening?

In the book the writer paints shaded parts with many strokes, but when I do this I get blurry lines. Could this be because my pencil is not sharp enough? If that is the cause, how often do I need to sharp my pencil.... what is normal?

When sketching do you always hold the pencil tip up to the sky or is it also advised to sometimes hold the pencil tip more horizontal?

I have a Bamboo Wacom that I will use for sketching when I know how to sketch better, but now I already wonder how am I going to paint on it if you can't hold your hand like sketching, but only as writing. Is there a solution to this? Like placing the tablet under an angle, or does everyone paint on paper with the pencil in hand palm and on the tablet with the pencil like writing?

Is it allowed and advised if I will use this topic for more possible questions I have?

--Lars
Voluntas
01-17-2008, 08:46 PM
Should I ask my questions somewhere else?

Sorry, but I can't image they are hard to answer for a proffesional.
Chriz5
01-17-2008, 10:28 PM
Hello,

I´m not a professionall, but I can tell you how I personally do my sketches.

I have also a book which is called "Figuren Zeichnen" (Drawing Figures), the main topic of this book is going about the anatomy of a humans body and head, about the musculature and the skeleton. There are some advices how to use a pencil correctly and the book also suggest to hold the pencil in the hand palm to draw with the shoulder. They say for beginners it would be better to hold the paper at a wall and try to draw out of a standing position, because it should help much better to learn to use the shoulder.

Personally I do not hold my pencil in the hand palm, I´m still use it as I´m writing.
In this case I would like to know how neccessary it is to draw with the shoulder. Are there and huge advantages?

I think to get sharp strokes you have to sharpen your pencil. But if you not want to sharp your pencil everytime again, you can may use a mechanical one?



Christoph
Lunatique
01-19-2008, 12:53 AM
You are mixing two very different mediums. A Wacom is a digital tablet and you cannot handle it like it's a traditional art tool like pencil or brush. It uses pressure sensor and it is a totally different tool and requires separate set of motor skills to use effectively. When you read books written for traditional drawing/painting mediums, you need to keep that in mind. Also, you need to check if the author was talking about drawing on canvas propped up on an easel or on paper placed flat on a table--they are very different things. Usually when people draw with the pencil inside the palm of the hand they are working on a vertical surface like an easel.
Voluntas
01-19-2008, 11:09 AM
You are mixing two very different mediums. A Wacom is a digital tablet and you cannot handle it like it's a traditional art tool like pencil or brush. It uses pressure sensor and it is a totally different tool and requires separate set of motor skills to use effectively.
....

Thank you for your reply.

I think I will first learn how to use 'traditional art tools' until I'm pleased with the results and the knowledge about drawing (and seeing art). After that I will try to scan/import my drawings digital so I can work with them in the PC with the Wacom.

The author in the book is talking about drawing on normal drawing paper on a sketchboard (hold almost vertical) and an easel.

Could you tell me what possible motives the author has to tell me to hold the pencil that way? And why do some people hold the pencil like writing when they draw? Is it advised to learn both ways from the start?

I wonder, Are there digital input devices that work like drawing vertical?

Would you also take a look at some of my other questions in the first post? Not all of them are about the tablet.
Lunatique
01-19-2008, 07:05 PM
I'm surprised the author did not explain why--that's not very good instruction if you don't explain why you recommend a certain technique.

The reason you hold a tool that way (not just pencil, but also charcoal, pastel, brush...etc) is because if you hold it like when you write, then the rotation of your wrist won't allow nearly as much freedom in different stroke/tilt angles. Holding it with the handle inside the palm allows almost 360 degrees of wrist rotation flush againt the canvas, which allows a lot more freedom on how you want to lay down a stroke.

Using your shoulder is mostly about working on medium to large surface. If you draw in a small sketch pad, it doesn't apply as much. When working on larger surface, using your shoulder as the point of rotation for strokes gives you smoother strokes of longer length, and you can maintain the orientation of your brush even if one stroke curves around a lot.

Holding horizontal or vertical are both fine--it depends on the kind of tip your tool has and the kind of stroke you are trying to day down (broad and soft, or thin and sharp). If you have a tool that has a flat chiseled tip (like a flat tip brush), then you need to think and look before putting down a stroke, because one direction will give you a thick stroke (flat side), and another direction will give you a thin stroke. Rotating the brush in your hand in conjunction with rotating your wrist can give you a lot of expressive control.
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