I spent the week refining a method of relating finish pencil to inking - i.e. my shorthand method. From a simple handful of shorthand symbols, I developed correspondent rendering patterns that could be combined with one another in various ways to create different, basic, effects.

I developed the patterns and effects from the simple hook stroke, an elementary stroke that comes naturally when using a pen. It is called a hook stroke because one end turns around on itself to form a hook. The hook is made either at the tail of the down stroke - in which case the entire stroke is done with a chopping motion - or, it is done with a deliberate curl at the head - in which case the entire stroke is done with a flicking motion (i.e.as a quick check-mark). I make it a point to practice both ways.

[I covered chopping and flicking/controlled (tight) and loose feathering in a previous journal entry. These are the same techniques transferred from brush to pen. (See "Chop and Flick Your Way to Feathering Success.)]

When hook strokes are done closely in series, they create a feather-to-black effect at the hooked end. This presents as a wavy line that forms a hard edge. Different effects are possible by relating the edges of two or more hook patterns to each other in different ways. Here are some of the basic patterns and their uses:

1.) Atmospheric Interposition (or Simple Layering - Dis-contiguous) - when the hard edge of one hook pattern follows the soft edge of another hook pattern with a slight space between them, it creates the illusion of distance. For example, to make mountains or cliffs in the distance, stack three rows of hooked feathering with the hard edges facing upward and a space between each row. The hard edge of one row should approach the soft edge of the one above. The pattern is reminiscent of Chinese and Japanese silk painting.

2.) Simple Layering (Contiguous) - same as above, except without space between the rows. This is the method suggested by A.L. Guptill and used in classical pen drawing for rendering leaves, flower petals, bird feathers and similar things of simple shape that form groups. Members of a group appear contiguous when viewed up close, as in foreground (so the rows should touch each other), and dis-contiguous when viewed far away, as in background (so put space between the rows).

3.) Discontinuity - when the hard edges of two sets of hooked patterns face each other, separated by a slight space, they give the impression of a break, rift, or separation in a surface. For example, to draw a tree limb snapping, run hook patterns from each side of the break so that the hard edges face each other.

4.) Highlight - when the soft edges of two sets of hook patterns face each other with a slight space between them, it creates the illusion of highlight on a continous surface.

By using patterns like these, instead of outline, one can quickly layout a scene in large chunks instead of taking much time to outline and detail everything. It is very handy for thumb-nailing. One can then combine it with outline in the next stage of development in the rough pencil by adding outline and detail and roughing in texture and lighting effects. Finally, used with extreme delicacy on clean, tight pencils, it provides for methodically finishing in both pencil and ink.

After the shorthand and the rendering patterns, I pushed into the actual finishing touch. I mean, literally, the feel of finishing strokes.

The feel of finishing strokes is unlike any other. It is entirely different from making a sketch line. The finish stroke is either a dead-weight line, cursive, or accent line. It is either a segment of outline or part of a feather pattern. But, unlike the outlines and feathering of a rough, it is ultra refined. It has to set up just the right vibration, or pulse, or visual stimulation to fix attention and communicate and ratify the intended illusion - and do so in compressed form giving more information with subtle cues than the construction gives with its concrete, literal, and excessive lines.

That information, before it is given on paper and reaches the observer's eye, is nascent in the artist's hand as a feeling. Getting that feeling, and keeping it, so as to be guided by it as one lays in the finish strokes - that is what finishing is about. That is the finishing touch - not the line made on the paper, but the feel for performing it.

TNBT is coming. In fact, it's already here. You will see, soon.