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Brenda Hoddinott
11 PAGES 16 ILLUSTRATIONS
This lesson is recommended for artists, with good shading skills, as well as home schooling, academic and recreational fine art educators. Published by Hoddinott Fine Art Publishers, Halifax, NS, Canada, Revised 2005
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In Illustration 02-02, you see the grape after the hatching and crosshatching lines were blended with Q-tips and facial tissues. The blending process was as follows: Using a Q-tip, I first very gently blended the light values around the highlight of the grape. Working progressively from light to dark I used circular movements to blend the values. If the shading became too light in the dark shadowed areas, I added more graphite and blended again. I continued applying graphite to certain sections and repeating the blending process with facial tissues until I was happy with the results. The shadow was blended very slightly from light to dark, so some of the hatching lines were still noticeable. ILLUSTRATION 02-02
Copyright to all articles, images, text, projects, lessons and exercises within this drawing class belong to Brenda Hoddinott and may not be reproduced or used for any commercial purposes whatsoever without the written permission of Brenda Hoddinott. E-mail bhoddinott@hoddinott.com Web site http://www.finearteducation.com or http://www.drawspace.com
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I love hatching and crosshatching techniques and find the visible lines to be artsy and fun. The shading in Illustration 02-01 was done with both hatching and crosshatching lines, in preparation for blending the values, to create the shiny texture of the grape in Illustration 02-02. It is completely up to you whether you choose to blend or not to blend. Both techniques are a lot of fun, so it all comes down to the personal preference of the artist! Examine both drawings of the grape, without and with blending, to see which you prefer. Drawing shading with hatching, squirkling, or crosshatching lines is much easier to control than blending values together. Expect to not be happy with your first few tries to blend graphite. However, with time, patience, and practice you do get better!
Refer to Q-02 Grape Smoothie in Intermediate: Places and Things for step-by-step instructions on drawing, shading, and blending the grape illustrated in this lesson.
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Wrap a facial tissue (or piece of paper towel) around the end of one of your fingers. With gentle circular movements, blend the lines together as well as you possibly can. As you can clearly see, poorly rendered shading lines cannot be magically transformed into beautiful smooth blending; no matter what tools you use, or how much time you spend trying to make it work. ILLUSTRATION 02-04
Copyright to all articles, images, text, projects, lessons and exercises within this drawing class belong to Brenda Hoddinott and may not be reproduced or used for any commercial purposes whatsoever without the written permission of Brenda Hoddinott. E-mail bhoddinott@hoddinott.com Web site http://www.finearteducation.com or http://www.drawspace.com
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Draw a loosely rendered graduation of values from light to dark or from dark to light. In Illustration 02-05, a set of hatching lines is graduated from dark to light. In Illustration 02-06, you find a graduation from light to dark. ILLUSTRATION 02-05
ILLUSTRATION 02-06
When blending NEVER use your fingers! As a matter of fact, try not to ever touch your drawing paper with your fingers or hands in sections you plan to blend. The powder component in graphite works almost exactly like the fingerprinting powder used by criminal investigative sections of police departments. Your skin can transfer oil to the paper. This oil becomes visible after blending, especially in the lighter values. Then, it becomes darn near impossible to create a smooth, even tone with graphite in those areas with finger or hand prints.
Copyright to all articles, images, text, projects, lessons and exercises within this drawing class belong to Brenda Hoddinott and may not be reproduced or used for any commercial purposes whatsoever without the written permission of Brenda Hoddinott. E-mail bhoddinott@hoddinott.com Web site http://www.finearteducation.com or http://www.drawspace.com
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Wrap a facial tissue or a small piece of fabric or paper towel around the end of one of your fingers. You are welcome to experiment with any other blending tools, such as a blending stump or a tortillon.
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With gentle circular movements, blend the lines together as well as you possibly can. Try any techniques you can think of to obtain a nice smooth graduated tone with blending from these loosely drawn lines. Even if the surface of your paper survives your attempts, you will inevitably end up with a messy, rough, smudgy effect as you can see in Illustrations 02-07 and 02-08. ILLUSTRATION 02-07
ILLUSTRATION 02-08
Now that you know how NOT to set up for blending, try the techniques in the next section and make an effort to get better results.
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Dont allow any instructor or teacher to convince you that their way of blending is the best. Experiment with as many different techniques and tools as you possibly can. If you like certain ways of blending, use them, but keep your mind open and never hesitate to try new techniques and/or tools. You are a unique individual with distinctive artistic needs. In order to continue developing your own vision and style, you must stay true to yourself! I very rarely use blending in my own drawings because I love seeing shading lines and the textures they create. But, you have to decide for yourself what you like or dont like! In this lesson, I show you what blending techniques work well for me. 6) Render a graduation with hatching lines that are close together. Your values should graduate very gently from light to dark or from dark to light. Shading lines need to be close together and tightly rendered with a very smooth and gentle gradation from dark to light (or light to dark). This will ensure a smooth blending of the pencil marks into a graduation. A piece of scrap of paper, placed under your drawing hand as you draw, will protect your drawing from the oils of your skin. ILLUSTRATION 02-09
ILLUSTRATION 02-10
Copyright to all articles, images, text, projects, lessons and exercises within this drawing class belong to Brenda Hoddinott and may not be reproduced or used for any commercial purposes whatsoever without the written permission of Brenda Hoddinott. E-mail bhoddinott@hoddinott.com Web site http://www.finearteducation.com or http://www.drawspace.com
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With any blending tool you prefer, gently blend your hatching graduation from the lighter section toward the darker section. Continue blending until your graduation is as smooth as you like, but be careful not to rub the surface of your paper off! Illustrations 02-12 and 02-13 show detailed, close-up views of blended hatching, from light to dark and dark to light. ILLUSTRATION 02-11
ILLUSTRATION 02-12
ILLUSTRATION 02-13
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Render a graduation (from light to dark or from dark to light) with crosshatching lines that are close together. ILLUSTRATION 02-14
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Blend your crosshatching graduation from light to dark. Keep a piece of scrap paper under your hand to prevent accidentally smudging or transferring oils from your hands onto your drawing surface. Illustration 02-16 shows a close-up view of blended crosshatching. ILLUSTRATION 02-15
ILLUSTRATION 02-16
Even though I recommend some specific blending tools, please dont limit yourself to my suggestions! Experiment with some creative ideas of your own! Just make sure whatever you choose is clean and that colored items (such as fabrics) dont leave their dyes on your drawing!
Copyright to all articles, images, text, projects, lessons and exercises within this drawing class belong to Brenda Hoddinott and may not be reproduced or used for any commercial purposes whatsoever without the written permission of Brenda Hoddinott. E-mail bhoddinott@hoddinott.com Web site http://www.finearteducation.com or http://www.drawspace.com
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My philosophy on teaching art is to focus primarily on the enjoyment aspects while gently introducing the technical and academic. Hence, in creating a passion for the subject matter, the quest for knowledge also becomes enjoyable.
>Brenda Hoddinott<
Born in St. Johns, Newfoundland, Brenda grew up in the small town of Corner Brook. She developed strong technical competencies with a personal commitment to self directed learning, and the aid of assorted Learn to Draw books. During Brendas twenty-five year career as a self-educated civilian forensic artist, numerous criminal investigation departments have employed Brendas skills, including Royal Canadian Mounted Police and municipal police departments. In 1992, Brenda was honored with a commendation from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and in 1994, she was awarded a Certificate of Membership from Forensic Artists International. Her home-based art career included graphic design, and teaching recreational drawing and painting classes. As supervisor of her communitys recreational art department, Brenda hired and trained teachers, and designed curriculum for several childrens art programs. In 1998, Brenda chose to end her eighteen-year career as an art educator in order to devote more time to writing, drawing, painting, and developing her websites. Drawspace http://www.drawspace.com incorporates her unique style and innovative approach to curriculum development. This site offers downloadable and printable drawing classes for students of all abilities from the age of eight through adult. Students of all ages, levels and abilities have praised the simple step-by-step instructional approach. This site is respected as a resource for fine art educators, home schooling programs, and educational facilities throughout the world.
Copyright to all articles, images, text, projects, lessons and exercises within this drawing class belong to Brenda Hoddinott and may not be reproduced or used for any commercial purposes whatsoever without the written permission of Brenda Hoddinott. E-mail bhoddinott@hoddinott.com Web site http://www.finearteducation.com or http://www.drawspace.com