DRAWING & ILLUSTRATION A COMPLETE GUIDE JOHN MORANZ DOVER PUBLICATIONS, INC. MINEOLA, NEW YORK Bibliographical Note This Dover edition, first published in 2008, is an unabridged republication of Mastery of Drawing, by John Moranz, originally published by Richard R. Smith Publisher, Inc., New York, in 1950. The color plates in the original edition can be found in the color section located between pages 208 and 209. They have been reproduced in black and white in their original position within the book. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Moranz, John, 1902- [Mastery of drawing] Drawing and illustration : a complete guide / John Moranz. p. cm. Originally published under title: Mastery of drawing: New York : Richard R. Smith Publisher, 1950. Includes index. ISBN-13: 978-0-486-46606-4 ISBN-10: 0-486-46606-X 1. Drawing—Technique. I. Title. NC730.M585 2008 741.2—dc22 2007051583 Manufactured in the United States of America Dover Publications, Inc., 31 East 2nd Street, Mineola, N.Y. 11501 CONTENTS PREFACE SILENT INSTRUCTOR PART ONE — HEADS AND PORTRAITS PART TWO — HANDS AND FEET PART THREE — FIGURE DRAWING PART FOUR — THE DRAPED FIGURE PART FIVE — PERSPECTIVE PART SIX — COMPOSITION PART SEVEN — ADVERTISING LAYOUT PART EIGHT — CREATING ILLUSTRATIONS PART NINE — ANIMALS PART TEN — CASHING IN INDEX NUDES IN COLOR (See color insert after page 208.) REDHEAD COOL PALETTE BLONDE WARM KEY RHYTHM GYPSY RELAXATION SUNLIGHT PREFACE HERE IS present in each of us a compelling urge to express, in drawing or Tart of some kind, what we see, what we hear or what we think. The caveman had this urge and left his art scrawled or chiseled on the walls of the cavern he called his home. Down through the ages others have had this same compelling urge, and each era has left its record in picture, sculpture or architecture. For some of us in these modern times, this urge may find expression only in scribbling in school books, doodling on telephone scratch pads, or putting mustaches on magazine cover girls. Others may have advanced from this stage to the point of beginning a serious study of art, and are looking forward to the time, coming soon, when they can turn their talent into a source of profit. And there are others who have already passed through the scribbling stage and the student period to join the ranks of the professional artists. My experience shows that doodler, student and professional need a single book on drawing to which the doodler can go for training, the student for further help in developing his skill, and the professional for reference material. It is to meet these needs that this book has been designed. It presents a comprehensive but simple study of the fundamentals of drawing in its various phases and fields, and an explanation of the methods, techniques and procedures commonly employed. This is done by means of as few and simple words and as many and varied drawings as possible. In the major part of the book is presented material, the understanding and mastery of which are essential for all artists, but adequate treatment is given also to the practical application of these fundamental principles and techniques in the field of commercial art. Hence not only the newcomer in the commercial field, but also the established professional artist will find this volume extremely helpful on many occasions. Unusually full treatment—for a general volume—is given to portraits, figure drawing and animals; to advertising layout and creating illustrations. Hands, perspective, composition and the draped figure are adequately discussed and illustrated. Even the layman, who appreciates art but does not wish to practice it, will find his pleasure increased by the knowledge of the artist’s craft which he can gain from these pages. Mastery of drawing is the necessary prerequisite to the effective use of color, but as there are now available a number of excellent books on painting, this subject has not been treated here. There have been included, however, reproductions in color of eight oil paintings to show the application of the fundamentals of figure drawing and to encourage the student in his efforts to master these fundamentals. Paintings from living models in the nude have been chosen for this purpose. I am deeply grateful for the valuable assistance in the preparation of this volume which I have received from these professional colleagues of mine and others: Jack Cowan, Lou Segal, Henry J. Bracker, Becker Cline, A. D. Greer, Fried Pâl, Frank Larocco, George S. Moranz, Vern Manson. Success in art cannot be gained easily, but it is no more difficult to attain proficiency in drawing than to become expert in any other field. You who are students know that there is no formula which will assure your success. You have learned that art is an expression of a personality and that art devoid of personality has little reason to exist. It is my hope that you will find in this book the solutions of many of the problems which will confront you as you develop the skill to obey the urge to express your personality on paper or canvas. Houston, Texas J. M. July, 1950 SILENT INSTRUCTOR ET US ASSUME that you have a desire to draw and a belief that you will Llike the experience of learning to draw, but that you cannot attend an art school. How, then, can you make a start? Obviously, just by beginning to draw —no matter what or how. And this book can be your silent instructor; it can help you to succeed if you are intent on success. An artist is able to draw because he can see—because he sees people and inanimate objects as surfaces or planes reflecting the light to which they are exposed. The layman only looks, but the artist sees—perceives. The student must learn to see people and things in terms of pictures and to consider how he would put them on paper. This he can learn to do only by trying, for the hand will put down only what the eye and mind observe. The purpose of this book is to open your eyes to what is around you. It seeks to give you honest help by avoiding the jargon of high-flown art talk, which is beyond the needs or understanding of the student—the art of drawing is not an exact science. The art school student asks his instructor what is wrong with his drawing, but the instructor insists that the student find his own mistakes. By becoming his own analyst and critic, the student starts on the only road to artistic achievement, and he may travel this road rapidly by the aid of this book as his silent instructor, because he is forced to develop, at the start of the road, his critical and analytical faculties. The drawings in this book are reproduced on a large scale and with great clarity so that the student can analyze them, learn how the effects have been obtained, and determine which are basic and which individual strokes. We speak of basic strokes because all human beings have in every part of their bodies more likenesses to each other than differences. The artist must be guided by this basic similarity and yet know how to put on paper the characteristic differences of the individual. There are many mediums and many kinds of surfaces on which to use them. The four basic mediums are pencil, charcoal, pen and wash; and skill in the use of all is mandatory for any commercial artist. PENCIL is the most natural because of its familiarity, but charcoal is easier to use because a stroke may be immediately removed by a sweep of a finger, while the pencil requires an eraser. Use a long pencil with long graduated point—never a sharp point, and for most artists a flat, chiseled point is the favorite. Also a soft lead—2 B or 3 B graphite. Other sketching pencils are of carbon or crayon. The pencil should feel so comfortable in the hand that it seems like a continuation of the fingers and thus permits the mind to cause a free flow from the finger tips through the pencil to the paper. A stubby point or short pencil will break this flow and cause a halting, awkward movement. A hard point dents the paper and makes lines which are hard to erase. The best surfaces for pencil are bond, offset and layout papers. CHARCOAL is used most often in figure drawing because it is the most flexible medium. With it an area can be filled in quickly and changes made with the swish of a finger. Don’t be afraid to get the paper dirty. Some good instructors tell students to smudge up the entire surface before they start to draw. White paper is poison to the student—it frightens him! The usual method of putting in tone with charcoal is to cover the area with a few swift strokes with the charcoal held at the angle which will make the widest strokes. Then smudge with finger to get a gray tone. The amount of charcoal in the first strokes determines the value of the tone. When drawing from a model the beginner will have to try several strokes before he finds the right one. The best surfaces are special charcoal papers which have a rough surface. PEN AND INK in art terms means drawing with either pen or brush in waterproof black drawing ink. A good brush for ink drawing is a No. 3 pointed red sable; this will have lots of life. Don’t waste time and money on inferior brushes; don’t use one which drags its point when wet. Get rid of excess ink and point up the brush with preliminary strokes on scratch paper. The best pen is a Gillott pen No. 170, 290 or 440 (a personal choice). Best surface is a pen board of which Strathmore three ply is preferred. Two surfaces—smooth or eggshell— are suitable for pen and ink. WASH is drawing with solutions or dilutions of water-color lamp black, ivory black or soluble and waterproof india ink. The latter makes a very good but tricky medium, but a few drops of ammonia in the water make the ink readily soluble. These wash techniques are called transparent washes. Another popular medium is opaque wash which is black water color mixed with white water- color paint. A little burnt umber added to ivory or lamp black warms up the color; this is desirable for reproduction purposes. At first the beginner will find these wash techniques difficult, but with practice he will learn that they are very useful and satisfying mediums. We advise the student to stick to the black and white, of which we have been speaking, for quite a time, as color is more complicated and expensive. The best surface for wash is illustration board, of which Whatman is the preferred make, but a less expensive one is suggested for the beginner. Let him put his money first into good brushes to which he may attribute half of his success in wash and ink drawing. Pencil and charcoal are excellent for practice and for preliminary work in preparing illustrations, but they are seldom used for reproduction. Pen and ink is used for line engravings (made on zinc and photographed without a screen) and wash for half tones (made on copper and photographed through a screen—at greater cost). SCRATCHBOARD is the engraver’s delight, but it is a difficult medium on account of the detailed preliminary planning required (described on page 302). When the student draws with lines he draws the boundaries of surfaces. Shading further develops what happens inside these boundary lines, and shading can be studied by observing what happens to these inner sections. Although shading is softer than lines, it helps define the areas enclosed by lines, gives form to the outline and pulls the whole drawing together. It is better, however, for artists to think in terms of light and dark areas instead of lines. “There is no such thing as a line in nature,” is a helpful axiom. What appear to be lines are only narrow, elongated dark areas. If we train ourselves to think of objects—no matter how small—as combinations of planes instead of series of lines, then the lines which we do draw (and we must draw lines) will achieve that elusive quality known as character. Your silent instructor will seek to orient you as you begin the study of each of the ten Parts of the volume. The fundamental methods and their underlying principles presented in the general introductions to the earlier Parts, will be equally useful when you come to the later Parts—the instructions are cumulative. The brief comments, hints and explanations throughout the book will show you how to practice and to apply the methods and techniques, and— above all—how to develop your critical and analytical faculties. Thus your progress from HEADS AND PORTRAITS, HANDS AND FEET, and FIGURE DRAWING through PERSPECTIVE and COMPOSITION, TO ADVERTISING LAYOUT, CREATING ILLUSTRATIONS and ANIMALS, will be marked by the steady development of your power to see in terms of pictures and by your skill in transferring these pictures to paper. The resulting growth of your creative imagination will enable you to develop your own style and give expression to your expanding personality. Your silent instructor is now ready to serve. As you make your start on the