Two Phases of Drawing

The concepts of round and flat phases explained in this week's journal continue to draw my close attention.  Particularly the latter, the flat phase, or design phase.  I keep thinking about it, so wrote this addendum.

First, understand that we apply these ideas to classic decorative outline style drawing (DOS), which is the foundation of brush inking and is fundamental to approaching finished line art in general.

By line art we refer to the manner of drawing that uses outlines without tone to contain and express its subject matter.  Forms are defined with lines along edges rather than being expressed with tonal grades, or with tonal contrasts and blending on surfaces.  The exceptions are black spots and heavy feathering for cast shadow, and light modelling by hatching, though this is purely conventional and does not achieve a true tonal effect (e.g. three lines to define a cheek, or tuft of hair, or bend of any surface). 

My original thinking was that these two kinds of drawing - tonal rendering and decorative outline - were fundamentally separate.  Now, however, I see that one is simply an abbreviation of the other.  And while it's common to draw entirely in either one style or the other, it occurs to me that only by drawing both ways in phases can one achieve the best result in DOS, because tonal rendering lays the foundation for it. 

In a way what I propose sounds counter intuitive, going as it does from the complex to the simple.  One might think it should be the other way around.  But to simplify, one has to start with what is complicated.  All the necessary information is there in a tonal rendering just waiting to be abstracted.  And there is the first clue to what we mean by round versus flat.  As the simplification of what is round, or three dimensional, entails abstraction, it emphasizes design, which is concerned with two dimensions. Those two dimensions pertain to lines, line qualities and shapes in so far as these are used deliberately to translate the illusion of depth without reference to tone. 

How is this translation accomplished, how is it done - or rather, how is it done well?   I think it's done by constructing a three dimensional drawing, then reducing it to two dimensions. 

We all know what is meant by construction.  It's given in the formula: gesture>volume>contour.  Here gesture may be thought of as one dimensional as it is comprised of vectors.  Volume implies three dimensions, obviously.  So, that leaves contour for two dimensions. 

Continuous Contour Drawing is, in fact, drawing in two dimensions.  It is what we do with an etch-a-sketch by twisting nobs that direct the stylus up and down along the X axis and left and right along the Y axis.  Or is Y up and down and X left and right . . . Oh!  Matters naught.  Hehe.

Glenn Villpu's got my back on this.  These are the steps of the Quick Sketch method with which his name is so frequently associated.  I would draw attention to an example he gave showing the difference between drawing from the core using this complete three step method in contrast with going from gesture directly to contour.  Yes, going directly to outline he established form quickly and boldly, but as a schematic, not as something real and unique.  For that, one needs to work over a good construction using tone to fully express the three-dimensional illusion. 

After all this there is yet more to do to translate a tonal rendering into decorative outline.  Sounds silly, right?  I mean it would seem that we overshot the goal.  Just leave the line work and don't bother with the tone.  But no, we can't do it that way because the line work done to create the final contour is not exactly the line work we want for decorative outline style.  Why not?  Because in DOS, the lines alone must express the sense of atmosphere, depth and form equivalent to what is expressed in tonal rendering which uses both line and tone.  To finish in DOS, lighting effects must be translated into line and spot.

So, then, this is where we get into line qualities, broken outline, line weight, T-factors, silhouette - or using shape to expresses form - reciprocating lines to facilitate/emphasize flow, vibe, dynamics, force . . . and other stuff. 

In principle: first round, then flat.  Learn to draw realistically, by which I mean according to the natural model of light - i.e. using tone.  Focus on that primarily.  Brush inking and cartoon outline styles come naturally from translating tonal rendering in to line and spot by simplifying and reducing.

Almost there.  Almost.  Alllmmmooossssttttt.
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Okay.  With all this talk about building the figure and rendering in cross-contour blah blah blah, I have to admit, I've started using Walt Reed's method, which provides a short-cut of sorts for the construction, but it won't help very far with the translation.  For that you have to study examples and sound them to the principles.