Belt-Driven Drill Press

Here's a drawing of a belt-driven drill press, drawn in pencil and gray wash. Gray wash is watered-down ivory black watercolor, carried around in a little bottle and applied with a sable brush.

Belt drives were common before electric motors were small enough and powerful enough to attach to each piece of machinery. When it was originally set up—probably driven by a water mill—the operator could change the speed (and torque) by switching the belt over the smaller or larger pulleys in the upper left. Bevel gears at the top transfer the axis of rotation from horizontal to vertical.

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After my post about this on Instagram, there were some interesting comments:

Bonny Hartigan: "My dad had a woodworking business and when I was a child, most machines were belt driven with water power. It was so quiet compared with the electric motors that he had later. All you heard were the whirring and slapping of the belts. What a wonderful memory that is, thank you for reminding me."

DK Vosburgh: "The sad thing is that most of these old machines fell out of use when their babbitt-metal bearings wore out, and people had forgotten how to cast new ones. They worked fine, otherwise."

Ken Simpson: "When [I was] a young fellow working in hardware store we sold the flat belts and joiners, the 2” belt was sold to the local school to make hand straps to punish boys in fractions."

Lutheran Church

 

Lutheran church, Ancram, NY, pencil and gray wash, 9 x 12 in.

The gray wash is diluted ink that I carried around in a plastic jar. It works nicely for a quick shadow value, but it's light enough to allow the soft pencil lines to stand out.

Old Tow Truck

 

This old tow truck is parked in front of Triebel's Garage in Red Hook, sketched in pencil and watercolor.

Atmosphere in Pencil Drawings

Frederick L. Griggs was known for his etchings of architecture, but he was a notable pencil sketcher too.

Hitchin Church from the South-East by F. L. Griggs

In his book "The Art of Drawing in Lead Pencil," Jaspar Salway praised his technique of suggesting distance and atmosphere. Salway suggests that the artist needs to have a plan in advance for lightening the values as you go back in space, rather than relying on erasing or "wiping out."

He says: "No process of wiping out at a later stage will give the quality here needed. It is desirable when working to 'hold tight' to the mental impression of the effect, and to visualize sunlight, haze, shadow and so on, as it was associated with each feature in reality."

"Here we see a masterly drawing by F. L. Griggs in which a sense of light pervades the whole aspect. There is obviously no process of 'wiping out' in this successful work."

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Books

The Art of Drawing in Lead Pencil

Highways and Byways in Buckinghamshire, Illustrations By Frederick L. Grigg

Gérôme Study of an Angel

Here's a pencil study by Jean Léon Gérôme (1824-1904) of a model with drapery . 

The study is very carefully observed, but it's surely not a copy of what he saw. Instead he edited the forms to fit with his sense of flow and make it look right for an angel. Most academic studies were propelled by narrative choices away from literal truth.

He probably executed another study of the nude figure, and traced the hands, face, and feet from that study as a basis for this one.

The sketch was a gift to one of his students, illustrator André Castaigne.

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Books on Gerome

Jean-Leon Gerome 

Charles Bargue and Jean-Leon Gerome: Drawing Course

Inspiring Story of Young Nigerian Artist

(Link to YouTube) A young Nigerian boy named Waris Kareem has been creating a sensation with his large realist portrait drawings. It's refreshing to see how he has applied himself to his work and how he has been nourished by support from his family, community, and government.

Why Draw from Life?

domi_digital asks: "I need to get something cleared up. What is the biggest reason that pro artists tell me to draw from life? My opinion is, it's to get a sense for 3d space, and therefore placement of objects in that space. I've drawn from life before, but as a beginner it was really overwhelming. I drew still objects, but I can't even imagine how hard it is to draw a moving subject."

Answer: Yes, you're right. Translating 3D space to a 2D piece of paper is a cognitive skill that you develop while drawing from life. Does that skill make you better at creating a sense of solid 3D form or a feeling of depth when you draw from your imagination? I don't know, but I suspect it does. 

Also, as you suggest, when you draw a moving object, you develop your speed of execution. You'll be able to paint a picture in a fraction of the time it would take you in the studio. 

But drawing from life is more than a method of developing your skills. It builds your visual vocabulary. It puts you in direct contact with visual effects that cameras can't see. 

There's no filter. There's nothing between you and the subject: no lens, no film, no sensor, no distortion, no picture frame, no style guide, no color picker, no caption, and best of all, no words. As long as you're looking at photos or other people's art, you remain in the cave looking at shadows on the wall. 

Drawing by A. Menzel, 1902 
Profile study of a man with
sketching block and pencils

Drawings done from life by artists from centuries ago somehow transcend the stylistic mould of their times. 

Finally, it's a powerful experience on its own terms that makes you feel more alive and connected. When you draw or paint from life, you become very aware that everything is moving and changing: the sunlight moves, flowers fade, and the tide comes in. It's always a good thing to get in touch with the dynamic universe.

A Tip for Sketching Kids

How do you draw kids without them being self conscious?

Adolph Menzel "would go out in wind and weather but one day when there was too heavy a downpour, he came into the music room where my two little sisters were playing Haydn’s ‘Serenade’ together on the piano."

Adolph von Menzel (1815 - 1905) 

Therese and Grete Herrmann at the Piano, 1872

Pencil on paper, 24.5 × 33.6 cm

"'Children,' he called out, 'I want to draw the candelabra, play something for me while I’m drawing’, and thus he could capture the undisturbed image of their playing in all its naturalness and sketch the picturesque, unique likeness of them with which he later delighted [their] parents." Quote from Art Dealer Stephen Ongpin. 

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Book, edited by James Gurney "Adolph Menzel: Drawings and Paintings" also available on Amazon.

Portrait Sketch of Dan

Here's a quick portrait sketch of my son Dan. He lives in Dublin, Ireland now, doing app development for a software company, but luckily he's able to work from home.

I used water-soluble colored pencils, watercolor, and a water brush filled with fountain pen ink. in a watercolor sketchbook. 

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Why Choose a Pencil instead of a Paintbrush?

My next article in International Artist Magazine (Issue 132 April/May 2020) is about the pencil, the the universal tool for any artist or designer.

Caernarfon Harbor, pencil, 7 x 8"

A graphite pencil is the medium of choice when I’m interested more in form than I am in light or color. If I was painting this scene, I would be thinking about warm versus cool colors, atmospheric perspective and reflected light. With pencil I can concentrate on the bones of the scene, the simple overlap of light and dark shapes. If there’s a light mast or railing, I’ve got to be sure to draw around it. 

Since pencils can be used in a lot of different ways. I’ve taken some random sketchbook pages and grouped them into six categories: events, architecture, nature, imagination, vehicles, and people. For each group, I suggest some different techniques, and different attitudes or mindsets that I bring to the challenge.

Recommended pencils (Links to Amazon):

Kneaded eraser (can be shaped and won't leave crumbs)

Faber Castell 9000 (good basic graphite pencil)

Derwent Graphitint (water-soluble graphite look)

Chung Hwa Drawing 4B (from China)

Staedtler Mars Lumograph 4B (soft graphite art pencil)

Staedtler Mars Lumograph B (medium-soft graphite pencil)

Supracolor Water-soluble colored pencil II #2888

Koh-I-Noor Hardtmuth Triograph (triangular section)

Rembrandt Sketching 4B

Niji Water Brush, medium

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There are also articles by Ricky Mujica and Nathan Fowkes in the next issue of IA.
International Artist Magazine (Issue 132)
Previous posts on pencil sketching (269 of them)

Jamming at the Flurry

Randy Jennings is the bass player for the the Nisky Dixie Cats, a 7-piece ensemble that performs Dixieland-style jazz.

Dave Crump is an ear trained musician who hosts big band and do-wopp jam sessions every week in his living room. I sketched them playing at the Flurry, a huge dance festival that happens this weekend in Saratoga Springs, New York.

Spoonbill Studies

Spoonbill study skins drawn in pencil and watercolor in the back of a natural history museum. 

I did these studies as reference for a painting of Alexander Humboldt on the Orinoco, published in National Geographic .

Sargent's Charcoal Portraits

The Morgan Library in New York is currently hosting a big show of John Singer Sargent's charcoal portraits. (Link to YouTube)

The exhibition includes over 50 drawings and it will be on view through January 12.

There is also a new book in Richard Ormond's series on complete works of Sargent that focuses entirely on Sargent's charcoal portraits.

"John Singer Sargent: Portraits in Charcoal" at the Morgan Library
Book: John Singer Sargent: Portraits in Charcoal

Thanks, Chris.

Using HB and 2B Graphite Pencils

Jim McMahon asks:
What kind of pencil did you use for the sketches shown on the You Tube video: Dan Gurney Accordion Player, Age 7? I really admire the spontaneity and energy of these drawings.

Thanks, Jim. I usually use two pencils, an HB and a 2B or 4B. I use the medium pencil (HB) to start out the sketch, and I continue using the HB for the lighter tones. I switch to the softer pencil for the darker tones and the blacks. 

 

In practice, I keep the two pencils in my left hand, along with a kneaded eraser. In this drawing the boys were very active, moving around a lot, so I had to work decisively if I wanted to get anything down.

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Dylan Foley and Dan Gurney / Irish Music of the Hudson Valley
Bandcamp
Amazon Music

Portraits in the Wild / Painting People in Real Settings
Gumroad
Sellfy
DVD from manufacturer
DVD from Amazon

Woodless Pencil Test

I decide to try out a woodless water-soluble pencil. A woodless pencil means the whole pencil is made out of the lead, rather than surrounding the thin lead with a casing of wood.

Matthew Schreiber, Bulgarian Accordion. Listen to one of his tunes on YouTube

The pencil I'm using is called a Cretacolor Aqua Monolith. You can buy them individually for about $2.00-$3.00 each. I'm just using the ivory black one here, but it comes in a set of 12 colors, which retails for about $24.00-$30.00.

I'm using a water brush to blend the pencil, and I'm drawing in a Pentalic watercolor journal. The watercolor paper is robust enough to handle some scrubbing.

Some thoughts: 

1. A woodless pencil sharpens like a regular pencil, but you have to waste the pigment on the whole tool to get the sharp point. 

2. The Cretacolor Aqua Monolith is round in cross section, so it would tend to roll off a table. If it accidentally falls to the ground or slips out of your hand, it's likely to break.

3. The pencil is coated in a shiny lacquer varnish, so that it won't activate with water on the part of the pencil that you're holding. 

4. The lead is quite hard, and the pencil is heavy. It feels different from water-soluble crayons or pastels, such as the Caran d'Ache Neocolor, which feel lighter in weight, waxier, and softer.

5. The darkness of the black is somewhere between the graphite gray of a Derwent Graphitint pencil and the velvety black of a Derwent Inktense.

6. It delivers a responsive line and blends well with water, but I don't see much advantage to having the whole pencil made out of the lead unless you want to use it on its side to make large areas of tone. 

With any sketching tools, my recommendation is to buy just one sample of a given product line and try it out and see if you like it before buying a whole set. 

Sketching with Patches of Tone

In this graphite pencil sketch, Charles Bargue (1825–83) uses well placed patches of tone rather than using only outlines to describe the form.

Charles Bargue, graphite, 8 x 5 3/16 inches, Metropolitan Museum

The patches are made out of short, parallel strokes, which create an impressionistic, painterly effect, even though he's working only in unblended pencil.

Charles Bargue helped create the Drawing Course used in many ateliers.
The method of sketching with patches of tonal values is also described in Sketching - from Square One to Trafalgar Square and Ernest Watson's The Art of Pencil Drawing.

Previous post: The El Dorado Page (Ernest Watson)

Doré's Caricatures of Communards

Gustave Doré (1831-1883) is best known for his illustrations of the Bible and Dante's Inferno, but he was also a caricaturist. 

In this 1871 sketch of a Communard prisoner, He emphasizes the wild hair and beard by downplaying the eyes and making them mere smudges.

He pushes the sweeping curve under the chin and the aquiline nose. 

This guy has dots for pupils and a triangular face.

After their failed uprising, many of the Communards were executed or exiled. Doré portrayed them as the pitiful souls that they must have been. The sketches were done under intense conditions: "In the evening, among his friends, to the repeated sound of the cannon at Mont-Valérian and the heights of Montretout, thundering incessantly against Paris; at the striking memory of those long processions of Communard prisoners brought back from Paris to the avenues of Versailles, at the sight of those wretches, their brutish faces contracted with hatred, rage and the suffering of a long march, under a burning sun he took pleasure … in making these sketches.

Dig Deeper
Book: The Dore Illustrations for Dante's Divine Comedy
Flickr set with more of these Gustave Doré caricatures
Images: from Versailles et Paris en 1871, which also includes magistrates and members of the National Assembly
Previously on GurneyJourney: The other side of Gustave Doré
Wikipedia on Communards and Doré
Thanks, John Holbo and Mme. Bruyére

FDR Tour Guide

'Ranger Bob' Herberger took us on a tour of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Home in Hyde Park, NY. 

As he did, I sketched him in his ranger uniform using watercolor pencils and a couple of water brushes.
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Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Museum, and Home