Carl Cheek - Quick Sketching

The sketch on the right has been treated in terms of major cylindrical shapes. Notice the cross sections drawn rather as though the body was transparent. These help to show that, here and there, we are looking along a cylinder, either upward or downward. In other words, they show us the essential foreshortenings in a simplified, easily comprehensible way.

In the drawing on the left the cylinders have been broken down into flat areas or planes more closely corresponding to the actual surfaces of the model. The flatness reminds us that while the body is composed essentially of rounded forms, they are more rounded in some places and fairly flat in others. To emphasize the volumes I have purposely chosen a plump model for these diagrams.

The diagram shows what I had in mind when I made the drawing on the left. In various parts of the drawing these simplified sections and shapes have not been sufficiently stressed. For instance, the stomach does not have quite the tautness consistent with the backward movement of the rib cage. The drawing was done in two minutes, which means that it was done by instinct and not with deliberation. Artists should be constantly making such small, unpolished drawings. Most of them will probably have no artistic merit, but their value as practice cannot be overstressed.

In diagrams A and E are the so-called closed forms. In A the forms are stated by a continuous line completely separating the inside area from anything outside it. They are rigid and mechanical and, in the case of the sphere and the cone in particular, give no indication of volume. The sphere might as well be a disc and the cone a triangle with a slightly curved base.

In E the forms, though strongly modeled with light and shade, are again sealed off from the surroundings and appear mainly as dark silhouettes.

The forms in D are essentially synonymous with photography. They require a medium with a good range from light to dark. A satisfactory way of dealing with forms in this manner is to use a toned paper, working on it with black and white crayons or inks. In this way it is possible to work much quicker than with blacks on a white paper.

Drawing is a matter of relating one object or form to another, and so C is the approach taken by most draftsmen. The inside of each form is here linked with surrounding areas both by actually making marks on either side of the contour and by giving the white paper an equal role in defining the form. Even in a highly finished state, the forms in C will not lead to unduly dark drawings as will D and E.

B is a process employed in extremely rapid drawings, but in view of its small capacity for conveying volume, except in the hands of a master, it is not so commonly met with. In order to compensate for this deficiency considerable distortion becomes necessary, as does a greater degree of emphasis of certain parts at the expense of others than in C and D.

A is rarely used except by engineers and architectural draftsmen. E has become, in the hands of skilled poster designers and magazine illustrators, a useful decorative convention, since it will indicate volume without loss of distinct contour. It has never been widely used by painters and sculptors.