{"id":4639,"date":"2018-01-15T17:11:50","date_gmt":"2018-01-15T17:11:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/?p=4639"},"modified":"2023-12-22T21:34:16","modified_gmt":"2023-12-22T21:34:16","slug":"drawing-expressive-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/2018\/01\/drawing-expressive-line\/","title":{"rendered":"Drawing From Life With Expressive Line"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the last in a series of five drawing lessons that have taken you from using a viewfinder to freehand drawing and finally into fluid and expressive line drawing.<\/em><\/p>\n

Here are all the lessons in this series.
\n<\/a>
\nLine Drawing Part One \u2013 How To Use A Viewfinder<\/a>
\nLine Drawing Part Two \u2013 Draw From Life With A Viewfinder<\/a>
\nLine Drawing Part Three \u2013 Draw From Life Using Sight-Size
\n<\/a>Line Drawing Part Four – Enlarge Or Reduce While Drawing From Life<\/a>
\nLine Drawing Part Five – Drawing From Life With Expressive Line<\/a><\/p>\n

Supplies<\/a>
\nVideo<\/a><\/p>\n

I found this excellent description of expressive line from humanitiesweb.org:<\/p>\n

Expressive Line<\/strong> – A kind of line that seems to spring directly from the artist’s emotions or feelings — loose, gestural, and energetic — epitomized by curvi-linear forms; as opposed to analytic or classical line.<\/p>\n

\"overhandExpressive line is made with the pencil held in an overhand grip so that you can easily tip the pencil up to the point to create a thin line or lay it down on its side to create a thick line.<\/p>\n

\"leaves
\nThis drawing of leaves on a vine was drawn with the tip of a sharp pencil, with the pencil in a writing grip. It has some good qualities, like the rhythm of the leaves as they grow around the stem.<\/p>\n

But all the lines are about the same thickness, making each part of the drawing look encapsulated and enclosed.<\/p>\n

This was a good study sketch, but it was only a study of certain qualities of the plant.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\"LonghairThis drawing of my cat is less tightly rendered. Her fur is showing some line variation. It was made with the pencil in an overhand grip.<\/p>\n

I draw cats quickly, as you can tell I did here, because they usually don’t stay in one position very long.\u00a0 And that’s a good time to experiment with varied line.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\"weeds
\nAlthough this drawing looks shaded, it was drawn with only thick and thin line.<\/p>\n

The leaves and seed heads have volume and texture, and the plant has even caught the light of the day.<\/p>\n

This sketch expresses many more qualities than the vine leaves, which is the beauty of expressive line as I try to use it.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\"Overhand<\/p>\n

Practice Expressive Line
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Your hand swings from the elbow in the overhand grip. That gives you freedom of movement in both the swing and angle of the pencil. Experiment with this grip on a big sheet of paper. Try writing your name until you get some control.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\"Light<\/p>\n

Burdock Leaves Line Drawing Expressing Volume
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

I made this sketch with an HB pencil in a writing grip. Everything is in the right place, but it looks flat.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\"Expressive<\/p>\n

I drew over my first drawing with an HB pencil sharpened into a long point. Combined with the overhand grip, the long point allowed me to draw thick and thin lines by tilting the pencil to different angles.<\/p>\n

When you look at this line drawing, your eye ‘reads’ the thin lines as ‘up’ or ‘light’ and thick lines as ‘down’ or ‘shadow.’ This is how our mind creates the illusion of form.<\/p>\n

In comparison to the first sketch, these leaves look as if they’re solid, and their edges have form that undulates through space.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\"Daylilies
\nVaried Line Used In A Shaded Sketch
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Except for the stems, this drawing starts as a straightforward line drawing.<\/p>\n

I drew the flowers lightly with the tip of an HB lead. The stems were drawn with the side of the HB lead.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\"Daylilies<\/p>\n

Using the side of the HB pencil, I sketched over the composition with varied line to show where the shadows were, and I let the pencil meander a little to embellish the most interesting areas of each element.<\/p>\n

I tried to distribute the dark details evenly to create a sense of balance, so I drew some of them darker and larger than they were.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\"DayliliesI used the side of a 2H pencil to shade the flowers and buds.<\/p>\n

So that the hatch blended in with the side of pencil lines, I darkened the edges and shadows with a hatch made with a flattened pencil tip. I didn’t use a lot of pressure and hatched the areas several times until they darkened and blended.<\/p>\n

I shaded around <\/em> some of the highlights. In watercolor, that’s called ‘saving the whites,’ it keeps the paper clean so that the highlights are as bright as possible.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\"Daylilies<\/p>\n

To finish, I erased the smaller detail highlights and drew the stamens.<\/p>\n

I hope I\u2019ve inspired you to use expressive line drawing to add life to basic line drawing style.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

This video is of me making a very slow, expressive line drawing. You’ll see that I made lots of cuts. If I didn’t make those cuts, it’d be much, much longer, and you’d fall asleep before it was over. Oh, and sorry about the bird. He was such a harsh critic! I added photos and text below.
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

Dogwood Leaves With Expressive Line<\/strong><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/SketchingDogwoodLeaves.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

\"ComposingSo that I’d have a map to follow, I lightly drew a rough composition. Then I could draw from life and compose as I wanted to.<\/p>\n

You can skip this step if you want to jump right in and draw ‘in the raw,’ so to speak.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\"Look<\/p>\n

To draw with a varied line in a way that suggests reality, pay attention to how the edges appear in shaded, lighted, and mid-range value areas. Some edges may be hard to see as they blend into the background; draw those with very light pressure to make a line that almost disappears.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\"VarySome edges might be clearly defined but in shadow. Draw them with a firm pressure to create a dark, crisp line. Other edges may be shadowed and blurred. Drop the pencil low and draw a wide, soft line to express them.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\"CreateThe overhand grip allows for great freedom of movement, so take advantage of that by allowing yourself to add new qualities to the composition as they occur to you. Let the pencil explore the shape and find even better angles and curves than nature provided.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

So there you have it, my dear pencil friends. I’ve covered sight-size from every angle I can think of, and I’m ready to move on. In the coming year, I’d like to make more videos, and I’ll make more short how-to lessons that everyone seems to enjoy too. Of course, I’ll be showing more of my own art. It’s taking a turn back toward realism, I believe, so you’ll be seeing signs of that soon. Until we meet again,<\/p>\n

Draw well, draw courageously, and never stop!
\nCarol<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n

Supplies for happy drawing:<\/strong>
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

Here are the supplies you need for this whole series of lessons, plus a few others I added to make your drawing life happier. I’m a Blick Affiliate and get a small commission when you buy from these links at no extra cost to you. If you do that, thanks!<\/p>\n

Derwent Graphic 2B<\/a>\"\"
\nDerwent Graphic HB<\/a>\"\"
\nDerwent Graphic 2H<\/a>\"\"
\n(If one is out of stock, get the next softer grade.) – Derwent Graphic Pencils are good inexpensive art-grade graphite pencils.
\n
\nCanson Classic Cream Drawing Pad<\/a>\"\" – This inexpensive Canson paper has a good tooth for graphite, and it holds up to erasing fairly well too. It does dent, so don’t press too hard when you draw, or you’ll ruin the grain.
\n
\nFaber-Castell Kneaded Eraser<\/a>\"\" – This is the brand of kneaded eraser I use. It’s not too sticky or oily. It’s just right.
\n
\nAlvin Vinyl Eraser<\/a> – The vinyl eraser is good to have for erasing marks the kneaded eraser won’t remove, and for general clean-up around the edges of the paper.<\/p>\n

Helix Electric Cordless Eraser<\/a> – A tapered ergonomic shape that stays out of your way and inexpensive. Sharpen its nib by spinning it on rough paper or sandpaper, then you can ‘draw’ extraordinarily delicate lines and textures in graphite gradations, along with dozens of other things that you’ll invent to do with it. You’ll go through a lot of nibs, so pick up extras<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kum Long Point Pencil Sharpener<\/a>\"\" –\u00a0 The only pencil sharpener I use. Two holes: one hole sharpens the wood, and the other sharpens the graphite. Makes a very long sharp point and hardly ever breaks lead. There are extra blades in the back.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the last in a series of five drawing lessons that have taken you from using a viewfinder to freehand drawing and finally into fluid and expressive line drawing. Here are all the lessons in this series. Line Drawing Part One \u2013 How To Use A Viewfinder Line Drawing Part Two \u2013 Draw From … Continue reading “Drawing From Life With Expressive Line”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[135],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-drawing-lesson"],"yoast_head":"\nDrawing From Life With Expressive Line - 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