This is a WIP I did in the Drawspace Forum in October 2007. I copied the text form there so if it sounds a bit strange you know why.
I decided to do a train waiting at the station. The first step of this WIP is the planning. I found 4 reference photos of the same train. Unfortunately I don't know the origins. But since I'm just doing this for fun, I'm sure the authors of the photos won't mind.
For the planning, I decided to use a 100lb (260gms) Vellum Bristol. The size of the paper is 11x14 inches (~28x35.5 cm). The drawing will be fit on the paper with 2 cm margins. This makes it easy for me to cut my own "pass par tout" and use a simple off the shelf frame.
In studying the photos I can see that I will need to use a 6B, 3B, 4H and 6H graphite (I use Caran d'Ache 2mm clutch pencils) and because of the fine detail I will use a .5 mm mechanical pencil. Mine is a Pental GraphGear 1000. Sounds more like a car than a pencil but I like it.
I have a portable drafting board with a slide ruler that I use to get the measures done. I know the measures because the drawing is loaded into the opensource graphics program GIMP. This program has several grid and measurement features. This is great because I can scale a drawing to any size. Leonardo would have loved it believe me!
So I'm ready. Let's give it a go!
This detailed sketch took ~3 hours with the .05 mm mechanical pencil using 2B graphite. I started by getting an outline then key reference points and then started putting in more and more detail. Normally I wouldn't have put so much detail in the sketch but this train is pretty complicated and it's best to get as much detail as you can before starting the shading.
I have a rule-of-thumb calculation that works for me to estimate the time to complete the drawing. I just multiply the sketch time by ten, give or take 10%. So this project will take around 33 hours to complete. Are you sure this is ART and not science?
I will work through the drawing from left to right protecting the paper with a hand guard as I go.
So wish me luck and hope that I have some free time over the next few weeks. I expect to give you a first look this week so see you soon.
Here is a first look
at how the graphite is being laid on.
I started with a 6B at the bottom
to get the darkest value. Then I tried the highlights and worked to get a feel
for making the top area look like iron with sun reflecting off of it. The
highlights are 4H. The way I do it is to lay down the darker values and then the
lighter ones. I just keep layering until I get the effect I'm looking
for.
Now that I have established the layers and work needed to get the
effect I will move to some of the detailed areas and start defining the
techniques I will use for them.
This small section, about the size of a
deck of cards, took 2 and a half hours.
As many of you may
be wondering, "Where does he find the time?" It's easy when you don't watch TV.
Did you know the average person spends around 20 hours a week watching the boob
tube?
This image represents 11 hours of work. Based on this I'm pretty
much on schedule for the original estimate. This is a point where I need to be
careful to take breaks and not rush things. It is tiring to do 4 hour sessions
and the drawing can suffer if I get bored or too tired.
Although the
sketch was pretty detailed I still need to spend a lot of time trying to figure
out which way and where things go. I like it this way because it allows me to
invent things as I go and solve problem areas without loosing any realism.
I also added a few more layers of graphite to some of the dark areas. As
I progress I will often go back to areas already drawn and work on a small area
and make corrections and try to add more detail. For example the wheel has some
problems. I'll go back to this 4 or 5 times until it looks right. Have a look at
this area in the next post and you should see that it has been
improved.
Heading for the middle section of the train. It shoud be tough.
I'm looking forward to the challenge.
16 hours into it
and I’m still as motivated as I was in the beginning. The problem is not to get
too anxious to see the end result. I follow Mike Sibley’s advice and draw as if
I had all the time in the world.
I worked on the wheels and started on
that middle section. I refined the first wheel and I’m just about finished with
the second. I’ll usually wait a day before going back to something to refine it.
The grooved part of the second wheel, where it comes into contact with the
track, needed to look smooth. To get a smooth effect I went over the area 2
times with 3B. I then applied the darker areas in the center with a 3rd layer of
3B. It is important to layer. Layering protects the fibers of the paper. If you
were to press hard to get the dark values you would flatten the fibers making it
difficult to add more layers and even more difficult to remove the graphite. In
fact I used the kneadable eraser to get the highlights at the top of the wheel.
I then burnished or blended with a 4H lead using a circular motion to fill the
tooth of the paper giving it a smoother look. I use the 4H because at the same
time I went over the highlights to tone them down a bit. As I said, I'm just
about finished with the second wheel. I will go back to it later and try to get
more definition.
Did you notice that I added something personal to the
train? It's not easy to see, but let me know if you find it.
This is the
fourth update of the drawing (19 hours).
I started the drawing before I
decided to do the WIP so I've been spending about 3 hours per day on it. Not
always in one sitting. I usually try to break it up and not spend more than 2
hours at a time.
I intentionally left out some detail in the middle
section because I knew from my planning that I would be adding some steam to
this area. I won't add the atmospheric effects before I finish the train and the
platform.
What I have found tough at times is dealing with the
perspective. There are no circles only ellipses and sometimes it is difficult to
get them to look right.
I expect to have the locomotive finished for the
next post. Then I will start the platform, the sky and finish with some
background elements in front of the train.
26 hours to get to
this point.
I have finished the overall drawing of the train. I will lay
down a nice tile for the platform so I can play with some reflections and light.
Then I will go back to the train and build on all the tones, make some
adjustments and bring back the detail on the front where I put some steam. I
don't like that.
I have estimated 2 hours for the platform and 2 or 3
hours for the sky and landscape in front of the train.
I'm really
motivated now that I'm approaching a finished work! 29 hours up to this
point.
I got the platform done and worked on the overall tone of the
drawing. It was important to get the tone right before starting the clouds. That
way I can just spontaneously draw the clouds and tone them to match the
reflections in the platform and the toning of the train.
It took less
time than I thought to draw the platform. I used pointilation using a sharp 3B
2mm clutch pencil. This gives the tiles some texture and a somewhat dirty look.
That works well with the dull reflection. It is a reflection and not a shadow
because the light source is behind us as we look at the drawing. The sun hits
the side of the train and throws the reflection onto the platform. I used a 4H
lead to blend the platform. There is no blending with a tortillon or other
smudging type tool. The only place I will blend with a tortillon is in the
clouds and that will be with a very light touch.
Well I WHIPPED
through that WIP in less days than I thought.
The timing worked out with my
personal formula of (sketch time X 10 = finished drawing) in this case 30 hours
10 minutes and 34 seconds. Of course that's just an approximation.
The
Clouds are just spontaneous drawing. My intention is to have a dark sky in
the distance as the storm passes over the train. This helped to explain
why the drawing has light coming from behind the viewer.
To draw the clouds :
1I used a 3B graphite with circulation.
2Using the same 3B with just the weight of the pencil I closely hatched the entire sky.
3I then went over it a third time changing pressure on the pencil to create tone throughout.
4I then used my kneadable eraser and pulled out some light spots.
5I then went around the areas and picked up shapes and gave them definition by shading the edges of shapes.
6I then went over the whole thing with a 4H to blend it all together.
7The final step was to blend with tissue.
To do this I take a bit of tissue, about an inch long, and roll it
very tightly. I then insert it into a 3mm clutch pencil. This gives me a small
blending tool with a lot of control. I very lightly blend the clouds until I get
the effect I want. When the tissue is full of graphite I just pull it out a
little and trim the edge. Works great!
I sprayed the drawing with fixit
and it is ready for framing. I will frame it the same way that I cropped the
upload here.
I also added my time sheet if
you're interested.
