Drawing from Line to Life

An artist wrote to me yesterday asking “What paper do you use”. Well, I’ve been using Mellotex (formerly Ivorex) for almost all of my thirty professional years.

Artists often use a variety of papers. For example, the renowned Trompe l’Oeil artist J.D. Hillbery (www.jdhillbery.com) chooses his paper to suit the texture he’s trying to achieve. Other artists choose from a narrower selection of paper, such as Canson or Strathmore smooth Bristol board. Personally, I stick with one paper regardless of the work, adapting my techniques on Mellotex rather than changing papers.

Mellotex can stand an enormous amount of punishment and hardly ever suffers from raised fibres. It’s smooth enough to take graduated tone with 6H and has just enough tooth to accept 6B (which I hardly ever use – I prefer 2B as my softest grade). The surface is virtually texture-free, so it doesn’t interfere with what I’m trying to depict – in fact, papers that display their surface texture within a drawing are one of my pet hates!

Mellotex is a UK product, available in Australia under the “Lustre” brand name but not generally available elsewhere. Although Mellotex is now sold as an office paper, as well as card, it is archival quality. The manufacturers state “Mellotex conforms to ISO 9706 requirements for permanence and as such is suitable for archival use or applications requiring ‘acid-free’ paper”. It is primarily used by the printing industry, so visit your local commercial printer and ask for the name of their paper supplier (or ask them to order on your behalf). I found a commercial paper supplier in Leeds about 20 years ago and bought 100 A1 sheets of Ivorex, which lasted until about five years ago. Then I discovered that Ivorex was now Mellotex, and available in Super White (the off-white I was used to using) and Ultra White. Now I work exclusively on 290gsm Ultra White Mellotex and enjoy the greater range of contrasts that are available to me.

Because I have many overseas requests for Mellotex and my own supplier has a minimum order of 200 sheets, I now supply both Super and Ultra White from my website – SibleyFineArt.com/shop. I have a minimum order of just 5 sheets (although ordering 10 sheets saves you money per sheet) and I will ship worldwide.

There is a small Yahoo! group of artists that I belong to, run by Diane Wright (www.DianeWrightFineArt.com), called “Drawing Line to Life”. Diane started the group to study my book of the same title.

Over the last few months Diane has started to review the book again, and we have reached Chapter 8 – where I demonstrate drawing my granddaughter Charlotte – and she has decided to expand the topic to encompass human portraiture.

This is such a big topic that it will be broken down into smaller segments. As we finish up on our first topic, eyes, Diane thought it might be beneficial to layout the schedule for the next few weeks, and we would like to welcome anyone interested in exploring the topic of drawing human portraiture to join us in our discussions, step-by-steps, and sharing of our progress.

• Feb 1-13 Eyes
• Feb 14-27 Nose
• Feb 28 – Mar 13 Mouth
• Mar 14-27 Ears
• Mar 28 – Apr 10 Hair
• Apr 11-24 Head
• Apr 25 – May 8 Hands
• May 9-22 Clothed Figure Drawing

Neither I or Diane are portrait artists, but we’re using this opportunity to stretch our skills and pass on what we do know. We hope you will join us in this journey into human portraits. After we have exhausted this segment on portraiture, we will resume our study of my book with Chapter 9.

I would like to invite you to join us…….
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DrawingLinetoLife/

DRAWING BOARDS
Gary recently emailed me to ask:

At present I am unable to afford a decent drawing board so I’m looking to make my own. I was just wondering if you may be able to offer some advice on which materials may be best for the job? For example, would a piece of MDF be okay on it’s own or is there a material you suggest for covering the wood? I was thinking about covering the would with that sticky-backed vinyl covering you can buy to line kitchen drawers but would the surface be too slippery to hold the drawing paper? Alternatively would Melamine faced chipboard be any better (Being made of chipboard it may not be as versatile as MDF and therefore not offer a suitable surface for drawing). Just wondered if you might be able to recommend anything suitable?

When I first began I was in the same situation that you are – working on the dining room table at that time! From there I progressed to building my own drawing boards and have used Melamine-faced chipboard satisfactorily. My current draughtsman’s drawing board is simply made of that too.

MDF (Medium Density Fibreboard) on its own would be fine. However, for best results, I suggest you need a hard surface under your paper, as you don’t want any give under your pencil as you draw, so plastic laminate on MDF would be ideal. By that I mean Formica or any similar plastic laminate, such as is used for counter tops. Don’t used a textured laminate but search for a smooth flat surface – they do exist.

I certainly wouldn’t use sticky-back vinyl – it has a habit of shrinking over time and with temperature changes, which will probably lead to an annoying border of adhesive on your board. It’s also, in my opinion, far too soft for a drawing surface.

My first home-made board was a plastic laminate covered cupboard door! I fitted angled wooden brackets beneath it to angle it by lifting up the back edge. My next was an old sheet of 24″ x 36″ blockboard that I covered with plastic laminate. This time I hinged two angled brackets beneath it to lift up the back edge by 12″, although you may prefer a lower angle. It was also thick enough for me to use standard drawing board clips to hold my paper in place.

Now I use a draughtsman’s full-size (A0) drawing board, which is so heavy that after I installed I kept checking the ceiling of the room below to make sure it wasn’t about to drop down a floor!

An ideal, especially if you don’t have dedicated studio space, is to use a commercial table-top drawing board.

I have 15 of these that I use for my UK drawing workshops. Measuring 18″ x 24″, the folding handle swings down to form legs that give it a working slope – raising the top edge by about 5″. They also have notched rubbed strips at each side near the base, so the board can be moved forwards over your lap and the strips grip the edge of the table.

Following a successful workshop tour of the USA this year it’s time to begin planning for next year. Nothing beats local knowledge, so I’m always grateful to receive assistance from my local co-organisers and in return I offer a free workshop.

I’m planning to visit the US twice in 2010 – in May/June and October. I hope the first trip will include Canada, where I have had two tentative invitations, but more are welcome.

The second trip will probably include California (Solvang) and possibly a north California venue.

If you have suggestions for a venue in any state or province I’ll be happy to consider including it.

As well as running workshops locally in North Yorkshire I also try to run at least one elsewhere in the country each year – in 2009 it was Glastonbury and the year before I was in Hampshire. I’m looking for a co-organiser and a suitable venue in any other part of the country (or even near a past venue). Could you, or your local Art Society, help?

I am currently considering a trip to Australia in 2011, visiting as many locations to hold workshops as I can. More than one workshop may be held in the Melbourne area but I’m looking for suitable venues in other locations and states too. See below for details.

The requirements are quite simple: a suitable venue, about 20 attendees, and a base to which I can ship supplies (workshop packs, pre-prepared line drawing etc — you could fit the whole lot into a suitcase!).

The venue need not be any art-related place. I use a village hall here in the North Yorkshire that has good light, a kitchen, plentiful parking, disabled access and toilets, and sufficient tables and chairs. A church hall or community hall would do too, or a hotel with a conference room (although they can be expensive).

Workshops would be either 2-day or 3-day, probably 10am – 5pm.

I need about 20 (maximum 25) attendees to make the workshop viable. Maybe you belong to a local art group and know of other groups you can approach? Would your local newspaper be interested in running an editorial piece on the event? This local knowledge is invaluable – you know things I cannot possibly find out from the UK.

I’m not expecting anyone to have to spend money – if, for example, posters or flyers are required for display in local art stores, I’ll arrange that from here or pay for you to do it locally. I’ll give all the support you need, such as circulating the workshop through my mailing lists, advertising on my websites and blog, paying venue deposits and so on. I will also advertise the workshop on other websites, such as the SAA website where I’m a Professional Associate, which has quite a few American and other foreign members, and on my own Starving-Artists site and at ArtPapa.com (both of which have an international membership). In brief, I’ll do everything I can to attract attendees and help in all other respects too.

If you’re interested, please email me to let me know.

To find out more visit my website’s Workshop Central.

PAPERS AND PAPER MATTERS
Earlier today I was contacted by an artist who has signed up to my 10-week correspondence course – the first one I’m running at DrawSpace.com. She had a query about the Mellotex paper she had just purchased from my website’s shop. She asked:

I ordered both the Super White and the Ultra White Mellotex
simply because I didn’t know which ‘color’ I should use. How do you
decide which ‘color’ of paper to use? Is it as simple as using the
off white paper if your drawing has mostly darker values in it, and
using the whiter paper if your drawing has more white in it?

First, I must explain that Mellotex is available in a number of varieties and I stock Super White, which is a warm creamy colour, and Ultra White, which is a brilliant white.

When choosing the paper for project, think in terms of available contrast. If your drawing needs a softer, less harsh look, choose the Super White. Alternatively, if you want the maximum range of tones available to you (almost always in my case), choose the Ultra White. Both papers are double-sided plate finish, so they have virtually no detectable surface texture – perfect in my opinion for detailed, realistic drawings.

How do you decide how large to make a drawing? Is it easier to work in a large size? But since ‘large’ is relative, how do you decide what size to make a drawing?

Personal preference and experience play a large part. Increasing the size of a drawing by 20% will often increase the time to complete it by 50% or more, as the amount of detail is greatly increased. You reach a point where suggestion will no longer suffice and only direct depiction will do.

Personally, I have a handy trick that I use. Let’s say the study is of a scene which includes a dog’s head and foliage. Sometimes I’ll print out an enlarged line drawing but more usually I just imagine an element on a blank sheet of paper, then I hold my pencil over it and “pretend” to draw the face. This simple exercise gives me an excellent idea of the work involved, how long it will take to complete, and the level of detail required. I might “draw” other areas too, such as foreground foliage. Based on the results from these exercises, I adjust the size accordingly.

You must also take into consideration the amount of information you have available. If you’re working from poor reference photos, small is better! Don’t increase the size past the point where suggestion will suffice, if suggestion is all you can achieve with the information to hand.

How do you decide how much of the paper to use for your drawing – is there a standard border size that should be left on the paper for framing purposes?

I always use a full 24″ × 18″ sheet of Mellotex no matter how small the drawing is. That way I can enlarge the area of the drawing at any time if I need to. The paper is finally cut to size to suit the mat and frame. Paper is not that expensive – not when compared to a drawing that has insufficient margin to mat correctly!

If your drawing is a commissioned study, don’t stint on those borders. Put yourself in the position of your client. Which would you prefer to receive – a 7″ × 10″ drawing on a sheet of 8″ × 11″ paper, or the same drawing on a generous 18″ × 22″ sheet? Human nature sees value for money in the second. Additionally, if the drawing is handed around the family for appreciation (it will be!), fingers prints will be kept away from the drawing itself. And framers often like to give the subject room to breath in a frame, and that in turn produces a larger and more imposing frame. Don’t assume that it will be closely matted – a good framer might well decide to use much of that generous 6″ border that you provided.