Drawing for Beginners

From the Introduction

Have you heard the reply given by a small boy to a query, " How do you draw?

I think," he said, " and then I draw around my think." It is an excellent answer to a very difficult question. Many an artist could not give as lucid a reply. As far as I can judge, and I have been peculiarly fortunate in meeting many artists, the great artist would probably say: " How do I draw?

Here — give me a paint-brush " — and if he were inclined to be brutally frank — " don't ask me to fool questions; watch — this is how it is done." And he would proceed with a few swift strokes to paint something, at which you would gasp and feel no wiser than before.

It would look perfect. It would be perfect. But how was it done? He thought, and then drew around his thought. The great artist speaks with his tools; more often than not he is a man of few words. We are told that when a Japanese artist wishes to paint a flower he watches its growth from bud to blossom and then to seed.

After a little time has elapsed he takes up his brush and paints his remembrance of the flower. Whether he could describe the manner in which he intends to paint that flower is doubtful. We must think with the brush and the pencil; we must think first and then draw round our ' think.'

I hope that this book may help you to arrange your thoughts. It is but a helping hand on the broad highway that leads to the great world of art.

A Pencil; has many excellent qualities. It is a clean tool and easy to handle. It can be carried in the pocket and pressed into service whenever required. Beyond sharpening, it requires no attention. To sharpen a pencil you should pare the wood in small shavings with a sharp knife. When a small portion of the lead is exposed place the lead on a piece of paper and whittle down to a firm and not very thin point. A very sharp point is a mistake.

With such a point we are inclined to dig into the paper, and thus to add to our difficulties when erasing. A thin point, moreover, snaps easily, needs constant sharpen- ing, and therefore leads to much wasting of valuable lead.

A word or two about the position of the pencil when drawing. We hold it, of course, as we do the pen, between the thumb and the first two fingers, and halfway up the shaft. There is a modern fashion of holding the pen between the second and third fingers, and whatever may be said for this position in writing nothing could be advanced in its favour for drawing. An overwhelming argument for holding the pencil between the thumb and the first two fingers is this: the hand never tires.

Drawing for Beginners - PDF book by Dorothy Furniss