Drawing in charcoal and crayon for the use of students and schools

by Frank Fowler

THE PLUMB LINE.

Another most valuable adjunct in drawing from life and from the cast is the plumb line. This consists of a piece of strong twine with a weight on one end, which serves to keep the string perfectly straight and steady when suspended from the hand. A straight line is thus simulated which is dropped from a given point to one directly underneath, forming one side of a triangle, which will ascertain for us the different positions that certain other parts assume in relation to this line.

For instance, we hold the plumb line so as to make a straight line from the chin of a standing figure to the ground. The top and bottom of the line form two points of a triangle, the third to be represented by the man’s heel.

Imaginary lines are now drawn through these points, forming the triangle, whose base determines the direction of the heel in relation to the center-line of the body. In this way the balance of a figure can be accurately ascertained, and the most difficult action correctly suggested.

In the actual drawing the real lines may be sketched in charcoal from point to point at the same angle determined by the plumb, and the corrections made accordingly, these straight lines being of course erased afterward.

VALUES.

The term “value,” as understood by artists, is used to express the comparative relation of tones to each other, irrespective of color. There may be many different colors before us all of the same value; also, there may be only one color used in a drawing, yet many different values are seen, which goes to show that we are to compare tones and not colors.

For example, in drawing or painting a landscape we look at the tone of the trees against the sky and observe which is the darker. If a stormy, heavy sky is seen behind light, feathery, green trees we see that the sky is darker in value.

If, on the contrary, trees with dark, rich foliage are observed to be strongly relieved against a bright, sunny sky, we perceive at once that the sky is lighter in value than the trees. In like manner we compare the rocks with the water, the fence with the road, and so on, according to the different objects to be regarded in the picture.

In drawing a head in charcoal or crayon it is well to establish at once the darkest value in the whole, selecting the deepest spot of shadow with which all the other tones of dark may be compared.