Drawing within reason and beyond

Drawing beyond reason

It’s generally accepted that it is a contradiction to use a rule to draw straight lines in sketches, but I never really cared about the rules (no pun intended). Using the rule gave me a line I wanted because I found it helpful and when I had done this for a season I put the ruler away. I still use a ruler for sketches. It sets straight lines in a universe of randomness. No designer lived without a pencil and a straightedge. Today we begin drawing an item with straight edges that contain random growth rings that show no parameters of straightness save what man passed through a straighline rip cut followed by an inline five-head molder. What I want to show you is what happens beyond the pencil tip. Here is what I found.

Firstly, I’ve picked a pine board, primarily for its grain configuration, its annual rings, its interest, texture and simplicity. I also found myself inspired to draw by it and so i suggest you find a board that’s not boring and dull but somewhat lively.

Perspective

I start with placing my board in a position that allows me to see an angle I feel conducive to what I want to present. This is a perspective and I am drawing the perspective from my ‘point of view’. Looking at the board for a few minutes gives us time to consider the what I see first. I look at the grain and start to notice important details that make it unique, but I also start to notice angles from my perspective. I look at angles I propose to lay on my paper and notice that the points closest to me are the widest point and the opposite end of the board seems to appear narrower. I lay lines on the paper as best I see them.

Light lines and don’t damage the paper

This light-lined drawing places lines to guide stronger strokes in a short time. In art classes they told me not to do this but they didn’t know what I wanted to do with my drawing. My reasons for drawing were different than theirs. Most artists paint and draw to be accepted by others ot persuade others of their perspective. That’s a hard world to live in.

 Freehand drawing work

With my lines laid I find freedom to start to sketch. Freehand, I thicken my lines but remember these lines are not so much lines on a page but demarcation lines separating shadows that are nothing more than shades to each of the three facets I can see. This is to remember in this type of drawing. Another separating yet uniting aspect is the relationship of the growth rings to each of the three facets. The surface grain is composed of undulating vertical growth along the axis of the tree stem. When we make straight cuts in undulating stems we have un predictable patterns we never saw before. These are worth drawing.

 

My loose, freehand drawing locates key elements of strength and weakness, open space and closed space on the surface as I trace my pencil to capture component position. The knot. The wide grain bands, the super-thin ones. These record the history of this growth and I record it here in my way too.

I have numbered the lines in the sequence i placed them on the page when i used the ruler for your information and guidance.

Technique tells me to use two hand positions for this surface tracing of patterns. I use the side of my pencil to lay bands softly on the surface. For the knot too, but here I switch between side and point to create texture. It is experiment for effect and very valuable.

 Reading the grain aright 

When the growth rings surface to interconnect at the corners of man’s intersecting cut I focus on the randomness of wild life that unites with the machine and man’s restricted ability. I see the growth ring rise or fall and then begin to see that growth rings grew in equals number exactly but the growth itself was random and unpredicted. Here on the end you will see that during the same years the growth aspect decentralized from the fist year’s growth and one side of the tree grew  wider aspects of the growth band by twice as much as an area only a few inches away. The other obvious fact is that the central 3/4” thick section had 13 years growth whilst the following 3/4” to the left took over twice as long at 30 years.

As you fill in the grain on your drawing, try to keep a degree of accuracy as a self discipline training for your eye/hand coordination. You are working to become spatially conscious every time you draw. The more you do it the the more the quality of what you see will be accurately represented on the page. Visualizing proportion is a key element for freehand work so look at spaces to see which areas are dominant, passive, and interchangeable. You can first isolate them with a light pencil stroke and then pay attention to the to place detail on the paper.

 

Here I am shading the side face to add depth and give dimension of three sides rather than flatness.

 

 

 

 

 

Here are two further pieces we will work on next. The purpose in this is to break the ice a little and also to develop a peace for creative work we may have never been involved in before.